Skip to content 8/18/2025 Evaluating Important International and Domestic Issues and Legislation Hostile to CA Families Aug 18 · 59 min ...more
8/18/2025 Evaluating Important International and Domestic Issues and Legislation Hostile to CA Families
August 18, 2025 · 59 min
Analyzing: Trump’s meetings with Putin, Zelenski, and EU Leaders; the U.N., Gaza, and Australia’s push for Palestinian statehood; a Christian response to California’s against parental rights.
Series Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Video
Family Research Council is serving in the kingdom of God by championing faith, family, & freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview.
August 18, 2025 · 59 min · Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Video
Analyzing: Trump’s meetings with Putin, Zelenski, and EU Leaders; the U.N., Gaza, and Australia’s push for Palestinian statehood; a Christian response to California’s against parental rights. ...more Show the full description Show less Analyzing: Trump’s meetings with Putin, Zelenski, and EU Leaders; the U.N., Gaza, and Australia’s push for Palestinian statehood; a Christian response to California’s against parental rights.
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In this video 0:00 Global and Domestic Challenges: A Christian Perspective
Global and Domestic Challenges: A Christian Perspective 0:06 Welcome to the Washington Watch News Desk. I'm Sarah Holliday with today's top stories. President Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin met face to face last week in Alaska.0:18 According to Trump, it went well. But when it comes to specific details, he's been somewhat vague. So what do we know? No ceasefire or binding deals0:30 came out of it. They talked land swaps though, and reportedly, Putin has a high demand. To secure peace, he wants control of Ukraine's Donbas region. Putin wants the0:41 land for its economic resources and military leverage. If he gets what he wants, he said he'd vow to never attack Ukraine again. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky's0:53 response was clear. To start, no Ukrainian land will be handed over to Russia, but he also had other thoughts.1:02 Putin has many demands, but we do not know all of them. It's necessary to cease fire and work quickly on a final deal. We'll talk about it in Washington.1:14 Putin does not want to stop the killing, but he must do it.1:19 NATO and European leaders are rallying behind Zelensky, and they're not just cheering from the sidelines. Several joined him today at the White House for a critical meeting with president Trump to map out next1:31 steps. Pivoting now to another hot spot, Trump is still wrestling with the Israel Hamas conflict. Over the weekend, the state department said they're halting all1:42 visas for Gaza residents seeking medical treatment in the US. Now, this isn't a knee jerk move tied directly to the Middle East war. Rather, the state department says they're
1:54 hitting pause to investigate how these visas were issued in the first place. Secretary of state Marco Rubio broke it down on CBS's Face the Nation this past Sunday.
2:05 There is evidence been presented to us by numerous congressional offices that some of the organizations bragging about and involved in acquiring these visas have strong links to terrorist groups like Hamas. And so we are
2:17 not gonna be in partnership with groups that are friendly with Hamas. So we need to we're gonna pause those visas. There was just a small number of them issued to children, but they come with adults accompanying them,
2:27 obviously. And we are going to pause this program and reevaluate how those visas are being vetted and and what relationship, if any, has there been by these organizations to the to the process of acquiring
2:39 those visas.
2:41 Well, the world stage certainly burns bright, but domestic battles are heating up too, especially when it comes to biological males invading women's sports. In February, Trump
2:53 signed an executive order to keep biological males out of women's and girls' sports. Since then, the Department of Education has already investigated several states and school districts for allowing males to compete
3:05 alongside females, meaning potential title 9 violations. Officially added to that list are 4 school districts in Kansas, But this investigation goes well
3:16 beyond sports. According to the department, these districts may be guilty of not only allowing males into female private spaces, but also for hiding students' transgender identities
3:28 from parents. Kansas attorney general Chris Kobach was the 1 who brought attention to this back in June. He sent a letter to secretary of education Linda McMahon expressing his concern.
3:41 Now McMahon's team is digging deep. She's warned that federal funding could be yanked if these districts are found violating title 9 or president Trump's executive orders. This fight
3:53 is just getting started. And speaking of battles, Costco has found itself on the hot seat. The retail giant toyed with the idea of stocking the abortion pill mifepristone
4:04 across its 500 plus pharmacies nationwide. But after fierce backlash from pro life advocates, Costco finally announced they won't sell the dangerous and controversial
4:16 drug. Pro lifers immediately hailed this as a huge win, but the work's not slowing down. They're now turning their sights on pharmacy giants like Walgreens and CVS, which still
4:28 carry the abortion pill. The demand, it's their turn to pull it from their shelves next. And those are today's headlines. I'm Sarah Holliday. Up next is Washington Watch with Jody Heiss.
