In this engaging episode of Washington Watch, guest host Jody Heiss takes us through a whirlwind of pressing international and domestic issues. President Trump’s significant role in brokering a historic ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza sets the stage for intense discussions on the region’s fragile peace. We explore the dire challenges posed by Hamas’s control and the complex negotiations involved in returning hostages. Expert analysis by Dr. A.J. Nolte and impressive insights from Casey Harper give listeners a thorough understanding of the Middle East dynamics as peace opportunities unfold.
SPEAKER 02 :
from the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and sound bites 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 17 :
If they don’t disarm, we will disarm them. They know I’m not playing games, and it’ll happen quickly and perhaps violently. We did something monumental. We got the hostages, man.
SPEAKER 03 :
That was President Trump today at the White House saying that Hamas will be disarmed, and he’s praising the Gaza ceasefire deal that he signed in Egypt. Welcome to this October 14th edition of Washington Watch. I’m your host Jody Heiss filling in today for Tony Perkins. Thank you for tuning in. All right, coming up today, a Trump-brokered ceasefire certainly is bringing hope But Hamas executions and missing Israeli hostage bodies, well, those are tough questions. So is this ceasefire a rather fragile one? And what will happen with the upcoming phase in all of this? Dr. A.J. Nolte of Regent University’s Israel Institute will join us later to break all of that down. And China is engaged even as we speak in some brutal crackdowns on churches. Some are saying this is the worst in decades. Bob Fu is the founder of China Aid. He’s also FRC’s senior fellow on international religious freedom. He will join us later live from Taiwan with new insights. Well, thanks to President Trump, a ceasefire was signed in Egypt to stop the violence in Gaza and to free the hostages. And yet new videos now show Hamas executing seven men who were accused of working with Israel. Once again, just revealing the brutality of that group. And Hamas actually confirmed the video that has been seen as they’re trying to tighten control of the area. And of course, all of this is taking place while the deceased hostages, the remains, are still a key, key challenge in all of this. Well, joining me now is Washington Stand reporter Casey Harper. Casey, give us the latest. What’s unfolding in the Middle East as of now?
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah Jody, well families of the Israeli hostages celebrated their release yesterday, but the families of those hostages confirmed dead are now demanding the return of their loved ones. So in a letter to the U.S. Special Envoy, the families urged that maximum pressure be put on Hamas to fulfill the ceasefire deal. So far, and this is breaking news, Hamas has returned only eight of the bodies, with at least 20 more still missing in Gaza. Now, the International Committee of the Red Cross said today that the returning of the bodies of hostages and detainees killed in the Israel-Habas war will take time. They called it a massive challenge because many of those bodies are buried under rubble.
SPEAKER 14 :
The research for human remains, it’s obviously even bigger challenge than having, I would say, the people alive being released. That’s a massive challenge. As you know, there will be human remains being handed over from both sides, the Israeli authorities, but also Hamas.
SPEAKER 12 :
Meanwhile, as you shared earlier, Jody, many were troubled by that video and the sight of Hamas fighters who have reemerged on the streets, carrying out those public executions, carrying firearms, and just taking retribution on those who collaborated with Israel. Also, almost 2,000 Palestinians were released yesterday. But that raises serious concerns about the long-term stability because many of those released have been identified as murderers or even terrorists. So despite the ceasefire and the hostages released, peace still remains pretty fragile, Jody.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, it really looks like an extremely delicate situation. If I can, Casey, let’s turn back to D.C. It’s now day 14 of the shutdown. Doesn’t appear to be any kind of end in sight. What can you tell us as to what’s happening on Capitol Hill right now?
SPEAKER 12 :
That’s right, Jody. Well, the Senate is set to vote for the eighth time on a bill to reopen the government, but it’s expected to fail once again as Democrats continue pushing for their spending demands. Now, House Speaker Mike Johnson, he’s kept the House in recess, and he says there’s no reason to return until the Senate acts. Now, earlier today at the White House, President Trump, he blamed the Democrats and their woke policies for this shutdown during a meeting with Argentina’s president.
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Summers are weakened. I mean, he’s going to finish his career as a failed politician. He’s a failed politician. He’s allowed the radical left to take over the Democrat Party. So if they write books about that, if they write books about him, they’re going to have to say that his career ended by allowing the radical left to take over the party. I mean, I won an election in a landslide. because people are not into the radical left, and the Democrat Party is. People didn’t want to see men playing in women’s sports. They didn’t want to see transgender for everybody. They didn’t want to see all of the different things that they do that’s so crazy. Open borders.
