In this episode of Washington Watch, host Jody Heiss dives into recent developments from Iran and the United States’ proactive military operations in the Middle East. With guests including Congressman Michael Cloud and Jonathan Gilliam, a former FBI special agent, the discussion centers around the new leadership in Iran, the implications for the international community, and domestic security threats including a recent foiled terror attack in New York City allegedly inspired by ISIS. The episode unfolds with a consideration of the national security risks posed by these geopolitical shifts, and the current shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security.
SPEAKER 24 :
from the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and soundbites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Sitting in for Tony is today’s host, Jody Heiss.
SPEAKER 01 :
The defendants are charged with attempting to provide material support to ISIS using a weapon of mass destruction, transporting explosive materials, interstate transportation and receipt of explosive materials, and unlawful possession of destructive devices. As alleged in the complaint, the defendants were inspired by ISIS to carry out their attack.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, that was NYPD Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch earlier today giving an update on Saturday’s foiled terror attacks in New York City. Welcome to this March 9th edition of Washington Watch. I’m Jody Heiss, Senior Fellow here at the Family Research Council and deeply honored today to be sitting in for Tony Perkins. All right, coming up, reverberations continue to be felt even here in America as the U.S. and Israeli military operations against Iran now enter the second week. I’ll be discussing what’s unfolding here in the U.S. and in the Middle East when I’m joined in just a few moments by Texas Congressman Michael Cloud and then later by Dr. David Adesnick at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Plus, we’ll discuss Saturday’s foiled attacks on New York City when we’re joined by former FBI special agent and former Navy SEAL Jonathan Gilliam. So all that and much more straight ahead. Well, now we are in the second week, day 10 to be exact, of the attacks taking place in Israel. And the son of Iran, excuse me, and the son of Iran’s former and slain supreme leader, Mojtaba Hamani, is now the country’s new leader. And President Trump has recently said that he did not want him to be in power. And joining me now is Washington-Stan reporter Casey Harper. Casey, hope you had a good weekend.
SPEAKER 29 :
Thanks, Jody. You too.
SPEAKER 09 :
Listen, before we get into this, I do want to jump into what’s happening in Iran. But thank you personally for filling in for me this past Friday. I typically host the Friday shows and was unable to this past week. And you, my friend, did an outstanding job. Thank you for filling in. I appreciate it.
SPEAKER 29 :
Oh, praise the Lord. Thank you, Jody. It was an honor to fill in. It’s harder than it looks. You make it look easy, but it’s not.
SPEAKER 09 :
Oh, you do a great job. All right, so we’ve got a new leader in Iran. Walk us through the latest, what you’re hearing.
SPEAKER 29 :
Yeah, this is a big development and not really a good one for the United States or Israel. 56-year-old Mojtaba Khomeini is the son of the deceased Ayatollah that Israel and the U.S. took out not too long ago. And now he is the Islamic Republic’s third supreme leader. He has close connections to the Revolutionary Guard. He’s a hardliner. Now, he’s been declared, because of that, he’s been declared unacceptable by President Trump. And you may remember, Jody, President Trump publicly said he wanted to have a say in who the next Iranian leader would be. Now, Israel said they were going to start targeting this new Ayatollah, so we’ll see how long he lasts. But the president said it’s a big mistake to appoint him. Meanwhile, U.S. and Israel continue their strikes on Iran. In fact, we have a clip here of Secretary of State Marco Rubio talking about the president’s objectives in the mission.
SPEAKER 16 :
The goals of this mission are clear, and it’s important to continue to remind the American people of why it is that the greatest military in the history of the world is engaged in this operation. It is to destroy the ability of this regime to launch missiles, both by destroying their missiles and their launchers, destroy the factories that make these missiles, and destroy their Navy.
SPEAKER 29 :
Now, of course, as you know, Jody, a seventh U.S. service member was tragically killed in the fighting.
SPEAKER 09 :
It’s quite interesting what’s going on there. We’ll see what unfolds with this new leadership there. Casey, if I can turn with you to a little bit more domestic news, but not too far distantly related as far as terrorism is concerned. In the fight there, we had an explosion over the weekend outside the residence of New York City’s mayor, and the investigation is indicating that it may be ISIS related. What can you tell us about that?
SPEAKER 29 :
Yeah, all reports indicate a ISIS-inspired Islamic terror attack in a city that is all too familiar with them. So some of the details here. We have two men who threw this homemade bomb at really a protest and counter-protest outside Mayor Mamdani’s mansion in Manhattan. Those may have been charged with terrorism, as you indicated. Now, the explosive devices were ignited during the protest. Now, the first protest was protesting what they called an Islamic takeover of New York City. And then that drew a much larger counter-protest, which led to this face-off. And we have a clip here of Mayor Mamdani talking about the incident earlier today.
SPEAKER 27 :
This was a vile protest rooted in white supremacy entitled Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City. While I found this protest appalling, I will not waver in my belief that it should be allowed to happen. Ours is a free society where the right to peaceful protest is sacred.
