In this episode of Washington Watch, Jody Heiss steps in to navigate the intricate world of politics, bringing you a comprehensive view of current issues. We delve into the latest developments from the Middle East as President Trump’s 20-point peace plan receives unexpected attention. With insights from Dr. A.J. Nolte, we decode what Hamas’s acceptance could mean for the region amid ongoing tensions.
SPEAKER 01 :
from the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and soundbites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Sitting in for Tony is today’s host, Jody Heiss.
SPEAKER 03 :
They have taken hostage the federal government and by extension the American people who are the only losers in this. Everybody’s talking about who wins and who loses and who gets the blame. That’s not what this is about. This is about what’s doing in the best interest of the American people.
SPEAKER 10 :
That was Senate Majority Leader John Thune earlier today accusing Democrats of prolonging the government shutdown as it now enters its third day. Welcome to this October 3rd edition of Washington Watch. I am your Friday host, Jody Heiss. Thank you so much for tuning in today. All right, coming up. Earlier today, President Trump gave Hamas a Sunday deadline to reach a deal for a ceasefire and to release all of the remaining hostages. And, well, it appears that Hamas has responded to that deadline. We’ll discuss this in just a bit with Washington Watch reporter Casey Harper, and then we’ll dive more into it a little bit later in the program when I’m joined by Dr. A.J. Nolte. of Regent University. And then there’s some more breaking news today, one that’s been a long, long time in the coming. The FBI is cutting ties with the Southern Poverty Law Center. And Tyler O’Neill from the Daily Signal will join me later to dive deeper into what led to that breaking news. Also coming up today, David Claussen will join me for our weekly Biblical Worldview conversation. We’ll be discussing things like human trafficking, as well as a new abortion drug, and a whole lot more. So we’ve got a lot coming your way on this upcoming edition of Washington Watch. First, we start with some big, big news coming out of the Middle East where Hamas terror groups has reportedly responded to President Trump’s 20-point peace plan. And joining me now is Washington Stand reporter Casey Harper, who’s been following this as well as other stories. Casey, what are the headlines telling us right now?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, that’s right, Jody. This is a big development. The day started off with a clear message from President Trump sent on Truth Social. He gave Hamas a firm deadline. Accept this 20-point peace plan by Sunday evening, or you’re going to face some unprecedented consequences. Now, Trump’s peace plan, it includes an immediate ceasefire, full hostage release, importantly, the disarming of Hamas, and a transitional government. Well, breaking news, Hamas has now responded. In a rare shift, the group says they are open to a prisoner exchange and even handing over Gaza’s administration to a nonpartisan Palestinian authority with backing from Arab leaders. Now, Hamas appears to support a cease-fire and Israeli withdrawal, of course, but it continues to reject some long-term accountability, and they are insisting on broader issues that be handled through internal Palestinian channels. So, critics say that this is actually just a tactical move to buy time, rather than a genuine step forward for peace. But details are still coming out in this major development, Jody.
SPEAKER 10 :
Wow, really is big, big news, and we’ll certainly be unpacking this more as the program unfolds. In fact, Dr. A.J. Nolte of Regent University will be joining me. But, Casey, let me turn now to some more domestic news, specifically the government shutdown, which I mentioned a while ago is now in its third day, and it appears— The lawmakers at a total standstill. The Democrats pushing for more expansion of Obamacare subsidies. And the Republicans digging their heels in, saying, no, we’re not going there. So what’s the latest on the government shutdown?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, Jody, what Republicans are saying enough is enough. And Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who you played at the top of the show, he said today at a press conference that Democrats are effectively holding funding hostage with their one point five trillion dollar spending demand.
SPEAKER 03 :
Their partisan proposal demands more money. Think about this more money than our entire defense budget just to keep the government open for four weeks. That’s not a credible proposal. It’s a far left wish list.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, meanwhile, President Trump, he’s taking a hard line on spending, Jody. He’s already frozen funds to Democrat projects in blue states, and he’s pushing to streamline the federal workforce. Essential services are still running, but the shutdown will leave about two million federal workers without pay. Now, two Senate votes failed today, which all but guarantees that through this weekend, we’re not going to reach a deal, Jody.
SPEAKER 10 :
Wow. So it continues. Let me ask you this. More domestic news. We’ve all been watching a lot, Casey, on the attacks taking place on various ICE facilities, I think in Chicago and Portland. What are you hearing on those issues, what’s happening with ICE?
