Tim, Wesley and Ray talk with Chris on top news headlines of the day. Also, Jenna Ellis joins the program to discuss the latest with Venezuela.
Tim Wildman has some great tours lined up for 2026
>> Tim Wildmon: Hello everyone. Tim Wildmon here. We've got some great tours lined up. 2026, Washington D.C. george Washington's Mount Vernon, Colonial Williamsburg, historic Jamestown, Boston, Massachusetts and that Greater area. So, so much to see and do in 2026. If you want information on any of these trips, go to wildmangroup.com wildmon m group.com and we'll see you on, one of our tours in 2026.
Today's Issues offers a Christian response to the issues of the day
>> Jeff Chamblee: Welcome to today's Issues, offering a Christian response to the issues of the day. Here's your host, Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association.
>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, good morning everybody and welcome to Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network. Thanks for listening to AFR. Today's Tuesday, January 6, 2026. And in studio with me on the show today is Wesley Wilma. Good morning, Wesley.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Good morning. It. I didn't, I thought you couldn't see me. I got my camouflage shirt on, but apparently that didn't work.
>> Tim Wildmon: No email. I see what you did there. Yeah. For a minute. Yeah, I can, I could, I could see.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah, I got this. Camouflage is not the official. It's for, it's for. It's a sporty camo. It's for work.
>> Tim Wildmon: Right. So that doesn't trick the deer.
>> Wesley Wildmon: It doesn't trick the deers with an ass.
Tim Ferriss: It's great not to be in Venezuela today
>> Tim Wildmon: All right, all right, all right. Chris Woodrue. Good morning, Chris.
>> Chris Woodward: Good morning.
>> Tim Wildmon: And Ray Pritchard. Good morning, Brother Ray.
>> Tim Wildmon: Good morning, Tim. How you doing today?
>> Tim Wildmon: It's a good day, it's a good day to not be in Venezuela.
>> Chris Woodward: Amen.
>> Tim Wildmon: Got that right.
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, I think I take, right, I take that back. Venezuela, we hope and pray we'll, you know, will go on from a duro and have some sort of, law and order and peace in their country and their families be reunited. But it's still very volatile situation right there. I shouldn't have said it's great not to be in Venezuela today because those people have suffered enough and, and they are. There's Venezuelan folks in the US Are celebrating what's happened there and we're going to talk about that. what was I going to say? So the, the Ray, give us a good word from the Holy Bible today.
Tim: There's a passage in Ecclesiastes that says remember creator
>> Tim Wildmon: So today Marlene and I were reading through the book of actually listening through. I should be clear about that, listening through the last part of Ecclesiastes. And when we finished with it, Tim, I should say my wife commented, you know, we would have heard this passage differently 20 or 25 years ago. There's this long passage in Ecclesiastes 12 which says, Remember your creator in the days of your youth. That's great, great advice. Usually that passage is preached to teenagers, young adults, but you read on with what he says, Tim. He says, remember your creator while you can, before the days of adversity come.
>> Jenna Ellis: Cool.
>> Tim Wildmon: What does that mean? And the years approach of which you will say, I find no pleasure in them before the light of the sun, moon, stars is darkened, and the clouds return after the rain. And verse three says, when the keepers of the house tremble and the strong men stoop, when those grinding cease because they are few. And it's a description, Tim, of. Well, I'm not speaking for anybody else on our esteemed panel, and it certainly cannot apply to Wesley or to Chris. It doesn't apply to you, Tim. It applies to me. I'm 73 years old. This is one of the most picturesque descriptions of what happens to the body at a certain point in life. You do stoop down, the hearing goes, your eyesight dims, the grinders are few, your teeth fall out. You know, the whole body just begins to fall apart. It used to be. I say it used to be probably, two or three years ago, and when we would have a Keep Believing board meeting, I would say we would be talking about the different physical ailments of people we know. And I would say, you know, guys, we're all just falling apart. And I know of no evidence to the contrary. Nobody's ever presented me with any evidence to the contrary. So you ask yourself, why do you have this detailed description at the end of Ecclesiastes? Remember your creator. Remember him now. Remember him today. Remember to love him and to serve him and to, obey him today. Jarvis, James said, if you've got a pulse, you ought to have a praise. The end of the book of Psalms says, let everything that has breath praise the Lord. So here we are, Tim. We're at the very early days of 2026, and already this year has brought some surpr. And you. You mentioned one in the news. Just. Just this last couple of days. Oh, my friends. Oh, my friends, do not put off serving the Lord. Do not put off praising the Lord. Do not put off rejoicing in the Lord. While you're busy today, as we're going through this Tuesday, remember your creator. Do it now while you have a chance to. And when you are old and maybe feeble, you will still remember the Lord. And when you stand before your creator, you'll be glad you Remembered him on earth while you had the chance.
>> Tim Wildmon: Amen, brother. Amen. and as we used to say in our little Methodist church, may God add his blessings to the reading of his inspired word.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Amen.
>> Tim Wildmon: That's what we used to say. I don't know, they. Maybe they say it in other scriptures sometimes.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, I've heard that.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: Inspired word.
>> Tim Wildmon: That's right. We went. My dad was a Methodist preacher and we had the. It was, what? We had responsive readings. You've heard of those?
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: Read responsive readings. And, and, I just remember those. Somebody. You'd read the Bible and then you'd say, may God add his blessings to the reading of his holy word, basically, or something like that. Go ahead.
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, I remember that the Baptist hymnal that we used growing up there was. You had the hymns, but then at the back you had the responsive read, and there were 30 or 40 or 50 of them for, you know, for Easter, and for Christmas and for graduation day. And the pastor would, I guess the pastor would read the light print and the congregation would read the dark print, and that's how you would be able to follow it as you would go down the page.
