Join us as we navigate the intricate landscape of U.S. legal challenges and international diplomacy. We’ll update you on the latest from Washington, where Trump’s administration continues to face legal hurdles despite temporary victories at the Supreme Court. In the second half, we shift gears to international affairs, focusing on the surprising announcement of U.S. talks with Iran set for this weekend. Our discussion examines the strategic nuances of such diplomacy under President Trump’s leadership, with commentary on the potential outcomes. With expert analysis and listener engagement, this episode of Sekulow balances detailed news breakdowns with engaging discussions on
SPEAKER 09 :
The Supreme Court gave President Trump an early win, but the fight is not over yet.
SPEAKER 10 :
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 09 :
And now your host, Logan Sekulow. Welcome to Sekulow. That’s right. We got a packed show today. Will Haines joining me in studio. We’re going to have a couple of our attorneys, CeCe Heil, Garrett Taylor. It’s going to be packed. And you’re going to want to stay tuned because there’s a lot going on right now in the world of the ACLJ. But also… but also you may have heard the news and the news may be giving you a little bit, a little bit misleading. I don’t know if you think that’s normal for the news to do that, but both the conservative news and the liberal news, you’d say the Fox news is in the MSNBCs are both touting this in different ways. MSNBC is touting it as panic as I believe president Trump had a big win. Fox news also saying this is a big win, but when you actually break it down and look, we’ve always told you here on this show, uh, We don’t give you all the information you just want to hear. We give you all the information. And all the information shows that it’s not as clear cut. It’s not as big of a win, maybe, as the mainstream news wants to present it. Sure, temporarily, this is a win. This is a win. But there are a lot of details that have come out when you really break it down, when you really look at their opinions, dissents, and all the things that came out that, Will, it’s not just a clear-cut President Trump victory.
SPEAKER 11 :
That’s right. So a per curiam order came out from the opinion, rather, from the United States Supreme Court last night, and this was on the application to vacate the orders issued by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. This has been the judge that has Been a thorn in the side of the administration when it comes to the deportation flights. This is the one that got in early and tried to get them to turn the plane around. And what has gone on here is that that temporary restraining order that the judge put in place was now vacated by the Supreme Court. So that temporary restraining order was putting a hold on deportation flights and that entire deportation program under the Alien Enemies Act. that temporary restraining order has now been vacated, meaning that the Supreme Court is saying that the Trump administration can restart that program. But there’s a lot of caveats that come with that. And their rationale wasn’t necessarily that the judge erred in putting the TRO in on place. They didn’t rule on the constitutionality of how The Alien Enemies Act is being applied. What they found was that the plaintiffs that took this to the district court used the wrong venue. That what should have taken place was a habeas petition within the area of confinement for the migrants that were seeking to block deportation, not in Washington, D.C., as they chose to do.
SPEAKER 09 :
And we’re going to break down the details of that coming up in the next segment. So I want you to make sure you stay listening. This is one of our shorter segments because in the next one, we’ll break down, let’s say, the wins. It says on here, the less than wins. So maybe not losses, but a not yet victories for President Trump and the Trump administration and their plans. Now, look, you may disagree with those plans. there’s some of this i go yeah you know do we want due process in this country i think probably i think there’s probably good ways to do that but again it’s always painted from a point of view it’s always painted from some sort of narrative what do you think i’d love to hear from you give me a call at 1-800-684-3110 1-800-684-3110 as we continue taking on major cases by the way the aclj keeps going and the life and liberty drive continues as well so i’m going to ask you go to aclj.org every gift you give today will be doubled you’re gonna be joined by our legal team coming up in just a few minutes because again there are these big sweeping supreme court cases and then the aclj gets involved on the granular local level and sometimes you know an hoa oversteps their bounds and we want to be there for you when that happens we know the hoas they always i mean i was a vice president of an hoa at one point was just a yes man really i mean from just being honest to the president but you know what it was an honor and a privilege but you got to have due process there as well phone lines are open for you 1-800-684-3110 support the work if you can have your donations doubled we’re going to go through a big list of what the aclj is doing and we’re going to break down this news when we get back Welcome back to Sekulow. Harry Hutchins is joining us in studio right now to break down the legal portion of this. You can understand what’s going on. Because like I told you before, and I want to reset a little bit for those just joining us here in the second segment, you probably have seen the news. You thought, okay, President Trump had a big win. Again, you may agree with it, you may disagree with it, but that’s the mainstream media’s point of view. The liberal media said… The Supreme Court handed Trump this victory. The conservative media said, the Supreme Court gave Trump a victory. It’s the same words coming out of their mouths, just with different tone. But when we actually break it down and we actually have legal experts on our team, and of course, our incredible legal staff, you’re actually able to look a little more in detail and see that it may not be quite as big of a win as they said. And I have a list in front of me that says the wins in the cases and the less than wins for the administration. I’m going to read those to you real quick so you have a brief overview of what happened. Again, not saying I agree or disagree with any of these point of views. This is just what’s happened. And then Harry and Will can break this down a little bit further. Wins in the cases. Here’s what we got. The D.C. T.R.O., which stands for, well, temporary restraining order. There it is. That blocked deportations has been vacated. The Supreme Court said that bringing the case in D.C. was the wrong venue for this, which could limit form shopping on this issue. They also reiterated that we will construct these T.R.O.s, which means… temporary restraining order as appealable injunctions, limiting the ability of lower court judges to put unappealable holds on administrative action. And it reestablishes the president’s authority to enforce the alien enemies act, at least for now. So those are the, you’d say the wins for the Trump administration. Now let’s go to the less than wins for the Trump administration. All nine justices, all nine, said that this has limited judicial review, contrary to the administration’s claim of zero judicial review, which could slow the process of these deportations. Each deportee must be afforded reasonable time in such manner as we will allow them to actually seek habeas relief in proper venues. So again, saying, hey, maybe they need some due process here. We need some time to actually know this is happening. It can’t just be rounded up and put on a plate. They said the constitutionality of the law could be addressed, which could come down the way. They did not rule specifically on this. So this gives you a better understanding. I understand it more for just reading it out loud myself of what this case meant, but let’s get a little bit more in-depth. Harry Hutchinson’s joining us.
