Transcript

Call to Care Equipping event is June 13th in Plano, Texas

>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, friends, I want to invite you

>> Sandy Rios: to our, Called to Care Net Equipping event on Saturday, June 13th in Plano, Texas. If you're a ministry leader, a pastor, counselor, or someone who feels called to help others, this is the event for you. Our theme this year is From Hurt to Hope. You can join us in person or online. So sign up today at hopefortheheart.org events or text the word event to 70919 to learn more.

Tim Wildman hosts Today's Issues on American Family Radio Network

>> Chris Woodward: Welcome to Today's Issues, offering a Christian

>> Tim Wildmon: response to the issues of the day.

>> Chris Woodward: Here's your host, Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association.

>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, good morning everybody, and welcome to Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network. Thanks for listening to AFR, on this Thursday, June 4, 2026. And in studio with me is Fred Jackson.

>> Fred Jackson: Good morning to you, Krish Woodward.

>> Chris Woodward: Hello.

>> Tim Wildmon: And in KCKS is our, good friend, Ray Pritchard. Good morning, Ray.

>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, good morning, Tim. How you doing today?

>> Tim Wildmon: Doing well. Now you, you're back in Kansas City. You've been back there about a month or so, right?

>> Tim Wildmon: Well, we've been back here for about four days or so because, you know, last week we were in Hungary. I was teaching the Bible over in Hungary and we went to Vienna, which by the way, if you ever go to Hungary, get on the train and go to Vienna while you're in the neighborhood. That's a, that's a world class great city. We're here for a few days and we're going to be in Tupelo next week having, ah, having our 20th anniversary celebration for Keep Believing Ministry. So I'll be in studio next Thursday and in the meantime, the week after that in Chicago, our house here in Kansas has sold. And so we're packing and storing and donating and m. I got so many

>> Tim Wildmon: balls up in the air right now,

>> Tim Wildmon: I'm just dodging left and right, hoping not to get hit on the head.

American Family Radio hosts discuss moving to Florida for the summer

>> Tim Wildmon: So you're, you're, you guys decided to move to Florida?

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. Full time.

>> Fred Jackson: I got, Yeah. I wonder why.

>> Tim Wildmon: You know, it's. I noticed yesterday or day before yesterday at exactly this hour down in Florida where we're going, it was 88 degrees, but it said feels like 100.

>> Tim Wildmon: So, you know, Florida in the summer, Florida and a lot of the southeast, but Florida, you, you do, you do the p. You, you, your reward is in winter and then you pay the price with the mugginess. in the summer months we have

>> Chris Woodward: two seasons and one of them is summer.

>> Tim Wildmon: All right, thanks for Listening, everybody, to American Family Radio. Again, Fred, Krish, and, Ray, we thank you for listening and, what do you got for us there?

Fred Jackson celebrates his 73rd birthday today with some special celebrations

>> Chris Woodward: Well, I want to begin with breaking news.

>> Tim Wildmon: You're gonna break some news or.

>> Chris Woodward: Yes.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.

>> Chris Woodward: Some people may not be realize this, but today, today is legendary.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.

>> Chris Woodward: Man, myth, legend, Fred Jackson's birthday.

>> Tim Wildmon: All. Ah, right.

>> Tim Wildmon: Way to go.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right. Happy birth. The man, the myth, the legend.

>> Tim Wildmon: That's right.

>> Tim Wildmon: Fred Jackson. Fred, what. What are you, moving towards?

>> Fred Jackson: What am I moving towards? I have gone by the seven zero mark.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, you will. Bye bye to seven zero.

>> Fred Jackson: You're gone by that. Heading towards the middle of the seventies.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right. You read.

>> Tim Wildmon: I'm 73, Fred. So who's. Who's the oldest on the program today? Is it you?

>> Fred Jackson: You're. You're still the oldest?

>> Tim Wildmon: I'm still.

>> Fred Jackson: By a few months. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: I'll be 74 in September.

>> Fred Jackson: Oh, in September. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I'm catching up to you.

>> Tim Wildmon: So what are you doing to celebrate?

>> Tim Wildmon: Are you going to have them?

>> Fred Jackson: one of the guys, Steve, went and got me a coffee.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.

>> Fred Jackson: very nice. And, my wife delivered a birthday cake to the newsroom a few moments ago. And, the guys are diving into that. Everybody loves chocolate. Most guys do. and then we're going to a favorite steakhouse tonight. So. Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: Who's paying?

>> Fred Jackson: other people.

>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, are they?

>> Fred Jackson: Yes, they are. They are. Yes. My wife and daughter here. And, you know, one of the nice, nice things already today, I have a, granddaughter. She's four years old.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: And she sent a video wishing me and singing Happy birthday. So that was kind of awesome.

Tim: Usually when I go out for my birthday, who pays

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. Usually I ask you who pay? Who's paying? Because when I go out, for my birthday with our whole family, they choose the restaurant. It's whose credit card just pulled out of their pocket.

>> Chris Woodward: We have seen Tim's family in some of the places that we've gone to after church, and questions have been raised. You think Tim's paying for that?

>> Fred Jackson: I don't know.

>> Tim Wildmon: We do have a tradition of, paying for Sunday lunch as long as we can do that. We. But, but we do go the pizza place, usually.

>> Chris Woodward: Oh, yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: Well, to clarify, Tim, once. If you pay for it once. Oh, pay for it forever.

>> Tim Wildmon: It's. It's welfare now by these people. I mean, my 18 family members, all

>> Chris Woodward: of you are committing fraud.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, they, they. Yeah, they don't even. They don't even have the alligator. Alligator arms. You know, they just assume that everything's going to be paid for.