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, Jody, tensions are ratcheting up. So protests outside a Chicago ICE facility, they turned violent earlier today, and there was actually at least 12 arrests. Now, this is the fifth consecutive week of demonstrations just like this one. In Portland, federal officials are reporting over 100 nights of attacks on their ICE building in the city, and those attacks are getting worse. That includes bottle rockets, shattered windows, and threats against staff. And the local police aren’t doing very much about it because of the obvious politics involved. Now the ICE director, understandably, he’s calling the situation frustrating as the violence and the harassment continue to rise.
SPEAKER 10 :
Wow. So much going on. Let me give you one more, Casey. Hearing a lot about what’s happening in China. The recent report coming out saying that China is literally making billions and billions by forcing ethnic minorities into labor camps and a host of other trafficking-type scenarios. What are the headlines telling us about this right now?
SPEAKER 06 :
NICK SCHIFRIN Yeah, sure. So, the State Department, they released their 2025 report, and it names China among the worst human rights abusers, putting them right up there with Iran, Russia, and North Korea. So, China, they’re driving a brutal state-run system. They target the Uyghurs and other minorities, and they put them into forced labor and mass detention. So the Chinese Communist Party, they’re profiting off this, though, to the tune of billions of dollars by forcing these minorities into labor camps, and they’re calling it a poverty alleviation plan. But these abuses, Jody, are tied directly to global supply chains, which is raising the question, are U.S. companies benefiting from the Chinese Communist Party’s cruelty? And that’s why the Trump administration is cracking down on this. They’re expanding the sectors of the economy that are prevented from using this Uyghur forced labor under the Uyghur forced labor prevention act.
SPEAKER 10 :
Wow. Really, really a disturbing story in every way. In fact, we’ll be discussing more about that with David Claussen a little bit later. Casey, thanks so much. Appreciate you giving us the headlines in a nutshell. Thanks, Jody. All right. I want us to turn now to the government shutdown and get the latest from a Capitol Hill perspective. And joining me now is Congressman Marlon Stutzman. He serves on the House Budget Committee as well as the Financial Services. He represents the third congressional district of the great state of Indiana. Congressman Stutzman, welcome back to Washington Watch. Always great to have you.
SPEAKER 07 :
Always great to see you. Thanks for having me on.
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, listen, I do want to get to the government shutdown, but I’m sure you’ve heard by now the latest is what’s happening between Hamas and Israel. Wanted to know, before we get to the shutdown issue, if you have any reaction to what’s happening in Israel right now.
SPEAKER 07 :
Yeah, well, first of all, Hamas is a brutal regime. that have killed, of course, thousands of Israelis and have held the Gazan people captive in the Gaza Strip for the last several years. And I honestly believe that President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu put this proposal together. This is probably their only way out. unless they want to continue to fight and that the end is not going to be good for them. And so I’m glad that they are accepting this proposal. I think it’s a win for Israel and for the people in Gaza. And it’s also a way out for Hamas. But I tell you, at the end of the day, Jodi, we all know that this evil thinking that Hamas carries about eliminating Israel and the Jews, and of course, death to America still exists, but we need to continue to fight in wherever it’s at. And my hope is that Gaza can start now rebuilding and come into the opportunity of having a legitimate government, a government that supports the people and also supports the relationship with Israel as well.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, absolutely. And I agree. I think this is the only way out for them. Let’s bring it back home, if I can, Congressman Stutzman. The government shut down. There were more failed votes that took place today. What does that tell you about where we’re headed here?
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, Speaker Johnson just sent us all a text about an hour ago saying that we’re not planning on any votes again next week until the Senate passes the continuing resolution that the House passed a couple of weeks ago already. And so this is against Senate Democrats. holding up the American people and the government of the American people for their leftist agenda. They want to continue to fund healthcare to illegals. They want to continue, of course, to double down on all the criminal policies that they’ve been supporting over the past several years. It makes no sense, Jodi. I don’t understand the Democrat Party of today. This is not the Democrat Party anymore. And so I think that until a lot of the pressure is on Senate Democrats, three Senate Democrats, I believe so far, have voted for the CR, the extension, which they, of course, voted on last spring. This cloture vote in the Senate is really the hurdle that is keeping good policy from passing in the Senate. And I know, you know, we’ve talked about this before, but At some point, we don’t have that same rule in the House. And of course, the Senate continues to abide by it. Really, I don’t believe reflects the will of the American people when they put a particular party in control of the Senate.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, that’s really true. And I agree with you with all this. I want to underscore something that you said there, though. I mean, what the Republicans put forth was a clean resolution. It’s just like, let’s just keep status quo. Let’s keep going as things are right now. Don’t change anything. Let’s just keep going for a few more weeks and we can negotiate some of these other things. But the Democrats, describe for us the difference between the Republicans’ clean resolution and the Democrats’ plan.