>> Tim Wildmon: So. So the Baptist were Baptists can be liturgical?
>> Tim Wildmon: They can be, yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Well, as I'm looking at this and listening to you, Pastor Ray, Brother Ray, I, would circle how I like the word remember. That's such a gracious word. Because we often forget, even because we're living on this side of heaven, got a fallen world, and Satan provides a lot of distractions and he tries to get us off script often. And so being able to know that God's, gracious enough to remind us of this and that, we also can remind others as well. We were doing a Bible study yesterday. Our short devotion with the family. Came across Deuteronomy, chapter 6. Deuteronomy, chapter 6. About the importance of, God's word and his commandments and storing them in our hearts and putting them on the door facings and writing, writing them on the tablets of our hearts and things like that. And, that has to be a, reminder for us to do that to our kids as well.
>> Tim Wildmon: So where are you reading from?
>> Wesley Wildmon: well, I was, I was just commenting on exactly what Ray was talking about. Ray was talking about, it says, remember also your creator in the days. And I was emphasizing the word remember. We often forget God's gracious enough to remind us. We need to be reminded often.
>> Tim Wildmon: Amen, brother.
Brother Ray reads from Ecclesiastes, chapter 12
All right. Where, were you reading from, Ray, by the way.
>> Tim Wildmon: Ecclesiastes, chapter 12.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. All right. thank you for that Brother Ray. And we're gonna have, we're gonna have Jenna Ellis on at the bottom of the hour. We got some stuff to talk to Jenna about. She's the host of Jenna Ellis in the morning from 7 to 8 o' clock Central time every weekday, here on American Family Radio.
AFR receives a lot of handwritten Christmas cards and letters from donors
Hey, before we get to the some, some more, some more news. Did get a. We get all kinds of emails, letters, notes and a lot of them are handwritten. And I can, I always know this is from the, usually from the post, post 70 generation. A lot of the handwritten we get but we had a lot of beautiful cards and letters this lady wrote. I just wanted to read this. Dear Mr. Wildmon, thank you for your beautiful, for the beautiful Christmas card of your family. We sent a Christmas card to everybody who donates to our ministry, in December. And so that's what she's referring to. So if you want a Christmas card from. That's right. You want a Christmas card for me this year for us, our family.
>> Wesley Wildmon: You need 11 months.
>> Tim Wildmon: That's right.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Got 11 months.
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, you need to make a donation.
>> Wesley Wildmon: That's right.
>> Tim Wildmon: Give a gift, get a card. That's a good deal.
>> Tim Wildmon: That's the way the world works, man.
>> Tim Wildmon: That's right.
>> Tim Wildmon: So, you want. She says thank you for the beautiful Christmas card of, of your family. It was so nice to see the faces. she said I listen every day to afr. I discovered it at the beginning of COVID and that has been my. What has kept me. What has kept me, she says a 93 year old lady, she said that's kept me going listening to afr. She said I listened to today's issues every day and love the news and humor. Love Abe Hamilton, Disciples View, Jenna Ellis, Tony Perkins and all the pastors. Keep up the good work, Christian work that you do and trying to do what you can to save our country. May God bless you and please pray for me. And that was from a sweet lady in Livingston, Texas. Jorine, Jorine in Livingston, Texas.
>> Chris Woodward: That's nice.
>> Tim Wildmon: We get cards and letters similar to this on a regular basis and it's really encouraging to us to know that AFR is impacting people's lives and I'm positive way and, and it's nice to get a card like that.
>> Chris Woodward: Yes. I got to tell you, in my almost of, in my almost 25 years of broadcasting, it's Rare to hear somebody say, and I quote, I love the news. Thank you.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yes. well, we have to give the news, you know, the good, bad and the ugly.
>> Chris Woodward: That's right.
>> Tim Wildmon: It's the real world, and we have to know what we can do to impact it. We also have to know what we can do to. To pray for. Right?
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
President Trump says the United States needs Greenland for national security
>> Tim Wildmon: All right, so go ahead, Chris. What's our first, what's leading the news this morning?
>> Chris Woodward: Well, for our viewers and listeners, this morning, we are going to get into Venezuela. But first, we're going to focus for a minute on Greenland because the Trump administration, remains intent, dead set, focused, whatever you want to say, on making Greenland part of the United States. Yes. as a matter of fact, President Trump has said we, quote, need Greenland, for national security, foreign policy purposes. Some of our allies, allies, are not fond of this. As a matter of fact, our, friends.
>> Tim Wildmon: You mean taken over?
>> Chris Woodward: Yes, yes, our allies, at least for right now, including Germany and the uk They've pushed back on Trump talks. They seem to think that this would be a bad thing, that the US does not need Greenland. The Danish Prime Minister says a U.S. attack to seize Greenland would actually end NATO. but somebody that works for the Trump administration that says we're going to get Greenland and make it part of the United States is White House adviser Stephen Miller, who had this to say. Clip 7 It has been the formal.
>> Walker Wildmon: Position of the US government since the beginning of this administration, frankly, going back into the previous Trump administration, that Greenland should be part of the United States. The President has been very clear about that. That is the formal position of the US Government.
>> Jeff Chamblee: Right, but can you say that military.
>> Walker Wildmon: Action against Greenland is off the table? It would be a military action against Greenland.
>> Chris Woodward: The.
>> Walker Wildmon: Greenland has a population of 30,000 people, Jake. The United States should have Greenland as part of the United States. There's no need to even think or talk about this in the context that you're asking of a military operation. Nobody's going to fight the United States militarily over the future of Greenland.
