Transcript

Today's Issues features a Christian response to today's issues

>> Ed Vitagliano: Hedonistic humanistic society. Discover the story of the culture warrior Don Wildmon and how he went head to head with Hollywood playboy, the homosexual agenda and the Disney empire. The movement Don started paved the way for Christians to boldly stand for truth and righteousness in a hostile culture. Watch Culture Warrior today for free. Visit culturewarrior movie.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Welcome to Today's Issues.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Join us for the next hour as we offer a Christian response to the.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Issues of the day.

>> Alex McFarland: Here's your host, Ed Battagliano.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And welcome to Today's Issues, everybody. Ed Battagliano sitting in for Tim Wildmon. This week. I am joined in studio by Tony Vitagliano. Good morning, Tony.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Good morning.

>> Ed Vitagliano: That's. I always know that there's a bunch of people out when we drag you onto the show. Fred's out, Tim's out, Wesley is out this week. And so we're just like, who we got left.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Yeah. Just throw open the shades and the sun shines in my eyes. In the dark corner in the office.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Chris Wedward. Good morning, Chris.

>> Chris Woodward: I was the proud recipient of the Willy Wonka gold ticket. That's why I'm here today. I told my mom, I was like, hey, I'm gonna be on the show.

>> Ed Vitagliano: You're on the show fairly often, I mean, doing the news and stuff. Yes. Yeah. And then Dr. Alex McFarland from an undisclosed, bunker location. Somewhere in the east, I'm guessing. welcome, to the program, Alex.

>> Alex McFarland: Well, it's great to be with you all and God bless each of you.

Alex Martin: I'm in South Carolina where we're having biblical worldview conferences

>> Ed Vitagliano: Where, where are you today? Are you at home?

>> Alex McFarland: I am in South Carolina where we've been having a series of biblical worldview conferences. And down here, the one we were going to have last night, got postpone till October 3rd. But we did have a big prayer meeting at a wonderful church called Low Country Community Church. Pastor Steve Fairchild.

>> Dr. Josh Mulvihill: Ah.

>> Alex McFarland: And hundreds and hundreds of people last night came out to remember 9 11, but also to pray, for the family of Charlie Kirk and pray for our nation. So we're in South Carolina, but very honored to be on with you all on today's issues.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, Alex, let me just ask you something here. by the way, folks, if you're listening, Steve Paisley Jordal will be joining us, as he typically does m. in the 11 o' clock segment. And you're not going to want to miss that. We have Steve has a lot of sound and some really encouraging stories about what God is doing in the nation in the follow up to the assassination of Charlie Kirk. So, Alex, before we get started and get, to some of the news of the day, the first part of this segment is going to be about Charlie Kirk. But then continuing on in the, program, are you.

Chris Bell: The assassination of Charlie Kirk has stunned the nation

I know it's only been, I guess, less, it's less than a week. But, from what you're hearing, from what you're seeing, and it seems like the assassination of Charlie Kirk has stunned the nation. Especially young people, most of whom I'm guessing had heard of Charlie Kirk. Whether they agreed with him or not, whether they supported him or didn't like him, they knew who he was and what he stood for. Are you getting any sense in these initial days, about how that is playing out amongst young people?

>> Alex McFarland: Yeah, well, I, think that they are just, you know, stunned as everybody is that I mean, like him or not, you know, he was assassinated for dialoguing, about ideas and issues. And my goodness, you know, America is not, a nation where you get assassinated from. For the free exchange of ideas. You know, I mean, everybody. Ben Shapiro was on with Bill Maher over the weekend and you know, even Jay Leno. Jay Leno said look, if this is the track we're on, it's the end of free speech.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Right?

>> Alex McFarland: You know, so a lot of young people, they said this is their MLK moment or their JFK moment for conservative young people. But last night at the prayer, rally where I was, at Low Country Community, Community Church, I mean the first three rows I was noticing, and it was a huge audience, but like the first three rows were teenagers and college students, it appeared to be. So I do think that a lot of people of all ages, they get it. I mean, we must retain, a Judeo Christian republic with First Amendment rights where we can freely discuss and dialogue and debate. And I think just like Erica Kirk talked about when Friday night the video was out and she really kind of threw out a challenge that the fire of liberty and truth and yes, godliness, that fire has been ignited in many a heart, I do believe.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Okay, well, we will be visiting some of these issues, during this program and especially when Steve Jordal is on. By the way, do I also mention, folks, that at 10:30 we're going to have Lieutenant Colonel retired Robert, Bob McGinnis on to discuss, a. An article he wrote for Fox. This goes back several weeks, about the danger posed by China. so it happens to fall this week. We were able to get Bob. So, we may kind of interrupt some of the, coverage, on this show about the fallout following the murder of Charlie Kirk last week. But we will return to that, that subject, I'm sure, in Chris's segment and certainly in Steve's. But it is a huge threat for the United States what is happening in the Western Pacific. So we'll be talking to an expert on that. He's also written a book that we'll talk to him about just a little bit, Preparing for World War Three. So how's that for a Monday filled with. With, heartwarming, discussions. All right, Chris, what's your first take?