>> Tim Wildmon: Dad got this.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, Dad's got this. Dad and Mom.

>> Tim Wildmon: that's right.

>> Tim Wildmon: Give credit to my wife. So. But anyway, yeah, we did go to the Japanese restaurant for her birthday, I guess about last October or whatever it was. And. Yeah, so you know how expensive it is to have a lot of people around the Hibachi Grill. It's fun while it lasts. They bring you, they bring you that ticket. That's right. And then you say, oh, hello.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, best not just best enjoy it. Not think about that.

>> Tim Wildmon: Paying for your own birthday party. All right. You're listening to today's issues on American Family Radio. Happy birthday.

>> Fred Jackson: Well, thank you very much.

CNN: Hezbollah terrorists rejecting latest cease fire agreement reached between Israel and Lebanon

>> Tim Wildmon: All right, Krish.

>> Tim Wildmon: Give us some more good news, Krish.

>> Chris Woodward: well, late last night, there was news that broke that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to another ceasefire. And keep in mind that Israel's beef is not really with Lebanon. It's the Hezbollah terrorists that live in Lebanon. And like the fire of rockets, south toward, Israel. I, mentioned Hezbollah because it's already broken this morning that Hezbollah terrorists are now rejecting the latest cease fire agreement reached between Israel and Lebanon. Throwing yet another wrinkle in this situation.

>> Tim Wildmon: you throw wrinkles.

>> Chris Woodward: Well, you can in the south. Okay.

>> Tim Wildmon: I thought the wrenches.

>> Chris Woodward: There you go.

>> Tim Wildmon: I'm just trying to help.

>> Chris Woodward: No, you're right. I just had a minute ago and you know, sugar high. But anyway, so, it throws a wrench in this situation because, Iran has already told the U.S. hey, everything's off because Israel and Lebanon aren't getting along. You guys should do something about that. So Trump is still out there saying that, talks are going, talks are continuing with Iran. That remains to be seen because none of us are actually in that room. And part of those talks.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, Fred.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, well, it's no surprise, but, let's remind people, and I get frustrated when I read the mainstream media. They never put context to the latest news from Hezbollah. And the context is this Hezbollah initiated this latest round of attacks against is, when, Israel and the United States initiated the attack against Iran. Hezbollah then began pouring, missiles into northern Israel. And Israel is simply once again responding to an attack issue, that was initiated by the terrorists. And by the way, when I think I spoke to this a little earlier in the week, when you read the mainstream media reports, about what Israel is doing in Lebanon, number one, Israel is not attacking Lebanon. Let's be clear about this. They are attacking the terrorists, the Hezbollah terrorists that Live there. Number two, Israel targets areas from which Hezbollah, is already shooting missiles into Israel. Let's be very clear about that. The mainstream media rarely mentions the fact that Israel is responding to an attack. It's not initiating an attack. These Hezbollah, terrorists, they put missiles inside of schools, they put missiles inside of apartment buildings, they put missiles inside of hospitals, and then they fire those missiles from those locations. Israel responds. And, and all you get from the mainstream media is how many people sadly die when Israel responds to, the attacks. so we try to make that very clear in our stories that Israel is simply responding to attacks from these terrible terrorists who don't care about life, they don't care that citizens are dying in Lebanon because of where they place their missile launchers.

>> Tim Wildmon: If Hezbollah and Hamas would lay down their arms, you could have peace in the Middle East.

>> Fred Jackson: You could.

>> Tim Wildmon: It's that simple.

>> Fred Jackson: Yep.

>> Tim Wildmon: And they're not going to get their desired, the desired goal of Hezbollah and Hamas, that is to eradicate the Jewish people and drive them into the sea and take back the land that is now the Jewish state of Israel. It's not going to happen. Okay. It's just never going to happen. It's not going to happen. as the world stands now. So they're only. What they're doing, the terrorist groups is that they live to be terrorists. They just, let's get up and kill a few Jews. That's what we do today. And so, or try to. And they're willing to die for it. And oftentimes, Fred, I mean, Ray, it's just, an endless cycle. And the Hezbollah, the Hamas, they train their kids to hate the Jews and hate Israel so that it perpetuates itself. So go ahead.

>> Tim Wildmon: The most unsurprising part of this is that Hezbollah has decided they're not going to go along with the, peace deal. Well, of course they're not going to go along with the peace deal. Lebanon, the nation, they want peace. Israel, the nation, they want peace. Hezbollah is not really a part of Lebanon. They're a client of the Iranians. It's the Iranian regime that provides the money and the munitions that keep Hezbollah fighting. So why in the world would Hezbollah. Why would, What possible peace agreement would Hezbollah ever agree to unless it was that Israel has decided it's going to disband itself, give up its claim, and wipe itself out as a nation, since that's not ever going to happen. Yeah, of course Hezbollah is going to keep fighting. So I think to myself, first of all, I was surprised, as everybody was when this was announced last night. And we wish Mr. Trump all the best in the negotiations that are going on. But this just shows, Tim, how fractured the situation is in the Middle East. The problem here is not between Israel and, Lebanon. The problem is Hezbollah. And I don't know how, I don't know how you bring, quote them to the table and get them to agree to anything.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, me neither. the Israeli people are very resilient and they're very tough, minded. And they, but, but they do. They do. They're like, they're human, too. They get tired of having to deal with this situation. But if they let their guard down at all, they're going to be, you know, mass casualties. There's going to be. So they have to always maintain a position of overwhelming strength with their military. Yes. All right, next, Next story.