SPEAKER 12 :
The president, as usual, not mincing words there. But meanwhile, President Trump is using the shutdown to protect military and law enforcement pay while cutting waste in federal agencies. So the White House, they’re leading this effort and they’re using special authority to restructure the federal workforce and redirect funding to those core national priorities, Jody.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thank you, Casey. We’ll, in fact, here in just a moment be discussing more of this with Congresswoman Claudia Tenney. But what else are you tracking, Casey?
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Yeah, Jody. Well, today at the White House, even as we speak, President Trump is awarding Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously on what would have been his 32nd birthday. Now, Kirk, who was tragically killed last month, he left behind a grieving family, his wife, Erica Kirk, who received the award on his behalf. Turning Point USA COO Tyler Bauer, he called the ceremony a deeply emotional but well-deserved tribute, Jody.
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Wow. Casey, thank you so much. Appreciate you giving us the highlights as to what’s happening. All right. I want to go back now to unpack some of the latest regarding the government shutdown. And joining me now to discuss this and more is Congresswoman Claudia Tenney. She serves on several very important committees in the House, including the Ways and Means Committee, as well as the Select Committee on Intelligence Committee. She does represent New York, the 24th congressional district there. Congresswoman Tinney, welcome back to Washington Watch. Always great to have you.
SPEAKER 18 :
Great to be on. Great to see you.
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay, so last week, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was criticized heavily when he told a reporter that when it comes to the shutdown, every day gets better for us. And of course, we’re assuming us would be referring to the Democrats in his mind. Well, today, President Trump says that the Democrats are literally getting killed politically by this ongoing shutdown. So What is it, if anything, that the Democrats think they’re gaining in this?
SPEAKER 18 :
Well, it’s interesting. I just heard you show the clip of President Trump, and I think it’s really instructive to listen to what the Democrats are actually saying and doing. So, you know, I’m from New York, so we are, you know, hopefully going to avert a massive danger, which is going to be the election of Zoran Mandami as the mayor of the city of New York, which unfortunately looks like it’s probably going to happen. The other thing is the Democrats are actually, you know, looking for some cause to counter Trump. And this theory was posed actually by Nate Cohn, who’s the political analyst for The New York Times. And you know they’re not left-leaning or right-leaning at all. They’re left-leaning and, in fact, absurdly so at times. But he pointed out something interesting, and they did a poll that last year only 1% of Americans actually are concerned about their health care. And so the Democrats know that’s not the big issue, but they’ve used this moment to create this crisis, to focus attention on healthcare, to say that they want to add to this continuing resolution their own funding, because it’s a moment that they can get, they can shine a spotlight, they can get a lot of attention, they can use this game or gimmick to get people back on healthcare on issues that they’ve traditionally been good at. And this is argued by this Nate Cohen in his article. Well, what’s interesting is his base, they just want to counter Trump. Anything Trump does, they want to go against him, but the American people actually support a lot of Trump’s policies, you know, talking about taking biological males out of women’s sports, ending the DEI and going to merit-based systems, dealing with the border and sealing the border and making sure that we’re respecting our own citizens and making sure that they’re able to prosper, getting dangerous illegal cartel members out of our communities. Those things that President Trump is doing, along with, oh, by the way, probably the most important Middle East peace deal in the entire world and probably in history happening yesterday with President Trump and a real spectacle. And where are the free Palestine people today? You know what they’re doing? They’re out there complaining that they still aren’t getting enough and then they’re not for the ceasefire until Palestine gets everything they want. Palestine, you know, the Palestine plight industrial complex, as I call it. driven by Iran, Hamas, to disrupt the Middle East, when yesterday you saw all these Middle Eastern leaders saying, enough. We want peace and prosperity. That’s what we want. And that’s why I think the Democrats are losing on this, because people are like, you know you want to add 1.5 trillion when we’re 37 trillion dollars in debt and we’re spending two trillion dollars more a year than we’re actually taking in and our revenues as you said i serve on the ways and means committee we have the highest revenues into the u.s treasury than we have ever had in the history of this country and yet we’re overspending and we’re seeing this huge deficit people want to see us prosper and president trump knows that our greatest strength is our economic strength, our economic dominance, and a strong military and projecting that strength, which is why he was able to do what he was able to do yesterday on the world stage with so many leaders of so many different countries with divergent views.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, and I think you’re spot on with that, Congresswoman. And, you know, you look at all of this, the Democrats, I think, are getting hammered with all of this. And at the same time, their ridiculous demands, as you say, of another one and a half trillion dollars. But while they are demanding that, the president, really, for many of us, a silver lining in all of this. is eliminating most recently the Office of Population Affairs, which is an agency heavily responsible for funding Planned Parenthood and pushing all sorts of sexualized material on our kids. But the president is releasing a lot of people. The government is shrinking while the Democrats continue trying to push for what you’re referring to as just things that are just simply not going to happen.
