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3/17/2026 Jody Hice and Guests Look at Hurdles to Improving America’s Future and the Heritage of St. Patrick
March 17, 2026 · 59 min
Today on WW: Iran Updates; securing elections through the Save America Act; funding DHS; another hurdle in the vaccine schedule; discovering St. Patrick; the problem with Sharia law.
Series Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Video March 17, 2026 · 59 min · Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Video
Today on WW: Iran Updates; securing elections through the Save America Act; funding DHS; another hurdle in the vaccine schedule; discovering St. Patrick; the problem with Sharia law. ...more Show the full description Show less Today on WW: Iran Updates; securing elections through the Save America Act; funding DHS; another hurdle in the vaccine schedule; discovering St. Patrick; the problem with Sharia law.
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Global Crises: Cuba, Iran War, and DHS Shutdown 0:00 Hello. I'm Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council and host of Washington Watch. Thanks for tuning in. Every day, we offer a biblical perspective on the news as well as insightful interviews with elected0:11 leaders, newsmakers, and culture experts. We have a great program planned for you today, but first, get up to speed on the top headlines with Washington Stan's news brief.0:26 Welcome to the Washington Stan news brief. I'm Casey Harper bringing you today's big stories. President Donald Trump raised eyebrows when he said the US would likely free or even take Cuba.0:38 You know, all my life, I've been hearing about the United States and Cuba. You know, when will the United States do it? I do believe I'll be the honor of having the honor of taking0:50 Cuba. That'd be good honor. It's a big honor.0:53 Taking Cuba?0:54 Taking Cuba in some form. Yeah. Taking Cuba. I mean, whether I free it, take it. I think I could do anything I want with it. Do you want another truth? They're a very, weakened nation1:06 right now. They were for a long time. Very violent, very violent leaders. Castro was a very violent leader. His brother's a very violent leader. Extremely violent.1:18 That's how they governed.1:20 Well, they're weakened indeed. Cuba's national electric grid collapsed yesterday after outages throughout the weekend. The US oil blockade on the nation has left it in an energy crisis, and millions are without power as1:32 the Cuban government works to turn the lights back on. President Donald Trump has long been an odd odds with Cuba's communist leadership and is reportedly demanding president Miguel Diaz Canel be1:44 removed. President Trump addressed a possible military intervention in Cuba in his comments to reporters.1:51 When you say Cuba is next. Cuba. Is Cuba whatever you do with the military there, it seems like something. Will that look more like Iran or Venezuela?2:01 Can't tell you that. I can't tell you that they're talking to us. It's a failed nation. They have no money. They have no oil. They have no nothing. They have nice land. They have nice2:13 landscape.2:14 The pressure on Cuba is part of president Trump's larger effort to reset the Western Hemisphere by replacing Venezuela's leadership and declaring war on the drug cartels south of the border. But this2:26 pressure is making an impact on Cubans. A protest in Northern Cuba against power cuts and food shortages turned violent over the weekend. Anti government protesters attacked a communist party office2:38 on Saturday in a pretty rare outburst of public dissent. Videos on social media showed a large fire and people throwing rocks through the windows of a building as voices shouted liberty2:49 in the background. President Trump did say the US would be doing something about Cuba, quote, very soon. Meanwhile, the war in Iran continues. The US and Israel3:01 continue to hit Iranian targets but are still grappling with how to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian mines and rockets have made a dangerous waters for a major global shipping lane. In particular, for the3:13 oil that passes through there. President Trump said in a press conference today, the US would be done with Iran very soon. Notably, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu3:25 confirmed Israel's killing 2 more top security officials in Iran. Israel has also moved forces into Southern Lebanon to remove Hezbollah, a terror group that has been firing rockets into3:36 Northern Israel for years. Now back in Washington DC, president Trump's efforts to enact the Save America Act is getting a push in the senate. Now that act would require3:48 voter ID, clean up voter rolls, place more limits on mail in voting, and require those registering to vote to show proof of citizenship. Democrats have blasted the legislation4:00 which has 71 percent support. That's according to a recent Harvard Harris poll. Now that poll also found that 85 percent of voters say only US citizens should be allowed to4:12 vote. Seems like a no brainer but pretty controversial. Right now, it's an uphill battle because it will require 60 votes to pass. But there is expected to be extended debate on the senate floor,4:24 possibly even for days or over a week. So we'll see if that moves the needle. Well, that is today's news. I'm Casey Harper. You can dive deeper at the Washington Stand, which is Family Research Council's4:36 outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. As for us, us, we're