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7/25/2025 Innocent Children and Steadfast People of Faith See Victories as America Continues Course Corrections
July 25, 2025 · 59 min
DOJ Russian collusion investigation, Oregon mom’s adoption victory in court, FDA open to re-evaluating abortion drug safety, and the Trump administration locates 13,000 unaccompanied migrant kids.
Series Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Video
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July 25, 2025 · 59 min · Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Video
DOJ Russian collusion investigation, Oregon mom’s adoption victory in court, FDA open to re-evaluating abortion drug safety, and the Trump administration locates 13,000 unaccompanied migrant kids. ...more Show the full description Show less DOJ Russian collusion investigation, Oregon mom’s adoption victory in court, FDA open to re-evaluating abortion drug safety, and the Trump administration locates 13,000 unaccompanied migrant kids.
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In this video 0:00 Global and Domestic Challenges4:13 Political and Legal Developments29:46 Immigration and Family Values
Global and Domestic Challenges 0:06 Welcome to the Washington Watch News Desk. I'm Casey Harper bringing you today's top stories. Negotiations between Hamas and the United States have broken down as as the war in Gaza continues. The US did hope to0:17 broker a ceasefire while a more lasting peace deal was worked out, but they say Hamas isn't cooperating. President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff, who was helping lead the talks, said yesterday they are0:29 ending the negotiations in Qatar because Hamas is not, quote, acting in good faith. The president echoed that sentiment.0:37 Don't forget, we got a lot of hostages out. So now we're down to the final hostages, and they know what happens after you get the final hostages. And basically, because of that, they really0:48 didn't wanna make a deal. I saw that.0:51 Of course, Hamas is the terror group that killed 1200 Israeli civilians in the deadly October seventh attack that started this war. They've attacked Israel for years, haven't had an election in decades, and often steal1:02 foreign aid from the people, sometimes to make weapons with it. Now civilians in Gaza are facing starvation. Israel has been accused of withholding or stopping aid to Gaza, though they have denied1:14 that. Now Israel says it will begin coordinating airdrops of supplies into the region. Meanwhile, the president of France, Emmanuel Macron announced his nation would recognize Palestine1:26 as a state. That's a breakaway from the US and other Western European nations. However, president Trump was quick to dismiss the French leader's comments.
1:35 Chapin doesn't carry any weight. He's a very good guy. I like him, but that Chapin doesn't carry weight.
1:41 With negotiations stalled, it's unclear what's next in this ongoing war. Now back stateside, thousands of migrant children have been rescued by federal officials. You probably know that
1:53 millions of illegal immigrants came into the US during the Biden administration. That includes at least 300000 unaccompanied minors. Sadly, we don't know where many of these children ended up. Border czar Tom
2:05 Homan insists that finding these kids is a top priority. So far, the administration said they have found 13000 children. On top of that, they've arrested more than 400 sponsors.
2:17 Unfortunately, some of those sponsors turned out to be abusive or illegal immigrants themselves. Even worse, a recent investigation found that 65000 calls for help came to a federal hotline
2:29 for these minors during the Biden administration, but nobody picked up the phone. Those calls went unanswered. We may never know how many of these kids were trafficked, but at least work is being done to
2:41 find them. And in other news, a Christian bookstore in Colorado is challenging a newly signed law that would make using the wrong pronoun discrimination under state law.
2:53 House bill 13 12, which was pushed through by the Democrats, also says that dead naming, which is when you use someone's name after they've transitioned that they used to use before, is akin to harassment.
3:05 Those who don't comply can face thousands of dollars in fines and legal action. The owners of Born Again Used Books, Eric and Sarah Smith, there they are, they filed a lawsuit to challenge the law. They argue
3:17 that they'll sell books to anyone whether they are transgender or not, but forcing them to speak in a way they don't agree with goes too far. A coalition of other groups has also followed suit as well saying the
3:29 law violates the first amendment. That case could go all the way to the Supreme Court. And in another story, a 16 year old boy in North Carolina was suspended by his
3:41 school for saying the phrase illegal alien. You heard that right. Even worse, the school put on his permanent record that he was guilty of quote racially insensitive behavior.
