American Family association seeks to stop erosion of godly values
>> Jeff Chamblee: I'm Dr. Ray Rooney. The mission of American Family association is to inform, equip and activate individuals and families to strengthen the moral foundations of American culture and give aid to the church here and abroad. In its task of fulfilling the Great Commission, AFA aims to evangelize the lost and disciple the believer.
>> : thank you for standing with the American Family association as we seek to stop the erosion of godly values.
>> : Welcome to Today's Issues. Join us for the next hour as we offer a Christian response to the issues of the day. Here's your host, Ed Vitagliano.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And welcome, to this edition of as the World Churns. Today's issues. Thursday, May 28th. We've just about run out of may, joined in studio by Fred Jackson. Good morning, Fred.
>> Fred Jackson: Good morning to you.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Tony Vitagliano.
>> Tony Vitagliano: Good morning.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And Krish Woodward is in the house. Good morning, Krish.
>> Chris Woodward: Good morning. Only, only 55 minutes of me today, America.
>> Ed Vitagliano: That's right. Steve Paisley. Jordal will be, back on the set.
>> Chris Woodward: People launch the petition, you know.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah. Online petition. and no, he's feeling better. We're grateful for that. For those of you who prayed for Steve, thank you for those prayers. And, we are almost, out of May. Kind of hard to believe, Fred. It's, 2026. We're almost through the fifth month. We got Father's Day coming up. Then it's July 4th, the 250th celebration. And then downhill towards Christmas.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes, that's a good approach to Christmas
>> Chris Woodward: as the world turns.
>> Fred Jackson: All downhill to Christmas.
>> Ed Vitagliano: All downhill to Christmas.
>> Fred Jackson: So anyway, and the older you get, it seems the months just scream by. Yeah.
>> Ed Vitagliano: You know, and I'm, I'm digging my heels in, you know, I'm trying to kind of slow that roll a little bit.
>> Tony Vitagliano: I never understood that whenever, I was younger. But I understand it now.
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.
>> Tony Vitagliano: I mean, the years are slipping by.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Fred Jackson: They really do. But, you know, it just goes to. We ought to take life one day at a time.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Tony Vitagliano: Right.
>> Fred Jackson: Enjoy. This is the day the Lord has made.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Fred Jackson: He doesn't month.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.
>> Fred Jackson: This is the day the Lord has made.
>> Ed Vitagliano: That's right.
>> Fred Jackson: Give it. Rejoice and be glad in it.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Listen, you know, the older I get that, you know, the more I think about my own mortality. Not that I didn't realize I was mortal, you know, when I was 20 or 30 or whatever. But, I just think, you know, God, just thank you. I, I thank you for life. I, I, I've, you know, I married a wonderful woman. I Have great kids, great grandkids. I love what I do. I've been able to be in the ministry. I've been to places, a couple of places around. Been to Israel, you know, and Jordan, and, you know, been able to write some things I'm proud of. And, you know, if I want to go get a pizza, I can get a pizza.
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.
>> Ed Vitagliano: You know, I've seen. I. I've thought of things I've been able to see. I've seen my, my team win the Stanley Cup. I've. I saw Doug Flutie throw the miracle throw in 1984 against Miami in the Orange Bowl. Just. Life has been good. I got no complaints. And absolutely, we should all be grateful. lots of struggles. So people who are listening right now. And you're going, yeah, well, I'm happy for you, Ed. Ah, but my life is tough. No, we've had a lot of struggles.
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.
>> Ed Vitagliano: You know, made mistakes. Did you know, you know, those things, it hadn't been perfect. But God has proven himself faithful.
>> Fred Jackson: That's right.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And one day we're going to all be with him. All the troubles left behind anyway, so, you know, I don't want to get into, you know, preach mode and start, you know, going down, down that road.
>> Tony Vitagliano: But it is, it is, it is telling as an Italian, though, that one of the life's greatest achievements that the Lord has given him is that he get to eat pizza. I got to travel the world, you know, walk the footsteps of Jesus. I got to eat pizza whenever I wanted to.
One of the first American things I saw when I went to Israel last August
>> Ed Vitagliano: So, you know, that's.
>> Tony Vitagliano: Lord, I have no complaints.
>> Chris Woodward: Oddly enough, complaints. One of the first American things I saw when I went to Israel last August was a Domino's Pizza.
>> Ed Vitagliano: when you went where?
>> Chris Woodward: When I went to Israel last, Domino's Pizza, they had Domino's Pizza. And oddly enough, it was right next to a bus stop that had one of those Sydney Sweeney has good jeans ads. It was like I was. It was like I hadn't left America.
>> Ed Vitagliano: That's, that's, that's the, the evidence of America's impact on the world.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah. There was a Papa Jon's there as well.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Fast food and cultural rot.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah. And, ah, for people that have never been, there is also a McDonald's at the dead Sea.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Really?
>> Chris Woodward: My, my. Our tour guide joked that if you ever eat at the McDonald's there, you have reached the lowest point, which is a pun, because the Dead Sea is the lowest point. Very good, Very good.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I like it.