>> Tim Wildmon: 30,000 people. That's all that live in Greenland.
>> Chris Woodward: Tupelo has more people than Greenland.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, that's right. that's amazing. I didn't know that they were that sparsely populated. 30,000 people. Listen, I don't know what to think about this. I, haven't thought it through very much. But Greenland.
>> Tim Wildmon: Greenland is a. Is it a sovereign country, Ray, do you know? No, it's, it's, it's a province of Denmark. Right.
>> Tim Wildmon: Or a colony colony.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. What is it called exactly? Look that up, Chris.
>> Chris Woodward: It is not a fully sovereign state. It's a self governing territory within the kingdom of Denmark.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. Denmark's a kingdom, apparently. Wow. Okay. Well, anyway, the, the, Greenland, Greenland is basically a fishing village. The giant block of ice frozen fishing village.
>> Tim Wildmon: Right.
>> Tim Wildmon: Go ahead, Ray, go ahead. What do you think about it? What do you think about all this?
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, I agree almost entirely with everything you said. Don't know what to think about it, but the statement was made by somebody that the United States doesn't, quote, need Greenland, but by the same token, why does Denmark need Greenland? You know, why, why, why, why aren't they an independent state on their own? there are so many, they say rare earth minerals in Greenland would have to be dug up under the ice and all that, but evidently there's a, there's a, huge repository of minerals there. And President Trump said the other day, the Russians are snooping around there, the Chinese are snooping around there. We need Greenland for our security. So, I mean, I don't think we're going to send in the 82nd Airborne, are we? We're not going to send in the. No, the guys we sent to Venezuela, Delta Force, we're not going to send them to Greene.
>> Tim Wildmon: Right.
>> Tim Wildmon: This is some other situation.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Could be an acquirement or it could be a deal or a negotiation as a possibility.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, this is kind of unchartered territory.
>> Wesley Wildmon: I know it's, from previous administrations.
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, in world history, you can, you can, you can look at things like this that have happened a lot of, most of the time in world history. The biggest and strongest take what they want and, and if they don't, they, they fight over it. that's not necessarily righteous, as they say, but that's just the way of the world. But I would ask the question like Stephen Miller was talking about there. I'm just asking a question. Okay, Right. Does, does a fishing village of 30,000 people constitute a claim over the largest island in the world? Okay. Is that. It's, kind of like an outpost really. So.
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, if they don't have a claim, who does have a claim?
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, I think that's what President Trump is arguing. You know, that that's. I don't know who. There's not many places in the world that's going unclaimed.
>> Tim Wildmon: That's right. That's right.
>> Tim Wildmon: but Greenland, on the other hand, it just, something seems wrong about just taking it because we can yeah, but like President Trump would point out in race, talking about Russia and China, this is a geopolitical, I think you.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Can make a deal. I think there's a poss. I think it's more likely that you make a deal that's so beneficial.
>> Tim Wildmon: Who makes deals?
>> Wesley Wildmon: Do I know? Oh, yeah, no, right, exactly.
President Trump. Yeah, I think you can make an art of the deal
President Trump.
>> Tim Wildmon: The art of the American taxpayer.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah, I think you can make an art of the deal that's so good that even Greenland themselves, this is, I'm just saying, a possibility that so good themselves that they, they agree to it and want to do it.
>> Tim Wildmon: and the town council.
>> Wesley Wildmon: The town council, that's right, yeah. because if you're, alderman. I know that. And switch.
Ray: One of the arguments President Trump has made about NATO
And switching gears on the other side of, things, as Ray mentioned, the rare earth minerals is also a strategic pose for military surveillance.
>> Tim Wildmon: And that's what President Trump is.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Right, exactly.
>> Tim Wildmon: So here's what President Trump has said. One of the arguments President Trump, his administration has made on a serious. Not. Not that the whole thing's not serious, but that we, the United States are the major player in NATO and the way m. And the major funder.
>> Chris Woodward: Right.
>> Tim Wildmon: funding mechanism for NATO. The North American Treaty, alliance. What does NATO stand for?
>> Chris Woodward: North American North Atlantic, treaty. Hold on.
>> Tim Wildmon: A second organization.
>> Tim Wildmon: organization. North American Treaty Organization.
>> Chris Woodward: North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
>> Tim Wildmon: North Atlantic Treaty Organization, otherwise known as NATO. They. NATO consists of European countries who have joined together to. It was originally created to keep Russia, former Soviet Union from. It was an. It was a united front against the former Soviet Union. I think I got that right. Is that right, Ray? You know the history of that, isn't that right? Yeah, I think that's right.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: of course, the Soviet Union fell apart and became just the. Just Russia.
>> Tim Wildmon: Right. The Russian Federation.
>> Tim Wildmon: The Russian Federation. So the argument is that if the United States is going to be the chief military provider for NATO, we need outposts, we need places on the. In the geographical area that is NATO that we can operate from. And strategically, Greenland would be a place where a, for example, a military base, a military station would be advantageous for NATO, which Denmark is a part of.
>> Chris Woodward: Correct.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. That's what he was.
>> Chris Woodward: I looked it up and we are closer to Greenland than Denmark. Denmark is roughly.
>> Tim Wildmon: Gosh, that's the only reason we need. We're closer.
>> Chris Woodward: Denmark is roughly, 2,200 miles from Greenland, whereas the US is about 7, 1700 miles.
>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, we're next door neighbors.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Well, you know, and I don't I don't agree with giving the visual or the idea that we would take it over by force. I think everybody has their. We've all heard this phrase that everybody has their dirt.