4:40 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 and
5:03 newsmakers, all from a biblical world view. Sitting in for Tony is today's host, Jody Heiss.
5:12 Well, good afternoon. Hope you're having a great day. Welcome to this Monday edition of Washington Watch. I'm Jody Heiss, senior fellow here at the Family Research Council and honored to be filling in for Tony this
5:23 month. Coming up on this edition of Washington Watch, president Trump met with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky along with other European leaders at the White House today,
5:35 and there seems very clearly a resolve from everyone to see an end to the Russia Ukraine war.
5:42 The war is gonna end. When it ends, I can't tell you, but the war is going to end. And this gentleman wants it to end, and Vladimir Putin wants it to end. I think the whole world is tired of
5:53 it, and we're gonna get it ended.
5:57 That, of course, was president Trump. He was speaking with reporters today during a press gaggle with Zelensky. And we'll be hearing more about what came out of today's meeting when I'm joined here in just a few minutes
6:09 by Phil Hegman. He's a White House reporter for Real Clear Politics. And today's White House meetings comes, of course, on the heels of president Trump's meeting in Alaska with
6:21 Russian president Vladimir Putin last Friday, which the administration certainly described as game changing.
6:29 I think everybody agreed that we had made progress. Maybe not enough for a peace deal, but we're on the path for the first time. We're we are seeing, accommodation
6:41 more than we've seen in the past, certainly more than, we saw in the last administration. And that is, that's encouraging.
6:49 That was US special envoy Steve Witkoff yesterday on CNN's State of the Union. And not surprisingly, there are some Democrats who are not happy with president
7:02 Trump's efforts to end the Russia Ukraine war. In fact, there was 1 Democratic congressman who called Friday's summit a historic embarrassment to the United States, and I'll
7:14 get a response from that by Republican congresswoman Harriet Hageman of Wyoming a little bit later in the program. And speaking of wars, a ceasefire and
7:25 hostage release proposal is now on the table between Israel and the Hamas terror group. And, of course, all this is coming as a result of, 3 and a half years now of
7:37 what's been taking place. But all of the the swapping of hostages and so forth now is back on the table. I'll be discussing that with doctor AJ Nolte. He's the director of the Institute for Israel Studies
7:49 at Regent University, and he will be joining me from Israel with the latest. And then later in the program, we'll highlight a terrible, terrible bill that's on the verge of
8:01 becoming law in California.
8:04 This bill, AB 4 9 5, 100 percent strips parents of their parental rights. It is literally being called by
8:16 opponents of it. I'm 1 of them. The California legislature, trafficking bill. It's it's a meat market bill. It
8:29 is a trafficking bill.
8:30 That was Southern California pastor Jack Hibbs late last month when he was speaking out against California's bill a b, 4 9 5. And he, pastor Jack, will join
8:42 me a little bit later to talk about it. And I'll just tell you upfront, friends, you don't want to miss that conversation. This bill is horrible. And, of course, as we know all too often what starts in
8:54 California rarely stays there. So that's the lineup for today. We've got a lot coming your way. You certainly don't wanna miss any part of it. If by chance you do, you can always catch it by going to our website, tony
9:05 perkins dot com. Please keep that handy. Also, wanna just give you a quick reminder, our Prevost vote stand summit is coming up in Chino Hills, California. It's happening October seventeenth and
9:17 eighteenth, and you can get more information or register by going to pray vote stand dot org. We encourage you to go ahead and do that today. Alright. Let's jump into the meat of our
9:29 discussion today as I opened up with president Trump has been in meetings today with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky along with European leaders. And literally, just a couple of minutes
9:41 ago, I was informed that it appears as though the meeting has come to an end. So today's meetings, as we all know, followed the meetings that took place Friday between Trump and, Russian
9:52 president Putin in Alaska, which our administration says was game changing meeting. So, what are the takeaways that we know so far from today's
10:04 meeting? Well, here to share what he's been tracking is Phil Hegman. He's the White House reporter for Real Clear Politics. Phil, welcome back to Washington Watch. It's great to have you.