According to Axios, US and Iran have reached a deal
All right, well, enough, enough reminiscing. Enough in, thinking about all the things that are good about life. Let's talk about the news.
>> Chris Woodward: Yes. Well, by the way, we should interview Tony for the news job that we have an opening for, because Tony, broke this news to us, just before this show began. According to Axios this morning, the US And Iran have reached a deal, but they need Trump's final approval. And this is all on officials, some of which are speaking on anonymity. When you look at some of the bullet points here, according to this deal that Axios has, Fox and other news outlets don't have this yet, but according to Axios, things like the US Naval blockade will be lifted. that will happen in proportion to the restoration of commercial shipping. Meanwhile, Iran will make a commitment not to pursue a nuclear weapon. I'm not making that up.
>> Ed Vitagliano: So relieved that, yeah, the liars have promised.
>> Chris Woodward: And here's where, it may get, an issue with some, Trump supporters. The US Will commit to discuss sanctions relief and the release of frozen Iranian funds as part of the negotiations. Again, this is all according to Axios. I will share it on our Facebook page.
>> Tony Vitagliano: And it hasn't been approved by Trump. So Trump could come back and say, you know, take this out, take this out, or no deal at all.
>> Fred Jackson: My, my question would be on that caveat. If he hasn't approved it, who has come up with this? Is this a Jared Kushner thing?
>> Ed Vitagliano: It's gotta be the negotiations.
>> Fred Jackson: Is it, a Marco Rubio thing?
>> Tony Vitagliano: I don't know. Who all is involved? That's a good question, Fred. Who would be involved in these negotiations? and coming up with this, the framework for this plan.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes. And I mean, that last part is the most important part. I mean, Trump can come out three minutes from now and say, this is no deal.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah. Yeah.
>> Tony Vitagliano: Ah.
>> Fred Jackson: Because if he's assessing this and he's probably has seen it, obviously he's thinking, okay, I've got people, Lindsey Graham, I've got a few others that are going to come out there and they're going to be interviewed on Fox saying this is a sellout. He went ballistic. President Trump did on the weekend when Mike Pompeo.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.
>> Fred Jackson: Started talking about the possibilities of these bullet points. Mike Pompeo just went ballistic and said, basically, Barack Obama.2.
>> Tony Vitagliano: Yeah, well, that's. I'll say this. If I were Trump, I would definitely strip out, if he plans to proceed with this plan, this agreement, I would definitely strip out some of those bullet points. One of them Being the sanction, the sanction relief and the funds, returning of the funds. That is, that would be very, to me, would be very. Democrats would be very quick to jump on that and point to the symbolism. Everybody remember the pallets of cash that
>> Ed Vitagliano: were delivered to Iran under Obama?
>> Tony Vitagliano: Under Obama. That's something. To me, that would be a political miscalculation to leave that in there and agree to that with Iran, in my opinion.
>> Chris Woodward: Well,
>> Ed Vitagliano: here's what, here's what I think about this now. I have. You've got the Lindsey Graham wing of the Republican Party. You, know Mike Pompeo and others. They're realists. They know Iran's a bunch of liars. They are. They may prom, they'll promise you whatever they want. but I don't trust them. I think as soon as they think it's feasible, they will go back to getting a nuke. but at the same time, the Trump administration has got to find a way out of this mess.
>> Tony Vitagliano: Right?
>> Ed Vitagliano: And they are going to have to make concessions that are painful. That's, that's what you do when you want to get out of something. you have to make some concessions to, to find an off ramp where you can try to claim some sense of victory. I don't think that that's going to be a. I don't think many people are going to buy that. If Trump says, hey, listen, this was, this is great. We got the deal we wanted, you know, whatever. I think the president ought to just come out and say, listen, we, we took our best shot. we never were going to put boots on the ground. We thought we could, topple this regime because this regime is behind so much bad that's going on in the Middle East. They, they fund the proxies, which, by the way, they will continue to do with their, oil, their economy at full tilt, going through the Strait of Hormuz, frozen assets. They'll be able to continue to fund terrorist organizations throughout the Middle East. But Trump, Trump could say, listen, we took our best shot, we degraded their military. It's going to take five or ten years for them to get back up. all we can do is watch and see if they will keep their promise about the nuclear weapons. But, but, we did what we could and we're not willing to throw, American soldiers lives into a meat grinder. The rest of the Middle east is going to have to pony up if they want to. I don't know what else the President can do.
>> Fred Jackson: But here's what Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel is going to say, okay, the United States is doing what it deems necessary, but we must continue the fight. And if you look at what has happened, with Israel sending troops now further into southern Lebanon, bombing almost on a daily basis.
>> Ed Vitagliano: They hit Hezbollah already a leader this morning.
>> Fred Jackson: This morning. And they're hitting buildings where Hezbollah is hiding their missile launchers. That's going to continue.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Fred Jackson: And what does the United States say to that?
