Welcome to Today's issues on Wednesday, May 27, 2026

>> Fred Jackson: Welcome to Today's Issues. Join us for the next hour as

>> Ed Vitagliano: we offer a Christian response to the

>> Chris Woodward: issues of the day.

>> Fred Jackson: Here's your host, Ed Metagliano.
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>> Ed Vitagliano: And welcome to Today's issues on Wednesday, May 27, 2026. I'm joined in studio by Fred Jackson. Good morning, Fred.

>> Fred Jackson: Good morning, Ted.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Tony Vitagniano in the house. Good morning. Yeah. And then Krish Woodward. Good morning to you, Krish. Hello. And Steve, Jordal is not feeling well. He's a little under the weather. So we're gonna have, we're gonna have 90 minute Krish. Not 60 minute Krish. 90 minute Krish. No, sorry. No comments. Yeah, sorry. Just go to apologize.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Been training his whole life.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, yeah, he's done that. He's done this a, ah, time or two. you know, sometimes people forget that, you know, we have a, I'd say a relatively small staff, Fred, for all the work that American Family News does.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And so when someone is out sick,

>> Fred Jackson: it's ah, it makes a dent.

>> Ed Vitagliano: It's a big deal.

>> Fred Jackson: It is very much my previous station, before moving here I had about, 12 people just to cover one province.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Oh my goodness. Really?

>> Fred Jackson: And so, we have about, Oh, I think we. Eight, I'll say eight full time people covering the whole country.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah. Here, Here. Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah. And around the world.

>> Fred Jackson: And around the world. And we're thankful nothing's happening.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Which will ironically begin to cover provinces in Canada soon.

>> Fred Jackson: Coming story. That's a great tease. Yeah, Think Alberta, Think Canada's Texas.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Oh, yeah, yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: There's a story coming.

>> Ed Vitagliano: There's a story coming today or.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, we can discuss that. We actually had reaction this morning from the president of a Christian college in Canada.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, let's do it. Let's do. I know Krish has got other things we'll talk about, but let's, we're on it.

Alberta has set a date in October to vote on separating from Canada

Let's talk about it.

>> Fred Jackson: Well, the story is this. The premier of Alberta, Canada. okay, let me back up. Yeah. Alberta is the Texas of Canada. What do we know Texas for conservative values. Ah, kind of independent spirit, all of that. Well, another reason is Alberta, has a lot of oil. Yeah, a lot of oil and gas. Albertans overall are kind of ticked. Yeah, they're upset with the central government, the federal government. They're giving much more money to the federal government than they're receiving. And the federal government has under former prime, Minister Trudeau and now Carney, who is a globalist, a climate change type individual. They don't like oil and Gas. So there is, there's great, well, there's anger in Alberta to the point that the Premier of Alberta has set a date in October for the people of Alberta to take a vote. It would be an initial vote to move towards separating Alberta from the country of Canada.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And we still don't know whether that's possible.

>> Fred Jackson: We don't know whether it's possible. So this would be an initial vote in October. this would have obviously a tremendous impact on the rest of the country as well because Alberta is very rich. Imagine if Texas decided we're going to separate from the rest of the country, what impact that would have. So yeah, this is going on. our reporter Chad Groening has been covering this and will continue to cover this. the Prime Minister is trying to sweet talk. One of the things that Alberta wants is to build a pipeline to the west coast.

>> Ed Vitagliano: west coast of Canada.

>> Fred Jackson: The west coast of Canada, so that it can deliver oil to other markets.

>> Fred Jackson: we can pump. Alberta can pump oil down to the United States, obviously through Montana and other states. And Trump loves that. Trump loves Alberta. Yeah. One of the first visits he had, starting his second term of office was from the Premier of Alberta. So he loves Alberta, would like to do a deal. He's called 51st State, up there, which I'm not sure the Albertans are there. Yeah, there are challenges to that. You know, if, if it was to become a reality. Alberta's landlocked. It has Saskatchewan in the east, British Columbia in the west, and obviously Montana to the south and you get into territories to the north. So it doesn't have a, an avenue right now. Would have to go through other jurisdictions to get their products out, that sort of thing. So we'll have to wait and see. But they're serious about this idea. They're kind of fed up with the rest of Canada or the central government. And we're going to get the first manifestation as to how they really feel about this in this vote in October.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, it is a struggle that is going on throughout, Western civilization, I will say Europe and then North America to some extent, Central and South America, where Western, ideals are by and large the foundation of culture and government. There is a struggle going on as to how big freedom loving people want to let their federal government get and how controlling it's going to be. And do they allow their culture to go all the way to socialism? or maybe they don't want it to happen. And like in Venezuela, it just happens by force. So that's. I'm interested in this. That's why when you mentioned it I thought, let's talk about that. Because that is the same battle that's being fought state by state in this country.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And then depending on who gets the White House and who's in control of Congress, what happens in terms of the power of the federal government versus states and localities. So it is a battle. So I just, I like the, I like that, I like the idea of Albertans standing up for themselves. And Tony is. I don't think this is a struggle that goes away in Western culture. Probably the pendulum swings back and forth. but we talk a lot here at AFA and conservatives do. God fearing Americans.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Talk about it. You don't want the state to become God. And for people on the left, more and more that seems like the way they view the state.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Yeah, I think if anything, I don't know, you know, Fred probably feels the same way. I don't see this materializing in any real sense as far as Alberta actually voting to secede and leave. but if anything it could get them, it'll get the attention of the Prime Minister and the Canadian government to maybe get them more of what they've been wanting and address, address their grievances, so to speak. But I mean Alberta, northern Montana, I mean, you know, Trump, Trump's got a lot of options when he leaves the presidency anyways. Got Venezuela, could be the, the Prime Minister of Alberta. I mean a lot of people, apparently a lot of people want him.