back tomorrow with more stories that matter.4:52 From the heart of our nation's capital in Washington DC, bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and sound bites into conversations with our nation's leaders and5:03 newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Sitting in for Tony is today's host, Jody Heiss.5:10 This is now the third longest shutdown in American history. They they like making history on the other side, the wrong kind. They had the longest shutdown in history last fall as we all know, and now they're now they've5:20 got the third.5:24 That was house speaker Mike Johnson earlier today as the nation headed into day 32 of the partial government shutdown. Welcome to this March seventeenth edition of5:36 Washington Watch. I'm your guest host, Jody Heiss, filling in today for Tony. Thank you so much for joining us on this Saint Patrick's Day. Alright. We've got a lot coming your way5:48 today. Among some of the highlights as Republicans and Democrats continue to fight over funding for DHS. The war continues certainly to rage in Iran, and we'll5:59 be discussing the latest developments there when we join were are joined in just a little while by Indiana congressman Marlon Stutzman. And with Democrats withholding funding for6:11 DHS, the nation is on heightened alert. There have already been 4 lone wolf terror attacks this past month. And what do they all have in common?6:23 Well, we'll discuss this later when we're joined by Robert Spencer, who's the director of Jihad Watch. So all that and much more is coming your way.6:39 Alright. Israel says it's killed another couple of top Iranian figures, their security chief, along with their commander of, paramilitary, the6:51 sage forces. All this comes as president Trump says our NATO allies, who are not wanting to help the US secure the Strait of Hormuz, are making a foolish mistake. And7:03 joining us now is Washington stand reporter Casey Harper, and we're wanna talk to him about the latest in all of his conflict. Casey, thanks for joining me. Hey. Listen. I thought you'd be wearing a green tie today.7:15 Jody, I knew you're gonna call me out. I apologize. I repent for wearing a red tie today.7:21 Well, I just hope no 1 comes in there and peaches you while we're in7:24 the Philippines. Jody.7:26 Okay. I'm sure you have. Alright. Well, catch us up. What's the latest that's happening in Iran right now?7:31 Sure, Jody. So big developments in Iran overnight. Those 2, top military, security officials were taken out in strikes overnight. That's even more leadership that's been decimated in Iran. And speaking of7:43 Iranian leadership, as you said, president Trump mentioned yesterday that it's unclear whether the new supreme leader, Mosheba Khamenei, is even still alive. The administration said that he was likely wounded or7:54 disfigured, and we haven't seen video of him, addressing the people, which is raising a lot of rumors. Now we have a clip here for president Trump earlier today at the White House.8:04 Everything is gone. Their leaders are gone. I guess 1 of the the top person was they they say a lot of people say their actual top was, killed yesterday along with somebody else,8:16 that who was responsible for the killing, the man that was responsible for the killing of 32000 people over the last 2 weeks.8:24 Great green tie there from the president. But the president went on to say that the US will leave the Iran, military operation in the, quote, very near future. Now as for what you asked about, NATO, the8:36 president during that those same remarks to reporters expressed a lot of frustration with NATO allies. He repeatedly said, you know, we spent, billions of dollars helping NATO in Ukraine, and they didn't come to our aid8:47 in Iran. So at least in the president's mind, it seems that relationship is even more strained, Jody.8:53 Yeah. Well, well, let's bring it a little bit closer to home case here because some of this has even taken place as we speak or just, shortly before we came on the air. But the senate Democrats have9:05 delivered a counteroffer on, funding the Department of Homeland Security as, of course, this partial shutdown continues now to stretch into second month. What exactly is being9:16 proposed right now from senate Democrats?9:20 Yeah. So we do have this new offer you as you mentioned. House speaker Mike Johnson has already turned it down, but it was presented by house Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries. So what is the offer? What's the Democrat9:30 plan? Well, the reason Johnson turned it down is the Democratic plan was to partially end the partial government shutdown. They wanted to pick and choose funding some agencies, so TSA, Coast Guard,9:41 FEMA, but keep ICE and border patrol shut down, possibly indefinitely. Now this is coming as negotiations continue to fail over any reforms to ICE even though the White House and Republicans have made a lot of9:53 concessions on that. Actually, raises questions over whether Democrats wanna fund ICE under any circumstances. But we have a clip here of house speaker Mike Johnson speaking on the need to fund DHS.10:05 In just the last 2 weeks, we have had 4 jihadist attacks on American soil. Every 1 of those attacks falls squarely under the purview of the Department of Homeland Security,10:17 and the Democrats don't wanna fund it. And and now they're demanding we strip funding from the very agency responsible for stopping all of that. It's it's another dangerous game, a political