SPEAKER 18 :
You know, and what’s really important distinction there, what is the president dissolving? We have a lot of agencies, as you know, you served in Congress. We have decades old, you know, different missions, different programs that are unauthorized, but are continuing to be funded because the mission is over. And they’re going back and saying, why are we continue to fund these positions, these people, these that are not doing the job we need to do? But at the same time, What President Trump is doing is finding ways to make sure our military gets paid. This is really important. He went and found an $8 billion research and development fund to be sure that our military gets paid because it’s not fair that our military is not getting, they’re going to work, they’re keeping us safe, and they’re also, by the way, the shutdown, You know, having them unpaid, having them not investing in the readiness we need tomorrow, having them not investing in the technologies we need to counter our enemies, that is all being undermined and compromised by this shutdown because, number one, we’re in a Democratic continuing resolution dispute. This is their funding level. But also, President Trump has gone and found other creative ways, like using the tariff money to actually fund the WIC program. Truly poor women and women with children are able to get the milk and the food that they need to keep their children going. The Democrats don’t care. It’s all about cruelty and inflicting pain. And that’s what Chuck Schumer is talking about. We’ll continue to inflict pain, and they’ll have to give in. But Trump’s finding ways to actually protect the American people, to protect and respect the taxpayers. the truly needy people in our communities and especially our military and yet we heard this morning that potentially some of the democrats are thinking about suing the president so he can’t get our troops paid because they want to continue to inflict pain so they can provide Medicaid at unconscionable levels to people who don’t earn it and deserve it. And just a fact, Jody, eight million people in the state of New York are on Medicaid or on what we call the essential plan, which is extended Medicaid, and only five million are eligible. So that’s compromising. They are the people that are truly trying to help them.
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Congresswoman, thank you so much. Fantastic information. Stay tuned, friends. Much more coming your way right here on Washington Watch.
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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 U.S. 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.
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In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory. Family Research Council invites you to join our Stand on the Word Bible reading plan as we reflect upon the life of Jesus, the Word who dwelt among us. Come with us and discover the glory of the Word. Read the Gospels and witness the life-changing story of Jesus, His life, death, and resurrection. Come read how Jesus transformed the lives of common people and how those same people transformed the known world through the power of the Holy Spirit. Come with us for 10 to 15 minutes a day and read the entire New Testament before the new year. Find our Bible reading plan in daily devotionals from Tony Perkins at frc.org slash Bible. Join us in Stand on the Word.
SPEAKER 03 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thank you so much for joining us today. Jody Heiss filling in for Tony, who is traveling today. All right, while the federal funding battle continues to persist, there is another battle that’s unfolding this month, and that’s America’s trade war with China. While President Trump has paved the way for at least moderated peace in the Middle East, When it comes to America’s trade war with China, he’s making it very clear that he’s prepared to go toe-to-toe with the communist nation if it makes major escalations like the one they did last week. U.S. Trade Representative Jameson Greer told CNBC earlier today that President Trump could slap China with 100% tariffs. He could do that November 1st or even sooner, depending on Beijing’s next move.
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I think a lot depends on what the Chinese do. They are the ones who have chosen to make this major escalation. And like I said, our agreement was we’re going to keep our tariffs low if you keep the rare earths flowing. They’re now saying that they’re going to control more rare earths and downstream products. And so it makes sense that we can raise our tariffs.
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Wow. So what will or what might China do next? Joining me now to discuss this is Congressman Burgess Owens. He’s vice chair of the House Education Workforce Committee. He represents the 4th Congressional District of Utah. Congressman Owens, great to see you again. Welcome back to Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 01 :
Hi, Jody. Looking forward to chatting with you once again, my friend. It’s your honor.
SPEAKER 03 :
All right. So, you know, I guess you can look at this two different ways. Some people might say that the U.S. is at a disadvantage because we have so much imports from China. Others say China is at the disadvantage because they need the U.S. as their largest consumer. But it’s almost as if China is testing President Trump to see how he might respond to their escalation. What do you think of all this?
