In this episode of Washington Watch, host Jody Heiss takes listeners through the latest political developments affecting the U.S. and Middle East. As the government shutdown continues into its 38th day, its ripple effects touch on airline operations and federal worker dynamics. We explore the current status of airline cancellations, speak with key players like Congressman Burgess Owens, and understand what the FAA’s domestic flight reductions mean for travelers nationwide.
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from the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and soundbites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Sitting in for Tony is today’s host, Jody Heiss.
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One, of course, is the focus not on the American people, but how to ensure Democrats win the next election. And two is the fact that progressive Democrats apparently want to keep this shutdown going forever. We’re on day 38 of Democrat shutdown.
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That was Senate Majority Leader John Thune earlier today on the Senate floor as this Democrat-led shutdown now enters day 38. Welcome to this November 7th edition of Washington Watch. I am your Friday host, Jody Heiss. Thank you so much for tuning in. All right, coming up today, the Supreme Court greenlights the Trump administration’s rule requiring U.S. passports to list one’s biological sex, not one’s gender identity. So what does this ruling mean for the left’s transgender agenda? Well, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost will be joining me in a little while to break all of that down. Also, Congressman Burgess Owens from Utah will join me here in just a few moments to discuss the latest on the impact of the government shutdown. Well, U.S. airlines are cutting about 4% of flights across 40 major airports due to safety concerns that are tied to the ongoing government shutdown. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says that the reductions could increase to as much as 10% as early as next week if the shutdown continues. And joining me now is Washington Stand reporter Casey Harper. Casey, let’s start with this issue. What’s going on with all these flight delays and the slowdowns, cancellations? What’s the latest we have?
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Yeah, Jody, it doesn’t look good. As you said, U.S. airlines are slashing flights as this record-long government shutdown means fewer air traffic controllers and TSA agents who are willing to work and who can blame them if they’re not getting paid. So starting today, about 850 flights from American, Delta, Southwest, and United are being canceled. Here’s what Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said earlier today.
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Today is the first day, 4% reduction. Four days later, another 2%. Two days after that, 2%, and then 2% on. And what I’m hoping to do is, again, take the pressure and more risk out of the system. I’m trying to minimize the risk through this government shutdown and bring us to a matrix that matches what we had before the shutdown.
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So that means the cuts could rise to 6% on Tuesday and 10% by next week if the shutdown continues. As you know, we head into the Thanksgiving holiday. So officials are pointing to safety concerns, which includes stress controllers and even some incidents, Jody, of planes not maintaining the proper distance of separation. However, airlines are saying most passengers are being rebooked quickly, but disruptions are expected to get worse. The shutdown has forced 13,000 air traffic controllers and 50,000 TSA workers to work without pay if they’re willing to work at all. Meanwhile, the FAA is delaying flights and even restricting space launches to manage these staff shortages. At the same time, we’re seeing other effects. The Trump administration has asked a federal appeals court to block a judge’s order that required full November food stamp payments be made to 42 million Americans. The DOJ is arguing, hey, only Congress can authorize federal spending, which leaves millions of low income households with partial SNAP benefits amid the shutdown.
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So, Casey, what’s happening over in the Senate? I mean, are lawmakers there responding to the air travel chaos? Are they really working to try to bring an end to this government shutdown?
SPEAKER 21 :
Well, Dodie, they’re working on it, but they’re not making any progress, at least yet, and they may go through the weekend, as we’re now on day 38. In fact, Senate Majority Leader is urging lawmakers to, quote, end these weeks of misery. But earlier today, on the Senate floor, No surprise, Democrats demanded an extension of Obamacare subsidies once again. Here’s what Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said.
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Democrats are offering a very simple compromise. Democrats are ready to clear the way to quickly pass a government funding bill that includes health care affordability. Leader Thune just needs to add a clean one-year extension of the ACA tax credits to the CR so that we can immediately address rising health care costs.
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The Senate is set to recess next week, but with the shutdown causing travel chaos, lawmakers may stay through this weekend. In fact, Leader Thune has suggested he may make them stay through the entire weekend to keep working.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, thank you, Casey. Before I let you go, let me let me turn real quickly to some international news. As we have been watching, President Trump is working to expand the Abraham Accords. What’s the latest that you’re hearing on that?
