Transcript

Today's Issues continues on AFR with your host, Tim Wildman

>> Ed Vitagliano: Today's Issues continues on AFR with your host, Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association.

>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, welcome back, everybody, to Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network. Thanks for listening to AFR. We'll be here for another, 24 and a half minutes, on this Tuesday, April 14th, 2026. Springtime is here.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And, with a vengeance.

>> Tim Wildmon: If spring can have a vengeance, I'm ready for it, actually. By the way, Steve Paisley Doordo joined us. Good morning, Steve.

>> Steve Jordahl: Good morning, everybody.

>> Tim Wildmon: We in our area, in our neck of the woods, we've yet, we're, we're like, haven't had the spring storms yet.

>> Ed Vitagliano: No, that's true.

>> Tim Wildmon: Now maybe they're coming, but we're almost in a drought type situation. That's probably best that. Fred, I don't know if you said maybe that's true of some, of this region of the southeastern part of the United States. I don't know.

>> Fred Jackson: It is, it is. And it's exactly the opposite. Up north in Michigan. I don't know if you guys have

>> Tim Wildmon: seen the flood, massive flooding up there.

>> Fred Jackson: so, yeah, we're.

>> Tim Wildmon: Hawaii's getting the worst flooding in their history.

>> Fred Jackson: Oh, yeah, it's been really bad. So, yeah, been a very dry spring. And you're right, Tim. Normally by now we've had some pretty good storms, rain. But, I've had to take, my hose out and water my lawn.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right.

>> Fred Jackson: Because that's so dry.

>> Steve Jordahl: That's very California of you.

>> Ed Vitagliano: well, I'm just going to say, I'm going to depart from friendly conversation here. I hope my lawn dies.

>> Tim Wildmon: Just.

>> Ed Vitagliano: I don't want to cut it. Okay. But I do.

>> Tim Wildmon: Brown and yellow. You like that?

>> Ed Vitagliano: I like them. But now we would do water our flowers and all that kind of stuff.

Ed Bird: Bad things happen with Ed Bird

Listen, there's a burn ban, I think, on, on like in the county where I live.

>> Tim Wildmon: And have you been burning in violation?

>> Ed Vitagliano: I don't. Because I am Captain Safety.

>> Fred Jackson: Bad things happen with Ed Bird.

>> Ed Vitagliano: It absolutely does. I am not the guy to light a fire. my dad wasn't either. I'll tell you that here in just a second. But country boys, it doesn't matter if there's a burn ban. I drive home all the time, people burn and stuff. And I'm going, dude. But my dad, one time, because he's, he and I are both a lot alike. He wanted to burn some, some, some grass at a certain place. He's burning some branches and stuff. My dad goes inside to watch some football Falls asleep. And he walked outside, and the whole yard was on fire. And, he said, I probably shouldn't. Shouldn't have left the fire.

>> Fred Jackson: I think.

>> Ed Vitagliano: I think that's rule number one. You don't leave the fire.

>> Tim Wildmon: Speaking of that one time we lived at a, on a lot that backed up to a big, wide open field. And it was a neighborhood, but our lot was, along the last street. So it, backed up to a field. Well, the field caught on fire. And, I mean, it was burning towards us. Now, it wasn't raging. Okay. Like a. Like a west coast, you know, or something you'd see out in the. Out in the mountain west, you know where. But it was still a, line of, fire about a foot high, moving towards our home.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Oh, my goodness.

>> Tim Wildmon: And it got to. Into our yard. so he got about. I don't know, got about 50ft from our. Before that was as far as we could reach with our garden hose.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: To water down the yard to keep it from advancing towards the house.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Good grief.

>> Tim Wildmon: Now, and I don't. I don't remember the fire department came, or. I don't even know if they could have. I don't.

>> Steve Jordahl: I don't know.

>> Tim Wildmon: I can't remember exactly, but I know it did go out. But we. That was scary that, fire would come that close to your.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And sometimes with the wind blowing.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yes.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Probably wasn't the case with you, with your. Your situation. But that fire can leap and surround you and. But you can't get out. That's what happens a lot of times in these wildfires.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Moves so quickly. It gets behind you and cuts you.

>> Tim Wildmon: Steve, do you have a fire story or no?