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, Jody, you have to understand the communist mindset. They’re bullies. They will take advantage of it any way they can. That’s what they do. It’s a muscle memory with them. They’re finally dealing with a president who’s been made for this day. It is amazing. We have a president who’s a genius when it comes down to business, to negotiating. And on top of that, he loves our country dearly. So he wants to make sure that his legacy is what we do to make sure that this American people are not only protected, but allowed to live the American dream. So up to this point, you just have to wonder, how in the world did we get here? What kind of leadership do we have to put us in a position that we can be held hostage for everything that really matters? Rare earth, pharmaceuticals, you name it. And what President Trump is pretty much saying is that we have one thing that no other country has, a remarkable middle class. It is very, very valuable. It’s what every country wants to take advantage of or to be able to benefit from. And he’s simply saying, you know what, guys, if you want to do that, that’s fine, but pay for it. We have a product that we want a good return on investment. If you want to have access to our consumer base, our investor base, then we’re going to make sure you pay for that. And so it’s a win-win. You benefit from a benefit to access. We benefit because we do have the product that everybody wants. So I’m excited about being around to see this happen, Jody, as well. Long overdue. And it just says a lot about the reckless leadership we’ve had up until President Trump.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, I think that’s a point well taken, Congressman. I mean, the president certainly is sticking to his belief of peace through strength. And there’s no question that that belief system has certainly been working for him. But at the same time, he is a peacemaker. So he doesn’t want war. In fact, his team, as I understand, even right now is in talks with China trying to avoid any escalation in all of this. So he sounds pretty positive on how things are going. So what are your thoughts on all this? Is the president moving in the right direction with this and trying to negotiate while at the same time holding a pretty big stick?
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, I’ll say this. You’re seeing something happen in Congress, Jody, and you know how important this is. We as a conference come together like we ever have. We’re the three or four seat margin, and yet we continue to win on votes. That’s because we as a conference have gotten to where we trust the president. We trust his instincts. We trust his ability to love our country and do the best for us. He also trusts the fact he will fight for us. So in essence, I think as Americans understand this, they see how he thinks, how he fights, and how he doesn’t back down, our confidence will be even more so in that he’s going to make some moves that we might not understand. Many of us are not negotiators. So we don’t understand what a true negotiator does to get to the bottom line. We just have to trust that he will do the right thing. And in the day, he’s gonna, he’s noble enough to know that if anything’s hurting our country, he will make a change. The bottom line is America comes first. And so I have total trust that he’s gonna end up doing the very best he can. And this is one last thing, Jody. One thing that happened when he said fight, fight, fight, for the first time around the world, we understood. what a true winner, what a fighter was, instinctively. It was not scripted. So that’s something he brings to the plate also. He’s the real deal. And so the China communist people, they know that too, and they’re going to deal with him accordingly.
SPEAKER 03 :
And it’s amazing how often he is right on so many things. I remember when he started this whole Liberation Day, the tariffs back in April, the legacy media was fear mongering. This is going to destroy the economy and and globally as well as here in the United States. And certainly all of that simply has not happened. One more question before I let you leave, Congressman. Pretty important day today awarding Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, marking what would have been his 32nd birthday today. Your thoughts on that?
SPEAKER 01 :
You know, there was only one Charlie Kirk, and many of us realized the power he had after we lost him. But at the end of the day, what the adversary means for evil, having a father means for good. And what we’re doing right now, we’re seeing young people finally understanding what they had an opportunity to see and witness. And we’re getting back to understanding that we have to have these conversations, tough conversations, We also understand we need to make sure educating our kids to have enough confidence that they can have conversations that might not be comfortable and still be respectful. That is the message of Charlie Curtin. And I’m just thankful that we had a chance to see the impact of this young man, 31 years old, and he’s impacted young and old. And we just now have to replicate that, which I think we will now that we see and have records of his thoughts and the way he thought through the process.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, it is amazing. I know it was a very difficult day as well as a day of great honor for his wife, Erica, to be a part of that award ceremony. What an amazing man he was in every way. Thank you so much, Congressman Burgess Owens of Utah.
SPEAKER 01 :
Jody, his legacy moves on and we’ll see that in the generations to come. So I’m excited to see that be part of it. So thanks so much for that opportunity to speak on this for sure.
SPEAKER 03 :
I am as well. Thank you, Congressman Owen. It’s always great to see you. All right, coming up, China may be engaged with the Trump administration on trade talks, but the Chinese Communist Party has been engaging in something else. They’ve been persecuting and going after churches. We’ll unpack all of these details right after the break, so stay with us.
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At Family Research Council, defending the family isn’t just a mission, it’s our daily calling. Every team member at FRC uses their God-given talents to stand for biblical truth, protect life, and uphold religious freedom.