>> Tim Wildmon: We can make them an offer they can't refuse.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Everybody has their number, you know, so to speak. And, now, as part of the art of the deal, I just think that that's, I think that's the more likely way that this will end up. However, I understand, I understand especially at the beginning, during, as he was running for reelection and even in the first couple of weeks, as this was more of a topic at that point, as it is now, when. And of course, you know, you got the Gulf of America, all that was going on, you had the Panama City, Panama Canal, all these were in discussion. I do, I understand at first with, with President Trump not saying military boots m on the ground, that gave us the freedom, the liberty to say things like, well, what are you going to take? You know, start questioning things. But I think at this point, I think it's very clear that we're not going to do. I don't think we should give the visual that we're going to rush or take over by force. I think if we're not going to.
>> Tim Wildmon: Take over their fishing boats.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Right, exactly. Ah. And I think what Ray was saying there, the visual that you got from Venezuela is not the one that you would get there. Although, by the way, these, the couple of things that Trump has done, such as the Venezuela situation, there's. And the Iran bombing. None of this is an ongoing war. Nobody's talking about Iran bombing anymore because nobody. There is no. It's one done. And I think you're seeing a lot of that. I think it will be interesting down the road looking back on the, the project or the lies or the phrase or the, the left, talking points of how we're going to endless wars when we don't want to be in endless wars, when we're not endless wars. And everything that Trump does up to this point is in and out. So comparatively speaking, obviously there's a transition period. But in this and the Venezuela situation, but there is no endless wars. Everything thus far is benefiting America. So I think we're on the right track. So.
Ray: Maybe there's an opportunity to preach the gospel to believers in Greenland
All right, so Greenland, here we go.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah, I do have a. Hello, Greenland.
>> Tim Wildmon: It's been welcome Uncle Sam. That's right.
>> Chris Woodward: It's been years ago. I don't remember if this is before COVID or maybe right after it, when churches reopened, but I, Here at my church, here in the Tupelo area. A missionary to Greenland spoke at our church. I don't remember what my brother in Christ's name is, but I remember he got up there and he was like, hey, I'm so and so I'm a missionary to Greenland. Yes, there are people on Greenland and I've often thought of like, what would it be like to come home and say, you know, honey, I've been called to be a missionary to Greenland. But Ray, I mean, maybe there's an opportunity for you to preach the gospel to believers in Greenland.
>> Tim Wildmon: Or look, how about AFR Greenland? Yeah, we need to station AFR Greenland station up there.
>> Chris Woodward: You know, I nominated Steve Jordal to be the one to take that trip over there and cover that ribbon cutting.
>> Tim Wildmon: And work out the details.
>> Chris Woodward: Right, I'll stay here.
>> Tim Wildmon: How much, how much today are you willing to pay for Greenland?
>> Wesley Wildmon: yeah, two boats and.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, I think we've used up our Greenland time here. But you know what, in all seriousness, I was looking at a post here. Gentleman is coming on this and he says, is that why Greenland? Because this is a post on X from something called Object Zero. it says, ah, why Greenland? Well, because Moscow bases, that's Russia bases almost all of its strategic military assets on the Kola Peninsula next to Finland. Ah, this is where the Russian ICBM silos, submarine bases and their strategic bombers are.
>> Chris Woodward: I think Finland's a part of NATO, that's one of their newer members.
>> Tim Wildmon: So if you look at the flight path, ballistic or powered from cola, that's where the Russians are to anywhere on the lower 48, then everything goes over Greenland. So this militarily would be a very strategic place for the Americans to be, is in Greenland for the no other reason for what we're talking about right here. And ah, I don't know if the, the Kola Peninsula, which I had not heard of, next to Finland, that that may be something like Greenland, where there really is no country per se. You would have to look that up. Kola Penins next to next, to Finland.
>> Chris Woodward: I got you.
>> Tim Wildmon: But so it sounds kind of humorous to talk about taking Greenland especially early on. Yes, yes. But yeah, yes, it was a. Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: It'S not so funny for living in Greenland.
>> Tim Wildmon: Right. But I imagine that if Greenland, if you, if you page one of those fishermen enough.
>> Wesley Wildmon: That's what I was gonna say.
>> Tim Wildmon: You know what I'm saying?
>> Wesley Wildmon: We'll, we'll double your boat size.
>> Jenna Ellis: Right?
>> Wesley Wildmon: We'll double upgrade your Boat size. We'll make it a smart boat. Right, Miami.
>> Tim Wildmon: All right, we'll be back with Jenna Ellis in a moment. Stay with us.
American or Greenland Family Network thanks sponsor, Preborn
You're listening to today's Issues on the American or Greenland Family Network here. We'll be back.
>> Fred Jackson: We would like to take a moment to thank our sponsor, PreBorn. When a mother meets her baby on ultrasound and hears their heartbeat, it's a divine connection. And the majority of the time she will choose life. But they can't do it without our help. Preborn needs us, the pro life community, to come alongside them. One ultrasound is just $28. To donate, dial £250 and say the keyword BABY or visit preborn.com afr.
>> Jeff Chamblee: 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.
Tim: Ray spent 17 winters in Chicago winters, so he knows cold
>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, welcome back to Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network. Thanks for listening to afr. Tim, Wesley, Chris and Ray. and we are. Hope you're having a, you have to a good start here in January, new year. And me personally, I'm looking forward to summer. M. Because January, January is the coldest month for us here where we live. that mean anything to Ray and Jenna. But, and I say cold calls relative. Sure. People in Minnesota go, you know, Indiana and the Upper north, they don't know. They say cold. You don't know what cold is. And you're right. And I don't want to know.