SPEAKER 29 :
Now one of them in charge reportedly said he wanted to launch an attack that did more damage and was more deadly than the Boston Marathon bombing. Jody, thankfully the explosive devices did not go off, so his plan did not come to fruition.
SPEAKER 09 :
All right, Casey, thank you so much for this report. We actually have a former FBI agent and Navy SEAL who will be joining us later in the show to discuss the heightened risk that we could be seeing here in the United States as a result of the conflict with Israel. Iran. So you want to stay with us. I want to go ahead now and turn back to this escalated war in Iran and the impact that it’s having here in the United States. And joining me now to discuss this and more is Congressman Michael Cloud. He serves on the House Appropriations Committee as well as the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He represents the 27th Congressional District of the great state of Texas. Congressman Cloud, welcome back to Washington Watch. Always an honor to have you.
SPEAKER 30 :
Well, thank you. Good to be talking with you again, Jody.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, listen, before we get started, I do want to get into a lot of this. But first of all, I want to say thank you for the other day. You set the record straight on what the Bible has to say. It was during a hearing that took place last week, and a Democrat witness cited Matthew 25 to justify tax-funded social programs and And you answered very respectfully but accurately about what the Bible has to say. And so let me just, why don’t we just start there? What compelled you to say what you said?
SPEAKER 30 :
Well, I’ve been in a number of these hearings, and you often see Matthew 25 thrown about, never in context. Sometimes it seems to be the only, I would say, scripture, but it’s not even a full scripture, the only half scripture that the left would seem to know. And they use it to justify all kinds of spending. And I thought it was important to go through and just kind of put this in context about what was really being talked about in that chapter and who presided. Christ was talking to. He was talking to His disciples. And it was actually a private meeting with His disciples. It wasn’t even one of His open-air arena speeches, so to speak. And so He was talking to us about what we should be doing, how we should be taking care of our neighbors and doing those different kind of things. And so many times this gets used to justify every sort of social program that the government is doing. And we know in Corinthians it talks about that charity is something that’s given of a free will and not by compulsion. And taxes certainly are by compulsion. And so, you know, we believe in generosity. Certainly we should be giving, taking care of our neighbor. That should be an extension of who we are. But we’re… almost $40 trillion in debt. And so we’ve got to prioritize and the federal government has a specific constitutional duty and priority. And scripture talks about the role of what a federal government is supposed to be doing or a government is supposed to be doing. It’s a different role than the family. It’s a different role than the church and the community. And so it’s important that we kind of put all these things in context as we begin to weigh scripture, especially in the context of government policy.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, it does my heart a great deal of good to know you’re there and that you courageously and respectfully stood up and put truth on the table. So I thank you for that. Turning now to some news of the day type items, the escalated war in Iran has certainly had an impact here in the U.S., everything from security issues to the economy itself. So what’s your message to Americans as we’re going through this time?
SPEAKER 30 :
Yeah, I think it’s important. One thing I don’t hear talked about enough is really the larger scope of what’s being done here. If we recall that President Trump came into office for the second term, and when he was, we were looking at China, had on 2027. It’s kind of the target date to start World War III potentially. And what the president’s doing here in Venezuela and here in Iran, these are, in a sense, chess moves to avoid that larger conflict with China that would envelop potentially many, many, many nations. And so certainly Iran has been no friend to the Middle East. The talking points you heard going into this was, you know, if we ever did what needed to be done with Iran, you know, the whole Middle East would be in an uproar against us. And that’s exactly what we’ve seen is the opposite, where we see other nations, maybe not to the extent we’d like, but they’re certainly not joining in the fight with Iran. They’re saying these guys have been a menace to our region. We want peace for our kids. We want peace for our family. We want peace for our region. And what that means is taking out the capability of Iran to do evil things in their region and around the world.
SPEAKER 09 :
You know, and it’s fascinating in a bad kind of way to me that during the time of heightened security concerns that we have here in our own country, Democrats continue to hold the Department of Homeland Security hostage. What do you make of what’s happening there? What are they doing?
SPEAKER 30 :
Well, this comes after four years of having the borders be an open sieve where you had these dangerous individuals coming across our border with no checks, you know, and so when we’re concerned about what’s going on in our country, it goes back to that. And then on this end, they’re not going to fund the Department of Homeland Security. It boggles the mind of what they’re trying to accomplish. We want our communities to be safe. We want our federal law enforcement paid. Thankfully, so many of them working and doing the important work anyway right now. But the fact that their families would have to struggle with figuring out how to make ends meet. And I remember during the last shutdown, you had families, you know, People working in DHS who were having to hawk a television to meet the bills that week. And of course, once the shutdown comes back and you get paid again, you can’t just get that back for the same price. And so it’s a blow to those who are on the front lines serving and protecting, who put on the Velcro and the body armor every day to protect our communities. It’s tragic after four years of open borders that they won’t even fund the security of our homeland.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, it’s unbelievable to even think about. Real quickly, while I have you, I wanted to get your take. Yesterday, the president on Truth Social made a comment that he would not sign another bill until Congress, specifically the Senate, passes the Save America Act. Your thoughts on that?