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Here at Family Research Council, we face many threats to the family, threats that have been with us for some time. Abortion, the gender ideology threat, the attacks on marriage, the attacks on parental authority, and the attacks on religious freedom. We have to promote, support, strengthen, and incentivize family growth so families take their place in society in a place of honor.
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I’m defending the family by working in the Center for Biblical Worldview to provide cutting-edge research and resources for pastors, ministry leaders, and Christian parents.
SPEAKER 09 :
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SPEAKER 03 :
Thank you so much for joining us today on Washington Watch. Welcome back. I’m Jody Heiss. An honor to be filling in for Tony today. All right. It’s no secret whatsoever that the Chinese Communist Party asserts control over religious groups in China and restricts the activities and freedoms of people of faith there. And that certainly is just putting it lightly. But there is now a much greater crackdown on churches. It’s taking place across multiple provinces. That largely took place over the weekend, and it now has alarms going off, not only in China, but at all different places all around the world. Some are calling it the most extensive and coordinated wave of persecution against churches in decades. So what happened? And what can we make of all of this? Well, joining me now to discuss this live from Taiwan is Dr. Bob Fu. He’s both the founder and president of China Aid, as well as a senior fellow for international religious freedom here at the Family Research Council. Bob, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thank you for joining us.
SPEAKER 20 :
Thank you, Judy, for having me.
SPEAKER 03 :
All right. There’s a lot going on. And I know it was touched on a little bit on yesterday’s program, but there wasn’t enough time, unfortunately, to get into the details. So why don’t we start with, if you can just share with us what’s been taking place the last few days and with the various church pastors being arrested and so forth, what’s happening in China?
SPEAKER 20 :
Yes, Julie. Since October 9th, within 72 hours, the Communist Party in China basically had launched a most coordinated, orchestrated by the central government crackdown against the Chinese house church, namely one of the largest urban house church network called the Zion Church. that they have over 5,000 members in 40 cities across China. And just because the church’s explosive growth, the Communist Party took this very almost unprecedented sense of the Cultural Revolution 40-some years ago by rounding up nearly 30 major church leaders, including the founder of this church, Pastor Ezra Jin, and many of the senior pastors across China. I mean, they were being rounded up at midnight, and some in front of their infant daughters and children. And their mothers and some family members were even hospitalized because of the terrorist style of attack against these church leaders.
SPEAKER 03 :
Now, China says, at least on paper, I’ll put it that way, the Constitution says that it is a country that supports religious belief and so forth. In fact, a spokesperson from the Chinese foreign ministry said that their country protects religious freedom. But what’s the reality? Are they just ignoring the Constitution?
SPEAKER 20 :
Oh, this is a total violation of the Chinese own constitution. And certainly it’s also a brutal violation against the international norms on the protection of religious freedom. So what happens in China shows that the CCP and its leadership, led by this Emperor Xi Jinping, has declared a war against the Christian faith. And across China, since he took power, many, many hundreds of churches have been under this massive crackdown. and pastors were arrested and sentenced to up to 15 years in the past few months, many of them being accused of committing fraud for simply taking the offerings and tithing. So the CCP basically criminalizing the tithing and offering of the churches for the first time since the Cultural Revolution in 1960s.
SPEAKER 03 :
Very, very concerning. We’ve only got a couple of minutes here. So real quickly, what needs to happen to turn things around, and how would you encourage our viewers, our listeners, to be praying for this situation?
SPEAKER 20 :
So, Julius, we all know, as the history has told us, both from the biblical history and the history for the revival of the Chinese church, shows the more persecution there is, the more revival there will be. That actually was the first response by Pastor Ezra Jean, whose three children are all American citizens. Actually, one of their children, the daughter of Grace, is working in the Senate Republican Study Committee. So it’s really, I think we need to pray for the perseverance, pray for the protection of those who are in jailed. And as we remember those who are in bond, as if we are bonded with them, like Hebrews 13.3 told us. And of course, we also need to speak up for them. Like Secretary Rubio has spoken, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and including former Vice President Mike Pence, had already spoken against this violation and calling the CCP to immediately release those innocent pastors who has done nothing wrong except preaching the gospel and building healthy civil society in China. We need to pray for them.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thank you so much, Dr. Bob Fu, Senior Fellow for International Religious Freedom here at FRC and President of China Aid. Folks, there is an issue that we all need to be not only aware of, but persistent in praying for. All right, we’re going to dive deeper into what’s happening in the Middle East now that the live hostage has been released. Where do we go from here? Dr. A.J. Nolte will join me. Stay tuned.