>> Chris Woodward: Right. Yeah. Please don't ever transfer me.
>> Tim Wildmon: right. This is as cold as we want to get it.
>> Tim Wildmon: yeah, at the moment it is sunny and 74 here in Hudson. I can get you tea time at 1:30. Not a problem.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. That's why you move down there. That's exactly why you move down there for. You're there for the. Ray. Ray and Marlene became. Officially became snowbirds. That's snowbirds. So, after. Ah, but you paid your dues with how many years in the Chicago winter?
>> Tim Wildmon: 17. 17 years.
>> Tim Wildmon: 17 years in Chicago winters. What?
>> Tim Wildmon: We had to fly back up to Chicago over the weekend for funeral of a dear friend. And when we were 70 some degrees when we left Florida and we got off the plane in Chicago, I turned to Marlene, I said, we've gone to Siberia. You know, it's amazing, Tim, how quickly you get used to this warm weather in January, you know. Yeah, I don't miss the snow in this.
>> Tim Wildmon: You Ought to write a book sometime about that. Because you're an Alabama boy.
>> Tim Wildmon: That's right.
>> Tim Wildmon: And so he grew up in the south and then spent 17 winters and with. In, where did you pastor there, by the way?
>> Tim Wildmon: Oak Park, Illinois. That's a suburb on the west side of Chicago.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. That's how you and I first became, friends. You would come here to visit your brother.
>> Tim Wildmon: That's right.
>> Tim Wildmon: In the summer, you drive down from Chicago to Tupelo. Your brother lived here in Tupelo. And, and, you, you were at that time, you were writing.
>> Tim Wildmon: Writing a bunch of books. And so, yeah, it's a met. You met Marvin Sanders that way and in the old studios, you know.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. And must have been 20 years ago.
>> Tim Wildmon: More than that. Yeah, that'd be more like almost 30 years ago. Thirty years ago, back in the late 90s when I met you. Yeah, yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: You would come down and we would interview you about whatever book you had coming out and talk to you. And then, we became friends and, then the rest is history. Came on our board of directors. And then you also, you know, begin to co host with us here on today's issues. Anyway, I just, I know you, so if people want to say, well, you don't know what cold is. No, Ray does know what cold is. 17 winners in Chicago.
>> Tim Wildmon: You learn quick.
>> Tim Wildmon: He's paid his cold weather dues. Okay.
American Family Radio welcomes Jenna Ellis to Today's Issues
All right. You're listening to, Today's Issues on afr. joining us now is our colleague and friend, Jenna Ellis. Jenna is co host. No, she's not co host. She's got a dual personality, which she might have, and I'm not judging her, but she is the, host of, Jenna Ellis in the Morning. Her weekdays here on American Family radio from 7 to 8 o' clock Central time each weekday morning with analysis of news and events of the day from a biblical worldview and constitutional perspective. Good morning, Jenna.
>> Jenna Ellis: Good morning. Happy NewSong Year. And I think my co hosts are my two dogs, Copper and Todd.
>> Wesley Wildmon: That's right.
>> Jenna Ellis: They're actually my M Pod P A W Podcast co host.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, I see what you did there. now you live in Florida too, but you paid your winter dues in Colorado, right?
>> Jenna Ellis: I did, yes. I, I grew up in Colorado and it was always so great to come to Florida. My, my family would come to Florida almost every year, around like late April, May, and we would leave the literal blizzard of Colorado and come to the sunshine and fl. Florida, and it's great to have that year round Now?
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, now. Ah. Do you know if the has the snow been enough to supply the the ski, resorts out there? Because I was reading about how they're. Some places across the country they're having a,
>> Jenna Ellis: Yeah, there hasn't been a lot of snow in Colorado currently. in fact, I was out there for about two and a half weeks over Christmas break and we only got like a light dusting. but that was more, you know, in the foothills. but it's been, it's, it's been a pretty not snowy winter currently. And so they're having to supplement with some of the snow, machines and all that. But really it's, it's kind of weird how it shifted a little bit from when I grew up. But it seems like now the heaviest snowfall is between January and March instead of like the November to February.
Jenna Reardon: Strategic operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro
>> Tim Wildmon: All right, all right, Jenna, I know this, I know this morning you focused on Venezuela. Talk about that, if you would. What's, what's going, what's the big story here?
>> Jenna Ellis: Yeah, so, this was, you know, I mean Trump didn't waste his holiday break at all. So I think we all you know, woke up to the news as well that this very strategic operation in Venezuela, to capture Nicolas, Maduro, who is, at least not by the United States, terms the, the, the unrecognized president, but sort of self appointed President of Venezuela. And so he has been taken into custody and in fact, yesterday made a first appearance in a federal NewSong York courtroom on an indictment, that was handed down by a federal grand jury, back during the Trump administration's first term. So Attorney General, then Attorney General Bill Barr, has made some comments that he thinks it's very ironclad and that there will be a conviction on you know, drug related charges, among other things. And so, that's one piece of it. But I had a former CIA intelligence officer on my program this morning who made a really interesting point that everybody's talking about now. How the United States is basically in control of Venezuela's oil supply and how they have been, the purveyors to China of oil. And now President Trump has, said to China, you know, you'll still get your oil from Venezuela, but basically is telling them that that's on the administration's good graces. So this is likely, going to kind of keep China on their heels, maybe even more effectively than tariffs. So we won't be seeing an invasion of Taiwan anytime soon. so this has a lot more broad reaching implications for foreign policy for the United States. there have also been some commentary about how the trend Aragua gang members from Venezuela that made headlines during the election in actually Aurora, Colorado, which I know very well coming from Colorado, how those gang members that were committing, you know, a lot of crimes, act of violence, now have absolutely no reason to be in the United States, even though they didn't to begin with. But how a lot of Venezuelans can return now to their home country, rebuild. And so a lot of that refugee status won't be available to them. And so this is part of the Trump administration's overall plan to ensure that we have effective not only border control, but more mass deportations. And a lot of these now will be self deportations back. So a lot going on with this and it's amazing that just one strategic, effective targeting of Maduro has accomplished quite a lot of not only foreign policy, but domestic policy goals.