SPEAKER 11 :
Will, why don’t you? That’s right, and Professor Hutchinson, Hutchinson as we were looking at this obviously it’s much easier for headlines to be written of big win or oh no big win depending on if you’re on the left of the aisle or right of the aisle writing that headline but in reality this seems very much in line with the Roberts court of addressing only the question at hand which was on the specific temporary restraining order from the judge in D.C. and while all nine justices agreed in the opinion that there is limited judicial review in this situation it’s much less than maybe any other type of law where a handful of different types of claims could be brought they limited this to habeas relief here but What we are looking at is pretty much a narrow ruling on just the question at hand, which was whether or not the temporary restraining order from the judge in D.C. could stand.
SPEAKER 06 :
I think that’s precisely correct. So I think if we break it down a little bit. The decision by the Supreme Court means that Trump’s authority with respect to the execution and enforcement of alien enemies’ actions against detainees is somewhat limited. In other words, these decisions are appealable. So that constrains the executive power of the administration. Importantly, as I think Logan points out, Judge Boasberg’s authority has also been constrained. And he was a judge, he is a judge, in Washington, D.C., who assumed jurisdiction of detainees who were held in Texas. So that was an extraordinary move by this particular judge, and one wonders, was he motivated by the law or by personal interests implicating members of his own family? That’s a question which is yet to be decided. What’s really important, I think, for the Trump administration, outside of the parameters of this particular case, is the United States Supreme Court is beginning to constrain the ability of the ACLU and other actors to simply forum shop. To look for a friendly judge in Washington, D.C.
SPEAKER 09 :
Let’s break down what foreign shopping is, because I think that that’s not a phrase that normal people hear a lot. That’s why I have to say, what’s a TRO, Will? Temporary restraining order. Right, so we should know that. So foreign shopping. Give us a little brief understanding of that.
SPEAKER 06 :
So with forum shopping, essentially the ACLU and other organizations, they compile a list of judges and jurisdictions that might be friendly to their particular perspective. And then they file in that jurisdiction, even though there may be an attenuated connection to that particular area. So in this particular case, we have detainees who are located in a prison in Texas. So the argument should be that the ACLU should go to Texas and bring its case, but instead they go to Washington, D.C., and Judge Boasberg has been identified, rightly or wrongly, as a person who might be friendly to the perspective of the ACLU so foreign shopping means you’re looking for a friend.
SPEAKER 11 :
Another term that that obviously is at the crux of this is habeas corpus and when you look at this the limiting factor on the types of claims that can be brought I believe that they originally filed a habeas petition in Texas, the plaintiffs, and then removed that. They dismissed it so that they could go and try a route of the Administrative Procedures Act and things of that nature in D.C. instead because of that forum issue. But what the court rules here is that this is a core habeas issue. And that is seeking the court, basically demanding rationale, like should I continue to be confined in this way or even deported in this way? And they’re saying this is a core habeas issue and that they must be brought in habeas. Therefore, Core habeas petitions jurisdiction lies in only one district, the district of confinement. So that in and of itself limits this type of judicial review that can happen. But I think for people a little bit more context on this habeas corpus issue, which you may remember from civics class, government class, but don’t hear used on the street every day and in your water cooler at work, what’s kind of the ruling on this issue?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, essentially habeas corpus means to release the body, and the court has established that each detainee has the right to such a petition. And I would argue, consistent with my law school training, that is the correct answer, even if you disagree with this particular court’s decision-making. So I think that is the correct answer, but it is not necessarily the answer that the Trump administration was seeking.