SPEAKER 07 :
Well, so, you know, we, of course, passed the big, beautiful bill since the last CR earlier this spring. And in the big, beautiful bill now, the Working Family Tax Cut Act, we said in that bill that you were not going to allow for able-bodied individuals, illegals, to have access to Medicaid benefits and health care benefits. I think if you talk to the average American anywhere in the country that is working hard every day, raising their family, when they hear that The American government, our taxpayer dollars, are going to spend, we’re spending those to and giving those dollars to illegal non-citizens in this country, benefits, free health care. Most are offended by that. But that’s where the Democrats have doubled down. I’m sure you’ve seen the clip of the debate that popped up from a recent presidential primary on the Democrat side. But every one of them said they would be their health care plan. would give illegals health care benefits. That’s coming from hardworking Americans that are just trying to make ends meet right now after a very tough four years under the Biden administration and the inflation that was caused by the Biden administration. And I think it’s very offensive to the American people.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, it really is. And it’s just stunning to me how they’re digging in all of this. And, of course, there’s abortion stuff in there. There’s tons of things in the bill that they’re trying to put forward. And yet they claim that they’re looking out for the American public very closely. very difficult to understand their logic. It’s as though they’re willing to hurt the American people so that they can claim that they’re going to come back later and help them. It’s just unbelievable upside-down logic to me. Thank you so much, Indiana Congressman Marlon Stutzman. Always great to see you, my friend. Appreciate you joining us on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 07 :
Thank you, Charlie. Have a good evening.
SPEAKER 10 :
You too. All right, we’ve got much more coming your way today. You don’t want to miss it right after the break. Dr. A.J. Nolte is going to be joining me, and there is breaking news coming out of Israel. We’ll let him unfold all of that for us right after the break, so don’t go anywhere. We’ll be back.
SPEAKER 12 :
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SPEAKER 10 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Hope you’re having a great day. I am Jody Heiss, your Friday host, and thank you so much for tuning in with us today. All right. Earlier this morning, President Trump posted on Truth Social that Hamas has until this Sunday at 6 p.m. Eastern Time to accept the terms of his 20-point policy. plan that would end the war there in Gaza. In fact, you may recall that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu actually accepted that deal earlier this week during his White House meeting with President Trump. Well, now it appears as though at least it’s being reported that Hamas has responded. So what are they saying? Joining me now to discuss this and more is Dr. A.J. Nolte. He’s the associate professor and director of the Institute for Israel Studies at Regent University. Dr. Nolte, welcome back to Washington Watch. Our honor to have you as always. Jody, it’s great to be here. Thank you for having me. Okay, we’ve got this news that literally just broke within the last hour or two. Seems as though there is a response from Hamas to President Trump’s 20-point plan. What do you know so far about what they’re saying?
SPEAKER 08 :
What we’re hearing is that Hamas is agreeing to a release of the hostages on the schedule that Trump laid out. Now, in the plan, it calls for a release of hostages within 72 hours of Israel accepting the deal. Trump has already apparently given them an extension. But then there’s a phased commitment as the hostages are released. Then there would be a release of prisoners. I’m also seeing reports that Hamas has agreed to a technocratic body, quote, in accordance with the will of the Palestinian people or drawn from the Palestinian people that will govern Gaza. It seems like that. they’re probably thinking they will be able to somehow get some of their folks put in. And of course, the devil will be in the details. But it looks at this point as though they are, in fact, agreeing to President Trump’s deal. And that actually makes a couple of things that have happened in the past month or so that didn’t really make sense, make a lot more sense.
SPEAKER 10 :
Wow. Are you at all surprised by their response to this point?