>> Chris Woodward: Come the other day, if he was on the ballot in Israel, he would be elected.

>> Tony Vitagliano: I was trying to think of the other. Yeah, he's got, he's got options.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah. Don't forget Greenland and Greenland.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Y. Oh my goodness. Don't forget Cuba.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Everybody wants them. Everybody wants them.

>> Chris Woodward: In all seriousness, Fred and I were talking about this last week when we first got wind of the Alberta story that he just shared.

People in Quebec have long wanted to be their own thing

I would be shocked if this doesn't inspire the people in Quebec, who have long wanted to be their own thing, to say, you know what, we should leave too. And then all of a sudden Canada becomes fractured. Right. And that's going to inspire other people.

>> Ed Vitagliano: The people in Quebec, or Quebec depending on how you pronounce it, they've been talking about this. I remember this when I was in high school.

>> Chris Woodward: Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: They were talking because they're the only French speaking province. Right. Kind of culturally different.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, very much so. you may remember way back many years when senior Trudeau was Prime Minister, the Pierre. Yes. Charles de Gaulle came. The French president came and he said in French, viva, la France freedom or Quebec freedom or whatever the case was. And Trudeau at the time understood that there would be civil war if he allowed de Gaulle to stay. And he chased him out of the province, sent him back to France. At that time, there has been some very serious separatist. There was a. I believe it was a cabinets minister, this goes back many years, who was found dead in the trunk of a car at a airport there.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Wow.

>> Fred Jackson: There was an assassin assassination associated with separatists. Now today, Quebec has its own federal party, the Party Quebecois. they are a fairly powerful party in parliament, and that threat is forever there. If you don't give us what we want, we will not vote with the party in power.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: So there's, there's great kind of dynamics in Canada right now.

What do you think is the likelihood that the United States fractures

>> Ed Vitagliano: All right, well, let me just. Since we're. This, this was kind of haphazard. We didn't plan this. So I'm just going to toss this out to all three of you. Fred, we'll start with you. what about the U.S. there's been talks. I mean, the divisions in this country are serious enough that people on the left talk about when, wherever we're in power, we're going to pack the Supreme Court, we're going to snap up Puerto Rico, make it a state, we're going to make Washington D.C. a state because those will be blue states. And so the members of Congress and the senators that come from those, will deepen, our hold on the country. packing the Supreme Court, changing the electoral College. there's talk, always some little talk about Texas seceding. What do you think, is the likelihood in the next 10 or 20 years that, that the United States fractures? I'll toss this then Tony and Krish. We'll let Krish talk.

>> Fred Jackson: I think the elements of that fracturing are already here. when you look at how different Florida is from NewSong York, we talk red states, blue states, that sort of thing. But look what's happened in NewSong York City. We're gonna probably talk a little bit more about this during this program today, about what their new mayor, Mamdani, is proposing in the way of ownership of buildings.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Fred Jackson: I mean, we've talked about his plan for government run grocery stores, etc. He's stepping that up even further. So we're talking about, you have the largest city in the United States now, which has gone hard left socialist. Alright. So there's already fracturing going on. I'll tell you what worries me. When I saw the reaction on our university campuses to the massacre of Israeli men, women and children In October of 2023, within 48 hours there were pro Hamas demonstrations on our university campuses. That was a scary manifestation of where these kids minds are. Khrushchev said. Russian leader Khrushchev many years ago, he said America would fall without a shot being fired.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Fred Jackson: When I saw that, it was very clear Khrushchev was right. It's not so much a rebellion with arms, m not a civil war. It is a taking over of people's minds by a strong socialist mentality. And that's where I think America's in danger right now. Because of where our young people who have been indoctrinated, starting at our schools, onto our universities to hate America.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: Hate capitalism era. Hate the ideals that America was founded upon. And so they are tomorrow's leaders.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: How did Mamdani get elected?