>> Tony Vitagliano: Yeah, I mean, I think Israel needs to. And, what it looks like they're doing in southern Lebanon is increasing their buff zone in anticipation of the US Leaving the Middle east so that they are in a better position when Iran eventually brings. Because, look, we're all realist here. Iran's going to bring their proxies back online. As soon as they get their footing back underneath them, they're going to start funding these proxies, Hezbollah, the Houthis, even Hamas, if, you know, if, if to a certain degree. So Israel's just at this point probably trying to take as gain as much ground as they can in anticipation for Iran getting its footing back underneath them, unfortunately.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, it would have been great had there been regime change in Iran and a more moderate government taken over. The IRGC dismantled all that would have been great. I would have loved to have seen that happen, not only for the Iranian people to be free, but maybe for Christianity to flourish more in that part of the world.
Mackenzie: President Trump needs to focus on domestic issues
But that is, that was a tall order. Our military performed admirably. They, they showed that they are still the best in the world, but there's only so much the military can do.
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.
>> Ed Vitagliano: You know, if, if you had been able to take over Iran, you would have had to dismantle, the irgc. You would have hunt them down. There might have been a civil war in that country. They, that would have been an extraordinary accomplishment, though, for President Trump. I think that's probably what he was thinking. He's probably thinking if we can knock, if we can take them out and replace them with someone more moderate, we could have some peace in the Middle East. Listen, that would have been a once in a century accomplishment for the President. All right. I like what he was thinking. it's just not going to happen, at least not anytime soon. It may not even take five to 10 years for Iran to rebuild their military. I think China and Russia will help try to fill some of those gaps. So, but I will say this, Iran, even though I fully expect, should this memorandum of Understanding, if this deal should pass, Iran is going to gloat. They are going to brag that they, they took on, the two titans, Israel and the United States. Tony, we was talking to Tony earlier. Israel, top military in the Middle east, the US Top military in the world. Iran took on both. They got up, took a beating, but they came out, intact. But they also have some, some reason to make a deal because their economy is getting ready to go in the toilet if we continue that blockade. So, we'll still wait and see what's going to happen here. But, the president has to find a way out. And I think that means he's going to have to make some very unpleasant choices and he's going to have to take some heat. He'll fire back. I mean, I'm just rambling here. He'll fire, he'll fire back and say, listen, you're, you're mocking what I did. It's at least I was willing to take on Iran, which is more than any other administration, Republican or Democrat, can say for the last 30 years. So.
>> Fred Jackson: Well, we said that, if something was going to happen, they need to happen soon in order to put some space between the war and November, the election. And gas prices have to come down.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Right, right.
>> Fred Jackson: If gas prices come down, the American people will move on.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, yeah.
>> Fred Jackson: The economy will improve. The American people will move on. Democrats will try to still make hay, during the election campaign, but if the gas prices come down, the American
>> Ed Vitagliano: people will be happy.
>> Tony Vitagliano: And I think he could even, I think a lot of his base who have been displeased with the Iran, situation would move on if, if he turns an about face and starts to focus on turning his attention on domestic issues. You know, getting, getting our economy back to where it needs to be, getting gas prices where they need to be. The fact of the matter is, it's the, the attention span and the memory of the American voter is short.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes.
>> Tony Vitagliano: I mean, my goodness, think about how the news cycle goes. three months from now, if we're done in Iran, three months from now. Some people will, may have like, forgot. Oh, I forgot, you know. Yeah, I forgot about Iran.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, we're not talking about the Ukraine war.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah, exactly.
>> Ed Vitagliano: We're not talking about Venezuela. We're not talking about Greenland or Cuba.
>> Tony Vitagliano: Right, right.
>> Ed Vitagliano: We moved on from those.
>> Tony Vitagliano: If. Yeah, Trump is. He's also good at creating other headlines and other news cycles, so there's that, too.
>> Fred Jackson: We're moving into Alberta.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I think you're exactly right. I think the American voter will Move on because we're not staying in Iran. M. That, that's gonna, that's gonna change. The other things are happening. If we get time, we'll talk about the fact that NASA plan to put bases on the moon. There's so much going on, this, this will disappear. And if gas prices come down, the President ought to come out, follow this up. If he gets a deal done here in Iran and starts bringing our Navy, back home or to its, you know, standing positions, he ought to say, listen, I got a five point plan to bring, grocery prices down. M. And then people will sit up and go, who's Iran? Right, right.
>> Chris Woodward: Well, gas prices do certainly need to come down. I'm looking at AAA's daily fuel gauge report and today's national average for a gallon of regular is $4.42, which is up 30 cents from this time last month, which was already up from the previous month. As a matter of fact, a year ago, the national average for a gallon of Regular gasoline was $3.16. Diesel a year ago was 353. Today it's $2 more.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, that's unsustainable economically and politically.
US Service members helping Nigerian government to prevent Muslim terrorists from harming Christians
All right, what else you got? All right, now Krish, you do your job. Tony did his job well, you know,
>> Chris Woodward: talking about something people forgot about, in addition to having military assets in the Middle east, we have also had some US Service members helping the Nigerian government do something to prevent Muslim terrorists, isis, Boko Haram, from harming Christians in Nigeria. They're also killing Muslims that don't want to bend the knee to their ways. and Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of War, gave an update on this yesterday, praising Trump's actions for, doing something to protect Christians and other people of faith in Nigeria.