The suspect in the Charlie Kirk shooting is due in court tomorrow for formal charges

>> Chris Woodward: Yes, so the suspect, the man police say is responsible for the murder of Charlie Kirk is, due in court tomorrow for formal charges. And, the general things that pop up when somebody is arrested for a crime here, and, you know, news outlets are still out there saying things like suspect. Authorities say alleged, things like that because he's not been convicted yet of this crime. but in the meantime, I've got some audio of FBI Director Cash Patel, who is going on television saying things like, we have the killer in custody. Clip 1.

>> Ed Vitagliano: We flexed all resources the FBI had and surged multiple air assets as soon as this shooting occurred. And what we learned was there was evidence, DNA evidence that could be collected and had been collected, including a screwdriver that was found on the rooftop. Also, we went over to the scene in the wooded area where the firearm was discarded, and the firearm had a towel wrapped around it. And I can report today that the DNA hits from the towel that was wrapped around the firearm and the DNA on the screwdriver are positively processed for the suspect in custody.

>> Chris Woodward: Someone else that's also talking to media about this is Utah Governor Spencer Cox. He said things like, the suspect is not saying much, but other people that knew him well are. Clip 2.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: He has not confessed to, authorities. he is not cooperating. but all the people around him are cooperating, and I think, that's very important. His roommate was indeed a boyfriend, who is transitioning from, male to female. He is cooperating with, authorities as well.

>> Chris Woodward: Now, I bring those up because a lot of people out there are speculating on social media, which is one of the absolute worst places to get news, that maybe there was more than one person involved. But we've got audio, as we just played, from the FBI director, who said things like, we've got him, as well as the Governor of Utah, who has really made sure that State and local law enforcement has done its ah, due diligence here.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Tony, there reports have been since the shooting took place that there were prints like a handprint, as the shooter climbed down from the roof, a forearm print, which I didn't know that that was a thing. I always thought it was just fingerprints, so.

>> Alex McFarland: Yeah, I thought of that too.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah, it just seemed like the forearm print. I didn't know you could identify people by that. But I will say this, we're talking about this a little bit before the show. if, if family members had not turned Tyler Robinson, and again we do want to stress he is the alleged assassin of Charlie Kirk. He might have been long gone. I mean he was ah, when he jumped down off the building he was close to a, to an interstate I think, or at least a four lane. so this, it's, it's hard to know how this would have played out if his dad for example, and I think his youth pastor had not turned him in or encouraged him to turn himself in. But this was almost a suspect that was gone into the wind.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Yeah, that is that is a little disturbing to me. the fact that it took it. Not that it took so long, but there was some mishaps, I'll say at the beginning of this, whenever all this was coming out. Now we all have to understand that when something like is of consequence like this happens, you know, there are reports flying in, there's, there's information going, going every direction and the authorities are trying to take in and ingest what they can. But there was, there were some mishaps. I would say at the beginning of this, you know, there were a couple of claims, if I'm not mistaken, that you know, at the initial onset of this situation that, that they had the person in custody. But both of both times I believe it turned out to be that wasn't the right person. So it is a little m, you know, and I'm not in those situations but it is indicative I guess of where we're at as far as the flow of information. So you, Chris mentioned social media, not always the most reliable source of information, to get your news from. but you know, it is true, like if it hadn't been for his family, tipping off the authorities, we may, may not even know where this guy is. He was, he went got I believe three hours away, two to two to four hours away. I can't remember the exact number. Yeah, that's how far away he Was. And it's just, I guess I get confused sometimes as to how easy it is to track people down, in certain situations versus others where, you know, I go back to the January 6th thing. You know, if you were a grandma waving your flag at the capitol building, you know, the FBI was knocking on your door, you know, a couple of months later. so it's just how, how quickly it is to catch suspects, I guess just depends on the situation. Thankfully, they were able to find him and he got turned over. And I guess I have a follow up question because I've, I haven't seen any definitive answers. maybe it's kind of come out. Do we know much about his parents? I've heard different reports that his parents were not conservative, but they seem that they weren't, you know, left leaning. That's what I've heard. Chris, has that been kind of confirmed on what, what his.