>> Tony Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: In this country, this capitalist capital of the world, how did they elect a far left socialist?

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, I'll tell you, one of the things that the autopsy, so to speak, following that noted, was that native born NewSong Yorkers did not go in large numbers for Mamdani, but foreign born, voters did.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes.

>> Ed Vitagliano: So when you open the floodgates.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes.

>> Ed Vitagliano: not only for illegals but those coming in on visas and so on and so forth, you can undermine, you can undermine the country that way too.

>> Fred Jackson: Minneapolis is another example. So you have these far left radical enclaves, with people now taking political control in those states. Then you have those university indoctrination. That's the thing that I've been talking about that worries me.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: You know, God is still in control. And yes, we're a Christian nation and we understand that and we believe it with our hearts. But I do get concerned with how things are changing in this country. I saw it in Canada before I left there.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: I saw the movement, to the far left. Trudeau. Trudeau took it to another young. Trudeau took it to another level up there. We talked about this, I think yesterday when Trudeau stopped the truckers protest, you

>> Ed Vitagliano: know, seized bank accounts.

>> Fred Jackson: Seized bank accounts, all that sort of thing. Somebody sent me a video, a good friend sent me a video the other day that was pretty scary. This was out of British Columbia. This was a guy who has, he kind of has, you know, a presence on social media. Very conservative points of view. According to this video. And I haven't been able to verify it. He was pulled over by police in Vancouver and they had a psychiatrist with them. And the police said, we are ordering you to take a psychological examination at a hospital in Vancouver, because of your points of view.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Are you serious?

>> Fred Jackson: This is what the video says. he said he's sitting in his car.

>> Ed Vitagliano: So they didn't just pull him over for speeding.

>> Fred Jackson: Oh, no, no, no, no.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Found him.

>> Fred Jackson: They found him. They knew who he was based on his public statements.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: And they pull him over. The video is of him sitting at the wheel in his car talking to this person who is sitting over in the, in the, the right side of the seat, the front seat. And they're basically saying, you're coming with us because we're going to, put you under a mandatory psychological examination.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Wow.

>> Fred Jackson: Now if that's true and people scoff at that, that'll never happen in North America. Never happen here. Think again. There are people who are losing their jobs for their Christian points of view. Now the courts, I often think of that. Fire chief in Atlanta.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, that's way back.

>> Fred Jackson: That's way back. That's. Yeah, yeah.

There is still an element that wants to take control in this country

Remember that story?

>> Tony Vitagliano: Yep.

>> Fred Jackson: You know, he, he was holding, I think Bible study meetings on his own time.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: He was putting things on his social.

>> Ed Vitagliano: He wrote a book.

>> Fred Jackson: He wrote a book. M. They fired him. His fire chief. Now, I think he got some reconciliation through the court.

>> Ed Vitagliano: He won in the courts, but it was a demonstration. The court.

>> Fred Jackson: That's right.

>> Ed Vitagliano: If you pack the court and you change those courts.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes.

>> Ed Vitagliano: It's game over.

>> Fred Jackson: So, we cannot debate the fact there is an element that wants to take control in this country.

>> Fred Jackson: Look what Trump underwent during the four years of the Biden administration.

>> Ed Vitagliano: True.

>> Fred Jackson: You talk about weaponization of government. We saw it then. So that element is still very much there and associated with one particular party.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

Tony Shannon: The idea that states don't need each other is dangerous

All right, Tony, then Krish.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Yeah, I think about, we had, one of our associate pastors speak on Luke chapter 10, this past Sunday, the parable of the, Good Samaritan. And of course it begins because Jesus was asked by somebody, well, who is my neighbor? Right. And so it was really good, really good message about, mercy. And you know, your, your neighbor is, a lot of times your neighbor, for a Christian, is anybody, who God is leading you to help. And I, think about that mentality and you mentioned the upcoming generations, lacking that mentality about loving your neighbor. And it starts locally and it starts small. And if you notice people just aren't as friendly to one another on a small scale local they may be. Around here it's a little different, right? We still have Southern hospitality, but overall people are just cold towards each other. And I think that manifests itself in a large, in a community at, large and then in cities. And then finally I'm going to kind of link this back to your original question to the states. So you ask the people in Florida, do you really need the people in NewSong York? And they're going to say, no, we don't need them. You know, Texas would say we don't need California. And what's funny is I love Mississippi, right? I'm dying the wool Southern boy. I love living in Mississippi. When I hear people in Mississippi say we don't really need California, I'm like, yeah, you do. First of all, our economy is not as a fraction of California's. We definitely need the, you know, we get a lot of help from the federal government. We definitely need the income that California brings in. So this idea that we don't need each other, is dangerous. That's also a kind of mental and psychological fracture that's happening where states feel like, you know, what we don't need, you know, forget about them, we don't need them. if they're doing this, we're going to do the opposite. and that's just dangerous. You reach a level of growing cold towards one another, and the fractures begin to materialize or begin to deepen. So that when a administration, comes in who's over the federal government and they start enacting policies and legislation that you don't like, then you find finally just have states that say, enough, we don't need everybody else, we'll do our own thing. We're not following this rule. And that's when things start to unfortunately, get ugly. So yeah, it starts to me, it starts with the heart. And the nature of the matter in our country is spiritual.