>> Steve Hilton: Clip 4 to give you a sense of how committed this president is, maybe a year ago, he heard the call of Nigerian Christians who were being targeted and killed, by ISIS in Nigeria. And he said, pete, I want the War Department to focus on ensuring that we do everything we can to protect those Christians. Partnerships like that can take time behind the scenes, but he never wavered on it. And we got the assets there. And over the last month, and there hasn't been much coverage of this, we killed ISIS number two in Nigeria who's most responsible for killing Christians in and trying to target the US Homeland and have since, because of the intel we gathered, killed hundreds of ISIS members who were targeting and killing Christians in Nigeria, creating a whole new opportunity there. So there's A lot of things we do that the media pays attention to, and a lot of things that the president empowers the department to do on behalf of the American people, that he deserves great credit for.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, Fred, he does. This is a great thing the president has done. And this does go back to last year. Christians in Nigeria have suffered terribly from the religion of peace down there. So the president has heard that cry. He should be applauded for this. God's going to have to get rid of Islam one way or the other for all this to stop, permanently. but, listen, in the meantime, this is the next best thing.
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah. You know, President, Trump, sometimes rightfully comes under criticism for some of his moves, but every Christian ought to be praising him. what other president can you think of in recent history would do this? They would come out and decry what's happening to Christians in a country, but say, you know, it's not our fight, you know, but President Trump, I'll put it this way. put his money where his mouth is. He says we have to do something to help the Christians. And he has invested military hardware and military personnel in this. It started off as a story that we were going to send and give the Nigerians some expertise, some training, that sort of thing. But what Pete Hex had to say yesterday about this, that, we have killed hundreds. I think our involvement there has gone beyond training. we are there. And I tell you what, if you're going to spend money and you're going to put military personnel to a good cause. Amen to that.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, Tony, these are bad guys. These are really bad guys. Boko Haram. These are the folks who now, is Boko Haram. That's a branch of isis, right?
>> Chris Woodward: They have. Yeah, they. I think they actually predate isis because they were. We were doing stories in Boko Haram before ISIS became isis. Yeah. But I think they have, since, like, unified with him.
>> Ed Vitagliano: So this is. This is the outfit that was kidnapping Christian girls from schools. I mean, this terrible stuff. Yeah, these are. These are act real bad guys.
>> Tony Vitagliano: Yeah, they. They have committed, horrific acts of mass, murder. I mean, things we can't even talk about here on the show. And they've been doing it for a very long time. And so, yes, I, I am 100 in favor of using some limited, military intervention to bring these people to justice and to help and aid people who are just being innocently targeted. Christians especially. I mean, you know, we. We, to me, There is, There oftentimes things like this get kind of left out and ignored by even previous administrations, Republican administrations, Democrat and Republican administrations alike.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.
>> Tony Vitagliano: They get ignored, because, let's just face it, some countries like, Like Nigeria, they just. There's no direct, benefit to us for helping. Yeah, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't be willing to help. Especially, like I said with. With these types of, acts that they are carrying out. This is not. This is not settling. This is not intervening in some, ethnic, you know, ethnic tensions in. In some Eastern European country, you know, where, you know, people throw rocks at each other. I mean, this Boko Haram are wicked, evil, people who, have been just terrorizing Christians for decades now. So I'm. I'm all for it. And good. Good for the president for actually stepping up and, and doing something about it.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And these guys kill. Like Krish said, they kill Muslims too.
>> Tony Vitagliano: Oh, yeah.
>> Ed Vitagliano: If you're not the right stripe or you don't fall, in line. So they. They're butchers. And hundreds of them have gone to face their eternal judgment.
>> Tony Vitagliano: Yeah, this is. This is. I. I applaud this because this is doing the right thing, and getting nothing in return, if that makes sense. Yeah, a lot of times, you know, it's rightly so. We can criticize sometimes our foreign policy because we're doing things because it's. It's a, you know, I scratch your back, you scratch mine. But this is doing the right thing and expecting nothing in return, really.
Short break. Um, more stories for us to cover after the break
>> Ed Vitagliano: All right, what do you got? What else you got, Chris? Well, we got break coming up. Let's go ahead and start the break. Just a few seconds, early here, rather than jump into a, a new story. And we'll do that as soon as we come back.
>> Chris Woodward: I have plenty.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Short break. Yeah, we got plenty of stuff. Ed Battagliano sitting in for Tim Wildmon this week. I'm joined by Fred Jackson, Tony Vitagliano, Krish Woodward. Steve Jordal is feeling better. He will be here at the top of the hour. more stories for us to cover. folks, thank you for joining us thus far. Hope you return with us to, follow the news here in Abroad after the break. We'll be back in a few minutes.
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US Military actions started just before President Trump returned to office, Chris says
>> Ed Vitagliano: And welcome back to Today's Issues. Krish, before the break, we did say that what President Trump has, done in Nigeria, no other administration has done. you did want to make a little bit of a correction on that, right? Yes.
