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Fred Jackson issues of the day.
Ed Vitagliano Here's your host, Ed Vitagliano and good morning everybody.
Today's Issues features Fred Jackson and Tony Vitagliano
Welcome to Today's Issues. Ed Vitagliano sitting in for Tim Wildmon. This week I am joined in studio by Fred Jackson. Good morning, Fred.
Fred Jackson Good morning. Yes, I'm here to dry out from the weekend.
Ed Vitagliano Yes, we're going to have some, we're going to have some news, at the top here of the show about how wet it has been. It is, it has been wet. Tony Vitagliano, good morning to you. And then Krish Woodward is our news guy. Good morning to you, Krish. Hello. Hello. That's that high, high energy, Krish. yeah, it is. It has been wet and it doesn't look like there's much of a, of a let up. did you guys have, your, a good Memorial Day weekend?
Fred Jackson Oh, absolutely. Despite the, the rain. Able to do a little bit of grilling outside? Yeah, you know, just did some reading. Got a new Joel Rose Berg book, a new Rosen book, a new Rosenberg book. Say that fast and I can't.
Ed Vitagliano So listen, that when you can just relax, we, it. I'm not, I'm assuming you weren't doing that reading. Outside, it was pretty muggy.
Fred Jackson No.
Ed Vitagliano Yeah, no, inside, that's, that's nice.
Fred Jackson Yeah.
Ed Vitagliano Nice recliner.
Fred Jackson Yeah. Yeah, it was nice.
Ed Vitagliano Read a book, take a little nap,
Fred Jackson eat more, turn off the news for a few days.
Ed Vitagliano Yeah, yeah. Nothing wrong with that.
Tony Vitagliano How dare you.
Fred Jackson Yes.
Ed Vitagliano Take a break. In fact, Tim Wildmon, who, who is on vacation, okay. He texted, he texted all of us as he does every night between 10 and midnight stories reading through and getting caught up on, on what's happening. And so I texted him back this morning, I said, aren't, dude, aren't you on vacation? Why are you reading the news when you're on vacation? But anyway, it's when you like it, you like it, you keep up with it.
Fred Jackson So. Yep.
Tony and Chris, how was your weekend
Ed Vitagliano So, Tony and Krish, how was your weekend?
Chris Woodward mine was good. We had a little bit of a break on Saturday. between rainstorms where I was able to clean up our garden patch a little bit. and I'm hoping, we went from a drought and all the tomato plants looking like they were about to die to hello. And, I'm hoping that now they're
Ed Vitagliano not like just drowning.
Chris Woodward Flooded.
Ed Vitagliano Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Tony Vitagliano My weekend was good. Wife, went out of town on a trip. Her family and took, one of our children with her. So I was home with the other, 12. The other 12. And it rained so we couldn't go outside. but the other four, it was, it was good. It was.
Fred Jackson You almost committed a. Something your dad does.
Tony Vitagliano What's that?
Fred Jackson You said you had a good weekend. Your wife went out.
Tony Vitagliano Well, yeah.
Ed Vitagliano Oh.
Tony Vitagliano Oh, well, no, that wasn't why I was good.
Fred Jackson There's a trip off the old block.
Tony Vitagliano No, that wasn't why it was. That was not why it was good. He's probably listening.
Fred Jackson It did.
Ed Vitagliano Did sound like that though, didn't it?
Tony Vitagliano Listen, that's gonna get me in trouble already.
Ed Vitagliano No, listen, when you got four kids left behind, no matter how much peace you have, if your wife's out of town and you're. I say stuck, those kids are angels.
Tony Vitagliano That's a good.
Ed Vitagliano Yeah. No,
Tony Vitagliano not necessarily incorrect.
Ed Vitagliano Yeah.
Chris: Millions of people from Texas through Southeast are expecting rain today
All right. All right, Krish, tell us a little bit about the weather and then we'll get to some of the more serious news.
Chris Woodward Yeah, weather is going to continue to be a factor across much of the country. And I say that based on a Fox Weather headline, from earlier this morning, that millions of people from Texas through the Southeast are expecting rain not only today, but for the next few days, and causing even flooding problems, in various parts of the country. so while we all seem to have had a very dry April, it appears, all of April storms are in the forecast, for the next few days. We're playing some catch up here,
Ed Vitagliano because I mean it if. Right. It rained all last week, didn't it?
Fred Jackson Yeah.
Ed Vitagliano I mean we're going probably. It's going to be two weeks straight. Yeah. Of rain and but anyway, a lot of the south and Texas was suffering from drought like conditions, so they needed it.
Fred Jackson Sure.
Ed Vitagliano Don't know if they needed it as much as they are. They're getting, we're getting, but, all the fields are flooded and this is just, you know, part of. Listen, this is. It's climate, ah, change. We all, we all knew disaster was coming, right?
Fred Jackson Yeah.
Ed Vitagliano That's what we get for driving our SUVs around you know, we were,
Chris Woodward we as a ministry are planning a little bit of a fellowship activity for next Tuesday. And if this rain continues, we might have to forego what is planned and just have like a slip and slide out front because you could certainly do that on the grass outside.
Tony Vitagliano Yeah. Looking out my back door, I'm pretty sure I saw my grass growing as I was looking out there. Just slowly, slowly rot.
Ed Vitagliano Yeah. You can't do anything about it.
Tony Vitagliano Anything about it, yeah.
Fred Bee: There's a lot of news out of Iran over the weekend
Ed Vitagliano All right, let's move on. What else you got, Chris?
Chris Woodward All right, so there's a lot of things that could be the lead story. matter of fact, Fred, just before the show posted a couple of things on AFN Net, which I'll get to at some point, after we begin with news out of Iran, over the weekend. Yesterday really, news broke on Fox News and a whole host of other news outlets, that the US had engaged in what it's called self defense strikes in southern Iran. we took out missile, launchers. we're concerned about boat mines and stuff like that. Strait of Hormuz is another area, we're continuing to focus on. And this caused a lot of confusion because people thought, well, wait a minute, we're in a ceasefire now, we're shooting missiles at them. Again, what's going on here? we don't really know, what's going on. Ah, Trump did come out and say that we're near a deal in Iran. Details have not been announced yet, but we're very close to a deal. some people are concerned that this could be something similar to what came out of the Obama administration. we don't really know. I do have some audio from people like Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who continues to say that whatever deal is reached, it has to involve the Strait of Hormuz being open and Iran not imposing tolls on ships wanting to transport, goods through that area. Clip 1 well, the Straits have to be open.
Ed Vitagliano they're going to be open one way or the other. And there's no country in the world that's a favor of a tolling system, except with the regime in Iran. So that's not acceptable. That means that cannot happen. The straits need to be open unimpeded without tolls. All right, okay, so that. When did we first, I'm not talking about last summer. Was it February 28th when we, we first, in conjunction with, Israel, hit Iran. Okay, so, February, March, April, May. We're looking at three months here so, Fred, I'm going to start with you now. The, Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah, Mojaba Khomeini, I think that's how he pronounces. he's. He's saying the United States is out. I mean, we've been going. This is back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. President Trump says we could have a deal. And then the Iranians do something or say something to indicate, no, we don't. And not only don't we have a deal, what we want is for the United States out to pay for all the damages they've done. We are going to continue working on a nuclear. I mean, all the things that we thought we might get. They're going to control the Strait of Hormuz, all of this. you work in news. You've worked in news, all your life. Have you ever seen anything less? Sure. In your life in terms of getting the straight scoop of what's happening.
Fred Jackson Yeah, very confusing on the weekend. You know, President, Trump was supposed to go to one of his son's weddings on the weekend, and President Trump made a big deal saying, no, I need to stay in Washington. So, boy, I got that signal that something big is going to happen this weekend. We're finally going to get a big announcement on a deal. Then the weekend began to unfold and we were back to the toing and froing between the United States saying, you know, we're close to a deal, and then the Iranians coming back and saying, well, no, we're not going to give up our uranium enrichment. no, we're winning this. We are going to control the Strait of Hormuz. You know, you mentioned a date, February 28th. I think you said the bombing started. You know, the Strait of Hormuz was open on February 27.
Tony Vitagliano Right.
Fred Jackson If the United States is going to define a victory by saying we're going back to the way things were before we started the war.
Ed Vitagliano Right.
Fred Jackson That's not going to go down.
Ed Vitagliano Well, no.
Fred Jackson I mentioned to you there was somewhere along the way the Babylon Bee, the official agency satirical site. It is, it is. and it went something like this. I don't have it in front of me. President, Trump says the escalating gas prices were worth it to have the Strait of Hormuz open, which is the
Ed Vitagliano way it was before.
Fred Jackson Yeah, the gas prices escalated, not to mention the $29 billion that have spent taxpayers money. Now, listen, the Iranians are very. The Iranian regime is extremely evil. But it's very politically savvy. You know, these aren't a bunch of people living in tents on the desert.
Ed Vitagliano Right.
Fred Jackson They're very smart. They understand that President Trump is under tremendous domestic pressure to wrap this thing up.
Ed Vitagliano Right.
Fred Jackson So, you know, the President has to find a way to get out of this. We've talked about this over the last couple of weeks to get out of this very soon. Because it is an election year.
Ed Vitagliano Right.
Fred Jackson so he's. If he comes out of this with saying the straight of Hormuz is open and traffic can get through and there's not going to be tolls, it's a gift to the Democrats, quite frankly, heading into this election period.