SPEAKER 08 :
I absolutely did not expect that Hamas was going to accept the deal until yesterday, because yesterday we saw the release of President Trump’s executive order in the sense of, you know, with respect to Qatar. Right. So he releases an executive order saying that the United States is going to protect the territorial integrity of Qatar. Less than 24 hours after that, we see Hamas doing this deal. And so when that was released, it seemed like this was a unilateral decision. Like, why is President Trump giving Qatar something and not getting anything in return? I think we now see what Trump has gotten in return, which is that Qatar basically pressured Hamas to accepting this deal in exchange for protection of its territorial integrity from the United States and a promise that… Basically, Israel is not going to strike on Qatari soil again. And so this what this looks like is a brilliant example of good cop, bad cop by Trump and Netanyahu in hindsight over the past couple of months.
SPEAKER 10 :
Wow. Extremely good point there. I didn’t pack that up. So your understanding, or at least your opinion, what you’re seeing here is the Qatar deal is directly related to what we’re now seeing with Hamas apparently accepting the peace deal.
SPEAKER 08 :
I mean, Donald Trump is never somebody who gives something for nothing. And if he’s giving away something as sort of out of character for a lot of the trajectory of this administration as an open, unilateral guarantee of Qatar’s security, like the very strong decree or guarantee that was put in this executive order yesterday, then he’s got some sort of quid pro quo that he’s going to get in exchange for that. And I hadn’t really thought about it, but I think Trump actually was able to gain some leverage by protecting Qatar, which then Qatar, which was one of the major outside supporters of Hamas, is actually pushing Hamas and basically recognizing that their survival and their security guarantees they want from the United States are dependent on their ability to pressure Hamas into accepting this deal. And so that, to me, looks like what’s happening. I don’t have any inside information on that, but that just kind of makes sense as I connect the dots. In real time, as we’re getting this.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, it really does make a lot of sense. And look, I mean, Qatar is an ally, but there are some things to keep in mind here, aren’t there? I mean, there’s some things to kind of keep a pulse on and have some degree of concern.
SPEAKER 08 :
I would describe Qatar as a frenemy, to use a term that some of the younger crowd listening to this might really understand, in the sense that, yes, they will cooperate with us. Yes, they see us as part of – we are part of their security guarantees, and they are part of our security architecture. But they also play both sides against the middle. They’ve been doing it for years. They supported a bunch of Islamists during the Arab Spring. Al Jazeera has been a Hamas spokesman. outlet, for lack of a better term, throughout this conflict. And of course, Al Jazeera is very tightly tied to the Qatari regime. And you also have, you know, Qatar has had a very complex dance with Iran. So they are definitely wanting to be intermediaries here. But what President Trump and Netanyahu, I don’t know if this is intentional or not, but what they basically did was they were able to play good cop, bad cop after the Israeli strike on Qatar. And now it seems like President Trump was able to gain leverage over Qatar by very strongly saying that we need to protect them without condemning Israel, without attacking Israel. In exchange for that, it seems like Qatar has been pressuring Hamas to accept Trump’s deal. Because obviously, if Trump had given them this security guarantee, and then Hamas had not accepted the deal, this would have been a massive loss of face for Qatar. So I was talking to a friend. Absolutely. You know, my odds of Hamas accepting the deal went up to about 50 percent after the Qatar executive order. And it seems like that is, in fact, what has happened.
SPEAKER 10 :
Very, very interesting. We only got about a minute left. What are the next steps? Where does all this go from here?
SPEAKER 08 :
The devil is in the details. There’s a lot of good, bad, and interesting in Trump’s plan, but now it looks like we’re going to move on to the implementation phase. I would expect Hamas to try to preserve as much of a footprint for themselves in the Strip covertly as they can. The U.S. and Israel is going to try to prevent that. The real question is, who’s going to end up rebuilding Gaza? Are we going to be able to build a peaceful, stable, prosperous future? And will there be an entity in Gaza that is willing to live in peace with Israel? And so those are the things to watch in the weeks ahead. But it does look like if Hamas actually follows through this time, we could be coming to the end of this very long war.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, that was the first thing I thought when I got the news breaking here an hour or two ago, whenever it was, that this could indeed be the beginning of the end of this whole thing. Thank you so much, Dr. A.J. Nolte of Regent University. We love having you on the program and your insights always very, very up to date and well thought out. Appreciate you joining us. Thank you for having me. All right, we still have a lot coming your way on Washington Watch, so don’t go anywhere. Coming up right after the break, FBI Director Kash Patel shared some great news today, and that also was some breaking news. Well, what was it? Well, stay tuned. We’ll let you know on the other side of the break. We’ll be back.