10:16 Thank you. Well,
10:19 well, I'm right away. Yeah. Go ahead. But you've been tracking this. Tell us what you know so far.
10:26 What I know so far is that this administration and European allies have been having meetings, about meetings, in order to set up future meetings. And 1 thing that is truly remarkable here is that it's even
10:37 happening at all. If you rewind the clock to February of this year, it wasn't that long ago when Ukrainian president Zelensky was thrown out of the oval office after he tangled with president Trump and vice president,
10:50 Vance. Today, that didn't happen. Instead, you know, as you noted, not only does this administration say that they have moved the ball towards peace, You had some of these European leaders like the German chancellor,
11:02 agreeing with him. Now they're talking about the potential for a trilateral meeting between Vladimir Putin of Russia, Zelensky of Ukraine, and right there smack dab in the middle of all
11:14 of it is Donald Trump. I think the thing that we can say consistently right now, because we we don't know exactly, what consensus, Trump and today's delegation landed on. But what
11:26 we can say consistently is that Trump is mercurial in his methods. He's sort of moved back and forth on a couple different issues, previously, but he's consistent in wanting to get this thing
11:38 to end. And as of right now, all parties seem to agree that we might be coming to, you know, the end of the beginning of the peace process.
11:49 Well, that is amazing news. And, as I said, they they just literally, just moments ago, seem to wrap this thing up. So this is something you've been tracking all day, so that's that's great to
12:00 hear. Let let me go back real quickly, if I can, Phil, with the meeting that took place Friday. Unpack for us, were were there any things that came out of that that made the meeting today
12:12 a little iffy, with going into it as far as maybe some security guarantees or any other sticking points that might have been hurdles going into today?
12:24 I'm I'm that that is the, you know, thrust of the issue here. You hit the nail right on the head because there are 2 things that have emerged. First, from that Friday meeting, we got word that the US security guarantees,
12:36 might not be a sticking point for Putin. But then we saw president Trump walk away, from this demand for a ceasefire. This is interesting because
12:49 previously, the president had indicated that US security guarantees would be through this minerals deal, that we would have a commercial interest over there. And as a result, Russia would not want to
13:00 reinvade the country. A lot of Europeans, really doubted that. But this time around, you know, Trump hasn't ruled out the possibility of sending US peacekeepers, and we're not certain where the delegation
13:12 landed. But the big thing, though, is, the call for the ceasefire. And for the most part, today's meeting, at least what we got to see of it in the press, was pretty tang.
13:24 But you had the German chancellor draw this line in the sand and say that he thought it would be unimaginable to go into that trilateral meeting where, you know, they're actually gonna take hammers and tongs to, you
13:35 know, something enduring to try and get a deal and they wouldn't have a ceasefire. Donald Trump doesn't like being challenged. We saw that in February. And he sort of shrugged and said, hey, I I brought peace and an end
13:47 to all of these other wars without a ceasefire. I think it'll be okay this time. So we'll wait for a result, but, you know, those are the contours of what we're watching.
13:58 Very interesting. You you brought it up, and I'm glad you did. I I and we we don't need to camp out too too long on this, I guess. But you mentioned that this meeting went so much better than the last time Zelensky met
14:10 with Trump. That that was that was a very awkward meeting for everyone involved. But, everything that you're hearing from today, with the other European leaders, this was much more
14:22 corduroy and productive. Is that correct?
14:24 Mhmm. That that's correct. And 1 thing that is notable, it's not definitive, but it gives us a sense of how Zelensky approached this meeting. The guy put on a jacket, no tie, but he wore a suit. Now that's
14:35 important, not because of his sartorial decisions. Nobody cares. But it's more important because that was something that bothered Trump last time. Zelensky showed up in his sort of, black
14:47 fatigues, and and that rumpled, the president. He didn't like that. This time around, Zelensky seems to be, you know, reading the stage directions more. He's not challenging Trump in public. He's not pushing
14:59 back in public. And I think that it might have taken 8 months for Zelensky, who was really heralded, as sort of a Churchillian figure during the Biden administration, to real to realize that the the rules of
15:11 the game had had changed. And in Trump, what he sees is someone who is focused, first and foremost, on just getting this thing done. I mean, the idea that there would be territory swaps, something that, you know,
15:22 president Trump told me during the, signing of a peace, agreement with Azerbaijan and al Albania. He said, you know, there would be territory swaps. That would be unthinkable during the Biden administration. It's it's a
15:34 new paradigm, and we'll see if there's a new result.