Ed Vitagliano Because that's the situation as you made the point and the Babylon Bee made the point. That was the situation before we went to war.
Fred Jackson Yes, right, yes.
Ed Vitagliano So nothing's changed except for.
Fred Jackson Yeah. And there was even some rumors that President Trump maybe was going to lift some sanctions on Iran that came out during the weekend, which resulted in former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the first Trump administration saying, you know, comparing this to this is what Obama did.
Tony Vitagliano Right.
Fred Jackson And, the White House went ballistic over that. Using language that we can't use on a Christian radio station.
Tony Vitagliano Right.
Fred Jackson things are in real flux right now. Krish was just pointing out we had more bombing on the weekend. so people are just wondering, okay, I think the American people do want this to wrap up. Yeah. No question about it. Gas prices being one reason, but they want this to wrap up. But number two, what are the Iranians going to get out of this? There was a story in the Jerusalem Chronicle this morning quoting a statement from the regime.
Fred: I don't see a way out of this where Trump can declare victory
And this may be an indication of where their thinking is. They said Israel will be gone in 15 years. So if you are thinking they are scared that they are about to retreat, think again. We may not understand this thinking, but that is where their heads are. They still believe Israel is evil and that the United States is evil. So, this, I think this is a real dilemma for the, for the White House right now.
Ed Vitagliano Well, and Tony, the Iranians have taken our best shot.
Ed Vitagliano Okay. They know we're not sending ground troops in there. That would be suicide. Nobody. It'd be incredibly costly in terms of manpower to invade that country because of the terrain, and just tens of thousands would die. That's not going to happen. So we've hit them basically from the air with everything we've got. They've been left standing. We have used a significant percentage of Our missile and drone capability are, you know, these aren't dumb, dumb bombs. It's not artillery shells that you fire, you know, you know, from a Paladin. And then it, it just goes where it goes. These are precision munitions. I've heard estimates it could 10 years to replace what we have spent. So that's the first thing Iran has taken our best punch. They're still standing. The irgc, the Islamic, Revolutionary Guard Core still in power. Nobody else has really weapons in terms of the populace. They can't launch, a coup. They're still entrenched. Moreover, to Fred's point, Fred mentions the mentality, the Persian mentality going all the way back to the Parthians with Rome was to attack, feign a, retreat, draw the forces into the desert, continue to hit them, and it's a war of attrition. That just seems to be the Persian mindset. And I think they have used that to their advantage. They know they can't go toe to toe with our military, but they don't have to. So I am not sure how the president gets out of this without this being a political disaster, in terms of, what the Democrats will be able to say about him. a disaster economically because of the high gas prices, high food prices have remained up high. And politically speaking, the other side of this is how much support is the president going to lose? We're not just talking about them midterms, but going forward in terms of people who voted for maga, but they don't see much. America first right now.
Tony Vitagliano I don't see, I agree with both of your, both of you gentlemen, your assessments. I don't see a, a way out of this where Trump can declare victory in any way. I've seen some, again, some about conflicting reports. Trump or somebody in the administration was saying they're going to give us the uranium. and then, you know, the. Someone else with the Iranian regime comes in and says, no, we're not. So really at this point, the, the uranium, getting the uranium is the only, is the only form of victory that Trump could, could claim because otherwise opening the strait is not, it's, it's not going to be a, a claim to victory.
Ed Vitagliano because that was the status quo.
Tony Vitagliano That was the status quo before. Correct. And you're absolutely right what this is going to do. Even if, even if Iran hands over the uranium, some of the uranium, Iran will have the notch on their staff of having withstood the full force and might of the United States. Military and we will have left. It's just a fact. We will have left. They will have and it will be a victory for them. Now I've said this before, maybe a Pyrrhic victory in 10 years. I don't know if you know, that regime still looks the way they do now. because we have hurt them economically and will continue to hurt them. And I think we'll see an exodus of nations wanting to transport their goods through the strait and try to find other means to acquire the resources that were normally passing through there because of this. But for now, this is something the Iranian regime is going to claim and this is part of this, this is a miscalculation on our part because what we're seeing, still seeing today is that the Iranian regime is split into factions. Now I'm reminded of at the end of World War II, they were still, after, even, even after the war was over, they were still finding Japanese soldiers on islands.
Ed Vitagliano Yeah.
Tony Vitagliano holed up, who had no indication that the war was over. They were just told, you stay there and you fight to the, to the death. And so they find these Japanese soldiers holed up in these caves with no indication that the war is over in Japan had surrendered. And so that's the way a lot of these factions are operating in the same mentality which is, I don't care what Tehran is saying, I don't care, we've got missiles, we've got drones, we're going to keep launching them. I don't care what they're saying, on the news about, you know, a deal is possible or no, they're just going to keep doing what they feel like they're supposed to do because they are ideologically driven. So yeah, the path for victory is, is very narrow for Trump, if it's there at all in my opinion at this point. And we're just gonna have to see how this thing shakes out.
One thing that relates to all this is what Fred mentioned a moment ago
Chris Woodward one thing that relates to all this is what Fred mentioned a moment ago, gas prices. I want to mention that briefly. The all time high for diesel in this country, was set on June 19th in 2022. It was $5.81. That's the highest recorded average price. We are days away from reaching that point right now with diesel, which to
Ed Vitagliano the point the broader point that Fred was making and we the show, everyone's making this point. Diesel runs trucks. Trucks run our economy.
Chris Woodward Yeah.
Ed Vitagliano So we're talking about prices staying elevated and maybe even going up at the grocery store if truckers have to pay more when they deliver their goods.
Chris Woodward Yeah. Whatever you're buying from a store got there thanks to, diesel fuel. But when you look at regular gasoline, the national average for a gallon of regular today is $4.49. That's almost a dollar fifty more than it was this time last year.
Ed Vitagliano And people are feeling that. And, Now listen, I'm just going to say President Trump has an amazing knack of, snatch. Snatching victory out of the jaws of defeat. I think I'm using the expression correctly. If. Fred, I'll give you the last word on this, and Krish can take us to wherever else we need to go if there's got more sound on this story or whatever. But, if President Trump. Because to me, this is what victory looks like to justify the expense. The regime is gone. Okay. Because of what you said. They're saying Israel will be gone. Now, the. Tony's point, maybe it takes some time for that to happen. Okay. I'm okay with that. But they cannot support, continue to fund these revolutionary terrorist organizations that. I want that to be, to happen. They don't have a nuclear, program anymore. And the Strait of Hormuz stays open. No tolls, none of that. The only way you get that is for that regime to be gone because they are ideologues. These are radicals. Their whole reason for living is to see revolution spread all over the world. And I don't see virtually any of that happening with this regime still in power. And now Tony makes a good point. There are factions that are at play here, and maybe the economic pressure, maybe that's what President Trump is hoping causes that regime eventually, you know, or maybe quickly to collapse, but it doesn't look like that's happening. I don't think this, or I don't think this. I don't think this regime makes any deal with the president.
Fred Jackson No. In fact, I see them coming out of this, their foothold on control in that country even stronger. M After this because they all celebrate when the American Navy heads home and straight to Hormuz is open. They, will, with the help of China, with the help of Russia, they will rebuild very quickly.
Tony Vitagliano Yeah.
Fred Jackson And they're already speaking like they've won this.
Tony Vitagliano Yeah.
Fred Jackson Like the statement they made this morning with regards to Israel. They're talking like, we won this.
Tony Vitagliano Yeah.
Fred Jackson Israel will be gone in 15 years. So, if you're. If you're.
Ed Vitagliano Excuse me, if you're a person on the street who is hoping for freedom and you see the American Navy Leave and the, regime celebrating. You realize you and your kids are never going to be free.
Fred Jackson Well, and this goes back, and I hope this is not the case, but I'm afraid the Democrats have been handed a great way of campaigning. They're m going to go back to what President Trump said prior to the attack. Remember, he said to those who wanted to get some relief from that brutal, regime, he said, help is on the way.
Ed Vitagliano Yeah.
Fred Jackson So they're going to bring that back. The Democrats I'm talking about, they're going to talk about Hormuz, they're going to talk about the $29 billion spent on this. I'm afraid, I hope I'm wrong. I'm afraid that the Democrats are going to have a very strong argument that
Ed Vitagliano this was a mistake as opposed to now. Traditionally, we've said historically, the party out of power wins the midterms. They gain seats. Yes, okay, but if we do not, if we did not go to war with Iran, we have gas prices coming down, prices at the grocery store weren't coming down. But if the, if the president and the Republican Party had been seen as working on that, this could have been a very different midterm election with the economy headed in the right direction and no wars anywhere.
Fred Jackson Yeah.
We're not a mouthpiece for any political party. Our job is to discuss politics the best we know how
Ed Vitagliano All right, we're going to continue here. we're going to take our break. and folks, listen, I know some of you get frustrated when we appear to be critical of the president. Our job is to discuss politics the best we know how. And we are, as opposed to the, liberal mainstream media. We're not a mouthpiece for any political party. Okay? So we side with biblical values, for the most part, conservative ideas, and we call them as we seize them. So, give us, give us some grace here, folks. most of us are big fans of this administration and all the wonderful things President Trump has done, in terms of pro life and protecting women in sports, all those kinds of things. but this is a situation that, that requires, a fair and balanced perspective. We think we're given that. So come back. We'll be right back.