>> Steve Jordahl: Yeah, I tell you, I. Good evening, Colorado Springs. there was a couple fires two years in a row. They had, neighborhoods that were burned down. I remember Focus. And the family has. Their buildings are kind of overlooking the city, and you can see the Front Range. I remember watching fire come down a mountain, down the side of a mountain towards the neighborhood, and there's nothing they could have done. This whole neighborhood called Mount Shadows was just devastated. Hundreds of homes, hundreds of homes burned ground. The next year, it was, out to the north of Colorado Springs in a community called Black Forrest. And it's literally a forest with pine trees everywhere. It got really dry. And I mean, again, dozens and dozens of homes burned to the ground. And some people lost their lives in that fire. It was. It was horrific.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Serious stuff.

>> Steve Jordahl: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

Ukraine says it captured an entire Russian position using drones and robots

All right. You're listening to today's Issues on American Family Radio. Tim, Ed, Fred. And now Steve Jord joined us. Steve Paisley, what do you got? First Steve?

>> Steve Jordahl: We keep saying, the traditional wisdom is that you cannot have regime change in Iran without boots on the ground. Well no, one says the boots have to be worn by humans. This from Ukraine is saying that they have captured an entire Russian position using nothing but drones and robots.

>> Ed Vitagliano: What, what kind of robots?

>> Tim Wildmon: so the Russians and the Ukrainians are still fighting?

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes, that's been going on.

>> Steve Jordahl: Yeah. What has to be one of the most black mirror things I'm reading from not to be to happen in modern warfare. Ukraine says it has forced Russian soldiers to give up an entire position without sending a single human fighter anywhere near it. just drones buzzing overhead and ground robots rolling in and then boom. Zelensky says. Now this is Zelensky, he might, this might be propaganda. I haven't been able. They don't give the name of the battle zone, it's a secret. But says the Russians surrendered the frontline locations, without a Ukrainian soldier being anywhere near. Now if you think about it, they are controlling these robots from a, ah, position. The robots are armed, they have guns, they have cameras. It's like you're there but you're you're not. So I'm just saying, who knows, maybe there is a way to change regimes without putting US boots on the ground.

>> Tim Wildmon: Fred, the drones are changing the face of warfare.

>> Fred Jackson: Absolutely.

>> Tim Wildmon: And also in addition to computers and what we call smart warfare and what I mean by that is, you know, not you got overwhelming military might because you got more troops than the other country. That doesn't really factor in as much anymore as it used to. Now you need to have the smartest and the best and the most precision and drones and something that's secret, that can, you know, that can attack the enemy. so it's not, it's not just the days of winning a war by quote, storming the beach. Beaches are over.

>> Fred Jackson: I think that ended some time ago. today for the most part, wars are fought from the air. you know, it's fighter jets, it's like Iran missiles being launched from ships off coast, all of that sort of thing. So today those with the heaviest firepower in the way of airborne weapons, they're going to do well. This ground to ground combat, you don't even hear about that.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, okay, let me m just, let me just. I don't disagree with what you guys are saying. But you can't occupy a country with air power so that.

>> Fred Jackson: No, no, no.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: I'm saying first wave. First wave.

>> Ed Vitagliano: First wave. By the way, remember Al Baghdadi? Al Baghdadi.

>> Tim Wildmon: He used to live down the street.

>> Ed Vitagliano: He used to own the bag, a bodega.

>> Fred Jackson: Big Al.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, he, what was his name? Abu, Bakr. Bakir Al Baghdadi. remember he was killed by US Special Forces. They use dogs to go in and a robot to go in because they, they figured he was wearing a suicide vest and, and he did, I think, eventually use the suicide vest. They didn't want Special Forces being killed. The explosion.

>> Tim Wildmon: Who was he again?

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, he, he was, without Capone, wasn't he? I forget what his position was. let me, let me finish the story first. Why don't you look up what, Al Baghdadi, who sounds.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, I know it's not funny, but it just sounds funny to say it. Yeah, Al Baghdaddy.

>> Ed Vitagliano: But anyway, the special forces use, this robot. Now I think it's something to do with, the robot was kind, of an anti explosive device robot. But the, the dogs went in with this robot and Al Baghdadi, it is funny now that you got me going.

>> Tim Wildmon: does that not sound funny?

>> Steve Jordahl: No, it does.

>> Ed Vitagliano: he was the leader. He was ISIS leader.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.

>> Ed Vitagliano: and, I think he was killed. It. Was he killed in Syria? I forget.