>> Chris Woodward: I've seen conflicting information. I've seen some reports, some of them on social media, that family had a hands off approach to their son, which some people blamed as maybe contributing to this situation. other news outlets have reported or described the family as conservative and, or Christian.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: So I'm not saying that would factor into whether they turned them in or not. But that's just kind of what I had heard, heard reports of.

>> Ed Vitagliano: So, you know, Alex, to Tony's point here, social media is, you know, a lot of times the expression is feast or famine. With social media it's feast and famine because there is a ton of information that is always flooding social media. But sometimes there's a famine of actual facts because you get so much speculation, so many people raising questions, suspicions, making accusations. I'm constantly shocked that more people aren't sued because of what they're saying on social media. I mean I've seen stuff, it's not connected to this story, but I've seen people on X, for example, calling other people pedophiles. I don't know why that word is thrown around so much. And I'm thinking you better retract that. You can get sued for that kind of thing. So it seems like feast and famine. And it makes the difficult, it makes the job of trying to sift through the information we're getting and trying to pick out what's true and what isn't. That's sometimes a difficult task.

>> Alex McFarland: Yeah. One of the challenges of social media, the, the filter comes off. I mean I, I'm frankly shocked at A lot of what people say in comments, but sometimes discernment is gone too, you know.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Alex McFarland: And so it's just a reminder. We've got to stay level headed and you know, prayerful and think critically. But you know, overall the response, I mean guys, haven't you been encouraged that like you know, there was a moment of silence during you know, one of the NFL football games and so many celebrities have said good things on record now there have been some heinously inappropriate, just terrible things said by some too. But overall, and because Charlie was, you know, very vocal about his Christian faith, he was just unequivocally committed to the Lord Jesus and of course he was, you know, committed to this country. But overall I, I've been impressed with how many people of stature, celebrities and elected officials have generally been pretty respectful and, and appropriate in their remarks. Ed, would you.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, yeah, you know, it is. I've been kind of surprised, pleasantly surprised on a couple of occasions. I know of two, in terms of sports teams, there may be more, but the New York Yankees, Major League Baseball obviously, and then the Dallas, Cowboys, I think both had moments of silence, in the aftermath of what happened, which I was not expecting. And maybe other teams that did it. I don't know there was any in the college level, but certainly in the pro level, probably some more. So that, that at least is a good sign we, we haven't completely lost our minds.

Tony Bennett: Social media has played a direct role in every assassination attempt

But Chris, you said there are others commenting on the social media aspect.

>> Chris Woodward: Yes, and this is another sound bite from, Utah Governor Spencer Cox. Really going back to the day that Charlie Kirk was murdered. Governor Cox had talked about how, hey, go home tonight, unplug from social media, spend time with your family members, engage with people in personal conversations because as the governor has said a couple of times now, social media has been hazardous to our health.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Clip 3 I believe that social media has played a direct role in every single assassination and assassination attempt that we have seen over the last five, six years. And I can't emphasize enough, the damage that social media and the Internet is doing to all of us.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, Tony, you have a background in it. I guess like any technology there, it's a, it can be a double edged sword. I think a lot of the, you know, prayer vigils and people getting together to honor Charlie Kirk, that's probably been done via social media. It's, it's an easy way to get a bunch of people together at short notice on Short notice. But that cuts both ways because disruptive forces, can also operate that way. I know in 2020, in the aftermath of the George Floyd death, that there were of course a lot of riots in major cities. And experts then said a lot of this is being driven by social media people finding out, hey, we're rioting tonight at 8 o'. Clock. You know. And so, it is difficult sometimes to sift through the thumbs up or thumbs down when it comes to modern technology.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Yeah, I would say, in my opinion, social media for society has probably been, if you added up all the mounting evidence, there is, it's probably been a net negative for our society. But I would say when it, when it there, when it does shine there, there are some good moments. So, as Alex was saying, you know, we have seen social media, over the past few, days since this assassination, lots of people expressing support and sharing their testimonies. You know, we'll, we'll learn, hear some, some stories along that line when Steve, comes on here. But about you know, this, this assassination, drawing them closer, to God, you know, opening and picking up their Bibles for the first time, that kind of thing. So there this, we have seen some positive elements, but for overall, absolutely, social media is just a, just this negative feedback loop of whatever you want to see, whatever you want to hear and whatever you want to see. That's the only people you have to follow. And then the vitriol just continues to increase, which I think is what, to my opinion, what made what Charlie Kirk was doing, so unique and so necessary is because he got outside of the social media bubble and you interact with people in person and for the most part, you're going to be a different person talking to someone else live face to face than you would over social media. Now that wasn't always the case. There's plenty of videos out there, Charlie Kirk arguing with people who, you know, get ugly and nasty. but I think that's what made what he was doing so important and why it's so important that that carries on despite the risk of, violence and, and death.