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Two Texas senators are in a runoff today for U.S. senate
All right, Krish, we beat the Iran story to death again. Let's move on.
Chris Woodward All right, let's go to Texas now, where two guys are in a runoff today, for the Republican nomination for U.S. senate. Senator, Jon Cornyn is one of the two candidates. Attorney General Ken Paxton is the other. And these two survived a, recent primary and they're in a runoff today. The winner of this is going to face a Democrat whose name is James Talarico. I have some sound from him in a moment, but first let's, hear a little bit from Cornyn and Paxton talking about one another.
Fred Jackson Clip 4 Were he to be the nominee and be exposed to general election voters, especially independents, I think it's going to be a very rocky time. There will be an incredible tsunami of Democratic funds coming in, against Paxton were he the nominee.
Ed Vitagliano This argument is made by Jon Cornyn because he's having trouble in his own primary. There's no data that suggests that he's right. As a matter of fact, most of the polling suggests I'll do as well or better than Jon Cornyn. Secondly, I've already won three statewide races in a row, some of them by large margins. So that's ridiculous.
Chris Woodward Now, looking at the poll here, there have been some stories out, that show Paxton is leading Cornyn, into today's, runoff. as a matter of fact, a new poll from Qantas Insights, shows Paxton with a lead right now over Jon Cornyn. But a lot can happen between now and seven or eight o' clock whenever, counts, end, as I Mentioned. The winner of this is going to face James Talarico, who is a smooth talking Democrat, that likes to even talk about the Bible and quote scripture to try to justify things like abortion and transgenderism, gender, sexuality. Don't take my word for it.
Ed Vitagliano Clip 8 He recognizes that there are many more than two biological sexes. In fact there are six. God is both masculine and feminine and everything in between. God, is non binary. Our southern border should be like our front porch. There should be a giant welcome mat out front and a lock on the door. Oh, wow. All right, well, let's set aside his blasphemy about God. God. God does not have a gender. Gender is related to sex. He reveals himself according to masculine pronouns and masculine, personality. He reveals himself as, as a, as a father. He refers to himself as he, but to say that he's non binary is a blasphemous statement. I'm sure I'm not expressing the theology, very well. I'm not a theologian, but that anyway, I'm going to set that aside here on James Talarico. We're going to hear a lot more of that kind of garbage, that leftist garbage that quotes the Bible without believing it. Without believing the Bible. but let's get back to the Corn and Paxton part of this and then we can, we can talk about Talarico. We will eventually be talking about Talarico.
President Trump endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton ahead of Tuesday's primary
but Fred, this is a very interesting race. We just saw Thomas Massie go down. President Trump played, I think a pivotal role in Massie's defeat. the President has come out in support of, Ken Paxton. I kind of like what both of these candidates said. Cornyn and Paxton. Cornyn is right. But this is true about all primaries, especially Republican primaries. That is the most conservative voters, who vote in the Republican primary. It's the most liberal oftentimes in the Democratic side. So there is a difference between the voters that come out for a primary and the voters that come out for a general election. So I think Cornyn does have, a good point to make there. But Paxton comes back and says, yeah, I've already won statewide elections. So the polls are showing Paxton up. The one I, that I read this morning from Yahoo News shows, Paxton up by nine points. That's, that's you know, far beyond, I think the margin of error. what do you think is going to. I'm not saying you put on your prognosticators, Cap, but I think Paxton might pull this off?
Fred Jackson Well, I think to put it simply, Texas is Trump country.
Tony Vitagliano Right.
Fred Jackson Trump endorsed Paxton. that's kind of where the story's going.
Ed Vitagliano Yeah.
Fred Jackson and Cornyn really ticked off the president on a couple of issues. Cornyn, I don't understand it. Why he was opposed to building the border wall.
Ed Vitagliano Yeah.
Fred Jackson I just don't understand that politically. You're in Texas.
Ed Vitagliano Yes.
Chris Woodward Why it's like being opposed to gun.
Fred Jackson Why would you say that? now he's changed his mind since then. But you know, there is a reason why Trump endorsed Paxton. they are in sync on the issues. And I think what you're going to see, is Paxton will win this and the Democrat doesn't have a chance of defeating a Republican. That's my prediction.
Ed Vitagliano well, Tony, one of the things that's always important about primaries and the general election, but turnout, turnout makes all the difference. you've got to have turnout, you got to have your base turnout. And I think to Fred's point, I think the the base in Texas is not going to come out in favor of someone who wants open borders. And Paxton's had some of his own issues.
Tony Vitagliano Yes.
Ed Vitagliano but I, I think he might win this. We have to wait and see because turnout makes all the difference. And it seems to me that the turnout probably be in favor of whoever Trump endorses.
Tony Vitagliano Yeah, I think it's Fred's assessment there's not a whole lot more to be said about the primary. I think the Republican Party, or the base at least is still for the time being, in Trump's camp. And Trump dictates the direction that we go. Now there have been some exceptions, you know, but as far as certain parts, I'd say certain. This applies more to certain parts of the country. It definitely, whoever Trump goes for is the direction that the voter typically, typically goes for. And as far as Talarico goes, you know, Democrats, I think we talked about this on the break. Democrats get excited about Texas like Republicans sometimes get excited about California and they're almost always bitterly disappointed. Disappointed, because it just. There's a certain culture there, that you're just never gonna break through unless you drop your ideological, foundations. I guess if you just. If a Democrat wants a chance in Texas, they've got to stop sounding insane. That's just saying they have to stop espousing these leftist woke talking points just as much. And to me there's two ideological, worldviews. In motion, just like the Democrats and the left can't drop those. It would be like asking. And in my opinion, it'd be like asking a Republican running in California. If you want to have a chance to win California, you got to drop the pro life talk. You got to drop the, you know, traditional, marriage talk. If you want to have a chance to win in California, you got to do that. And it's like, well, we're not going to. And I think that's the way the left, it seems to be the way they view all their races in Texas and any of these deep red states as well. We're not going to drop that. We, you know, women should have a right to abortion. And, you know, transgenderism is an important issue, and we need to do everything we can to support this. So it's just.
Ed Vitagliano Listen, what Talarico said, the clip that Krish played, one of the things he said was he believes that our border policy should be like, our front porch should have a welcome mat on the front porch and the door locked. Yeah, that makes no sense.
Chris Woodward I guess he's in favor of border security if he wants the door locked.
Tony Vitagliano That's my exact setup at my house. I have a welcome mat, but the door is locked. So. Well, the only thing he was missing was the ring camera looking at you, before you come in.
Chris Woodward I do think, the one concern about Talarico is, and this is just one of many examples we've brought in and played clips of him, oftentimes getting into biblical topics. M. And that's really a concern for a lot of people in Texas and really across the country. I've been here 16 years, and we've always done stories and we've heard people come on this show and other programs on afr, and they talk about how a lot of Christians today are biblically illiterate.
Tony Vitagliano It.
Ed Vitagliano Right.
Chris Woodward And so when you take into account that topic and this guy comes out and says things and it's like, yeah, that makes sense. And you don't realize that's not what God says in the word. And so that is a concern. And also, if he were to win hypothetically, I do think you're going to see Democrats pump a ton of money into candidates next year. You saw who win if Talarico were to win the. And become a senator.
Tony Vitagliano Yeah, yeah.
Chris Woodward you're going to see Mississippi dump, a bunch of money behind a Democrat next year running for governor. You know, a lot of state. I don't have to tell people this, but Democrats, controlled the south into, through, and after the Civil War for a long time.
Tony Vitagliano Right.
Chris Woodward as a matter of fact, in Mississippi, we've had four Republican governors since Reconstruction, and that's all been in the last 35 years. Democrats, they,
Chris Doom: I think Paxton has a good chance of winning in Texas
the south voted for Carter in 76.
Ed Vitagliano Oh, yeah.
Chris Woodward so this is a part of the country that Democrats used to control. And if he wins, God forbid, you're gonna see people dump a ton of money into candidates. And I would be shocked if Talarico is not speaking at the 28 convention. and people are saying whether he
Ed Vitagliano wins or not, he's such a great
Chris Woodward moderate and an example and all this, you know, they're gonna give him the Obama treatment that he got in 2008.
Ed Vitagliano All right, I got a couple of things to say, and then we can move on. the first thing, in terms of Paxton, Cornyn versus Paxton, I think that by and large, the Republican Party and the base, they either don't like the war in Iran or they are tired of it. They are very concerned about the economy and the direction it's going, but they still trust the president. They still. They're still fans of Donald Trump. So when he endorses a candidate that. That carries a lot of weight still, I don't see that going away anytime soon. They love Donald Trump. They see, they think he's a fighter. I think his support on these two issues has probably slipped, but it's. It's not. It's not underwater with the base. So let me just say that that's why I think Paxton has a very good chance of winning. second of all, to Krish's point about Talarico in Texas. Now, I understand what you're saying, Tony. I don't necessarily disagree with it, but I think the Democrats have a stranglehold in California. Republicans have a strong grip on Texas, but it's not. Not as. As much as the Democrats in California. My concern for someone like Talarico is amongst younger people in this country. I'm not sure what generations we're talking about. Millennial and below. I think they're very disenchanted. I think someone young and, well, as well spoken as Talarico is, especially when he couches it. It in biblical language. I think he could. I think he could pry a lot of young people in Texas loose because they're concerned, about their future.