SPEAKER 09 :
I want to take this call real quick. Let’s go to Linda, who’s calling. There’s been a lot of debate and conversation about this. Linda, we’ve only got a couple minutes, but get your question in. Go ahead.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes, I was just interested in SCOTUS Amy Barrett, Justice Amy Barrett’s on this because she ruled with the other liberal justices and I could see them ruling. I just don’t understand Amy.
SPEAKER 09 :
We have an answer for you, Linda.
SPEAKER 11 :
Go ahead. So I was actually very curious about that as well, Linda, when I read the opinion last night. But the dissent is from Justice Sotomayor. And Justice Kagan and Justice Jackson joined in full. Justice Barrett only joined as to parts two and three B. So when you look at those parts, one, part two is pretty much just reiterating the fact that all nine members of this court agree that that under no uncertain terms that an individual subject to detention and removal under the alien enemies act are entitled to judicial review as to questions of interpretation of the constitutionality of this act as well as whether he or she is in fact an alien enemy 14 years of age or older and then the other part 3b was about the fact that they didn’t address the larger issue so they kind of all agree that this does receive the habeas review and where she specifically signed on to dissents we’re in almost making a highlight of that we all agree that there is habeas review under this and almost a little bit of frustration maybe with the roberts court for only sticking with the tro issue and and not going into some of the broader issues just knowing that it will be coming back before the court that’s right tro stands for temporary restraining order
SPEAKER 09 :
do that so much i love it uh phone lines are open for you at 1-800-684-3110 we’re going to bring in some of our other aclj attorneys to talk about like i said we talked big picture supreme court and now we’re talking about your local hoa who said you know what we don’t think you have a bible study here uh in your neighborhood What does that look like? How does the ACLJ get involved? I bet you can start figuring it out. But we’re going to discuss that a bit further. If you’re in the comments right now, tell me how you feel about your HOA. It’s okay. You can be a little more anonymous. Give me your thoughts. We’ll be right back. Welcome back to Seculo. If you are on hold, stay on hold. We’re going to get to you. 1-800-684-3110. And we’ll move back and continue the discussion that we had early on. So if you have a question related to that topic, we’ll get to it. But we always want to make sure we feature the work of the ACLJ and what’s going on. Like I always tell you, if you go to aclj.org slash help, you’re going to get assigned to an attorney. Work is going to get done. And of course, that’s at no cost to you because of people like you who say, I want the ACLJ to be there when I need them. So people go to ACLJ.org slash help. They fill out a small questionnaire, if you will. They get connected with the attorney and we go on from there. And this is one of those instances where you feel like an ACLJ is very vitally important, but also it feels like things that should not be happening still happen. in our country we have cc heil joining us and garrett taylor uh both attorneys here at the aclj to discuss this case because right now this is a pretty interesting moment it’s a homeowners association look and i was on the board of a homeowners association i know it can get a little hectic and that i think i served for four years on my homeowners too long i think i went beyond my term limit Because it was like during COVID. So they were like, you get to stay in power. So that happened. I’m looking, there’s a lot of love for people’s HOA, which I was not expecting because they step in and went to somebody and said, hey, we have a space that you guys can all use. But if it’s religious, that’s going to be a problem. Garrett, why don’t you give me some brief kind of background on this case?
SPEAKER 07 :
Right. We were contacted by a resident from an HOA in Virginia. And at this HOA, as is often the case in many 55-plus communities, there are groups of residents that would like to meet who share common interests. And our client founded the only religious club out of the 30 clubs and groups that meet in this community.
SPEAKER 09 :
It’s book clubs, it’s card games, it’s a lot of different things like that.
SPEAKER 07 :
Right. And that’s one of the privileges afforded to these homeowners whenever they buy a house in this HOA. And so our client was able to meet and his group was able to meet for various faith-based events up until February. When the board responded to various complaints that, you know, the women’s Bible study also hosted by some group or some residents affiliated with our client, they were studying the brook of Hebrews and they put this in an announcement and… How dare they?
SPEAKER 12 :
Right, exactly. That is what is crazy on these homeowners associations. I think one person gets upset And then they complain to the association. And then the association goes to the extreme. And as we see here, they have banned now all religious use of the clubhouse.
SPEAKER 09 :
And you guys were both telling me, and either one of you can hit this, but telling me that they essentially said this is divisive and because this is divisive and now look they’ve said politics is divisive and look we can all understand that certainly is uh you could maybe put some limits on what kind of club meetings could happen there but when you’re saying just because it is a religious event a religious a bible study let’s just put that let’s just say it’s a bible study christian bible study uh that that is too divisive for this 55 plus community uh You can use this space for anything. But of course, if it has to do with faith and look, I even said this and it makes more sense. I’ll be honest that it’s in a 55 plus community because I said, who has the time to file these complaints? They got some time on their hands. So they’re going in there complaining about this Bible study. And like you said, the HOA just caves.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, absolutely. The board voted unanimously now to stop any kind of religious gatherings in their clubhouse. And what’s really strange is in this situation, Typically, we can handle these with a letter. We can say, hey, guess what? You’re wrong. The Fair Housing Act absolutely requires that you cannot ban religious activities from common areas when you have other things going on there. And so this is when Garrett comes in.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, Garrett, so what’s next here? What happens? Because we have a client who says, hey, I want to have this Bible study still. And this happens to ACLJ all the time. People reach out and they want to get connected with a lawyer. And a lot of the times these kind of moments happen. Like Cece said, it can be handled quickly, typically. But right now it doesn’t seem to be. So what’s next?
