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December 24, 2024 · 59 min · Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Video
A.J. Nolte, Scott Perry, Robert Aderholt, Meg Kilgannon, Jared Bridges, Chris Gacek ...more Show the full description Show less A.J. Nolte, Scott Perry, Robert Aderholt, Meg Kilgannon, Jared Bridges, Chris Gacek
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Tragedy in Madison: A Call for Action 0:06 Good afternoon. I'm Victoria Marshall with the latest news from the Washington Watch news desk. A 15 year old girl killed 2 people and injured 6 during a shooting yesterday0:17 at a Christian school in Madison, Wisconsin. The shooter identified as Natalie Rupnow also died from a sec self inflicted gunshot wound. Rupnow was a student who attended the school.0:30 2 other people have died, that died were, a teacher and a teenage student. 6 other people were injured. 2 students are now0:42 in critical condition in the hospital, Barnes1:00 Barnes said that the alleged shooter's family is cooperating with law enforcement's ongoing investigation. Police have searched the shooter's home and are currently investigating her motive. Ruppnow's apparent1:12 manifesto began circulating online last night, but police have not confirmed its authentic authenticity. At a press conference yesterday, Madison mayor, Satya Rhodes Conway, said1:24 the country must do better at preventing gun violence.1:27 I am on record that I think we need to do better in our country, in our community to prevent gun violence. And I hope I1:39 hope that this day would never come in Madison. It is not something that any mayor, any fire chief, any police chief, any person in public office ever wants to have to deal1:51 with. And so I will ask our entire community and our entire country to do whatever we can to make sure that no public official ever has to stand in this2:03 position again.2:04 President Joe Biden also released a statement following the shooting. He urged congress to pass what he termed as common sense gun safety laws, such as universal background checks, a national red2:15 flag law, a ban on assault weapons, and high capacity magazines. And in Capitol Hill news, Republican lawmakers have introduced bills to cut the federal workforce. GOP senatorPolitical Maneuverings and Legislative Updates 2:27 Marsha Blackburn and house colleague Claudia Tenney introduced the doge acts last week. The bills are meant to work in tandem with president-elect Trump's incoming advisory commission meant2:39 to cut government waste. The commission will be run by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. Here's what Blackburn told Fox about the bills.2:48 The DOJ Act is a compilation of bills that I've had. They're good government bills, cutting 1, 2, or 5 percent across the board every year. The penny plan,3:00 as it is called, that 1 percent cut or 2 percent or 5 percent. And, Tammy, what this does is require these agencies in our discretionary spending to right3:12 size themselves every year. Also, a bill to to freeze federal hiring and federal salaries for a year. That would allow us to take action on3:24 these recommendations from Doge to be able to reduce the number of employees in the federal government.3:32 Blackburn and Tenney's bills will also implement a return to work policy, bringing federal employees back into the office to pre pandemic levels. Agency heads will also be required to produce staffing3:43 levels. And finally, in international news, South Korea's parliament on Saturday voted to impeach president Yoon Suk Yul after his surprise martial law declaration earlier this3:55 month. Yoon is now suspended from carrying out presidential powers and duties and prime minister Han Deok So will take over as acting president. Yoon is also under investigation for inciting an insurrection.4:08 Yoon's martial law declaration on December third ignited political turmoil in South Korea. He ultimately revoked it under pressure from his own party and a vote from South Korea's legislature. Yoon's impeachment4:20 is the second time in less than a decade that a South Korean leader has faced such proceedings. And those are today's headlines. I'm Victoria Marshall. Up next is Washington4:32 Watch with Tony Perkins. We'll see you tomorrow with more news.Washington Watch: A Biblical Perspective 4:51 From the heart of our nation's capital in Washington, D. Bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and sound bites into conversations with our nation's leaders and5:02 newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Sitting in for Tony is today's host, Jody Heise.5:10 Good afternoon. Great to have you on board. Welcome to this Tuesday edition of Washington Watch. I am Jody Heise, the senior vice president here at the Family Research Council and president of FRC5:22 Action. As always, an honor to be filling in when with for Tony when needed. Alright. We've got a lot coming up on the program today. Let me start by giving some of the highlights. A5:34 deal, it looks like, between Israel and Hamas is reportedly closer than ever, but certainly we've heard that before.5:42 Based on the remaining issues, we should be able to get to an agreement. We should be able to bridge the disagreements between the 2 parties, but that is not to say that that we will. Because, again,5:54 there have been times before where we were close, and we thought the differences were bridgeable. And, ultimately, we didn't get a deal.6:02 That was US State Department spokesperson, Matthew Miller, earlier today. So just how close are they? Well, I'll be discussing this in just a few moments when I'm joined by doctor AJ6:13 Nolte of Regent University. And there was a classified briefing today for members of the House Intelligence Committee regarding the drones that have been seen in New Jersey and6:25 elsewhere. Congressman Scott Perry, who's a member of that committee, plans to call in here in just a little bit so that he can share the latest that he can share coming out of that classified briefing.6:37 And a text now for the stop gap measure to fund the government It's expected anytime. In fact, we've been looking for for days now. What what's in6:49 this?6:50 The CR is coming together. Bipartisan work is ongoing. We're almost there. We work really hard to achieve consensus on a bill that responsibly funds the government into March of next year. We're gonna take care of these7:01 obligations and get this done, and then we're gonna go to work in unified government, in the hundred and nineteenth congress that begins in January.7:08 Alright. Of course, that was speaker Mike Johnson earlier today. So do we have the text? Well, I get the latest from congressman Robert Aderhold, who's a member of the house appropriations committee. He'll7:20 be joining us a little bit later. And the investigation continues into the motives behind yesterday's school shooting at Christian school in Madison, Wisconsin.7:30 We're looking into her online activity. We're asking anyone who knew her or who may have insights into her feelings leading up to yesterday to please contact the7:41 Madison area crime stoppers. Again, anyone who may have known her or knew what she was feeling or going through at that time.7:52 That was Madison police chief Sean Barnes giving an update this afternoon. And as in the case of other shootings of this nature, many people are asking if there were signs that were8:03 missed. Was there anything that could have been done to help prevent this individual from committing such a horrific act? Well, I'll be discussing this a little bit later when I'm joined by FRC's Meg Kilgannon.8:15 And then we'll conclude today's program discussing some developments on the life issue, including abortion drugs that may or may not have been offered by Kroger. We'll also discuss the court8:27 battles that are playing out over the abortion pill. So as always, we've got a lot to bring your way. We'll get to all of it as the program unfold. But if you happen to miss any portion8:39 of today's program, fear not. You can always catch it by going to our website, tony perkins dot com, where certainly you can find not only this edition of Washington Watch, but past editions as8:50 well. And also lots and lots and lots of resources there for you, so be sure to bookmark that page, tony perkins dot com. Alright. Let's jump into our first9:02 topic for the day. We are expecting congressman Scott Perry to call in after votes, which are underway right now. But while we wait, I wanna bring you up to speed on the latest regarding9:14 the hostage deal negotiations between Israel and Hamas. According to some reports, Israel's closer than ever to closing a deal. But just how close is that, especially considering9:26 how past talks have gone? Well, joining me now to discuss the latest is doctor AJ Nolte. He's a chairman of government graduate program and director of the international development master's program at Regent University.9:39 He's also the director of the Institute for Israel Studies at Regent University. Doctor Nolte, always great to have you on Washington Watch. Welcome back.9:48 Tony, it's great to be here. Thanks for having me.9:51 You're very welcome. So what's the latest? What are you hearing?9:55 So what we're hearing today is that it does appear as though they are close. We're hearing that from both Palestinian sources and also from, the current defense minister, Israel10:07 Paz, who10:07 used to be10:08 the foreign minister, and from other figures in the Israeli government that this is very close and that they are expecting a deal that is going to easily pass both the security cabinet and the10:19 Knesset because, of course, just proposing the deal is not enough on the Israeli side. They'll have to pass it as well. Some of the necessary preconditions that the Israelis have said they want are, for example, access10:30 to the Philadelphia corridor. And for those who remember some of Israel's past military operations, this is that corridor that stretches, across the border crossing from Egypt to Gaza. So not on the Israeli side10:42 of the border, but on the Egyptian side. And then the Netzarim corridor, this is a corridor that Israel has been using, in Gaza to sort of, move through the Gaza Strip, and kinda maintain10:54 control of of some of those highways, to access different, parts of the strip for security purposes. And so those are not Israel moving out of those areas from what we're being told so far does not seem to be on the11:05 table, and that has been a nonnegotiable for the Israelis. And so what we'll be talking about is a staged release of hostages, beginning with what they call11:17 these humanitarian categories. So, folks that are sick, female soldiers, any perhaps, children and and the elderly, and then eventually culminating a full release, in11:29 exchange for what looks like some sort of, prisoners, to be released from Israeli prisons, and then also, a ceasefire, of course, from from Israel and Gaza. So that that appears to be, from what we're hearing,11:41 what's on the table. Although, of course, with these negotiations, you know, we've been very close a couple of times in the past, so it's hard to say exactly how close we are right now.11:50 Yeah. Listen. That's really encouraging news, everything that you just shared, but like like you just said in your final comment there, we've been close before. How12:02 confident are you personally that this is really possibly gonna happen this time?12:08 Well, so let me give you the optimistic case. The optimistic case is that over the past several months, Hamas has systematically seen all of its potential international backers, removed as12:20 trustees from the table. So, of course, you have Israel's wildly successful operations against Hezbollah. You have the absolutely shocking fall of the Assad regime. It's hard to underestimate how impactful12:32 this shift is. And particularly, that will complicate things for Iran, which is 1 of the main backers of Hamas right now, in terms of their logistics and their ability to even12:44 support Hamas. And so the the board has really flipped in a lot of ways. And, of course, Israel has been very successful in its operations within Hamas. So it seems like if you're an optimist12:56 that perhaps Hamas is more in survival mode than they have been in the past.13:01 Well, let's let's all be optimistic about this for sure. Right. Doctor Nolte, I'm sorry. I've got to I've got to go right now, but listen. I wanna thank you13:12 for this update. It's extremely encouraging news, and I don't know of anybody that stays on top of what's happening in Israel any more than you. I wanna thank you so much for taking time13:24 to join us today on Washington Watch.13:27 Thank you so much. I hope you find out what's going on with the drones.13:30 Yeah. That's what we're gonna do right now. We've just got a couple of minutes. So earlier today, the house permanent select committee on intelligence received a classified briefing about the drones that have been flying13:41 over New Jersey and several other states. Well, what came out of that, Joining me now by phone is congressman Scott Perry. He represents the tenth congressional district from Pennsylvania. Congressman Perry, welcome back13:53 to Washington Watch. Thanks in your busy schedule for joining us.13:57 Well, great to be with you, Jody. And, of course, look. I I I wish you could say you picked the right guy, but, of course, I'm on that committee. And what happens inside that, secure compartmentalized14:09 information facility must stay inside there. But let me just tell let me just say this. We had a lot of, different representatives from the federal government. You can imagine the 314:21 letter agencies that were in the room. I I was not satisfied in the least with the information that we received. I actually think that in some cases, we had more information than they did, and14:33 that's very concerning. I would say this. Look. You can't have officials saying that, we don't know who's doing it, but there's nothing to be concerned about. Both those14:45 things can't be true at the same time, and that's what they're saying. And, you know, that that's just inappropriate. So, you know, I've asked for14:56 the, the results of the FBI FBI's investigation. Now I don't know how long it's gonna take me to get them. You know, that of course, me asking, I don't think that that would be15:08 anything classified. But but we we wanna see the American people want to trust in the information they're receiving. And, you know, when you when you see something with your own15:20 eyes, there better be a pretty darn good explanation for it. And don't just tell us that we're seeing things and that that they didn't occur and, that, you know,15:31 this is it's the same old, same old, you know, that that, that that that the government has done to us. And, unfortunately, they've just lost all