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SPEAKER 10 :
Good afternoon. Welcome back to Washington Watch. I’m Jody Heiss, your Friday host. Always an honor to have you joining us. Okay, earlier today, our friends over at the Daily Signal reported some very, very welcome news to get our Friday off and running. According to their exclusive reporting, the FBI confirmed that it has severed all ties with the Southern Poverty Law Center. Now, you may recall that just before the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the SPLC actually had placed his organization, Turning Point USA, on their so-called hate map. which, by the way, FRC is also on their list as well. But now the FBI is severing relationships with the SPLC, and what does all that mean in practice? Well, here now to discuss more is Tyler O’Neill. He is actually the one who broke this story. He’s a senior editor at the Daily Signal and author of Making Hate Pay, the Corruption of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Tyler, welcome back to Washington Watch. We appreciate you joining us. Thanks again for having me, Jody. All right. This has been a long time coming. So for those who may not be aware, share with us the impact that the SPLC has had on the FBI and others for that matter.
SPEAKER 18 :
Yeah, so I think many of your viewers will probably remember when the FBI’s Richmond office released that memo targeting radical traditional Catholics and telling agents to develop sources inside houses of worship, particularly targeting those specific Catholics. more traditional Catholics, they were citing the Southern Poverty Law Center in that memo. And this is just one of many instances where the Biden Justice Department had been working closely with the Southern Poverty Law Center. Just today, actually, America First Legal is out with even more evidence, more documents showing this relationship. One of the things that really stood out to me most was that R.G. Cravens who is a staffer at the SPLC who recently was the guy they picked to defend their decision to add focus on the family to the hate map earlier this year. R.G. Cravens was himself advising the Department of Justice and prosecutors at one of these Department of Justice gatherings. under the Biden administration. So the SPLC has had tremendous impact in the Biden administration. And now we are finally seeing, I mean, thank God Kash Patel is coming out there and saying this. By the way, the statement is not just that they cut off ties with the SPLC now, but that they have not been using SPLC data or engaging with the SPLC since the beginning of the administration. So this is a great step forward. This reminds me of when Attorney General, then Attorney General Jeff Sessions, told a group of us who had gathered for a Religious Freedom Summit with ADF back in 2018 that the DOJ would never work with the SPLC again. Unfortunately, that promise was broken by the succeeding administration. But hopefully we can see a DOJ and an FBI meeting that will completely distance themselves and remain distanced from such a horrific organization.
SPEAKER 10 :
Absolutely. Tyler, do you think that the assassination of Charlie Kirk was the straw that broke the camel’s back, so to speak, in regard to finally removing the SPLC influence from the FBI?
SPEAKER 18 :
Yes, I think that the fact that, and I mean, you know, talking with you about this, the Family Research Council was first targeted after the SPLC put it on the hate map, and then you had the horrific terrorist attack against you. Then, of course, there was the act of violence at the congressional baseball game where the shooter had liked the SPLC on Facebook, and now… The SPLC puts Turning Point USA on the hate map, and then a couple months later, Charlie Kirk is assassinated. I mean, this really raises important questions. And I think the Southern Poverty Law Center needs to stop defaming conservatives and Christians. And this moment has been an awakening. of how dangerous the SPLC is. And the FBI has now officially set separated ties from them. By the way, this is also when the FBI is cutting ties with the Anti-Defamation League, which I don’t know if you’ll remember this, but back in 2024, they had they were doing a report on terrorism in the past year, and they said that the transgender shooter who targeted the Nashville church was not, the Nashville school, sorry, the Christian school in Nashville, was not an instance of left-wing terrorism. And they really bent over… backwards to rewrite history. Meanwhile, the ADL was also saying that critics of gender ideology are a threat to other Americans. And they were going and going to the FBI and other law enforcement saying, you need to monitor these critics of gender ideology.
SPEAKER 10 :
Wow. Really is great, great news. We’ve got less than a minute. What happens next? What do you think needs to happen next?
