Join Jody Heiss as he navigates through the complexities of the ongoing partial government shutdown, now in its 40th day. We explore its impact on the Department of Homeland Security and the unprecedented challenges faced by agencies like TSA and CISA. Gain insights from a House Committee hearing and exclusive interviews that delve into how this situation affects national security on multiple fronts.
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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.
SPEAKER 02 :
Sitting in for Tony is today’s host, Jody Heiss. We’re 40 days into this shutdown. It’s the second longest in history. It’s partial, but it’s a big one because they shut down the third largest department of the federal government. They are holding the government hostage. Why? What is their demand at the at the root of all this? They want to reopen the border and they want to protect criminal illegal aliens just like this murderer here.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, that was House Speaker Mike Johnson speaking to the press earlier today as the shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security continues. Welcome to this March 25th edition of Washington Watch. I’m your guest host, Jody Heiss. An honor to be filling in for Tony today, and thank you so much for joining us as well. All right, coming up today, are we any closer to seeing a deal reached to fund the Department of Homeland Security? Well, we’ll discuss the latest developments here in just a few moments with Oklahoma Congressman Josh Burkine. Plus, Iran has now rejected a 15-point peace plan sent to them by President Trump, and they’ve put forth a list of demands to end the war. We’ll get an assessment later in the program from Elon Berman of the American Foreign Policy Council. All that and more is straight ahead. All right, the partial shutdown affecting the Department of Homeland Security is now in its 40th day. And earlier today, a House Committee on Homeland Security held a hearing on the impact of the lack of funding for the Department of Homeland Security. And joining us now to discuss this and more is Washington Stand reporter Casey Harper. Casey, what took place today at the hearing?
SPEAKER 17 :
Well, Jody, we’ve seen the airport lines and different things that have given us an insight a little bit into the impact of the shutdown, but this hearing took us into a lot greater depth and showed that it’s a lot worse than people may realize. Testimony came from officials at TSA, FEMA, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, CISA, and the Coast Guard as well, about how their agencies are being impacted now as well as the potential long-term impacts. Now, during the hearing, the acting director of CISA, Nick Anderson, pointed to the detrimental effects that a government shutdown has on their ability to protect the nation. CISA functions to secure critical infrastructure like power grids, financial networks, and more from cyber and physical threats. We have a clip of him from the hearing. Let’s take a look.
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CISA’s mission remains unchanged, to protect and defend the American people. But we cannot do that at full strength under sustained funding uncertainty. We need stability. We need continuity. We need the ability to operate proactively, not just reactively.
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Also discussed at the hearing was the major fallout of TSA officers working without pay. Here’s a clip from Homeland Security Committee Chairman Andrew Garvino today.
SPEAKER 05 :
The shutdown has caused massive disruptions across our airports and travel system nationwide, weakened our nation’s cybersecurity posture, and left states unsupported. The shutdown is not a game, and frankly, I’m tired of it being treated like one. The stakes are too high. We owe it to the American people to stop the political games, to fund DHS, and to get back to regular order.
SPEAKER 17 :
Nearly 500 TSA officers have quit since the shutdown began in mid-February, and those who haven’t quit are just not showing up to work. We’ve seen absences increase by 10% in recent days at airports, with some airports seeing as high as 50% call-out rates. A senior TSA official told a House committee that 50,000 TSA agents have been forced to work without pay, which means there’s $1 billion in missed paychecks if the shutdown continues through this Friday, which is the next paycheck. Earlier today, President Trump said he could deploy National Guard troops to airports to help ICE do the security needs. They’re already there helping TSA. And all this also means, Jody, that we could see smaller airports be forced to close down if this continues.
SPEAKER 09 :
Wow. Incredible, incredible stuff. You know, one of the other big items that’s happening right alongside parallel with TSA is the Save America Act. I know they’ve been debating that all week on the Senate floor. Was there anything today that was new that came off the debates in the Senate regarding the Save America Act?
SPEAKER 17 :
We’ve seen, you know, the debates go on, so we’re not seeing a lot new come out every day. What we did see was Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Republican Senator John Cornyn argue why it is imperative to see the Save America Act passed. And as a reminder, this bill would mandate citizens to show a valid ID when showing up to polling stations to cast ballots in federal elections. Here’s Senator John Cornyn on the Senate floor today.
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I’m committed to doing whatever it takes to muscle this through the Senate, including using the reconciliation process, if necessary, to get around Senate Democrats’ obstruction. But at the same time, we’re not giving up on moving it through regular order here on the Senate floor.
SPEAKER 17 :
Now, on True Social, President Trump called the bill one of the most important and consequential pieces of legislation in the history of Congress and America itself. Some classic hyperbole from the president. He’s very good at that. But Senate Majority Leader John Thune is working to get the bill passed before they come up against that two-week recess deadline beginning at the end of this month, Jody.
SPEAKER 09 :
Seems like so much happening on Capitol Hill right now and appreciate those updates. Casey, what about the the latest? We’re hearing that the Pentagon is set to deploy potentially 3000 or so more troops to the Middle East. As all this conflict in Iran continues. What’s the latest that you’re hearing on those developments?
SPEAKER 17 :
That’s right. We’re seeing an increased military buildup in the Middle East, which comes as Iran has rejected that 15-point peace plan from President Trump. Now, earlier today, Iran offered a counterproposal to the U.S. It’s kind of interesting they think they’re in a bargaining position. And they have five conditions to end the war, one of which is not going to be very palatable. They want total sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz. Here’s a clip from Press Secretary Carolyn Leavitt earlier today with a warning from President Trump.
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President Trump does not bluff, and he is prepared to unleash hell. Iran should not miscalculate again. Their last miscalculation cost them their senior leadership, their Navy, their Air Force, and their air defense system. Any violence beyond this point will be because the Iranian regime refused to understand they have already been defeated and refused to come to a deal.
SPEAKER 17 :
You probably remember, Jody, that on Monday, President Trump postponed strikes on Iran’s power plants and energy infrastructure for five days as these negotiations continue. Right now, there’s no deal in sight to open the government or to end this war.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, yep, and the five days are counting down with the rejection of that deal. Who knows what may happen next? All right, Casey, thank you so much for those updates. We appreciate it a great deal. I want to jump over now to Capitol Hill and discuss the latest on what’s going on there and joining us. Now is Congressman Josh Perkin. He’s a member of the Homeland Security Committee as well as the Budget Committee and the Freedom Caucus. He represents the 2nd Congressional District of the great state of Oklahoma. Congressman Perkin, welcome back to Washington Watch. Always great to see you, my friend.
SPEAKER 25 :
Good to see you, Jody. Thanks for having me back on.
SPEAKER 09 :
You bet. All right. So here we are. Day 40 of the shutdown, partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. What do you make of where we are with the negotiations? Where is it all looking like this thing’s headed to you?
SPEAKER 25 :
Yeah, I don’t know. That’s the reality. And today, as a part of the hearing, one of the things I wanted to make it clear after some of what your reporter has covered, 40 days of people facing no income. TSA airport security is being compromised. And we know that you have as a brilliant move, the president moving ICE agents in to be able to do some of the non-technical screening. But what we heard today is it takes six months to train someone on the real technical aspects of that frontline security for airports. And when you’re talking about 500 people have walked away from the job, in some cases, 40 to 50 percent of people calling in saying, I can’t do this. I have to go. work somewhere where I know at the end of the week I’ll get a paycheck, we’ve got real problems. 79 days from now, you’re going to have the World Cup. You’re going to have thousands and thousands of people that will be utilizing air traffic much to a greater level. And in addition to that, this conflict in Iran. And so I talked about that For the Democrats who spent the time in the hearing today to try to blame the lack of funding, whether it be to the Coast Guard or CISA or to TSA and FEMA, they tried to blame it upon Republicans. I just wanted to make sure that we really define what the word obfuscate actually means. The Wizard of Oz who sees the dog pulling back the curtain and his booming voice is heard. And he says, disregard the man behind the curtain pulling the levers and spinning the wheels. He’s not fooling anyone. And I said to the Democrats in the room who are trying to confuse people and say that the Republicans are the reason why there’s no funding. You’re going to have a real hard time if we end it into, may the Lord forbid, an act of terrorism. And you had this warning. And all these officials sitting before you today were saying, this is dangerous, don’t do this. And yet they allowed it to continue.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, I mean, that’s the point right there. You just hit it on the head. Americans are certainly being affected by this shutdown. A lot of attention, of course, has been directed towards the lines at airports and so forth. But at the end of the day, this is about homeland security. And we’ve already seen some of the lone wolf attacks and so forth. So at the end of the day, we’ve got to pretty rapidly, like ASAP, get DHS funded, don’t we?
SPEAKER 25 :
Well, look, the president’s doing what he can in redirecting for national security interests and where ICE could be involved. It’s a brilliant move. He’s really saying, you know what’s going to happen. We’re going to find people who are using fraudulent means, and that’s kind of the subtle thing the president is saying there to Democrats, hoping to get them off of high center and moving them into airport security. But they’re not budging, and they are sacrificing national security. And so… I know I’m talking to individuals and those who follow your program who believe in a shield of protection greater than that which man can provide. And so we need to be in prayer for this country. We need to be in prayer that wisdom prevails and that our homeland is secured.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, absolutely. And I appreciate you making that appeal to prayer. We do it over and over and over here. I did want to play a clip for you from Hakeem Jeffrey’s comment he made regarding some of our personnel helping out at the airports. This was pretty stunning. I’d like to play this clip and get your reaction to it. Yeah.
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THE LAST THING THAT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE NEED ARE FOR UNTRAINED ICE AGENTS TO BE DEPLOYED AT AIRPORTS ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY, POTENTIALLY TO BRUTALIZE OR IN SOME INSTANCES KILL THEM.
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SO WHAT DO YOU MAKE ABOUT, I MEAN, HERE WE’RE JUST DEMONIZING ICE AGENTS AND OTHERS.
SPEAKER 25 :
Look, he apparently doesn’t understand the heightened risk to this country. He doesn’t understand that when people are not being vetted, what that means for air travel. And what the president has done and what we heard from the TSA administrator today, they are moving these IS agents and training them on the non-technical screening processes they can utilize them for. And these are people that have been hired on in a professional atmosphere. They can learn some of these other elements. But at the end of the day, because of the less than number of employees, in the long term, the question I want to answer from the TSA administrator was six months to train someone for this job. They walk away, they’re not coming back. This has been the third shutdown in a matter of a year that many of these have dealt with, whether it be FEMA or Coast Guard or TSA. or CISA. And so at some point, these people and their ability to go back and borrow money and high interest rates, yes, they’re going to get the payment when this process ends, but what about the interest rate they were charged? So some of these people will walk away, they won’t come back long-term. What does that do towards us being able to have people that are really well-trained long-term for security at our air systems?
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, I don’t know how people can continue to work without being paid. I mean, the vast, vast majority of American families literally go from paycheck to paycheck. And to not be able to get paid is devastating.
SPEAKER 25 :
Jody, they’re deflecting the Democrats. They’re trying to say, look over here, look over here. There’s only so many times you can move the green around under the cuff before someone realizes what you’re doing. And I wanted to tell the Democrats. If something happens, you won’t be able to wordsmith your way out of this.
SPEAKER 09 :
That’s right. Congressman Josh Burkeen, Oklahoma, thank you for joining us on Washington Watch. We’ve got to fund DHS. Absolutely have to. All right, coming up, we’ll dive into yesterday’s Senate Judiciary hearing on the Arctic Frost investigation. I, among others, was targeted in that. We’ll discuss it right after the break.
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When 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.
SPEAKER 15 :
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.
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I think all people really need to have this type of education.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, I can tell you that it’s been an amazing course, period.
SPEAKER 19 :
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 11 :
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 07 :
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 26 :
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 21 :
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 13 :
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 19 :
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.
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View the course at frc.org slash God and government or on the Stand Firm app.
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I hope you’re having a fantastic day. Welcome back to Washington Watch. I am Jody Heiss filling in today for Tony and glad to have you joining us as well. All right. Yesterday, there was a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on Arctic Frost. Now, that’s the Biden-era DOJ and FBI investigation that Republicans, many at least, have characterized as a modern-day Watergate. But even that scandal from five decades or so ago pales. in comparison when we consider how many Republican groups and individuals were targeted through this infamous operation.
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The Biden administration’s Arctic Frost scheme is not a single act. It is a modern Watergate, trading a break-in at one office for a digital sweep into approximately 100,000 private communications. more than a dozen senators, and thousands of individuals’ lives. But even that comparison falls short. It is something far broader, an operation that aligned Democrats across all three branches
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Wow. That was U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. He chaired yesterday’s hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights. By the way, it turns out that I was among those who were targeted, and we’ve got the list of it right here. All that was revealed in the new records that were released at yesterday’s hearing. So what else came out of the hearing? Well, joining us now to share more is Article 3 Project Senior Counsel Will Chamberlain, who was among the witnesses who testified at yesterday’s hearings. Will, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thank you for joining us.
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Always good to be with you, Jody.
SPEAKER 09 :
All right, so before we get into your testimony, I wanted to get your take on yesterday and what came up over the course of the hearing. First of all, I wanted to get your thoughts on the records that the Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley released yesterday. Pretty stunning info, wasn’t it?
SPEAKER 18 :
Yeah, it seems like he’s got some very interesting records revealing that maybe some district judges were involved or sort of signaling to the Smith team approval of their investigative approach, which is kind of bizarre. There seems to have been it seems to have been almost a whole of government approach to try and get the Trump administration. And that includes judges stepping beyond their judicial role.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah. So let’s turn now to your testimony. It’s fascinating hearing. You started off with a story that Reuters broke about a month or so ago. What was revealed in that story? Just kind of break it down for us.
SPEAKER 18 :
So there are two big pieces to it. The first was that the toll records of Kash Patel and Susie Wiles were collected as part of Arctic Frost. And the second, which I thought was more interesting but got less attention, was that the FBI had recorded a phone call between Susie Wiles and her lawyer. And in this Reuters article, they claimed by based on two fbi sources that wiles’s lawyer consented to the recording but a few days later uh that that lawyer was put on the record or went on the record and said no i didn’t i i would never consent to something like that that’s crazy as a lawyer if you consent to secretly record your call and have let law enforcement tap in without telling your client you get disbarred so it sort of it opens the big question okay so what actually happened here You know, there’s these records of a phone call being surveilled. Somebody put into the records that the lawyer consented, but the lawyer clearly didn’t, or at least it’s very plausible that he didn’t because it’d be a bizarre thing for any lawyer to do. And so you got to think, was there an illegal wiretap here? Did some FEI agent falsify records? What happened?
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, I mean, that’s a huge question. And so you’ve got… The scandal itself is bad enough, the phone call that you just described. But the fact that all of this was hidden, how troubling is that?
SPEAKER 18 :
I mean, it’s really troubling, right? So it’s not only that there was the fact this tap on what should be a privileged phone call, not just any private phone call, but a privileged phone call between an attorney and client. But then they put a prohibited file classification on it that made it so that only the FBI director could access the file. That’s clearly an attempt to hide what they were doing. And so that opens up another can of worms. How many other files like this are in this prohibited file classification? What does Cash Patel need to do to figure out What was everything that was done under Arctic Frost and what other sort of illegal or barely legal conduct was sanctioned by the FBI or by Jack Smith?
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah. And, you know, in all of this, we’ve got a lot of folks on the left primarily complaining that the Trump administration undermines the independence of the DOJ and the FBI. But independence, that’s not what’s needed. I mean, what we’re looking at here is a need for accountability and oversight. And that’s something, quite frankly, that is true regardless of which particular party is in control, isn’t it?
SPEAKER 18 :
That’s right. I mean, you don’t want either side to weaponize the FBI or the DOJ. But at the same time, there’s there’s this meme that Democrats love, like whenever Republicans try and say, wait, what is the FBI doing here and try and put a stop to it? They’re like, whoa, whoa, whoa, you’re you’re undermining the independence of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. You’ve got to stop doing that because they’re supposed to be completely independent. And that’s not true. That’s not how our constitutional structure works. It works like that in other countries. I mean, Israel is one that comes to mind that has a completely independent attorney general unsupervised by the prime minister. And that creates its own set of problems, which is what happens when you have an independent law enforcement agency is that they’re completely unaccountable democratically. And I think that’s what people want here. They almost want an unaccountable FBI if they’re Democrats because they assume that the people who will staff the senior levels of the agency will be friendlier to their causes than they will be to Republicans.
SPEAKER 09 :
All right, so we’ve got about a minute left. Let’s just kind of land the plane here. How would you like all of this to end? What needs to happen?
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, I mean, I first I mean, we just got to get the information about what actually happened here. So we got to figure out who who was responsible for this particular phone call, who recorded it. And you need to get them under oath and you get them to explain themselves. And if they claim the Fifth Amendment, that probably reveals everything you need to know right there, that there is an illegal wiretap. And then that needs to be accounted for by DOJ in terms of. You know what’s going on with Arctic Frost. There needs to be I mean, they’re really ultimately I think there needs to be some sort of accountability for Jack Smith and his team. There needs to be some investigation of whether they knew, for example, I mean, they issued all these subpoenas that against senators and then sought nondisclosure orders. They had no right to seek because the senators were entitled by law to know that they had been subpoenaed. Um, so there’s, you know, there’s just all these different things where we need to get these people first, get the records to substantiate whether there was underlying criminality or wrongdoing. And then you need to get all these people under oath, um, to ask them about it and then prosecute those who actually committed crimes.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, listen, I’d love to see this go forward. It’s one of these cases, as I mentioned, I was part of the list that came out yesterday. And while it was all taking place, I remember thinking it was probably happened, but we didn’t know until yesterday. So anyways, we’ll see where it goes from here. Thank you, Will Chamberlain of the Article 3 Project. All right, friends, coming up, we’re going to look at China and what they’re doing to pastors and other religious leaders there. So stay with us. Much more to cover right here on Washington Watch.
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For over 4,000 years, the Jewish people have had legal, historical, and biblical ties to the land of Israel, especially the heartland of Israel, Judea and Samaria, which much of the world still calls the West Bank. To Israelis, Judea and Samaria is far more than a name. It’s the center of their ancestral homeland where nearly 80% of the Bible’s events took place. Abraham purchased property in Hebron, Jacob in Shechem, Joshua made an altar on Mount Ebal and led the Israelites into a covenant before God. On Mount Gerizim, overlooking Shechem, Jesus talked to the Samaritan woman at the well about worshiping neither on Mount Gerizim nor in Jerusalem, but in spirit and in truth. Judea and Samaria is nearly a quarter of Israel’s current land mass, not a small strip of land on the Jordan River, but a vital and strategic part of the nation’s identity. The October 7th massacre, launched from Gaza, shattered the illusion that giving away territory brings peace. Gaza, which was once seen as the cornerstone of a two-state solution, became a launchpad for terror. Today, only 21 percent of Israelis support a Palestinian state. Trust in a two-state solution has all but collapsed. The Middle East is changing. Iran’s grip is weakening. New alliances are forming. But Western countries and some U.S. officials still chase the mirage of a two-state solution. History speaks clearly. The 2005 Gaza withdrawal, backed by the U.S., led not to peace, but to a terrorist regime. Judea and Samaria are 24 times larger than Gaza, deeply woven into Israel’s geographic and spiritual fabric. To surrender them would not bring peace. It would invite conflict and existential danger. Family Research Council stands with Israel’s rightful claim to sovereignty. It’s time for America to do the same for history, for justice, and for lasting security in the Middle East.
SPEAKER 09 :
You’re tuned in to Washington Watch. Welcome back. I’m Jody Heiss. An honor today to be filling in for Tony and glad to have you with us as well. All right. It’s been more than five months now since dozens of members of the growing house church network in China were taken into custody during a major government crackdown on churches across multiple provinces there. It was an operation that some at the time called the most extensive and coordinated wave of persecution against Chinese churches in decades. Well, since then, several church members have been released, for which we’re grateful, but at least 18 remain imprisoned. And now we’re hearing that the Chinese Communist Party is beginning persecution and suppression of the lawyers who are defending those remaining 18. So what’s really going on there? Joining us now to provide an update is Dr. Bob Fu. He’s the founder and president of the Christian human rights group China Aid. He is also Senior Fellow for International Religious Freedom here at the Family Research Council. Bob, welcome back to Washington Watch Hall. It’s a great honor to have you.
SPEAKER 23 :
Thank you, Judy, for having me again.
SPEAKER 09 :
All right, so do we know? Let’s start with why are these 18 pastors and church workers, why were they arrested to begin with, and why have they been held now for more than five months?
SPEAKER 23 :
Yes, Judy, as you just mentioned, the Chinese Communist Party is not only satisfied in enslaving and continually arbitrarily jailing those 18 house church leaders, plus many others, but also they are launching a war, really, against their defense lawyers. They’re all Christians. More than 20 of them are now facing being disbarred, and already there are a few being declared disbarred, and six of them are suspended of their law license. for simply representing these imprisoned church pastors, that shows, really, there is no such thing called rule of law in China. Of course, we all know the outcome of a potential trial, with or without a lawyer in the Communist China, has been predetermined. And yet the lawyers, especially these Christian lawyers, often serve as the only channel, reliable channel of communication between those imprisoned pastors and their family members. I think the Communist Party, by launching this newly war against the rule of law, is by to cut off even the basic communication between the family of the imprisoned and their loved ones from their prison.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, so let’s talk about that. I’ve had the honor of being in some meetings with some of the family members of these 18. Tell us what they are saying about what’s going on from their perspective.
SPEAKER 23 :
Yes, I mean, those pastors, like the senior pastor of Zion Church, Ezra Jean, who had been leading this ministry called Zion Church as a national evangelistic movement, extending to over 40 cities with over 100 urban congregations. had been facing this largest crackdown in more than 40 years. I mean, the last time we knew the Communist Party started targeting lawyers was 10 years ago, on July 9, 2015, when from that day, basically within 24 hours, over 200 Chinese human rights lawyers and legal activists had been rounded up in prison and even tortured in an enormous way. I have a good friend, pastor, I mean, the lawyer Lee He Ping, who was forced to take, like, tens, dozens of mysterious medical pills to, I mean, forcefully fed. in order to break his will. And when he was released, I mean, after years he was in prison, he could not really be recognizable. And his brother, who was also a human rights Christian lawyer, was also tortured in such a way, I mean, mentally almost disabled. And unfortunately, this has been going on now I’m very worried that those Christian lawyers, I mean, many of them, their family members are being interrogated and the children are being threatened. The Communist Party mobilized the local community, so-called organizers, Communist Party sympathizers start harassing on their parents, grandparents, even their small children, just simply because of these human rights lawyers’ representation.
SPEAKER 09 :
How should we be praying for them? What’s the greatest needs that we need to be praying for?
SPEAKER 23 :
I think we need to pray that the divine protection for those human rights lawyers, especially their family members. I know some of them have little children, like as old as one year old, and some have been tortured previously already. So we pray for the protection, protection of their family. And also we pray for their continued protection boldness to speak up and stand up for justice for those imprisoned pastors, even though they may lose their law license.
SPEAKER 09 :
Pray for protection. Pray for boldness. Those are great words. And I want to thank you, Dr. Bob Fu, Senior Fellow for International Religious Freedom here at the Family Research Council and President of China Aid. We are deeply grateful for you keeping us abreast of this. God bless you.
SPEAKER 23 :
Bless you. Thank you, Judy and the FRC.
SPEAKER 09 :
All righty. All right, friends, more coming your way right after the break. We’re going to discuss all the latest on the Iran conflict. And there’s a lot to discuss. So stay with us. We’ll be back right after the break.
SPEAKER 07 :
The family is the oldest, most tested, and most reliable unit of society. It is divinely created and sustained. And yet, there are those who are always tampering with its values and structure. That’s why we need organizations like the Family Research Council that can effectively defend and strengthen the family.
SPEAKER 16 :
Family Research Council began over 40 years ago, like all great movements of God, with prayer. Today, rooted in the heart of the nation’s capital, FRC continues to champion faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview.
SPEAKER 22 :
FRC is one of those bright lights that helps us focus on true north. And I shudder to think, had they not been here, that it could have been worse, worse, worse.
SPEAKER 24 :
The Family Research Council is key. It’s one of a handful of groups that I think will determine whether our children live in a country that enjoyed all of the freedom and all the opportunity that we enjoyed in this great land.
SPEAKER 03 :
It’s just a wonderful parachurch organization that doesn’t seek to take the place of the church, but it seeks to assist the family and the church as we try to move forward successfully, not in a defensive mode, but in an offensive mode as we seek to live our lives according to the Holy Scriptures.
SPEAKER 01 :
FRC is not going to be whooped. You know, we’re going to fight. We’re going to take a stand.
SPEAKER 12 :
And again, we don’t retreat. You will never see in front of this building here in Washington, D.C., a white flag flying. We will never step back. We will never surrender. And we will never be silent.
SPEAKER 11 :
Should a Christian support Israel? That question has become one of the most emotionally charged issues of our time, both in the world and within the church. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins offers a clear biblical and prophetic answer. In his latest book, he examines Israel’s past, present, and future through the lens of scripture, revealing why support for Israel is not rooted in politics, partisanship, or cultural sentiment, but in the unchanging promises of God. Drawing from Genesis to Revelation, Tony Perkins demonstrates that the ultimate rationale for a Christian support for Israel is spiritual. Should a Christian support Israel invites believers to see beyond headlines and ideologies, returning to the foundation of God’s Word to understand His heart for His chosen people and the blessings that flow when we stand with what He has established forever. Text the word Israel to 67742 for more information.
SPEAKER 09 :
welcome back to washington watch again i’m jody heiss filling in today for tony and thank you for joining us as well before i get into this last segment i want to give you an update on frc’s pray vote stand chapters now you’ve probably heard about this but this is a an initiative that we have to equip christians to engage prayerfully biblically and so forth And we have eight brand new local chapters that we want to welcome and congratulate. So here are the new chapters. We have one in Orange County, California, Athens-Clarke County, Georgia, Saline County, Kansas, Washington County, Missouri, Las Vegas, Nevada, Mercer County, Pennsylvania, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, and right here, Washington, D.C. So congratulations to these new chapters. We’re really excited to have them on board with this extremely important initiative. In fact, if you would like some more information on what these chapters are, what they’re doing, or how to start one, simply text the word chapters, that’s plural, chapters to 67742, and we will get you all the information you need to get started. So chapters to 67742. Okay, the conflict in Iran is now in its fourth week, and earlier today, Iran rejected a 15-point peace plan that was sent to them by President Trump, and instead, they put forth a list of demands to end the war while continuing at the same time, I might add, to launch attacks on Israel as well as neighboring countries. So meanwhile, an Iranian military spokesman says that they will continue the war with the U.S. until all their demands are met. His diplomatic efforts, quite frankly, appear to have hit a wall. The Pentagon is ramping up military presence in the Middle East. About a thousand or so soldiers are set right now to deploy to the region. So where is all of this headed and what’s it going to take to end this thing? Well, joining us to discuss this is Elon Berman. He’s the senior vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council. He’s an expert on regional security in the Middle East, previously consulting for the CIA and the Department of State and Department of Defense. Elon, welcome back to Washington Watch. We appreciate you coming on. Oh, thanks so much for having me. All right. So what do you make of where we stand right now in this conflict?
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, this is I think the proper term for this is this is the fog of war. Right. And it happens in every conflict. But it’s very clear that all the uncertainty, all the churn, all the turmoil is being amplified by social media and by the way the conflict is being reported. But if you break through the noise and if you take a look at what’s actually happening, If you listen to political leaders, it’s not so clear. If you listen to military leaders, it’s actually very clear. Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Brad Cooper, when he briefs out to the press what’s happening, it’s very clear that there’s a sort of a clear methodical plan and it’s progressing at pace. What is less clear, and this is a problem for the White House, but it’s also a problem in terms of public sentiment, is it’s not clear exactly what the ultimate objectives of Epic Fury, the operations of formal name, what they actually are. And the president has talked a lot about the need to at a very minimum, eliminate Iran’s ability to reconstitute its nuclear program, rolling back Iranian support for terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, and to eliminate the Iranian regime’s arsenal of ballistic missiles. These are things that are happening on the ground as a result of U.S. military operations. But whether or not the U.S. goes further, I think, frankly, the ball is in Iran’s court in terms of making a compromise.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, I mean, and that’s a great point. And I appreciate you kind of laying out, giving us some clarity with all that, because there is a great deal of fog in the midst of all that’s going on and what you’re hearing. So Iran now has rejected. President Trump’s peace plan. In fact, one of their officials basically said that they will end the war when they decide to end it, and they will do so on their own conditions when their conditions are met. So is there any realistic middle ground left for any significant negotiations?
SPEAKER 04 :
So I think so, yes. It’s just a question of pressure and leverage. And the reason I say this is because if you don’t look at the politics, but you look at the military strategy, it’s very clear that the plan is phased and it’s methodical. The first phase was that strategic surprise that we saw at the end of February with the decapitation of the regime, the killing of Iran’s supreme leader. The second phase is what we’re nearing the end of now, which is the elimination of Iran’s offensive capabilities. its ability to shoot drones, to fire missiles, to hold American allies and American assets in the region at risk. And what comes next is the elimination of Iran’s defensive capabilities, basically degrading Iran’s defense industrial base so Iran can’t rebuild those capabilities. But what comes after that is the political part. The president has said to the Iranians that there will be a signal when they should come out to the streets and take their country back. I think there’s going to be a signal, but it’s an open question whether they’re going to actually be able to come out and do that. What we saw just two, two and a half months ago was that the Iranian regime killed 36,000 Iranians over the span of 10 days during the most recent protests. So if the Iranians aren’t coming out now, it’s because they’re worried and they don’t see that empty political space yet. and they may not which is why you see as the time goes on increasingly the white house moving towards some sort of compromise with the existing remnants of the regime so if anything this is the do or die moment for the iranian opposition to really uh rear its head to show that uh sort of show that there are signs of life there because if it doesn’t do that there’s going to be a compromise on the part of the administration with the regime, and the regime is going to remain intact in some form. And you can already see the political messaging out of the White House heading in that direction.
SPEAKER 09 :
So you think there is a possible scenario where the U.S. might agree to some of their terms? Is that what you’re saying?
SPEAKER 04 :
So the list of U.S. demands, the 15 demands, is very exhaustive. It includes everything like a permanent ban on Iranian nuclear development and a rollback of Iranian support for proxy groups. These are things that I think are non-negotiable for the White House. But not all of those 15 points in the administration’s list are non-negotiable. And this is precisely what it is. This is a back and forth that’s going to happen between Washington and Tehran in terms of what is acceptable and what’s the least that the White House can live with and what’s the most that the Iranians can live with. I think there’s room for compromise here, but I think it begins with the U.S. continuing to demonstrate to the Iranian regime that it and not the Iranians themselves have the upper hand.
SPEAKER 09 :
Okay. So we have some on the other side of the spectrum here who are asking questions like the strategic implications of potentially deploying more troops to the Middle East. In other words, why would we be sending troops if we’re trying to make peace?
SPEAKER 04 :
So it’s a good question, and I think like the vast majority of Americans, I’m firmly against the idea of a large-scale troop deployment in Iran itself, right? I don’t want boots on the ground in Iran. I don’t want anything resembling the repeat of Iraq. But there is a problem that the administration has to solve, and this is just a hard fact. When the U.S. and Israel bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities in the summer of last year, there was something on the order of 440 kilograms of highly enriched uranium, uranium that’s enriched to 60 percent purity. which were left in these ruined facilities in places like Isfahan and Natanz. We know where most of it is, but the regime hasn’t turned it over. And the baseline assumption is that if the U.S. is serious about really denuclearizing Iran, somebody has to get a hold of this fissile material whether the iranians and they turn it over or a third party or the u.s itself and it’s that last part that i think the administration is mulling over very very carefully but here the window of opportunity is also closing because simultaneously the administration is trying to negotiate a deal with the iranians The moment that deal is signed, the moment there’s ink on paper, the planes stop flying and any special forces operators that go into the country won’t have overwatch. They won’t have protection from the skies. So this is a very delicate dance, but we are certainly not in the endgame.
SPEAKER 09 :
Wow. So at the same time, I know we have some Iranian missile attacks that at least reportedly have killed at least 16 or so people in Israel and injured thousands of others. So how are those attacks affecting the Israeli population, obviously physically and so forth, but morally and as it relates to their commitment to continue fighting?
SPEAKER 04 :
Right. Well, so there are two things, right? So it’s clearly enormously disruptive to the Israeli economy, enormously disruptive to business as usual, to the… Kids haven’t gone to school since the start of the war a month ago. Now the Jewish holidays are coming up next week, and so they will be out of school effectively for two months, maybe more. This distortion and disruption sets in in earnest, the longer the conflict goes on. Because the more Israel has a small standing army, but a large reserve corps, the more the reservists are called up for duty, both with regard to Iran and also with regard to Israel’s northern front in Lebanon, where Israel is now about to mount what I think is going to be a pretty significant ground operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon. The longer this cycle goes on, the more disruptive it is to the fabric of society and to the economy. But politically, this is a war that is enormously popular on the part of the Israeli people because the Israelis have been living with this, what is effectively an existential threat of a radical Islamist regime acquiring the world’s most deadly weapons and threatening on a routine basis to wipe them out as a nation. And they’ve been living with this for about a generation. So I think for the Israelis, they are very glad that we’ve sort of begun to pop the lid off of the Iran nuclear program finally. But obviously, there’s trepidation as to how this goes. And there’s also trepidation about the potential for the White House to leave too early. And that’s a trepidation that’s shared by Iran’s neighbors in the Gulf, countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. They’re all saying really interesting things because they have been attacked more than Israel has in the current conflict. And so when they are talking to the White House, the message that they’re sending is you can’t leave too early. You have to degrade Iranian capabilities more because you’re separated from Iran by a large ocean, but we’re not. And so we have to have greater security than we have right now.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, that’s a great point because I think there is a lot of fear that America pulling out, be it actually prematurely or seemingly prematurely, could have an enormous impact. So let me ask you this. Will… Will Iran still pose a serious threat to Israel, to all the Gulf countries if and when the US pulls out of the war? What happens then in terms of their abilities?
SPEAKER 04 :
So I think that’s a great question. I’m not sure I have a great answer to that, but I think that the answer that will emerge is going to depend directly on the character of the regime that’s in power in Tehran. Because what you have right now, the regime that the Trump administration is trying to degrade and destroy, is a radical expansionist Islamist movement, one that is a revisionist state and one that wants to take the fight to the United States and its allies. If there is a vanilla-type military dictatorship that emerges as a result of this conflict, it won’t be a democracy, but it would be better for the region because it’ll be more predictable. You’ll be able to deter it better than you can deter fanatical, messianic religious authorities. And so my sense is that there’s many answers to that question, right? We may end up with a situation where Iran becomes a Jeffersonian democracy because the Iranians rise up and they overthrow the Islamic Republic in lasting fashion. I don’t think that’s likely, but that’s certainly a potential outcome. But I think everything stems from, not from the destructive capabilities of the regime, but from the character of the regime that wields them.
SPEAKER 09 :
Right. So do you think there’s a risk maybe that the optimism that President Trump has about a deal could potentially be a little bit out of touch with the security concerns that Israel and other allies have?
SPEAKER 04 :
I think this is where you see potential daylight, because a deal that’s acceptable to the United States may be less so to Israel, less so to Iran’s Gulf neighbors. And that’s going to be a line that the administration is going to have to walk, I think, very carefully. And that’s why you see a maximalist set of American demands that have now gone to Iran. The Iranians are going to push back, right? They’ve rejected this initial tranche. They’re going to push back with demands of their own. Where we settle, I think, is going to tell us a lot about whether Israeli concerns and Gulf concerns have actually been taken into account. If they haven’t been, what I think you’re going to see is you’re going to see a pretty significant militarization of the Middle East, because if the U.S. does a deal that leaves America’s Gulf allies and Israel out in the cold, these countries will have no choice but to band together and to arm themselves to the teeth because they understand, they’ve understood for a long time, but they definitely understand right now that Iran is a dangerous, predatory regime, and it has to be deterred in some fashion.
SPEAKER 09 :
Wow. Elon Berman, I can’t thank you enough. Fascinating discussion. Thank you for bringing your expertise and insight into this whole debate and discussion. And just the reality that the American people need to have in the midst of all of this. Thank you so much for joining us today on Washington Watch. We appreciate it.
SPEAKER 04 :
Oh, my pleasure.
SPEAKER 09 :
All right, friends, I tell you, there’s a lot going on, not only in Iran, but right here in our own country. And it’s already been brought up earlier today. What we need more than anything right now is prayer. And so we encourage you to do that. A lot of domestic issues, a lot of foreign issues. We need to beseech our Heavenly Father. That wraps it up for today. We’ll look forward to joining you again tomorrow on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 16 :
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.