SPEAKER 07 :
Right. And that’s something that we did here. We sent a letter to the HOA and its attorneys. And when we got a response, they said, we’re not changing our policy. And so… as we stated in our letter we would be prepared to pursue all available legal remedies here and that the next step is filing a lawsuit in federal court claiming the discrimination here on behalf of the HOA and we will be arguing that, I mean, allowing other events while banning faith-based and religious events flies right in the face of the Fair Housing Act.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, absolutely. And look, that’s where the ACLJ steps in. And you know what happened? This probably went to that HOA and their lawyers, and you know what they didn’t do? They didn’t Google who we are. Because usually they do and go, uh-oh, some of those lawyers represented some pretty high-profile clients, including the President of the United States. Maybe… Maybe we won’t want to get in a legal battle with them. But you know what? They didn’t do it this time, likely. And they said, you know what? Let’s ignore it. Let’s just say whatever. This is probably some fake letter that’s coming in from some American Center for Law and Justice. But here we are, the ACLJ team, our attorneys, getting into court for you because, look, that’s the beauty of what we do here. Okay, like I said, we can represent the president of the United States and then we can represent you who wants to have a Bible study and your HOA is shutting you down. And we have lawyers on all scales who are ready to take on whatever is necessary if it’s within the scope of our work. And of course this is, this is like old school bread and butter core of the ACLJ work, work that should not honestly have to be happening in 2025 in America. We have settled this law many, many times. So guess what’s going to happen? We’re taking it to court because that’s the fun part too. So now you get to have people like Garrett and CeCe in court saying, you know what? The likelihood of our client to be able to afford the legal bills is very unlikely, very low. But because the ACLJ is there, because there are supporters like you, because there’s ACLJ champions that give on a monthly basis, we’re able to do that for them at no cost. And then you have a real voice.
SPEAKER 11 :
And what we normally see here, and we have, we’ve had dozens over even the last year of this exact type case. And this is the first time in recent history that has had to go to a lawsuit. So as you mentioned, maybe they didn’t Google, maybe they didn’t think who is this letter coming from, but they’re going to find out very quickly. When this lawsuit is being filed today is my understanding. And they’re going to find out when they’re in federal court. And I feel like the members of the HOA itself is going to find out very quickly. What it costs to defend a lawsuit in federal court. Because now they’ve got a big retainer that they’re paying. Normally the HOA attorneys are handling things like delinquent fees, things of that nature. Not a federal lawsuit coming from the American Center for Law and Justice on behalf of one of their members.
SPEAKER 09 :
As a former vice president of my HOA, I will tell you, the one thing they don’t like is any changes in fees. We got some nasty emails when we needed to put some new asphalt down on the drive there. And I know our president is probably watching right now. She’s an active viewer. She knows. She knows. She’s probably going to hit me up later. Actually, former president. I think she now is just Rhodes. She needs help. Only handles the roads. I think so. She was president way beyond term. I mean, violating the Constitution. There’s a situation going on in your HOA, Logan. We need to address. Mine is, it’s like Ukraine. I was about to say, it feels like Zelensky. Yeah, you know what? That’s okay. Sometimes you need it. Phone lines are open for you. We got a second half hour coming up. Thanks, CeCe. And thank you, Garrett, for joining us. We have some phone lines open. 1-800-684-3110. We’re going to reset, talk a little bit more also about the talks that are going on in Iran and continue that discussion that we had early on about the Trump win or not so win. Stay tuned. Second half hour coming up.
SPEAKER 10 :
Keeping you informed and engaged now more than ever. This is Sekulow. And now your host, Logan Sekula.
SPEAKER 09 :
Welcome back to Sekula. Phone lines are open for you right now. Of course, we’re going to reset here, talk a little bit. about the news you may be looking at the title on youtube or rumble and be like what is the news because a lot of people said hey the supreme court gave president trump a win and while that is somewhat true we have also learned that that’s not 100 accurate the liberal news is going to tell you it’s a win to scare you the conservative news is going to tell you it’s a win because they want you to be celebratory and you know what we do we come in and we actually tell you the truth shocking an organization that comes in and a broadcast that comes in and tells you the truth, whether you like to hear it or not. So, Will, let’s break this down real quick again. We’ll take some calls about it and also give you a little bit of information about what’s going on in Iran. So, the Supreme Court comes in and says, hey, everyone’s reporting. is that the deportation, this is a win for those who are in favor of this sort of mass deportation.