SPEAKER 21 :
Yeah, Jody, we do have an update on that, actually. President Trump announced that Kazakhstan has joined the Abraham Accords. Of course, the Abraham Accords are the U.S.-backed initiative that connects Israel with Arab and Muslim majority nations. Now, this connection of joining of Kazakhstan is largely symbolic since that nation has had good diplomatic relations with Israel since the early 90s, but it does signal a push for closer cooperation in trade, defense, energy, and technology as well. So President Trump, he called it a major step forward in building bridges across the world as he hosted a summit with Central Asian leaders yesterday at the White House. Meanwhile, tensions in Gaza remain high under this fragile ceasefire after hostilities and recent hostage releases. In fact, in Judea and Samaria, or so-called West Bank, they’re facing new tensions and fears after prisoner releases to the Palestinian Authority are raising concerns about increased violence. Jody.
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Well, I tell you, here at the Family Research Council, we certainly believe that peace in that region, it’s going to require Israel to assert their own sovereignty over the biblical heartland there, while at the same time continuing some diplomatic efforts like the Abraham Accords for sure. In fact, Chris Mitchell will be joining me a little bit later in the program from Jerusalem to give the latest as to what’s happening in Israel. Casey, thank you so much for these updates. As always, we appreciate it a great deal. All right. I want to go back now to the topic of the government shutdown and its impact that is taking place on the American people. But I want to do so from a congressional perspective. Joining me now to discuss this is Congressman Burgess Owens. He serves on the House committees, on several committees, including the Transportation and Infrastructure, which right now is extremely busy. He represents the 4th Congressional District of Utah. congressman owens welcome back to washington watch always great to see you jody sing here look for the chat with my friend for sure all right so let me let’s start with this uh really an unprecedented order from the federal aviation administration a reduction of four percent of domestic flights at some 40 major airports all across the united states And as we understand, as the days are moving forward, they’ll increase it by 2% and potentially all the way up to 20% of this shutdown doesn’t come to an end. What’s your assessment, Congressman, on the latest moves here by the FAA?
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Well, Jody, I’ll tell you what I see of this is the Democrats are showing to America what they’ve always felt about people who depended on them. And I go back to the black community, what they’ve done to us over the last six years, destroyed the family, destroyed business ownership, destroyed the educational process, because ignorant free can never be is what they believe in. If they can get out the base ignorant, if they can get them dependent and anxious, they have the power to get their vote. So what we have right now, I think, is almost pathological. I’ve never seen anything like it, Joe, to be honest with you. Everyone here knows in Congress and Senate that it takes a 60-vote margin, and we need five Democrats to vote yes. They vote no and walk directly to the camera and say that, that they’re trying to keep the government open. It is something that once American people get it, they will be like I did once I realized I was lied to. They’re going to leave forever. So I think the key is right now, thank goodness we have President Trump at the head of our party. He’s a great messenger. He’s a great strategist. He’s great with strategy. And more importantly, he knows how to keep our party together. So we just have to stay strong. Get the message out to the American people, the unions, the teamsters, the federal workers, everyone around this country. Those are trying to travel. This is what evil does when they’re trying to use U.S. leverage. They want you to be they want to use, abuse and discard. And we’re going to finally let these people know it’s not going to work and move forward and go ahead and build this great country the way we’ve always dreamed we could do in the past.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, it really is amazing as you describe how they will vote to shut the government down, go straight to a camera and say we’re trying to keep it open. I’m with you. I’ve never seen anything like this. And, you know, I look at the FAA and what they’re doing now, cutting back on flights. And, look, I don’t know if you have. I’ve been in air traffic control before at one of our major cities. And these folks are under tremendous pressure, some of them virtually hyperventilating, And now they’re doing their job without getting paid. And then we have the Democrats claiming to care about the American people. But at the same time, how can anyone believe that when they’re holding our country hostage as they seem to be doing?
SPEAKER 17 :
Well, and that’s the word for it. And you’re right, because the last four years this industry has been under pressure for a while anyway, because the last administration did nothing. I guess at the end of the day, it comes down to very simple this and I applaud those who stay who stay hanging in there and still trying to work through this process. But at some point, there’s a breaking point. And again, it comes down to if you stop paying people to show up and they find out that they’re at a very stressful period, they’re going to find other ways to go to work. And meanwhile, our country comes to a halt. And keep this in mind, Jody, what this all comes down to, this strategy has always been about this insurance and Obamacare. That’s what it’s always been about. something that they can never get passed by without not one Republican vote. It’s coming to an end because they can’t get Republican votes. And now they want to keep it going so they can extend this health care for all, the socialist medicine process. So that’s what they’ve been after. And all this pain is to get them to this point where they can make this case and try to get this moved forward for another year.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, so you bring up a good point. I mean, what’s happening now in the Senate, you’ve got the Democrats, they’ve named their price, as you just said, to reopen the government. And that is for the Obamacare subsidies to continue for a year, something that Republicans have never, ever, ever voted for. So what’s going to happen here? Certainly, what do you think the Senate Republicans will cave to that demand?