3:53 The boy filed a lawsuit and has now received a court approved settlement. His permanent record will be corrected. Of course, illegal alien is the official government term used by the Department of Homeland
4:05 Security. I guess the school learned that the hard way. Now, they owe the boy 20000 dollars and a public apology. And those are today's
Political and Legal Developments
4:17 stories. I'm Casey Harper. You can dive deeper with the Washington Stand at washington stand dot com. Better yet, download the Stand for a mobile app where you can watch this and other news. We have a lot of good content
4:29 on there you for you to check out. And up next is Washington Watch with guest host Jody Heiss. We're back next week with more stories that matter.
4:51 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 and news
5:03 makers, all from a biblical worldview. Sitting in for Tony is today's host, Jody Heise.
5:10 Good afternoon. Hope you have had a fantastic week. Welcome to this July 20 fifth edition of Washington Watch. I am Jody Heise, a senior fellow here at the Family Research Council and your
5:22 Friday host. So glad to have you joining us today. We've got a lot bringing, to bring to you today. Let me give you some of the highlights. First of all, the Department of Justice has formed a strike force to
5:34 assess recently presented evidence of an alleged conspiracy by the Obama administration to subvert president Trump's 20 16 victory and presidency.
5:45 There is irrefutable evidence that detail how president Obama and his national security team directed the creation of an intelligence community assessment that they knew was false.
5:58 They knew it would promote this contrived narrative that Russia interfered in the 20 16 election to help president Trump win, selling it to the American people as though it were true. It
6:09 wasn't.
6:11 Well, that was the director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, speaking to reporters after more evidence was released Wednesday, which adds to the evidence that initially came out last
6:23 Friday. So what can we make all of this? Well, I'll be discussing this in just a moment when I'm joined by Wisconsin congressman Tom Tiffany, who is a member of the House Judiciary Committee.
6:36 And yesterday, there was a court victory. It was in reference to an Oregon mom who had been excluded from adoption because she refused to play along
6:47 with her state's gender games. Well, Mallory Slate from Alliance Defending Freedom will be join me joining me just a little bit later to discuss that case. And we've been
6:59 talking a lot here on this program and through various means of FRC about the abortion drug, mifepristone, and the problems with the related Biden era policies
7:11 that are still in place today. Well, now we have the FDA commissioner, Marty McCary, who maintains that he has no plans to limit access to that abortion drug.
7:23 But he says he will listen to those who have concerns. I don't have any preconceived plans.
7:30 Is that is that an issue that's on the table for you or or you're not looking at that?
7:34 You know, we always talk about every issue, and we talk about them continuously. We have an ongoing review of safety data on mifepristone. You always have to be open minded. You have to listen to different opinions and
7:45 and, you know, make decisions based on what you think is the right thing to do. Well, that was doctor McCary speaking earlier today to Politico. Well, doctor
7:57 McCary, look, those who are well aware of the dangers of Mifepristone have some facts and some state, some stats, sir, that you need to hear. And
8:08 I'm honored to be joined here a little bit later in the program by with FRC's Mary Zock, who is going to be laying out some of that information as well as the right thing to do. And by the way, while
8:20 we're talking about this real quickly, let me just tell you, and I'll hit on this a little bit more in the program, but we have a petition that's, regarding this issue and you can sign it. Let me just start with this
8:32 right now. Text the word life life to 6 7 7 4 2 and sign that petition. Again, I'll talk a little bit more about that later. But speaking of vulnerable lives,
8:44 this week, the Department of Health and Human Services located some 13000 unaccompanied illegal immigrant children who were lost during the
8:56 Biden administration. Unbelievable number. But sadly, that's just the tip of the iceberg. Officials estimate that over 300000 are
9:08 still missing. They entered the country under Biden's time in office. So what is it gonna take to undo what the Biden administration opened? Well, I'll be talking about this a little
9:20 bit later on when I'm joined by Mark Krekorian from the Center for Immigration Studies. So we've got a lot coming your way. If you miss any part of it, our website tony perkins dot com, be sure
9:32 to check that out as always. Alright. On Wednesday, the justice department announced the formation of a strike force to assess the recently revealed evidence regarding the
9:43 Obama administration's alleged manufacturing and politicization of intelligence. All of this was for the purpose to delegitimize president Trump's victory back in 20
9:55 16. Over the past week, the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, has put forth what you heard just a few moments ago as she described as irrefutable
10:07 evidence of wrongdoing by the Obama administration. So how might this play out? Well, joining me now to discuss this and more is congressman Tom Tiffany,
10:19 who serves on the important House Judiciary Committee, and he represents the seventh congressional district of the great state of Wisconsin. Congressman Tiffany, great to see you, my friend. Welcome back to
10:31 Washington Watch.