>> Tim Wildmon: who do we deal with now? By we, I mean United States government. President, Trump says basically that we, the US are at least temporarily running things in the in the country. There is that. Do you know.
>> Jenna Ellis: It'S going to be interesting. you know, and I don't know that there's a specific process per se, but who is going to perhaps you know, claim the presidency, whether that was. You, know, he doesn't seem too keen on the woman, I'm forgetting her name, who, who actually they're saying was the legitimately elected president, but for some of the fraud that occurred, whether they'll hold a new election. certainly conservatives in the US are suggesting that the United States shouldn't try to be in control of the regime change, but more facilitate and oversee it. I'm assuming Secretary of State Marco Rubio, will take a, you know, huge part in that, at least on behalf of the United States. But it'll be interesting to see.
>> Wesley Wildmon: I remember I read one of the articles that was sent around that up until 30, 20, 31, the, the lady that is in there now is the interim. And then they're going to have a.
>> Tim Wildmon: Reelection in five years.
>> Wesley Wildmon: I remember, I think that's what I read. I double checked that. Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: In five years. Well, well, anyway, it'll be interesting to see. I do know for a fact that Venezuelans who are in the United States, not those gang members you talked about, but just the average Venezuelan who came here because of the brutal dictatorship. They came here to escape, a political persecution basically, that they are celebrating in the streets in Miami and other places in the country where they have you know, they have people who. In the communities of the Venezuelan communities here based in the United States because of the. Even on the View.
>> Chris Woodward: Yes. And we have some audio even on the View.
>> Tim Wildmon: I know people been waiting me to say the View.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: which, I've never watched. It's an entirety.
>> Chris Woodward: You haven't missed anything.
>> Tim Wildmon: I don't, I don't you know, have it on my record, on my TV at home. So I, The View I only know about because it's in the news almost every day because of. So there's a story about what they said on the View. View is that television, show with those four liberal women, sometimes five. And then they got one, person. The, the, what's the, what's the.
>> Jenna Ellis: Conservative Republican in name only.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Jenna Ellis: Really? Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: What's her,
>> Jenna Ellis: Alyssa Farah Griffin is the current installation.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, he plays the part of the conservative, on there.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah. So they usually get one.
>> Tim Wildmon: By the way, I knew her dad really well.
>> Tim Wildmon: I haven't talked to him in years. But I didn't know him for. And worked together with him. Joe Farah, some people may remember here from what was called World Net Daily. But anyway. So, Alyssa, is it. Is that her name? She, she. Is that her name? Jenna? Yes, yes, she, she is. She is Joe Farah's daughter. so anyway, do we have the, the video, the audio? Yeah, because it. I did want to play this because it is,
Anna Navarro was actually glad to see Nicolas Maduro removed from power
I think that some, there's some very good points made by one of the commentators on the View.
>> Chris Woodward: And one of these is surprising because co host Anna Navarro, who usually finds something about President Trump to complain about, was actually glad to see that Nicolas Maduro was taken out of power, was deposed or removed, captured. What anybody, whatever somebody wants to say. so here's an exchange between An Navarro and then Whoopi Goldberg, another liberal on the view there.
>> Walker Wildmon: Clip 11 so while perhaps no one is going to miss a tyrant like Maduro. Is this a legal thing? I mean, who voted for this?
>> Chris Woodward: Who said, hey, yeah, go on in.
>> Walker Wildmon: There and do this.
>> Tim Wildmon: Your question. Who voted for this? The people in South Florida, the Venezuelan community, the Cuban American community, the Nicaraguan American community voted for this. And for us this is a very, very happy day when we see a dictator who has been part of oppressing and abusing The Venezuelan people for 25 years. When we see him, in handcuffs and held to some sort of accountability, it brought me into tears, it brought me great joy. And, you know, I live in South Florida. But are you okay with the way that it was done? But you, you can. I think both things can be true. Okay. I think you can criticize and ask questions and have concerns about the way it was done and what this means in the future.
>> Tim Wildmon: Right.
>> Tim Wildmon: And I think you can still celebrate that this murderous, corrupt, sadistic is out of Venezuela.
>> Tim Wildmon: Wow. What do you think about that, Ray?
>> Tim Wildmon: That was, well, terrific.
>> Tim Wildmon: That was a liberal, right?
>> Tim Wildmon: A, liberal, actually, praising what happened.
Jen Stohl: What happens now with the indictment against Venezuelan President Maduro
Jen, I wanted to ask you about this. Okay, so let's assume for argument's sake that everything in the indictment is true, which I think it is factually true, that he's a narco terrorist and his wife was involved too. So he's gone. But. But there had to be a whole organization, right? He had his lieutenants and his supporters and the people who were fueling the drug trade and the illegal stuff. I mean, and at that level there had to be a lot of other people involved in this criminal activity. So what happens now? Well, that's really a good question. What happens now? How do you begin even to bring these other people to justice in one way or another?