Tony Vitagliano Yeah, I'm not trying to give them any ideas, and I'm sure, I don't know if their campaign advisors have ever suggested this but, if. If someone like a Talarico were to take a purely, I don't want to call it America first, but take a purely economic and political angle and leave the social issues to the side. Transgender, transgenderism, you know, abortion, abortion, all of that, and focus on, you know, making. Getting an economy that works for people, you know, want health care to be affordable for people. We want, you know, jobs for. If they were to take that approach, you would definitely have. You would do what you're saying, which is pull. Pull even more people, maybe even away from Republicans. but it's just they. They can't.
Ed Vitagliano They can't let it go.
Tony Vitagliano They can't let it go. And I think even there's a. There's a. A large subset of young people who are tired of. Tired of the woke. Tired of woke. Yeah, so. So the, you know, he's talking about, you know, making health care affordable, you know, making the. Getting the economy back where it needs in. Young people are listening. Yeah. Yeah, I like that. And then you say, and then we need to pay for transgender surgeries for all, and just you lose. You lose people. And I think that's just what they can't do for some. Yeah.
Ed Vitagliano Can't let go. Let it go. All right, Krish, anything else on that?
Chris Woodward no. but, we do plan on being here if the Lord tarries, throughout the day to cover the, the runoff in Texas.
Ed Vitagliano Hey, if the Lord wants to come back today, I'm ready.
Chris Woodward I'm happy to be promoted to the Good News Network.
Ed Vitagliano Absolute good news.
Chris Woodward Yeah, I'm tired of being Dr. Doom and Gloom.
Federal court puts on hold Alabama plan for new congressional districts
All right, in other news, Fred posted this on our website just before the show. You know, we've been hearing a lot about efforts in states to look at redistricting. Well, a federal court today has put on hold an Alabama plan for new congressional districts. and I bring this up because, given that it's a federal court, it could be used as an argument to block efforts in other states that are looking at redistricting. here. All of this, of course, comes after, Supreme Court rulings. that's, redistricting. If you're going to do it for race and stuff like that is wrong. I'm paraphrasing a whole lot here over the past couple of weeks, but, a three judge panel today, ruled that, Alabama's plan to redistrict is, being put on hold. so that's definitely one big wrinkle here. and, this comes at a time, the same time that the NAACP is wanting black athletes to boycott sporting events in states that are looking to redistrict. What's interesting with that effort, the NAACP's call for a boycott. To my knowledge, that organization didn't say anything about California or Virginia redistricting. They just have a problem when it's a southern state wanting to do it.
Ed Vitagliano Well that's a shocker, Fred. It's, it's a shocker for a left wing organization to ignore the redistricting. Listen, Massachusetts I think has like 35 or 40% Republicans, in the state they got 00, representatives because they've locked that down in terms of their districts. so this. I, I personally don't like gerrymandering. It's been around since like 1812 in this country. This has been a thing. it is kind of frustrating that a lot of these court cases are go working through just before an election. I know this, this has been going on for a while, in some of these states. But some of these things may not happen before the election. May have, you know, the states, Alabama may be stuck with its, you know, 20, 24, you know, districts because they can't get through the, the legal process. Anyway. What's your take on the this?
Fred Jackson I do agree with the United States Supreme Court decision that districts should not be shaped according to racial component. I think the original intent of this was to ensure that everybody, regardless of race, gets a chance to vote.
Ed Vitagliano Right.
Fred Jackson But we saw that case in Louisiana that drove the United States Supreme Court decision. it looked like a snake had been created and they just went down from north to south it seemed. And okay, majority population black here, we'll take that in. It just looks so obvious that this was going on. I think what, today's federal court decision, ah, some of it's based on timing that you can't, not now, after you've decided on districts, make a switch. because some people got a vote in a primary very soon or if they haven't already. So it's a timing issue, I think that's going on. This federal court decision today didn't say that redistricting is wrong. They just put a hold on it based on some concerns that they have with timing. That's what's going on here. But as I say, I agree with the United States Supreme Court decision. let's leave race out of this. Create your districts. Because as you just pointed out in Massachusetts, Republicans basically don't Have a home.
Tony Vitagliano Right.
Fred Jackson When it. When it comes to federal elections. So, that's the kind of thing that you want to avoid.
Ed Vitagliano here's my take on this. I haven't heard anyone say this, so this could be original with me.
Fred Jackson Oh, yeah.
Ed Vitagliano So that's right. Get ready. All right. I think you. I think that the law should be. I have no idea whether this is a good idea or not, but it's my idea, so you guys are going to hear it. I think the law should say in every state, you can make districts any way you want. They got to have four corners. That's. That's what you got to do. So you're going to have squares or rectangles, going horizontal or vertical, but no more snakes. The original one that was drawn in Massachusetts in 1812 look like a salamander. That's how we get the word gerrymander. It was Elbridge Jerry, I think was.
The Supreme Court said you can't gerrymander on the basis of race
His. Was the. The man's name who was in charge of this districting. And it looked like a salamander. So it's called gerrymandering. So you can't have anything that looks. It's got to have four corners, and that's the way you divide up the state. And that means sometimes you're going to have a majority of this race, a majority of that race or whatever, but you can't draw it so that it looks like anything that doesn't have four corners. And that. That way you prevent these. These obvious snakes and salamanders and octopuses and everything octopi that. That are so obviously meant to favor one group or another. Well, all right.
Tony Vitagliano If this is enacted in the future, they'll say, oh, look at. Look at Illinois over there.
Ed Vitagliano Yes, Illinois got Battagliano. Yeah, that's. That's my take on this issue. And the way I. I can understand from, this, This is already going to get me in trouble. From a black person's perspective. I know a white person not supposed to say that, but I would think that you could go from a situation in which black people are given their one district in Louisiana. Now, you be satisfied with that, and then the rest of the state is going to vote in a way that you. You won't like. I would think that you would prefer to have five districts that are 40% black. And guess what? You want to win, you got to go to the black community and say, well, what do you want? And all of those. Now, what do I know? I don't know what it's like to Grow up black in America. But I don't think it's, I don't think it's a bad thing that the Supreme Court said you can't just gerrymander on the basis of race. I think the point is you want to be represented, you want your voice heard. And if members who are running for statewide office have to come to your town and your city and say, listen, this is what I'm thinking. What do you think that that's a good thing anyway, yeah, that's all. Let's tag the anno the rest of this half hour.
Supreme Court rejects Florida's attempt to sue California over truck driver licenses
Chris Woodward In other legal news, the Supreme Court court today rejected Florida's attempt to sue California and Washington state over the issuance of commercial driver's licenses to truckers who don't speak English and are in the country illegally. Florida's. Florida, resident and legal expert and radio host Jenna, Ellis has actually talked about this effort on her program with people in positions of authority in Florida. And so this is an update to something she's talked about and we've even discussed with her on this show. Florida wanted to do something about the people in California, for example, that are just being given a truck driver license. Even though they can't speak English. They don't know what signs are saying. and yes, trucks from California do go down to Florida and vice versa. If you've ever been on i40, you'll see a ton of California trucks go in one direction and you'll see, you know, trucks from other states going the other direction. and so this is unfortunately, the Supreme Court has said, ah, we're not gonna let this case, continue here. I'd be shocked if we don't hear Jenna talking to somebody from Florida on this, issue tomorrow on her program. I've not run it past her, but I'd be shocked.
Fred Jackson I think the issue here with the Supreme Court decision this morning is they, they don't like the idea of a state suing another state.
Fred Jackson But I'll tell you why. Florida has every right to say we're not going to allow 18 wheeler truck drivers in our state that can't speak English. And by the way, they're in the country illegally. And you know those way stations.
Tony Vitagliano Yeah, right.
Fred Jackson When you're entering Florida. I was driving in Florida recently. They have way stations for these trucks. That's the time when Florida has the right to say, okay, yeah, here's a, here's a, here's a book. Read it to me. Can you can, you understand? Oh, you can't. Oh, by the way, pull over up here. Pull over up here. Your truck stays here. We'll fly you home.
Tony Vitagliano Yeah. Or, or why not just open up the door for them to. For like the state of Florida to sue the companies hiring.
Fred Jackson Yes.
Tony Vitagliano The drivers.
Fred Jackson Yes.
Tony Vitagliano I mean, to me that seems like.
Ed Vitagliano Or find them.
Tony Vitagliano Or find them. Yeah. To me, that's how you get these companies to change their policy is that you make it financially dangerous for them to continue to issue licenses to people who are clearly illegal, illegally, clearly can't speak English and shouldn't have a license.
Ed Vitagliano yeah, because you can't, you can't stop Florida, can't stop California from issuing the driver's licenses. The companies are saying, well, we don't issue driver's licenses either, but you can find the company if you're Florida for saying you shouldn't use people who have a CDL commercial driver's license who can't read English or who are here in the country illegally. So I think that's the, that's the best solution. I think that's a legal solution. And, how we got to this place in 2026 where people can't even read the road signs and they're driving big trucks is insane. All right, folks, we're going to take a five minute break for news and we'll be right back.
Tony Vitagliano Back. The views and opinions expressed in this
Fred Jackson broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of
Tony Vitagliano the American Family association or American Family Radio.
The American Family Association's mission is to strengthen moral foundations of our culture
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Ed Vitagliano inform, equip and activate individuals to strengthen the moral foundations of our culture.