>> Tim Wildmon: Anyway, we went after him. The US Went after him.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah. But that was a robot involved, so to Steve's point. Yeah, more and more we're moving towards. I shouldn't have mentioned it without all the details in my head, but I just had to say the dogs and the robot got them. And so increasingly to the point, you guys are making a lot of drones, robots, increasingly going to be a part of it. And, missiles, air power. But I've watched too many science fiction movies to be comfortable with robots in battle.

>> Steve Jordahl: I'm just, I'm just saying I hadn't thought of surrounding, the, mullahs with robots and having, you know, holding them at,

>> Tim Wildmon: Surrounding the what?

>> Steve Jordahl: Mullahs, the leaders.

>> Tim Wildmon: Iranian religious leaders. Yes, surrounding there with robots.

>> Steve Jordahl: Just saying.

>> Tim Wildmon: All right, go ahead.

>> Steve Jordahl: All right.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Sorry, I can't do that.

You don't want to mess with the Israelis, Daddy says

Battle bag, Daddy. Or you can't open the hatch or

>> Fred Jackson: you sell them pagers.

>> Steve Jordahl: Right.

>> Ed Vitagliano: What a world, man. You don't want to mess with the Israelis. That's for sure.

>> Steve Jordahl: For sure. Well, speaking.

The US Navy is reportedly enforcing a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz

Speaking of a, regime change or what's going on, we've got ourselves A new. Remember, the Iranians said that they were going.

>> Tim Wildmon: The old blockade's gone.

>> Steve Jordahl: Well, the Iranian blockade didn't work out so well, so the U.S. has, now taken over, and they say they are blockading the Straits of Hormuz. what does that mean? Well, they're not letting any ships in or out of Iranian ports on the Black Sea and around the Straits of Hormuz.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Not the Black Sea, Persian Gulf. Persian Gulf.

>> Steve Jordahl: It does starve Iran from income, which I think is probably the reason they're doing it.

>> Ed Vitagliano: It is.

>> Steve Jordahl: It starves China of oil, which may be an unintended consequence. But, so anyway, this is, the new strategy. This is what happened yesterday. The US Decided to, When the talks, in Islamabad failed with, J.D. vance and the U.S. delegation, Trump says, okay, fine. This is our next step. We are going to take the Straits of Hormuz. Now, they've also mined the Straits of Hormuz. The Iranians do, and no one's sure where the mines are. They don't know if even the Iranians know where the mines are, so it's not the safest place to transit. Anyway, the US Says it's going in and clearing out the mines. In the meantime, they've blockaded the Straits, of Hormuz.

>> Tim Wildmon: The US Help me with this. I know what a blockade is. It's a, naval blockade. It means you. You use ships to stop other ships from going in and out of a certain area, and if you have to, you blow them up out of the water to enforce your blockade. Is that.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, I. I don't. I think you. You board. You board the vessel with troops, but

>> Tim Wildmon: if they run, you blow them up.

>> Steve Jordahl: You don't have to.

>> Ed Vitagliano: I mean, m. Yeah, I don't think. I don't think we would want to do that.

>> Tim Wildmon: you just say, hello, Captain. So and so.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah. Prepare to be boarded.

>> Tim Wildmon: Huh?

>> Ed Vitagliano: Prepare to be boarded.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.

>> Steve Jordahl: If they don't. I mean, you can take the. You can take the captain, you can arrest them.

>> Tim Wildmon: I think you guys are dissecting my definition a little bit too much here. On blockade, maybe. but.

>> Fred Jackson: But.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.

>> Ed Vitagliano: But there is that threat.

>> Tim Wildmon: yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Can sink you.

>> Tim Wildmon: Well, that. Yeah, that's. That's the reason they have guns on the Navy ships.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Tim Wildmon: To blockade in case you violate it. You get blown out of the water potential.

>> Ed Vitagliano: But these are ships that belong to other countries, so it could potentially be an act of war if you just.

>> Tim Wildmon: That's what I'm. What I'm saying is so. So tell me then, if the US Navy has a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, we just, so we, we then are controlling who goes in, who goes through it?

>> Ed Vitagliano: Is that only those that are going to or from Iranian ports? There are other countries that their ships can pass? Is that what we're doing?

>> Tim Wildmon: So what I'm saying is, so we've opened up that strait for the world's commerce, Is that right?