Tony Robbins: People seem more open to being ugly on social media

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, and Alex, this is something that you do, as well is talk to people face to face. I always think that when people are behind a mask, okay, and by a mask, when we're talking about social media, we're talking about, these profiles that tell very little about who a person is. Now people can dig down and find out who that person is, but people seem more open to being ugly and hateful to other people when you're not. Listen, I'll just say it this way. When, when you're guaranteed you're not going to get a punch in the nose, you will call people names. When you're talking to people face to face and you start talking ugly, you can get a punch in the nose. That keeps people, I think, a little bit more subdued. But when they're behind the computer screen, maybe not so much.

>> Alex McFarland: Yeah, I think when people are just, you know, looking at social media and just for a fraction of a second and they quickly fire off, you know, an insult or something, it seems like it's just, you know, keys on a keyboard. But, you know, words do make an impact. Words can hurt people. Words can build people up. The Bible says that we should be slow to speak and swift to listen. And I think that admonition is kind of lost on social media. But guys, I got to say this. last Thursday on, on exploring the Word, we had on a friend of mine of about 19 years, Dinesh D'. Souza. And he's a best selling author, he's a conservative political commentator, he worked in the Reagan White House. But, and Dinesh is a very, very committed Christian, by the way. But we had him on. And, he talked about, you know, he's spoken at a couple of hundred colleges. So have I. I mean, the word is. Charlie had spoken at like 850 colleges, which has got to be a record. And, online you can see, you know, Charlie Kirk certainly, was subjected to his share of vitriol, but I have too. I mean, I. Especially when talking about LGBTQ trans issues. And whenever I speak at a university and am asked about, I really lean heavily on mental health research and academic journal articles that are unequivocally, I mean, the cutting edge mental health and, oncology research is at least as condemning of transgenderism as any preacher could be. And yet when, you know, I've been screamed at, I've had the middle finger waved at me. Dinesh and I were saying that, you know, that that gunshot, it could have been him or Frank Turek or me, you know, but nevertheless, we have to bravely, lovingly, but, decisively keep on calling our, Our culture back to truth, don't we?

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah. Amen. Hey, listen, we've got just a. Just for. For about a minute. Ah, Alex, talking about social media, I saw people, because Frank Turek was actually standing near Charlie when he was assassinated. Yeah. And there were people on social Media accusing Frank, because he was, you know, he touched his hat and, you know, rubbed his arm and touched his face. He was accused of being. Of making signals to the shooter. and Frank Turek has been a friend to you and to Charlie for years. Just address that briefly before we go to break.

>> Alex McFarland: Yeah, yeah. Frank spoke for a lot of TP USA events. So have I. And I think they had made, like, a tape loop. He, like, scratches his arm and touches his hat. It was a blistering hot, sunny day, and it's almost like they made a tape loop of it to try and contrive it to make it look like some signal that's false. Frank, was there doing CPR, trying to save Charlie's life. I've known Frank since 1990. He's an incredible man of God. He's brilliant. so please don't believe the urban legend that kind of momentarily popped up over the weekend saying that he was complicit. That is utterly false. And it's not fair for an incredible man of God and country that Frank Turek is.

>> Ed Vitagliano: But that is, as Tony was saying, that is the. The dark side of social media where people can be accused of things and then, then they. And then those individuals disappear. But the rumor takes off. And it's unfortunate. I don't know what the solution is except, folks being more careful, more vigilant, protect themselves, delaying their kids, getting involved with social media as long as possible, those kinds of things. and because it can be absolutely devastating and especially to young people, but also to adults. All right, folks, we're going to take a short break. When we come back, Lieutenant Colonel retired Robert McGinnis. We're going to be talking about the threat of China to US Interests around the world. We'll be right back.