Indiana Governor Mike Braun suspended the state gas tax to help lower gas prices

>> Chris Woodward: Well, we all know that gas prices have shot up, over the past couple of months as a result of what's going on in Iran. the good news today is the national gas average is down about 20 cents in the last week, but it's still not cheap. And somebody that would agree with that is Indiana Governor Mike Braun. A couple of months ago, actually, early May, Governor Braun sat down and said, you know what? I'm going to try to do something to help Hoosiers with gas prices. And Governor Mike Braun suspended the gas tax there in the great state of Indiana, and he actually just extended that a few days ago. It's going to go into July. And as a result of his suspension of the state gas tax, Indiana Governor Mike Braun has managed to help Indiana have the cheapest gas prices in the United States of America. Indiana, for example, the Statewide average is $3.55, which is cheaper than it is here in the Southeast, where we benefit from being very close to refineries. That's one of the reasons why, the Southeast tends to have the cheapest gas prices. We also don't slap a bunch of stuff on it like California does. But I've got some audio from Indiana Governor Mike Braun, former senator turned governor. He was on Fox today talking about his suspension. Clip 10.

>> Speaker F: Well, as you know, I come from the world of running a business and signing the front side of a paycheck. One of the few the six years when I was in the Senate. When you're governor, you've got things you can actually do without having to get a gaggle of 60 senators together. We've been running our state more like a business. we're saving money on the cost side. And we got the hottest economy in the Midwest, so we've got the ability to dip into rainy day funds to do things because affordability, it is the issue. And if you're not tuned into your property taxes, your utility rates, cost of health care and yes, gas, because you stare at that weekly, we had the ability to do it. And being an entrepreneur my entire life, you, it was easy to see that's something you did do. We will be able to replenish a lot of that to the locals, even our own state government, through our own reserves. So we did it in May. I, extended it again in early June. And now we're going to do it to where it's going to take us through July.

>> Chris Woodward: Guys. He did say that he has the option to extend it further once you get to July. So again, Indiana has the cheapest gas prices in the country. We're not saying that the average of 355 is cheap, but it is certainly better than, say, California. California, where the average is six bucks.

>> Fred Jackson: Wow. Well, it's quite a challenge that the governor is putting out there, I think, because people in other states are going to be asking, okay, why can't our governor do this?

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, hold on just a minute. What did he do exactly?

>> Chris Woodward: He got rid of the state gas tax. He suspended it for the time being.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, can I ask you a question? Okay, if you could. Why do you have it in the first place?

>> Chris Woodward: Well, the stated reason for it is to help raise money for roads and

>> Tim Wildmon: bridges, which he have that money anymore.

>> Chris Woodward: Well, they're gonna, basically raid their, rainy day fund to help, put up that money for the roads and bridges for the time being.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, do you guys see my point?

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.

>> Chris Woodward: It is a big issue. And that's been one of the things raised in California where a lot of the people running for governor out there have talked about getting rid of the gas station.

>> Tim Wildmon: I'm not criticizing Governor Braun or, this idea, and I'm glad. M. I'm sure the people of Indiana. But when, when, when taxes are suspended in the name of helping people who are, you know, who are struggling, making men's, making ends meet, and you go, if you can suspend the taxes, then why did you have them in the first place? Very true.

>> Chris Woodward: M. Now, I will say that, a lot of states don't bring in the revenue that they used to because the federal government has been requiring automakers to make cars that go further on a gallon of gas. So, it could be that, it's not even bringing in the money that they thought it was 40 years ago or whatever.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, they have a rainy day funds.

>> Chris Woodward: They do have a rainy day fund.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.

>> Chris Woodward: But to your point, seriously, like, I watched the three debates, between the 11 billion people running for governor of California and Steve Hilton, and a number of people, including a few Democrats, have talked about how they would suspend the gas tax out there, try to bring some relief, but some.

>> Tim Wildmon: How much is gas tax in most states? Fred, do you know? Or Krish, do you know?

>> Fred Jackson: Not offhand, no. But Steve. You mentioned Steve Hilton, running as a Republican for governor up there in California. He says his intent is to bring gas down to regular gas down to an average of about 3 bucks. Think about that. From 6 bucks to 3 bucks.

>> Chris Woodward: If gas in California is $3, it's like 75 cents here. So I hope he. I hope he's successful.

>> Tim Wildmon: Hope it works.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes.

Sandy Rios brings some bad news to American Family Radio

>> Tim Wildmon: All right, you, by the way, Sandy Rios will be with us at the bottom of the hour. I called Sandy Debbie Downer. She always brings us some. Yeah, some, Some, Some. Some. Some bad news. But, and she's. She's ready to bring it at the bottom of the. I'm just teasing. she brings us reality. How about that? And it's not always bad. Sandy has some good news, too, sure. But, along the way. But I gave her that moniker a few times when she's been on with us before. But Sandy will, join us. She's the host of Sandy Rio's 247 podcast, hosted here at American Family Radio. And, it's very popular with our listening audience. What's your next story, Chris?

Secretary of State Marco Rubio made some appearances at congressional committees yesterday

>> Chris Woodward: All right, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been making some appearances at congressional committees. He was, before senators a couple of days ago. Yesterday, he spoke to representatives in a House committee. And one of the Democrats there, Sarah Jacobs. I'm not sure offhand which, state she's from. but Sarah Jacobs at one point brought up his shoes.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. And people want to listen to this.

>> Chris Woodward: Oh, yes. So it's an absolute clown show.

>> Tim Wildmon: Stop what you're. Stop what you're doing. Okay. This is a real congressional hearing yesterday. House Representatives. And who's the, lady representative?

>> Chris Woodward: It's a Democrat. Representative Sarah Jacobs.

>> Tim Wildmon: Sarah Jacobs. Making her. Her state proud. Where is she from again?

>> Chris Woodward: She is from the great state of California, 51st congressional district.

