Join us for an enlightening discussion with Rick Grinnell as we address major political developments and how they affect national governance. Meanwhile, a significant victory for religious freedom was achieved by our team at ACLJ, facilitating ongoing ministry at the Church on the Beach. Stay tuned to catch an exclusive insight into Leslie Stahl’s controversial interview with a former hostage, and why such media narratives impact public opinion. This episode underscores the vital importance of voting and being informed about how elections influence governance and social agendas.
SPEAKER 10 :
We have breaking news. Today’s special election will decide the balance of power. Keeping you informed and engaged, now more than ever, this is Seculo. We want to hear from you. Share and post your comments or call 1-800-684-3110.
SPEAKER 05 :
And now your host, Logan Sekulow. Welcome to Sekulow. Phone lines are open, as it said, at 1-800-684-3110. It’s April Fool’s Day. And I want to spend this time to actually not fool you to just say thank you for supporting us during that life and Liberty drive in the month of March. It really helped us out. It’s still a little short of our goal, but you know what? You guys came through and I wanted to thank you for that. We’re going to talk more about ways you can help the ACLJ a little bit later in the broadcast. But today is a big day in the world of politics. You may have not even noticed it if you’re not in the state of Florida, but there are two house special elections happening today, uh, Those are replacing the seats that were previously held by Matt Gaetz and by Mike Waltz. So both of those now are up for grabs and will. It could change the landscape moving forward if it doesn’t go the way. Look, and we know Elise Stefanik was pulled because there is some nerves that this could upset the balance of power of a little bit where you’ll have now not conservative control.
SPEAKER 06 :
That’s right. So in the House of Representatives, as it stands, we have 218 to 213. So that’s Republicans to Democrats. 218 is obviously the majority at this time, but there are four vacancies right now in the House. Two of these are the seats that are holding special elections today in Florida. And then two are seats where the member of Congress passed away actually this year. So in those two vacant seats where there were deaths, those were Democrat seats. And these are two Republican seats up today in Florida. If the Democrats were able to maintain the two seats that they lost, as well as pick up the two today, Republicans would only have a one seat majority, making it very difficult as we’ve seen to get the Republicans to coalesce around certain items in the House. to move forward with an agenda. You think of people like Thomas Massey, who has a very independent streak within the Republican Party. If you are trying to move forward with the president’s agenda, losing even just one vote, and it could come from any of the 218 members along the line, you fail to be able to pass the agenda of President Trump.
SPEAKER 05 :
Right, and I think when you look at this from a big picture, we also have people who have been friends of this show, like Jimmy Petronas, he’s up for special election. Again, if you’re in the state of Florida, you need to make sure you’re getting out and voting. I know it’s hard sometimes to even remember that these special elections are happening, but today you have options to go out and vote. So make sure if you’re in Florida, pay attention because these are very critical. so much so you gotta think about this way even cnn has decided to do an election night special uh you know not just their normal coverage of course that usually means to pop a rating but that also means because it matters because these are in these moments and look as president trump was selecting his cabinet there was a little bit of hesitancy of you were pulling some of the strongest conservatives out of their spots and making sure that you had people who could replace them in a good way, in a quick way. And I think what you probably have is in the panhandle, which is where Jimmy Patronus is up for it. I think likely that’s going to go to him. Still get out and vote and make sure that your voice is being heard either way. But then this other seat, which was where Waltz was, it’s a little unclear. It’s way closer than most people expected.
SPEAKER 06 :
That’s right. The district that Waltz represented was a plus 30 for Trump. So President Trump had… 30% more in that district when it came to the vote in November. Now what we’re seeing is that the Republicans have a 25,000 early vote. So when they look at how you’re registered, how you voted, 25,000 advantage to Democrats that have voted early. But there’s another 27,000 voters that are neither registered as Republican nor Democrat that have voted by mail or early vote. So there’s concern there. There’s also huge voter turnout, they’re saying, in the panhandle where Jimmy Petronas is running. So that is one of the major reasons why Elise Stefanik was asked to not become the U.N. ambassador at this time is because they’re kind of concerned right now about the balance of power.
SPEAKER 05 :
We’ll keep you updated. We’re also going to talk about a big win for the ACLJ. You’re going to be excited to hear about this one a little bit later in the broadcast. And Rick Grinnell is going to join us later on. We’ll be right back. Give us a call at 1-800-684-3110. I’d love to hear from you again on this Tuesday. It’s April Fool’s Day. I’m sure you’re having fun looking at all different social media things that are happening. Well, but not only are those special elections happening, there’s also an election happening in Wisconsin. That was a breaking news item this morning as I was kind of flipping through the channels.