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>> Dr. Josh Mulvihill: 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 to more of, Today's Issues. And welcome back to today's Issues. Ed Vitagliano sitting in for Tim Wildmon. This week, I am joined in studio by Tony Vitagliano and Chris Woodward. Remotely Joining us is Dr. Alex McFarland. And we want to welcome to the program somebody who is no stranger to American family news, and that is Lieutenant Colonel retired Robert McGinnis. He's the author of 12 books. I don't know what he does with his time. Well, books, good grief. Including his most recent, Preparing for World War Three. Bob, welcome back to today's Issues and American Family Radio.

>> Dr. Josh Mulvihill: Well, thanks for having me. It's my pleasure.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, initially I'd wanted to have you on, to talk to you about an article that was published on fox news, August 25th. The title is Fiddling While Rome America Ignores China's Rising Red Tide. And I do want to get to that and talk a little bit specifically about China. But go ahead and talk about, your book, your most recent book, Preparing for World War 3. I'm sure it touches on China, but, tell our listeners, about your new book.

>> Dr. Josh Mulvihill: well, the book really was written in anticipation that we weren't quite confident, I think, back last fall that Mr. Trump would be returning to the Oval Office. And as a result, I kind of thought, well, if Mr. Biden was reelected or Ms. M. Harris was, elected, then things would continue to go in a very bad way. Now, fortunately, Mr. Trump, was elected and, he has brought some common sense to our foreign policy and has started the long up ramp to improve our national security agenda. however, given what's going on in the world, even a, reversal of the four Biden administration policies, does not guarantee that, what we face with the likes of Communist China, the authoritarian Putin, the likes of what Iran has been doing, and obviously Kim and North Korea and other, rogues and authoritarians around the world, the world is turbulent. there's obviously no guarantees aside from the return of Jesus Christ. So we have to recognize that we face a world of, despair to a certain degree of trepidation. And of course, given modern technologies, the situation, and the proliferation of these technologies around the world makes for a very dangerous future. And so we have to be cognizant of that. We have to prepare accordingly. And so my book Preparing for World War Three, does not only a reflection on the past, the past wars and what we are, where we are geopolitically today, but also delves into the technologies that are proliferating and how they endanger our future. And given our own divisive, nature in the United States and the Western alliance, you can obviously see, I think, the potential, for something collapsing into what none of us ultimately want. And that is return to global war.

Tony Vitagliano says China poses existential threat to the United States

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, the title of your article that you wrote for Fox was Fiddling While Rome, burns. It's, famous, idiom you mentioned that the Chinese Communist Party is building, and I'm quoting from your article, the most formidable military challenge the United States has faced in generations. Why don't you expound on that for our, listeners? Because China, according to you, is a, maybe even an existential threat to America.

>> Dr. Josh Mulvihill: Well, I do believe that it is an existential threat. I've. In 2018 I had a book, alliance of Evil, and I said we begin to see at that point, Russia, North Korea, Iran and others, kind of circling wagons with China in opposition to the United States, but also the Western alliance. And so what we have today, is very compelling. their navy is larger than ours, even though they don't have the sophisticated aircraft carriers, they do have aircraft carriers. Three, probably will have five in another couple of years. however, our aircraft carriers, given the vulnerabilities, thanks to significant ballistic missile capabilities that the Chinese have, is sobering because they could sink one of those. And even the war games that we conduct, either through computer generation or board games or more broadly, is very compelling evidence that, Yeah, in a contest, whether it's over Taiwan or something over the South Tennessee, that the. The Chinese, would inflict heavy casualties against us and we likewise against them. So, there are a host of issues there. Their nuclear arsenal, especially the intercontinental ballistic missiles, is very sobering. Ah, even by comparison to the Russians today. we're looking at a China that has arguably more throw weight, than even the Russians, who have more nuclear weapons than any other nation to include our own, in the world. And of course, we saw on the 3rd of September, a little over a week ago a military display of even what we think is what we're calling the DF61, a road mobile ICBM that can range all over the United States with multiple large megaton warheads if they wanted to. so, the Pentagon's report that I've followed since I think about 2000, when it first came out as congressionally mandated, has demonstrated time and again that the Chinese are ratcheting up a People's Liberation army, which includes all armed forces there. much larger, in terms of manpower and their technology, of course, much of which has been stolen from the west and especially United States, is quite sobering. So we can no longer afford to dismiss the threat of the Chinese, not only in Eastern Asia, but, globally, because they're, you know, they're sinking their, their teeth into the Arctic regions, even though they're not an Arctic country. They have a global sea power capability. They have a hypersonic, capability. They're fiber capability is, probably equal or close to equal to ours. and you just keep going on, and this is all unclassified. The classified stuff is much more sensitive and pretty revealing.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: yes, sir, this is Tony Vitagliano. I have a question. So I did some research, about China's, shipbuilding capability. And so, currently they lead in the global commercial shipbuilding, market. And they have even, done this, implemented, this strategy of, you know, military and civil, kind of melding them into the same so that they integrate commercial and military production at its. At its shipyards. So, which is, you know, something that we are. We lag behind them in. And you mentioned in your article that Chinese, President Xi Jinping has ordered the People's Liberation army to be ready by 2027 to take Taiwan. Now, anytime a world a, superpower projects or puts a date out there, you can kind of take that with a grain of salt. You know, it can either be sooner, or, you know, maybe a little bit later. But regardless, if we take him at his word, and it is 2027 is kind of what they're eyeing for how can we hope to catch up with their industry by then, which it seems like it may be, you know, a decade ahead of us, and maybe we can't at this point. But I guess my question is how would we counteract their ability, to produce so much between now and when they, when they suggest they'd be ready to move on Taiwan?