>> Jenna Ellis: Well, it reminds me a little bit of what's going on in Minnesota with Governor Tim Walz and all of the fraud that's going on there, because, you know, that a lot of people were involved. And I hope to similarly see, more than just one investigation, more than just one indictment. obviously Minnesota is a little bit easier in terms of, you know, being domestic, in terms of jurisdiction. But, But I think with respect to Maduro, what starts to happen is the, interrogation and, you know, the, the depositions and some of these things that if Maduro talks and he names names, and he may implicate, you know, people in other countries, I mean, then that's going to have to get sorted. See, is there, some kind of extradition where they can be brought to justice in the United States? maybe, even in other countries, if that's, ultimately what he testifies to. So I think that, whatever Maduro has to say on the record is going to indicate, I think a lot where the next steps go. But in terms of the, the prosecution, I also had on, another lawyer this morning, M. Who Jared Felitti, who's senior counsel for the lawfare Project. And he said that the, the federal jurisdiction in NewSong York, actually their process where Maduro currently is, moves pretty rapidly. So we could even see this whole process completed before the November election this year. Which, is really rapid compared to other jurisdictions. But then also, my home state in Florida, Governor DeSantis has indicated, that he and our attorney general in the Senate state are looking at potential charges out of Miami for Maduro. So, you know, this may not be over yet with just one indictment in, NewSong York, but certainly I would expect, others for other individuals to follow.
>> Tim Wildmon: Did you see where the judge, overseeing this case with Maduro in NewSong York be a federal judge? Right.
>> Jenna Ellis: Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: He's 92 years old.
>> Jenna Ellis: Maybe he's one of the sane people left in, in NewSong York. So. Because I was pretty impressed with him kind of cutting off Maduro, saying this isn't the time and place to protest your arrest and make political statements. I just need a, you know, guilty or not guilty.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, I just thought, man, that guy's.
>> Chris Woodward: He was also quite saying he doesn't care what other people think about him.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, he, he's been eating his Wheaties. Evidently they're good for him.
>> Jenna Ellis: I mean, the Bible doesn't speak to, to retirement and just, you know, going off and living life for yourself. So, you know, he's still, on the bench and good for him.
>> Tim Wildmon: 92 years young, a federal judge. that's amazing. and they have lifetime appointments, so, you know, he's evidently using that to the max.
>> Jenna Ellis: Huh?
>> Tim Wildmon: 92.
Jenna Ellis will talk about A.I. tomorrow on her morning show
All right. Well, Jenna, what's coming up on your show tomorrow? Do you know yet? I guess depends on what happens this afternoon.
>> Jenna Ellis: Yeah, yeah, you know, it can always, it can always change sort of last minute, but we usually, sketch out kind of, you know, where we want to go. And I'm going to be talking about, A.I. and what's, you know, what, what the latest developments are, with a special guest that we like to have on from time to time, Patrick Hedger, from Net Choice, and then also, our friend Troy Miller from the National Religious Broadcasters, wants to come on and talk about, how NRB is helping to combat Christian persecution worldwide. And then also advocating still for ah, AM radio in Every Vehicle act, just to ensure that, you know, that side of radio can still, continue as a public service.
>> Tim Wildmon: That's tomorrow morning on Jenna Ellis in the Morning.
Jenna: Artificial intelligence is going to be very helpful to mankind
You know, one thing about AI which is short for, artificial artificial Intelligence, Right.
>> Jenna Ellis: Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: Is, which some of my teachers said I had. But here I am, I'm still standing. Artificial.
>> Jenna Ellis: You're not even 92 yet.
>> Tim Wildmon: Even if my intelligence is artificial, and I'm not even 92 yet. Yeah, I got 30 years ago. There you go. Be a federal judge, I guess. you know, the thing about it is, the artificial intelligence, like much of technology, is going to cut both ways.
>> Wesley Wildmon: That's right.
>> Tim Wildmon: It's going to be very helpful to mankind. And Elon Musk has talked about this and others. and. But it's going to be. And it's already helping in a lot of ways. It's going to have a lot to do with medical breakthroughs on how to, you know, treat diseases and so forth. There's a lot of great things happening right now with the world of AI but then the other. The other. The problem is the, you know, dark side of it. And, I was reading another story about these deep fakes that are out there, and I saw a video, yesterday, I guess it was. It was a funny video of Maduro being the janitor at the White House in the Oval Office. Have you guys seen this? Did you see this, Jenna?
>> Jenna Ellis: Yeah, I've seen a few deep fakes.
>> Tim Wildmon: Then everybody knows what I'm talking about. If you've seen it, you know what I'm talking about. It's very funny, to watch it. I don't know if you call it a meme. It's a meme. Video. Me m. A video. But it looks so real. M. Not. Not surreal. It looks so real. I'm just going some. Pretty soon somebody's going to do a video that is going to go viral, that's going to have negative impacts around the world that people are going to believe, you know, because they.
>> Jenna Ellis: Well, it reminds me of that radio program, one time, and I'm forgetting exactly the context.
>> Tim Wildmon: Orson Welles.
>> Jenna Ellis: Yeah, yeah, yeah. When they. When they were talking about the alien invasion.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: Back in the 30s or 40s. Right. When was that? You lived back then, didn't you?
>> Tim Wildmon: Right. 1938.
>> Chris Woodward: You heard the broadcast, right?
>> Jenna Ellis: Yeah. And people heard the broadcast, they thought it was real. And they didn't catch kind of the disclaimer at the beginning. And that's what, you know, artificial intelligence. The danger of that is that before verification, you know, people are going to believe these things. But the good thing is the proliferation of that has been so widespread that even things that are real, people are going, oh, that's got to be AI I Don't even believe it. And so I almost think that some of the danger will be the opposite way. That when we do have actual video of real life events, people won't believe that, and they'll assume it's AI So we kind of have that twofold problem.