SPEAKER 06 :
That’s right. And that has actually gotten more focus, I feel like, than even this special election, which could have ramifications on the agenda right now. But the Wisconsin judges, they elect their judges to the Supreme Court in Wisconsin. And the angle there, they had people like Scott Pressler, who did a large get out the vote effort in Pennsylvania. And a lot of people credit with helping flip that state. But when you look at what’s going on in Wisconsin is that if they elect this judge, the concern is because the Democrats within the state house have already said they will push for redistricting in Wisconsin to change the demographics of the congressional districts, which will in turn potentially give them two more seats than that are currently held by republicans if they redistrict it then they can change the makeup of their congressional delegation so that’s a concern looking even towards the midterms and they if they are able to survive the challenge from republicans when they redraw these maps They need someone on that court that can help them out and affirm it if you’re the Democrats in that state. So that one has ramifications for two years from now. But really, there’s a lot going on today when it comes to elections that have direct impact on how the agenda going forward will play out.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, I’d love to know if you’re in Wisconsin, but really if you’re in Florida in one of these areas. How’s it looking? Do you see, are you seeing a lot of political ads or does it feel like the spend is bigger? Cause we know the spins have been bigger in the advertising world than there have been in a long time, especially for these kinds of elections. Usually this is not where the big dollars show up. Maybe not during special elections specifically. Usually this is, All right. Well, whoever the whatever Republican or Democrat that’s usually going to who’s going to win and the money isn’t there. But we know a lot of money is being spent. So I’m curious if you’re in one of those areas in Florida, are you hearing this? Are you seeing this? If you’re watching online, let me know. But also give us a call at 1-800-684-3110. Or maybe you’re in Wisconsin as well. We’re also going to talk a little bit later. on a big win the ACLJ had. Sometimes these wins can come fast, and this one did, and it’s exciting. We’re going to discuss that in the next segment. Like I also told you, Rick Grinnell’s going to be joining us, because there’s a pretty shocking, I mean, I can’t say the media gets that shocking anymore. when it comes to what they talk about in the terms of Israel. But this is one you’re not going to want to miss. And look, you know what I say? As the kids say, clip that. This is going to be a moment you’re going to want to clip and send to your friends who maybe are on the other side of this argument and say, this is what’s actually happening. As a hostage, former hostage was interviewed by the press and put on the spot. And the questions they’re being asked, even though they were hostages for a year plus, It’s so grotesque and insane that you look at it and you go, this is such trying to push their own narrative. And you’re not going to believe it. That’s going to be a little bit later in the broadcast. But again, phone lines are open for you at 1-800-684-3110. Well, because these special elections that are happening can affect not just everything we got. We got to make sure people understand they don’t just affect Florida. And that’s why millions of dollars are being spent. That’s right.
SPEAKER 06 :
In the seat that Mike Waltz held, over $10 million of outside the state money has flowed in for a special election for a single congressional seat. That’s a lot of money that’s coming from outside the state. The Democrat in the other seat that was held by Matt Gaetz, That has over $6 million raised. That’s, once again, for one congressional district for a special election, that means they have a lot of advertising. They have a lot of events that they’re able to put on for just this special election. And you don’t have that long to run this campaign because the announcement was right at the end of the year. So yeah, you still at least had a little bit more time than normal. But once again, these are not the traditional, we know that there’s an election coming, Also turnout is a huge, huge factor because if it’s a midterm election, everyone’s gonna know that the election’s happening. It’s about making it awareness for the voters. People that are like, I just voted in November, why am I having to vote again? All of those sentiments, all of those issues Arise when it comes to a special election that could actually have a lot larger ramifications. And that’s why it’s important for people to know what’s going on. And I feel like even the even though the chaos and the melting down of the National Party of Democrats, where there’s no leadership. The sentiment on the ground in a special election, when you have everything going on, that they can use that money to target specific voters to say, you need to show up because you actually can be a firewall against the Trump agenda can work. And so that’s why, once again, there’s concern, obviously, from the leadership. That is one major reason, if not the major reason, why President Trump asked Elise Stefanik to not continue with the nomination and confirmation. She would have gotten 70, 80 votes in the Senate to be the next UN ambassador. And she withdrew because they were concerned even that seat in New York, a lot of money in New York could flip.
SPEAKER 05 :
Can we go ahead and see if we can get to this call? Can you guys go clear it real quick just to make sure we’re good? Because I want to take this call because it’s related to the election currently happening for judge in Wisconsin. Christina, you are on the air.
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, I know. Thank you so much for taking my call and thank you for all that you guys do. Just pray God’s blessing over all that you do. And yeah, no, it definitely seems like the spin is, is not in Judge Schimel’s favor. And so just wanted to call with that. That’s from my perspective. I hope that’s not the case.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, it’s different when you’re on the ground. You actually can see what’s happening. I think we all can see the news. We can watch what’s going on. But it’s never really clear what’s happening inside these state elections. I think Florida, a lot of people I’m seeing comments going right now saying, well, of course, Florida is going to go red. It’s like you don’t really understand the landscape of that state. Florida, of course, right now has become much more conservative over the years. Over the last decade, it has turned into really a red hot state, if you will, because it really wasn’t. We grew up there, we spent a lot of time there. It would flip flop all the time. It was one of the major deciding states. That’s changed for the presidential election. This is really voter turnout. Can you get people, like you said, to care and to go and vote four, five months, six months after they just did this general election and get people excited.