>> Dr. Josh Mulvihill: Yeah, Tony, great question. And that is a very difficult obstacle to overcome. We've depleted our arsenals, to support the Ukrainian effort against Russia post 2022, and to stand up factories that can produce these sophisticated, not only ground weapons, but to upgrade our warships, is a major undertaking. and I, I delineate some of the requirements in preparing for World War 3. However, we have it in Defense Industrial act, which could be, put in place by President Trump. And he could say, look, you know, we've got to start making more warships, cruisers, aircraft carriers and the like. But you can't turn this on a dime. Those things take years to, put the instruments, the construction, the architecture, the infrastructure in place in order to start doing this. We have been rather lax, arguably, over the years in, returning to a robust capability, because post Cold War, we thought that, our major adversaries were no longer going to be much like we faced with the Soviet Union during Cold War. But China has proven us wrong. they have accelerated, and as you indicated, they fused civilian and military operations. And it's not just in the war manufacturing, but also in artificial intelligence and cyber, you name it. there's nothing that would stop the Communist Chinese Party from trying to survive and to prosper and to replace the, Western alliance and the world order to favor them. So these are all things on the mind of President Xi. And I think that we saw that two weeks ago there at the Shanghai Cooperative, conference, in China, when Putin and Xi were rather cozy. They brought in, the new president of Iran, as well as Kim Jong Un from North Korea. And they were all yucking it up, I suppose you could say. And then, of course, at the parade on the 3rd of September, they put this massive demonstration on of, the latest hardware that China is producing. and then I'd also caution you, though, they put in print 2027, as we saw in 1950, when China jumped into the war against us to, reclaim South Korea. And then, of course, in Vietnam, they had a conflict and they went well before the military said it was ready. And of course, at this point, they forecast their military would be ready to take Taiwan by 2027, but that could be somewhat premature. So there are a host of issues here. I'm not saying that the alliance of these rogues is solid, but it's one of convenience. And at this point, they seem to be unified against us and the Western alliance. So, we need to be very, not only prayerful about it, but we need to be very objective. we face a growing alliance of very, evil regimes, that would, given their opportunity, change the course of this world.

>> Alex McFarland: Colonel McGinnis, Alex McFarland here.

Robert McGinnis: There's talk about returning to the draft

I've kind of got a two part question. You know, there's a term, in military discussions about fit for service. If you would speak to the issue of the soldiers, you know, ready to go fit for service, their numbers versus ours here in America. And the other part of my question, if you could speak to it, has there been any talk about a return to the draft to try to shore up numbers in the various branches of the armed forces?