>> Fred Jackson: That explains a lot.

>> Tim Wildmon: Democrat. California, land of fruits and nuts.

>> Fred Jackson: She apparently brought them with her.

>> Tim Wildmon: So here. Here we go with, her, taking on Senator Marco Rubio.

>> Chris Woodward: Clip 5.

>> Fred Jackson: It seems like you have an issue admitting facts.

>> Tim Wildmon: You won't admit President Trump is losing this reckless war of choice.

>> Fred Jackson: And just like you couldn't admit that

>> Tim Wildmon: the shoes the president bought you were too big. We're talking about shoes? Are you guys kidding me? I mean, is this the Foreign Affairs Committee, or is this, like a, circus?

>> Sandy Rios: If you can't call out corruption in

>> Tim Wildmon: this country, then how can you call

>> Fred Jackson: it out in a. I can't say anything.

>> Tim Wildmon: Why is she leaving? I'm going to answer her questions.

>> Sandy Rios: I. I will.

>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, she's go. Okay, I got it. Well, thank you for coming.

>> Chris Woodward: She was going to the shoe store.

>> Tim Wildmon: Fred, break that down for us.

>> Fred Jackson: Well, the. The background on this is that President Trump, purchased some Florsheim shoes.

>> Chris Woodward: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: For some of his cabinet members, I think.

>> Chris Woodward: Yes.

>> Fred Jackson: and, Marco Rubio gladly accepted these Florsheim shoes. Apparently, they're very nice. A nice pair of shoes. And she decided to mix shoes into a question about Iran. and no wonder. Secretary, of State Marco Rubio was confused. I mean, he says, it's a circus. We're here to discuss what's going on in Iran. And you wanted to discuss my shoes at one point. She says, those are nice shoes. Marco Rubio said, how in the world you can't even see them from where you're sitting right now.

>> Chris Woodward: Now, here's the, here's, here's all the reason why people, number one, need to listen to this show and follow afn, but two, actually find the videos that are the subject of news stories, because we just played that clip. Right. But here's the headline from the Daily Beast. Little Marco loses it over Big Shoes the President gave him. Which is not what that story is about.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right, Right.

>> Fred Jackson: And, the shoe fit.

>> Tim Wildmon: Was she implying that the shoe didn't fit? Was. Was that what was behind her comment that his feet were too small or something like that?

>> Chris Woodward: Yeah, that was like he and Trump had some disagreement about the shoes.

>> Tim Wildmon: Anyway, the world's on fire.

>> Chris Woodward: Yeah, we kept that down from 90 seconds to 29.

>> Tim Wildmon: World's on fire. He's a Secretary of state, and she's asking.

>> Tim Wildmon: She's, you know, Marco's done well lately. Well, he's been doing well for quite

>> Tim Wildmon: a while, but he's the most effective member of Trump's administration.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yes. Yes, he is.

Democrats want to replace the word mother with gestating parent in New York

>> Fred Jackson: I know we have to go to a break, but. But perhaps when we come back, before we talk to Sandy Means, we're on the Topic of Democrat insanity.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, Those words are the same.

>> Fred Jackson: Here's the problem. The insanity is what they want to bring into law.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: I just brought a story into the studio before we started today. Here's the headline, folks. This is. This is. In NewSong York state, Democrats want to replace the word mother with gestating parent. They want to replace the word father with non gestating parent.

>> Tim Wildmon: Where is this?

>> Fred Jackson: This is NewSong York state.

>> Tim Wildmon: You mean this is a bill in their legislature?

>> Fred Jackson: This is a bill that Democrats have brought forth a woke new. Yeah. That's being introduced to NewSong York.

>> Chris Woodward: I'll share the link for it.

>> Tim Wildmon: So what do we do when we have Mother's Day? What do we. What do we call it then?

>> Fred Jackson: she is the gestating parent day.

>> Tim Wildmon: You know what? Those are some great gift cards.

>> Chris Woodward: Let me tell you something as a married man and a proud son. Do not call your wife or mother a gestating gestating parent.

>> Tim Wildmon: It will not go well.

>> Tim Wildmon: Happy gestating parent.

>> Chris Woodward: Otherwise, Tim will have to buy your lunch on Sunday when he's feeding his other kids.

>> Tim Wildmon: It will not go well.

>> Fred Jackson: Can't these Democrats read the tea leaves that the more they speak and do these kind of things, the more the American people are saying, and we're paying you a salary to do this stuff.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right, Right.

>> Tim Wildmon: Well, that's also the party of, we don't know what a woman is.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.

>> Chris Woodward: but they want you to believe science.

>> Tim Wildmon: Now, some Democrats, a few of them. What are warning. Like you're warning Fred against Bill Maher and some of these others maybe. but, that. That. That wing of craziness in the Democrat party seems to be the one with the momentum.

>> Fred Jackson: Yep.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yep. So. All right. We will be joined by Sandy Rios when we get back in this short time out. You're listening to today's issues on the American Family radio network. So did President Trump ever buy you any shoes, Fred?

>> Fred Jackson: No, he didn't.

>> Tim Wildmon: Maybe for your birthday?

>> Fred Jackson: He did not.

>> Tim Wildmon: Marco Rubio said. What did he say? This is a clown show.

>> Tim Wildmon: Florsheim's are nice shoes. Mr. President. I'm a. I'm a 14. Double A.

>> Tim Wildmon: There you go. We'll be back momentarily. Stay with.

American Family Radio is celebrating America's 250th birthday with two touring tours

>> Chris Woodward: We would like to take a moment to thank our sponsor, preborn. When a mother meets her baby on ultrasound and hears their heartbeat, it's a divine connection. And the majority of the time, she will choose life. But they can't do it without our help. Preborn needs us, the pro life community, to come alongside them. One ultrasound is just $28. To donate, dial 250 and say the keyword baby or visit preborn.com afr America's 250th birthday.