>> Ed Vitagliano: well, and Jesus said about the end times, but I think it's a general principle, of any time of crisis that because lawlessness increased, people's hearts grew cold. And that went during times of crisis and struggle that is typical of human behavior. Ah. And I'll just say this one thing and then we'll let Krish, chime in here. But people who think that a civil war in this country would be what we need just are ignorant of history, because an actual hot civil war, we kind of Have a cold civil war right now. Hostility and disagreement. But when bloodshed happens, innocent people die all the time. In civil wars, you think it's going to be the person who deserves it, but oftentimes it's the innocent bystanders, kids and whatnot. And civil war is always bloody and painful, and it doesn't always end the way you think it's going to end.

>> Tony Vitagliano: It's a good, it's not cut and dry either. Yeah, I mean, you look at the Spanish Civil War, if you want to know what more modern civil wars look like in Western. I'm talking about in western civilization. you know, look at the Spanish Civil War. There were multiple fractures on, factions on each side. And then eventually those factions started to turn on each other. And it's just, it's, it's just not, it's not a good thing.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And so to your point, it's a spiritual problem at its root. The devil always piles on And tries to cause maximum amount of destruction and ruin and death. And Christians need to remember that. Our neighbor, the point, Shannon Tucker is the associate pastor who, preached Sunday. Wonderful sermon. We need to remember it was the good Samaritan, right? The hated Samaritan that Jesus points out, who actually fulfills the second great commandment, loving his neighbor as himself. So we need to remember that our calling as Christian is, to love our enemies. That doesn't mean we have to accept what they are doing and we can't fight against what is in our minds biblically evil. But we need to be careful that we also don't let our hearts grow cold. And we are the ones who walk by somebody who is in need because that person is just as likely to, become a Christian as you were. Right, Krish? Yeah. You got 60 seconds.

>> Chris Woodward: I can do this. First of all, everything Tony said about states needing a state like California is spot on. California is the world's fourth largest economy. You are a fool. If you're going to sit at somewhere else and go, they just need to go do their own thing. Because how do you think the federal government is going to make that tax revenue back? They're going to tax you. Sadly though, I have long felt that we will not make it to 2050 with these 50 states intact. Given the divided country that we were in, we very well could see somebody say, see you, in 29, depending on how the election goes.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Yeah, you heard it here, folks. Krish says we have until 2050 to get it together.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Anyway, listen, this is a good conversation when we come back, folks, we're going to a short break for news when we come back. Or we have a couple of announcements. Not for news. we're going to get back to the news and talk about what's wrong with our country and what's wrong with the world. but remember to pray for our country and remember that God says, when my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray and forsake their evil ways and turn to him, that's when he begins to heal the land. All right, we'll be right back.

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Issue contributors share their thoughts on today's featured news stories

This is today's Issues. Email your comments to commentsfr.net Past broadcasts of today's issues are available for listening and viewing in the [email protected] now back to more of today's issues and welcome back Ed Vitagliano sitting in for Tim Wildmon. This week, I'm joined in studio by Fred Jackson, Tony Vitagliano and Krish Woodward. I have to confess something to our audience here. I just, what I just did here during the break is a little embarrassing. We were talking. Our conversation in the first segment started off talking about Alberta, Canada, and possibility of a movement of independence there. And my son asked about hockey teams in Alberta. And I did know about the Calgary Flames. But then I turned to Fred and said, what about Edmonton, the city of Edmonton? What province is that in? He said, yeah, Alberta. So that is an embarrassing, lack of geographical knowledge and, Europeans didn't

>> Tony Vitagliano: have to bring it up. Well, I just want. Look, I'm like our listening audience. They were probably, unless they're from Canada. They're like, yeah, I don't.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, but I bet you they've heard of Wayne Gretzky.

>> Ed Vitagliano: They've heard of Wayne Gretzky, but. Yeah, but Europeans all the time. Probably Canadians, too, but Europeans all the time are talking about how little Americans know about anywhere else other than their own country. And so that was pretty embarrassing. I did have to know the provinces of Canada growing up.