SPEAKER 17 :
I don’t. I don’t personally. And here’s the thing. We have great leadership. We have a very tight knit team between the Senate, the House and President Trump. They’re going to come up with a strategy. And I don’t think the Democrats got the memo yet. President Trump does not deal with hostage taking. He does not deal with bullying. He’s not that guy. He’s not the old-style Republican Party guy. So I’m not sure how this will work out. But at the end of the day, the more we can educate the American people who these Democrats are, they’re not the Democrats of old. They’re Marxists. They’re socialists. They hate our country, and they’re willing to use anybody, use, abuse, and discard anyone to get their way, their power. So I’m going to have faith that President Trump and the leadership will come up with a way to educate the American people, and then we’ll move forward and force them back to open up the government so we can get back to work and move forward.
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All right, last question real quickly, less than a minute left, but Senate Majority Leader Thune is expecting the Senate to stay in session over the weekend. Do you think we are getting close to ending this shutdown?
SPEAKER 17 :
I think the closer we get to Thanksgiving, the more pressure on the Democrats. Their base at some point, if they’re not getting what they deserve to have and their support, they’re going to start asking questions. And they will find out it’s the Democrats that’s bringing this pain. And once that happens and they realize they can lose their power in the upcoming year, they’re going to change their way. So I’m looking forward to seeing that happen and moving forward for sure.
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Congressman Burgess Owens, Utah, it is always an honor to have you join us here on Washington Watch. Thank you so much for coming on board with us today.
SPEAKER 17 :
Thank you, Jody. All the best, my friend. Take care.
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All right, friends, coming up, we’ve got some encouraging court rulings on the transgender insanity issue. And Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost will be joining me next, so don’t go anywhere. Much more Washington Watch coming your way. We’ll be back in a moment.
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Our founding scripture for this is Ephesians 6, verse 13. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand in the evil day. And having done all to stand, stand therefore.
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Family Research Council’s Pray, Vote, Stand Summit 2025 brought together Christian leaders, issue experts, and government officials for a time of prayer, inspiration, and action.
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We are equipping the body of Christ to understand that what is happening around us is not just political. It’s not just cultural. At its heart, it is spiritual.
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We gather in a nation that has torn the foundation apart, and we have separated our governing documents from our divine source, Jesus Christ. We need truth now more than ever to guide us.
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I’m believing, God, let this be a testimony of the American church that we become so full of the fire of the word of God that we cannot contain it. We have to tell people about it. We have to make disciples.
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The idea of America was the idea that our rights don’t come from governments. They come from our divine creator, right? Government’s main job is to protect those rights. And because that was the foundation of America,
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we’ve enjoyed over the last 250 years more freedom more prosperity more stability than any other nation anywhere in the world and that should be celebrated we are living in a moment what’s that moment it’s a prophetic moment on god’s timeline that’s right and so he needs the church more than ever to act biblically for the blessing of our political leaders and of our nation
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the number one issue facing America domestically, which is the epidemic of fatherlessness. 40% of all American children today enter the world without a father in the home married to the mother.
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We cannot win the pro-life fight without acknowledging that this is the pro-family fight. that this is the pro-marriage fight. We’re never going to end abortion if we do not secure and shore up marriage.
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We pray that this would be an opportunity, Lord God, for you to use us mere little mortals, but we possess the name of Jesus. God, use us mightily. We pray in Jesus’ name and all God’s people said, amen. Amen.
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Good afternoon. Welcome back to Washington Watch. I’m your Friday host, Jody Heiss. Thank you so much for joining us today. All right. Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to move forward with new rules requiring all U.S. passports to display a citizen’s biological sex rather than their gender identity. Now, you may recall back in 2021, the Biden administration allowed Americans to select X when it comes to their sex marker for their passport instead of male or female. Just put X. So what does the Supreme Court’s ruling tell us about where they might be when it comes to the radical left’s transgender crusade? Well, here now to discuss this and more is Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. He joined 25 other state AGs in supporting the Trump administration’s passport case. Attorney General Yost, welcome back to Washington Watch. Always great to have you, my friend.
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It’s good to see you, my friend.
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Okay, so let’s start by going back. Your initial reactions years ago when the Biden administration first announced the passport policy, what were your thoughts?
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Well, obviously I was surprised and not happy. It’s kind of what we lawyers call a legal fiction. And government documents ought to reflect reality. Look, I don’t care how you want to live your life as an adult. This is a free country. But your government documents that say who you are should reference who you are.
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Yeah, so that was exactly where I was leading with it. Did they have any legal backing or any reasoning, the Biden administration, for using X as a gender policy?