>> Tim Wildmon: It's a great excuse to have some extra cake and ice cream, but we

>> Chris Woodward: can help your celebration go well beyond that.

>> Tim Wildmon: Show your patriotism with America 250 apparel that will become a memento of this special year. We also have special episodes on AFA

>> Chris Woodward: Stream to help underscore that America is

>> Tim Wildmon: a Christian nation and help you find God in the Constitution. Find all of this and more in one place. Afa.net topics250 hello, everyone. I'm Tim Wildmon, president of American Family association and American Family Radio. Hey. We are announcing two tours coming up in 2027. March of 2027, we're going to Greece and we're going to Italy. The Greece tour we call the Footsteps of Paul. And you're going to follow the footsteps of St Paul in the country, of Greece. And then the Italian, tour, the Tour of Italy, Venice, Florence, Pisa, Rome. We're calling the Make Lasagna Great Again tour. And these are coming up in March of 2027. And if you want to read all about them, the itinerary, the cost, everything you need to know about these tours coming up in March of Greece and Italy, go to tours.afa.net that's t o u r s.afa.net we're going to have a lot of fun, a lot of good fellowship, and see some of the most historic and iconic sites in the world.

>> Sandy Rios: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

>> Tim Wildmon: 1 Peter 1:3American Family Radio. This is Today's Issues.

>> Chris Woodward: Email your comments to commentsfr.net Past broadcasts of today's Issues are available for listening

>> Tim Wildmon: and viewing in the [email protected] now back

>> Chris Woodward: to more of today's Issues.

Tim: I think Marco Rubio is the most impressive member of Trump's cabinet

>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, welcome back, everybody, to Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network. I'm, Tim with Fred and Krish and Ray. And what kind of shoes did you say, Ray, that, Marco Rubio was talking about there?

>> Tim Wildmon: Floor. Well, floor shine shoes. Those are, I mean, Tim, those. That's top quality. Quality.

>> Tim Wildmon: He said President Trump bought him some.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, yeah, that came out a couple of weeks ago. There was cabinet meeting.

>> Chris Woodward: Totally the best.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes.

>> Tim Wildmon: Only the best.

>> Tim Wildmon: So that's what the, that's, that's what the Democrat Congress Swamp lady was. She was, mocking him about. Right, Trying to, yeah, trying to. But he gave it back to her.

>> Fred Jackson: Oh, yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: And, ah, as I've said, I think Marco Rubio so far is the most impressive member of the, president's cabinet.

>> Chris Woodward: Yeah, whoever. Let's say it. Let's say it's either Vance or Rubio in 28 that is the nominee. the other people better be good debaters.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. Vice President Bance, you know, he's done a good job, too.

>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: I'm not dissing him in any way. I'm just saying Marco Rubio stood out. And the Secretary of State's role, quite frankly, is, as high, profile, if not more so, depending on what's going on in the world. And there's always something happening as the Vice president's role, especially in terms of policy.

Tim Ferriss welcomes Sandy Rios to American Family Radio

All right, well, joining us now is Sandy Rios, Sandy's host of Sandy Rios 247 podcast. Heard, twice a week here at. We host, Sandy's, podcast, on American Family Radio. Good morning, Sandy.

>> Sandy Rios: Oh, I haven't been a radio very long. I. You know, I forgot to open my mic. Sorry about that, Tim, but I had a little more experience. I know. To do that. How are you, Tim? It's so great to hear your voice.

>> Tim Wildmon: Thank you, Sandy. Yep. Doing well. we had our family vacation, last week, and I'm back in the saddle. And Fred turned 70. What did you say?

>> Fred Jackson: 72.

>> Tim Wildmon: 72 today.

>> Sandy Rios: happy birthday, Fred.

>> Fred Jackson: Well, thank you very much. Thank you.

>> Sandy Rios: And you know what a gift to you is those elections in, Great Britain and Scotland and elsewhere. Part of your country's affiliation.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, I wish that would spill over to Canada right now.

>> Sandy Rios: I know. Me, too. I know. Well, I guess it's not as good a birthday present as I.

>> Tim Wildmon: Well, anyway, a lot of things going on, with elections, because even though it's an offensive, it's not a presidential election year. A lot of congressional, obviously the Congress every two years, but I'm talking about the House of Representatives and then the Senate. A lot of Senate races up this fall, too.

Spencer Pratt is a Republican candidate for mayor of Los Angeles

You, wanted to, comment on California, did you, Sandy?

>> Sandy Rios: I do, I do. I don't know if you guys have been following Spencer Pratt, whose, ads are off the charts. Fabulous.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, yeah, we have, we have. We have talked about that. Sorry. For those who don't. For those who don't know, Spencer Pratt is a Republican candidate for mayor of Los Angeles. it's kind of like a Unicorn. And, and so he. He's giving it his best shot out there. Shot at, winning. He's going to be facing Karen, Bass, the current mayor, in, general election in. No. Is it going to be November?

>> Sandy Rios: Yes, yes.

>> Tim Wildmon: We got that long to wait. Okay. But anyway. Go ahead, Sandy.