>> Fred Jackson: Yes. Fox News is reporting this morning that since the blockade started about 24 hours ago, they have allowed four or five ships to come and go from the Persian Gulf or from somewhere in the world into the Persian Gulf to get oil from Kuwait, uae, whatever

>> Ed Vitagliano: the case, Saudi Arabia.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah. For instance, an example, there's a ship from Panama, a tanker that's been waiting to get into the Persian Gulf. They allowed that, that tanker to go in this morning and to get its cargo of oil.

>> Tim Wildmon: So, so would you say problem solved, with the strait, since we're controlling

>> Fred Jackson: it now, at, at this point, it is working? Well, the blockade, I thought a lot

>> Tim Wildmon: more ships than four or five went through. I thought I read were like hundreds of ships go through there every day.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Normally, they.

>> Fred Jackson: Normally. But so far today, it's been four or five. That's what they're reporting.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And this is going to put tremendous economic pressure on the Iranian regime. And my understanding is the Islamic, Revolutionary Guard Core, the irgc, a lot of those are in positions of power. They, they profit from the sale of oil that funds paying salaries and paying the military and all that. And it's not just the oil that, funds the irgc. But this is going to really put, the pressure on the regime.

>> Steve Jordahl: There's very little that Iran controls right now. And one of the things that they did up until yesterday control was the Straits of Hormuz. They were. They could launch their little swift boats against people that crossed and, that has been taken away from them. If the government there has nothing to control and the economy is in tatters, it's some million Iranian, money, whatever they're called to the dollar, millions. I mean, the inflation is at 40 some percent and it is. Economy's in shatters. The government has nothing to, manage. they are so on the edge of just falling.

Oil prices are set by Benchmarks. If they go up, then our gas prices go up

>> Tim Wildmon: All right, what about our gas prices?

>> Steve Jordahl: Well, our gas prices. Now, we do have our own, we do have our own oil. We produce a lot of our own oil. We get almost nothing from the Straits of Hormuz. However, the gas prices are set by Benchmarks. There's a couple benchmarks. One of them is Brent crude. And it's an international, ah, it's an international,

>> Ed Vitagliano: level.

>> Steve Jordahl: That's an international trade, which means that, when we, adjust our gas prices, we're adjusting it versus the spot market on crude oil. So even if we have as much oil as we need, gas might still go up. If the cost of crude oil globally on the markets, because it's a traded commodity.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Steve Jordahl: If they go up, then our gas.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Supply and demand.

>> Steve Jordahl: Supply and demand.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Our gas, because of the Iranian oil, is no longer on the market. There's less oil and still the same amount of people who want to buy it.

>> Steve Jordahl: And you think if it's a trade, if it's a commodity that's traded, just the uncertainty of whether or not there's going to be oil, it might be, shoot the price of the oil up.

>> Ed Vitagliano: I've experienced this when I tried to buy pork bellies. Is that a supply demand thing?

>> Steve Jordahl: Something like that.

>> Tim Wildmon: There was an embargo, of pork bellies.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, it was very serious one, very destructive.

>> Steve Jordahl: I was talking to JJ this morning, and he has, just a terrifying story. He said he got held up at a gas station and he went inside. He went inside to the market. I've just been held up. And the guy says, oh, we'll call the police. Can you describe the bandit who held you up? He says, yeah, it's pump number two.

>> Ed Vitagliano: I shouldn't encourage that, but gas prices have gone up.

>> Fred Jackson: Okay.

>> Tim Wildmon: I try to not look at the, price when I enter a, you know, the gas station.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: Just I don't want to see it.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Okay.

>> Tim Wildmon: Because I got to have it anyway.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right? It doesn't matter.

>> Tim Wildmon: It doesn't matter. Doubling my pain.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.

>> Tim Wildmon: By seeing it and then experiencing it. Just put the gas in, try not to even watch it keep going up and up and then put the back in and wait for the credit card to come in.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Okay.

>> Tim Wildmon: I don't even see.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, I will, I will say, I will say this. I, I, I filled up, after church on Sunday. Yeah, Normally I was paying, $2 and I don't know, 45 or whatever.

>> Tim Wildmon: Two months ago.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, two months ago. And it was, 379. So normally, normally it's about $28 to fill up and it was 45 bucks, so. So not quite double, but it's gone, it's gone up a lot.

>> Tim Wildmon: I think most people will are willing to understand and tolerate a temporary Rise in gasoline prices, understanding that we are fighting a war in Iran to keep them from using a nuclear war, nuclear weapon, to blow, to kill millions potentially. Okay, so the difference between the gas prices going up for the thinking person, okay, now I'm not saying you have to agree with President Trump's actions, but I'm just saying price of oil going up is because of what's going on in Iran, which, as you guys have described, which makes the price of the pump go up, which, as I said, I don't think it hurts President Trump are the Republicans. Temporarily. But if you go on into the summer and you get into July and August and September and the prices are at $455 a gallon, people are gone. the average person out there maybe who are. It isn't even politically minded, but they go, you know, this is Trump's fault. You know that. Personally, I don't think presidents control the price of gasoline at the pump very much. But, but you could say, you could say, well, the reason the gas prices are going up is because Trump initiated a war with Iran.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right?

>> Tim Wildmon: I'm not saying that's. I'm just saying that's how the average

>> Ed Vitagliano: person might, you know, saying that's fair.

>> Tim Wildmon: I'm not saying that's fair. but I'm saying that's what a lot of people will think. So I know that. I know that President Trump's aware of that and the Republicans are aware that it could hurt them if the gas prices continue to go up and they stay up for, heading into the midterm.

>> Steve Jordahl: I think as long as Americans perceive that we're winning this war. And I got this from one of the podcasters I listened to. I think it might have been, It might have been. It's one of the guys I listened to. Anyway, as long as Americans will tolerate a war, as long as we're winning that war, if we start to perceive that we're losing the war or that there's no end in sight, it's going to be a, ah, long. Then the war becomes unpopular.

>> Tim Wildmon: Now, President Trump will have to get authorization from Congress to continue this. If it lasts longer than. Is it 90 days?

>> Fred Jackson: 90 days max.

>> Tim Wildmon: From the, from the initial conflict starting, which we're probably two months into that, are we?

>> Fred Jackson: Huh?

>> Tim Wildmon: when did this start?

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, we attacked with Israel. Remember we first bombed them. When was that in. Was it last June or so? When. When did we hit the, the complexes?

>> Tim Wildmon: That was the one. That was a one and done, though.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah. No, So I don't think that would obviously be the start of the conflict, but I think it's under, it's just under 60 days, I think, in terms of the conflict.

>> Tim Wildmon: I mean, how long it's been going on now.

President Trump will have to have congressional approval to continue Afghanistan war

Yeah, so he's got about 30 days as President Trump as commander in chief.

>> Steve Jordahl: February 28th is when it began.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. March, April. So we're getting, we're getting close to two months. Getting close to two months. Anyway, so let's just say, to be fair, he's got six weeks, left. And, and then if, if it isn't over, then he, President Trump, as Commander in Chief, will have to have congressional approval to continue the war. Yes, Right.

>> Steve Jordahl: Unless he decides it declares it over and it declares a second offensive, that he gets to reset the clock.

>> Tim Wildmon: I don't think he's going to get away with that.

>> Steve Jordahl: I don't know if he will or not. But there are ways that they, I don't know. Did the Congress ever weigh in and they never declared war in Vietnam, and that was years long.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, which is why we got the War Powers act in 1973 was Congress said, we can't do this.

>> Steve Jordahl: Did they declare war in Iran? I mean, Iraq? I think they did.

>> Ed Vitagliano: I don't remember.

>> Tim Wildmon: I think that was bipartisan support, if I remember that. Maybe, maybe not overwhelming by the Democrats, but there was enough Democrat support. Yeah, I remember correctly.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And they may not have declared a war, but they authorized, authorized money.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. But anyway, I'm just saying that a lot of, a lot of, President Trump's decisions on what to be done without congressional approval will have to be done in the next four to six weeks.

>> Steve Jordahl: can you guys imagine what happens if things go poorly during the midterms? And something like this were to happen with, a Democrat controlled Congress or House of Congress?

>> Tim Wildmon: You know, I don't receive that, Steve.

>> Steve Jordahl: Well, I, I, I can understand.

>> Tim Wildmon: I don't want to end the show on that thought.

>> Steve Jordahl: I can understand that, Tim. Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: I want to have a good rest of the day. All right.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Thanks, Steve.

>> Tim Wildmon: Thanks to Debbie Downer, Steve Jordan, and, Ed. Ed, Fred, Krish, Frank Creely, our producer, Cole Greene, our biggest radio man, Jenna

>> Ed Vitagliano: Ellis, joined us and thank your local robot for keeping you safe.

>> Steve Jordahl: That's right.

>> Tim Wildmon: We'll see you tomorrow.