In this episode of Washington Watch, host Tony Perkins delves into the ongoing ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran. Discussions also cover the political dynamics unfolding in Washington, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and the House standoff over President Trump’s military powers. Insights from Chairman Rick Crawford shed light on Iran’s role as a state sponsor of terrorism, while Rabbi Pesach Walicki provides a perspective on Israel’s security concerns in the Middle East. The episode further explores the implications of recent election results in Wisconsin and Georgia on future political trends.
SPEAKER 20 :
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. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins starts now.
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A two-week ceasefire is not sufficient. We need a permanent end to Donald Trump’s costly and reckless war of choice. And House Democrats are committed to bringing about that outcome.
SPEAKER 05 :
That was House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries earlier this afternoon. Welcome to this Thursday, April 9th edition of Washington Watch. I’m your host, Tony Perkins. Thanks so much for joining us. Well, coming up, we’re in day two of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire, but there’s still very little movement through the Strait of Hormuz as anticipation builds for high-stakes peace negotiations this weekend. Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rick Crawford, joins us with an assessment of where things stand with Iran. Rick. And later, signal pollster John Rogers breaks down this week’s elections in Wisconsin and Georgia, along with the latest trends as we head toward the midterm elections. All of that and more. President Donald Trump says he expects Iran to honor a fragile ceasefire ahead of planned talks this weekend, warning that failure to comply could trigger major U.S. strikes. Joining me now is Casey Harper, Washington Stands reporter, who has been closely following today’s major developments. Casey, where do things stand right now with the ceasefire?
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, thanks, Tony. That press conference with Hakeem Jeffries was almost a little humorous to me. I think everyone knows that a two-week ceasefire is not enough, but it was viewed as progress so they can work this thing out. Now, President Trump has remained firm on this. He’s warned Iran that they have to follow through on the terms that they do have, or he’s going to resume those large-scale military attacks. But Iran, on the other hand, is accusing the U.S. of already violating the deal because Israel has continued to strike Hezbollah terror targets in Lebanon. Now, the White House says, hey, Lebanon is not part of the Iran Strait of Hormuz ceasefire, but Iranian leadership says it is. So that’s going to be a key point of contention this weekend. Now, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also spoke to the issue, acknowledging the uncertainty surrounding the ceasefire while visiting British troops in the Gulf today. Here’s a clip.
SPEAKER 02 :
Relief that there’s now a ceasefire. I think a general sense that it’s fragile, that there’s work to do in relation to it.
SPEAKER 11 :
Now, oil prices continue to climb towards $100 a barrel, and the markets are a bit nervous as there’s a lot of doubts over the longevity of this agreement. But it is progress, and we’ll be watching closely this weekend, Tony.
SPEAKER 05 :
House Republicans earlier today blocked a Democratic push to limit President Trump’s military actions in Iran using a brief pro forma session to sidestep a vote and deepen the standoff over the presidential war powers. So, Casey, what actually happened during this session and how does it what does that signal about Congress’s role in this conflict going forward?
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, the House Democrats are trying to be more active here, but House Republicans shut down this Democratic effort to force a vote that would limit President Trump’s military authority over the Iran conflict during this brief session that you mentioned. But Democrats said this is not the first time they’ve done this. They’ve repeatedly tried and failed, once again, to pass any kind of war powers resolution or any measures in the House or Senate that is forcing congressional approval for the president to continue voting. Now, we have a clip here from Democratic Congressman Glenn Ivey, who spoke this morning.
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This morning, we went to the House floor to demand that the Congress take up the War Powers Resolution that’s been under consideration before, but we have to get back to it again. We’ve been at war for 40 days. We’ve only been in session for 33.
SPEAKER 11 :
The White House is, of course, insisting that the president’s actions are legal, and Republicans are largely backing his approach on this one.
SPEAKER 05 :
All right. Thank you, Casey. We’ll see you a little later in the program. Appreciate the update. All right. I want to shift back now to the conflict with Iran. Starting with the talks, Vice President J.D. Vance will lead this weekend. Joining me now to discuss this and more, Congressman Rick Crawford, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He represents the 1st Congressional District of Arkansas. Chairman Crawford, welcome to Washington Watch. Great to see you. Yes, sir. Thanks for having me. Let me start with this. How would you describe the current state of the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran?