game by Democrats that's as10:28 foolish as it is perilous.10:31 Now it took Democrats nearly 3 weeks to come up with this counteroffer that is clearly unacceptable to Republicans, as you heard Johnson say, which means the third longest government shutdown in history seems to be no10:42 closer to ending, Jody.10:44 Wow. We've gotta get this thing over the the finish line when we talk about 4 lone wolves just in the last 2 weeks. This is a dangerous situation. Casey Harper, as always, thank you for getting us started and giving us10:56 the headlines of, what's happening out there. I wanna go now to a member of congress and, have our discussion continue regarding the Middle East. Joining us now is congressman MarlonNATO Hesitation, Iran Threat, and Israel's Resolve 11:08 Stutzman.11:09 He's a11:09 member of the budget committee, but he was also 1 of the first members of Congress to visit Syria and to meet with that country's new president after the fall of the brutal Assad regime.11:21 Marlin represents the third congressional district of Indiana. Congressman Stutzman, always great to have you on the program, my friend. Good to see you.11:30 Jody, great to be with you. Thanks for having me on.11:33 Oh, you bet. Alright. So, first of all, president Trump has criticized the US NATO's allies over their reluctance to get involved in the the war with11:45 Iran. In fact, he he said that they're making a very foolish mistake. What's your thoughts on all of that? What's going on with NATO?11:53 Yeah. I I absolutely agree with that, Jody. I mean, it's it's just hard to even understand what the European countries and the NATO allies are even thinking right now12:05 considering that World War 2 is not that far in our history books, that we should all remember what happened when you have, you know, a crazy regime in charge in Germany, and12:17 but we have a crazy regime in charge in Iran. And, of course, there's folks that are even on, you know, our side that are saying, oh, president Trump is dragging us into a new war. No. He's not.12:29 He's actually concluding a war. Iran has been at war with the west since 19 79. They've killed 600 Americans at least. They have been the leading state sponsor of terrorism,12:41 in the Middle East and around the world. They've were up in North Korea helping Kim Jong Un develop a nuclear weapon, so they would have had another buddy to have, a crazy guy having nuclear weapons.12:53 This you know, the the midnight hammer operation last summer was really the the the the focal point as saying, look, we're not gonna allow an imminent threat to develop.13:05 You know, people are getting all hung up over this imminent threat conversation. It's like Iran was developing a nuclear weapon. I don't know what else that means to people, but that is an imminent threat. And if they13:17 would have gotten a nuclear bomb, they would have leveraged the Middle East, they would have leveraged Europe, and ultimately, they would have leveraged America.13:25 Yeah. No question about that. And I I think that's that's well said. And while all this is going on to eliminate that threat, Israel has announced that they have eliminated a couple of13:37 top Iranian officials, their security chief along, with a paramilitary force commander. Your reaction to all of that, and and that's a pretty big, loss for13:48 Iran.13:50 It it really is. And I think that, you know, again, shows the intelligence ability that Israel has. The, of course, the equipment, the, the performance that they carry out, you know, their14:02 young men and women that are all, you know, required to join the military in Israel shows how strong of a defense and military that they have. And, you know, before it always used to be14:14 us running to our NATO allies in Europe that would have been the strong allies to go with us into, into battle, like, after 9 11 happened. You know, Britain was in,14:26 Afghanistan, in in Iraq helping us, of course, Italy and Germany and others, Canada. But in this case, I think because of the woke agenda that has creeped its way14:38 into a lot of our NATO allies as countries, they've taken a back seat and don't even wanna participate. But then here you have Israel who is under direct threat from the Iranian regime, is14:49 stepping up in such a big way. But it's also good to see other gulf states who now realize and they've known this, the fact that Iran was not 1 of their friends, but is Iran has now they're15:01 attacking, Qatar. They're attacking the UAE and Saudi Arabia and other countries, outside of Israel. I mean, of course, they're attacking Israel, but, here, I think the the world is now seeing that15:13 Iran is, is backed into a corner, and they're attacking what should have been even some of their friends in the region. And, they're, they're just they're crazy, and I I can't tell you how much I'm impressed with15:25 Israel's ability to perform these and carry out these strikes along with our US military men and women. It's it's very powerful.15:33 Yeah. It is powerful, and it it's just it's stunning to watch. And yet, congressman Stutzman, it's it's unfortunate that here in the US, we are watching a drop in15:45 support for Israel. There's a new national poll by NBC News. You probably have seen it that just 32 percent of Americans have a positive view of Israel and 3915:57 percent, have a negative view. What's your thoughts on on that and what's happening with the attitude in the United States towards Israel?16:06 Yeah. It it's obviously concerning, Jody. You