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Well, I don’t think they had any good reason. I mean, they couched it in terms of equal protection and First Amendment free expression. But as the Supreme Court described in its very brief order yesterday, that is not really a valid argument.
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So now we come up to where we are right now. You joined some other 25 state attorneys generals in an amicus brief, as well as some leaders of the Arizona state legislature supporting the Trump administration’s passport case here. Why is this to you such an important issue and something that we need to stand up on right now?
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Well, there’s a number of reasons. Obviously, The baseline reality is there are two sexes that’s been across cultures and across history that we’ve understand as male and female. So if you’re part of the reality-based community, I think you want your government to be talking about those facts. It says nothing about someone’s individual sense of their own identity, but it does go to whether those government identity documents match your presence. Maybe equally important from a legal point of view, These passports are the United States government’s representation to foreign entities that this citizen is who they say they are. You know, John Smith, who’s 6’1 and 200 pounds and a male. The notion that a judge is allowed to tell the president, in the exercise of his article, to foreign relations powers what he can and can’t do with relation to those documents, absent some kind of fraud, waste, or abuse, is really problematic. We have judges that are way outside their lane in this country. I don’t mind saying that. It’s not the entire judiciary. We’ve got some great judges who disagree with the president and still follow their oaths. We also have some activist judges that are making it up as they go along. And I am glad that the Supreme Court restrained this abuse of judicial power.
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Yeah, absolutely. So how far reaching do you think this is going to be? I mean, the Supreme Court, for example, is going to be deciding on a case later this year regarding a Colorado Christian therapist who is prevented by state law from helping young people in that state who are distressed about their gender identity. And some of these people want to achieve their chosen goal, I guess you could say, to grow comfortable with their bodies while at the same time avoiding harmful drugs and procedures. So based on what the court has said in this Passport case, do you see this as any indication that may point towards how they might rule on other cases related to the whole transgender crusade?
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I think it’s of limited value for that. Anybody that wants to predict what the court’s going to do is betting against the House in a way. Look, this was an emergency docket decision, not a decision on the merits. It’s putting on hold the local activist child trial court judges ruling until such time as it comes up to the Supreme Court on the merits. Secondly, the Colorado case that you mentioned, which is a fascinating case, and I appreciate our friends over at ADF who are representing that that counselor. It’s a different kind of case. That sounds in the First Amendment. It doesn’t invoke the foreign affairs. So while I’m hopeful for that case, we’ll have to watch the oral arguments and wait for the decision.
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Okay. Last question real quickly, and we’ve only got about a minute left, but a little bit closer to your neck of the woods. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against an Ohio school district on the pronoun mandate. Your thoughts on that?
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Well, it was a great decision by Judge Murphy of the Sixth Circuit. Olmentangy schools had a rule that said students have to go by their colleagues’ choice of pronouns. And you could be disciplined for harassment if you didn’t. And the court said, no. That doesn’t qualify as harassment. School, you’re allowed to actually police harassment, but you’re not allowed to do it by controlling speech. First Amendment still applies. Free speech still applies. This is still a free country.
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Great, great decision indeed. Thank you so much, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. Always great to have you on the program. We appreciate it. Have a wonderful weekend.
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You too, sir.
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All right, coming up, did mass migration play a role in the victory in New York’s mayor election? Well, don’t go away. We will discuss that when we come back on the other side of this break. Stay with us.
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For over 4,000 years, the Jewish people have had legal, historical, and biblical ties to the land of Israel, especially the heartland of Israel, Judea and Samaria, which much of the world still calls the West Bank. To Israelis, Judea and Samaria is far more than a name. It’s the center of their ancestral homeland where nearly 80% of the Bible’s events took place. Abraham purchased property in Hebron, Jacob in Shechem, Joshua made an altar on Mount Ebal and led the Israelites into a covenant before God. On Mount Gerizim, overlooking Shechem, Jesus talked to the Samaritan woman at the well about worshiping neither on Mount Gerizim nor in Jerusalem, but in spirit and in truth. Judea and Samaria is nearly a quarter of Israel’s current land mass, not a small strip of land on the Jordan River, but a vital and strategic part of the nation’s identity. The October 7th massacre, launched from Gaza, shattered the illusion that giving away territory brings peace. Gaza, which was once seen as the cornerstone of a two-state solution, became a launch pad for terror. Today, only 21% of Israelis support a Palestinian state. Trust in a two-state solution has all but collapsed. The Middle East is changing. Iran’s grip is weakening. New alliances are forming. But Western countries and some U.S. officials still chase the mirage of a two-state solution. History speaks clearly. The 2005 Gaza withdrawal, backed by the U.S., led not to peace, but to a terrorist regime. Judea and Samaria are 24 times larger than Gaza, deeply woven into Israel’s geographic and spiritual fabric. To surrender them would not bring peace. It would invite conflict and existential danger. Family Research Council stands with Israel’s rightful claim to sovereignty. It’s time for America to do the same for history, for justice, and for lasting security in the Middle East.
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Thank you so much for tuning in today to Washington Watch. I’m your Friday host Jody Heiss and we welcome you aboard. All right, well, I guess really it was not surprising this week’s election of Zoran Mandani as the new mayor of New York certainly is concerning to many people as he himself is a self-described Muslim Democrat socialist. In fact, here’s what House Speaker Mike Johnson had to say after the election.
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for the first time in American history, an avowed, openly proclaimed socialist, has been elected as the mayor of America’s largest city. Zoran Mondami is, without a doubt, the biggest win for socialism in the history of the country, and it is the biggest loss for the American people. He is truly a committed Marxist. And the results of that race tell you everything you need to know about where the Democrats and their party are headed.
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Yeah. So in addition to telling us where the Democrats are headed, Mamdani’s election also tells us something else. That would be how mass migration can impact cities and beyond. Well, joining me now to discuss this is Mark Krikorian, Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies. Mark, welcome back to Washington Watch. Great to have you.
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Glad to be here.
SPEAKER 06 :
Okay, so let me just state for the record, first of all, that we are certainly not against legal immigration, but opening our borders wide for anyone and everyone to come in, well, there’s consequences to that beyond the criminal elements that we’ve discussed on this show before. But Mark, you’ve been warning about this for quite some time. You even authored a book entitled The New Case Against Immigration. So why should mass immigration be such a major concern right now for us?
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Well, obviously, there’s a whole bunch of reasons. And in my opinion, they’re all kind of the same reason in that mass immigration isn’t compatible with the goals and characteristics of a modern society. We have a post-industrial knowledge-based economy. We didn’t have that 100, 200 years ago. We have a welfare state. The modern communications and transportation makes assimilation and security much more complicated. But specifically in the instance of Mayor-elect Mamdani, immigrants, generally speaking, vote not for the uh center pro-american candidate but for i don’t mean anti-american but they’re more attracted to those who like them are not part of the mainstream this is what we’ve seen historically now it’s not just that they’re voting for socialists because i mean um mom donnie quoted eugene debs who was the most famous socialist from a hundred years ago who’s a laser member of congress actually head of the socialist party He wasn’t an immigrant, but clearly when you import lots of newcomers, especially into a system, into a country that is not confident about the value of its own history and is, you know, our elites are at best ambivalent about America, if not just openly anti-American, you’re going to have things like this because um people for instance the statistics show that native-born americans in new york did not vote mostly a lot of them did vote for mom donnie but most of them didn’t it was uh immigrants it was newcomers even from other parts of the united states so immigration has real political consequences and it needs to be low and slow
SPEAKER 06 :
So let me ask you this. I’m assuming out of this that you would agree, I think the answer to this is pretty obvious, that mass immigration did in fact play a role in Mamdani’s victory in New York. But aren’t what you’re really highlighting, isn’t what you’re highlighting really about assimilation, how poorly we assimilate immigrants into this country?
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, absolutely it is. there’s sort of two aspects of that. One is assimilation is just harder today than it was in earlier waves of immigration. Not so much because the immigrants are that different, But because the world has shrunk, you can just FaceTime back home every day if you want. Hop on a plane and go to your cousin’s wedding overseas for a four-day weekend and come back. None of those things were possible in the past. And so in the old days, you were kind of forced by circumstances to put down your roots here and kind of decide, you know, fish or cut bait kind of. And then you have, like I said, our elites that don’t like assimilation very much. They don’t like America very much. And what do you think that’s the message that immigrants are getting from TV, from Hollywood, from the schools their kids go to, from the city government? So is it any surprise they’re going to vote for a guy like this?
SPEAKER 06 :
So what’s the solution? I mean, we don’t have much longer left here in this segment, but what’s the solution? Obviously, if we continue the path we’re going, it’s going to negatively impact our country. How do we turn this around?
SPEAKER 08 :
The first thing we have to do, numbers have to come down. Immigration is a government program. It’s a federal program. There’s no reason that we can’t turn the dial down. And as a government program, we’re always going to screw it up. We’re going to let in some people we shouldn’t have. Vetting is not perfect. But if the numbers are low, the consequences are also less problematic if there are problems. And then the second thing is not an immigration thing. We need to rediscover the, you know, pride in our own country and insist that immigrants, you know, their cultures and stuff, whatever, that’s fine. But they’re here now. And when in Rome, you got to do as Romans do. And we have not been sending that message for the past 50 years.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yep, so true you are. Mark Kerkorian, Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies, thank you so much for joining us. Always fascinated to speak with you.