>> Dr. Josh Mulvihill: Yeah, the draft's always a lightning rod issue. And I think what the current HHS Secretary Kennedy has been saying is that the American people, the youth are too fat. they have all sorts of other issues that they aren't fit for military service, which is true. and we would either have to change the criteria and we're having, even though under Pete Hegseth, we've had an improvement in, recruitment, you still have to train to a rigorous standard and you still have to have the right combination of people, in there. And I spent many years training people, at the infantry school for the U.S. army, and understand pretty well, the harsh combat training level intensity and the sheer being fit to fight, that is required. I do believe we're turning a corner. whether or not we're going to have the requisite numbers and have the level of training that's necessary, is a matter of time and also continuation of good leadership at the top, you know, starting with Pete and many of the generals, that we have to make sure are put aside politics and are focused on readiness. And of course we need a president that is going to continue with Congress to give us the resources that are necessary. So I would hope we don't have to return to a draft, but you know, a draft me become necessary because much of the world does have to draft, its people. Conscription is not something you can easily dismiss. so fit to fight is a fair question. M. We have internal readiness, ways of measuring it on a monthly basis. And it really comes down to, you know, can you project power, can you go to, dangerous places, put down crises, with the requisite number of ships, and airplanes and tanks and the like. And if you look at preparing for World War 3, you'll see a couple of comparisons. One of which the Heritage foundation put together, and I tend to agree with it, is that the only service that could fit the fight truly in a, one theater environment are our U.S. marines. the others, you know, don't have the long Handle of being able to have the requisite number of personnel as well as the equipment that's pre positioned and so forth. So posturing around the world isn't what it should be. we're focused too much now on NATO and the Middle east and we're under focus on the Far east and that's of course where we expect the next major confrontation.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Our guest has been Lieutenant Colonel retired, Robert McGinnis. He's the author of 12 books including his most recent from last fall titled Preparing for World War three. Bob, before we let you go, do you have a website where people can read your thinking on these kinds of issues on a regular basis?

>> Dr. Josh Mulvihill: You know I walk, I write for Fox News and I also right for you folks as well as others. My books kind of speak for themselves and I do a lot of television and in fact I have a new book coming out in November, AI for Mankind's Future. And it's written from a Christian perspective. So if people really wanted to understand the threat posed and the promises of artificial intelligence. And I just came out of a course, finished a course at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where I kind of get my bona fides in terms of technology. So that when I talk about the theological implications and the technical implications and the broader global implications of this, it's a serious stuff. we need to think about that. And of course I even look at the potential for prophetic end times scenarios with AI. So perhaps you didn't expect me to say that, but I'm focused like a laser on where we are in our culture but also where we are technologically and where this world is going. And there are a lot of things that we ought to be concerned about.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, Bob, make sure we have you back on when your new book comes out this fall because that is a fascinating subject. It is frightening. and like a lot of technological issues we in fact we were talking about social media earlier in the program. it's always a double edged sword. So please let us know when the book's about to drop and we'll have you back on. And I'm sure American Family News will pick your brain a little bit and find out what you've learned and what you are advising people to do. So thank you. Listen, thank you for all the work you do. These are areas that a lot of people are need some expert information, expertise from, especially from a Christian perspective. So thank you for all you've done over the years. Appreciate it.

>> Dr. Josh Mulvihill: Well, thank you for having me. It's always my pleasure.

Robert McGinnis has a lot of interest in artificial intelligence

>> Ed Vitagliano: All right. That is Robert McGinnis, Lieutenant Colonel, retired Robert McGinnis. Bob McGinnis. Says he's known on American Family News and American Family Radio. Tony, that's. That's going to be an interesting book. I know you've got a lot of interest. I have a lot of interest in, artificial intelligence. it's getting kind of freaky.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Yeah. Well, I was going to say, his most recent book, preparing for World War Three. Or as I like to call it, getting Five Kids ready for bed Every night. I've written that same books multiple times.

>> Chris Woodward: So people are going to get you to write the forward for everything.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Yeah, that's right. no. Yeah. In all seriousness, AI is. Is. Is the frontier of multiple industries. And as always, as human nature, our fallen nature, it is at the. Always at the forefront of military and conquest as well. That's generally how most technologies start out. Yeah. A lot of people don't realize, like the Internet. Yeah. It starts out as a way to. How can we more efficiently, carry out war and, harm our enemies, so. Yeah.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Before they harm us.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Yeah, that's right.

>> Alex McFarland: Guys, I don't mean to be silly, but when you were talking about preparing for World War iii, I thought it was either about a choir practice or a church business meeting.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yeah.

>> Chris Woodward: Hey, church business meetings, man. people throwing elbows.

>> Ed Vitagliano: That's right. Yeah. If you want to.

>> Chris Woodward: I want to use. Not chairs.