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, you know, I don’t want to agree with Keir Starmer any more than I have to. I would characterize it, as he did, as fragile. And the reason it’s fragile is because you’re dealing with a dishonest broker in Iran. So they’re trying to dictate the terms of this ceasefire while simultaneously authorizing attacks from Lebanon into Israel and against Israeli targets and possibly American targets. and then act like they’re not a part of the discussions as it applies to the Strait of Hormuz, if you’re going to engage in this kind of action as you are supposedly entering into, in good faith, talks for a cessation of hostilities as it applies to the Strait of Hormuz and broadly the region, I think it would be wise for you to call off your proxies in Lebanon with Hezbollah and possibly other areas that might attempt strikes against Israel or our allies in the region. So that’s just not a good faith gesture on the part of the Iranians, and that is why this is a fragile state of existence as it applies to our current ceasefire.
SPEAKER 05 :
I think that’s a great analysis. I mean, we ought to be calling upon Iran to pull back its proxies just as they’re wanting us, although Israel is not a proxy for us. They’re operating on their own. They’ve got more at stake than we do. If they want us to pull Israel back, why aren’t they pulling back Hezbollah?
SPEAKER 19 :
I mean, that’s a great question. And this is why what we’ve known for years as, you know, Iran has been the has been acknowledged as the largest state sponsor of terror in the world since 1984. We’ve been at war with Iran since 1979. So 47 years of this nonsense and the Iranians using proxies to do their bidding while they attempt to stand back from this as if their fingerprints aren’t on it. They 100% have control over Lebanon’s Hezbollah, as well as Hamas, as well as the Houthis, as well as the Iraqi Shia militia, and any other of their proxies that they want to control. Now they’re acting as if they can’t, and that it’s a separate consideration. This is an all-of-region conflict. And they have attacked pretty much everybody adjacent to them. And so why they would try to pick and choose which of their proxies they may or may not be able to control is a gesture of bad faith on their part.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, Mr. Chairman, speaking of bad faith, when you look at the conflict that we’ve had with them going back to the late 70s, What are your expectations of this weekend’s peace talks? What point do we need to get to that we can say, OK, we’ve reached a place where we can have a managed peace. We feel the region is safer. We feel that, for instance, Israel, our key ally in the region, is safer. And I would say even thinking about the Iranians that want peace, the Christians there being persecuted, at what point do we say, okay, we’ve accomplished what we set out to do?
SPEAKER 19 :
I’m not sure where you reach the point at which you can say, mission accomplished. And that’s a dangerous statement in any context. And so I think we have to be really careful about defining what that looks like, what the end state is. I think what we can agree on is that Iran can never have nuclear capability. They’ve demonstrated a willingness to breach any ethics as it applies to engagement with their neighbors, as it applies to even enemies. But they’ve been talking about death to America, death to Israel since 1979. So where do we reach a point at which we say, okay, Iran, you’re good to go? Well, I think it starts with eliminating their ability to launch in any capacity, that ballistic missile capability ever. And that means short range, intermediate range, long range. What they’ve demonstrated is they have built a fence around their ability to develop nuclear weapons. much like North Korea did, and how they were able to acquire a nuclear weapon because they essentially held Seoul, South Korea hostage, knowing that the largest artillery emplacement in the world was trained on 10 million people. They used that as a hedge of protection to allow them to proliferate nuclear weapons. And Iran is doing much the same. They built out first a ballistic missile capability that allowed them to range targets as far away as 3,000 kilometers. And they’ve demonstrated that, showing that they have the ability to reach Diego Garcia. Well, all you’ve got to do is change course 180 degrees, and you can reach Europe. So why the Europeans aren’t outraged by this is still a mystery to me, but my point is, got to stop the ballistic missile production, got to deteriorate, dismantle, completely dismember their ability to launch any kind of strike, short, medium, long range, and then remove fissionable material. And then we might have a reasonable point at which we can say, okay, we’re satisfied.
SPEAKER 05 :
So, Mr. Chairman, I think what you lay out there is reasonable. And I think at that point, we do have greater stability in the region. However, given the record that we’ve had with Iran and you pointed out yourself, they’re not trustworthy. How do we put in place a system that can ensure that that is, in fact, happening?
SPEAKER 19 :
Well, it’s very difficult because, you know, the IAEA has also had problems being able to verify any of these agreements that have been put forward, like the JCPOA, where they routinely either block access or just out and out lie about their current state to these oversight agencies that are there as a part of the agreement. agreement. And so how do you reach an agreement that is verifiable that we can go into knowing that there is some sort of mechanism to enforce that agreement? I want to be positive and have a positive glass half full look to this and approach on this deal. But History suggests this is going to be very, very difficult to execute. I will say that there are three individuals. If they can get a deal, these are the three individuals I think that could get it. That is Jared Kushner, Steve Witkoff, and J.D. Vance. So, you know, God bless them. I hope that they’re successful. And I’ll sit back and watch and pray for their success because I think the world really needs them to be successful. And I really hope that Europe will, you know, that the scales will be lifted from their eyes and they can start to recognize that they can play a more pivotal role here as it applies to reigning in Iranian hostilities in the region and beyond.