SPEAKER 11 :
That’s right. And in reality, yes, that is true, is that the Trump administration may re-begin that program of these deportations because that TRO, Temporary Restraining Order, that was blocking the use of this program under the Alien Enemies Act has been vacated. so it’s no longer put on hold by the court uh they the supreme court also said that bringing the case in dc was the wrong venue it needed to be a habeas it was a core habeas issue needed to be brought in the jurisdiction of the confinement which would have been in texas so that could limit the forum shopping and it reiterated that tro’s they construe them as appealable injunctions which is uh was something that even some legal analysts were saying with some of the very early Doge blocks and things of that nature, that the court had the opportunity to say this and didn’t. Well, now they are saying this, that they view temporary restraining orders as something the administration can appeal. which takes away that opportunity for a judge to block something for their set time without any chance of the administration appealing. But one caveat to that they can re-begin these deportations is that all nine justices There is limited judicial review here. The administration had been saying there is no judicial review under the Alien Enemies Act. The Supreme Court disagrees. All nine justices agree that a habeas relief is available. to those that are being deported in this matter. They also clarified that doesn’t mean that if they’re in prison already, which most of these were, these are the ones that they found in confinement for other violations of the law, whether it be some sort of crime, This isn’t a habeas petition to get them out of confinement. It is only a habeas petition on whether or not they can be deported under the Alien Enemies Act, i.e. whether or not they are a member of Trende Aragua or not.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, so we want to make sure we are continually informing you on what actually is happening. Let’s go ahead and take a call real quick. Let’s go to Daniel in Maryland. Daniel, you’ve been on hold for a half hour. I want to give you a moment to speak. Go ahead.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yes, thank you for taking my call. I originally came from Brazil back in 1990. I worked for a landscape company, got my green card. And then 10 years after that, I got my citizenship. So I’m a medical citizen right now. And I thank this country for everything that did for me. I have a family. And I think what President Trump is doing, it’s fair and it’s right. These people have to get out, especially if they’re criminals. We are paying for these people to have a sandwich in prison. We are paying for them to have a dinner, shower and everything. And I don’t think it’s fair. They have to go. And it’s nothing but fair to people like American people like myself that I spend $20,000 in legal fees, immigration fees.
SPEAKER 09 :
Daniel, I wanted you to be able to have a moment to share your story because I think it’s important to hear from people like you. We can come in here and pontificate and give you all our thoughts, but you have lived it. And you see the good and the bad of what’s happening actually in this process. And of course, we want to be fair for people like you, Daniel, who did it legally. phone lines are open for you at 1-800-684-3110. We’re also going to encourage you to support the work of the ACLJ right now. It’s our Life and Liberty Drive. You heard about the incredible work we’re doing, whether that is for the President of the United States or whether that is to help you fight against your HOA. We’ll be right back. Welcome back to Seculo. I do want to give you an opportunity to call in right now. Because in the next segment, we like to hear from the most important voice in the room. And that’s, of course, you at 1-800-684-3110. 1-800-684-3110. We like to hear your calls live. You’re already on hold. Stay on hold. We’re going to get to you. But again, give me a call. I really like to get those kind of stacked up. So when we go to the next segment, you have an opportunity to speak. One of the topics we wanted to talk about, though, today, because we’ve hit a lot. We hit the Supreme Court. We went to the ACLJ team, talked about that HOA. And now we’re going to move on a little bit here because, Will, there has been some conversations that were maybe unlikely that seem to be happening between the U.S. and Iran.
SPEAKER 11 :
That’s right. And President Trump, in a surprise announcement yesterday, this is while he was meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu in the White House, announced that this is going on and that this is will be continuing to go on, that this Saturday is supposed to be a large meeting in Oman. And we’re going to go and play with the president said and also what Prime Minister Netanyahu said about this just yesterday in the Oval Office by one.
SPEAKER 01 :
Having direct talks with Iran and Iran. They’ve started. It’ll go on Saturday. We have a very big meeting and we’ll see what can happen. And I think everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable. We’re both united in the goal that Iran does not ever get nuclear weapons.
SPEAKER 09 :
If it can be done diplomatically in a full way, the way it was done in Libya, I think that would be a good thing. Yeah, so there’s statements again from President Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu. And that happened, what, yesterday? That’s right. This is all very much ongoing.
SPEAKER 11 :
That’s right. And once again, this isn’t something that necessarily was on the radar at this point in time. President Trump had floated that there would be some direct talks potentially with Iran or that he was at least open to that. Now, Iran is pushing back a little bit. They’re saying the foreign minister said the discussions in Oman would be indirect, which which normally means there’s a mediator and they have two conference rooms. Someone goes in between. I think there may be some nuance here, some semantics that they’re getting through, but it is a sign that President Trump is using diplomacy. This comes as a time, though, where we are seeing buildup of military forces in the region. There have been reports of B-2 bombers, the Flying Wing, the Stealth Bomber, relocated to the Indian Ocean, places that are within striking distance of Iran, as well as the buildup of the military because of the attacks on the Houthis, which are a proxy for Iran as well, that it’s almost as if the administration is playing the diplomatic card, but also showing strength in the region.