>> Chris Woodward: so US Military actions actually started just before President Trump returned to office. And I say that because I'm looking at the website for U.S. africa Command, a government website. and on December 25th of all days, during the end of the Biden administration, the U.S. africa Command, in coordination with the Nigerian government, conducted an airstrike in Nigeria. It was fired from U.S. naval assets. over a dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles struck two Islamic state camps in the northwestern state, killing multiple terrorists there. So at the end of the Biden administration, whether it was President Joe Biden or somebody that worked for him and ran the country, during the last weeks of his administration, some of this stuff did begin. Now, Trump, did more and did more things. so hegseth is correct. but some of this stuff, did begin technically before Trump re entered.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, and we want to be fair about that and we want to report the truth. so whoever, whoever did it in the Biden administration at the tail end, we're glad it happened.
>> Chris Woodward: We don't know who it was.
>> Tony Vitagliano: That's a funny thing. Like, turn the light off on your way out. Also, press this button and launch this airstrike.
>> Chris Woodward: Yes.
>> Tony Vitagliano: don't forget to make sure the oven isn't on. The microwave is blow up in Boko Haram.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Chris Woodward: What a, what a perfect segue.
Dr. Jill Biden says she worried about Joe Biden's health during debate
Into our next topic, which does include audio. Dr. Jill Biden, the wife of President Joe Biden, is in the news. She, is now on record as saying she had concerns that Joe might have had a stroke during that one and only debate he had with Donald Trump back in the, 2024, when
>> Ed Vitagliano: he was staring off at this.
>> Chris Woodward: Remember the moment where, he just kind of stumbles and stammers and he's like, we finally beat Medicare. And then Trump is asked to respond, and he goes, I don't even think he knows what he said that moment. Here is what Dr. Jill Biden is talking about. Now, I have combined this with the most recent comment where she's expressing concern about the health of her husband during that debate. But then we're going to hear what she had to say a few hours after that debate when she trucks Joe out there on stage by hand and tells him in front of everybody that he won. I've combined all this. Clip 14.
>> Jeff Chamblee: Were you horrified as you saw it unfold? I wasn't horrified. I was frightened because I had never ever seen Joe like that before. Or since. Never or since? Yes. Or since. I've never seen him like that. Never? No. What happened? I don't know what happened. I mean, when I. As I watched it, I thought, oh, my God, he's having a stroke. And it scared me to death. Joe, you did such a great job. You answered every question.
>> Ed Vitagliano: You knew all the facts.
>> Jeff Chamblee: And let me ask the crowd. What did Trump do?
>> Ed Vitagliano: L.
>> Jeff Chamblee: Yes.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Was that a group of fourth graders? Who was she talking to?
>> Chris Woodward: the Sport. There were 17 people paid to show up at the rally to tell Joe what he did. Right.
>> Ed Vitagliano: by the way, we apologize for that. She took the Lord's name in vain. we failed to catch that. So, apologize for that. okay.
Jill Biden says she was worried her husband had a stroke during debate
All right, Fred, you first. You. Do you believe what she's saying? Not before or since.
>> Fred Jackson: I believe Jill Biden's out pedaling a book right now, and so she's doing a bunch of interviews.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Oh, I gotta make sure. Let me know. I want to make sure I pick up a copy. Yes.
>> Fred Jackson: So she's asked in these interviews. Obviously, that was a moment. Joe Biden debate what he had to say. So she's telling these people, in these interviews that she was scared that her husband had a stroke. All right, so she's telling people, I was really concerned that he had a stroke. But then an hour later, she takes husband Joe and they go to the rally. And you heard her. You did such A great job out there. And I saw the video this morning. You heard the audio. I saw the video. And still then, President Joe Biden is standing and staring off into the abyss. His wife is praising him. She's got all the energy. Joe is just standing there, staring off into the distance. And as other people have said, you know, she had to see his mental decline prior to the debate.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Afterwards.
>> Fred Jackson: She had to. She's his wife. And as many people have said, you love this man. You just take him by the hand and say, joe, number one, don't run again.
>> Tony Vitagliano: Right?
>> Fred Jackson: It's time, Joe, you've done great things for this country. You've served your country. just let it go. But she didn't. And I think she has been rightly condemned for not doing that. As a loving wife. Say, it's time to retire with honor. M. You can go with your head held high. She didn't do that. So now she's out with her book and she's telling the world. I was really worried that I had a stroke because I never saw any problems before, never saw any problems since.
>> Tony Vitagliano: that and that I don't want to call someone a liar. It's just very hard for me to believe that Joe Biden, in his declining mental state, which people who have the same conditions that he. He probably does, in the first thing in the morning and at night, they exhibit the same symptoms. You're telling me his wife never saw any of this other behavior day in and day out? it's just. It's very hard for me to believe. I think that's just, you're. You're. Well, stretching. If you expect who, your audience to believe that you never saw any. This is the first time you'd ever seen him, discombobulated before and, and frozen. And. And. I don't know.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I. I appreciate you not wanting to call her a liar. And, And. And I'm not going to do it, okay? Because that's. That's unfair. And I, can't say for sure she did. But I'm going to say this at the very best we can say about what she just said is it's spin. Okay? I may not call her a liar, but it's spin. And here's how I can prove it. let's just be logical for a minute. She is now, since she's selling a book, putting the best possible spin on her reaction to that debate debacle, because she wants to sell books, and she doesn't want to appear to be A monster. Okay. All right. But if you want us to believe you thought in that moment that he might have had a stroke, why didn't you take him to the hospital? Why did you parade him in front of the. To Krish's point, the 17 paid people who were there to cheer, if you really thought he had a stroke, he'd be at the hospital.