SPEAKER 06 :
And to Christina’s point in Wisconsin, where Judge Crawford is the liberal candidate and Schimel, the one who is running for the… seat as well on the supreme court is the one favored by the conservatives in the state this is a a race this isn’t uh on the back of a national election where there’s a lot of attention and everyone knows to go to the polls and the money that has been uh spent in the state uh in the brutal attack ads against Schimmel, that is something that can motivate someone to turn out and vote when they wouldn’t necessarily even be thinking April 1st as a day to go to the polls and vote in an election. How many times where you live, do you see someone with like a I voted sticker and you didn’t even know that there was a city council seat up or something that was happening? That’s what you’re kind of hearing here.
SPEAKER 05 :
You gotta be honest. How many times have you driven past seeing a vote here sign and you’re like, what what’s going on then you google it and you have to honestly make that decision whether it’s worth your stop this time it is okay this is not a nothing election this could really shape how the trump administration can get stuff done or not because when you have such a razor-thin margin will a lot of times these things get stuck and all of a sudden all of those campaign promises all of those things that seem like to be a no-brainer are going to get held up and you only have a couple years to get stuff done. And in Washington, that’s not near enough. That’s right.
SPEAKER 06 :
And as you mentioned, normally you have the two years. Right. But with this situation, because there are four vacancies, it wasn’t that large of a majority in the House to begin with. But you could already start to see situations where just Congress is completely deadlocked. It’s just stalled out. There’s no way to get anything forward. That’s one of the reasons why the budget reconciliation process has taken the precedent over a lot of other actions that Congress could move forward right now. Because they know that they need to get that done mainly before some of these vacancies are even filled. Because when you have a four-vote majority just because there are four vacancies, it’s a lot easier than if you end up even with just a two-vote majority. And so we’re going to see how this plays out. But everyone should keep their eyes open as to what’s happening today.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, absolutely. I did want to, again, thank you all for joining us during the March Life and Liberty Drive. We were a little behind, but we appreciate everyone who did support the work to keep us in these legal fights. Hundreds and hundreds of cases. We can’t do it without you. So I really do appreciate everyone who did decide to donate. Now you may say, what else I can do? You can become an ACLJ champion. I’m going to encourage you to do that. And that’s someone that says, hey, maybe I gave during Life and Liberty Drive. Now I want to give monthly to the ACLJ. Because we believe… And all of the things that you hold special, hold valuable. And we want to protect those rights. Because you make all these fights possible. And hey, again, if you become an ACLJ champion, you do it right now at ACLJ.org slash champions or scan the QR code. You get a little fun few little perks. You get a special skin, a special, if you will, on the app. So when you log in, you get to see all this ACLJ champion stuff. You get special email. A lot of great things. Of course, one of the perks I offer specifically is you get bumped to the front of the line if you call in. And hey, phone lines are open right now. So become a champion. Call in. You’ll get bumped to the front. 1-800-684-3110. Check it out. CeCe Heil is joining us in studio right now. And we have a guest today. connecting with us right now from his car, which is totally fine with me because when these kind of big moments happen, I want to make sure we share it and we celebrate with all of you ACLJ supporters, with our ACLJ legal team, and of course with our clients. And this one you’ve heard about, honestly, not for all that long because sometimes… Things can get done very fast. Not always, as we know with the law. Sometimes these cases take years. But fortunately, this one was able to get handled very fast. You may have heard the story of the church on the beach. You may have heard of our friend now and client, Pastor Jason Flinty, who is connected with us. Church on the beach was told, hey, you’ve been meeting here for almost 20 years, but sorry, you’re going to have to find somewhere else. Maybe you could find a building, a closed door, a space, which, of course, goes against the entire mission of the organization, but also we felt was not something they could legally do. And CeCe, I’ll go to you first before we are joined by the pastor himself, because we were able to get this handled very quickly and celebratorily.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yes, absolutely. After we were contacted, we sent a demand letter on March 6th telling the county of Los Angeles what the problem is with this new policy that the executives had implemented. And basically, like you said, here’s a church that’s been meeting on the beach, Redondo Beach, for 18 years, and now this new policy says, wait, it only applies to religious organizations. And we’re gonna limit you to six, but only two of those actually could they have at the same location. So really limited them to two. So every Sunday, they went from every Sunday having church to now they could only do it twice. We got involved and we have a good resolution.