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Ed Vitagliano Thank you for standing with the American Family Association. Welcome to Today's Issues. Join us for the next hour as we offer a Christian response to the
Fred Jackson issues of the day.
Ed Vitagliano Here's your host, Ed Vitagliano and good morning everybody.
Today's Issues features Fred Jackson and Tony Vitagliano
Welcome to Today's Issues. Ed Vitagliano sitting in for Tim Wildmon. This week I am joined in studio by Fred Jackson. Good morning, Fred.
Fred Jackson Good morning. Yes, I'm here to dry out from the weekend.
Ed Vitagliano Yes, we're going to have some, we're going to have some news, at the top here of the show about how wet it has been. It is, it has been wet. Tony Vitagliano, good morning to you. And then Krish Woodward is our news guy. Good morning to you, Krish. Hello. Hello. That's that high, high energy, Krish. yeah, it is. It has been wet and it doesn't look like there's much of a, of a let up. did you guys have, your, a good Memorial Day weekend?
Fred Jackson Oh, absolutely. Despite the, the rain. Able to do a little bit of grilling outside? Yeah, you know, just did some reading. Got a new Joel Rose Berg book, a new Rosen book, a new Rosenberg book. Say that fast and I can't.
Ed Vitagliano So listen, that when you can just relax, we, it. I'm not, I'm assuming you weren't doing that reading. Outside, it was pretty muggy.
Fred Jackson No.
Ed Vitagliano Yeah, no, inside, that's, that's nice.
Fred Jackson Yeah.
Ed Vitagliano Nice recliner.
Fred Jackson Yeah. Yeah, it was nice.
Ed Vitagliano Read a book, take a little nap,
Fred Jackson eat more, turn off the news for a few days.
Ed Vitagliano Yeah, yeah. Nothing wrong with that.
Tony Vitagliano How dare you.
Fred Jackson Yes.
Ed Vitagliano Take a break. In fact, Tim Wildmon, who, who is on vacation, okay. He texted, he texted all of us as he does every night between 10 and midnight stories reading through and getting caught up on, on what's happening. And so I texted him back this morning, I said, aren't, dude, aren't you on vacation? Why are you reading the news when you're on vacation? But anyway, it's when you like it, you like it, you keep up with it.
Fred Jackson So. Yep.
Tony and Chris, how was your weekend
Ed Vitagliano So, Tony and Krish, how was your weekend?
Chris Woodward mine was good. We had a little bit of a break on Saturday. between rainstorms where I was able to clean up our garden patch a little bit. and I'm hoping, we went from a drought and all the tomato plants looking like they were about to die to hello. And, I'm hoping that now they're
Ed Vitagliano not like just drowning.
Chris Woodward Flooded.
Ed Vitagliano Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Tony Vitagliano My weekend was good. Wife, went out of town on a trip. Her family and took, one of our children with her. So I was home with the other, 12. The other 12. And it rained so we couldn't go outside. but the other four, it was, it was good. It was.
Fred Jackson You almost committed a. Something your dad does.
Tony Vitagliano What's that?
Fred Jackson You said you had a good weekend. Your wife went out.
Tony Vitagliano Well, yeah.
Ed Vitagliano Oh.
Tony Vitagliano Oh, well, no, that wasn't why I was good.
Fred Jackson There's a trip off the old block.
Tony Vitagliano No, that wasn't why it was. That was not why it was good. He's probably listening.
Fred Jackson It did.
Ed Vitagliano Did sound like that though, didn't it?
Tony Vitagliano Listen, that's gonna get me in trouble already.
Ed Vitagliano No, listen, when you got four kids left behind, no matter how much peace you have, if your wife's out of town and you're. I say stuck, those kids are angels.
Tony Vitagliano That's a good.
Ed Vitagliano Yeah. No,
Tony Vitagliano not necessarily incorrect.
Ed Vitagliano Yeah.
Chris: Millions of people from Texas through Southeast are expecting rain today
All right. All right, Krish, tell us a little bit about the weather and then we'll get to some of the more serious news.
Chris Woodward Yeah, weather is going to continue to be a factor across much of the country. And I say that based on a Fox Weather headline, from earlier this morning, that millions of people from Texas through the Southeast are expecting rain not only today, but for the next few days, and causing even flooding problems, in various parts of the country. so while we all seem to have had a very dry April, it appears, all of April storms are in the forecast, for the next few days. We're playing some catch up here,
Ed Vitagliano because I mean it if. Right. It rained all last week, didn't it?
Fred Jackson Yeah.
Ed Vitagliano I mean we're going probably. It's going to be two weeks straight. Yeah. Of rain and but anyway, a lot of the south and Texas was suffering from drought like conditions, so they needed it.
Fred Jackson Sure.
Ed Vitagliano Don't know if they needed it as much as they are. They're getting, we're getting, but, all the fields are flooded and this is just, you know, part of. Listen, this is. It's climate, ah, change. We all, we all knew disaster was coming, right?
Fred Jackson Yeah.
Ed Vitagliano That's what we get for driving our SUVs around you know, we were,
Chris Woodward we as a ministry are planning a little bit of a fellowship activity for next Tuesday. And if this rain continues, we might have to forego what is planned and just have like a slip and slide out front because you could certainly do that on the grass outside.
Tony Vitagliano Yeah. Looking out my back door, I'm pretty sure I saw my grass growing as I was looking out there. Just slowly, slowly rot.
Ed Vitagliano Yeah. You can't do anything about it.
Tony Vitagliano Anything about it, yeah.
Fred Bee: There's a lot of news out of Iran over the weekend
Ed Vitagliano All right, let's move on. What else you got, Chris?
Chris Woodward All right, so there's a lot of things that could be the lead story. matter of fact, Fred, just before the show posted a couple of things on AFN Net, which I'll get to at some point, after we begin with news out of Iran, over the weekend. Yesterday really, news broke on Fox News and a whole host of other news outlets, that the US had engaged in what it's called self defense strikes in southern Iran. we took out missile, launchers. we're concerned about boat mines and stuff like that. Strait of Hormuz is another area, we're continuing to focus on. And this caused a lot of confusion because people thought, well, wait a minute, we're in a ceasefire now, we're shooting missiles at them. Again, what's going on here? we don't really know, what's going on. Ah, Trump did come out and say that we're near a deal in Iran. Details have not been announced yet, but we're very close to a deal. some people are concerned that this could be something similar to what came out of the Obama administration. we don't really know. I do have some audio from people like Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who continues to say that whatever deal is reached, it has to involve the Strait of Hormuz being open and Iran not imposing tolls on ships wanting to transport, goods through that area. Clip 1 well, the Straits have to be open.
Ed Vitagliano they're going to be open one way or the other. And there's no country in the world that's a favor of a tolling system, except with the regime in Iran. So that's not acceptable. That means that cannot happen. The straits need to be open unimpeded without tolls. All right, okay, so that. When did we first, I'm not talking about last summer. Was it February 28th when we, we first, in conjunction with, Israel, hit Iran. Okay, so, February, March, April, May. We're looking at three months here so, Fred, I'm going to start with you now. The, Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah, Mojaba Khomeini, I think that's how he pronounces. he's. He's saying the United States is out. I mean, we've been going. This is back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. President Trump says we could have a deal. And then the Iranians do something or say something to indicate, no, we don't. And not only don't we have a deal, what we want is for the United States out to pay for all the damages they've done. We are going to continue working on a nuclear. I mean, all the things that we thought we might get. They're going to control the Strait of Hormuz, all of this. you work in news. You've worked in news, all your life. Have you ever seen anything less? Sure. In your life in terms of getting the straight scoop of what's happening.
Fred Jackson Yeah, very confusing on the weekend. You know, President, Trump was supposed to go to one of his son's weddings on the weekend, and President Trump made a big deal saying, no, I need to stay in Washington. So, boy, I got that signal that something big is going to happen this weekend. We're finally going to get a big announcement on a deal. Then the weekend began to unfold and we were back to the toing and froing between the United States saying, you know, we're close to a deal, and then the Iranians coming back and saying, well, no, we're not going to give up our uranium enrichment. no, we're winning this. We are going to control the Strait of Hormuz. You know, you mentioned a date, February 28th. I think you said the bombing started. You know, the Strait of Hormuz was open on February 27.
Tony Vitagliano Right.
Fred Jackson If the United States is going to define a victory by saying we're going back to the way things were before we started the war.
Ed Vitagliano Right.
Fred Jackson That's not going to go down.
Ed Vitagliano Well, no.
Fred Jackson I mentioned to you there was somewhere along the way the Babylon Bee, the official agency satirical site. It is, it is. and it went something like this. I don't have it in front of me. President, Trump says the escalating gas prices were worth it to have the Strait of Hormuz open, which is the
Ed Vitagliano way it was before.
Fred Jackson Yeah, the gas prices escalated, not to mention the $29 billion that have spent taxpayers money. Now, listen, the Iranians are very. The Iranian regime is extremely evil. But it's very politically savvy. You know, these aren't a bunch of people living in tents on the desert.
Ed Vitagliano Right.
Fred Jackson They're very smart. They understand that President Trump is under tremendous domestic pressure to wrap this thing up.
Ed Vitagliano Right.
Fred Jackson So, you know, the President has to find a way to get out of this. We've talked about this over the last couple of weeks to get out of this very soon. Because it is an election year.
Ed Vitagliano Right.