SPEAKER 05 :
Chairman Crawford, I agree with you. I think we should look at this with glass. The glass is half full, but we have eyes that are wide open. And as you’ve laid out, we’ve got a long history with this country. As we go into these negotiations, there’s reports that the Iranian regime has accelerated the execution of protesters that they had imprisoned. What leverage do we have in these conversations this weekend to possibly put a stop to that?
SPEAKER 19 :
That is such a good question because I don’t really know what buttons we can push to protect from the persecution of folks that I don’t want to say necessarily religious minorities. People have this idea that Iran is all just a bunch of Shiites. That’s not necessarily true. It’s not a monolithic culture. In fact, that’s part of their problem. And so they are kind of executing with impunity. That is, if there’s a political dissident, if there’s someone with a different religious affiliation, certainly Christians are top of the list, but there are a significant number of Jews. There are Druze. There are different versions of Islam. There are, because there are Kurds, there may be, and the Kurds have a, different levels of, or different sects of religious practices among them. So this is not a single group of folks, Shiites, that are just rooting out political dissidents. They look for everybody that doesn’t walk, talk, think like the mullahs. And those are targets for elimination. And how we stop that, I honestly think it stops when the mullahs quit being the ones running the country.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah. Chairman Crawford, I want to thank you for joining us. I really appreciate your insight in the conversation we had. Look forward to seeing you again real soon.
SPEAKER 19 :
Yes, sir. Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER 05 :
All right, folks, let me encourage you to pray for the situation. As the chairman said, he’s praying for those that will be at the negotiations table this weekend. Text IRAN to 67742 and join the prayer effort IRAN to 67742 to pray into the situation. Don’t go away. We’re back after this.
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And again, we don’t retreat. You will never see in front of this building here in Washington, D.C., a white flag flying. We will never step back. We will never surrender. And we will never be silent. Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for making us part of your day. The website, TonyPerkins.com. All right. The results of this week’s elections in Georgia and Wisconsin have many warning signs for Republicans. Three races that were closely watched were Wisconsin’s state Supreme Court race, Georgia’s congressional special election, and the mayoral race in Waukesha, Wisconsin. And most of the headlines are heralding Democrats as big winners. Is that true? What are the takeaways? And are we seeing any trends that could impact this year’s midterm elections? Joining us now to unpack this and give us some analysis is John Rogers, senior partner and pollster at the polling firm Signal. John, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks so much for joining us. Tony, great to be with you again. So tell us what happened in Wisconsin and Georgia. What are you reading there?
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, so in Wisconsin, you had an open state Supreme Court seat that was up for election. There was no incumbent. And the Democrat won by a really hefty margin of about 20 percentage points, right? And obviously, Wisconsin is a state that President Trump won in 2024 over Kamala Harris. Not a great sign for Republicans there, but you do have to keep in mind that this is what you would call an off-term election. It’s a spring election. Those tend to favor Democrats more because Democrats have become more and more the party of the white-collar, college-educated class. The Trump base, which has made up more of working-class voters now, is less likely to turn out in an election in the spring. It’s a tough outcome for conservatives in Wisconsin to have a Democrat added to the bench there. And then in Georgia, in northwest Georgia, in the Dalton area, this was a special election to replace Marjorie Taylor Greene, who obviously stepped down from Congress. The Republican did defeat the Democrat by 12 percentage points, but this is also a district that President Trump had won by about 35 points. So a pretty stark drop down from 35 points to a 12 point victory. You have to keep in mind, though, Tony, that Democrats outspent Republicans five to one here. And it was an election two days after Easter. And so low turnout was kind of expected.
SPEAKER 05 :
John, I think it’s important that little caveat that you just mentioned about the outspending of the Democrats, the Republicans, they’re trying to change the narrative. And so these when a minority party is, you know, focused on winning a special election, I mean, they throw everything they can because they want to change the narrative.
SPEAKER 08 :
That’s right. And there’s no doubt that enthusiasm is really high on the Democratic side. If you go back to the North Carolina primary election in March, there were 200,000 more people who voted in the Democratic primary than voted in the Republican primary. So what I would say right now is that Democrat voter enthusiasm is at a 10 of 10. Enthusiasm is extraordinarily high. And so for people who are on the right side of the aisle, for Republicans, for Speaker Johnson, for President Trump, and all the way down to people who are running for state legislature, they really have to work hard to make sure that Republican base turns out in November.