10:32 Good to see you again, Joni.
10:35 Alright. Let's go back. First, just talk to us about this whole Russian collusion hoax. How how did it come about? When did it come about? Just kinda give us a little bit of history on this thing.
10:47 You know, the thing that's stunning to me, Jody, is that you still have nearly half the public that does not understand that it that was a hoax that Donald Trump colluded with the Russian government because the
10:59 mainstream media will not tell the truth. Thank you for doing that. But I remember a couple years ago when John Durham, the special prosecutor came before the judiciary committee, and I asked him point
11:10 blank, was there, was there collusion that went on between president Trump and the Russians? And he says no. And he said flat out, no. That is not the case. Now what I'm hearing from chairman Jordan is
11:22 that, we have the FBI director and the attorney general that come before us usually once or twice annually. And I think that's going to happen here this fall. And we're gonna have a lot
11:34 of questions for Pam Bondi and for Kash Patel in this regard. And, I'm hopeful at some point, maybe we'll be able to get Tulsi Gabbard there also. We need to continue to tell the
11:46 American people the truth because they can handle it.
11:50 Yeah. And you mentioned a couple of heavyweights there. It's great to hear that they'll be coming before your committee hopefully this fall. Is there anything that you can tell us so far as it relates to
12:02 specifically what director Gabbard has revealed so far? I mean, I heard the statement that this is irrefutable evidence is a strong statement.
12:12 Yeah. It really is. And, I mean, what you hope is ultimately, it corrects the historical record that there will have to be an acknowledgment when the truth is told, in the historical
12:24 record that it will show that Barack Obama tried to undermine president Trump. And it's become very clear. I mean, we've basically known that, Jody. I mean, we served in the halls of congress together, and
12:36 they basically knew this was happening. But this is really, this is bringing the documents forward that show this is what happened. And,
12:48 Tulsi Gabbard brought the receipts.
12:51 Yeah. That's it really is stunning. I just and I wanna get your opinion on this on where all of this is go going. But before I ask you that specifically, were you at all and are you at all surprised
13:04 by this? I mean, you know, I I think we we all saw, at least to some extent, what what at least seemed to be a Biden administration weaponizing
13:16 agencies for political purposes. Are you surprised that this information is coming out the way it seemingly is coming?
13:24 No. Nothing surprises me in Washington DC anymore, Jody. And, but it really, puts a fine point on when Barack Obama said back in, what is it, 2008, 2009, I am going to
13:36 transform America. That is what he was trying to do. He wanted to completely change America into something else that we Americans do not recognize. This was all part of it. Donald
13:48 Trump in 2016 interrupted what was going to be the coup de grace with Hillary Clinton following up on Barack Obama getting control of the Supreme Court, and then
14:00 it was game, set, match for America.
14:04 Wow. So tell us about this strike force. Alright. What what is what is a DOJ strike force, and what is it precisely that they do, or what what are they going to
14:15 do?
14:17 Yeah. I'm not sure exactly what they'll be doing, but, by the name, it's very clear that they are going to get to the bottom of what has happened here, and they're gonna produce the evidence for the American
14:29 people. I mean, I'm going to have questions in regards to the strike force, when Pam Bondi, Kash Patel, and others, if they come before the judiciary committee, I'm certainly going to have questions for
14:40 them about what are what is the strike force doing? What are you hoping to accomplish with it? But it's to get to the truth because that's I've been saying all along, Jody, for a couple years. The American people
14:52 can handle the truth. Let's give it to them. I hope the strike force helps accomplish that.
14:58 Amen. Great perspective there. I asked you this a moment ago. I wanna circle back to it and get your reply. What is it that you are hoping is going to come out of all of this
15:10 if in fact the documents point to the irrefutable evidence? Where does it go from here?
15:18 Well, I would suspect that as it gets closer to president Obama that, he would cite executive privilege. And, I mean, if it would carry through all the way to the end, it would end up before
15:30 the Supreme Court. And the Supreme Court would have to decide. Do you have executive privilege in this instance? I see very little of president Obama over the last few days, though he is the central
15:41 player. I you know, they've always tried to keep Obama's star from being tarnished. Well, it was tarnished in the election of 20 24 when he went to bat for Kamala. I mean, he was doing everything
15:53 he could to deny president Trump his second term, and he failed. And I think his star is tarnished on the Democrat side and certainly amongst the American people. And there are those out
16:05 there, much like John F. Kennedy, that they don't want the truth to be able to come out on some of these issues because it truly would show what a what a partisan
16:17 president Obama was, though he claimed to be a healer.
16:22 Do you think there will be a prosecution criminal?
16:25 Yeah. I don't know. We're gonna see. I suspect the strike force is gonna have the evidence that the strike force brings forward, I think, is gonna have a lot to say in regards to whether there would be an indictment.
16:37 Alright. Before we wrap up, congressman Tiffany, I I wanna turn over to 1 more item. This past Wednesday, you introduced the Colleges for the American People Act of 20
16:49 25, also known as the CAP Act. Tell us a little bit about this and, what what moved you to get this ball rolling?
16:57 Yeah. Here's the back story. It's an and, of course, it's an immigration story. So there's under h 1 b visas, which are people that have a extraordinary talent or something like that that we want to bring in to the
17:09 United States of America, there's 65000 people that qualify for H-1Bs every year. And by the way, we are the most generous country in the world. We take in nearly a million people legally in the United States. We're
17:21 extremely generous. Well, there's exceptions to that, and that includes the universities across America. They can bring people in like that. Well, there's some intrepid reporters here in Wisconsin that found out there's
17:30 nearly 500 people that are employed in the University of Wisconsin system that are on H-1B visas. Why is there that many people working on H-1B visas? So what this does
17:42 is sets a cap and that cap is 65000. If you want to bring people in, there's no exceptions with the h 1 b. You would have to bring them in as part of that cohort of
17:54 65000 people making it a hard cap. No exceptions.
17:59 How's it being received with your colleagues?
18:03 Good. Good. We've gotten a few people to sign on. I think as more and more people find out about it, you know, it's a bit of a, it's got a Wisconsin focus at this point because there was good reporting that was going on
18:14 in our state. But people understand what we're trying to do there. And, I mean, the American there's plenty of Americans that'll do these jobs. I mean, I
18:26 just saw JD Vance's work where he's talked about 9000 people were laid off by Microsoft, and then they went and put ads out to bring people in on h 1 b's. That's not how it should work.
18:36 Wow.
18:37 Let's look out for the American people first.
18:39 Tom Tiffany, congressman from Wisconsin, thank you so much for joining us today. Alright, friends. Stay tuned. We've got some good news coming out of Oregon to bring your way, and we'll do it right after the break.