SPEAKER 08 :
Thank you.
SPEAKER 06 :
All right, friends, don’t go anywhere. We’ve got a lot more to cover when we come back from the break. Chris Mitchell is going to be joining me to discuss the latest on developments in Israel. And there is quite a bit to cover. So don’t go anywhere. We’ll be back in just a moment.
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Three years ago, the Supreme Court issued its historic Dobbs decision, a ruling that overturned Roe versus Wade, which for nearly 50 years imposed abortion on demand, silencing voters and bypassing the democratic process across the country. The Dobbs decision was a huge step forward against abortion, but it didn’t outright ban it. It returned the power to the people. Now, 29 states have laws on the books protecting life. However, there’s a catch. Abortion numbers since Dobbs have actually gone up with an increase of 12% since 2020, climbing from 930,000 to over 1 million in each of the most recent years. So how can this be? The answer is simple, the abortion drug. Today, over 60% of US abortions involve abortion drugs, many of these without medical oversight. In 2021, the Biden administration quietly removed bare minimum longstanding safety protocols for the abortion drug that have existed for 20 years to protect women from life-threatening risks and ensuring informed consent. The Biden DOJ then declared that they would not enforce the Comstock Act, which prevents the mailing of anything that causes an abortion. This is not only illegal, but also dangerous. A study shows nearly 11% of women who take the abortion drug end up in the emergency room with serious complications. Unless the Trump administration reverses these reckless Biden-era policies, pro-life laws will remain largely symbolic. Without a full review and repeal of Mifepristone, unborn lives will remain in grave danger and pregnant mothers will remain at risk. Let’s stand for life and end this mail-order abortion drug pipeline. Sign the petition urging the Trump administration to take action at frc.org slash stop chemical abortion.
SPEAKER 06 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. I’m your Friday host, Jody Heiss. Thank you so much for tuning in with us today. Before I get to our final guest for the day, I want to share this information to you from our great friends at Regent University. Regents Israel Institute is hosting a pastor’s conference next Thursday and Friday. That’s November 13th and 14th. It will be held on their campus in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The conference is titled, Does Israel Matter for Jesus and the Gospel? And in addition to hearing why Israel does massively matter, you’re also going to hear about the assault on evangelical support for Israel and some best practices for engaging Israel and the Jewish people. Now, the conference is free, including meals, for those of you who might be able to go in person. But advanced registration is required, and certainly space is limited. So to sign up and to attend in person, or if you’d like to just listen to the panels online after the conference, go to regent.edu slash doesisraelmatter. So we encourage you to do that. It’s going to be a powerful conference. powerful conference. Now, let’s shift gears. As you know, typically on Fridays, we conclude our day and the week with a biblical worldview segment. There’s so much happening right now, though, in Israel, we want to focus this last segment there. And at a time when the government shut down and the elections of this week certainly have been dominating the news, there have been some pretty significant developments in the Middle East that are also making waves, specifically relating to Israel. So joining me now from Jerusalem on the latest is Chris Mitchell. He’s the Middle East Bureau Chief at CBN News. Chris, thank you for joining me. Always a great honor to have you.
SPEAKER 09 :
Hey, great to be with you, Jody.
SPEAKER 06 :
All right, so let’s start off with the strikes that the Israeli military carried out across southern Lebanon. What are you able to tell us about that, Chris?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, the strikes Thursday were probably the biggest strikes since the ceasefire in November of 2024. And what the IDF is doing is trying to destroy all the infrastructure that Hezbollah, with Iranian backing, is trying to reestablish in southern Lebanon. So that’s exactly what they’re doing. They’re saying what they did yesterday was just a preview of what they can do. And there is talk and rumors of maybe that the IDF would actually go in into southern Lebanon and do what the Lebanese army is supposed to be doing, which is to disarm Hezbollah and any other militia of their arms. So it’s a very difficult situation right now. Where it’s going to go, the Lebanese president, Aoun, he criticized, condemned Israel for the strikes, but he also says that… that there should be negotiations between Israel and Lebanon about disarming Hezbollah. The Hezbollah leader, on the other hand, Jody, says they will not disarm and they want no negotiations with what they call the Zionist entity. So precarious situation right now on Israel’s northern border and southern Lebanon.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, so what does all this mean for the U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel? I mean, is it still in effect?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, it’s in effect, but part of that ceasefire allowed Israel to go ahead and respond to any violations by Hezbollah of the ceasefire. So almost literally daily since the ceasefire, Israel has been hitting Hezbollah operatives or Hezbollah targets or weapons depots almost on a daily basis. But there had been a report from the Knesset we had heard about that said actually Hezbollah was rearming faster than Israel could actually stop it. So that’s why it’s a serious situation for Israel and why they’re saying this could be a preview of what’s to come if Hezbollah doesn’t disarm voluntarily. If the Lebanese army doesn’t do it, they may have to do it themselves.