SPEAKER 05 :
OK, let’s talk about that, because you just your firm just did a nationwide poll. And one of the things that you were tracking on this is that you saw the right direction where the people saying whether or not the country was on the right direction, shifting significantly among Republicans. That should be a concerning sign.
SPEAKER 08 :
It is a little bit of a concerning sign. You know, I think that there is a little bit of angst about the war in Iran. And then you see the high gas prices. Republicans still strongly support the president’s actions in Iran. But there’s still you can support the actions taken against Iran, but then also look at gas being above four dollars a gallon, maybe in your state, and then have some angst about that. So I think that explains a little bit of the softening among Republican voters.
SPEAKER 05 :
So enthusiasm is a key factor in elections, even more so now as the electorate is so narrowly divided. I mean, I think in your polling, you show there’s about a 12 percent in the middle, the undecided independent voters that everyone’s going to be trying to reach. But you can’t abandon your base in trying to reach those undecided independent voters. How do you do that?
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, for Republican electeds and for Republican candidates, they have to show their base that they’re campaigning on the issues that the base cares about. They have to show that they’re advocating for the unborn, for sanctity of life issues. They have to show that they are working hard to uphold the immigration laws of the land and work with President Trump in deporting illegals. But then you also have to do that in such a way that as you’re talking to voters in the middle, you’re holding on to your principles, which the core base Republican voter expects you to. But then you’re also offering solutions to all voters when it comes to things like inflation, which is the top priority that voters have right now across the country.
SPEAKER 05 :
So, John, our voters looking for specifics. I mean, we live in an age of soundbites. And you talk about, for instance, the pro-life voters. I mean, that’s a pretty good chunk of Republican voters. That’s about two thirds of Republican voters identify as pro-life. But just saying I’m a pro-life candidate, given the fact that abortion numbers have risen in the country since the overturn of Roe, Is it going to require more specific policy initiatives in order to gain the trust and support of those voters?
SPEAKER 08 :
I think it will, Tony. For a lot of pro-life voters, for a lot of Republican voters, this is an issue that they’ve prayed about, that they have thought about, that they’ve volunteered around for decades. And the reversal of Roe v. Wade with the Dobbs decision, for a lot of those Republican voters, is just the first step. And what they want to see is that the unborn are protected at the state level and then also at the federal level. And understand that that’s going to take a lot of work, a lot of prayer, a lot of effort organizing to do. But on that issue, that’s where Republican primary voters want the party to go.
SPEAKER 05 :
We have just a little over a minute left, John. How significant is the Iran war impacting the standing of Republicans with voters right now?
SPEAKER 08 :
We asked about support or opposition to the Iran war last month and then repeated it again this month in our national poll that just came out. And we found that net opposition rose by seven points across the electorate. And I don’t think that’s too surprising. As gas prices have risen, voters have a lot of concern about that. And so we’ll see. Obviously, you have the ceasefire, the efforts by Vice President Vance at the negotiating table, and hopefully there’s a good outcome across the board there.
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30 seconds. What recommendations do you have Republicans going forward into the midterms?
SPEAKER 08 :
You have to talk about inflation. You have to talk about the issues that voters care about. You have to show that you understand that the the effects that voters felt under the Biden administration, that there’s still some lingering effects from that. And you have to offer real solutions for them and their families.
SPEAKER 05 :
All right. John Rogers, always great to see you. Thanks so much for joining us and imparting some understanding of what’s going on out there. All right, coming up, we’ll discuss the ceasefire with Iran and the latest developments in the Middle East from the perspective of Israel, as Israel today actually agreed to engage in direct talks with Lebanon. So don’t go away. We’re back with more Washington Watch on the other side of the break.
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SPEAKER 05 :
Welcome back to Washington Watch. I’m Tony Perkins. All right. As we were discussing earlier, the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran is fragile at best. Yesterday, Iran said they would close the Strait of Hormuz in response to Israeli strikes on Hezbollah. an Iranian proxy group based in Lebanon, as we were talking about with the chairman earlier. Under the ceasefire agreement, Iran was to allow vessels to pass through the strait. However, as of today, ship traffic in the sea passage was well below 10% of the normal volumes, and reportedly no tankers have passed through. earlier today israel said that they would engage in direct negotiations with lebanon so the question is how is all of this being viewed in israel as we were talking about earlier with chairman crawford you know what do we need to do to secure the the the protection and the well-being of israel our ally in that region How does Israel see this? Well, joining us now with analysis of the conflict is Rabbi Pesach Walicki. He is the executive director of Israel 365 Action. He is also a columnist with the Jerusalem Post. Rabbi Walicki, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us.
SPEAKER 04 :
It’s great to see you, Tony. Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, I’ve been watching. My red alert has been going off all afternoon, so things are still very active there in Israel. Your reaction to the current ceasefire and the state of affairs in terms of the peace negotiations?
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, you’re correct, Tony, for calling it a fragile ceasefire at best. The only type of ceasefire you can have with Shiite Muslims of this type, this branch of Shiite Islam that is the Iranian regime, is going to be a fragile ceasefire because their theology, and that’s one of the big things missing, Tony, that your audience really needs to understand, is that what’s missing from the policy discussion is an understanding of the religious beliefs of this fanatical regime. They are Shiite Twelver Muslims, and that means that they believe that the way they will bring the Mahdi, who’s kind of like their messiah figure, is by bringing the world to a point of apocalypse. And that’s why President Trump is correct in always saying that the day they would get nuclear weapons, they would have used them. It’s actually what they believe in. This isn’t like North Korea or Putin having nuclear weapons as a deterrent, they would want to use them because that is their faith. And because of that, any ceasefire that retains the people of this ideological ilk in power is only going to be a temporary kicking the can down the road to make us have to deal with these guys at some later date. So of course it’s a fragile ceasefire. At the same time, Hezbollah is still launching rockets at Israel. And Israel is determined to rid our northern communities of the threat of Hezbollah on our northern border. It goes all the way back to 2006, where they were committed to move themselves north of the Latani River, which was never implemented. It was a UN Security Council resolution. So Israel has finally had enough of the promises from the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah and rockets being fired at our northern communities and taking matters into our own hands. But as you said, giving President Trump some breathing room to try to make this work, you know, the partnership has a lot of give and take in it. So Israel is allowing this process to run its course. But Tony, if you ask me, there’s a lot of jitters in Israel over the specter of this war ending with these fanatics still in power. And if that’s the case, it means that we’re dooming the next generation to deal with this same problem. So there’s a lot of apprehension in Israel about what this ceasefire means.
SPEAKER 05 :
Pointing out Hezbollah, if Iran was truly approaching these negotiations from good faith, and I was talking about this with the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee earlier in the program, they would pull back their proxies. Hezbollah is armed by and equipped by and basically works for Iran, but they’re still launching these attacks. So the fact that that is happening shows that Iran is not serious about peace. Let me ask you this. So these direct talks with Lebanon, Are you optimistic that, I mean, you’ve been at basically war with Lebanon since Israel became a state. So this could be a breakthrough. Do you think that you could actually have peace with one of your neighbors?
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, we have peace with a few of our neighbors, but I don’t think it’s possible to have any real negotiations with Lebanon. It’s far beyond the scope of this discussion, Tony, to discuss how dysfunctional the Lebanese government is. It’s kind of built for paralysis. The Lebanese government doesn’t really have any power. The Lebanese army is not as strong as Hezbollah. So Israel will engage in these negotiations. But in the end of the day, Hezbollah is going to have to be dealt with. And, you know, when you talk about Hezbollah as a proxy, they’re actually different than the other proxies. And this is very important for people to understand as you watch this. The Houthis, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, those are proxies of Iran. They get funding, they get weapons. Hezbollah is different. They actually are an arm of Iran. It’s like the Foreign Legion of Iran. Let me illustrate it this way. When Nasrallah, the previous head of Hezbollah, was killed by the Israelis, his replacement, Naeem Qasem, was appointed in Tehran. Meaning, Hezbollah is not even really a proxy of Iran. It actually is an extension of the regime, which means that if they’re firing rockets, it means that the order has been given in Tehran for them to keep firing rockets. And that’s why, from Israel’s perspective, and from a real perspective, if you really understand what I just laid out, Hezbollah firing rockets at Israel means that Iran is continuing the war because Hezbollah is Iran. They’re not independent actors in any way. So I don’t have, and as for the Lebanese government, like I said, I don’t have much confidence in them. They’ve been inept for 50 years ever since the civil war in Lebanon began in 1975. Lebanon has been a dysfunctional country ever since. So I’m sure the, you know, the Christian 30%, the
SPEAKER 05 :
I think we lost you there, Pesach. Thanks for laying that out. I think it’s very important that people understand how Hezbollah actually operates as an arm of Iran. And Pesach, know that we will be praying for you and for Israel. We’ll be checking back in with you again real soon. All right, folks, stick with us. We’re coming back with the Washington Stand panel after this.