18:56 A family is the oldest, most tested, and most reliable unit of society. It is divinely created and sustained. And yet, there are those who are always tampering with its values and structure.
19:08 That's why we need organizations like the Family Research Council that could effectively defend and strengthen the family.
19:16 Family Research Council began over 40 years ago, like all great movements of God, with prayer. Today, rooted in the heart of the nation's capital, FRC continues to
19:27 champion faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview.
19:34 FRC is 1 of those bright lights that helps us focus on true north, and I shudder to think had they not been here that it could have been worse, worse, worse. The Family Research Council
19:46 is key. It's 1 of a handful of groups that I think will determine whether our children live in a country that enjoyed all all of the freedom
19:58 and all the opportunity that we enjoyed in this great land.
20:02 It's just a wonderful para church organization that doesn't seek to take the place of the church, but it seeks to assist the family and the church as we try to move forward
20:14 successfully, not in a defensive mode, but in an offensive mode as we seek to live our lives according to the holy scriptures.
20:22 FRC, is not gonna be whooped. You know, we're we're gonna fight. We're gonna take a stand. And, again, we don't retreat.
20:31 You will never see in front of this building here in Washington, DC a white flag fly. We will never step back. We will never surrender, and we will never
20:43 be silent.
20:49 In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory.
21:01 Family Research Council invites you to join our stand on the word bible reading plan as we reflect upon the life of Jesus, the word who dwelt among us. Come with us
21:13 and discover the glory of the word. Read the gospels and witness the life changing story of Jesus, his life, death, and resurrection. Come read how Jesus transformed the lives of
21:25 common people and how those same people transform the known world through the power of the Holy Spirit. Come with us for 10 to 15 minutes a day and read the entire New Testament before the New
21:37 Year. Find our Bible reading plan and daily devotionals from Tony Perkins at FRC dot org slash bible. Join us and stand on the word.
21:53 Thank you so much for joining us today on Washington Watch. I'm your Friday host, Jody Heise. Alright. Yesterday, the US, Court of Appeals for the ninth circuit delivered a very
22:05 welcome victory. Although it may be temporary, it's nonetheless a welcome victory. It pertains, to an Oregon Oregon mother who has been excluded from adopting simply because
22:17 she refused to play along with her state's gender games. And in the ruling, the court gave Oregon mother Jessica Bates the go ahead to begin the process of adoption
22:29 from foster care while her lawsuit against state officials continues. And so she is gonna be able to do so without agreeing to take children to things like pride parades,
22:42 or using incorrect pronouns, which the left of course always refers to his preferred pronouns. But what does this message in this court ruling send to the state of Oregon and beyond? Well
22:54 with me now to discuss this is Mallory slate. She's legal counsel on the parental rights team at Alliance Defending Freedom, which is representing this Oregon mother. Mallory, welcome
23:06 to Washington Watch. It's an honor to have you.
23:09 It's so wonderful to be here.
23:12 So first of all, tell us about Jessica, about her story, and what actually led her to this lawsuit against her state.
23:22 It's honestly a really miraculous and beautiful story, And it unfortunately has a tragic beginning. Jessica was married, with 5 children and her husband was tragically
23:34 killed in 20 17. She was left as a widow raising 5 kids on her own. And yet through that, she felt very clear, clearly called and led by God to start the
23:46 process to adopt and felt like she was told that, the Bible says to care for orphans. And even though she was a widow, she still needed to care for orphans. So she started the process to adopt
23:58 and got through the entire process. And at the very end, the state of Oregon said, you are not fit to parent and fit to adopt unless you sign a form agreeing ahead of time that
24:10 you will affirm and support any child's hypothetical future gender identity that they may adopt. When, Jessica said that this violated her
24:22 conscience and her religious beliefs, the state said that makes you an unfit parent. And, thankfully, Jessica came to us, and we sued the state of Oregon.