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, I’ve already been speaking with senators and with congressmen who are reiterating a concern that Senator Tom Cotton had back in 2019. Tom Cotton wrote a letter to the IRS asking them to revisit the SPLC’s tax status. We also have more evidence of the SPLC working kind of hand in glove with Antifa, not just keeping Antifa off their hate map, but also hiring a woman who is described as Antifa’s secret weapon. And then, of course, an SPLC attorney was arrested at an Antifa riot in 2023 and charged with domestic terrorism. So we might be hearing an investigation into the SPLC, and I’m hoping that we can have some real accountability and some real answers to what else they’re doing.
SPEAKER 10 :
We are all hoping that, and I think your idea of an investigation is in big order. Tyler O’Neill, Senior Editor at Daily Signal, thank you so much. All right, friends, coming up next, our Biblical Worldview segment. Stay tuned.
SPEAKER 11 :
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How should Christians think about the thorny issues shaping our culture? How should Christians address deceitful ideas like transgenderism, critical theory, or assisted suicide? How can Christians navigate raising children in a broken culture, the war on gender roles, or rebuilding our once great nation? Outstanding is a podcast from The Washington Stand dedicated to these critical conversations. Outstanding seeks to tear down what our corrupt culture lifts up with an aim to take every thought and every idea captive to the obedience of Christ. Whether policies or partisan politics, whether conflict in America or conflict abroad, join us and our guests as we examine the headlines through the lens of Scripture and explore how Christians can faithfully exalt Christ in all of life. Follow Outstanding on your favorite podcast app and look for new episodes each week.
SPEAKER 10 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. I am Jody Heiss, your Friday host, and thank you so much for tuning in with us. By the way, before we carry on, I have to take just a moment. When we were talking a little bit ago with Tyler O’Neill about the FBI severing ties with the SPLC, Many of you are aware of the fact that we here at Family Research Council, we reached out to the Department of Justice to thank them for doing what they did. And we asked them, and I want to tell you this because many of you did this, we wanted to thank them for what they did, but we also wanted to deliver the petitions where over 30,000 Americans, many, many, many of you watching and listening right now, signed on to that. And we wanted to deliver all those petitions and names to them. They were incredibly responsive and gladly received us this afternoon for that delivery. Those of you who are viewing, seeing some pictures right now of that. So I just wanted to say thank you to all of you who signed that petition. for taking a stand with us. It just means so much for us to be able to work together. And this is really, really, really big deal for all of us. It’s a big deal for our entire country. Now, before I bring on my next guest, let me just, speaking of big deals, remind you that two weeks, folks, we’re just two weeks away from the start of our PrayVoteStand Summit taking place in Chino Hills, California on October 17th and 18th. literally just right around the corner. And I want to encourage you to come join us as all of us together are making a big deal in our country. We are praying, we are voting, we are standing for righteousness. You can get details as well as register by going to PrayVoteStand.org. That’s PrayVoteStand.org. And one other real quick thing while I’m talking about these other issues before I bring on my next guest, the StandFirm app, FRC’s StandFirm app. is just a tremendous app to keep you informed as to what’s happening in our country and our world from a biblical worldview perspective. You can get the app at the App Store or Google Play, wherever you get your apps. You can also get it very easily simply by texting the word APP to 67742. All right, now as we enter into our final segment, I think each of us who are followers of Christ know very well, we know personally, that God created each of us with inherent dignity. He made us in His image, but we also are keenly aware that the fall, the fall brought sin and into each of us, into all of mankind. And quite frankly, absolute depravity is what it brought. And there are certainly times when that depravity is in full display in all of its ugliness. And we are seeing that in the U.S. State Department’s 2025 Trafficking in Persons Report. A horrifying report where, quote, these are their words, traffickers exploit and profit at the expense of adults or children by compelling them to perform labor or engage in commercial sex. horrifying, absolute depravity. Truly a disturbing report to read, but it is important to shed light on this stuff. So joining me now to discuss this as well as other news of the week. For our Biblical Worldview discussion is David Claussen. He’s the director of the Center for Biblical Worldview here at FRC. He’s also the author of the recent book, Life After Roe, Equipping Christians in the Fight for Life Today. David, thanks as always for joining us for this Biblical Worldview segment.
SPEAKER 05 :
It’s great to be with you, Jerry.
SPEAKER 10 :
All right, we’ve got a lot to discuss before we jump into it, though. I know you literally just got back from Arkansas. Share with us real quickly what you were doing out there with the Biblical Worldview Workshop.