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For over 4,000 years, the Jewish 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 percent 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. This is Washington Watch. I’m Tony Perkins, your host, and we are glad to have you along for the ride today. The website, tonyperkins.com, but better yet, get the Stand Firm app. Go to the app store, get the Stand Firm app. You’ll have access to Washington Watch. You’ll have access to the Washington Stand, our news and commentary from a biblical perspective, and my daily devotional, Stand on the Word. All of that is on the app, plus a lot more. So go to the app store, get the Stand Firm app. Hey, by the way, for our listeners in West Texas, especially in Midland and Odessa area, FRC’s Faith, Family, and Future Tours coming to Midland, Texas next Thursday, April the 16th. We’ll be at First Baptist Church at 6.30 p.m. where I’ll be recording my weekend program this week on Capitol Hill. So come and join us for a great evening. That’s next Thursday, April the 16th from 6.30 to 8 p.m. at First Baptist Church of Midland. Our word for today comes from Deuteronomy 26. Today you have proclaimed the Lord to be your God and that you will walk in his ways and keep his statutes, his commandments, and his judgments, and that you will obey his voice. Also today the Lord has proclaimed you to be his special people, just as he promised you that you should keep all his commandments and that he will set you high above all nations. which he has made, in praise, in name, and in honor, and that you may be a holy people to the Lord your God, just as he has spoken. So this is like fingernails on a chalkboard to the globalist. Not all nations are the same, nor are all peoples. Yes, we’re all created in the image of God and equal in our human agency to choose whether to follow God and yield to Him. But from that choice come consequences and outcomes that can make a nation or a people exceptional. Obedience to God sets people and nations apart and sustains them. For more about our journey through the Bible, text Bible to 67742. That’s Bible to 67742. So each day, our goal here at Washington Watch is to inform you of what’s happening in our nation and around the world, but we can only cover so much in an hour, which is why I want to encourage you to check out the Washington Stand for more news and commentary, all from a biblical perspective, just as we do here on Washington Watch. You can do so by visiting WashingtonStand.com or, as I said earlier, you can get the Stand Firm app and it’ll be on your news feed. That’s the Washington Stand. Speaking of that, joining me today for our Washington Stand panel is Suzanne Bowdy, Editorial Director and Senior Writer and Casey Harper, Managing Editor for the broadcast. Suzanne, Casey, thanks for joining me this afternoon. Thanks, Tony. All right. So as it has been for the past several weeks, the big news, of course, is the conflict with Iran. After nearly six weeks, we now have a ceasefire, a fragile one at that. But where do we go from here? What are the major things that we should be looking for? Casey, I’ll start with you.
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Sure. I mean, this is really a time to be praying strategically, Tony. I think that, you know, we can always say that, but this weekend in particular, Vice President J.D. Vance and that team are going to be in Islamabad in Pakistan, hammering out these negotiations with sort of the new negotiators for Iran post, you know, weeks of bombing. their leadership. And they have some really big things to tackle. They’ve got the Strait of Hormuz. How are we going to get this open in a sustainable way without setting the precedent that Iran is sort of in control of the Strait of Hormuz now and can charge tolls and it’s theirs to close on any whim that they have? They’ve also got to tackle the nuclear program, not just stopping Iran from more development, but what about the enriched uranium that’s already in the country. They’ve got the problem with Lebanon, as your previous guests very aptly pointed out. This Hezbollah is basically a wing of Iran that’s been attacking northern Israel for years, and the Lebanese government is unable to really deal with it. And the last thing that’s maybe most depressing, I don’t know, and not being talked about as much is Wait, isn’t this still the IRGC? This is the same regime that killed tens of thousands of protesters not long ago. They’re still the guys that chant death to America. They’re the ones who are funding Hezbollah and other terrorist groups, in fact, saying that if you attack this terror group, the ceasefire is over. So I think that this shows that the people we’re negotiating with, I really am doubtful. I want to be hopeful, but I’m doubtful that these are really the guys who can get a good deal done.
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I would tend to agree with you. In fact, as I was talking earlier with Chairman Crawford of the House Intelligence Committee, essentially saying the same thing. But, Suzanne, I mean, we’ve got to pray into this. And I think when you everything that Casey just laid out there is true. But we’ve seen Christians being targeted, especially right now. And I asked the chairman about this as they’re basically accelerating the executions of Christians. what they call protesters or problem people there in Iran. How do we bring about a more stable place for religious freedom and obviously for our friends in Israel as more of a security issue? How much should that factor in to us saying, all right, we’ve accomplished something?
SPEAKER 12 :
It should absolutely factor in, Tony. I mean, Trump keeps talking about bringing about a golden age for the Middle East. But honestly, there is no golden age for the Middle East unless you prioritize freedom. And by that, I mean freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press. We’re not seeing that. We have no hope of seeing that under the current structure. And part of that is because we are not just in a war here of We’re in a fundamental clash of worldviews. This is America and Israel fighting against a regime of radical jihadist fundamentalists whose sole goal is to annihilate the West, to annihilate Christians, Jews, every non-Muslims. And honestly, it’s against their religion to pursue peace. So right now, what we’re dealing with are two people singing off of two very different scripts when it comes to ending this conflict. And let’s be honest, Iran is not interested in ending the conflict. What they’re interested in is regaining their military capabilities. And while I do appreciate that Trump has set them back years and perhaps decades in their goal of getting nuclear weapons, their goal remains the same. As Casey said, death to America, death to Israel. And American Christians really do need to be praying for our brothers and sisters over there who are living under this regime, who’ve been tortured. As you mentioned, you know, some have been brutally executed in the public square, have been hung. Others have been encouraged to become human chains around critical infrastructure and power plants. I mean, we’re seeing a regime that uses child soldiers. So, yes, America needs to be in prayer. We need to be in prayer also for our leaders like Trump who are trying to negotiate this situation through diplomacy. But there may be no way to do that diplomatically.
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Again, I from the very beginning, I supported the president. I think the threat was real and I think we took the right action. But I share the concern of many that we need to finish the job. And I will say this. Nobody’s really talked about this. And this is my last comment. We’ll move on to something else. It just struck me we have Pakistan stepping in to be the peace negotiator here. I mean, I used to work with some Pakistanis years ago when I was in the anti-terrorist business. We helped try to train them. I mean, their country’s not the best. I mean, this is kind of like the mob brokering a deal between City Hall and the Teamsters. I mean, it’s just it’s it really shows how. unstable the world is when we have Pakistan actually being the peace negotiators. It’s it’s a I don’t know. It should fuel our prayers even more. All right. Let me move on before I say too much. Let’s go to the next topic. Planned Parenthood released its 2024 2025 annual report includes a lot of figures. Some of them are disturbing, Suzanne.
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they’re so disturbing it you know I think so many people thought with the overturn of Roe which we had prayed for for literally decades that we would really see a cultural change in abortion a legislative change on abortion in America and what we’ve seen instead in this Planned Parenthood report definitely highlights that is an increase in abortion. Some of the numbers that are coming out of this report from fiscal year 24 to 25, we’ve seen an 8% increase in abortion, which is absolutely mind-blowing when you think about it. We’ve also seen a record-setting revenue for Planned Parenthood, and this is after Americans defunded Planned Parenthood somewhat, the taxpayers did through Medicaid and the one big beautiful bill, That was just for one year and they continue to get resources from other ways in the government. But Planned Parenthood also had a record setting year for private donations. So while the president of Planned Parenthood claims, oh, we’re on the verge of shutting down 200 brick and mortar locations and crying poor. The reality is abortions are going up. And why are they going up? It’s because of chemical abortion. And it’s because of the Biden administration and unfortunately now the Trump administration who have allowed the abortion drug to be shipped across state lines, even into states with pro-life laws. And it’s really created havoc and unfortunately the loss of a lot more lives. We’re talking about 88 more deaths. unborn children being destroyed every day according to this report and just last month i think you’ve talked about this tony but the guttmacher institute saying that 91 000 of these chemical abortions are happening in pro-life states and that’s because they’re being shipped directly to people’s mailboxes and it’s truly a tragedy i mean the state legislature has done their job voters have done their job the courts have done their job but who hasn’t done their job that’s the trump administration
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Yeah, this is these two reports kind of back to back, the Guttmacher and now the Planned Parenthood showing the rise in abortions. We’re bumping up to one point two million abortions and somewhere between 65 to 70 percent, maybe more. It’s hard to to to really determine because the reporting is not required. Sixty five to 70 percent of those are the chemical abortions that you talked about. So there’s been a lot of focus on defunding Planned Parenthood. You know, that’s actually going to be debate. It’s debating right now as they’re talking about another reconciliation bill. But it’s really not the funding. We don’t I’m all for defunding them, but we should disarm them because the chemical abortion is allowing them to pursue an Amazon type business model that doesn’t need brick and mortar. They got a mailbox. This could be stopped overnight. Casey.