>> Tony Vitagliano: But, there's a reason. There's a reason for that. What.

>> Ed Vitagliano: What's the reason?

>> Tony Vitagliano: We don't need to know much about the rest of the world. Rest of the world's trying to get here, America. All right.

>> Chris Woodward: Your metric system.

>> Ed Vitagliano: That's right. All right. We need to get back this. Tim's always saying we need to get back on track here. So what's our first. Our first news story?

President Trump is having a Cabinet meeting on Iran today

>> Chris Woodward: Okay. All right. this hour, President Trump is having a Cabinet meeting, to discuss a number of issues. A lot of reporters are there because they expect Iran to be a big topic of discussion between the president and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, maybe War Secretary Pete Hegseth. the list goes on from there. I've got some audio from one of the people that's, keeping a close eye on this situation. It's Andrew Harding of the Heritage Foundation. And here is Andrew on Fox talking about what he expects to hear from today's meeting.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Clip 8 I expect President Trump will make very clear to the Cabinet just how successful his peace through strength approach has been on Iran and how it's delivering results. We've seen the success of Operation Epic Fury in degrading Iran's military, economic fury in crippling the Iranian economy, and what you could call diplomatic fury in ensuring that Iran is finally coming to the table with meaningful proposals. While the US Coordinates with its allies and partners combined, this is maximizing American leverage to ensure that Iran is unable to get a nuclear weapon. So I think the president will be able to align the administration and his cabinet on what the next steps will be like. And this is not preferable when the administration is talking about specific details on what an agreement would look like, rather than Iran sending such horrible counter proposals in which the president throws them out after reading the first sentence. who is that?

>> Chris Woodward: That's Andrew Harding of the Heritage Foundation.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Okay. Well, Fred and I don't know why we always use ladies names for this. You can be either a Susie Sunshine or a Debbie Downer. And Andrew, there was Susie Sunshine because that was a very sunny take on, ah, what's probably going to happen in Iran. because it does. The negotiations do not seem to be going well. I will. I will freely admit here that if the president is. President Trump is able to pull off a substantial deal in terms of no nuclear weapons program in Iran. They open the Strait of Hormuz. They, refuse to, agree not to fund terrorist organizations, and. Good grief, if he gets regime change, I will. I'll take you out to lunch. Okay. Tim's always throwing out a promise, but it doesn't look like we're trending in that direction.

>> Fred Jackson: No, not at all.

>> Ed Vitagliano: I'm just being honest about it.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, no, not at all. I, don't think, definitely. Let's go down that list that you just gave. There will not be regime change.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Not anytime soon.

>> Fred Jackson: No, that's not going to happen. I think you'll get the Strait of Hormuz open again, although the Iranians are still questioning that, saying, you know, that we're going to control. And I think it was, KT McFarlane Carlin, this morning was talking about that situation. former security, advisor. And she was saying if Iran was able to maintain control there, I, think she named five other places in the world that are now freely flowing, naval areas, for shipping. they would start controlling those areas as well. So that would be very dangerous. So I think Hormuz opens. I think there will be some kind of commitment, at the very least, of monitoring the Uranians when it comes to enrichment of uranium. they may get that. I think this Cabinet meeting today is all about getting his troops in line. Here's the plan. Here's what we can live with. Here's probably what we're going to agree to. Now, I want all of you men and women gathered around this table. You're going to help me sell this to the American.

>> Ed Vitagliano: But now there's going to be cameras at this, meeting, isn't there?

>> Fred Jackson: There may. There may be a session afterwards, but right now, the meeting is 40 minutes into the meeting already. there. There's nobody covering this, so cameras aren't allowed in this right now. So I think this is what this meeting is designed, is to get. Get his team on board with this so they can go out there and help sell it, because there have been Republicans. I'm going back last weekend when these deals were being talked about, saying, you know, if we don't. If we don't get control, if we don't give Iran, get Iran to give up its uranium development, this campaign has not been worth it.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: So he's got to get at least his inner circle, his cabinet, in line with whatever he believes, believes is a good deal and they have to go out and sell it.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, Tony, I think Fred's exactly right. You've got to get, you've got to have a message. And the American people want to hear where we're headed with this. it helps only a little bit. Okay. Because a lot of Americans are tired of the high gas prices. Except we talked about that, already this week. Okay. So. But you do have to get a message going forward and some idea to the American people of where you want this to go. But you do have, you do have Republicans, some Republicans who are all, who are all war all the time. They're the war channel. Okay. They want President Trump to bomb Orion into oblivion and the civilization, as, President Trump once posted on social media.

President Trump is meeting with Iranian leaders to discuss nuclear deal

you said something yesterday during a break, I hope, I hope you don't mind talking about it, that you think that now that we're there, we should see this through and continue the economic squeeze on Iran to, wring out some additional, concessions from them. What's your take on what you think is going to come out of this meeting and what you personally think the Trump administration should do?