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SPEAKER 19 :
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SPEAKER 03 :
You’re tuned in to Washington Watch. I’m your guest host today, Jody Heiss, filling in for Tony. And listen, it’s almost here, but it’s not too late. Our Pray, Vote, Stand Summit is going to be taking place the latter part of this week, October 17th and 18th, Friday and Saturday. It’ll take place at the Calvary Chapel in Chino Hills in Southern California. Uh, Friends, this is a powerful, powerful gathering. Some of you, perhaps even right now, are realizing this is something you need to go for. I want to encourage you to get more information. You can even register by going to PrayVoteStand.org. That’s PrayVoteStand.org. All right. Yesterday, we’ve talked about it. Everyone’s talking about it. Yesterday was certainly a historic day as the release of the remaining living hostages who had been held by Hamas for over two years. And there was a lot of fanfare, of course, yesterday over the peace summit that took place in Egypt, which brought together world leaders to mark what was referred to as the historic dawn of a new Middle East. But if yesterday was the first step toward wider peace in the region, how much further is there yet to go? And what kind of obstacles remain? Well, joining me now to discuss this and more is Dr. A.J. Nolte, his associate professor and director of the Israel Institute at Regent University. Dr. Nolte, always great to have you on the program. Thank you for joining us.
SPEAKER 11 :
Jody, always good to be here.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thanks for having me. Okay, let’s start with yesterday’s summit in Egypt. What came out of that?
SPEAKER 11 :
I think the main outcome from that is just how much leverage and influence the president has right now in the Muslim world. He’s got the hot hand, and he’s riding that to try to get as much as he can out of it. I think the other thing that we really have to talk about, even before we talk about Egypt, is Israel. the reception of Trump, the way Israel has responded to Trump, and, you know, sort of the impact that him, and really it was a lot of his leverage that got the hostages back. That impact on Israel has been outstanding. Then you look at the Muslim world and you’ve got, you know, the president of Pakistan is now saying they want to nominate Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. So right now Trump has the hot hand. He’s found something in terms of moving in the Middle East that has been effective And I think everybody’s kind of waiting and watching to see what he’s going to do and how they’re going to respond. But right now, he’s actually, I think, got more leverage in this situation than American presidents are used to having in the Middle East.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, it’s pretty stunning, the leverage that he appears to have. But let me ask you this. I’ve mentioned it a couple of times. What we saw yesterday is phase one. So unpack for us, if you would, what does the next phase look like? And where is this thing going from here?
SPEAKER 11 :
So the nitty gritty of Trump’s plan is that now you have to actually figure out what’s the next step in Gaza. Who’s going to be in charge? What’s the civilian authority going to look like? They’ve talked about having some sort of Arab and Muslim solution for that. What does that look like? The point that everyone’s really talking about is how do we get Hamas removed as a military presence? I think that’s important. That’s key. And you’ve got to have trusted actors that can come and provide peace and security. One thing that’s not getting talked about as much is what’s the education going to look like? Are you going to have reform of the education system in Gaza that has bred this radicalism? And there’s talk about interfaith dialogue. I’d like to hear more about religious freedom being part of the future in Gaza because there’s a lot of Islamic supremacists that would say we’re committed to peaceful coexistence. As long as you submit to Islam, right? You can peacefully coexist, but you’re not equal. Religious freedom is necessary for equality. So those are, I think, the hallmarks that I’m watching for. I think it’s difficult for us to get there. The one good thing I can say in terms of the proximate issue, the immediate issue, which is what’s going to happen with Hamas, is with the living hostages out, Hamas has less room to maneuver. without the risk of Israel coming back in a military way and they’re having reprisals. I don’t think that’s off the table at this point. And I think hopefully the president and Prime Minister Netanyahu can continue to apply their leverage effectively to build at least something that’s sustainable in Gaza moving forward.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, and yet we’re already seeing executions of Hamas continues to carry out with some of their own citizens who they deemed helped Israel. I wanted to ask you this. In light of what you were talking about a moment ago with President Trump’s leverage to accomplish what he’s been doing. It was interesting to me that U.S. Secretary Anthony, former U.S. Secretary Anthony Blinken, has been trying to take credit for President Trump’s 20-point peace plan, saying that in reality all of that was nothing but an add-on to the Biden administration and what they had developed. How do you respond to that?