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Yeah, it absolutely could. You mentioned those two reports. I’ll throw one more out there. There was the EPPC study, which studied hundreds of thousands of insurance claims and found that 11% of the time when women took the abortion pill, they had some kind of adverse effect, often having to go to the emergency room. And so there’s a lot of questions around the safety of this because of the more recent research and because of the way the FDA has not been tracking the adverse events. And there’s a lot of political motives there. And as you said, The FDA could do something about this, but it’s not just that they’re not taking a solid policy stance and clamping down on it. We don’t even have evidence, really, that they’re studying it the way they said. They said that they would be studying this, and they said publicly that it would take less than a year. And then Josh Hawley and other senators have met with the FDA and said that it doesn’t appear that they have even begun that study, which really raises questions of whether there is even good faith at the FDA on this issue.
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And as I was talking about earlier with John Rogers with the signal polling, that this this is an issue for about two thirds of Republican voters. And I think when they find out, because most people are shocked to find out that the abortion numbers have actually gone up from about nine hundred and thirty thousand abortions prior to the overturn of Roe to one point. two million, all because of a Biden era policy, primarily because of a Biden era policy left in place by the Trump administration that allows these abortion drugs to be sent through the mail without a medical consultation. I mean, this could be a huge political liability come the midterms if they don’t address it quickly and address it correctly. By the way, folks, you can weigh in on this. Text the word LIFE to 67742. LIFE to 67742. We need to, I think, save the Republicans from themselves because they need to address this issue. All of these promises that we’ve heard for years about being the pro-life party. Well, now is the time that they can prove it. It’s time they do it. All right. I want to I want to shift to another topic before we run out of time. There’s a video clip that’s resurfaced in which the wife of California Democratic governor expressed concern that boys who spend time online were, quote, moving to the right. Tell us about that, Casey.
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I guess as a young man, I’ll speak here. It’s kind of funny that the one thing that you could say have to make young men want to go more online is to have the wealthy liberal first lady of California wag her finger at you. But young men are online. Young people in general are online. And if you ask the question, why are they getting their political views online? I think it’s because it’s one of the few spaces that are still uncensored. I mean, a lot of social media has been censored, but You know, we’ve seen that opened up, and college campuses, frankly, are not a place of real education anymore, of free discussion. There are some good schools here and there, but by and large, college campuses have become totally censored, totally politically correct, and immersed in DEI, and you can’t get the truth anymore. So online has become a place for unfiltered truth. And I think another thing that young men get online is strong, masculine voices who are declaring the truth in a way that, frankly, many pulpits are not willing to do today. And I think that’s one of the reasons that young men have left the church as many. And that’s their own fault. And I don’t want to blame all pastors. There’s a lot of good pastors. But when you go online, you can find often bold proclamation of truth and often biblical truth that you may not get at church.
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Well, I mean, OK, so you’ve got the Washington stand. It’s not filtered. It’s truth. People can tune into the Washington stand. They can tune into Washington. Watch it if I need to. I’ll get down, do some pushups and show you how bold and strong this host is.
SPEAKER 12 :
We’re going to hold you to that.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, if I could get the camera angle on, I would do that. Now, Suzanne, one of the things that she proposes is legislation to, quote, quote, hold tech companies accountable so that they don’t go down this rabbit hole of very, very dangerous and limiting narratives around ultimately what it means to be a girl and what it means to be a boy. I would agree. I would agree that we need some regulation, but it’s not to they’re concerned about anything that’s challenging their ideology and their narrative. Right.
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Right. You notice her solution is more censorship. That’s the only way the left wins a debate. And in this instance, they don’t even want to have a debate. The truth is an existential threat to the left. She recognizes it. The one way that she thinks that they can win, which is how liberals and leftists and progressive have won recently, is by just shutting everything down, shutting down conversations. It’s why we don’t see on the news anymore. Debates like you used to have on mainstream media channels. You used to sit down and have a conversation with Democrats or liberals. That’s no longer something we see happening. And it’s a real shame.
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It is. It’s sad. It’s sad because as a nation, we at least need to be able to have conversations. Even if we disagree, having conversations is healthy. 15 seconds. Suzanne, where can people get unfiltered biblical truth?
SPEAKER 12 :
Absolutely at thewashingtonstand.com.
SPEAKER 05 :
All right, Suzanne Casey, always great to see you on the Washington Stand panel.
SPEAKER 12 :
Thanks, Tony.
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And folks, check it out, WashingtonStand.com or get the Stand Firm app. You’ll have it all right there in your pocket. Thanks so much for joining us. Until next time, I leave you with the encouraging words of the Apostle Paul, found in Ephesians 6, where he says, when you’ve done everything you can do, when you’ve prayed, prepared, and taken your stand, by all means, keep standing.
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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.