>> Tony Vitagliano: Yeah. So if you've kind of picked up on my, my opinions or my takes on this, this war, you've probably picked up that I'm not, I wasn't, I wasn't a fan of it at the beginning. I still am not, I'm not big on it. I'm just, I'll throw that out there. I don't mind, I don't mind saying that. I mean, it's my, it's my opinion, but I have actually, I, I, at this point, because of, because of what is proposed as the deal. I mean, the, the, the Iranian state media, which, you know, take a lot of what they say with a grain of salt. They released this morning the detail, they leaked the details of a memorandum of understanding and the bullet points basically was like we've talked about. The Strait of Hormuz is open. Iran still controls it. they'll, they're planning to allow free flow of ships, you know, the normalcy return in about a month, the US Removes all its forces from the vicinity. Basically, it's, it's the Iranian checklist. Now. The White House has since come out and said, you know, that's not true. Don't believe whatever they're saying. You know, take it with a grain of salt.

>> Chris Woodward: So.

>> Tony Vitagliano: But, but those terms, if that is any shadow of the deal that's actually going to be, released and signed by the US And Iran, then I, I kind of go back and forth on this. I don't, I don't, you know, if I even want that. We have to understand the damage that's been done. I'm gonna get a little worked up here among, keep myself contained. The damage that's been done economically is already done. At this point, I am kind of of the mind, why don't we just keep. We should just keep the blockade in place and just collapse Iran's economy. I mean, it's not going to get. Things aren't going to magically turn around for our economy just because the Strait of Hormuz opens up, will be feeling the effects of inflation on food for the next 12 to 18 months of these three months. Now, there's an argument to be made, well, if we keep going, it gets worse. But my point is, is we're going to come out of this with nothing, Honestly, with a regime that's still in place. The hardliners are even more entrenched. They'll be even more committed to when they get back, get their facilities back online, funding the proxies in the area, and we're back to square one. So to me, I am kind of of the mind if I'm not. I'm not for boots on the ground. I'm not for military intervention. But if we can just sit there and park our ships right there and make all of the storage facilities of Iran fill up with oil and then make them gum up their, their, their drills and their wells or make them have to shut down production so that it takes them two months to get production back up whenever it finally ends. If to me, we should try to cripple their economy because we've already crippled and hobbled the global economy and our own. I just, I don't know. That's my take on it. At this point. If the deal is any semblance of what Iran put out, if there is no uranium, I don't want their word on.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Tony Vitagliano: We're not going to enrich uranium.

>> Ed Vitagliano: They're liars. Oh, they're going to.

>> Tony Vitagliano: They're lying. They have facilities that these UN inspectors and these independent inspectors will never see. they'll go right back to where they were.

>> Ed Vitagliano: and this is Israel's take on.

>> Tony Vitagliano: This is Israel's take on.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Tony Vitagliano: So I don't want any of that unless the ira, the uranium is brought on a boat, to us, to me. Anything less than that is. We're not getting, we're not getting anything. We didn't accomplish anything. So that's my hot take. There you go.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Okay, so we will, we will wait to see. I'm sure there'll be plenty. If they do have cameras, eventually, I'm sure the President will share with the American people what they're looking for. And, and I, I think I, I think this is, it's about time that we get that. Hopefully that's what we get in, in the, in response to, what this big Cabinet meeting is all about. All right, Krish, you got anything else on that?

>> Chris Woodward: No.

Ken Paxton defeated Senator John Cornyn in a runoff for Texas Senate nomination

>> Ed Vitagliano: All right, let's move.

>> Chris Woodward: Well, from one oil producing, country to another. let's go to Texas, where last night Ken Paxton, defeated Senator Jon Cornyn in a runoff for the Republican, nomination. this will decide who's going to face off with, James Talarico in November in the general election. Jon Cornyn, has been in the U.S. senate for a long time now, I think four terms. he was the incumbent here. Ken Paxton has for a very long time been the Attorney General for the, state of Texas. and Ken Paxton got Donald Trump's endorsement going into yesterday's runoff. That seems to have really helped him. And he won. It was, it was not close. He won, by as much as 30 points, depending, on the, trackers that you're looking at. Let's begin with some audio from Jon Cornyn. This is him talking after last night's, defeat.

>> Fred Jackson: Clip 1 I've always supported the Republican ticket and I intend to do so again in this general election.

>> Ed Vitagliano: I've said throughout this race that I

>> Fred Jackson: trust the voters of Texas and they've made their decision and I must respect it.

>> Chris Woodward: So Ken Paxton comes out, does the victory speech, as anybody would after winning a big race like this. and Paxton, wasted no time going after his Democratic Challenger this November.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Clip 2 My opponent is the most extreme radical that Democrats have ever nominated.