Fred Jackson so he's. If he comes out of this with saying the straight of Hormuz is open and traffic can get through and there's not going to be tolls, it's a gift to the Democrats, quite frankly, heading into this election period.
Ed Vitagliano Because that's the situation as you made the point and the Babylon Bee made the point. That was the situation before we went to war.
Fred Jackson Yes, right, yes.
Ed Vitagliano So nothing's changed except for.
Fred Jackson Yeah. And there was even some rumors that President Trump maybe was going to lift some sanctions on Iran that came out during the weekend, which resulted in former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the first Trump administration saying, you know, comparing this to this is what Obama did.
Tony Vitagliano Right.
Fred Jackson And, the White House went ballistic over that. Using language that we can't use on a Christian radio station.
Tony Vitagliano Right.
Fred Jackson things are in real flux right now. Krish was just pointing out we had more bombing on the weekend. so people are just wondering, okay, I think the American people do want this to wrap up. Yeah. No question about it. Gas prices being one reason, but they want this to wrap up. But number two, what are the Iranians going to get out of this? There was a story in the Jerusalem Chronicle this morning quoting a statement from the regime.
Fred: I don't see a way out of this where Trump can declare victory
And this may be an indication of where their thinking is. They said Israel will be gone in 15 years. So if you are thinking they are scared that they are about to retreat, think again. We may not understand this thinking, but that is where their heads are. They still believe Israel is evil and that the United States is evil. So, this, I think this is a real dilemma for the, for the White House right now.
Ed Vitagliano Well, and Tony, the Iranians have taken our best shot.
Ed Vitagliano Okay. They know we're not sending ground troops in there. That would be suicide. Nobody. It'd be incredibly costly in terms of manpower to invade that country because of the terrain, and just tens of thousands would die. That's not going to happen. So we've hit them basically from the air with everything we've got. They've been left standing. We have used a significant percentage of Our missile and drone capability are, you know, these aren't dumb, dumb bombs. It's not artillery shells that you fire, you know, you know, from a Paladin. And then it, it just goes where it goes. These are precision munitions. I've heard estimates it could 10 years to replace what we have spent. So that's the first thing Iran has taken our best punch. They're still standing. The irgc, the Islamic, Revolutionary Guard Core still in power. Nobody else has really weapons in terms of the populace. They can't launch, a coup. They're still entrenched. Moreover, to Fred's point, Fred mentions the mentality, the Persian mentality going all the way back to the Parthians with Rome was to attack, feign a, retreat, draw the forces into the desert, continue to hit them, and it's a war of attrition. That just seems to be the Persian mindset. And I think they have used that to their advantage. They know they can't go toe to toe with our military, but they don't have to. So I am not sure how the president gets out of this without this being a political disaster, in terms of, what the Democrats will be able to say about him. a disaster economically because of the high gas prices, high food prices have remained up high. And politically speaking, the other side of this is how much support is the president going to lose? We're not just talking about them midterms, but going forward in terms of people who voted for maga, but they don't see much. America first right now.
Tony Vitagliano I don't see, I agree with both of your, both of you gentlemen, your assessments. I don't see a, a way out of this where Trump can declare victory in any way. I've seen some, again, some about conflicting reports. Trump or somebody in the administration was saying they're going to give us the uranium. and then, you know, the. Someone else with the Iranian regime comes in and says, no, we're not. So really at this point, the, the uranium, getting the uranium is the only, is the only form of victory that Trump could, could claim because otherwise opening the strait is not, it's, it's not going to be a, a claim to victory.
Ed Vitagliano because that was the status quo.
Tony Vitagliano That was the status quo before. Correct. And you're absolutely right what this is going to do. Even if, even if Iran hands over the uranium, some of the uranium, Iran will have the notch on their staff of having withstood the full force and might of the United States. Military and we will have left. It's just a fact. We will have left. They will have and it will be a victory for them. Now I've said this before, maybe a Pyrrhic victory in 10 years. I don't know if you know, that regime still looks the way they do now. because we have hurt them economically and will continue to hurt them. And I think we'll see an exodus of nations wanting to transport their goods through the strait and try to find other means to acquire the resources that were normally passing through there because of this. But for now, this is something the Iranian regime is going to claim and this is part of this, this is a miscalculation on our part because what we're seeing, still seeing today is that the Iranian regime is split into factions. Now I'm reminded of at the end of World War II, they were still, after, even, even after the war was over, they were still finding Japanese soldiers on islands.
Ed Vitagliano Yeah.
Tony Vitagliano holed up, who had no indication that the war was over. They were just told, you stay there and you fight to the, to the death. And so they find these Japanese soldiers holed up in these caves with no indication that the war is over in Japan had surrendered. And so that's the way a lot of these factions are operating in the same mentality which is, I don't care what Tehran is saying, I don't care, we've got missiles, we've got drones, we're going to keep launching them. I don't care what they're saying, on the news about, you know, a deal is possible or no, they're just going to keep doing what they feel like they're supposed to do because they are ideologically driven. So yeah, the path for victory is, is very narrow for Trump, if it's there at all in my opinion at this point. And we're just gonna have to see how this thing shakes out.
One thing that relates to all this is what Fred mentioned a moment ago
Chris Woodward one thing that relates to all this is what Fred mentioned a moment ago, gas prices. I want to mention that briefly. The all time high for diesel in this country, was set on June 19th in 2022. It was $5.81. That's the highest recorded average price. We are days away from reaching that point right now with diesel, which to
Ed Vitagliano the point the broader point that Fred was making and we the show, everyone's making this point. Diesel runs trucks. Trucks run our economy.
Chris Woodward Yeah.
Ed Vitagliano So we're talking about prices staying elevated and maybe even going up at the grocery store if truckers have to pay more when they deliver their goods.
Chris Woodward Yeah. Whatever you're buying from a store got there thanks to, diesel fuel. But when you look at regular gasoline, the national average for a gallon of regular today is $4.49. That's almost a dollar fifty more than it was this time last year.
Ed Vitagliano And people are feeling that. And, Now listen, I'm just going to say President Trump has an amazing knack of, snatch. Snatching victory out of the jaws of defeat. I think I'm using the expression correctly. If. Fred, I'll give you the last word on this, and Krish can take us to wherever else we need to go if there's got more sound on this story or whatever. But, if President Trump. Because to me, this is what victory looks like to justify the expense. The regime is gone. Okay. Because of what you said. They're saying Israel will be gone. Now, the. Tony's point, maybe it takes some time for that to happen. Okay. I'm okay with that. But they cannot support, continue to fund these revolutionary terrorist organizations that. I want that to be, to happen. They don't have a nuclear, program anymore. And the Strait of Hormuz stays open. No tolls, none of that. The only way you get that is for that regime to be gone because they are ideologues. These are radicals. Their whole reason for living is to see revolution spread all over the world. And I don't see virtually any of that happening with this regime still in power. And now Tony makes a good point. There are factions that are at play here, and maybe the economic pressure, maybe that's what President Trump is hoping causes that regime eventually, you know, or maybe quickly to collapse, but it doesn't look like that's happening. I don't think this, or I don't think this. I don't think this regime makes any deal with the president.
Fred Jackson No. In fact, I see them coming out of this, their foothold on control in that country even stronger. M After this because they all celebrate when the American Navy heads home and straight to Hormuz is open. They, will, with the help of China, with the help of Russia, they will rebuild very quickly.
Tony Vitagliano Yeah.
Fred Jackson And they're already speaking like they've won this.
Tony Vitagliano Yeah.
Fred Jackson Like the statement they made this morning with regards to Israel. They're talking like, we won this.
Tony Vitagliano Yeah.
Fred Jackson Israel will be gone in 15 years. So, if you're. If you're.
Ed Vitagliano Excuse me, if you're a person on the street who is hoping for freedom and you see the American Navy Leave and the, regime celebrating. You realize you and your kids are never going to be free.
Fred Jackson Well, and this goes back, and I hope this is not the case, but I'm afraid the Democrats have been handed a great way of campaigning. They're m going to go back to what President Trump said prior to the attack. Remember, he said to those who wanted to get some relief from that brutal, regime, he said, help is on the way.
Ed Vitagliano Yeah.
Fred Jackson So they're going to bring that back. The Democrats I'm talking about, they're going to talk about Hormuz, they're going to talk about the $29 billion spent on this. I'm afraid, I hope I'm wrong. I'm afraid that the Democrats are going to have a very strong argument that
Ed Vitagliano this was a mistake as opposed to now. Traditionally, we've said historically, the party out of power wins the midterms. They gain seats. Yes, okay, but if we do not, if we did not go to war with Iran, we have gas prices coming down, prices at the grocery store weren't coming down. But if the, if the president and the Republican Party had been seen as working on that, this could have been a very different midterm election with the economy headed in the right direction and no wars anywhere.
Fred Jackson Yeah.
We're not a mouthpiece for any political party. Our job is to discuss politics the best we know how
Ed Vitagliano All right, we're going to continue here. we're going to take our break. and folks, listen, I know some of you get frustrated when we appear to be critical of the president. Our job is to discuss politics the best we know how. And we are, as opposed to the, liberal mainstream media. We're not a mouthpiece for any political party. Okay? So we side with biblical values, for the most part, conservative ideas, and we call them as we seize them. So, give us, give us some grace here, folks. most of us are big fans of this administration and all the wonderful things President Trump has done, in terms of pro life and protecting women in sports, all those kinds of things. but this is a situation that, that requires, a fair and balanced perspective. We think we're given that. So come back. We'll be right back.