>> Sandy Rios: Yeah, well, Spencer is actually, I think a. A serious candidate. you know, it doesn't sound like it from his resume, but when you hear him take the stand on the issues, Tim, he has such passion. He lost his home in the Pacific Palisades fire. So it's very personal to him. And so one of his first ads was him standing in front of his burned down house, living in a camper trailer and. But hitting. Not silly stuff. His ads really are. They're, very, very clever. And by the way, he's not actually creating them, but people in Hollywood who really want him to win are doing this apart from the campaign. So all that to say he, came in yesterday. Yesterday. This is Tuesday. Tuesday. he was, neck and neck with Karen Bass, who was the perpetrator, I think, of that fire. She was out of the country. They, had just fired a bunch of firemen. They had no water to fight the fires. And now she's, made it very hard for people to build their homes, and they're actually planning on selling that land to the Chinese. So. But wait, there's more. I mean, there's other issues. So Spencer's been hitting her on all of that. All that to say he came in, tied with Karen Bass. The top two advanced to, the. The fall election. It doesn't matter what party. But here's the thing. Here's the thing, Tim. you know, all kinds of ballots are coming in because, all California voters get mail in ballots. They have to mail their ballots in and they don't have to have them in until the day of the election. And then all their signatures have to be verified. So it takes weeks. I think they. They, uh.1 percentage of the vote went up overnight, so they've counted one more percent. And I don't know how much they.

>> Tim Wildmon: So are you telling me they mail in votes for. They don't have go to the polls?

>> Sandy Rios: no. Well, they're all. Let me look. Let me make sure I m. What I understand is every person is mailed about mail in ballot.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right.

>> Sandy Rios: To me that meant that they don't have polls. I don't.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.

>> Sandy Rios: I actually didn't look that up, but I'm not sure.

>> Tim Wildmon: Can you look that up?

>> Chris Woodward: I Got you.

Smartmatic voting machines are still used in California elections

>> Sandy Rios: But the one thing I wanted to say is, and I know that this is not a subject. Well, I just say smartmatic voting machines are still used in California. That's the one developed in Venezuela by Hugo Chavez and his engineers. From their, their Venezuela's, comparable to mit, their organization. They took their top and their best and they developed the smartmatic machines which would be able to change the votes out. That's how Hugo Chavez won his election. and so then they brought them to the United States and then Dominion came. So California still uses them. So they. Especially in LA County. So I think Spencer Pratt is toast. I'm just telling you right now, I don't think there's anything he needs to

>> Tim Wildmon: take advantage of those though. I'm just kidding.

>> Sandy Rios: Yeah, but he doesn't. He's not controlling the vote count.

>> Tim Wildmon: What are you going to say? Krish?

>> Chris Woodward: Yeah, I have found, something from the city of Los Angeles which speaks of voting by mail and voting in person.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, okay, I can do both. anyway, that will vote twice.

>> Sandy Rios: Oh, yeah, one more thing about, Steve Hilton is in first place right now. But of course all those ballots has to come in. So me thinks things will change. But that's the way it is now.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, so, yes, Steve Hilton, the former Fox News show host running for governor, Spencer Pratt, who made claim to fame by a, reality show. I guess it was a few years ago. I'm m not.

>> Chris Woodward: Yeah, when he was in his 20s.

>> Tim Wildmon: But he, he's a, a man of common sense and also trying to appeal to people in Los Angeles who see their city, the expression going to hell in a hand basket, and wants to do something to stop it. you know, they're going to host the, Olympic Games.

>> Fred Jackson: That's right.

>> Tim Wildmon: In two years.

>> Chris Woodward: Yeah. Spencer Pratt would, or whoever's the mayor. after all, this is going to

>> Tim Wildmon: be the mayor during that in Los Angeles, going to be there, but. All right, Julie, go ahead.

>> Sandy Rios: Well, the good news, I would just say this. The good news is that conservatives in California are waking up and they're becoming more and more of them. There is a real uphill battle, but it's amazing what Spencer Pratt has done and also what Steve Hilton has done because, you know, a few years ago, no conservative would have broken through and it's a terrible tragedy.

Sandy and Ray, why do Chicagoans continually vote Democrat

>> Tim Wildmon: Let me get your and Ray, take on this, the question I'm about to ask. I know obviously everybody knows you are both Christian conservatives, and that's your worldview and your political Views. But Chicago, you got, both of you lived in Chicago, the Chicago area for a long time. Chicago is, like Los Angeles is representative of a, big city America. Chicago is the number. Is the third largest, most populous city in America. I'm talking about the, metropolitan area. So why do they continually vote Democrat? Sandy? And then, Ray, you can comment on this. in those big cities, seeing the deterioration of the quality of life, crime, homelessness, you know, Spencer Pratt talks about, we can't even get the potholes filled here. I mean, you know, everything seems to be around so inefficiently. And this, it just seems like people would go, let's give the Republicans a try here. Maybe a different way, of looking at government would improve the quality of our communities, our neighborhoods and our lives. But yet they just continue to vote Democrat. Same old, same old. Do you think, Sandy, if you first in. Ray, do you think, it is the fact that the unions control cities like Los Angeles and Chicago, and so that's. The unions are in the hip. They're joined at the hip with the Democrat Party. Do you think that's the primary reason why the voting people keep doing the same thing over and over again and getting the same result? Go ahead.