SPEAKER 11 :
You know, Jody, victory has a thousand fathers. Laughter. Yeah. Yeah. Victory has a thousand fathers. The Biden administration was in charge from October 8th through January 19th, October 8th, 2023 through January 19th. January 19th of 2025. They didn’t get it done. And if they’re saying this, this was not the same deal that was because Israel has more leverage in the deal that Trump has actually to maintain a presence in Gaza. So the Biden administration was not able to get this done. And it wasn’t the same framework. And part of the other reason we can say it wasn’t the same framework is because the stumbling block was always Hamas. The deal was actually that Biden offered was more favorable. But the Biden administration followed the same consensus, unfortunately, of some Republicans and all the Democrats, which is you have to persuade and you have to speak softly to the Arabs and pressure the Israelis. Trump understood that the Arab countries in the Middle East respect strength. He demonstrated strength. um he and then when he put he acted from a position of strength he was able to put as a non-negotiable hamas is going to de-radicalize disarm and israel is going to maintain a security buffer in gaza that’s in trump’s plan and so that’s the basis of negotiation so no it’s not the same plan and even if it was the same plan the biden administration had such a flawed understanding of how to operate in the middle east that they were never going to get there because you have to project american strength and american strength leads people to be afraid of what Trump is going to do. And then he doesn’t necessarily threaten, but he takes steps to show, here, I’m going to do you a favor, but then I want you to reciprocate. So he understands the transactional nature. And so he just has a better feel for the region than professional diplomats like Tony Blinken. And I think that’s all something we need to be thinking about as we try to understand the Middle East and how to operate effectively there.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, and when he sent a bunker buster to destroy a nuclear facility in Iran, I mean, that kind of helps with adding the strength of what this guy says he means. So let’s go back to the hostages. You were talking about that a moment ago. One of the concerns that a lot of people have, I think, rightfully so, as it relates to the future of the Middle East, deals with these hostages. Okay, so we have 20 living hostages that have been held by Hamas were finally released. But in return, Israel released nearly 2,000 Palestinians, and at least somewhere in the ballpark of 250 of those had been convicted of crimes, including murder and deadly attacks and terrorism, all sorts of stuff. So this is a concerning issue with all of this. I mean, we all remember it only took 19 terrorists to commit the 9-11 attacks on the U.S. So what about this? How important is this issue of some 2,000 more or less being released back to Hamas?
SPEAKER 11 :
It’s definitely an issue to keep an eye on, particularly in that Judea and Samaria region, which is, I think, where the locus of conflict and the difficult thorny issues that haven’t been resolved are all going to be located kind of in one spot. Even if Gaza gets fixed, that’s still going to be an issue, right? And, of course, you did have the Sinwar deal, or Sinwar came out, the guy who planned October 7th, in the last hostage release deal. But the unfortunate reality is prisoner releases for hostages is a longstanding precedent that existed. And I think on October 8th, everybody in Israel realistically understood that that last batch of living hostages wasn’t coming out without a lot of prisoners being released. Our hope is that the Israeli intelligence is very focused now that they’re not as divided in terms of their focus in quite as many fronts, that they can be focused on this and prevent anything from happening because they don’t have to worry about some of the other. You know, it’s not a seven front war anymore. Right. So they have to worry about some of the other fronts to the same extent. So that would be the optimistic case. But it is definitely a concern. It’s definitely something to watch. But I think it was a price Israel knew they were going to have to pay.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah. And I think as a price had to be paid to get to where we are right now. And then the question for this point, obviously, is Hamas going to hold their end of the deal? We’ll see that. But part of them holding their end of the deal is the bodies of the deceased hostages. Only four of them have been returned so far. And quite frankly, Dr. Nolte, it’s not looking very likely that the bodies of the others are going to be returned by Thursday for sure. Could that risk potential stability of this whole ceasefire and the ability potentially to progress to the second phase of this peace deal?
SPEAKER 11 :
The whole thing is an unstable powder keg, right? I mean, and the devil’s in the details and we know Hamas is going to try to cheat at some point. It’s a shock to me that they didn’t try to cheat with the 20. I’m glad we got them out. But yes, they’re absolutely going to try to cheat and they’re going to try to negotiate and they’re going to try to weasel out as much as possible. Trump needs to consistently continue to apply leverage to the actors in the Middle East, particularly Qatar, that seem to have a little bit of a funder’s veto over Hamas’s actions. That’s going to have to be maintained throughout this process. And you should also expect that Hamas is going to try to throw wrinkles as much as possible because they want to preserve as much of their influence and infrastructure in Gaza as they possibly can. And so you’re going to have to watch them every step of the way. Right. And so, you know, our hope is it’ll continue to progress well. we can rejoice because the hostages are out. The final verdict of this is not written, but credit to President Trump. I’ve got to tell you, Jody, I didn’t think that all the living hostages would come home. It’s the first time in my time of studying the Middle East that I’ve actually been unduly pessimistic about the Middle East. And so I think Trump deserves full credit for that. And Yahoo deserves credit. They played things very well over the past several months in setting this up very carefully, I believe. And we take the win today and recognize the fact that starting tomorrow, you’re going to have to watch Hamas very carefully because they’re going to cheat six ways to Sunday if they can get away with it.