know? And and I have been to Israel like you have, and and a lot of our friends have been to Israel. It is not what Tucker Carlson describes it as. It is16:18 not a country where Americans would have to feel like they're in danger. You know, the fact that Israel will drop pamphlets, right now in Lebanon. They are, they're16:30 warning the people around those who, are close to Hezbollah to to move away. They're gonna come in and strike Hezbollah. They're giving fair warning to people. You know, we do that as well. You16:42 know, the ship that we the Iranian ship that we bombed, we even gave them fair warning that we are going to destroy the ship. That way, human lives could get off of the ship. And, and so that's16:54 what we do in the west. We are gonna destroy assets. We're trying not to to to kill people. We're actually just trying to destroy their assets that they used to to kill us. And, and so, you know, I think that that17:06 Israel's support has taken a hit because of the the left you know, the the the Democrat party is turning, on on our relationship with Israel. In fact, I mean, I when17:18 you and I served in congress, Jody, many of the votes that we had on the house floor that unified, Congress was the support for our veterans and our military and then the support for Israel, and that's17:29 changing. And, a lot of folks Sure. You know, we have 1 member, on the the Republican side that generally votes against funding for Israel, but he opposes funding for just about everybody. But17:41 we're really seeing this antisemitism creeping into the Democrat party and into the mainstream, which we have got to combat. It's now creeping into, you know, what some people say they're part part of the MAGA17:53 agenda, and they're just not. The propaganda that's being pushed, from Iran and other enemies of Israel, it's just incredible, and too many people are starting to believe it.18:05 Yep. It really is incredible, and it's it's alarming, as you said, to see this shift that's taking place. I do remember well how those votes were a unifying vote18:16 across both sides of the aisle. And to see that shifting right now is very, very alarming. Thank you so much, Indiana congressman Marlon Stutzman. Always great to see you, and thank you for joining us on Washington18:28 Watch. Alright, friends. We have a petition to urge congress to pass the Save America Act. Act, we were hoping to get into some of that with congressman Sussman. But if you wanna protect our18:40 elections, text the word save to 6 7 7 4 2. Alright. Coming up, a big blow to the, public health agenda. We'll discuss it next. Stay with us.18:54 When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for 1 people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another19:02 And to assume among the powers of the earth19:04 The separate and equal station to which the laws of nature19:07 And of nature's god entitle them.19:10 A decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes19:15 which impel them to the separation.19:18 We hold these truths to be self evident.19:20 That all men are created equal.19:22 That they're endowed by their creator.19:25 With certain unalienable rights.19:27 That among these are life, liberty,19:29 and the pursuit of happiness.19:30 Happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men.19:35 Deriving their just powers from the consent19:38 of the governed. Happy 200 and fiftieth. Happy 20019:43 and fiftieth. Happy 200 and fiftieth.19:44 Happy 200 and fiftieth birthday, America.19:46 May god bless America. You see, America has freedom for a purpose. The question is, are we living19:58 by that purpose today? See, the founders understood we as a nation would be accountable to God for what he had granted to us. They sought freedom20:10 for a purpose, and that freedom was given to us as a nation for that same purpose, to serve God, to honor him, and to live as a people under his authority.20:23 At the 20 26 National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance in Washington DC, members of Congress, state leaders, evangelical leaders, and intercessors from across the20:34 nation united as 1 voice in prayer.20:38 Heavenly father, thank you so much for this gathering. We do repent, and we ask for your continued favor and blessing over our nation even when we don't deserve it.20:47 I thank you that because of the shed blood and the glorious righteousness of your son, Jesus Christ, a sinner such as myself can boldly approach your20:59 throne. You said that you helped the humble and we're asking just now that you would help21:08 us, lord.21:20 We pray that you humble us, help us to follow after you with all our hearts so that we can see righteousness exalted in this nation and this nation restored to you. We know this is not by our power. It's not by our21:32 might. It is by your spirit.21:33 Freedom has a name. His name is Jesus. And freedom has a purpose. It is to honor and glorify you. We pray that we would return to that purpose. Amen.21:55 Welcome back to Washington Watch. I'm Jody Hice. I'm honored today to be filling in for Tony, and thank you so much for joining us. Alright. A federal judge has temporarilyShow more In this video 0:00 Global Crises: Cuba, Iran War, and DHS Shutdown11:02 NATO Hesitation, Iran Threat, and Israel's Resolve22:04 National Prayer and Blocked Vaccine Reforms31:55 St. Patrick's Gospel Triumph and Ireland's Drift41:55 Jihad Doctrine Behind 4 US Terror Attacks
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