SPEAKER 30 :
I can tell you I’m right there with you and with the president on this. I know a number of representatives have been talking about this, that if they’re not going to pass our legislation that the vast majority of the American people want, 80 to 90 percent of the American people want, We should not be taking up any of their bills. It’s what the president said in the State of the Union. This needs to be the next thing that gets done. This is the thing that allows us to continue to have secure borders and allows us to do all the other good work that needs to be done. Americans across the political spectrum want safe and secure elections. This is how we get it done. And the fact that the Senate would consider even, you know, just because of the inconvenience of having to go through a talking filibuster, for example, not push on this when we have our servicemen and women in harm’s way. You know, tragically, a few have paid the ultimate price, and we can’t go through the inconvenience of a talking filibuster. Come on, what are you here to do if not serve the American people?
SPEAKER 09 :
That’s right. Texas Congressman Michael Cloud, a dear friend, a giant for Christ and a giant in Congress. Thank you for joining us on Washington Watch. All right, friends, coming up, we’ll discuss what took place in New York City and we’ll have a special FBI agent joining us to discuss. Stay with us.
SPEAKER 22 :
But in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another. And to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them. A decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident. That all men are created equal. That they’re endowed by their Creator. With certain unalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men. Deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Happy 250th. Happy 250th. Happy 250th. Happy 250th birthday, America. May God bless America.
SPEAKER 21 :
You see, America has freedom for a purpose. The question is, are we living by that purpose today? See, the founders understood we as a nation would be accountable to God for what he had granted to us. They sought freedom for a purpose, and that freedom was given to us as a nation for that same purpose, to serve God, to honor him, and to live as a people under his authority.
SPEAKER 06 :
At the 2026 National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance in Washington, D.C., members of Congress, state leaders, evangelical leaders, and intercessors from across the nation united as one voice in prayer.
SPEAKER 17 :
Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this gathering. We do repent, and we ask for your continued favor and blessing over our nation, even when we don’t deserve it.
SPEAKER 10 :
I thank you that because of the shed blood and the glorious righteousness of your son, Jesus Christ, a sinner such as myself can boldly approach your throne. You said that you helped the humble, and we are asking just now that you would help us, Lord.
SPEAKER 24 :
While our God is marching on. Glory, glory.
SPEAKER 03 :
We pray that you humble us, help us to follow after you with all our hearts so that we can see righteousness exalted in this nation and this nation restored to you. We know that it’s not by our power, it’s not by our might, it’s by your spirit.
SPEAKER 21 :
Freedom has a name. His name is Jesus. And freedom has a purpose. It is to honor and glorify you. We pray that we would return to that purpose. Amen.
SPEAKER 09 :
Welcome back. Hope you’re having a great afternoon. You’re tuned in to Washington Watch and I’m Jody Heist filling in today for Tony. All right, federal charges have now been filed against two men who have been accused of throwing improvised explosive devices, also known as IEDs, outside the residence of New York City’s mayor. They did this on Saturday as demonstrators protested outside. And according to NYPD Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, the two defendants were allegedly inspired to carry out their foiled attack by ISIS, which of course is a terrorist group associated with the Islamic State. Well, Saturday’s incident unfolded as the escalated war in Iran continues there and it also continues to raise concerns over the threat level here in the U.S. So do we have good reason to be on high alert? Well, joining us now to discuss this is former FBI special agent and former Navy SEAL, Jonathan Gilliam, who previously operated as a security specialist for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, where he was there responsible for performing threat assessments. Jonathan, welcome back to Washington Watch. It’s always an honor to have you.
SPEAKER 18 :
Thank you. It’s good to be with you, as always.
SPEAKER 09 :
All right, so start, if you can, tell us about the potential damage that an IED or this type of explosive device could potentially have. What could it do?
SPEAKER 18 :
So this particular device TATP is. It’s basically a form of hydrogen peroxide and acetone, and it’s very, very unstable. I mean, they’re very lucky that when they threw those that just the shock alone can make that go off, let alone lighting a fuse. It’s very interesting how it did not go off, so they must have. left something out of that. I haven’t seen exactly what was the breakdown in there, but had that gone off, it would have been massive. There were shrapnel bolts and and all kinds of things in there and typically straight out of the playbook of ISIS and other terrorist groups because they got away from certain chemicals that they used to use, which were then programmed into the dogs and the sniffers. And they went to this. this peroxide mixture, which is not trained into a lot of dogs. It may be now, but it’s still readily available and easily mixed if you know what you’re doing. It’s also very dangerous and they can blow themselves up, but it’s not the first time terrorists have tried to utilize this in New York City. So the problem we’re having here I think the last time I was on the show, just last week or earlier this week, I was talking about homegrown leftists. And I guess along with that, the Red-Green Alliance, which is Islam and communism, we see that everywhere. That’s why you see leftists uh trying to push hamas forward and in this case you see uh individuals uh that are muslim uh throwing a ieds where people are rallying against um islam in new york city being so verbal and and praying out in front and blocking traffic and so on and so forth so you see the two groups that milk together and in this case these two individuals that carried this attack out, attempted attack, came from Pennsylvania, wealthy part of Pennsylvania, and were fundamentalized, which is the other problem. We use the word radicalized. They’re fundamentalized. And I think that this is something that people need to realize is that the future may not be organized terror cells from Iran. It may just be homegrown zealots who are fundamentalized or leftists who are altruistic and narcissistic and looking for some way to make themselves famous.