their credibility over the course of time here as you know. And,15:43 unfortunately, I left without any answers whatsoever in my opinion.15:48 So let me ask you this, and I have tried to emphasize that this was a classified briefing. And and with that, I know you're very limited on what you can say. So let me let me approach you from this direction. What more16:00 would you like to know? I mean, what what are some questions that you would like to have answered?16:06 The the the questions I would like to have answered are, have you positively identified any of these vehicles, and, who is operating them?16:17 For what purpose? Have you have you located the individuals? You know? Are they operating within any kind of guidelines? Jody, there are a lot of reports, and16:29 some come from, the state police, from county sheriffs. I mean, you know, it's yeah. I hate to say it this way, but it's 1 thing if, you know, the general public reports16:41 something. But when a state police officer reports something having followed up on it and, and and tried to, and tried to intercept16:53 1 of these, 1 of these things or more than 1 of these things, to me, that that has credibility because someone in the position of authority has had eyes on and tried to do something about it. And for the17:05 FBI to not be able to speak to that to me is concerning. And so, so, you know, again, those are some of the answers to the questions that I17:17 have. And, you know, are they coming onto the shore? Are they, you know, can you can you verify? Can you validate that the sightings that many17:28 people are claiming are real? You know, those are simple questions that you think if you were going to a briefing, you would have answers to.17:36 Well and it seems as though it just seems as though. This is a a clear cover up. I mean, these are drones. They don't have unlimited ability to fly. They take off from somewhere. They17:48 they are battery operated. They can only last for so long, and they go back to some place. This ought to be easy to know. And and because of that, it makes you suspect that they really do know18:00 something. They're just not telling us. And that's that in itself is extremely concerning. Congressman Scott Perry, always great to talk with you. I wanna thank you. I know you have a ton of things happening18:12 right now on Capitol Hill, running every which way but loose, and, we deeply appreciate you taking a few moments and joining us with this update.18:21 Well, thank you, Jody, and thank FRC. God bless you and your mission, and, we gotta save the country. So let's get after that.18:28 Keep it up, and Merry Christmas to you and your dear family. Alright, friends. Coming up, the latest on the continuing resolution trying to deal with this government spending and keep it funded.18:40 Congressman Robert Aderhold will be joining me after the break to discuss the latest, so stay tuned. Much more coming your way right after the break.The Role of Faith in Governance 18:52 The throne of Jesus Christ is unchallenged. His name was never on the ballot to begin with, and it's never gonna be on the ballot. He's the king of kings and he's the lord of lords, and nothing's gonna change19:04 that. That. And so our mission stays the same, preach the gospel, make disciples, get ready for heaven. In the meantime, that we're to advance the concerns of the kingdom of god here on earth.19:15 America has entered a critical and vulnerable period from now until January the twentieth. Join Family Research Council for Operation Prayer Shield, a 10 week prayer initiative for our nation. From now until January19:26 twentieth, our country faces global challenges, a transition of leadership, and a lame duck session of congress. This season calls for heightened spiritual vigilance, discernment, and prayer. Text the word shield to 619:38 7 7 4 2 to join us. You'll have access to prayer points, scripture, prayer calls. Text shield to 6 7 7 4 2. Unite with us and pray for our nation.19:52 Let's not be discouraged. Don't lose heart. Don't lose the faith. Stand now strong because the lord has given us the great privilege of living in a time when our choices matter, when our lives matter, when our20:03 courage matters. So let's stand together and save this great country. God bless the United States of America.20:09 The American Republic has a freedom like no other. It has roots in the scriptures far more than any other heritage. And if we as followers of Jesus20:21 and conservatives don't defend it,20:24 who will? Neutrality is not an option. There are many Christians who believe that if we just keep our heads down, if we just don't say the wrong thing, that that somehow we will come20:36 out of this unscathed. You're naive if you think that. Because what they want from us is not our our silence. What they want from us is our submission.20:47 Part of the dilemma of Christianity in our generation is that we've relied a little too much on human wisdom and human reasoning, human strength, human resource, and we've relied relied too little on20:59 the power of god and god's ability to open doors that we can't open and do things that we can't even hope to begin to do.21:05 This may not be an easy task, but we are living in a moment of challenge, but also a great opportunity. And we know always that we are not alone, that his21:17 spirit empowers us and protects us, and that he can do the unimaginable. Jobs, after all, was never supposed to happen.21:27 Father, we thank you. You have entrusted us with this moment in history, and I pray that we would be found faithful. And that as a result of our faithfulness to you, that thousands, millions would come into the21:39 kingdom as they would experience the forgiveness of sin and the new life that is found only in Jesus Christ. Amen.21:53 Good afternoon. Welcome back to Washington Watch. I'm your host, Jody Heiss, sitting in today for Tony. I'm glad to have you with us. Alright. Congress has been scrambling to finalize a short term bill22:05 to keep the government open at least through March fourteenth. And the text of the bill was actually expected on Sunday, then it was expected on Monday, and then it's carried over to22:16 today. So do we yet have the text for this bill? Joining me now to discuss this is congressman Robert Aduhold. He's a member of the, Appropriations Committee and22:28 the Values Action Committee, representing the fourth congressional district of Alabama. Congressman Aderhold, welcome to Washington Watch.22:38 Thanks, Jody. Good to be with you. Thanks for having me on. I'm22:41 Hey. I'm just Listen. Great to be with you. Let me let yeah. I was just gonna say you were literally on the Capitol steps. We just had, congressman Perry on with us. He was in votes, and you obviously have made22:53 it outside.22:55 Yes. We literally I just walked off the floor, and, I wanted to come on and be with you. And so, good to be with you again. Good to see you again.23:04 Likewise. So give us the latest. Where's the CR right now?23:08 Well, as of right now, I think there's still some final negotiations that's that are being, that are being settled. I have not, I've just like I said, I walked off the floor. I23:20 have not heard that a final version has been adopted. When I say adopted, approved up to move forward, but, I would expect it would at any time. We've gotta23:31 get this done. You know, if the government shuts down, if we don't have the funding done by, Friday night, So, I would expect that this is just a matter of, just making sure that23:43 they've got all the the dot the i's dotted, the t's crossed, and such as that to make sure, at least I hope that's what it is. But it's always this time of year as you all know. You you've been here.23:55 You've served many years up here in the US House of Representatives, and you know how things can come. Push comes to shove right here at the end. But, obviously, I'm optimistic that we will get it24:07 done. But, the the speaker's been given a lot of, grief lately that, you know, he's, going ahead and not really doing an entire24:19 omnibus right now, but I really am glad the speaker's waiting until after the first of the year because I don't want to cram something down the, down the the, throats of the American24:31 people right here at the eleventh hour at Christmas, and it'd be a bad bill. So if we need to wait a little bit to get a better bill and negotiate when Trump gets in office, then I'm all for that.24:42 Yeah. And, like you said, I mean, we've we both have been through this. You you longer than me, but it always seems to happen at Christmas time where this type of thing happens. And, generally, when you have big24:54 bills like this at Christmas, it's not good for the American people. Do you have any idea specifically what the holdup has been? What what kind of last minute hurdles they're trying to25:06 overcome? And what are you hearing from your colleagues? Are they anxious about this? Or, what what are you hearing?25:13 Well, 1 of the last holdups that has been and the major holdup that has been with this CR or this continued resolution has been the the assistance to to agriculture.25:25 And, obviously, we need to protect the farmers in this country. I do not wanna see a situation where it have depend on other countries for our food. And so I've been25:37 very supportive of making sure that we do what we can to help farmers. Some on the other side of the aisle are do not have a constituency that really sees as25:49 ag is important and especially to farmers. But I can tell you and you will know being from Georgia that farmers are really the backbone of this country, And we've got to make sure we that they26:00 stay in business. Now, again, we understand it's all the free enterprise system, but at the same time, we could get all of our food from, you know, some other place in the world and26:12 maybe get it sometimes cheaper, sometimes a little easier. But I I fear the day that United States