SPEAKER 09 :
And as you mentioned, President Trump said he’s using his envoy, Steve Witkoff, who has been part of the U.S. delegation. He’ll lead the U.S. delegation with these talks on Saturday, it seems. That’s what sources are saying this Saturday in Oman. So those potentially are happening again, putting to work. Some of these special envoys that he has been talking about. I think that’s interesting. Just like we have Rick Grinnell, who’s also an envoy. These are different kind of positions that can come in diplomatically. We saw Rick Grinnell. He went over to Venezuela and was able to have those conversations. You’re able to send people. And again, remember, we live in a different time now where we have an administration that’s willing to sit down and talk to people, even people they disagree with and say, hey, this is diplomacy. This isn’t friendship. You can sit down with Vladimir Putin and his team. Why? Again, diplomacy, not friendship. Looking to end wars, not to befriend them. That used to be the way things ran, but for some reason, four years ago, they decided that the idea of even sitting down and talking was too much. That President Trump’s sitting down and talking with North Korea. Did you feel scared of North Korea for the four years of the first Trump presidency? I didn’t really. Why? Because they had this contentious but actual relationship. Whether it was positive or negative, there was people sitting down and having discussions. And now you see a Witkoff coming in to potentially lead these negotiations. Again, that’s what sources are saying. And I’d love to hear from you. What do you think about this? Do you like that we are doing this? 1-800-684-3110. Should we be sitting down with leaders in countries like Iran or Russia, China, ones that are historically not the most friendly with us to hopefully,
SPEAKER 11 :
tamper down destruction over the long term right and as we know president trump says he doesn’t want more war that is what he ran on uh he is trying to end wars in in ukraine and russia and trying to do that through negotiations uh he also wants the end of the war in gaza but he is also not afraid to show strength through positioning military assets maybe showing that this is a potential if you don’t go down this line and the interesting fact about this also is that uh you know the the difference in an obama administration uh negotiating a so-called nuclear deal what that ended up being was relief of sanctions uh uh very nominal inspections by the un which most of the time the heads up they had to give them There was nothing there to see when they got their cameras being turned off so the U.N. couldn’t monitor them. That was no real deal. When President Trump goes in and what Steve Witkoff has already shown in many of the releases of prisoners held in places like Russia, that he is able to negotiate and get deals for the American people. The difference with negotiating with Iran here and why this isn’t a rerun of the Obama administration negotiating with them is because there will be some sort of actual get for the American people. There was nothing that we got out of the Obama nuclear deal because we gave them sanctions relief. freed up the coffers of cash that they had and got no real assurances that iran wouldn’t continue their nuclear program as a matter of fact we know that they continued it they continued their ballistic missile program so the delivery mechanism of a nuclear weapon they were still able to keep on developing the entire time that was never addressed by the jcpoa but But what will happen here if there is a deal to be had, if the Ayatollahs in Iran will come to the table and talk seriously, there is a deal to be had. And what does the American people get out of it? A non-nuclear Iran. That would be the get.
SPEAKER 09 :
That’s what I don’t understand here, why there would be complaints with this. The idea is to calm the world stage, something that’s very needed right now. Let’s just be honest. It’s all very needed. Phone lines are open for you. As I said, I feel like I’m, you know, shilling for calls right now. This is like an old WWE Bite This special with Kevin Kelly. 1-800-684-3110. We have a couple lines open for you right now, and I do want to hear from you because this is an important time. Look, it’s an important time for the ACLJ as well. we are continuing fighting all over the world i know we’ve talked about the little league you know you think of it as little but it’s not because it has big consequences like that hoa but then we’re taking on some of these major fights including by the way supporting christians that are truly persecuted and i’m talking about those that are losing their lives of course in places like the congo you’ve heard us talk about this quite a bit but we’ve also it’s from the small scale to the very large to the I can’t have a Bible study in my 55 plus community to the biggest of big, which of course is people losing their lives just because of their religious beliefs. That is why the ACLJ team is not just focused on America. Of course, our American center is the main part of the organization, but we have the European center, which also can speak at the UN. We have the right to do so. So we get to be there and say what we need to be said when a lot of people won’t say it. We have our ACLJ Jerusalem. And again, that’s intentionally not the Israeli Center for Law and Justice. It is the ACLJ Jerusalem, American Center for Law and Justice in Jerusalem. Because we are trying to reach out and connect with those and people to understand. That though they may turn on the news and see this anti-Israel sentiment that there’s so many of you watching that feel the exact opposite and that most of Americans still support what’s going on in Israel. People say they’re our biggest ally. Well, they’re certainly our biggest ally in the Middle East because they’re really the only Middle Eastern country that has similar values and values women, values children and people in a similar way. Phone lines are open for you. We’re going to take some of those coming up at 1-800-684-3110. But I’m encouraging you right now to support the work. We are now already eight days into this Life and Liberty Drive, which is pretty wild. Scan the QR code that’s on your screen if you’re watching right now. If you’re not watching, by the way, you should watch. It’s a full television production here, and we do it for free at aclj.org. You can find it on YouTube. You can find it on Rumble. You can find us on the Salem News Channel, which is one of our newest offerings where they’re live 12 to 1 p.m., along with a stacked group of other hosts. That’s available on Pluto. That is available on Samsung Plus, a lot of other places. Of course, you can go to their website to find out. But the work of the ACLJ continues. And these conversations will continue because I want to hear from you. So if you want to call in, we can talk about the Supreme Court. We can talk about that HOA. You can tell me your thoughts on that. Maybe you’ve had a similar run-in with some of these organizations. We can talk about what’s going on in Iran. We can talk about what’s going on in Israel, as Benjamin Netanyahu was sitting with President Trump yesterday. Of course, we can talk about dire wolves, which have been brought back from extinction after 10,000 years. There’s a lot of debate going on in our office on whether that’s a good thing or not. I am in the pro dire wolf community. Seven foot white wolf looks pretty cool. And hey, if it feels like the world is ending already, we might as well bring back some prehistoric creatures.
SPEAKER 11 :
I disagree, Logan, but we’ll get to it in the next segment.
SPEAKER 09 :
What do you think? 1-800-684-3110. We’re going to give a challenge to our phone screener here. If you want to talk dire wolves, why not bring it on? We’ll be right back. Welcome back to Sekula. We are going to take your phone calls, and there’s still a few lines open at 1-800-684-3110. There’s a lot of conversation now breaking out about the dire wolf, which then led into people discussing the difference between a mastodon and a woolly mammoth, because there’s conversations of woolly mammoths coming back with those woolly mice.
SPEAKER 11 :
I was a little misguided in my own thoughts about the Mastodon versus Mammoth debate. Same. I thought Mastodon, the bigger of the two. Incorrect. Wooly Mammoth is the larger one. Oh. Yeah.
SPEAKER 09 :
So in the Power Rangers, why did they not go Wooly Mammoth? Yeah, Mastodon’s a better sounding name. Yeah, it sounds stronger. Right. Like Tyrannosaurus, Mastodon, Wooly Mammoth.
SPEAKER 11 :
Also, because you don’t, yeah, it’s two words, Wooly Mammoth. Yeah, you got to wear that coat in the middle of the summertime. Pterodactyl.
SPEAKER 09 :
Let’s go ahead and take a phone call. Let’s go to Tracy who is calling in Oregon. Tracy, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 04 :
Hi. Thanks for taking my call. You were talking about not talking to our adversaries. Yeah. And I am so happy that Donald Trump is because that old saying, you keep your friends close and your enemies closer so that we know what they’re doing. And thank you. I’m so happy to have found the Salem News Channel. You guys give me hope. And thank you for all the information. That’s great. And thanks for taking my call. And save Oregon. Send back Chael Sonnen. I saw him on your show. Please save us.
SPEAKER 09 :
All right, Tracy, thank you so much. I think that that, one, thank you for watching on the Salem News Channel. That’s one of our new outlets. And it’s nice to know that people are watching and are enjoying it there. That is a live you know just like if you’re watching any sort of news channel that’s available we’re on there live from 12 to 1 p.m so you get to watch our show live if you have pluto or if you have uh really it’s an easy way to access this show and a whole lineup of shows uh on your smart tv or smart devices but uh will what was the last thing she said she said something about oregon i don’t even she wants to save oregon she’s yes dire wolves dire wolves yes yes yes except some moron might kill him all right Tracy, thank you. I didn’t even know you were still on the air. But I appreciate that. All right, we’re going to continue to take some more calls.
SPEAKER 11 :
I will say to her point about the keep your friends close and enemies closer issue with Iran is that exactly. The problem is that typically when the previous administration would negotiate with a foreign entity, it just involved us giving away things. That wasn’t keeping them close to keep a check on them. It was capitulating to foreign adversaries. The difference is that when we talk now, the United States talks to foreign adversaries, it’s with authority and saying,
SPEAKER 09 :
uh you better watch out yeah hey we’re gonna take some more calls i see a one guy by the way i’m gonna call out one guy who goes after me in the comments and say i always say it’s the most important voice in the room and then i don’t take the callers here’s the deal buddy i’ve been promoting for you to call in all day and guess what we got four open lots so you could have called in i’d like to do this i want to call out individuals I could call out his full name right now. I’ve heard people like that. They do. I like when they’re specifically targeted and put in the spotlight. Yeah, well, he shouldn’t be trolling on here, okay? I know you’re a daily watcher, but I don’t hear you calling. I’m going to take a call about a wolf. It’s going to make you happy. Let’s go to Don, who’s calling in Indiana, Salem News Channel. He wanted to talk, because Pat over here wanted to talk about Iran. Right. And I’m saying… That’s Mark, by the way.