>> Ed Vitagliano: that's why I encourage people to watch hockey. You want to find out what a church business meeting is like?

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Yeah, that's right.

>> Alex McFarland: Hey, R Of the carpet. This will not stand.

>> Ed Vitagliano: That's right.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: I didn't like those carbon squares. The pastor sees the deacons coming in. It's just like the. The photo of Putin Xi Jinping Kim Jong Un. Just the same. The same photo that the deacons coming in for the meeting.

>> Chris Woodward: I do want to mention this real quick. our Steve Jordahl has been interviewing Bob McGinnis about things like his AI book. Steve was able to get some advancements on that. And, do check our Today's Issues Facebook page, because I just shared a little bit of what Steve reported for us over the summer. Author has real concerns about AI, so that'll give you a little something to read before you get Bob's book in November, if you get it.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, and we will have Bob back on because it. The advancements have been so blooming fast.

>> Ed Vitagliano: in what, AI is enabling technologically and the changes that will occur, you know, in, in the economy, people's decisions when they're going to college about what they should invest their education dollars in. Anyway, the, the implications beyond law enforcement and military, ah, are staggering. And medical, in terms of having AI help with, the world of medicine.

>> Chris Woodward: Yes.

>> Ed Vitagliano: And, and I'll.

One thing everyone's already frustrated is the videos that appear on social media

One. One thing everyone's already frustrated is the videos that appear on social media. Now. Tony, let me just say this. Just, just ask this real quick. Real quick. Like real.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Yeah, there we go.

>> Ed Vitagliano: I, see this on social media where young people will post. Now you're starting to. What are you, 36? 36. 36. I'd have to ask your mom exactly how old you are. Where, so you're not exactly young. Young. You're closing in on 40. But young people are insulting people my age. Baby boomers. Because apparently I can't tell immediately if a video is an AI fake. But young people can with. Is that a real thing?

>> Whitney Vitagliano: I don't think there is. There, there is a. There may be an age. An age gap there a little bit. But I'll say this is. You've all. You used to tell me the same thing. I used to poke fun at you, whenever I was younger. And, and you would say, your time's coming. So you would always say, your time's coming. So we got to remember, you know, for I'm a millennial, so everybody's got to remember in your own generation, turnabout is fair play. So while we can recognize AI videos now and then, you know, it's kind of, you know, we can poke fun a little bit at people posting videos of a dog carrying, you know, a child out of the flood or out of a burning building. Yeah, it's easy to poke fun at that. But they'll come a day where my generation will be fooled because this technology is only.

>> Chris Woodward: Oh, yeah.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Better. I mean, you know, I'll be. There will come a day where I'll watch, you know, a trailer for a movie, and I'll probably find out later, like, the movie doesn't even.

>> Chris Woodward: It's not even.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: It doesn't even exist. Yeah. So I've, I've mellowed out. I don't make fun of you nearly as much as I used to.

>> Chris Woodward: I, I anointed our Bronson Woodruff, our youngest and newest reporter. I anointed him the other day with being the find out if this is fake or not. task.

>> Ed Vitagliano: so it's not just me.

>> Chris Woodward: No, no. Because. Because unfortunately with like Charlie Kirk and things with 9 11, there has been a lot of AI things. And people are like, I have no idea if this is real or not, but it looks real.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Well, and it's, it's, it is frustrating because it's. I almost want to just give up on social media altogether because I'm just thinking, well, if I don't know if it's real or not, then why even bother?

>> Whitney Vitagliano: Well, that's why you just turn to reliable news sources like cnn, cbs, NBC, you know, they'll tell you whether things are real or not.

>> Ed Vitagliano: That's right.

>> Alex McFarland: You know, the movie Forrest Gump made me concerned about deep fakes.

>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes. Because they were, they were.

>> Dr. Josh Mulvihill: He interplayed.

>> Ed Vitagliano: The actor was interspliced in historical scenes. That's right. I forgot about that. And that was in the, 90s.

>> Chris Woodward: Zabeckis.

Some kind of very interesting things happening spiritually in our country

>> Ed Vitagliano: All right, folks, we're gonna take a five minute break for news, and when we come back, Steve Paisley. Jordan Gordahl will be here. You don't want to miss this. Some kind of very interesting things happening spiritually in our country. Steve will be here with that, news.

>> Alex McFarland: The views and opinions expressed in this.

>> Dr. Josh Mulvihill: Broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of.

>> Whitney Vitagliano: The American Family association or American Family Radio.