of America is depending on every other country in the world,26:24 to bring us food supply because that puts us in a real vulnerable position.26:28 Yeah. Absolutely. And it's a lot better position as we are to be supplying food to the world rather than depending on others for our own food. So as we as we kind of wind down, the clock clock26:40 ticks towards the the deadline here for the CR. What are your expectations looking ahead?26:47 Well, you know, I like I said, this this is a continuing resolution. So all the probe spills by and large will be pushed into the New Year, which I think is a good thing because, if I thought we could get a good deal26:59 right now, I would say let's go for it. But if, obviously, I think the way the situation is with Biden still in the White House with the Democrats still in control of the senate. There's no way that we're27:11 gonna get a good deal right now. So let's just wait till after the first year. Now a lot of my appropriation colleagues would disagree with me on that, but I'd never have been in favor of a bad bill just to get a bill27:21 done. But, obviously, there because this is the last train that leaves the state station, so to speak, this is the last, piece of legislation that will will get out of congress.27:33 They're attaching some things that we have to get done. And this aid to farmers is 1 of the things that I was just referring to that's been attached to it. And they wanna make sure that we do try to help our farmers to27:43 make sure that they're not going bankrupt. And, so if it takes a little time to do that, to protect, some of our interests in this country, you know, I I'd I'd like to be finished27:55 to be be be back in Alabama, but, obviously, we need to make sure we get the work done.28:01 Yeah. First things first. So, I take it from that. I mean, you're you're telling what you're saying. It sounds like there is some encouragement for our viewers and listeners. Is that correct that you are?28:11 Oh, yeah. No. I I I am optimistic that that we will get a a a an agreement, agreed agreement, done within the matter. I think they'll have the final text, I would say, probably by tonight.28:23 But, of course, obviously, you never say always or never up here because you never know what the case may be. But, but I'm optimistic that by Friday night at midnight when the28:35 CR or when the, current CR runs out, then we will have a continued resolution in place to fund us through at least probably until March of next year.28:44 Good to hear. Well, congressman Robert Aderhold, always great to see you, and thank you for your leadership in Washington and beyond and the values action team supporting our Christian values. Just as we have 30 seconds28:55 or so, how can we be praying for you and your colleagues right now?29:00 Yeah. Well, in this new congress, really be praying that, this new congress gets off to a good start because, obviously, we, as conservatives, we're in a unique position having control of the house and the senate and,29:12 also the White House. So we've got to make sure that we we don't, squander this opportunity. So I'm very optimistic that we can, do a lot of good things for the American people. The29:24 American people are counting on it. So I I think Absolutely. That, praying for the president as he as he leads from the White House, but also the house of the senate as we lead as well.29:35 Thank you, congressman Robert Adderhold from Alabama, and thanks for stepping off on the steps of the shooting in Madison, Wisconsin right after29:46 the break.29:51 It begins here and here and here, every day. Before you stand, you need solid ground. Standing in a culture30:03 that wants you to surrender the truth won't work unless you have a firm foundation. At Family Research Council, we have that firm foundation, and you can find us30:15 standing. We stand for the value of all human life. We stand for the right of families to flourish. And every day, we stand for your freedom to believe and to live out those30:27 beliefs both at home and abroad. We work with government officials, educating them on the issues from a biblical worldview. And when necessary, we hold them30:38 accountable. We equip Christians across America to be informed and to take action in their communities. With our daily radio program, television appearances, and vast online presence,30:50 we reach people where they are. We envision an America where all human life is valued, families flourish, and religious liberty thrives. And that won't be realized if we're31:02 not standing. Stand for faith. Stand for family. Stand for freedom. Stand with us at FRC.Show more In this video 0:06 Tragedy in Madison: A Call for Action2:20 Political Maneuverings and Legislative Updates4:51 Washington Watch: A Biblical Perspective18:52 The Role of Faith in Governance31:19 Legal Battles and Pro-Life AdvocacyComments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
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