>> Tim Wildmon: I, I, Allison. Somebody sent Allison and my wife a video the other day of, like, an Instagram thing with this. And. And once we all, most people know what these are, these little short clips, like, 10 second, 15 second.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah, yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: 30 second videos. What do you call those? Shorts? Shorts. It was Instagram. Although you have the same thing on YouTube because. Because I've wasted some hours there, too. And that is, these little short videos. But you could tell they're making little videos about animals and kids and stuff like that. You can sort of say, that's not. That's. That's not real. That's. That's it. But they're funny when they are real and they're natural. But you're going like, you're telling me somebody had a video camera right, when the dog hugged the baby.
People said that when Kamala Harris and Tim Walsh were shopping
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: Right. Okay. well, you can tell that that's. It's a. It's a. It's a fake video.
>> Jenna Ellis: Well, I'm recording my dogs.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah.
>> Jenna Ellis: 247 with all my pictures. That one I would believe.
>> Chris Woodward: It's funny you mentioned that. You're telling me that they had a. Having to have a camera rolling. People said that when Kamala Harris and Tim Walsh were shopping for Doritos in a gas station. Remember that?
>> Tim Wildmon: Yes.
>> Chris Woodward: People were like, oh, how coincidental that they're having to be a camera.
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: What now?
>> Chris Woodward: When they were running for a great.
>> Tim Wildmon: Moment in American politics.
>> Chris Woodward: Yes. It was when they were running for election. Kamala and Tim Walls stopped somewhere, and Kamala was trying to be like, you know, one of us by shopping for Doritos. And Governor Tim Walls helped her find the Doritos at a gas station. Upon further review, they actually learned that there were different takes. Like, they had cameras at different angles, and they went around and, like, edited the video together.
>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, okay. So it was not. It was phony.
>> Chris Woodward: Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: Phony baloney.
>> Chris Woodward: As. As was her campaign.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, well, Chris, that was unnecessary.
>> Chris Woodward: Well, she's not in the White House.
>> Tim Wildmon: But it was accurate. All right, thank you, Jenna. Take care.
>> Jenna Ellis: Happy NewSong Year.
>> Tim Wildmon: Happy NewSong Year.
Chris Wesley loves deer hunting, and his kids are falling in love with it
That's Jenna Ellis joining us from the Sunshine State, where Ray resides. All right. you're listening to today's issues on American Family Radio. Tim Wesley, Chris and Ray do you get, How much longer is deer season got now here in. Where in Mississippi?
>> Wesley Wildmon: Three weeks left.
>> Tim Wildmon: Three weeks left.
>> Wesley Wildmon: yeah, but you know what? It's always something on the baseball.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: But you love deer hunting.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah. Love deer hunting.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. How many did you get? A big buck this year.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah. I hope my wife's not listening right now.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, why is that?
>> Wesley Wildmon: Turkey seasons around the corner.
>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, season. It follows deer season.
>> Chris Woodward: Right. I didn't know that.
>> Wesley Wildmon: And then you got. And then you got fishing, and then you got.
>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, yeah, the great outdoors. It never. Never.
>> Wesley Wildmon: But. But.
>> Tim Wildmon: And also, deer season was going.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Do what now?
>> Tim Wildmon: The deer. You got you a big.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Oh, yeah, I got me a big buck. but in all seriousness, I've enjoyed. My kids are falling in love with it as much as I do, and so, they have a choice because.
>> Tim Wildmon: You drag them with you.
>> Wesley Wildmon: That's right.
>> Tim Wildmon: But I say drag them. They want to go now.
>> Wesley Wildmon: No, I did. No, you did. They don't. They really don't have a choice early on. But then, you know, I mean, when they're sick, when they're five.
>> Tim Wildmon: Right.
>> Wesley Wildmon: But, you know, But the way that I do things, I like to. I like to believe that I make it enjoyable to the point where they want to do it. And so the other day, my. My middle daughter, she's. She's seven, she said she overheard me and my oldest son, 10, who's a big hunter, that we were going hunting, and she. She overheard it and said, well, I've never. I haven't got to go in the morning before. When you go in the morning, it's usually very early, and it can be cold. And she said she wanted to go. It's not fair. She never gets go in the morning. I thought, okay. So anyways, I woke her up and she went. And all went well. So.
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, my dad didn't hunt, so I didn't grow up hunting. But your, your granddad on your mom's side taught you how to. Ray, did you grow up hunting?
>> Tim Wildmon: No, my dad did some quail hunting around Oxford, but, no, not really.
>> Wesley Wildmon: There's a lot of memories made in the woods. Dad, right now is looking at a picture.
>> Tim Wildmon: dad, me.
>> Wesley Wildmon: You were looking at a picture of Anna Wesley. This is her right after I shot my big buck. She was coloring in the deer stand.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, she's four, right?
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah, she's cool. She's in that Christmas pajamas.
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, Wesley built a luxury deer stand.
>> Tim Wildmon: Sounds like it.
>> Tim Wildmon: So there's room for everybody up there.
>> Chris Woodward: Trump Towers and So you.
>> Tim Wildmon: So four year old daughter can color while he's scoping a buck?
>> Tim Wildmon: That's right. I love it.
>> Tim Wildmon: All right, well, we shall take a break. Chris, thank you for your invaluable contributions to this show. You're welcome. Yes. we shall return momentarily with Steve Paisley. George. All in more of today's issues. Stay with us.
>> Jenna Ellis: The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.