SPEAKER 06 :
Yeah, I mean, that’s the big concern. Hezbollah, as you just mentioned, allegedly has been rearming. And I suppose really that shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, per se. But the truth is they’re probably not the only ones who are rearming. And even though the ceasefire agreement is in place, there’s still serious concerns. threats to Israel as they are really engaged in a multi-front war, and they have been for the last couple of years. So what are Israel’s biggest concerns at the moment?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, the biggest concern, especially up in Lebanon, was that they would have a number of missiles, hundreds if not thousands of missiles that would pose a danger once again to northern Israel. Most of the Israeli residents up there in the north had fled during the war, But about 90% of them are back in their homes, rebuilding what either had been destroyed or abandoned for a number of months. So the danger would be that they would have to evacuate again, that Hezbollah would launch attacks once more. And apparently that Hezbollah is trying to rearm through some of the channels it had used before, by sea and through Syria, and just rearming what they had lost during the war with Israel.
SPEAKER 06 :
Wow. All right, so there’s Hezbollah. Let’s talk a little bit about Hamas, the ceasefires between Israel and Hamas. What is the status of that right now, particularly regarding the bodies of the remaining deceased hostages?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, there seems to be just six remaining, the remains of those deceased hostages that have yet to be given back by Hamas to Israel. And the return of the hostages has been piecemeal, maybe one or two or three throughout the last several weeks since the beginning of the ceasefire. Israel has felt like Hamas is just stalling purposely. as a psychological tactic, as a delay so they can continue to rearm and rebuild themselves. So it remains to be seen. Once those six remains of the deceased will come back, that should end the phase one, which is all the hostages, as well as some of the bodies of Palestinians going back into Gaza. And then that would lead to phase two. Phase two, Jody, is probably the most problematic because that would be the disarmament of Hamas. Hamas does not want to disarm. In fact, they’re just enforcing their rule over what, 47 percent of Gaza that Israel had pulled out of. Israel still contains, still has. controls about 53% of the Gaza Strip, but nobody, I think, of this so-called, which is called International Stabilization Force. The U.S. is putting a draft resolution to the U.N. Security Council about this, what is called the ISF. they would be a potential peace-enforcing force that would go in to help disarm Hamas. But it remains to be seen if any of the nations actually want to do that. So it might be left up to the IDF, Jody, to go back in and to go ahead and disarm Hamas by themselves.
SPEAKER 06 :
Wow. Well, it just seems to be a never-ending saga, one page after another. And while all that is happening, Chris, we still have the U.S., as well as some other mediators, are reportedly pressing Israel to grant safe passage to about, I think it’s about 150 Hamas militants that are underground in Israel-controlled parts of Gaza. Can you tell us about that? What’s going on on that issue?
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, well, apparently they had gotten trapped in tunnels inside Rafah that’s near the Egyptian border. Egypt apparently is trying to get a compromise and saying they could be released, but they would have to give detailed reports of those tunnel systems that they’re in so Israel could go back and destroy them. That’s not acceptable to Israel right now. They don’t want to allow these 150 or so Hamas fighters to be released. So that’s where that remains right now.
SPEAKER 06 :
Wow. So what about the release of all the hostages that are held by Hamas? I mean, you touched on that, but going back to that, I mean, that’s still phase one of Trump’s 20-point peace plan. And so it seems to me that while all these other factors that you’re bringing up are coming forth, we’re still stuck on phase one, aren’t we? We are. How are things looking about going to the next phase? Are we going to get there?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, if the bodies of these six remaining hostages are released, that could be the beginning officially of phase two. But Hamas has been saying that they might not be able to recover the remains or find the remains of those six remaining hostages. So that could have actually delayed apparently this official start. of phase two, as I said, is very problematic. It’s going to be very hard to go in there. Hamas is refusing to disarm. They call this ceasefire, what they call it, is a hudna, which is, in Islamic terms, just a temporary ceasefire so that they could rearm for the next battle.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, we did have some good news yesterday, the announcement regarding Kazakhstan joining the Abraham Accords. Can you tell us about that? How’s that being received?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, good. It’s some good news here, Jody. It is good news. They do have full diplomatic relations with Kazakhstan, so it’s somewhat symbolic. But it also takes the Abraham Accords to a different geographical region away from the Middle East, so northern Africa, and it takes it into Central Asia. So that’s a positive thing. And it could be a door open to other countries. countries. And I guess the big one everyone’s looking at is Saudi Arabia. President Trump intimated that might happen just in an event last night where he said maybe Saudi Arabia is the next one. But there are other nations that could join Indonesia, Azerbaijan. So Kazakhstan could be the first of many other nations during President Trump’s second term.