>> Steve Hilton: Right.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Being checked out, not being paraded. And that kind of medicine that you use for a stroke, time is of the essence. It's got to be within hours that you get that to them. You're not going to say, well, we're going to take a couple hours and then maybe make it, to a hospital. So I don't believe a word she's saying. Again, I don't want to be ugly here, but let's just say she's spinning for the sake of book sales.
>> Chris Woodward: There's.
>> Fred Jackson: Whoop.
>> Chris Woodward: I had my mute on for. I was muting myself. Forgive me.
The mainstream media was protecting Joe Biden when he was clearly in mental decline
One thing about, the media is somewhat to blame here. and in recent days, we've seen things that show the hypocrisy of the mainstream media. For days now, we have seen stories from many news outlets that don't like President Trump, and they point out the fact that, oh, he falls asleep in meetings. I saw something the other day on X where somebody had posted, different pictures of him in meetings with his eyes closed. Now, it could be that he's just. He's being, bombarded with all kinds of opinions and he's trying to take it in. And, Lord bears me strength. I don't know.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, okay.
>> Chris Woodward: It's hard to get inside Donald Trump's head. But. But the fact that they're doing those kinds of hit pieces when they didn't raise any kind of concerns or they blew off people that came on CNN or whatever to raise issues or concerns about Biden's mental state. It shows you there were a whole bunch of people that were purposely ignoring concerns that the President of the United States might not have all been there.
>> Tony Vitagliano: Well, and let's not forget, too, there were reports that, Jill Biden was absolutely furious when the coup took place within the Democratic Party and Joe Biden was ousted and Kamala Harris was. Yeah, there were. There were reports that behind closed doors, Jill Biden was absolutely furious. There was even, correct me if I'm wrong, weren't there even reports that rumors that Jill Biden might have voted for Trump in the. In the election?
>> Chris Woodward: I heard those.
>> Tony Vitagliano: Yeah. I mean, rumors, okay.
>> Ed Vitagliano: That she voted for Trump?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah. Oh. Because of Kamala.
>> Tony Vitagliano: So even still, with her saying this, if those are true, if those, rumors or reports are true, that she was furious about Joe Biden being ousted and Kamala being put in, she still, Even after her husband, supposedly she was concerned about he had a stroke, she still wanted him. Probably wanted him to go forward and be the candidate and run again and win, you know, m. I guess try and win one more time. And then.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, you know what, Fred? I want to just kind of jump, off something that Krish mentioned and Tony too, about the media and their culpability in this. Now, you've talked a lot, spoken a lot over the years about the collapse of professional journalism. Okay, so the, the mainstream media was protecting Joe Biden. Krish was talking about the fact that they go after Trump for the littlest, smallest things, but they protected Joe Biden when he was clearly in mental decline. But by protecting him, all right, rather than. Rather than flush this out and do their jobs, they did nothing. Which made the Biden campaign continue so long that they couldn't have an actual primary campaign for a new candidate. They were forced to ultimately oust him out after the debate and put in Kamala Harris. So in not doing their job, the mainstream media, by protecting Joe Biden, they may actually have contributed to Trump being elected.
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, it's interesting. You follow the sequence. they were cheerleaders for Joe Biden right up to that debate night.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Fred Jackson: But they couldn't deny what every American saw.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.
>> Fred Jackson: You know, they saw a man who, left reality for that moment. He didn't. He didn't know. It seemed he didn't know where he was, what to say, et cetera. So they couldn't deny that. So then they went into, we must replace our man. I'm talking about mainstream media said, we must replace this man, and we must do it quickly.
>> Ed Vitagliano: They did it right after that debate.
>> Fred Jackson: Oh, yeah. Right away we had stories of Hollywood supporters, you know, all of a sudden saying, joe must go.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Fred Jackson: We started to hear the stories of Barack Obama calling, saying, joe, you gotta get out. And those media stories, normally, if they were still supporting him, they would put skepticism in. This is just a Republican plot to get rid of Joe. No, they were feeding this. All of a sudden, they fed this because they knew they had to get somebody else on the ticket.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Fred Jackson: and that had to be Kamala Harris. When Kamala Harris, finally, she was named, they were Kamala Harris cheerleaders. She could do no wrong.
>> Chris Woodward: And it's not even new to say that the media is protecting a president because nearly 100 years ago, when Franklin Roosevelt ran for the first time, during his administration, of which he served many years more than other presidents, you had a lot of people, many Americans were unaware that the president spent time in a wheelchair. That's the University of Arizona. I mean, like, so the media doing things to protect the president is not even a new thing.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And, well, I will be honest. Fox News.
>> Tony Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Goes out of their way to put the best possible spin on what President Trump does.
>> Chris Woodward: They do, because that's their audience. You know, they're doing a story for the people. They're depending on watching them. which is why they label everything a news alert. Every.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
American Family News is critical of the Trump administration and the president
And that's why, folks, I do want to remind you that we do try to be fair here, and sometimes that means we are critical of the Trump administration and the president. I know that doesn't always make you guys happy, but we're. We have an obligation. We feel before God to speak the truth as we see it. So that's why, like, you know, when I do ask you to, to be gracious towards us when we say things you don't like, just remember we're trying not to be like the mainstream media and just tell you what you want to hear.
>> Tony Vitagliano: So try afn.net American Family News. That team, Fred and that team are trying. What they're trying to do is bring you accurate information, the news that you care about from a biblical perspective. Right. So that's what we're trying.
>> Ed Vitagliano: That's our job.
>> Fred Jackson: And we do quote Democrats.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, yeah.
>> Fred Jackson: you know, in this election campaign, we will quote Democrats.
>> Chris Woodward: I did a Zoran Mamdani story last week.
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.
>> Chris Woodward: But I had the other guy.
>> Fred Jackson: Some people get upset sometimes saying, why are you covering the Democrats? Well, it's really important that you know what the Democrats are saying.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Right, right.
>> Fred Jackson: The difference with us is that we will have reaction to what the Democrats are saying, versus just letting them go out there and spew what they spew. Right.
>> Ed Vitagliano: So. And nothing, nothing says criticism better than the word spew. So spew some, news stories.
Spencer Pratt is running for Los Angeles mayor next Tuesday
>> Chris Woodward: next Tuesday is a big day in the state of California. It's the June 2 primary in the state of California. and one place, where people are voting is Los Angeles. They're going to be deciding amongst many other positions. their next mayor, Spencer Pratt, is becoming a household name not just in la, but in other parts of the country, because the former reality TV star turned political science Major at usc, is running for mayor and he's blaming Karen Bass for much of the city's problems. Mayor Bass is the current mayor. She's seeking another term, and Spencer Pratt is looking to unseat her in that race. There are other candidates as well, but Spencer Pratt has been making headlines. He's been making he's kind of a viral sensation because people that support him have been doing AI videos to help him in his campaign here. and Spencer Pratt says, look, if I'm elected, I'm not going to be just a mayor for Republicans in Los Angeles, but, all kinds of people in Los Angeles. And he went on to share more of his reasons for running.
>> Steve Hilton: Clip 15 why I'm resonating across the country or even outside of the country is because all I focus on is the truth. I'm the look around candidate. I do basics. I don't do national politics, I don't do parties. I just say, look, they're stealing all of our tax money to give it to drug addicts to have needles and tourniquets and they're actually even selling the drugs to these addicts to let these people die on our sidewalks. I want to be the compassionate one, get these people mandatory treatment, medical treatment with doctors to help them get off of fentanyl and super meth. And that is what people actually want in la. As much as everybody wanted to believe the people that have been in charge, my opponents combined are at almost 10 years of their experience. They are failures. And so people want an outsider that's not a politician and that's just saying the facts, the truth. These people have failed us. They've spent all of our tax money to increase problems. And I keep it basic. And again, I never wanted to be the mayor. I just wanted somebody to tell the truth.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Fred, this is a fascinating campaign. Now listen, most campaigns on whatever level you want to look at are exactly the same. Okay? This is, there's something Trumpian about this guy. M I, I don't know a whole lot about him, except for the fact that he was ah, in a reality TV show, maybe several. He's kind of got that a little bit of celebrity shine to him. I did see him in a, I've seen him in a couple of interviews and I saw him in one interview. I don't know if I mentioned this on air, but I mentioned it in our story meeting that he was asked who his his favorite politician is or the person he looks to for guidance about you know, what, what he's doing and running. And he said, Jesus Christ. I don't know whether that was, you know, a political, you, know, kind of a political move or whether he's actually a Christian. Some of his ads, for most Christians are going to be a little, a little questionable. But this is just a fascinating race. I don't know if he has an actual shot to unseat the Democrat, but he, he has drawn a lot of attention and he claims he's getting money from Democrats. And I have no idea what's going to happen in Los Angeles, but I'm going to pay attention to the race.
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, a couple of things that I think are going on there. he is attracting national attention. He's a sharp young man. Is he in his 30s?
>> Chris Woodward: I think so, yeah.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Check that out, Krish. See how old he is.
>> Fred Jackson: He's really sharp.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I mean, he may be older than that.
>> Chris Woodward: Oh, wow.
>> Fred Jackson: He did a full interview with Fox.
>> Chris Woodward: He's 42.
>> Ed Vitagliano: He's 42.
>> Fred Jackson: He's a very young looking 42.
>> Chris Woodward: I look like I could be his
>> Ed Vitagliano: dad, but he's high energy. Anyway.
>> Fred Jackson: He is, reality tv. Some of his commercials have been outside his home. The Pacific Palisades fires back there when Karen Bass said, in the midst of all of that, I need to go to another country in the world.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Fred Jackson: So I think what's happening, and he made mention of this in the full interview with Fox this morning, is that, his supporters are Democrats. So what has happened in Los Angeles is what has happened. Remember the stories coming out of San Francisco a few years ago where they passed a law where you could steal up to $1,000.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Fred Jackson: And, what happened? people went ballistic. And Walgreens, remember, they moved out of the city. There is a point that Democrats, liberals, when those policies from their party, Democrat policies really start impacting them in a very negative fashion. Even a liberal Democrat doesn't like walking down sidewalks in Los Angeles and having to move around drug addicts or being accosted by drug addicts.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Or human waste.
>> Fred Jackson: Or human waste. So, Karen Bass has had her opportunity to fix it. The other opponent there is a lady who's in charge of housing.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah, Nithia Raymond.
>> Fred Jackson: She wants to be the next mayor as well. Well, Spencer Pratt is just pointing out you've done nothing about that. So what's happening is he is riding on a wave of reality. The reality is Los Angeles is in a mess and Democrat mayors have not done anything. In fact, they've made things worse. And so he is there, a poll that I saw this morning still has him trailing by a few points behind Karen Bass, but he's getting money for his campaign. So it's really going to be interesting Tuesday to see what happens there.
>> Ed Vitagliano: The turnout will be the key.
>> Chris Woodward: It is possible that it could come down to, a runoff, type situation, general election situation, if Bass or somebody doesn't, if they don't reach a certain threshold.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Is it 50%?
>> Chris Woodward: I think so, yeah. And the fact that Nithya Raymond is running, she's a council member, so. And she's refused to quit so she could draw away Bass. Right. And so you could. You could have a situation where it's Bass v. Pratt, after Tuesday.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, and Pratt, in some of the interviews I've seen, Pratt actually mentioned, when he's asked about the homeless, he said. He said. Now this is his claim. He said the vast majority of homeless in this country aren't even, Angelenos.
Tony Frum: Spencer Pratt is running for Los Angeles mayor
He said they've been bused in and scams, you know, for these company groups to get federal dollars to, quote, unquote, take care of them. So he does have answers to some of these charges. Tony, I'm just going to say that the best thing, sometimes the best thing that Republicans have going for them are crazy Democrats and to Fred's point, crazy Democrat policies. Because as inept as Republicans oftentimes are, and as careless as they are with their own supposed conservative values and beliefs, the Democrats are crazy people. And the fact that Los Angeles is in this kind of state because they don't. Because they. Because they think that homeless people have a right to camp out in front of shop owners and businesses on the sidewalk, that kind of policy is the best thing Republicans, have going for him sometimes.
>> Tony Vitagliano: Yeah. And I think he's taking, Pratt's taking the right approach and keeping his campaign focused and narrow. Right. He's not talking about geopolitical issues. He's not talking about, you know, addressing whatever grievances that these groups have. He's not talking about, you know, reparations. He's not. He's not going on about. He's keeping the focus on Los Angeles, which is what most, I'm assuming, most of the people live in Los Angeles care about the most. And he's keeping it focused on fixing some of these, just these issues that are plagued the city for so long and that will, have. And there's an argument to be made that if you get those fixed to get the homeless problem under control. Clean up the streets, clean up crime to a degree, that the ripple effect of those will be positive for the city also. So, you know, maybe businesses start to come back, maybe people, you know, will choose to stay rather than leaving, and keep their tax dollars there in the city. So keeping it focused is, is the right approach, by him and, and who knows, it may, it may end up paying off.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, even though Los Angeles is a really big city and not only Los Angeles proper, but the surrounding communities, that's still a local election for a lot of voters.
>> Tony Vitagliano: Right.
>> Ed Vitagliano: So, to your point, the governor's race, maybe that's where you raise geopolitical issues, maybe that's where you talk about national issues. But if you're voting in a local election, you want somebody running for mayor who's going to fix potholes. Yeah. And, maybe lower taxes or maybe not, taxes so much and then give it away. And all these scams and all this fraud that's going on. That's something that he's, Spencer Pratt has talked about a lot. Is the, is the just out now fraud. I, I just think this is a wise, this is a relatively young guy, at least from Fred and our perspective. Okay, relatively young guy who not only he and his campaign, but others who support him have been using AI. It's a. Hilarious effects in some of these ads and that, may attract a lot of young voters too.
>> Chris Woodward: Richard Reardon was the last Republican to be mayor of LA. He served from 93 to 2001. It's been a very long.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I forgot about that. That's a long time. That's, that's 26 years ago.
>> Tony Vitagliano: That's a pretty good run though, for Republican mayor Los Angeles.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, well, you know, yeah, we had, they had a Republican governor, you know, on a number of occasions they've really gone radical over the last 25 years, so. All right, folks, five minute break for news. We'll come right back. You're listening to today's issues on the American Family Radio Network.
>> Tony Vitagliano: The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.