SPEAKER 09 :
All right, so let’s talk about that. Here we have two young men, both of them, I mean, literally young, both of them under 20, I believe. But I heard, as you referenced, that these became fundamentalized or radicalized, whatever we wanna say in that regard. What can you tell us about this threat of being radicalized, fundamentalized, both from without and within? How serious of a threat is this?
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, so Stanley Milgram, Dr. Stanley Milgram, did an experiment in 1969 where he took volunteers from a university and he put in the school paper that he was going to have extra credit for partaking in this experiment. He took somebody, he set them behind a desk, and in front of them were controls, and they could turn up an electrical current. It was fake, but they didn’t know that. And in the other room, he had an actor. And so he asked these people a series of questions that were in front of this control panel. And he said, whenever that person gets a question wrong inside there, you’re to initiate a shock. And every other question they get wrong, you’re supposed to turn that shock up until I tell you to stop. And so these people that volunteered didn’t realize that that person was an actor and that this wasn’t really an electrical shock. So this went on to the point where the person in the other room was pretending to die, but over 50%, right around 50% of the people that were pressured by the doctor continued to shock the person in the other room. Now that’s surprising enough, and I’ll show you where I’m going with this. It’s when he removed the volunteers, and he told the volunteers to tell the person at the table to shock the other guy. So they took them out of the fight and said, you just tell him to shock that guy. And they were both actors, the shocker and the person getting shot. And the volunteer went up to 87, almost 90% of the people did it with no problem because the pressure was not on them. Here is where the issue lies. Stanley Milgram did that to show how the population of Germany could have followed a madman like Hitler. And in this case, it applies because people who are zealots or who are looking for something in Islam or these imams that are these fundamentalized or radical imams get to them. they can flip them and then the rest of the population that’s Muslim are going to do nothing because they’re not the ones doing the attacks. And that’s the problem is that the people who should be stopping it are not getting involved because it’s not their fight. And so this is where the major issue comes.
SPEAKER 09 :
All right, less than a minute to go, and I wish we had more time, but obviously all this is taking place while Department of Homeland Security is shut down. How critical is it, in your opinion, for DHS to be restored?
SPEAKER 18 :
It is so critical at this point in time. I mean, this is… This is as bad as it could get, that people would stand aground because of their political leftists, basically, would stand aground and stop the very people that we need working the airports, going out and looking for these people. They don’t just go out and look for Latin Americans. ICE looks for people who came here that are illegal, which could include terror cells or, even worse, force multipliers that are going out and recruiting people that are homegrown.
SPEAKER 09 :
Thank you so much, former FBI special agent and Navy SEAL Jonathan Gilliam. Wish we had more time. We’ll have to get you back. All right, friends, join us in urging DHS to be restored. Text DHS to 67742. We’ll be back.
SPEAKER 23 :
I think all people really need to have this type of education.
SPEAKER 15 :
Well, I can tell you that it’s been an amazing course, period.
SPEAKER 11 :
I think this course is a reminder that a biblical worldview should really impact everything. It impacts our government from the federal to the state to the local. It should impact what we’re doing with our families and with our work.
SPEAKER 20 :
God and Government is a video-driven, Bible-based training course from Family Research Council that explores the connection between biblical principles and American government. In this six-session video series, FRC President Tony Perkins equips participants with a practical understanding of civil government from a biblical worldview.
SPEAKER 15 :
I would encourage all people to take it. I almost wish I would have took it earlier that I could have taught my kids this.
SPEAKER 23 :
I wish I had known these things when we were homeschooling because I think children and my adults now would just greatly be influenced by that information.
SPEAKER 25 :
So I’m an attorney, and for me, it gives me some direct practical knowledge of what I can do to try to impact my legal community, to make better legislation, to try to encourage legislators to make choices that have a biblical worldview, which is what we really want.
SPEAKER 26 :
Any pastor would benefit from taking this course because we are dual citizens, right? We are citizens of the kingdom of God, but we’re also citizens of this great land, and that comes with responsibility.
SPEAKER 11 :
Even as someone who has been involved in these types of issues for a while, you’re learning little bits and pieces of new stuff all the time. But it’s also approachable enough that newer people, younger people, high school, college students, they can really glean something from this. So I would encourage everybody to take this course, whether it’s the videos, whether it’s doing it in person, bring your Bible study group through it, bring your homeschool group through it, and equip yourself for these challenging days ahead.