>> Sandy Rios: Well, I know most about. When it comes to that, I know most about Chicago. So I address that. years ago, I had a very dear friend. His name was Hiram Crawford. Ray, you might remember him. He was a pastor on the south side and who had the courage of a lion. Great big guy who has five sons that are all great big. And we used to call his wife Mother Crawford. I called her Mother Crawford too. she was just delightful. And he would go to the city council meetings and rail against them. He didn't care what they thought. He wasn't afraid of anything. And. But he was, an anomaly. But he told me once when I was, talking to him, he said, sandy, this is what's happening. The Democratic Party in Chicago pays the pensions of the black pastors. They provide their pensions. Now, there may be more to. But that's what he told me. He said that's why they all push Democrats. And of course they. They don't. Aren't constrained by the law they put. They push candidates in their churches, and that's why they continue to elect Democrats. But there's a. There's another part to it that I want to be sure and say in the last few years, a group group, there's a movement in the black community, and one of them is called Chicago Flips Red. And they are. And there's black MAGA activists, and there's. These are smart people who understand sometimes they're from the inner city, but, they may not be quite as articulate, but they nail the problems. And they're mad because they see what's happening to their community. I used to have a lot of black callers on my show in Chicago, and I remember one black woman calling me, and she said this. She said, sandy, our youngsters, our teens, they're dead. You look in their eyes. They are just dead because of drugs and violence. There's just no soul there. And, it's been that way for decades. So black conservative who have clear thinking are trying to change that.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, Ray, go ahead.

>> Tim Wildmon: What about, you know, Cindy, I remember Pastor Crawford. I didn't know him like you knew him, but in fact, I hadn't even thought about him in over 20 years. But there was a man. You called him a lion. That's what he was. He didn't care. He did not care what anybody thought. And he got up and spoke the truth. you know, if you want to understand Chicago, go back and read Mike Royko's book on old mayor daily called the Boss. And when people glibly talk about the machine, well, that book describes how it was put in place generations ago. And Chicago, Sandy, I was thinking the Chicago that you and I knew, that was one thing. The Chicago of today in 2026 has declined morally and spiritually and educationally and financially in almost every possible way. And I think, Sandy, what you said is right. If there's going to be an answer, it's not going to be from white suburban conservatives. First of all, there's not enough of us. But second, it's going to have to come from inside the African American community, the black community.

>> Sandy Rios: I think so, too. I think so, too.

>> Tim Wildmon: As you said, it's beginning to happen. And we ought to pray and wish them every success, because that's where the answer. It's got to start there. That's where it's got to come from.

>> Sandy Rios: Absolutely. Totally spot on.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

Tim Ferriss: Unions aren't popular everywhere in America

But what about my question about the unions? Unions aren't popular everywhere in America. they used to be more popular than they are today. Work. but. And, and I'm not saying there wasn't a time and place for. For unions. there was, but, but as far as the big cities go, when you try to explain why things. Why they won't even consider voting for, an alternative to Democrat Candidates, even though things never change and life seems to be going, the quality of life going down, it's not seemingly. It is going downhill. Why don't they change? What's the connection there?

>> Sandy Rios: Well, you're absolutely right about that, Tim. I'm sorry I didn't respond to that. I would say, just as a little history lesson. Unions go way, way back. The earliest I. I don't know when they started, but the earliest I know was when Mao Zedong was, trying to transform China and take over power. They have been notoriously linked with communism and collectivism. That doesn't mean that every union member listening to us, you know, is that right? But the leadership. And that is the way they have pushed people in unions and. Because they control their lives, really. Because. Because if they don't. If they don't walk the line, you know, there's punishment and it's very violent. not. Maybe not every union's violent, but certainly in Chicago, the seic. Se. SEIU is very violent. So they. They put the fear of God in them. Now there are, you know, in the last election, maybe 16 and 20 also, the unions broke ranks, you know, and supported President Trump, which was. I don't mean the union bosses, although that did happen, too. But union members broke ranks and actually voted, for President Trump. So that's shifting either, too, also. But in. In cities like Chicago and Los Angeles, I doubt it's shifting. I doubt it. Shift.

>> Fred Jackson: Right.

>> Tim Wildmon: All right, you're listening to today's issues. What's coming up on, Sandy Rios, 24. 7, next, podcast.

Sandy Sunshine releases two podcasts a week on American Family Radio

>> Sandy Rios: Well, I,

>> Tim Wildmon: Tell us what happened in the previous one.

>> Sandy Rios: No, no, no. I. I love this week. Last, week I talked to, Oh, this week I talked to a political consultant that I met at a meeting in D.C. thank you for letting me go, Tim. And, just. I really liked him. He was so full of life, and he was very conservative. And you're gonna ask me his name. I'm just going blank. But I love that conversation. And he gave us a real good rundown of how he sees the midterms and also just how political consultants work, how corrupt political consultants have become. He's also pollster, so he gave us a lot of interesting polls. So I. That. That is already up, I believe. And the second one, I interviewed Tim, Goeglein, who's the vice president of Focus on the Family. Tim and I go back a very long way. He was a good friend of mine when I was president of concerned Women for America, 20 plus. Years ago. And so Tim has written, I think, his fifth book. And he talks. I think it's called Things that Matter. And it's, like getting down to the core of what really matters. Family. he talks about marriage, he talks about children. I know that sounds like, generic, but Tim, Tim is a scholar. He reads all the time. So he fills his books with incredible stories and anecdotes and stats, a lot of history. And so it was a great conversation. And I highly recommend that book. I think it's called Things that Matter. The Things that Matter.

>> Tim Wildmon: So for all of Sandy's podcasts, she releases two a week. They're very popular with our listeners, here on American Family radio. Go to afr.net, click on podcast and you'll find the banner there for Sandy 24 7. And her podcasts are listed with the topics that she covers again, two times a week. All right, go ahead.

>> Sandy Rios: Rick Shafton was the. The pollster and political consultant Rick Shafton. And also the book is called what really Matters. And thirdly, I want to say I just interviewed gubernatorial candidate from California, Che Ahn, just the week before that. And that was a great, great conversation. Tim, because he's a pastor and, he was running for. They kicked him off the ballot, but he was in two different debates to begin with. He's just got great insight, and I love talking to him.

>> Tim Wildmon: Wonderful. All right, thank you, Sandy. Take care. Talk to you later.