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Two Texas senators are in a runoff today for U.S. senate
All right, Krish, we beat the Iran story to death again. Let's move on.
Chris Woodward All right, let's go to Texas now, where two guys are in a runoff today, for the Republican nomination for U.S. senate. Senator, Jon Cornyn is one of the two candidates. Attorney General Ken Paxton is the other. And these two survived a, recent primary and they're in a runoff today. The winner of this is going to face a Democrat whose name is James Talarico. I have some sound from him in a moment, but first let's, hear a little bit from Cornyn and Paxton talking about one another.
Fred Jackson Clip 4 Were he to be the nominee and be exposed to general election voters, especially independents, I think it's going to be a very rocky time. There will be an incredible tsunami of Democratic funds coming in, against Paxton were he the nominee.
Ed Vitagliano This argument is made by Jon Cornyn because he's having trouble in his own primary. There's no data that suggests that he's right. As a matter of fact, most of the polling suggests I'll do as well or better than Jon Cornyn. Secondly, I've already won three statewide races in a row, some of them by large margins. So that's ridiculous.
Chris Woodward Now, looking at the poll here, there have been some stories out, that show Paxton is leading Cornyn, into today's, runoff. as a matter of fact, a new poll from Qantas Insights, shows Paxton with a lead right now over Jon Cornyn. But a lot can happen between now and seven or eight o' clock whenever, counts, end, as I Mentioned. The winner of this is going to face James Talarico, who is a smooth talking Democrat, that likes to even talk about the Bible and quote scripture to try to justify things like abortion and transgenderism, gender, sexuality. Don't take my word for it.
Ed Vitagliano Clip 8 He recognizes that there are many more than two biological sexes. In fact there are six. God is both masculine and feminine and everything in between. God, is non binary. Our southern border should be like our front porch. There should be a giant welcome mat out front and a lock on the door. Oh, wow. All right, well, let's set aside his blasphemy about God. God. God does not have a gender. Gender is related to sex. He reveals himself according to masculine pronouns and masculine, personality. He reveals himself as, as a, as a father. He refers to himself as he, but to say that he's non binary is a blasphemous statement. I'm sure I'm not expressing the theology, very well. I'm not a theologian, but that anyway, I'm going to set that aside here on James Talarico. We're going to hear a lot more of that kind of garbage, that leftist garbage that quotes the Bible without believing it. Without believing the Bible. but let's get back to the Corn and Paxton part of this and then we can, we can talk about Talarico. We will eventually be talking about Talarico.
President Trump endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton ahead of Tuesday's primary
but Fred, this is a very interesting race. We just saw Thomas Massie go down. President Trump played, I think a pivotal role in Massie's defeat. the President has come out in support of, Ken Paxton. I kind of like what both of these candidates said. Cornyn and Paxton. Cornyn is right. But this is true about all primaries, especially Republican primaries. That is the most conservative voters, who vote in the Republican primary. It's the most liberal oftentimes in the Democratic side. So there is a difference between the voters that come out for a primary and the voters that come out for a general election. So I think Cornyn does have, a good point to make there. But Paxton comes back and says, yeah, I've already won statewide elections. So the polls are showing Paxton up. The one I, that I read this morning from Yahoo News shows, Paxton up by nine points. That's, that's you know, far beyond, I think the margin of error. what do you think is going to. I'm not saying you put on your prognosticators, Cap, but I think Paxton might pull this off?
Fred Jackson Well, I think to put it simply, Texas is Trump country.
Tony Vitagliano Right.
Fred Jackson Trump endorsed Paxton. that's kind of where the story's going.
Ed Vitagliano Yeah.
Fred Jackson and Cornyn really ticked off the president on a couple of issues. Cornyn, I don't understand it. Why he was opposed to building the border wall.
Ed Vitagliano Yeah.
Fred Jackson I just don't understand that politically. You're in Texas.
Ed Vitagliano Yes.
Chris Woodward Why it's like being opposed to gun.
Fred Jackson Why would you say that? now he's changed his mind since then. But you know, there is a reason why Trump endorsed Paxton. they are in sync on the issues. And I think what you're going to see, is Paxton will win this and the Democrat doesn't have a chance of defeating a Republican. That's my prediction.
Ed Vitagliano well, Tony, one of the things that's always important about primaries and the general election, but turnout, turnout makes all the difference. you've got to have turnout, you got to have your base turnout. And I think to Fred's point, I think the the base in Texas is not going to come out in favor of someone who wants open borders. And Paxton's had some of his own issues.
Tony Vitagliano Yes.
Ed Vitagliano but I, I think he might win this. We have to wait and see because turnout makes all the difference. And it seems to me that the turnout probably be in favor of whoever Trump endorses.
Tony Vitagliano Yeah, I think it's Fred's assessment there's not a whole lot more to be said about the primary. I think the Republican Party, or the base at least is still for the time being, in Trump's camp. And Trump dictates the direction that we go. Now there have been some exceptions, you know, but as far as certain parts, I'd say certain. This applies more to certain parts of the country. It definitely, whoever Trump goes for is the direction that the voter typically, typically goes for. And as far as Talarico goes, you know, Democrats, I think we talked about this on the break. Democrats get excited about Texas like Republicans sometimes get excited about California and they're almost always bitterly disappointed. Disappointed, because it just. There's a certain culture there, that you're just never gonna break through unless you drop your ideological, foundations. I guess if you just. If a Democrat wants a chance in Texas, they've got to stop sounding insane. That's just saying they have to stop espousing these leftist woke talking points just as much. And to me there's two ideological, worldviews. In motion, just like the Democrats and the left can't drop those. It would be like asking. And in my opinion, it'd be like asking a Republican running in California. If you want to have a chance to win California, you got to drop the pro life talk. You got to drop the, you know, traditional, marriage talk. If you want to have a chance to win in California, you got to do that. And it's like, well, we're not going to. And I think that's the way the left, it seems to be the way they view all their races in Texas and any of these deep red states as well. We're not going to drop that. We, you know, women should have a right to abortion. And, you know, transgenderism is an important issue, and we need to do everything we can to support this. So it's just.
Ed Vitagliano Listen, what Talarico said, the clip that Krish played, one of the things he said was he believes that our border policy should be like, our front porch should have a welcome mat on the front porch and the door locked. Yeah, that makes no sense.
Chris Woodward I guess he's in favor of border security if he wants the door locked.
Tony Vitagliano That's my exact setup at my house. I have a welcome mat, but the door is locked. So. Well, the only thing he was missing was the ring camera looking at you, before you come in.
Chris Woodward I do think, the one concern about Talarico is, and this is just one of many examples we've brought in and played clips of him, oftentimes getting into biblical topics. M. And that's really a concern for a lot of people in Texas and really across the country. I've been here 16 years, and we've always done stories and we've heard people come on this show and other programs on afr, and they talk about how a lot of Christians today are biblically illiterate.
Tony Vitagliano It.
Ed Vitagliano Right.
Chris Woodward And so when you take into account that topic and this guy comes out and says things and it's like, yeah, that makes sense. And you don't realize that's not what God says in the word. And so that is a concern. And also, if he were to win hypothetically, I do think you're going to see Democrats pump a ton of money into candidates next year. You saw who win if Talarico were to win the. And become a senator.
Tony Vitagliano Yeah, yeah.
Chris Woodward you're going to see Mississippi dump, a bunch of money behind a Democrat next year running for governor. You know, a lot of state. I don't have to tell people this, but Democrats, controlled the south into, through, and after the Civil War for a long time.
Tony Vitagliano Right.
Chris Woodward as a matter of fact, in Mississippi, we've had four Republican governors since Reconstruction, and that's all been in the last 35 years. Democrats, they,
Chris Doom: I think Paxton has a good chance of winning in Texas
the south voted for Carter in 76.
Ed Vitagliano Oh, yeah.
Chris Woodward so this is a part of the country that Democrats used to control. And if he wins, God forbid, you're gonna see people dump a ton of money into candidates. And I would be shocked if Talarico is not speaking at the 28 convention. and people are saying whether he
Ed Vitagliano wins or not, he's such a great
Chris Woodward moderate and an example and all this, you know, they're gonna give him the Obama treatment that he got in 2008.
Ed Vitagliano All right, I got a couple of things to say, and then we can move on. the first thing, in terms of Paxton, Cornyn versus Paxton, I think that by and large, the Republican Party and the base, they either don't like the war in Iran or they are tired of it. They are very concerned about the economy and the direction it's going, but they still trust the president. They still. They're still fans of Donald Trump. So when he endorses a candidate that. That carries a lot of weight still, I don't see that going away anytime soon. They love Donald Trump. They see, they think he's a fighter. I think his support on these two issues has probably slipped, but it's. It's not. It's not underwater with the base. So let me just say that that's why I think Paxton has a very good chance of winning. second of all, to Krish's point about Talarico in Texas. Now, I understand what you're saying, Tony. I don't necessarily disagree with it, but I think the Democrats have a stranglehold in California. Republicans have a strong grip on Texas, but it's not. Not as. As much as the Democrats in California. My concern for someone like Talarico is amongst younger people in this country. I'm not sure what generations we're talking about. Millennial and below. I think they're very disenchanted. I think someone young and, well, as well spoken as Talarico is, especially when he couches it. It in biblical language. I think he could. I think he could pry a lot of young people in Texas loose because they're concerned, about their future.