SPEAKER 11 :
You said Pat wanted to talk about Iran. No, I know. Pat’s the guy. Oh, got it. So sorry.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah. But I’m going to take Mark’s call next after Don because Don’s got the important question. Don, go ahead. Watch it also on the Salem News Channel.
SPEAKER 02 :
I just think it’s a little dangerous when they start pulling DNA from something that’s been deceased for a long time out of a skull. It scares me, especially being a born-again believing Christian that What says you can dig up one-year-old family members and take the DNA? As I understand it, the thing they brought back was the DNA was taken from their bones or their skull.
SPEAKER 09 :
I don’t know all the details, Don. But look, it’s a slippery slope. Will has said that. We brought it up. Do I think it’s cool? Yes, I do. Do I think that there are some moral implications it could go south? Also, yes.
SPEAKER 11 :
Right. I mean, it kind of goes back to the Dolly the sheep cloning issue of the 90s.
SPEAKER 09 :
They’re also not fully dire wolves, if you really read about it.
SPEAKER 11 :
It’s like dire wolf in name only. But once again, I’d say we’ve all seen Jurassic Park. What’d you say? Dinos. Dire in name only. Oh, no. These are not dinos. These are wolves.
SPEAKER 09 :
But it was a joke.
SPEAKER 11 :
priest right it was all right we’ve seen jurassic park we know how it ends up in the movies but yes i think don is right there is where does the slippery slope in you have dire wolves now you have woolly mammoths and or mastodons depending on uh which is your preferred large elephantine creature let’s just really talk about this actually because many years ago you know i feel like the iphone
SPEAKER 09 :
really changed the world. And then it was like, where are we going to go from here? And most of us could not fathom what the next iteration of that would be because you’re like, well, I carry this around. And then people are like, well, it could be your brain chip. It could be something like that. But what it really was, was the idea of AI incorporating the way it is now, a user-friendly AI, something that does change the world as we know it. And it did. And it has over the last two years. I mean, it has changed the way we operate. So you have to always look at what the future could hold and understand that we don’t always see what that next step may be. Because if you were able to tell me two years ago, I could come up with an idea for a song and it’d be fully produced and ready for me in 30 seconds. I would have said, okay, but it’s going to sound, it’s not really going to do it. And they are, go look at Spotify. They are having to shut that down because there are so many people flooding them with new content that’s being created every second of the day. Let’s go to Mark, who is calling now from New York. Watch it on the radio, or listen on the radio. Mark, you’re on the air.
SPEAKER 08 :
Hey, guys. Great, great topics today. I want to thank you for fighting the good fight. The one thing I’m really concerned about is this Iran incident situation. You know, since I can remember, they’ve always called us the great Satan, and they want to wipe us and Israel off the planet. I have a lot of faith in my president and what he’s doing. One of your callers had said, you know, keep your enemies close to your pocket. And I agree with that. But what are your thoughts about the deception of Iran?
SPEAKER 09 :
Those are real concerns. And here’s what I’ve said. And I said before, and Rick Rinella shared as well as again, this isn’t about making friends. This is about having some sort of ongoing conversation to protect the American people. This is diplomacy. And we need that. And we need to be able to sit down with people we disagree with. And I mean that on the very small scale of whether you are a liberal or conservative, but I mean that on the big scale when it comes to who is going to have weapons that could wipe out chunks of the world. And sure, do I think Iran is out there saying that America is great and everything is perfect? No, we don’t go in there with blinders on.
SPEAKER 11 :
That’s not how this works. Well, and to the point that Bibi Netanyahu said yesterday during that meeting was that the goal is for Iran to never get nuclear weapons. If it can be done diplomatically in the full way it was done in Libya, I think that would be a good thing. No one trusted Muammar Gaddafi after they eliminated their weapons of mass destruction program. Their chemical weapons, and they were trying to get nuclear weapons, but they signed a non-proliferation treaty. But what happened was there was actual checks put in place in real monitoring to ensure that they were destroying their stockpiles. That’s what they’re talking about here. It’s not that they ever were all of a sudden like, Muammar Gaddafi is a good guy and our good friend. No, it was still, he’s a dictator and this is a failed state in many ways. But they still were able to ensure that he did not get a nuclear weapon and that he dismantled the chemical weapons program that they had. So I think that’s what they’re looking at.
SPEAKER 09 :
Thank you so much for joining us today. I appreciate you listening. The people that love us, the people that hate us, we’re just glad you’re watching us. Support the work of the ACLJ right now. We’ve seen a lot of increase in attacks on people of faith, whether that’s in this country or overseas. We could use your support, and that’s why the ACLJ is here for you right now. Your donations are doubled because of people like you who will unlock their donation. We have defeated dozens of these attacks with even just simple demand letters, but now there are things like this HOA. And again, I know you love your HOA, but sometimes you got to be able to fight back. And of course, we are there for you at no cost because of people like you. So donate today. Scan the QR code right now. Talk to you tomorrow.