SPEAKER 05 :
Absolutely, Jody. So yesterday, my colleague Joseph Backholm and I, in partnership with the Family Council in Arkansas, we did a one-day worldview workshop, and it was just wonderful. We did eight kind of 45-minute sessions on topics ranging from abortion to critical theory to marriage to kind of the state of worldview in the church in America. It was a delight to be there, over 100 pastors and ministry leaders, including several folks who came up to me and said they watch Washington Watch on a regular basis. So just a real joy to be there. And I would just say for listeners and viewers, if you’re interested in learning more about our Worldview workshops, you can go to frc.org slash worldview. And there’s actually an interest form because we’re taking it on the road and it’s just a lot of fun.
SPEAKER 10 :
Absolutely. And fantastic information that you guys bring forth. So thank you so much. All right. Let’s jump into some news if we can. I was just mentioning coming into this segment, the disturbing report. The State Department released its annual trafficking in persons report. They identified 13 countries which have consistent patterns of human trafficking. So David, why don’t we begin there? Can you kind of walk us through the findings that came out of this report?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, Jody, I I WOULD BE HAPPY TO. I SPENT SOME TIME TODAY GOING THROUGH THE REPORT THAT WAS REALLY JUST RELEASED A DAY OR TWO AGO. THE TOP LINE NUMBER IS THAT THERE ARE 17.4 MILLION PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD THAT ARE EXPLOITED FOR THEIR LABOR. YOU SEE THIS IN VARIOUS agriculture, manufacturing, but that top-line number of 17.4 million, of course, that’s not uniformly spread over the globe. It’s concentrated particularly in the 13 countries that were mentioned, China being the leader of that, but then Russia, Afghanistan, North Korea, Belarus, some typical kind of countries that you see. What was really just shocking to me is that 3.9 million people, according to the State Department, are exploited because of state-imposed forced labor. 3.9 million because—and many of them in China, so this would be Falun Gong practitioners, Uyghur Muslims, really those who are part of minority groups there in China. But across the world, 3.9 million people are being trafficked by state actors. And that’s just alarming. One other top-line number, Jody, is that that labor, by the way, results in $236 billion in illegal proceeds. And so, again, this is an absolute assault on human dignity, the fact that people are viewed as resources to be exploited rather than as the precious individuals that they are made in God’s image. This is something that should have the attention of really Christians, of course, but of all Americans. And I’m grateful the State Department is shining a bright light on this.
SPEAKER 10 :
Boy, I am too. It’s just horrifying statistics here. So David, this is our biblical worldview segment. So let’s try to drive this home, if we can, specifically to Christians. Some of the takeaways that Christians need to hear about this, and certainly we need to pray for the freedom of these people, the release, for the entry of the gospel. But what would you say some of the biggest takeaways for Christians are here?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, a fundamental tenet of a Christian worldview, and I would say kind of a Christian anthropology, so how Christians understand humanity, is that we are made in the image of God, so that our worth, our dignity, our value is not bestowed upon us by a government. It’s not bestowed upon us by the United Nations. It comes to us from God. Our dignity as human beings is inherent. And what trafficking does is really assaults that dignity. And I think that’s important for us to realize. It assaults that dignity by reducing people made in God’s images as really objects that can be exploited and mistreated and abused. You know, the Bible, Proverbs 31, tells us as Christians, we’re called to protect the vulnerable. And of course, as Christians, we know the whole reason that government exists is to promote good and to restrain evil. This is Romans 13. And I guess another thing that we should be aware of is something you said in your opening. This is just another… Kind of shining a light on the fact that we really do live in a Genesis 3 world. We live in a world that has been corroding under the effects of sin. Romans 8 tells us that creation itself groans under the weight of sin. And, you know, trafficking is fueled by greed and it’s fueled by lust. And so ultimately, at the root of this, Jody, it is a spiritual problem. And it’s a spiritual problem that can only be remedied by the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I think as Christians read this report, these are some kind of theological principles and categories that are worth keeping in mind.
SPEAKER 10 :
Wow. It is horrifying, and I just want to encourage. Do you know of a place, by the way, where people can see that report?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, Jody, it’s listed on the State Department’s website, and it went up right before the government shut down. So honestly, just a quick Google search of the annual human trafficking report, State Department, it should pull right up.