SPEAKER 05 :
very good resolution we’ll get to that because Jason you’re joining us Pastor Jason tell us how you got in touch with the ACLJ what happened give people a little bit of backstory on this situation because it’s very exciting that when things are good to you know get done fast when our team gets into action and you know like we said we filed this first just a few weeks ago and and thankfully uh it’s taken care of but give us a bit of the backstory here
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, first of all, thank you so much. And to all of the ACLJ supporters and donors, thank you from the bottom of my heart. There’s no way we could have gotten done what happened without ACLJ. So God bless ACLJ and all the people that support. um we we’ve been doing this for 18 years and then apparently there was a new policy change that went into effect in 2024 that we weren’t aware of because we file for our permit at the end of 2023 and so at the end of 2024 around october that’s when we i contacted the county to start the permit process for 2025 and i was informed that we there’s a new policy in place and we would only be allowed to meet there two times just like cece said And we did not know what we were going to do. There’s a couple of people in our church that are supporters of ACLJ and follow the radio programs and podcasts. I wasn’t personally familiar with ACLJ at that time. And they said, you’ve got to write in and contact. So we did. And we heard back from Nathan right away. And Nathan and Ben started working us through what the process is going to be like. Like CeCe mentioned, we were able to send a legal demand letter in, and within a matter of weeks, this was taken care of.
SPEAKER 05 :
This is fantastic. And look, this is the power also of you ACLJ supporters. Again, Jason didn’t know about us. He hadn’t heard about us. We’re a big organization, but you know what? It’s not necessarily floating on everyone’s radar. But what’s great is there are people in his church who said, hey, I know who you should contact. You should contact our team. And let’s give an answer of, I guess, what that victory really is. What does that look like? We didn’t necessarily even have to get to court. Right. Sometimes it’s fun to get to court. We didn’t get to get to court this time.
SPEAKER 01 :
We just received a response letter and it basically from the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors. They capitulated. They said that they acknowledge that it’s beach and harbor use licensing policy and other policies pertaining to access to beach use. on its face and application must be content neutral and applied in the same manner regardless of the religious or non-religious nature of the activity, and they’re going to immediately withdraw the policy to limit permits for religious activities, and they will now process all permit applications under the same standards which is exactly what we demanded and is exactly what the constitution demands so it is a win across the board not only for our clients church on the beach but for any religious organization who wants to apply for a permit on the beaches of california and when you hear an issue like this arise out of somewhere like california you may immediately go to well this is going to be a years-long battle they’re going to do it but you know what there are people
SPEAKER 05 :
in power who actually are going to get these demand letters and a lot of them are realizing that people below them are going rogue and are doing things that really are not right and thankfully we people like our team and of course people like the people at the church of the beach whether that is the people who are attending or whether it’s you guys in leadership uh who are able to really be there on the ground and do the good work and make sure you can because i want to give you an opportunity here uh pastor you know we got a couple minutes left here to really talk about your church and your mission and your ministry, because that is why the ACLJ exists, because we are not the clients. We get to be able to represent people like you at no cost because of our supporters. But this is why it’s important because there are ministries like yours that are, even though it’s 18 years at this point, but you’re still changing the hearts and minds of people because you’re presenting an option of the gospel, presenting an option of church. that is non-traditional and can get people to not have to, I was reading on your website, to not have to walk through those doors, to even have something that is more accessible to even them. And I just want to give you an opportunity for this segment to just talk a little bit about your organization and why the church is so important there on the beach.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, thank you. You know, nothing against churches that meet in buildings. I love churches that meet in buildings. But we’re at a place that happens to work out really well for us being in Southern California, getting to have weather that can sustain an outdoor church nearly 52 weeks out of the year. And, you know, the beach is a place that a lot of people will go to as they’re processing big things in their life. um it could be relational issues health issues financial issues things that everybody goes through but because we live by the beach we notice a lot of people will go to the beach to process in that open space the the ocean air going for walks bike rides and some people are doing that simply because they’re living a healthy lifestyle other people are there because there’s something going on and and it is um our sort of beachhead location where we’re accessible to receive those that the lord is bringing and be ready to minister to them we provide a regular full-on church service we have worship music an expository preaching for 45 minutes, prayer, communion, baptisms, everything that you would do inside a building, we’re doing out in public on the sand. And we’re also doing that with being good community members. There’s a group of guys that play volleyball right next door to it, right adjacent to us. Surfers are out front, the lifeguards are going by, the county maintenance trucks are going by, and we’re always waving and smiling. And we try to be good neighbors, good community members, and also still uplift the gospel in a public setting.
SPEAKER 05 :
It’s amazing. Y’all need to check out Church on the Beach. I think a lot of people understand what you’re saying. The ocean is healing. You know, you have that sort of emotion when you’re out there. And I think people can feel that connection to God, even if they don’t believe. They know there’s something there. They know there’s something in the water, if you will, or by the water. There is that, like you said, people go there to grieve. You go there to learn. You go there to think. and clear your mind because there is that feeling of water hitting you that’s been traveling for millions of miles around the world, around the world, and then lands on your beach. It’s remarkable. So I wanted to give you that opportunity and I want to thank you also for reaching out. And maybe you’re listening right now and something like this is happening to your church and you feel hopeless and you can’t do anything about it. We can be there for you. And look, these are the ones that we can celebrate and are great because they get done so quickly. We’re able to take care of it. This is why you support the work of the ACLJ. Because if people like Pastor Jason, you hear his story, we got to make sure people are out there doing that kind of good work. So go to ACLJ.org right now. Maybe become an ACLJ champion. That’s someone that gives on a monthly basis. You can do that at $5 if you want. Go ahead. ACLJ.org. We’ll be right back. Second half hour coming up. keeping you informed and engaged now more than ever this is seculo and now your host logan seculo welcome to the second half hour of seculo if you didn’t get the first half hour go back after this is over you should go listen go watch you can do that by the way at aclj.org on the aclj app you can do it on the podcast feed however you get your content you can go back and watch we just had a great half hour We were just joined by C.C. Heil, our senior attorney, and also Pastor Jason from Church on the Beach. You may have heard the ACLJ already got a victory in that case. That means the church is going to be allowed to continue on in the location they’ve had for the last 18 years on the beaches of Redondo Beach. It’s really awesome. I’m so happy when the ACLJ is able to get involved and get these things done quickly. Sometimes these things take years, and that’s part of the fight. And that’s why you’ve got to have great attorneys, because we have a great team. But sometimes they can be done in weeks. And it’s so incredibly helpful. So I encourage you to go back and listen to that.
SPEAKER 06 :
And that, you mentioned, you know, we didn’t even get to get to court. Sometimes that’s the fun, you know, duke it out. But in this situation, it wasn’t even a city ordinance that had to be overturned. They had to vote on. This was within the bureaucratic mechanism where they just changed their policy on permitting within that division of the city government or the county government. And so they were able to undo it very quickly. But it did take us sending a demand letter that had the legal argument and the threat of we will file a lawsuit if you do not remedy this in the appropriate way within the law and the Constitution. And I’m thankful that because we didn’t have to get into that court battle, which we would have, and the ACLJ attorneys already had the complaint, the lawsuit drafted, ready to go if they did not respond favorably. But I’m thankful that the ministry gets to get back to the good work process. that they’re doing there in Southern California and not have to duke it out in court trying to fight a city that would throw resources at it so that we could once again protect their right to share the gospel right there.
SPEAKER 05 :
It becomes a big distraction, even if it’s not something they have to financially incur, you know, because obviously the ACLJ supporters keep it to where it’s free for our clients. But It’s always in the back of your head if you’re in litigation, if you have a lawsuit, if something is going on, it’s hard to focus on what’s in front of you. And what’s in front of them is the souls of the people of California and the people that you said that are just walking by on the beach or the people that join on a weekly basis. And we want to make sure that those organizations have the opportunity to really stick to their mission and not have to worry and not have to stress about it. Of course, sometimes that happens. You are worried when there is the state of California. which obviously has its issues. I was there this past weekend in Southern California. Look, there’s beautiful parts of it. I love the state. I’ve always said, you know, Rick Grinnell talks a lot about what you talked to him about it later on in this broadcast. He talks a lot about the state of California and saving California. It’s one of our nation’s greatest things. San Francisco and Los Angeles. These cities are, are, are big icons. That’s what people think of when they think of America. So when you have these issues that you know are going on in California, then you have a church that’s getting shut down, you don’t necessarily jump to a favorable conclusion. But this also shows you that not all people are represented by their state and their government or like how they’re presented because there are some great people who are able to get this done quickly. And that’s members of our ACLJ team. And of course, once they were made aware of it, people in the city, people at the county who saw this and said, yeah, we agree with you, ACLJ team. This is ridiculous. We need people like the church on the beach. We’re also going to continue our conversations we’ve been having all show because, listen, I wanted to first thank you for joining us during that March Life and Liberty Drive. It was really great to have all of you. But also that there are those two special elections happening right now. Those are happening in the state of Florida. And those really can change a lot. We’re going to talk about that with Rick Grinnell coming up. We’re also going to talk about a 60 Minutes interview that went a little haywire in terms of the conversation they had with a former hostage, a freed hostage from Israel. Asked him a question that really breaks your heart. It’s the way people are thinking. And like I said, this is one of those ones you’re going to want to clip and send to your friends because it is so absurd. We’ll also talk to him about the state of California, what just happened here, that big win, and so much more. But hey, in the final segment of the show, which is only 15, 20 minutes away, we’re going to take as many calls as we can. So I encourage you right now to call us 1-800-684-3110. Even if you’re just celebrating that win out of California, I just want to hear from you right now. Get your voice heard on the air. 1-800-684-3110. We’ll be right back with Rick Grinnell. Become an ACLJ champion if you can also. Welcome back to Seculo. We are going to take your calls in the next segment. I want to hear from you. And you know what? I’ll be honest with you. We got a lot of lines open. This is a great time to call 1-800-684-3110. Rick Grinnell’s joining us. Rick, I wanted to go over a few different things. Obviously, there’s a big special election happening right now in the state of Florida. There is this 60 Minutes interview that went so crazy in terms of the way that they were speaking. And Leslie Stahl was interviewing former hostages. And we’ll get to that. But also before that, because we know that you love the state of California, Rick. You may have not heard, but we just had on the pastor for the church on the beach in Redondo because we have won in that. And now that church is able to continue on thanks to our ACLJ team getting into action. So I wanted to give a shout out to you in the state of California.
SPEAKER 09 :
Awesome. Well, that’s great news. I know we had talked about this previously, and it’s just one of the reasons I have to say that I am so honored to be a part of this ACLJ team. We don’t just talk about issues. We find these issues that need attention, that need not just media attention where people complain, but where people take action. We have amazing lawyers on staff. And in the world where, you know, lawfare is coming at conservatives hard, if you don’t have an organization that’s ready to fight back, file legal claims, be in the court, you’re just not going to win on these issues. And this is just an example of the ACLJ protecting religious freedoms, being on the front line, being proactive, being on the offense. And so I just have to say, nobody asked me to do this, but if you’re not a part of our team, you should be. I mean, everybody listening should be so incredibly proud of the work that we’re doing to protect religious liberties and to make sure that in the United States of America, the government is not telling the people how to worship, when to worship. We went through this in COVID and we’re not going back. We’re going to fight and you should be a part of the ACLJ because we’re fighters.
SPEAKER 06 :
I want to play this bite real quick as we look at what’s going on at CBS News. Let’s go ahead and run bite two. This is Leslie Stahl talking to Keith Siegel, who was a hostage of Hamas, and she was interviewing on 60 Minutes. Let’s go ahead and run this clip.
SPEAKER 02 :
Keith says things got worse for him after Aviva was released and that early ceasefire collapsed.
SPEAKER 07 :
The terrorists became very mean and very cruel and violent. More so? Much more so. They were beating me and starving me.
SPEAKER 02 :
Do you think they starved you or they just didn’t have food?
SPEAKER 07 :
No, I think they starved me and they would often eat in front of me and not offer me food.
SPEAKER 06 :
Rick, I just want to get your take. What is going on at CBS News? We have Margaret Brennan trying to say that free speech led to genocide because it was weaponized when it comes to the Holocaust. Now we have Leslie Stahl trying to run defense for Hamas, saying maybe they weren’t actually starving you. Maybe they just didn’t have food. You know, the pier didn’t work, so maybe they weren’t able to get food. What is happening?
SPEAKER 09 :
It’s actually laughable. If we didn’t see the evidence of this, nobody would believe this. But the reality is, is that we have a big problem with our national media. They just don’t understand what’s happening in the world. And they have their advocates and they’re not even fact based anymore. I mean, 60 Minutes, Leslie Stahl, they literally can’t see what’s in front of them and what Hamas is doing. They have to trip over themselves to come up with the PR point to help Hamas. Think about that. 60 Minutes helping a terrorist organization with their spin. They have hostages. They took American hostages who are starving, but you have a 60 Minutes reporters saying, well, maybe they just didn’t have food. Are you kidding me? This is a new low for Leslie Stahl. And I hope that people see this clip and remember that this is not a news organization. This is an advocacy organization.
SPEAKER 05 :
And I just don’t see the point in the endgame. It’s like they want their narrative to be real so bad that they are going to push this on people who are being held hostage. You think that guy is going to be very critical of what’s going on, I don’t know, from his captors in Hamas? You think he’s going to go, well, you know, they were hungry too. I don’t think so. And he said they taunted him. They ate in front of him. At least he gave an honest answer. And look, at least they aired it. We know that sometimes they cut those things out. But… The look on her face of, do you think that they, maybe they were just hungry too. Maybe they didn’t have food too. It just shows how badly, how badly they want what they have are feeding people to be true. So then they can keep their narrative going because it’s crumbling in front of their face, but they don’t seem to care about that. It doesn’t matter. But I told people, this is a moment you’re going to want to clip and send to your friends who are maybe on the other side of this issue, because it is so telling that you would even, ask that that you would insult this person to his face.
SPEAKER 09 :
Look, I think that we need to figure out and we need to ask some tough questions of Leslie. So where did this come from? Who was telling you? What information did you get that suggests that somehow they weren’t starving people? Was this a producer who asked this question of you, who pushed you to bring this up? I think we need to know where this is coming from. How did Leslie Stahl get to the position where she’s talking like this? Because I think it would inform us as to what’s happening at CBS, what’s happening at 60 Minutes, what’s happening with Leslie Stahl. She completely has lost uh, the ability to be a journalist. And this is evidence. And I’d like to just dig down and ask her, how did this question come about?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah. She’s like, I found it from executive producer Sinwar who sent it in. I mean, this is where you have to have to draw a line. I think you’re right.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, well, and Rick, before we let you go, I did want to get your take. There’s a elections going on today. There’s two house seats in Florida, uh, for the seats that were formerly held by Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz. And then there’s that election in Wisconsin. Normally people don’t pay attention to special elections right after a big national election or even a Supreme Court decision. judge for the state of Wisconsin, but these could have real impacts on the Trump agenda and even the midterms as we look forward to that as scary as that sounds that we’re already potentially even talking about that. I just want to get your take on what we’re seeing and what the political impact could be.
SPEAKER 09 :
Look, it’s very important that people get out and vote. We can’t get complacent. If you believe in conservative values, then you’ve got to get out and vote. If you’re in Florida one or six district, if you’re in Wisconsin and you’re hearing this, if you know of people in these areas, please get them out to vote. It’s incredibly important. You can’t complain if you’re not out there voting. And this is one of those times where not a lot of people are remembering to go vote. It’s not a traditional voting time of year, but it is incredibly important to get out and vote. If you live in Wisconsin, if you know someone in Wisconsin, get out and vote. In Florida 6, in Florida 1, get out and vote.
SPEAKER 05 :
Thank you, Rick, for joining us. Always great to have your insights. We appreciate it. I do love to hear from you at 1-800-684-3110. You may have been inspired by what Rick just said. You may have been hearing about the mainstream media. I see a lot of comments right now in our chat, people talking about some people saying they don’t see anything from the mainstream media until we bring it to their attention, which I guess is good and bad. Part of me goes, maybe we shouldn’t give them a platform. Another part is you have to know what your friends and family are being fed. And sometimes what they’re being fed, I don’t know, you could ask them, do you think they’re starving or are they being fed misinformation? That’s what’s happening. Okay, these are the real moments that are happening in America. You have a one-on-one opportunity to talk to someone who is a hostage under Hamas and you question the validity of their starvation. That is where we’ve gotten phone lines are open for you at 1-800-684-3110. And I did once again, want to just thank you for the March life and Liberty drive. We could use more support. I’m gonna ask you to become an ACLJ champion. If you haven’t already, that’s someone that gives on a monthly basis. So maybe you said, Hey, I gave during life and Liberty, but now I hear, I hear you all. I hear that when coming out of the state of California where that church, the church on the beach is able to continue on only because of people like you. And what’s great when you have an ACLJ champion, you become an ACLJ champion, over 20,000 of you have, it’s creating a baseline for us to know what we can budget, to know how we can hire, to know where we need to move resources, because we know we have that baseline of people who support on a monthly basis. So while I do want to just thank you, and if you gave and that’s what you can give, that is totally fine. But if you can become a champion, I’m encouraging you to do that. And one of the perks, hey, you get bumped to the front of the line when phone calls are coming in. And look, I said before we had a lot of lines open. We only had a couple lines open. Now a lot of you have called in. If you’re an ACLJ champion, you’ll get bumped to the front. 1-800-684-3110 to be on air today. Again, that’s 1-800-684-3110 because we’ve heard from Rick Grinnell. We’ve heard from Will Haynes. You’ve heard from me. You heard from CeCe Heil. You heard from that church on the beach, Pastor Jason. Now, We get to hear from the most important voice, and that is yours. So be a part of that right now. Give us a call at 1-800-684-3110. Phone lines are lining up as we speak. So stay on hold if you are on hold. We will get to you coming up in the next segment. And again, go to ACLJ.org. Incredible resources there, by the way. I just want to encourage you to go there, download the ACLJ app, get involved, get engaged. It’s not all about donations. Go there and check out the incredible content our team puts together just for you. We’ll be right back. Alright, it’s time to hear from all of you. Nice to hear that song every so often, you know. Throwback to some older times. Better times, really. I actually don’t know if there are better times. Well, that was very much during 2020 COVID era, so I don’t know if they were better times. That was our old theme song for another show we used to do. Thank you, Tim, for playing that. Thanks to Rudy Landa, who wrote that song. It’s a great song. I still love it. Let’s go to Lewis. who is calling from Colorado. And hey, if you want to call in, this is kind of your last chance, but we’ve got a couple lines open. 1-800-684-3110. Lewis from Colorado, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yes, and I’m glad to be a champion donor.
SPEAKER 05 :
Listen.
SPEAKER 12 :
Great.
SPEAKER 06 :
you you mentioned two democrat seats yes where are they at is it possible for us to take those two unlikely lewis but will’s got that info for you well so these two districts uh one is in texas and one is in arizona uh The Texas is the 18th district. That’s Houston, so a very Democrat stronghold within the state. Harris was plus 40 in that seat, so she won that district by 40 points the last election. This individual, who has now passed away, he won it by 27 points, so not as actually strong as Harris was there. But then you also have… Arizona seven, where it was 22 for Harris. That is the Southern border border and includes Tucson. So these are really not necessarily, these are even more democratic than the seats in Florida are Republican. I think that’s kind of the issue there is that it’s not likely that they could flip these seats. Now we’re going to find out if, The money that’s pouring in with the Democrats going on the offensive, they kind of have the wind at their backs. If they’re going to make a flip, it would be right now. The wind at their backs, not because their party’s doing so well, but a lot of times when you are the party out of power, you can get more people energized to turn out to the polls. I don’t see that happening necessarily for Arizona 7 or Texas 18. Stranger things have happened, but unlikely at this point.
SPEAKER 05 :
All right, Lewis, thanks for calling in. We’re going to continue on John’s calling in Maryland, who’s listening on the radio. John, welcome.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, how you doing? I just, like I told you, I watched a video of Navy SEAL. He was talking about the things that had happened on October 7th in Israel and the brutalization that the demonic Hamas did to those people over there. And he had tears running down his face. And for her to minimize or try to say, I mean, that’s like saying, oh, the Nazis, you know, the Jews were starving to death in the camps because the Nazis didn’t have any food either.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, John, I feel the same way. I mean, that is, it does give you that feeling. Justification of starvation. There’s also a moment in the interview we were talking about where they talked about shaving their entire bodies and that their areas were shaved. OK, and they asked, why was that done? And the answer was to humiliate us and for their own amusement. Why are you trying to come up with reasons why a terrorist organization? Why are you trying to justify their actions? Why are you trying to justify the way they treat hostages? You say you didn’t feed them. Well, is it because they didn’t have food either? No, they ate in front of us. Why do you think that they did this? Why’d they shave your body? I don’t know, for amusement and humiliation, because they’re terrorists.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, and when you watch this interview, It doesn’t come across like an empathetic interviewer hearing, documenting the horrors. It comes across as a hostile interviewer questioning your experience as a hostage, as a captive. I mean, there are other things where the follow-ups are what are so bad. Like him talking about watching female captives being tortured And then she presses in, like, I need you to explain what you mean by that. What do you mean by tortured? These are making him relive things that he clearly is giving more surface answers because of how traumatic it is. And it’s the interviewer pressing further, wanting more details, not because it doesn’t seem that she wants empathy. It’s because it sounds like she’s questioning the narrative. And that’s what’s discussed.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, she’s like, are you a paid off Israeli propaganda machine, sir, who has been imprisoned, who has been captured and kidnapped, tortured, starved, shaven, all of these things. But no, you couldn’t possibly be telling us the truth because the media has told us, no, Israel bad. Israel bad, Hamas okay. Okay. I mean, that’s how it’s been. That’s the perceived narrative. And I have these conversations every day with people and it can get exhausting and it just happens over and over again. There’s no learning. Let’s go to Lori, who’s calling South Carolina. Lori, you got some thoughts on the news as well. Go ahead.
SPEAKER 11 :
I do have some thoughts, and I’m really sick and tired of our national media and the tainted way they present things. I’m just so glad to hear you guys bring this to light about the way this guy was treated and the way that… I mean, Leslie Stahl, come on. She’s been in this business for a long, long time. And this is just, like you said, a new low for her. But CBS seems to be, to me, the worst of the worst. And it had even gotten to the point to me that when Major Garrett or Nora O’Donnell came on the television, I would just automatically turn it off because I didn’t want to see it. And it seemed like when they had to say the word Trump, they would get a snarl on their face or like they had a little throw up coming up in their mouth or something like that. And I’m just so tired of it. And I just wanted to say that and say thank you for bringing that to light. And thank you for what you do. I support what you do. And I’m glad to be a monthly champion.
SPEAKER 05 :
Thank you so much. I’m so glad you’re a champion. Make sure to let our call screeners always know because I’ll try to bump you up to the front. But I appreciate you, Laurie. It’s a great place to wrap up. You’re right. Leslie Stahl, one, I believe, Jewish person. So narratives go well beyond just someone’s background. But also, as you said, it had been in the media since 1971, Will.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, and as you remember, CBS, what’s a little bit different than seeing the propaganda of CNN or MSNBC, which are cable networks, CBS has an FCC charter. They use the public airwaves for their broadcast. I know many people don’t still use antennas, but you can get CBS over the airwaves. It’s not just a cable broadcast. And so there are other things that come with that. I am a huge advocate, as we all are, of the First Amendment, a free press. But when you have the backing of an FCC license and you have access to the public airwaves like this and your rhetoric and your questioning is just so dripping with bias, it is so hard to fathom. I’ve seen that clip repeatedly. probably 15 times this morning, and every time I watched it, I expected to get, like, I’m not seeing this appropriately, right? Like, I’m missing the point. No, I’m not. It’s that bad. You said not seeing it.
SPEAKER 05 :
Oh, no. Yeah. 1-800. No, actually, we’re out of time for you to get on the phone today. I’m just going to say again, we got one minute left. I’m going to say thank you again for supporting the work of the ACLJ. I’m going to ask you also to become an ACLJ champion if you can. That’s someone that gives on a monthly basis. Automatically renews like a membership. You heard our last callers. Both of them are ACLJ champions. And hopefully you see the amazing work we’re doing here, whether it’s for that church on the beach or whether it’s our team in Israel, whether that’s our team around the world, the European Center. We are there fighting for your values, whether it’s in the court or in the media. And I think both are just as important to make sure we are helping change hearts and minds and helping organizations bring more people to Jesus. We’re doing so much incredible work. This team is amazing. And I want to just say thank you. Because without you, none of these things could be possible. We just saw pictures from our Choice Begins Here campaign. We’re going to show those later in the week at Finney Hall in Boston. It’s amazing. Be a part of that team on an ongoing basis. Go to ACLJ.org today.