15:37 Very interesting. So so now you've mentioned the the hopes to have a trilateral meeting now between Trump, Putin, and Zelensky. Any sort sense of timing on when
15:49 that might happen?
15:51 The president, he likes things to move quickly. He doesn't like to wait around. There's some indication that it could be this week or next week. The White House press corps would be getting a lot of travel miles under
16:01 their belt. But, 1 thing that we heard from the president definitively is his plans to call Vladimir Putin after this meeting, finished today.
16:13 And the reason I think that is significant is not only was he willing to invite Putin into the United States, the first time he met any western country, since the
16:25 beginning of this conflict. I mean, remember, this is someone who is regarded as a as a war criminal for his invasion, but Trump is keeping the lines of communication open. And I think this reflects a different
16:37 ideology, of president Trump. Yes. He has a a moralistic foreign policy. You know, all leaders do. But at the end of the day, you know, Trump is not so concerned with
16:49 the personal character of another nation state. He he's concerned with the results. It's much more sort of realpolitik. And, again, you know, we'll judge it by the the fruits that it
17:00 bears. Does it bring this war to an end in a just way?
17:05 Yep. Good. And, you know, I think that communication, line of communication was illustrated even with the European leaders being here. There were some Democrats in particular who were saying they were here to prevent
17:16 Trump from bullying Zelensky again. But, no, he was Trump was on the phone with all of them last week, letting them know what was going on. So I thought that, again, was yet another great line of communication. We've
17:28 only got about a minute or so left, but what do you think perhaps would be the role of the US after some sort of peace deal is struck?
17:36 Yeah. That's what we're gonna be watching very closely. Donald Trump does not like to commit US troops to any engagement. And so it is a win for the Ukrainians that he hasn't ruled that out
17:48 just yet. We're gonna have to watch that pretty closely here to to see, if he does send in troops. 1 thing that I am, focused on is Trump likes to see European allies do some of the heavy lifting.
18:00 He sent arms to Ukraine,
18:02 but he's made NATO pay
18:03 for them. Is this a situation where he's willing to get the US more involved, but in sort of an indirect way where the Europeans are, you know, taking their fair share of the way? Again, I hate to say
18:15 it like this, but, we'll have to wait and see.
18:18 We'll be watching. Phil Hegman, White House reporter for RealClearPolitics. Thank you so much for being so on the spot with the latest. We appreciate you
18:28 coming on.
18:30 Alright. Coming up, I'll continue this discussion on the meeting today with the White House at the White House. From a congressional perspective, Wyoming congresswoman Harriet Hageman will join me
18:42 next, so stay tuned. We'll be back right after this break.
18:57 The 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.
19:09 That's why we need organizations like the Family Research Council that can effectively defend and strengthen the family.
19:17 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
19:28 champion faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview.
19:35 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.
19:45 The Family Research Council is key. It's 1 of a handful of groups that I think will determine whether our children live in a country that
19:57 enjoyed all of the freedom and all the opportunity that we enjoyed in this great land.
20:03 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
20:15 successfully, not in a defensive mode, but in an offensive mode as we seek to live our lives according to the holy scriptures.
20:24 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.
20:33 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
20:45 be silent.
20:51 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.
21:03 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
21:15 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
21:26 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
21:38 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.
21:54 Thank you for tuning in today to Washington Watch. I'm Jody Hice filling in for Tony, and glad to have you with us. Alright. As we discussed in the last segment, and I'm sure you've been keeping track
22:06 as well, president Trump met with Ukrainian president Zelensky along with some other European leaders in the White House today. And, of course, all of this is coming on the heels of the meeting he had with
22:18 Russian president Putin last Friday. And as we've already noted on the program today, there's been a lot of optimism expressed across the board, for the most part. I mean, there's some
22:30 Democrats who are still finding ways to debase president Trump's efforts to bring an end to this 3 and a half year war. Quite frankly, you have to ask, will anything that the president
22:41 does be enough for the Democrats? But, we'll we'll see how all that goes. But joining me now to continue this discussion and more is congresswoman Harriet Hageman. She represents
22:53 Wyoming. