The month of June has been hijacked. By the anti Christian culture to show. Their pride in homosexuality
>> Chris Woodward: The month of June has been hijacked.
>> Ed Vitagliano: By the anti Christian culture to show.
>> Chris Woodward: Their pride in something God calls an abomination. When you support afr, you help us.
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>> Chris Woodward: In the know about the enemy's tactics.
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>> Chris Woodward: Inside the LGBTQ push of the 1990s. To help strengthen your convictions, just go to afr.netoffers afr.net offers.
Today's Issues offers a Christian response to the issues of the day
>> Ed Vitagliano: 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 Battagliano. And welcome everyone, to Today's Issues. Ed Vitagliano sitting in for Tim Wildmon this week. I'm joined in studio by Fred Jackson. Good morning, Fred.
>> Fred Jackson: Good day, Ed.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Good day. And Chris Woodward, who's going to be our news guy this morning. Good morning to you, Chris.
>> Chris Woodward: Hello.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Hello. Hello. Well, we always say this, and I don't know that it's going to stop anytime soon. We've been saying it probably since the Obama administration. No dead space when it comes to news. No, no, no, no breaks. We've talked about Fred in the early days of the AFA Report with brother Don Wildmon, and we would, scratch and scrape and look under bushels and trying to find news to talk about. And, now we're just flooded with it.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes.
>> Ed Vitagliano: all kinds of things happening over the weekend. And since we last had our new show, now we had, I'm talking about today's issues. We had trivia Friday on, Friday, special, edition of that. But since we last had this program, Today's Issues on Thursday, Chris, things have opened up and heated up in the Middle East.
>> Chris Woodward: Yes, the news cycle is why I look 75.
>> Ed Vitagliano: you don't look 75.
>> Chris Woodward: but, yes, it's been a very busy period. Certainly something that we need to continue to be in prayer about. And I'll get to that in a second.
Israel launched an attack on Iran on Thursday because it was concerned about nuclear weapons
For those that, for whatever reason, just, have no idea what's happened in the last four or five days. A, war has broken out between Israel and Iran. And Israel started this, back on Thursday our time, because they were concerned that Iran was close to having a nuclear weapon. Iran has for years now, going back to the, Obama administration's first term. Iran has been doing research to try to develop a nuclear weapon. People say it's for nuclear energy, but other people beg to differ. Saying Iran is only interested in a weapons only nuclear program. Israel was of the opinion last Thursday that Iran was the closest it has ever been to a nuclear weapon and therefore we have to strike. So Israel, in a very well coordinated, well planned, well carried out attack on Iran, did send a barrage of rockets and other things that destroyed a lot of Iran's infrastructure that would be used to, God forbid, fire a nuclear missile at Israel. And they took out a lot of things. And that was the story in much of our discussion on Friday morning. Once we got to Friday afternoon, the story changed because Iran then retaliated and initially they sent some drones that Israel quickly took out. No threat here, you guys aren't going to do anything. And then they started shooting a lot of missiles at Israel, specifically big cities like Tel Aviv. And unfortunately some of those missiles did hit places in Tel Aviv. For those that maybe didn't see it, you can Google it today. But Fox's Trey Yingst was on top of a building as he normally is reporting for Fox News. He backs away from the camera and he starts telling his cameraman, zoom, in, zoom out. You can see the Iron Dome taking out Iran's missiles. But then some of those missiles started to make it past the Iron Dome and were actually hitting buildings and injuring people. Some people have died, in the exchange of missiles since then. It has been a very tumultuous time and we have a ton of sound here. I'll play one thing and then we can get your guys thoughts.
Fred Kaplan: Why did Israel launch missile strikes against Iran
Let's hear from Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the weekend talking about why Israel made the decision to launch this effort against Iran. Now clip one.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Because we were facing an imminent threat.
>> Fred Jackson: A dual existential threat. One, the threat of Iran rushing to weaponize their enriched uranium to make atomic bombs with a specific and declared intent to destroy us. Second, a rush to increase their ballistic missile arsenal.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well Fred, lots of different issues in, in this, all kinds of different things we can discuss. You can talk about the efficacy of the Iron Dome, which generally speaking is, works very well. These are basically missile against missile, defenses. We have the Patriot missile system and other types of systems like that, but they provide that protection. But you're going to get missiles through if there's enough of them. We could talk about that. We could talk about whether or not Iran, how close they were to having a nuclear weapon.
Fred Scheiner: Israel launched an attack on Iran on Friday morning
But the first thing I want to talk about with you Fred is the existential threat that Benjamin Netanyahu Mentioned is this, that Iran has made it clear they intend to wipe Israel off the face of the earth.
>> Fred Jackson: Correct.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And so this long, long term project of trying to get the capability to produce weapons is not just. I've seen people on social media saying, well, Israel supposedly has nuclear weapons, the US does, Russia, China, France, you know, England, the uk. Why can't Iran? Well, because Iran has already said what they intend to do with theirs.
>> Fred Jackson: Yep, exactly. There have been reports over the weekend that this attack that Israel initiated, was kind of Friday morning, roughly, has been in the planning for about 10 years. Because Iran, as you say, has been making those threats for many, many years. And we want to also make it clear right off the top, there is a difference between the Iranian people and the Islamic regime that runs that country.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.
>> Fred Jackson: There are some wonderful people amongst the Iranian folks.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Increasing numbers of Christians.
>> Fred Jackson: Increasing number of Christians. I found one of the first speeches that Prime Minister Netanyahu made after initiating the attack was, I want to speak to the Iranian people. And I'm paraphrasing to a certain extent, but Netanyahu said to the Iranian people, we, Israel, are with you. There is a belief that given the resources, the encouragement enough, that the Iranians for the most part would take out that Islamic regime. they don't want to live the way the Islamic regime has taken that country.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.
>> Fred Jackson: So, but also Israel knows as long as that Islamic regime is there, because I don't think they've tried to hide the fact that they are developing, and want to develop nuclear weapons. In fact, in recent months you have had from, President Trump, you have had the talk that we are encouraging. We want a deal, we want insurance that from Iran that they are not going to develop their Iranian to the point where they could have a nuclear weapon. So, and President Trump had given them 60 days. we even had reports that there was a discussion between, Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump two or three weeks ago, a tense discussion. It was reported that Trump was telling Israel, do not carry out any attacks. But then just about eight days ago, there was another conversation between Netanyahu and President Trump. And the readout from that conversation was very quiet.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Fred Jackson: and so I think the decision was made that they were going to carry out this attack finally because they believe Netanyahu, I think in an interview with Fox on the weekend, was saying, we had intelligence that told us that the Iranians were at the very point of enriching uranium, that it could turn into a nuclear weapon. We could not wait any longer. And he said, the problem is Iran develops a nuclear weapon, but they would also share it with Hamas and Hezbollah.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, that complicates. That complicates things.
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah. Well, Israel right now is fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Fred Jackson: They've got Iran. They still have elements of Hamas and Hezbollah. And, and some. I think they said there was, like, five fronts they were working on. So they launched this report, this, this attack. Here's what's really fascinating to me. Mossad, which is Israel's CIA, Right. probably the best intelligence agency in the world.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.
>> Fred Jackson: All right. no insult to our CIA, but. But the Mossad just has a reputation. We were told that Mossad set up a drone base in Iran weeks, even months ago.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Inside Iran.
>> Fred Jackson: Inside Iran, yeah. Amongst the first casualties when the war broke out on Friday, the initial casualties were the top military leaders, top military leaders in Iran, the top scientists who were developing the nuclear weapons. And then over the weekend, they took out their top intelligence people in Iran in the initial attacks. They took out some of these generals and some of these, scientists when they were in bed at 2:30 in the morning.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Fred Jackson: They knew where they were. That's got to be pretty scary, right? If you're a leader in Iran right now, they know where you are. It was also reports that Mossad had pretty well infiltrated some of the upper echelons. they have the ability to look like an Iranian, to speak the language without any accents.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.
>> Fred Jackson: I mean, this is the way Mossad operates. and so they, they started this. Now, no surprise that, by Friday afternoon, Iran was, responding to this. Of course, it was nighttime in Israel. I think what happened was Israel, was ready for a response, but not to the extent initially.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.
>> Fred Jackson: Which is why, and Iran, by the way, is targeting civilian targets inside of Israel. Israel is keeping its targets to its military, Iran's military, and to the.
>> Ed Vitagliano: the scientific enterprises that are developing a bomb.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes. underneath.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Fred Jackson: Now, what we are told is that this is going to, this war is going to go on for a while because Israel is having to do multiple, sorties with their fighter jets, because a lot of the uranium is being developed in facilities far below ground.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.
>> Fred Jackson: And so they have to go in over and over again and bomb these facilities. This morning, the, the Israeli jets took off, and they were targeting the missile launchers that were being carried around on the back of trucks. And the Israeli Air Force even released a video this morning showing you Know, the, The drone's target, they basically put an X on a truck and you see the bomb hitting it. so that's what's going on right now. So Israel is trying to take out the missile launchers, which should diminish, Iran's ability to launch attacks into Israel. The other element in this is, you know, the question may be from our listeners, is the US Involved? The answer to that is yes. apparently the United States already has been helping to knock out some of the missiles coming in to Israel. And, we have moved destroyers into the eastern part of the Mediterranean. there may be a carrier group that's probably in the Persian Gulf somewhere, as far as we know. And we're also being told this morning that, fighter jets are being positioned, whatever that means on our bases in the region, to be available to take a more offensive.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes, because at this point, our involvement is defensive in nature. Protecting Israel from the missile launches.
>> Fred Jackson: That. That is correct. Now, we have to say, you know, that missiles hit the neighborhood, but also the, US Consulate in Tel Aviv, not the embassy in Jerusalem, but the consulate in Tel Aviv, one of the missiles hit in that vicinity. And our ambassador, Mike Huckabee, is warning people just to stay away from these areas. I'm not sure the Iranians are targeting, but President Trump has certainly said that, if the Iranians decide to attack our bases, whether it's in Baghdad or whatever the case may be, that the Iranians, if they think they're having it bad right now, watch out.
It seems to me Israel is taking out Iran's proxies against its survival
>> Ed Vitagliano: All right, so, let me just go back, just quickly, just to underscore something that you said. It seems to me, just as an observer, that Israel, with the attack on October 7th by Hamas, I, guess that's not. Is that two years ago? Is that last?
>> Fred Jackson: 23.
>> Ed Vitagliano: 23, yeah. So when that happened, it seems like Israel decided we're not doing this anymore. Iran is behind this. They have their proxies on Israel's doorstep in Lebanon was Hezbollah, Hamas, in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis, you know, in Yemen. So it seems as if Israel decided we're going to take these, These proxies out because they continue to attack us. But now, after planning for 10 years, with Iran on the doorstep of getting a nuclear weapon and maybe multiple nuclear weapons, Israel knows their very existence is threatened not only from a direct launch from Iran, but as you pointed out, if Iran had handed off maybe a suitcase nuke, you know, or some other kind of, you know, dirty bomb or something, it would be very difficult for Israel to stop an attack coming from Hezbollah or, at the time, Hamas. So it seems to me that Israel just decided, well, this. This is it. We can't live like this. Yeah, we're taking. We're taking out every aspect of Iran's proxy war against our survival.
>> Fred Jackson: There's one other element here that's kind of interesting. It's about a thousand miles from Tel Aviv to Tehran. So Israel launches its fighter jets. that's a long distance for a fighter jet to go all the way, hit the target, and come back without refueling. I'm not sure how they're doing that right now, but there's some suggestion that maybe Israel is getting some help from Jordan.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Fred Jackson: Maybe the Saudis, somewhere in there.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Both. Both of whom, as nations, helped shoot down some of these.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Rocket and missile barrages from Iran.
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, this is. This is really interesting. maybe the. Some of the Arab neighbors of Israel are nervous about Iran, too.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I think that's been made clear.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Over the last several years. They don't like Iran. Iran's plans to become the big dog on the block.
>> Fred Jackson: Well, it makes the whole region unstable when you've got an Islamic regime that's always threatening to wipe countries off the face of the earth.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.
>> Fred Jackson: And we just had President, Trump's trip, to the Middle East. Visit the Saudis, visit the folks in Qatar, and, you know, I think when the books are written about this period, there'll be a whole lot more to that President Trump trip than what we're led to believe.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And let me just add one other thing, and then, Chris, we're going to let you back in the game. these other nations, now, there is some distinction between the Sunni and Shia angle of it, the, Arab versus the Persian angle of it. But countries, I think, like Saudi Arabia and Jordan. Here's two other things that I think we need to remember. These. Yes, they are Islamic regimes, but they're not radical.
>> Fred Jackson: That's right.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Like Iran. And there are players in the Muslim world and in the Middle east who want to radicalize these countries. Okay. And these countries, again, like Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia and Jordan, they don't want to be radicalized. They point back to the fact that Egypt kicked the Muslim Brotherhood out of their country because they were trying to radicalize the streets. So there's that angle that the. These countries don't want Iran, being able to radicalize the Arab street. But I would also add that if Iran got a nuclear weapon and detonated it, In Israel, God forbid, not only is that destruction visited upon the nation of Israel, but the radiation clouds and the other destruction could come over into their own countries. And if Israel is threatened with survival, the rumor is that Israel, if they are threatened with extinction, they're taking everybody else with them. And I'm talking about the Muslim countries. So all these countries around Israel, a lot of them have several different. They have good motivation, to make sure that Israel succeeds, in draining some of the threat from Iran and hope that the people of Iran overthrow the mullahs.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes.
Benjamin Netanyahu says Iran was behind two assassination attempts on President Trump
>> Chris Woodward: All right, so, something else that relates, to all this that has also been a much talked about, issue over the weekend is, in his discussions with Western media and in at least one interview, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made it, clear that Iran was responsible for some assassination attempts on President Trump. There were at least two attempts on Trump's life when he was running for president. neither one of them were successful, obviously. but Bret Baer, got this claim from Netanyahu over the weekend that Iran was responsible for some assassination attempts on President, Trump.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Clip two could certainly be the result.
>> Fred Jackson: Because the Iran regime is very weak. I think it's basically left with two things. its plans to have atomic bombs.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And ballistic, missiles.
>> Fred Jackson: That's basically what Iran has.
>> Ed Vitagliano: We decided to act because we had to.
>> Fred Jackson: We saw enough uranium, enriched uranium, for nine bombs, and all they had to do was weaponize them.
>> Chris Woodward: Okay, that's my fault. I didn't have the correct clip. Nonetheless, that was more of Netanyahu saying that, Iran was up to no good and somebody had to do something about it. But, Americans, by the way, that.
>> Ed Vitagliano: That I'm glad you made the mistake because, I didn't know that they had, in Israel's point of view. And again, I go back to what you said, Fred. The Mossad's pretty good, that they had enough for nine bombs.
>> Chris Woodward: I'm pleased to have made that mistake to please you, because I made a mistake.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Chris Woodward: But, I'm reading from the New York Post here. American security agencies have never tied the two assassination attempts on Trump to Iran. But in a speech in September, Trump did suggest that Iran was behind them. That's from the New York Post.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, Fred, now we don't know at this point, to what Benjamin Netanyahu was referring to. What did he, did he specify that the two attempts on Trump's life, those were Iranian plots, or are there maybe some other plots that got foiled?
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah, he did not go into, from what I heard, he did not go into, like, exact detail.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, those two assassination attempts are still very suspicious. There's a lot we haven't been told about what happened in those two cases. I'm talking about the. The one attempt where the bullet, you know, whiz by. Right. Trump's head and got his ear. There's still stuff that we haven't been told and is. And is just strange.
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.
>> Ed Vitagliano: In terms of, you know, the phone calls, who. This. You know, the fact that. No. Anyway. Well, I don't want to rehash all that, but, that would be extraordinary should anybody be able to prove.
>> Chris Woodward: Yes.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Iran's involvement.
>> Chris Woodward: And what's even more interesting about this is that over the weekend, it was reported that Trump was, presented Israel's plan to actually take out the Ayatollah, but Trump vetoed that plan. In other words, Israel wanted to just end this today by taking out the head ayatollah, the guy over there. And, Trump, who may or may not have had attempts on his life from this country and its regime, said, we don't want to go that far.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Fred, what do you. Let me just ask you two guys. What do you guys think about the US Taking out heads of state? I think that's a really bad precedent. you let the Iranian people take Khomeini out and the mullahs overthrow them. But what do you guys think?
>> Fred Jackson: I think it would be a mistake. and I think anytime Israel wants to do it, they can.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Fred Jackson: I think what Israel is hoping for is that the Iranian people, as we were discussing earlier, are going to take this current attack by Israel against the Iranian leadership. They will take that as a mark of encouragement to carry out regime change, that they will rise up, the Iranian people will rise up and end this.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And maybe the military helps out in that.
>> Fred Jackson: However, I don't think there is any hesitation on President Trump's part to help Israel carry that out. That is why we have, moved our forces in much closer. We're going to be there. We're going to. We're already helping on the defensive side of things, and we are there. If the Iranians touch any American base.
>> Ed Vitagliano: In that region, Trump's already said, yes, you're going to. You're going to find out.
>> Fred Jackson: Oh, yeah, I mean, I think they. They would be ready to take, the regime out very quickly.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Chris Woodward: I would say it's also not wise for Trump to sign off on something like that. Let the guy, let his People take care of that.
>> Ed Vitagliano: A quick up. Thumbs, up or thumbs down, Chris, on targeting, Khomeini, I would, I.
>> Chris Woodward: Would not him directly. Don't, don't, don't sign off on that as the U.S. president.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah. All right, folks, tons of stuff to come. we will be talking about here in the next segment the suspected Minnesota shooter, and what happened in, in that state. Other stuff going on. Obviously, we still have, mostly, peaceful protests in Los Angeles. I'm just kidding. All kinds of things coming.
Over 60% of abortions happen through the abortion pill
We're gonna take a short break though. We hope you will return to today's issues. You're listening to the American Family Radio Network. We will be right back. This June 24 marks three years since Roe v. Wade was overturned. But here's what you may not know. Abortion numbers have surged to a 10 year high. The battleground has shifted from the courtroom to our homes. Today, over 60% of abortions happen through the abortion pill. Taken in silence, often alone. PreBorn Network clinics are standing in the gap, meeting women in their most desperate hour. And here's what they're Young mothers, terrified and misled, are delivering their babies, tiny, perfectly formed, onto bathroom floors. These precious babies, once called just tissue, now lie lifeless. 11% of these women who take the abortion pill will suffer seriously health complications. Countless others carry emotional scars for a lifetime. When you give to preborn, you're not just saving a baby, you're saving a mother too. You're giving her hope, financial support and the truth. PreBorn has already rescued over 350,000 babies. But there are so many more who need our help. Your tax deductible gift makes this mission possible. To donate now, dial pound 250 and say the keyword baby. That's pound 250, baby. Or go to preborn.com afr that's preborn.com afr.
>> Fred Jackson: This is today's issues.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Email your comments to commentsfr.net Past broadcasts of today's Issues are available for listening and viewing in the [email protected] now back.
This weekend will be the official start of summer in Mississippi
>> Fred Jackson: To more of today's Issues.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And welcome back to Today's Issues. it's Ed Vitagliano sitting in for Tim Wildmon this week. By the way, folks, I forgot to tell you, in case you didn't know, it is June 16th and we are now more than halfway through the month of June. Crazy, crazy. yeah, fast year.
>> Fred Jackson: This weekend will be the official start of summer.
>> Ed Vitagliano: That's right.
>> Fred Jackson: Yep.
>> Ed Vitagliano: although here in Mississippi, where, where our flagship station is for our Network. It seems pretty clear that summer's already begun, but it has. We've had a lot, we've had a lot of rain, but a very rainy, spring. So I guess I shouldn't complain. The temperatures have been moderate so far. So far. But when, when summer hits and gets up into the upper 90s, it's pretty miserable here. Anyway, I will proceed to complain about that at some point when that all starts to unfold. All right, Chris, what's next?
>> Chris Woodward: Well, this could very well have been the lead story had we not had the war between Israel and Iran that we spent the first 30 minutes talking about. If you didn't check that, if you didn't hear that, listen to the podcast later today which will be available on afr.net, the other story, that we need to get into, that's still getting national attention.
Man suspected of killing Minnesota lawmaker and wounding another surrenders to police
I just saw all the four networks and our television here reporting on this. the man suspected of killing a Minnesota lawmaker and wounding another crawled to officers in surrender on Sunday after they located him in the woods near his home in Minnesota, ending a massive nearly two day search that put the entire state on edge. Vance Belter was arrested and charged with two counts of murder and two of attempted murder. He's accused of posing as a police officer and fatally shooting former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark in their home early Saturday in the northern Minneapolis suburbs. Details are still coming in, but this is a very bizarre situation that we are [email protected] and by the way.
>> Ed Vitagliano: That story is at American, family news afn.net encourage you to go over there and check it out. Lots of great stories and insights on what's happening. This individual, Vance Belter also allegedly, shot Senator John Hoffman, the Democrat, and his wife Yvette. And they were about nine miles away and they are, they have thus far survived. Right? I think that is correct. I think that Senator Hoffman had, had, was in surgeries, I think even, over into the evening, on the night of the shooting. But the wife was giving reports on it. All right, Fred, what do we know about now? Again, this is alleged shooter Vance Belter. but the, the law enforcement is making it sound very much like he's the guy. in fact, Democratic, Governor Tim Walsh said one man's unthinkable actions. So everything seems to be pointing to Belter. But we'll have to wait and see for the official reports on that and probably the trial and whether or not he's confessed to it. What do we know about this, situation, the circumstance, of the shooting? I doubt there's a manifesto, but every, everyone who goes out and does these kinds of things here the last five years seems to have written a manifesto. Do we have any of that kind of information?
>> Fred Jackson: Not really. let me read you a little bit from the Wall Street Journal coverage of this this morning. Belter had built a scattered career that included food companies, retailing, and pastoring, according to public records and his online post.
>> Ed Vitagliano: You mean pastoring a church kind of thing?
>> Fred Jackson: Pastoring a church.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Okay.
>> Fred Jackson: All right. He has been living with his wife in a rural area outside of the Twin Cities and staying a few nights a week at a rental home in a working class Minneapolis neighborhood with a couple of roommates. They talked to one of those roommates, in the wake of identifying him as the suspect in these shootings. And this roommate supposedly told authorities that Belter had contacted him and said, I might not see you again. this in advance of the, the shootings on, I guess it was late Friday night, early Saturday morning. And so it's also on the weekend, somebody sent me a, some, A video, where, Belter is identified as preaching a sermon in the Congo. And he was with some kind of group.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Missions group.
>> Fred Jackson: Missions group in the Congo. He's also, according to records, been, an advocate, a pro life advocate. So, we had a discussion about this in our story meeting this morning. and we should want to warn our listeners when this starts to come out and is being reported broadly, they're going to try to make a connection that would lead you to believe, here's another pro life person so radicalized that they're willing to go out and kill Democrats. All right, this is the way the story is going to be framed. there are some reports already describing him as an evangelical Christian. Right. All right, so be, careful of that. it is. If it is true that he was very involved in the pro life community, the question should be asked, as Christians, how could somebody who speaks out against the taking of unborn life go and do this if he's guilty of this? so it's beware, of this. I think the only thing that is keeping this off the front pages at the moment is the war, that's going on between Israel and Iran. There were a couple of other big events on the weekend. The, no Kings demonstrations, the, the military parade in Washington. But the media now will get back into this. So just beware. They will try to paint this guy as representing, yes, radical, those right wing Christians or a pro life person. If he is guilty of this, he should be tried to the fullest extent of the law. What he did was allegedly, we'll keep saying that. and is the suspect in, at 2:30 in the morning he puts a mask on.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes.
>> Fred Jackson: And walks up to the door of Melissa Hortman and shoots she and her husband point blank. And then proceeds to try to do the same with, with this other couple, Senator John Hoffman, 60 and his wife Yvette. Listen, if he's guilty of this, try him to the full extent of the law. I think in Minnesota it's 40.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Years is the maximum for each felony count.
>> Fred Jackson: and I think our audience is savvy enough, don't buy into this idea that he represents, the, the, the, the radical pro life movement at all. No, this is, this is wrong.
>> Ed Vitagliano: if he's getting premeditated cold blooded.
>> Fred Jackson: Murder, that's what it is.
>> Ed Vitagliano: If, if, if he did it, somebody did it. Yes, somebody did, did this. And premeditated. And I say premeditated because the ring camera or whatever security camera caught him at the Hortman's. He had on this mask. That's premeditation.
>> Fred Jackson: And also a police uniform.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes.
>> Fred Jackson: And a, and a car that looked like a police vehicle.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah. So if, if this, if Belter is the person who did this, and if, if he either is or claims to be a Christian. That does not compute.
>> Fred Jackson: No.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Christians are not to commit cold blooded premeditated murder. Where do you're to allow politics to play as it needs to and you let the government bear the sword. That's what Paul says in Romans 13. I would also like to just say. And then Chris, let you chime in here, I would also like to say it's, it's unfair, and slanderous in my opinion for either side to paint with a broad brush and say this person or that person did X, Y or Z. Therefore everyone who is identified as the same, whether it be, I don't care if it's LGBTQ or if they're Christian or if they're Muslim. We have to be very careful about painting with too broad a brush. but we're going to see it.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And, and both sides should avoid doing that, Christians especially, because we're not allowed to lie or slander. So if I say, Bob over here, is a Democrat, therefore he is a A murderer and he is a this and he is of that I am slandering someone and this is a sin. So I think we should make the case that evil is real and evil can exist in any political camp or any ideological camp or any faith.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah, to your point, about one person kind of being the bad apple for the whole bunch here, there were people like for example when Congressman Steve Scalise was shot by a guy who appeared to have been a Bernie Sanders reporter or supporter. Excuse me, people came to Bernie Sanders defense and said that doesn't mean everybody that votes for or supports Bernie Sanders is crazy. so, I mean there have been. It, it needs to be said. It, it shouldn't need to be said.
A segment of the left appears to be getting increasingly radicalized
But now let me also.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Let me also say that the left, a segment of the left appears to be getting increasingly radicalized. I think we can say that without saying every Democrat is a radical. But when we see antifa and we see the kind of violence that have been going, has been going on in Los Angeles and you know, the Summer of Love, quote unquote In 2020, I think we can say that elements of the political left are increasingly radicalized and prone to solving political problems through violence. We have polling that indicates that growing numbers of self identified Democrats think that assassinating Trump is a valid way of getting him m out of office. So I don't want to also take the truth out of the discussion but we should be careful as Christians to not do what the media is soon going to do when, if ah, Vance Belter turns out to be a pastor and evangelical Christian etc.
>> Chris Woodward: talking about you know, the violence there from the left, the LA riots is still a story in the news. It's going to be kind of bumped to maybe the second segment of any newscast today on the television because of things like Israel and Iran and this Minnesota shooting.
Arkansas Senator Tim Cotton called for troops to be deployed during LA riots
I want to bring in something involving the LA riots here for just a second because Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton wrote an op ed for the Wall Street Journal in which he called for service members troops, to be brought in to mitigate the LA riots. Some Democrats and news personalities don't like that. Rusty Pugh has been on top of this story for us today on AFN and he's aired a couple of sound bites, one from Cotton and somebody in response here. Let's begin with Arkansas Senator Tim Cotton being pressed about his op ed calling for troops to be brought in to mitigate the LA Riots. Clip 7 you referred to that as.
>> Ed Vitagliano: The threat from the radical left. Given the amount of tension in the country right now, is that really the language to use? Yes. When you see left wing street militias who are throwing bricks and frozen water bottles at police officers and shooting them with fireworks, LAPD says they were handling when things turned violent yesterday. The LA police chief said last weekend that his forces were overwhelmed and they couldn't manage the situation.
>> Chris Woodward: Now, somebody that was brought on to FOX to respond to this was their frequent contributor, Joe Contra, who thought Cotton handled this perfectly. Clip 8 let's be clear that Margaret.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Brennan is arguably the most terribly biased interviewer on broadcast news. If you want to call CBS News even news these days. I mean, dozens of businesses have been looted, vandalized, and Los Angeles, we've all seen it over the last two weeks. rioters have tried to murder LAPD officers by dropping large blocks of concrete on their cars from overpasses, which obviously could potentially kill them. And Tom Cotton handled that perfectly. No emotion, completely confident, and the guy was spitting facts. The fact is that we have so many in the media that continue to insist that riots are not happening when our eyes, our ears see the video.
>> Chris Woodward: You know, given the fact that American taxpayers are going to be on the hook for helping repair la, it's not a bad idea to send in service members to put a stop to this.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, Fred, I have no. I think your first line of defense should always be local police, county law enforcement. Then you call in the state troopers. but there's nothing wrong with having the National Guard on high alert, ready to be deployed if law enforcement is overwhelmed. I'm not sure. And all presidents have done this if, if something, happens in terms of a city looking like it might get out of control. well, actually, the Biden administration sometimes hesitated to, but it's, it. I understand what Senator Cotton is saying and I also understand that I don't like seeing the military deployed in these kinds of circumstances unless it's your only option. Because they're not really trained to be law enforcement.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And you put them in a very difficult situation if things turn utterly violent. but sometimes that's the only card you have left to play.
>> Fred Jackson: Let's remember how all of this started. We know since President Trump took office once again and during the election campaign, he said he would make it a priority to bring security back to our borders, to go after people who have entered this country illegally, particularly those who have committed violent crimes. Those are, that's just factual.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Right?
>> Fred Jackson: So, last Week ice, officials were carrying out some of these raids. now the first reports were they ICE officials went into a Home Depot in the Los Angeles. That's not true. they gathered near a Home Depot where they knew some illegal immigrants were going to be. I've seen it over the years in California where folks who are in the country illegally kind of stand around because they're hoping to get part time jobs.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Trying to get work, construction trucks come.
>> Fred Jackson: By and that kind of thing. So that's what they were up to. However, what happened was that the ICE agents were being encountered by people opposed to what they were doing. So Governor Newsom wasn't going to call in the National Guard, but President Trump did he assign them to Gwyn to protect, these quite legal raids and ICE facilities. And ICE facilities. There were federal buildings that were coming under attack by these protesters. So that's why the National Guard was called in. I think the conversation intensified a bit when the idea of Marines going in right on the street and they actually stayed outside for the longest time and they were only going, only going to protect the buildings, in other words, stand in front of federal buildings. So we're going to see this kind of thing over and over again. you have the radical left that's going to be out there. You had the, the no Kings march this weekend, I mean which was well organized and well funded.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes.
>> Fred Jackson: now it kind of took second place as far as media treatment because again what happened in the Middle east, but they were out there, it was well planned. Even in our local hometown here, there was a little demonstration outside a Republican congressman's office. I happened to drive by because I was curious, right. And they had signs, Trump is a racist. some other things like that, you.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Know, but that, that was a peaceful protest. It was no, no cars burned, no, no police officers assaulted.
>> Fred Jackson: There was an incident in Utah I think, and a couple of the other Chicago, I think there was a couple of incidents, that kind of thing. But you know, it, it comes down to this. We have roughly 15 to 20 million people who entered this country illegally under Joe Biden. Trump says we have to deal with this. Right, Simply as simple as that. We have to round these people up. We either have to encourage them to leave on their own self deport or we have to deport them. That's the bottom line. Now the other development on this front on the weekend was that apparently President Trump is having thought, second thoughts about deporting those people who have entered this country. Illegally, many years ago who are working on farms.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Right.
>> Fred Jackson: Or perhaps, you know, some kind of production plants of some type. So, that's kind of interesting and we can get into that if you like.
>> Chris Woodward: I do have a quote from, the President here about that.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Go ahead.
>> Chris Woodward: Okay, go for it.
President Trump tells ICE to pause raids on farms, hotels and restaurants
All right, so this is coming from a Daily Mail story attributing information to the New York Times and something, Trump posted on Truth Social last Thursday. for those that are not aware of it, the Trump administration has for the first time pumped the brakes on its mass deportation agenda, telling ICE officials to pause raids on farms, hotels and restaurants, according to an internal email and three U.S. officials familiar with the situation. On his Truth Social post, Trump said, quote, our great farmers and people in the hotel and leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long, longtime workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace. That has led people to believe that Trump is backing away from his. We're going to get rid of illegal immigrants.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, well, Fred, the immigration system in this country has been broken for decades. Yes. Going all the way back to President Reagan, who signed an amnesty bill.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes.
>> Ed Vitagliano: To legalize those who were in the country, who are here, had immigrated, illegally. I, I think at some point you are going to see, I don't know what people think about this in terms of Republicans and Democrats. You will see some people, I think, fast tracked for, citizenship. But the days of not knowing who's in the country, the days of illegal immigrants getting, free health care and welfare and college tuition and subsidies for housing, all that has to end. You can't have that anymore. The country can't afford it. And other minority groups are, they don't want it because those are resources that are being taken away from communities of minorities in this country that are here legally or there are or have been citizens. so, but there's no doubt that part of our economy has, we have had people who are in the country illegally who've been doing jobs that probably just aren't going to get done, certainly not for what they're getting paid. You know, I've seen some of these pictures of of an entire, block of new homes that are being built, residential development, and no work's going on because all the workers were illegal, but that's because they were getting paid peanuts compared to what you'd have to pay Americans to do. So it's a very complicated issue. And President Trump is just now getting Some blowback that might cause him to adjust his policy somewhat.
>> Fred Jackson: Isn't it sad that, we had to turn to people who have entered the country illegally to fill jobs that should have been filled by Americans?
>> Chris Woodward: Yes.
>> Fred Jackson: There's another element to this story. There are a lot of Americans who think working on a farm is beneath them.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Fred Jackson: and by the way, I'm getting free medical care. I have Obamacare. and I've got, food stamps, and I've got all of these government programs that are taking care of me. Why do I have to go work on a farm?
>> Ed Vitagliano: Because. And it is hard work.
>> Fred Jackson: So, hey, listen, I have watched crews putting roofs on. They do an excellent job.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Oh, yeah.
>> Fred Jackson: And they. They're up on the roof and they take the old shingles off and they put the new ones all in one day.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.
>> Fred Jackson: And they do a great job of it. And you. You have to scratch your head. Why is it that I'm not seeing a, a greater array of ethnic background. Yeah. In these workers? And it's because these are the people who are willing to do this. And. And the shame of it is, you're right. They're being paid a few bucks to do it. And that's. That's wrong on the company side.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes. And listen, in my younger days, I helped friends with roofing. It is really hard work.
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Okay. Especially. And that's back in the days when I was in shape, playing ball and doing all that kind of stuff. It's really hard work. and listen, I will say this. I know that there are gang members and drug dealers and traffickers that cross the border under Joe Biden from Latin America. Okay. But by and large, Hispanics are some of the hardest working people I've ever seen.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes.
>> Ed Vitagliano: I mean, it's just extraordinary. And I want to have those kinds of people who will do those jobs. Listen, if I've had. If you. If your roof leaks, you've got damage, you got to get that done in one day. You got to have crews who'll come in there and just, you know, zip, zap, and it's. And it's done. you got to have folks doing that. And so some adjustment has to be made. But the system is broken. You can't just continue to allow people in who. We don't know who they are. and part of that is complicated by the fact that. That when we compare immigration across our southern border to past waves of immigration that came across the Pacific and across the Atlantic, like both my sides of the family. When Italians and Greeks came over to this country, there was an ocean separating them from home.
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.
>> Ed Vitagliano: They had to assimilate. Yes, but you don't have to if you can just run back across that border and go home and visit the family and then come back. So we've got to take steps to help folks assimilate once they are here legally.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes.
American Family Radio takes a five minute break for news
>> Ed Vitagliano: All right, folks, we're going to take a five minute break for news. That's right. More news coming directly ahead. If you don't know what's going on, hang on. You're going to find out when we come back after that break. Steve Jordal will be joining us. U.S. steve Paisley Jordal, you're listening to today's issues. Hope you join us. The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.