SPEAKER 20 :
View the course at frc.org slash God and government or on the Stand Firm app.
SPEAKER 09 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. I’m your host today, Jody Heiss, filling in for Tony, and thank you so much for joining us. All right, Moshe Bahamani, the son of Iran’s slain supreme leader, has been named the new leader of the Islamic Republic, and President Trump recently said he wanted to be involved with appointing a new leader. He said that he’s not happy about this. The president also said earlier today that he’s nowhere near deploying U.S. troops into Iran to raid their nuclear sites. And all this follows news reports that President Trump said he’s not ruling out sending in American troops. So what does the ascendance to power of this new supreme leader mean, both for the war and the region? And how could we see this conflict continue to escalate? Well, joining me now to discuss this is Dr. David Adesnick. He’s the vice president of research for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Dr. Adesnick’s research focuses on the conflict between Israel and Iran-led terror groups and militias, which includes certainly Hezbollah and Hamas. Dr. Adesnik, welcome back to Washington Watch. Always great to have you.
SPEAKER 28 :
Always great to be here. Thank you.
SPEAKER 09 :
All right. So we have a new supreme leader. What does this mean to the region, to the war, to the United States and so forth?
SPEAKER 28 :
Well, not hard to say in this one. And he’s a chip off the old block and the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. He’s literally the son of the previous supreme leader. He’s not necessarily a distinguished religious thinker. He’s someone who’s made his way by being put in positions of power by his father and managing them relatively well, at least from his father’s perspective. I think you would count him among the hardest of the hardliners in the regime. His choice is an indication that other hardliners in the Revolutionary Guard and outside the Revolutionary Guard are continuing to steer this war in a direction of further confrontation, not one of any compromise. And so if President Trump wanted there to be someone perhaps more moderate, someone who might be interested in a resolution, this is not his man.
SPEAKER 09 :
Wow. So he is harder than his father, is what I’m hearing you say. And his father was pretty hard. So this is a step going further down the road that we don’t want to go. So from that perspective, where, in your perspective, where is this war going? And what do you anticipate in terms of outcome in the long run?
SPEAKER 28 :
Well, I regret to say I have a fair amount of uncertainty. I think there are times when the president says things like we want unconditional surrender, hearkening back to the unconditional surrenders at the end of World War II, and that would probably require a tremendous effort. I think there’s always been a fairly strong view that it’s hard to change things when you only have forces in the air and not on the ground. I think We’ve been hoping to some extent the Iranian people would come out, renew their protests and overthrow the regime. But of course, that would mean doing it while there’s fighting going on. And it’s not entirely clear how long will we persist. Would we cut a deal that perhaps ended the war and left Moshtaba Khamenei the new leader in power? Or are we really going all the way to the end?
SPEAKER 09 :
All right, so none of us know what’s going to happen next. I mean, there’s always elements of surprise that are essential in any kind of war. So I’m not implying anything, but let me just throw something out to you, a hypothetical. If the U.S. were to move forward with special operations, some sort of mission to seize Iran’s near-bomb-grade uranium, what kind of retaliation could we expect from Iran
SPEAKER 28 :
and particularly now with the damage that’s been inflicted to their military right so we always have fear that you know are they holding something back holding you know one of their toughest blows but you know for example the pattern with their launch of ballistic missiles which are some of their most dangerous weapons uh has been that they’ve been declining fairly sharply over the you know week plus that we’ve been having this conflict uh they continue to use numerous drones and those can are hurt piece by piece, but not as dramatic. A few years ago, people would have told you that one of their, you know, the ace up their sleeve might have been Hezbollah, the Lebanese terror group and its ability to unleash really horrific casualties on cities in northern Israel with its own rocket arsenal. But the Israelis really devastated Hezbollah with their famous beeper attack and with follow-on airstrikes. So it’s not entirely clear. I mean, there is research from my colleagues showing that there’s evidence of Iran having chemical weapons, but we’re not sure exactly at what state that might be or they really could put them forward or if they’d even want to risk that. So it’s not clear that they even have an ace left up their sleeve.
SPEAKER 09 :
So there’s a potential that even with a more hard line, new Supreme Leader, that they may not be able to do much, be it within Iran or ISIS or Hezbollah or any other organization of terror. Is that what you’re saying?
SPEAKER 28 :
Yeah, I think the goal would be more just to outlast us, to find the point where we decide whether using up too much money or too many weapons. If you recall, The president ordered airstrikes against one of Iran’s proxies in Yemen, known as the Houthis. After about 30 days, that effort ended without really a decisive change on the ground. So the question is, you know, will we keep going? I mean, especially when we have elections coming up in the fall. And I think most Americans, you know, they’re concerned about affordability. You know, I go to the supermarket and see the price of eggs and milk and meat. And, you know, there’s reason to be concerned. But if they blast, if they hold on for months, if they’re willing to kill their own people, if they march in the streets again, that’s the kind of hardline response that could keep them in power.