24:31 Wow. And so the decision yesterday, this is this is a big deal. Tell us about that.
24:38 It really is a big deal. This is, 1 of the first, opinions from the circuit court directly on this issue. And, unfortunately, we've been seeing this across the country in so many different states where
24:50 states are excluding Christians from being able to participate in foster and adoption. What the ninth circuit said is that adoption is not a constitutional law dead
25:02 zone. It said that just because we're dealing with adoption and foster, that doesn't mean that you can categorically exclude Christians. And it doesn't mean that you can violate people's freedom of
25:14 speech either by compelling their speech with pronouns, by attending pride parades, and by restricting their ability to discuss their own personal religious beliefs in their own home. These are 2
25:26 really important issues and really important rulings that we're really excited from, to have gotten from the ninth circuit and, hopefully, we'll begin to see in other cases as well.
25:38 Wow. Man, that's that's that's incredible. So what what the state of Oregon was doing, and correct me if I'm wrong, but based on what you just said, it sounds like what they were doing was in
25:50 fact discrimination itself. Was it not?
25:54 Well, what they're doing is saying that in order to adopt or foster children, you have to adopt, the state of Oregon's ideological beliefs, that you have to adopt their
26:06 beliefs about gender, their beliefs about gender identity, and that your religious beliefs are simply wrong. And if you hold these religious beliefs, then you are unfit to parent. And that's simply
26:18 unconstitutional as that is creating a, a standard that will remove a lot of Christians from the ability to adopt their foster kids.
26:28 So they're really creating a an ideological litmus test, and pushing a political agenda. Are aren't they doing this
26:41 above the welfare of the child?
26:46 Absolutely. Any child who is in foster care wants and needs and deserves a loving home, a home with parents and siblings that will care for them and love them and
26:57 support them unconditionally. And that is exactly what Jessica does with her own kids and exactly what she wants to do with an adoptive child that she would love to bring into her home. These kids right now
27:09 across the country are being housed in hospitals and police stations because there simply are not enough homes and families willing to enter the foster care system. We have clients across the country who
27:21 are willing, who are able, and who are amazing families. And yet, departments like, organs are simply not allowing them to participate because of their religious beliefs.
27:34 Well, so so let let's go there. We have people all across the country like that. What does the decision yesterday say not only to the state of Oregon, but beyond? What what
27:46 where does this go from here?
27:49 I think it signals to other states and, other courts that the tide is turning on this issue. That it's very clear that constitutional rights of freedom of speech and freedom to exercise one's religious beliefs
28:02 apply within this field as well. That there is not a constitutional dead zone for just foster and adoption care where other constitutional rights don't apply. We've got other cases similar to
28:14 this 1 in Washington state, in Vermont, and, we're getting calls every single day of other families facing similar issues. And we're we're very hopeful that, courts will start to to
28:26 stop these unconstitutional policies across the country.
28:30 Boy, Mallory, we join you in that hope, that the perhaps the days of conservative people of faith need not apply for adoption are over or coming to an
28:41 end. Real quickly, 30 seconds or so, what's next for this case? Where where where does it go from here?
28:49 Well, what's happened now is that we have a preliminary injunction in place. So that means that, Jessica is protected while we continue to litigate this case. We will go back to the district court, and, we are
29:01 excited to continue pursuing this case and, hopefully, eventually come to a final ruling that this policy is unconstitutional in the state of Oregon and across the country.
29:12 Wow. Thank you so much, Mallory Slate, legal counsel on the parental rights team at Alliance Offending Freedom. An honor to have you with us today, and thank you for unpacking this very important
29:24 decision for us. Alright, friends. After the break, I'll discuss what the commissioner of the FDA has been saying regarding the abortion drug mifepristone. And it's,
29:36 it's quite an important message he's giving out, and we've got quite an important response, what he needs to hear. FRC's Mary Zock will join me next, so don't go away. We'll be back.Show more
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