>> Chris Woodward: James Talarico is a threat to everything

>> Ed Vitagliano: we hold dear in this state and in this country. He's a threat to our security and our safety. He wants open borders. He's a threat to our children. He wants boys in girls sports, gender mutilation system, surgery performed on kids. He's a threat to our very way

>> Chris Woodward: of life and our values. Now, what he just said there about Talarico, Fox had a big, graphic a minute ago with Talarico's face on one side and all the stuff Paxton just mentioned, on the right. And it is indeed stuff he is on the record as saying.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well Fred, good on Senator Cornyn. He's been in office. He's been a US senator since 2002. So as Krish, said, that's four terms, 24 years he served the people of Texas. Became a little bit controversial, here at the end. And President Trump, I think, demonstrated his political punch.

>> Fred Jackson: Yep.

>> Ed Vitagliano: it doesn't always work out the way President Trump wants, but he has racked up some big wins in terms of his political influence still in the Republican Party. And we mentioned yesterday that MAGA and even those in the Republican Party outside of the MAGA movement, they trust the President.

>> Fred Jackson: Yep.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And that was demonstrated. So good on Cornyn for being gracious and supporting his primary, opponent Ken Paxton and supporting the Republican ticket. And good on Senator to be Senator Elect Paxton for going right after his political opponent.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, the people of Texas are going to have a very clear choice, when it comes to this Senate race. Talarico, he is far, far left. Oh yeah, I think he's a graduate of Presbyterian Seminary, or he's taking courses there.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And not the good kind.

>> Fred Jackson: And not the good kind. Yes, not the good kind. oh, and we've talked about his, his statements with regards to where God is with multi genders and all of that sort of thing.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Non, binary, not. Yeah, wackadoodle.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, really has and you know, open borders type person. So as I say, the, the people of Texas are going to have a very clear choice to make when it comes now. Paxton has got some baggage in the background.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Yep.

>> Fred Jackson: and Jon Cornyn made mention of that during the primary, race that just wrapped up last night. So you know, Tellarico will try to capitalize on that. But I think when it comes down to it, I think Paxton should be able to pull off a fairly easy win on this. Unless Texas has changed dramatically and so many Californians have moved there.

>> Chris Woodward: Yeah, that is, that is, that could be a factor. That has been one of the concerns. obviously he's probably going to pick up Houston. He's going to win like San Antonio, parts of Dallas, Austin. Austin. I mean Austin is the Berkeley of Texas. and so I mean he very well could get 40 some odd percent, just by picking up the big blue liberal areas. But to Fred's point, a lot of people from California or some other part of the country, have moved to Texas because they were either relocated there for their job or they fled there for a cheaper cost of living than, say, California. But they took their politics with them.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Chris Woodward: And so everybody listening should care about what's going on in Texas, because if Talarico were to win, his party will pump a ton of money in the liberals running for office in your state in the not too distant future.

>> Fred Jackson: We were talking to somebody from Texas this morning, and, sometimes the primary voters are much more dedicated than the general population.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Fred Jackson: So there will be Republicans. And the gentleman we were talking with, made mention that at his church, and he's a member of a Baptist church. They were having a tough time deciding between Cornyn and Paxton, because of some of Paxton's past, whether, as a Christian, they could vote for him. So there is going to be that element in this race that, can you really vote for someone with those problems in the background?

>> Ed Vitagliano: They're moral questions.

>> Fred Jackson: Moral questions. So, turnout is going to be a big issue. We have some reaction that our reporter Chad Groening is working on this morning. Turnout for the Republicans is going to be an issue. Paxton is going to have to really energize his base to ensure. And this is always a problem. Scenes with Republicans. Democrats always get out to vote, dead or alive.

>> Ed Vitagliano: They sure do.

>> Fred Jackson: Dead or alive. Good one. Ah, Republicans sometimes need a real push, to get out.

Christian voting has become an issue since President Trump ran in 2015

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, and I'll just say this, and then we can move on to the next story. since, I guess since President Trump, you know, first, you know, ran in 2015, this has been an issue for, for Christians who are Republicans. Okay. Because Christians want as much as we say. And it has been said, we're not electing a pastor, we're electing a president. As much as we say that Christians want men and in the future, I'm sure women of character, they want them to uphold Christian values. So now, President Trump, when he was running, he was married multiple times, you know, was known for women and was accused of cheating and all these kinds of things, statements that he had made that became very difficult for a lot of Christians to push aside. Okay, now, we've talked about, and Tim has said, and I agree with this, you know, there, There. There comes a time when you. When you say the threat to our country is so severe that you got to simply pick the person who is going to handle the task the best.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Right.