SPEAKER 09 :
It’s going to be fascinating. I want to thank you as always. It’s always great to be able to talk to you, Dr. David Adesnick. You bring a great, fresh perspective to all of this, and we appreciate the education, the information that you provide. All right, Dr. Adesnick, Vice President of Research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Always great to have him. All right, coming up, we’re going to transition and have our panel of reporters from the Washington stand. We’ve got a lot to discuss, all today’s stories, and we want to do it from a biblical worldview perspective. So stay with us. We’ll be back.
SPEAKER 21 :
We have state leaders that want to keep the deadly drugs out of their states. Maybe if these abortion pills were coming by boat, the administration would change its tactics. It’s time to respect the rights of the states, and it’s time to end death by mail.
SPEAKER 13 :
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, alongside Senator Lindsey Graham, led a press conference on Capitol Hill urging the Trump administration to end the Biden-era policies that have allowed dangerous abortion drugs to be shipped across state lines. They were joined by state attorneys general, pro-life advocates, and multiple Republican congressmen.
SPEAKER 12 :
There are more abortions today in the United States than when Roe versus Wade was the law of the land. And why is that? It’s because of the chemical abortion drug Mifeprestone. Nearly 70 percent of the abortions that are committed in the United States today are committed because of Mifeprestone.
SPEAKER 07 :
The federal government is allowing a chemical abortion pill to be sent through the mail that wipes out every state. unborn protection law in the land.
SPEAKER 20 :
It’s harder to ship alcohol in this country than it is to ship the abortion pill. And that should never be the case.
SPEAKER 19 :
This is a drug that takes the life of every child. So there is always a death that’s involved in this drug, but is also incredibly dangerous for the mom as well. We think that we should require a doctor to be able to get access to this drug.
SPEAKER 14 :
As a doctor, I think it’s essential that there be human contact before the pill is prescribed.
SPEAKER 04 :
It’s not about a national abortion ban. It’s about validating Dobbs and preventing other states from nullifying the legislative policy choices that have been made by our states and facilitating the illegal, unethical, and dangerous drug trafficking of abortion pills into our states without any medical oversight whatsoever.
SPEAKER 07 :
We can simply fix this if we have the courage to do it. So what are all of us telling the administration? You’ve been a great pro-life president, Mr. President. It’s now time to deal with this issue.
SPEAKER 12 :
We want to protect life, and we want to give voice to the American people and their right to protect life state by state, city by city, and yes, here in the United States Congress. That’s what this fight is about.
SPEAKER 13 :
Let your voice be heard. Text LIFE to 67742. Sign the petition. Tell the Trump administration to act.
SPEAKER 02 :
The Stand Firm app brings trusted Family Research Council resources together in one place. Stay informed with news articles from the Washington Stand, watch interviews from Washington Watch, explore courses produced by FRC, and find many other resources to equip you to engage culture and government from a biblical perspective. Download the Stand Firm app today by texting APP to 67742 or by searching for Stand Firm in your app store.
SPEAKER 09 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. I’m Jody Heiss filling in today for Tony, and thank you so much for joining us and for tuning in. All right, before I dive into this last segment for the day, I’ve got an action item, and I really encourage you to help us out with this. Of course, our U.S. military operations are, as we speak, underway in Iran. But while that is happening right here at home, Counterterrorism warnings highlight the danger that terror sleeper cells that are associated with Iran and its proxies, what they’re poised to do right here in retaliation. And not just the sleeper cells, but as we’ve talked about today, individuals who are radicalized or fundamentalized, they’re right here. And we simply cannot afford to leave unfunded the federal agencies whose task it is to safeguard our homeland. I mean, we simply can’t do that. So we’re asking you to join us in urging Democratic leaders to restore the full funding to the Department of Homeland Security. Simply text DHS to 67742. Again, DHS to 67742. Make your voice heard on this very important issue. All right. All that said, we’ve got obviously a lot of news items that we’ve already hit on today with experts who are tracking all of those developments. But we also want to go over them through a biblical worldview, through the lens of Scripture. And to help do that, I’ve got a panel that’s coming on right now from the Washington Stand, which is FRC’s publication that reports and comments on the news of the day from a biblical worldview. And joining us for today’s panel are our panelists, Washington Stand’s Mark Tapscott and Casey Harper. Mark and Casey, thanks for joining me. Always great to have the dynamic duo on with me.
SPEAKER 08 :
It’s a pleasure to be here.
SPEAKER 09 :
All right. Well, Casey, let me start with you. And we’ve been talking a lot about what happened in New York over the weekend, which is being investigated now, as you actually mentioned to us to get the program kicked off today as an ISIS inspired terrorism attack. And it’s important. When a story like this breaks, that we not jump to conclusions. I mean, so I want to be very careful that we don’t do that. We need to know the facts and we need to separate the facts from conjecture, don’t we? I mean, that’s kind of where we are in all of this at this point.
SPEAKER 29 :
Yeah, I mean, these shootings, tragically, they keep happening. And there’s this familiar thing that plays out where people, especially online, people want to be the first on social media to say something. And so you sort of have this court of public opinion that plays out online. And some of the facts are true. false and everyone’s trying to be first instead of trying to be right and so we do want to wait for the facts to come out on some of these shootings because sometimes the evidence presents a different story but what we have so far on this one jody i have to be honest seems at least for now pretty clear-cut that this was this alleged attack that we have plenty of evidence for and it’s in actually on video was inspired by ISIS. And I think something people need to understand about when we talk about terror attacks here in the US is someone doesn’t necessarily have to have a formal relationship with ISIS or even the Iranian Revolutionary Guard or someone across the ocean and go to a training camp and then come back to the US. Now because of the internet, people are being radicalized every day by the content they’re consuming and then you know you can find out how to do a lot of pretty dangerous things on the internet and you put that all together and so i think that’s a lot of the islamic inspired radical attacks that we’re seeing and it’s worth noting jody that we also just had a a man who was convicted um for he was communicating with the iranian revolutionary guard planning to assassinate president trump so this radical islamic violence it’s not just a thing uh that happened to you know september 11th 20 years ago it’s still a very present problem and because of the immigration crisis that we had it seems that we don’t really have a handle on that problem.
SPEAKER 09 :
A very important bird’s eye perspective there that you shared. Mark, let me come back to you. All of this is happening in the midst of a Democratic shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. Now, you and I both know, we’ve been around this for a long time, that shutdowns in and of themselves, at least recently, have been a pretty regular occurrence. But this particular one, shutting down the Department of Homeland Security, this is really, really bad timing, isn’t it?
SPEAKER 08 :
Oh, that’s an understatement, Congressman. I have to say, too, by the way, I really appreciated your preface to this discussion about being careful that we’ve got the facts. You always remind me of what my journalism mentor, Wes Pruden, always said, get it first, but first get it right. And that’s very important as we talk about these events. How the Democrats could continue now absolutely refusing to do anything to allow Congress to make the moves to get the bill in front of the president so we can get TSA, so we can get the other components of the Department of Homeland Security that we desperately need, especially in view of what happened in New York over the weekend. And it’s just, I’ve been covering Congress for 40 years, and I have never seen anything that even approaches this kind of, I think, irresponsibility.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, I mean, it comes across as though they’re willing to sacrifice American lives. Is that kind of at least an accurate assessment? How else do you look at this?
SPEAKER 08 :
It’s hard not to think that. You know, I know a good many Democrats as well as Republicans, and I think a good many of them have, can’t agree with them, but I think they are at heart. They want to do the right thing. But boy, this is not the right thing. And it could have very serious consequences.
SPEAKER 09 :
Oh, you’re not kidding. And I would just reiterate what I said coming into this time with our panelists. I want to encourage every one of you who are watching and listening right now to join us. Join us in urging the Democratic leadership to restore full funding to the Department of Homeland Security. I want to urge you to text, go ahead and text right now, DHS to 67742. All right, if we can shift gears, this is not the only news of the day, not the only fight on Capitol Hill. There’s another one over the Save America Act. That’s the one that President Trump announced yesterday on Truth Social that unless this passes, he’ll not be signing any other bills at all. I mean, he’s waiting on this one to pass. Casey, why is this one such a big issue for the president and for our country?
SPEAKER 29 :
Yeah, I mean, I think the president has shown through many different actions he’s taken that he’s very concerned about these midterm elections. He’s concerned that Republicans are going to just get shellacked and lose majorities in the House and the Senate. And right now, a lot of the polling suggests he may not be far off in that assumption. And so he’s doing whatever he can to prevent that from happening. So we’ve seen the redistricting fights. He’s going, you know, push Texas and other states to redistrict, to pick up extra seats. Of course, that kicked off a whole redistricting war and is playing out in the courts and has become a kind of a tangled web of things going on there but he’s pushed for the redistricting and he’s pushing you know the president’s mind the 2020 election was very suspect and so I think this is his way of writing that writing what he sees as a wrong there and also helping Republicans in the mid in the midterms and so when you put the his political fears together and then there’s a third piece here which is the filibuster the president has said for a while now even really before the Save America Act, as it’s now called, that he wants to get rid of the filibuster to push through his agenda. And Senator Thune, and honestly, I think most Republican senators are not willing to do that, and there’s a lot of reasons for that. We could talk about number one being that as soon as the Democrats get in power, they can You know, what precedent you set can be used against you. So they’re very worried about that. But I think President Trump sees the Save America Act as a potential way to get the filibuster done away with so he can push through the rest of his agenda before the midterms come and he’s possibly a lame duck president with a divided government.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, you brought up a lot of important issues with that. Mark, so let me take what Casey just said. As you mentioned a while ago, you’ve been covering Washington for a long time, four decades. How does, and not in light of what we were just talking about with Iran and terrorism domestically and abroad, but more broadly speaking, how does the political environment that we’re seeing today compare to what you’ve seen in the past?
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, obviously, it’s much, much more intensely, even bitterly partisan on both sides. I remember very distinctly during the Reagan years, President Reagan and then House Speaker Tip O’Neill didn’t agree on much, but they were very civil to each other. In fact, they enjoyed each other’s company. and took advantage of opportunities to do that. I can’t imagine that happening today, not because Mike Johnson, for example, wouldn’t want to have a good relationship with a Democratic president, but it’s just very difficult to see that happening now. And when you have that kind of intense partisanship It just makes the whole process of legislative give and take and compromise, which our constitutional republic is built on, it pretty well makes that impossible. And that’s one of the big reasons I think we see so many of the infractable issues in Congress today.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah. And you add to that is the complicated mess of just having such a razor thin majority that makes it even more difficult. And yet we’ve still seen the Republican Party move the needle some. I mean, look at the one big, beautiful bill and now a possible second reconciliation package. How doable do you think that will be?
SPEAKER 08 :
Mike Johnson, I have to say, with the razor thin is exactly the way to describe it. You know, they can only lose one or sometimes the luxury of two votes on these big issues. But Mike Johnson finds a way. I think he really is gifted in his ability to work with people in the Republican caucus that are, frankly, difficult to work with. But he has learned how to do that, and I think that probably reflects a good bit of his Christian faith, his openness to other points of view, and his willingness to work with people. That’s a blessing for the country.
SPEAKER 09 :
It certainly is. All right. I want to I want to play a couple of clips and I want to play this. And Casey, I’ll let you get us started with this. But let’s start with what Democrat witnesses have said. Throw this up clip number two for me, please.
SPEAKER 05 :
Jesus teaches us in Matthew 25, Whatever you do for the least of these, you do unto me. History will tell its story about us, but long before then, our own souls will know whether we stood with them or turned away.
SPEAKER 09 :
All right, we had Congressman Mark Clout on a little while ago, and he responded to all of this. But let me throw this your way, Casey. Here’s using the scripture to fund more government programs.
SPEAKER 29 :
Yeah, I mean, I might have a little bit of a different take. The first thing I would say is I’m so glad that we’re talking about the scripture in government hearings. And I think you and Representative Cloud would talk about that. Hey, if we want to have our public policy and our congressional hearings being like exegeting passages and determining what that means for how we govern, that is a great… That would be great. Even if people are going to be wrong and do things a different way, we can live with that. That’s a far cry from so much of what we’ve seen, which is a culture that’s rejected the Bible in marriage, in life, in every aspect of sexual ethics, and much more beyond that. So getting back to the Bible is the key, and it’s the only way really to long-term have reformation that saves Western society and America. So that’s the first thing. With that being said, I think we have to be a little careful, and I’ll be quick here, but I would say that if you want to say that we need to take care of the poor and the elderly because we’re a Christian nation, I would generally agree with you. I would just say we’re already doing that to the extent that we’ve bankrupted our country with entitlements. So it’s hard to hear a lecture on being more generous when we are $37 trillion in debt because of Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, and the like.
SPEAKER 09 :
Good response, and I agree. I would love to get more scripture on the table for debate, and then let’s build policy around that. Let me play a clip of Mark Cloud’s response to that, and then get your comments, Mark. Play clip four for me, please.
SPEAKER 30 :
There’s certainly a place for a social safety net potentially, but the idea that Matthew 25 is kind of used as a blanket statement, I would caution those who begin to use Matthew 25 to do so in the proper context, understanding that we have multiple biblical institutions and they each have a purpose.
SPEAKER 09 :
All right, Michael Cloud, he puts it back. Mark, your thoughts on that?
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, I have Texas blood flowing in my veins, too, so I’m probably a little bit biased in favor of the congressman. But I have to say this very directly. Jesus didn’t say when he said, the way you treat them, I will consider the way you treat me. Handing the responsibility over for taking care of your brother is not done by giving your money to a bureaucrat to do it. So that rationale that they offer on the left over and over and over again is a fundamental misreading of what the Lord meant, at least in my view.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, and I think anyone who studies the Scripture closely would agree with your view. Gentlemen, I hate to say it, our time has run away from us so rapidly. Mark Tapscott, Casey Harper with Washington Stand. I want to thank you. It’s always an honor and great fun to have you guys on the program. Thank you for joining us today.
SPEAKER 08 :
Indeed.
SPEAKER 09 :
All right, friends, that wraps up yet another edition of Washington Watch. I want to thank you so much for joining us today. Again, let me close out once again by reminding you we are living in a dangerous world, a dangerous time right here in our own country as well as abroad. We really need to fund the Department of Homeland Security. Text DHS to 67742. All right, we’ll see you tomorrow right here on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 24 :
Washington Watch with Tony Perkins is brought to you by Family Research Council. To support our efforts to advance faith, family, and freedom, please text GIVE to 67742. That’s GIVE to 67742. Portions of the show discussing candidates are brought to you by Family Research Council Action. For more information, please visit TonyPerkins.com.