>> Sandy Rios: My pleasure. Thank you, guys. Great to talk to you.

>> Fred Jackson: See you, Sandy.

>> Tim Wildmon: Bye.

>> Tim Wildmon: Bye.

>> Sandy Rios: Okay, bye, Fred. Happy birthday.

>> Fred Jackson: All right, thanks.

>> Tim Wildmon: That's Sandy Sunshine right there, ladies and gentlemen.

>> Fred Jackson: I tell you what. Yeah, all positive.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yes, all positive. All good. All the time. You're listening to Today's issues. That's the name of the show. And the American Family Radio Network. Tim, Fred, Krish and Ray. go ahead, Krish. What's your next story?

>> Chris Woodward: Well, you know, let's go back to, I guess the 80s, when Whitney Houston had a song, about, you know, I believe that children are the future. We should teach them well and let them lead the way. Right.

>> Tim Wildmon: I think that was a cover of somebody else's song, but you're correct.

>> Chris Woodward: Probably the Carpenter.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

Many college professors say students coming from high school can't read basic sentences

>> Chris Woodward: All right, so I bring all this up because, our friends at places like the College Fix, Campus Reform, they've come to the realization that many kids, or young people, I should say, they're adults, college. Can't read. They can't read basic sentences. They can't read words with, like, high school level vocabulary. Okay. And I'm not saying I'm perfect. I stumble over things, too. People hear me stammer, sometimes on this program, but, what you're about to hear is, 44 seconds of kids in college not being able to read some basic sentences. Clip 13. The, Ben benefites. Why carry. Tried to ambush.

>> Tim Wildmon: Ambush.

>> Chris Woodward: The ex. Extortion. Extortion scheme.

>> Sandy Rios: What does that mean?

>> Chris Woodward: I don't even know. been a. I can't say that.

>> Tim Wildmon: Tried to. What was that we were hearing?

>> Chris Woodward: They were trying to read a sentence that said. Okay. It's like the beneficiary has tried to embellish the extortion scheme.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. the reason I sent that story around, which I found last night on Daily Mail, was because these were college professors that were being surveyed, and saying that, I'm talking about, large schools even.

>> Chris Woodward: Yes.

>> Tim Wildmon: Saying that their students that are coming through now from high school America can't do basic things. That they need to get, a college degree. In other words, they can't do math. They do math at a seventh grade level, but yet they graduated from high school. They can't. They can't read, except on a, you know, sixth grade level, although they graduated from high school. So this is a trending problem according to. Did you read this story, Ray? Did you see this? Yeah, no, no.

>> Tim Wildmon: yeah, yeah, I did.

>> Tim Wildmon: Did you?

>> Sandy Rios: Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: There have been a number of stories to back up what you're saying. Not just. Not just this one.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right. And we're talking broadly and general now. We're not talking. Yeah.

>> Fred Jackson: Well, here's an interesting aspect of this. I think it was professors, from ucla. We did a story last week. Krish.

>> Chris Woodward: Yes.

>> Fred Jackson: These are professors who are probably very woke most of the time.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. These aren't conservatives.

>> Fred Jackson: No. Very liberal. And they're pleading bring back the ACT test because we've got.

>> Tim Wildmon: And the sat.

>> Fred Jackson: And the sat.

>> Tim Wildmon: Excuse me, if you're interrupting the college entrance exam.

>> Fred Jackson: Yes.

>> Chris Woodward: That have been around forever.

>> Fred Jackson: They're saying you need to bring those back.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right.

>> Fred Jackson: Because we got kids coming in who can't do grade 8 math.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right.

>> Fred Jackson: All right. We're bringing in kids. How do we expect them to read college texts? They can't read. And so we need to bring back. Are you ready for this? This is radical. We need to bring back a certain standard.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right.

>> Fred Jackson: You have to meet a certain standard in order to enter college. Because what has happened. What has happened over the last 10, 15, 20 years is that instead of, a standard to get into university what has happened is we have to have quota systems. We have to have a certain percentage of this group getting in a certain percentage of this group. And it has resulted in some kids who are very smart case that went all the way to the Supreme Court. They could do math very well, they could read very well. But we're not going to let you in because you don't fit one of these categories.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, well, what we've learned, Fred, is that you can have the standard or you can have the quota, but you really can't have both at the same time. Because once you decide the quota reigns over everything else. The standard is going to lower and lower and lower. Eventually it's going to disappear, but you're going to fill the quota with, this ethnic group or that national group or this cultural background. But the standard has disappeared.

>> Chris Woodward: I will say that having covered education for most of my time here, some people, and not even just Democrats, but some people are of the opinion that we need to put more money towards education. But we already put more money towards education than other countries.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yes. A long, long time ago, when I was, going to finishing, high school, you had to take what was called the act. Some states had the sat, which is your. You had to have the score of 18. What they had.

A lot of standardized tests in the 1960s were deemed racist

I don't know at the time to qualify for senior college. Any senior college you had. Well, at least the one I went to, Mississippi State University. You had to have an 18. are. You were ineligible. You had to then go to junior college. Which I did. I did go to junior college.

>> Chris Woodward: I did too.

>> Tim Wildmon: Nothing wrong with going to junior college or what they call today community colleges. But I'm just saying there was. The standard was there, and if you couldn't meet it, and what happened is bizarre. Bizarre as it sounds, a lot of the standardized testing, the act, the ACT and others were called, were deemed racist. I don't know how a test can be racist, but it was like, no, this is a racist interest, exam. And so a lot of states, did away with it. We'll talk more about this, next segment. But that's what, that's, that's what happened right there. The views and opinions expressed in this

>> Sandy Rios: broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of

>> Tim Wildmon: the American Family association or American Family Radio.