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, it’d be great to see the domino effect begin there. Chris, if I can, real quickly, let me maybe switch gears a little bit. As we had off-year elections here in the U.S. this week, and perhaps the most disturbing result came out of New York City’s election of Mamdani as their next mayor. I mean, here we’re dealing with a self-proclaimed Muslim democratic socialist who now is going to be the next leader of the city with the world’s largest population of Jews. What has been the reaction there in Israel, if any?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, Jody, yeah, I think they’re quite concerned, not just the people here in Israel, but I think Jews worldwide, what this means for Jews, especially in New York City. Many people see this from a Muslim point of view, that this is going to be very difficult for Jews in Israel. in New York City. And maybe this may lead to what they call Aliyah, a large Jewish immigration of Jews from New York City, the largest collection of Jews, population of Jews outside of Israel. And many people believe many of them may be heading here to Israel because feeling much safer here in Israel as opposed to the five boroughs of New York City.
SPEAKER 06 :
Wow, what a comment and what a thought that is. All right, well, let me just push on a little bit further from there. Another concerning development is the continued rise of anti-Israel sentiments coming from some influential conservatives. And, of course, Tucker Carlson has drawn a lot of attention as well as a lot of criticism. for his remarks last week as well as the the guest that he made some of those remarks to who himself is a holocaust denier nick fuentes what has been the reaction uh in israel to that interview
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, I was just at a Christian media summit here in Jerusalem, Jody, and that was one of the topics of discussion. And what it was said during that time is Christian Zionism is simply Christian support for Zionism. And what is Zionism? It’s simply the movement in support of the Jewish people back to their homeland, their ancient homeland. That’s simply what Christian Zionism is all about. It’s as old as Christianity itself. Literally, I just came from Mount Zion from dinner, Jody, and the Gospel of Mark, it says that The pro quoted Isaiah, my house shall be a house of prayer for all nations. That’s going to be on the Temple Mount. And now every one of the Jewish prophets, the Hebrew prophets prophesied about the restoration of the land of Israel and the people of Israel back to their land. Every one of the Hebrew prophets except Jonah. It’s also been throughout church history. Tertullian in the third century said Christians should rejoice at the restoration of Israel in the 17th century. The Puritans believed in that, the 18th century. Jonathan Edwards said about that, I’ll quote, Israel would be a distinct nation. Christians should have free access to Jerusalem because Jews would look on Christians as their brethren. Jody, we’re living in that day right now, Lord Balfour in the 19th century, this 1917 Balfour Declaration. So Christian Zionism is not Christian heresy. It’s orthodox biblical belief. It’s 2,000 years old, and it’s not a brain virus. And I think people over here, Jody, they would say to Tucker, first of all, know your history, read your Bible, and come here to Israel to see for yourself the restoration of Israel. As a journalist, it’s the least that he can do.
SPEAKER 06 :
Absolutely. Chris, we’ve only got less than a minute left. So with all that’s going on, how would you encourage our viewers and listeners to pray for Israel right now?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, great wisdom for the leaders of Israel. They have a situation, threats on the northern border, the southern border. They have threats to its very legitimacy with statements like attacking Christian Zionism and Israel itself. So pray for great wisdom in these attacks. not only verbally but militarily, would be thwarted. And remember the verse in Psalms that the Lord watches over Israel. He neither slumbers nor sleeps.
SPEAKER 06 :
Wow, what a powerful, powerful passage. Thank you, Chris Mitchell, joining us from Jerusalem, Middle East Bureau Chief for CBN News. Always an honor to have you. Be safe and God bless you.
SPEAKER 09 :
Thank you, Judy. God bless you.
SPEAKER 06 :
All right, friends, that wraps up this edition and this week of Washington Watch. We appreciate so much you joining us. Hope you have a fantastic weekend and just keep mindful these prayer requests that have come your ways, the multiple issues we’re dealing with. Have a great weekend. We’ll be with you next week here on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 18 :
Washington Watch with Tony Perkins is brought to you by Family Research Council. To support our efforts to advance faith, family, and freedom, please text GIVE to 67742. That’s GIVE to 67742. Portions of the show discussing candidates are brought to you by Family Research Council Action. For more information, please visit TonyPerkins.com.