Tony Vitagliano Yeah, I'm not trying to give them any ideas, and I'm sure, I don't know if their campaign advisors have ever suggested this but, if. If someone like a Talarico were to take a purely, I don't want to call it America first, but take a purely economic and political angle and leave the social issues to the side. Transgender, transgenderism, you know, abortion, abortion, all of that, and focus on, you know, making. Getting an economy that works for people, you know, want health care to be affordable for people. We want, you know, jobs for. If they were to take that approach, you would definitely have. You would do what you're saying, which is pull. Pull even more people, maybe even away from Republicans. but it's just they. They can't.
Ed Vitagliano They can't let it go.
Tony Vitagliano They can't let it go. And I think even there's a. There's a. A large subset of young people who are tired of. Tired of the woke. Tired of woke. Yeah, so. So the, you know, he's talking about, you know, making health care affordable, you know, making the. Getting the economy back where it needs in. Young people are listening. Yeah. Yeah, I like that. And then you say, and then we need to pay for transgender surgeries for all, and just you lose. You lose people. And I think that's just what they can't do for some. Yeah.
Ed Vitagliano Can't let go. Let it go. All right, Krish, anything else on that?
Chris Woodward no. but, we do plan on being here if the Lord tarries, throughout the day to cover the, the runoff in Texas.
Ed Vitagliano Hey, if the Lord wants to come back today, I'm ready.
Chris Woodward I'm happy to be promoted to the Good News Network.
Ed Vitagliano Absolute good news.
Chris Woodward Yeah, I'm tired of being Dr. Doom and Gloom.
Federal court puts on hold Alabama plan for new congressional districts
All right, in other news, Fred posted this on our website just before the show. You know, we've been hearing a lot about efforts in states to look at redistricting. Well, a federal court today has put on hold an Alabama plan for new congressional districts. and I bring this up because, given that it's a federal court, it could be used as an argument to block efforts in other states that are looking at redistricting. here. All of this, of course, comes after, Supreme Court rulings. that's, redistricting. If you're going to do it for race and stuff like that is wrong. I'm paraphrasing a whole lot here over the past couple of weeks, but, a three judge panel today, ruled that, Alabama's plan to redistrict is, being put on hold. so that's definitely one big wrinkle here. and, this comes at a time, the same time that the NAACP is wanting black athletes to boycott sporting events in states that are looking to redistrict. What's interesting with that effort, the NAACP's call for a boycott. To my knowledge, that organization didn't say anything about California or Virginia redistricting. They just have a problem when it's a southern state wanting to do it.
Ed Vitagliano Well that's a shocker, Fred. It's, it's a shocker for a left wing organization to ignore the redistricting. Listen, Massachusetts I think has like 35 or 40% Republicans, in the state they got 00, representatives because they've locked that down in terms of their districts. so this. I, I personally don't like gerrymandering. It's been around since like 1812 in this country. This has been a thing. it is kind of frustrating that a lot of these court cases are go working through just before an election. I know this, this has been going on for a while, in some of these states. But some of these things may not happen before the election. May have, you know, the states, Alabama may be stuck with its, you know, 20, 24, you know, districts because they can't get through the, the legal process. Anyway. What's your take on the this?
Fred Jackson I do agree with the United States Supreme Court decision that districts should not be shaped according to racial component. I think the original intent of this was to ensure that everybody, regardless of race, gets a chance to vote.
Ed Vitagliano Right.
Fred Jackson But we saw that case in Louisiana that drove the United States Supreme Court decision. it looked like a snake had been created and they just went down from north to south it seemed. And okay, majority population black here, we'll take that in. It just looks so obvious that this was going on. I think what, today's federal court decision, ah, some of it's based on timing that you can't, not now, after you've decided on districts, make a switch. because some people got a vote in a primary very soon or if they haven't already. So it's a timing issue, I think that's going on. This federal court decision today didn't say that redistricting is wrong. They just put a hold on it based on some concerns that they have with timing. That's what's going on here. But as I say, I agree with the United States Supreme Court decision. let's leave race out of this. Create your districts. Because as you just pointed out in Massachusetts, Republicans basically don't Have a home.
Tony Vitagliano Right.
Fred Jackson When it. When it comes to federal elections. So, that's the kind of thing that you want to avoid.
Ed Vitagliano here's my take on this. I haven't heard anyone say this, so this could be original with me.
Fred Jackson Oh, yeah.
Ed Vitagliano So that's right. Get ready. All right. I think you. I think that the law should be. I have no idea whether this is a good idea or not, but it's my idea, so you guys are going to hear it. I think the law should say in every state, you can make districts any way you want. They got to have four corners. That's. That's what you got to do. So you're going to have squares or rectangles, going horizontal or vertical, but no more snakes. The original one that was drawn in Massachusetts in 1812 look like a salamander. That's how we get the word gerrymander. It was Elbridge Jerry, I think was.
The Supreme Court said you can't gerrymander on the basis of race
His. Was the. The man's name who was in charge of this districting. And it looked like a salamander. So it's called gerrymandering. So you can't have anything that looks. It's got to have four corners, and that's the way you divide up the state. And that means sometimes you're going to have a majority of this race, a majority of that race or whatever, but you can't draw it so that it looks like anything that doesn't have four corners. And that. That way you prevent these. These obvious snakes and salamanders and octopuses and everything octopi that. That are so obviously meant to favor one group or another. Well, all right.
Tony Vitagliano If this is enacted in the future, they'll say, oh, look at. Look at Illinois over there.
Ed Vitagliano Yes, Illinois got Battagliano. Yeah, that's. That's my take on this issue. And the way I. I can understand from, this, This is already going to get me in trouble. From a black person's perspective. I know a white person not supposed to say that, but I would think that you could go from a situation in which black people are given their one district in Louisiana. Now, you be satisfied with that, and then the rest of the state is going to vote in a way that you. You won't like. I would think that you would prefer to have five districts that are 40% black. And guess what? You want to win, you got to go to the black community and say, well, what do you want? And all of those. Now, what do I know? I don't know what it's like to Grow up black in America. But I don't think it's, I don't think it's a bad thing that the Supreme Court said you can't just gerrymander on the basis of race. I think the point is you want to be represented, you want your voice heard. And if members who are running for statewide office have to come to your town and your city and say, listen, this is what I'm thinking. What do you think that that's a good thing anyway, yeah, that's all. Let's tag the anno the rest of this half hour.
Supreme Court rejects Florida's attempt to sue California over truck driver licenses
Chris Woodward In other legal news, the Supreme Court court today rejected Florida's attempt to sue California and Washington state over the issuance of commercial driver's licenses to truckers who don't speak English and are in the country illegally. Florida's. Florida, resident and legal expert and radio host Jenna, Ellis has actually talked about this effort on her program with people in positions of authority in Florida. And so this is an update to something she's talked about and we've even discussed with her on this show. Florida wanted to do something about the people in California, for example, that are just being given a truck driver license. Even though they can't speak English. They don't know what signs are saying. and yes, trucks from California do go down to Florida and vice versa. If you've ever been on i40, you'll see a ton of California trucks go in one direction and you'll see, you know, trucks from other states going the other direction. and so this is unfortunately, the Supreme Court has said, ah, we're not gonna let this case, continue here. I'd be shocked if we don't hear Jenna talking to somebody from Florida on this, issue tomorrow on her program. I've not run it past her, but I'd be shocked.
Fred Jackson I think the issue here with the Supreme Court decision this morning is they, they don't like the idea of a state suing another state.
Fred Jackson But I'll tell you why. Florida has every right to say we're not going to allow 18 wheeler truck drivers in our state that can't speak English. And by the way, they're in the country illegally. And you know those way stations.
Tony Vitagliano Yeah, right.
Fred Jackson When you're entering Florida. I was driving in Florida recently. They have way stations for these trucks. That's the time when Florida has the right to say, okay, yeah, here's a, here's a, here's a book. Read it to me. Can you can, you understand? Oh, you can't. Oh, by the way, pull over up here. Pull over up here. Your truck stays here. We'll fly you home.
Tony Vitagliano Yeah. Or, or why not just open up the door for them to. For like the state of Florida to sue the companies hiring.
Fred Jackson Yes.
Tony Vitagliano The drivers.
Fred Jackson Yes.
Tony Vitagliano I mean, to me that seems like.
Ed Vitagliano Or find them.
Tony Vitagliano Or find them. Yeah. To me, that's how you get these companies to change their policy is that you make it financially dangerous for them to continue to issue licenses to people who are clearly illegal, illegally, clearly can't speak English and shouldn't have a license.
Ed Vitagliano yeah, because you can't, you can't stop Florida, can't stop California from issuing the driver's licenses. The companies are saying, well, we don't issue driver's licenses either, but you can find the company if you're Florida for saying you shouldn't use people who have a CDL commercial driver's license who can't read English or who are here in the country illegally. So I think that's the, that's the best solution. I think that's a legal solution. And, how we got to this place in 2026 where people can't even read the road signs and they're driving big trucks is insane. All right, folks, we're going to take a five minute break for news and we'll be right back.
Tony Vitagliano Back. The views and opinions expressed in this
Fred Jackson broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of
Tony Vitagliano the American Family association or American Family Radio.
Ed, Tony and Fred talk with Chris on top news headlines of the day including a discussion on President Trump and Iran.
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