SPEAKER 03 :
Wow. Yeah. And that brings up another concern that I have and that many people are asking about right now. And that is those who signed yesterday’s Declaration for Enduring Peace and Prosperity. Among those who signed it was the emir of the state of Qatar, as well as the president of Turkey. And Both of those are kind of questionable there. There’s some concern expressed about the role that those countries may have in all of this. Can you kind of break that down for us as to why this is potentially concerning?
SPEAKER 11 :
So why is it potentially concerning? Because really, there are three power blocks in the Middle East right now. One is, of course, Iran and all of its proxies, which is just taking it on the chin. The second is what I call the status quo coalition. That’s the United States, Israel, the Gulf countries and some of the other Arab Sunni states like Jordan and Egypt. And the third are what I would call the Sunni revisionists. These are people who are not fully on board with Iran, but they’re potentially open to a more Islamic-flavored, perhaps in Turkey’s case, a neo-Ottoman flavor to the Middle East and changing up that status quo. And so Turkey and Qatar are trying to set themselves up as a regional power block. We’ve seen their moves in Syria. They’ve been doing stuff throughout the Arab Spring. where they’re not quite on the side of iran they’re not quite on the side of the status quo folks but they’re setting themselves up as a third force that can balance between them and if iran stumbles they’re going to step into the gap now why is it important to have turkey and qatar signatory to this because if they sign on to the peace deal and the peace deal you know and and the declaration of intent and all that says no messing around and no funding nonsense in gaza if they don’t sign on you can’t hold them accountable if they do anything about it And I think President Trump has a decent amount of leverage over both because they’re in NATO, because they’re U.S. assets. But I think you’re going to have to watch them very carefully. Keep an eye on them. Do not trust them. Make sure that you have and maintain that leverage over them. And if they start to act in ways that are violating the deal, just, you know, a little bit of a reminder of the fact that the United States is watching and will take action if they do things that we don’t particularly think could destabilize the situation. So I think Trump is making the judgment right now that it’s better to have them in the tent where you can keep an eye on them. And that’s probably the right call for now in the long term. I think Turkey and Qatar have the potential to be every bit as dangerous as the Iranian axis, if not more so, because they’ll have more legitimacy in the region because of history, because of Sunni Islam, for a number of reasons.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yep, and that’s exactly why I wanted to bring this up. I mean, it is, I think, when you say probably the right decision today, that’s well said. Just less than a couple of minutes left. Let me throw this last question out here to you. Now as we have what some are calling a new dawn in the Middle East, President Trump now has to set sights on peace in Ukraine. So how do you see Or do you see any impact of what’s happened in the Middle East, what is happening in the Middle East, and that impacting the Russia-Ukraine peace talks?
SPEAKER 11 :
I do, and here’s why. What I’ve noticed with Trump in terms of his strategic approach this term is that he’ll start by trying the direct negotiation route, where he’s talking directly to the players, where he’s sending Witkoff to talk directly to the players, And then when they make it clear to him they’re not going to play ball, then he starts looking for the people that have leverage over them. So Witkoft, of course, before the administration starts and at the beginning, tries to negotiate the deal with Hamas. They’re doing the shuttle diplomacy. Hamas won’t play. And Trump’s like, OK, I need more leverage. So he goes back. And I think he and Netanyahu orchestrated things so that Trump would have more leverage over Qatar, which was then the main funder of of Hamas, and also that Iran would be weakened and that the U.S. would demonstrate strength. So now we have a situation where Putin has made it clear he’s not going to play ball with Trump’s plans. So we all thought it was kind of bluster when Trump said, I want to start terrifying the people that are trading with Russia as a means of ending the conflict. But that actually fits with Trump’s strategic approach. If Putin’s not going to play ball, look for him to try to find leverage points with the people that are propping up the Russian economy to try to put pressure on them so that they will push Putin into accepting a deal. I think that is very consistent with the strategy he just deployed in the Middle East. We’ll see if it works as well in Russia and Ukraine.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thank you so much, Dr. A.J. Nolte of Regent University. Always love having you on the show. Thank you for joining us. All right, friends, that wraps up another edition of Washington Watch. Thank you so much for joining us. Hope you have a wonderful evening, and we’ll see you tomorrow right here on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 02 :
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.