SPEAKER 10 :
Okay. I want to encourage you to do that, those who are viewing and listening right now. And we’ve got to engage this thing through prayer and otherwise. David, thank you so much for giving us that perspective theologically, how we as Christians need to look at this. If I can switch gears with you, though, to another subject, the FDA, the Food and Drug Administration, really rather quietly, I think is the best way to say it, approved a generic version of the abortion pill Mifepristone. And quite frankly, I think this caught a lot of people, myself included, by surprise. It did so just before the government shut down, by the way. But you’ve written a lot about chemical abortion in your book and so forth. What is your response to this development? I know this probably caught you off guard as well.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, Jody, and let me just preface this by saying, you know, I’m someone who has praised and championed the Trump administration going back to the first administration as far as the approach they’ve taken for life. President Trump has used the bully pulpit of the presidency in his first term and the second term to promote life. He’s focused on it in his appointments. His policy prescriptions have largely moved in the direction that pro-life Christians would want to see. But we have talked about it. Jodi, you and I have had this conversation that this administration can and must do more, specifically on chemical abortion. It was just a week ago that Bobby Kennedy and the Health and Human Services Department announced—kind of confirmed, really—that they were doing this safety review of mifepristone, the chemical abortion drug. And that’s what’s so—it just feels kind of like whiplash. They announced they’re doing this safety review, and then they come out with this announcement that they’ve approved a generic version of basically the same pill. I think it was Josh Hawley the other day noted that even under the Biden administration, this application for this generic version of the drug was not approved, even though it had been sitting there for four years. And so there really is something about this that stinks. You know, people talk about the deep state and bureaucrats. And so my encouragement is that Christians need to be really paying attention to this. My hope is that the Trump administration will reverse course, that President Trump will be made aware of this, that Bobby Kennedy will be made aware of this, because Christians Chemical abortion, again, Jody, accounts for 63 percent of the abortions that take place in this country. These pills are always lethal for babies. They’re also dangerous for women who take them. The FDA has always admitted this. But this spring, we learned these pills are much more lethal than we even realized. And so this is—we need more information about this, but this is something that has surprised a lot of pro-lifers, and it’s something the administration needs to walk back.
SPEAKER 10 :
Yeah, absolutely. And I’m so grateful you brought that up. And Josh Hawley, you brought him up. I think he said, and correct me if I’m a little bit off, but I believe it was somewhere in the ballpark of one out of 10 women who take this drug end up with serious health complications, many of whom end up in the emergency rooms. And yet we are also watching how this abortion drug is impacting pro-life states because the drug is being shipped across these states and causing people really to violate the laws of their individual states. So there’s so much to deal with here that Christians need to be engaged in this whole process. David, finally, I want to ask you a Gallup survey showing that trust in the media has fallen to an all-time low. Just, in fact, 28% of Americans say that they trust the media, and the numbers are even lower among Republicans. What’s your take on these findings? How should a biblical worldview shape the way that we think about the media and truth?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, Jody, the number for Republicans who trust the media is actually 8 percent. So, again, it’s incredibly low. Even Democrats who are more prone to trust the media, whether this is television or print, I think is at 51 percent. I think the perception is out there, especially amongst Republicans, that the media basically exists to help elect Democrats and hurt Donald Trump. And I think there’s probably some truth to that narrative. You asked, though, Jody, about a biblical perspective. And I think for Christians, we care about this issue because truth matters. We’re the people that care about truth. Ephesians chapter 4, verse 25 tells us to put away falsehood and to speak the truth. Christians are people who love the truth. We live by the truth. We want to point people to truth. And the media kind of ecosystem that we live in is not one that kind of really tells the truth in many situations. We could point to so many different stories. And so again, my encouragement to Christians is We need to be discerning consumers when it comes to media. That’s why FRC launched the Washington Stand to provide trustworthy news from a biblical worldview. And finally, we should model this integrity even in our own conversations and the way we share news, whether that’s on social media or in conversations. But ultimately, Jody, as Christians, we are people of the truth, which is why we care about it.
SPEAKER 10 :
Absolutely. David Claussen, Director of FRC’s Center for Biblical Worldview, as always, thank you so much. All right, friend, let me just, by the way, don’t refer to the media as a mainstream media. There is nothing mainstream about the media. Just keep that in mind. All right, have a fantastic weekend. We’ll be back next week with you right here on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 01 :
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