>> Ed Vitagliano: George Patton was a cussing and swearing, you Know, so and so. But if you want someone running the third army, you choose George Patton.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And that became the decision that a lot of Christians made. Now it was easy to throw in our faces the fact that, oh, you know, what about, you know, moral questions? But I, think in Texas at some point a lot of those Christians are going to say, the James Talaricos of this world will do far more damage. And Trump's stuff was all in the past. M. Okay. That's why a lot of people were saying, you know, I'm, willing to give, you know, he said he's changed, etc. Etc. I, I think that is going forward, that's just going to be the choice that people are going to have to make. Are we going to take imperfect candidates who we have legitimate moral concerns about? we're going to take them if they are going to preserve the republic and. Or are we going to stay home and let someone get, elected who is going to continue to undermine the culture?

>> Tony Vitagliano: Yeah. I think what Christians realize over the last few election cycles, is that the policies of the left will come for me and my children regardless of whether I go to vote or not. So the camp of, well, we just abstain. I just won't participate because I'm not comfortable voting for this candidate because of their moral failings. I'm definitely not going to vote for this candidate because they're espousing anti God, anti biblical principles and legislation. so I'm just not going to vote. Well, what happens is the candidate on the left is elected and their poly, their anti God policies, their anti God legislation, their anti God rules come for you and your kids regardless.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.

>> Tony Vitagliano: So you sat on the sideline, did nothing, and you're still paying the penalty for,

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah. They don't leave you alone.

>> Tony Vitagliano: They don't leave you alone because. Yeah, yeah. So anyways, that's. Just throw that in there.

>> Ed Vitagliano: All right, so. And I think that was at play in Texas and I think going forward for the, the general election, that, that's, that's what's going to, what's, I think is going to help drive Republicans to the polls. Although some will stay home.

Mays Middleton defeated Chip Roy for Texas Attorney General

>> Chris Woodward: I have one other, a couple of other, results from last night's primary. Mays Middleton, longtime state lawmaker, defeated U.S. representative Chip Roy for Texas Attorney General. Mae Milton has been a frequent guest on American Family radio programs for a long time, so people may recognize that name. Chip Roy as well. He's been on Jenna Show, Washington Watch, Air Shows that we air and, produce ourselves, that kind of thing. and then last.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Was there a Trump endorsement in that race?

>> Chris Woodward: I'm not sure. Okay. I was just not sure.

>> Ed Vitagliano: I was just curious.

>> Chris Woodward: And lastly, I, hate to be the bearer of bad news for people that have not heard this yet, but Al Greene, who is best known for disrupting two State of the Union addresses, lost his primary last night. So Democrat Al Greene. Not the singer. Completely different guy.

>> Tony Vitagliano: The first one that just came, he

>> Chris Woodward: will not be, he will not be serving another term next year.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Was he the one who pulled the, fire alarm?

>> Chris Woodward: No, that was, Jamal Adams.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Okay.

>> Chris Woodward: Mall. Something of the squad. Al Greene is known for things like disrupting, And being removed from the State of the Union by Mike, Sweetest man on earth. Johnson. yeah. So, people might recognize Al Greene if you were to Google him and you're like, oh, yeah, that's the guy that got kicked out.

>> Ed Vitagliano: What was the distinction between, Chip Roy and,

>> Fred Jackson: Would you.

>> Ed Vitagliano: What's his name? Maze.

>> Chris Woodward: Maze. Middleton.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Middleton.

>> Chris Woodward: Middleton.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Okay. Okay.

>> Tony Vitagliano: What.

>> Ed Vitagliano: What was the. Any idea. I mean, you. These are elections you may not pay a whole lot of attention to in terms of what the campaigns were like, but. Krish, any idea what the distinction was between.

>> Chris Woodward: I m. Am not sure because I've talked to Chip Roy myself, and this was a conservative versus a conservative.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Chris Woodward: now, Chip Roy might have fallen along some ideological lines to some voters as being more libertarian. I'm not sure. but, you do have a conservative there coming out of this primary, for sure.

>> Fred Jackson: Somebody mentioned age. Age that, you know, younger voters coming along are looking for a new generation.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: Of, people.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And that was an attorney general race, right?

>> Tony Vitagliano: It was, yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: So for the Republican. Sometimes, I mean, I don't pay attention to attorney general races and states. I was just curious.

>> Chris Woodward: Well, the current Attorney general might be the senator now for the state of Texas.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right. Right. All right, folks, we're gonna take a five minute break for news, and when we come back, Krish Woodward will be back in the chair.

>> Tony Vitagliano: Sorry.

>> Chris Woodward: We'll be right back.

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

Ed, Tony and Fred talk with Chris on top news headlines of the day including how President Trump is meeting with his cabinet members today.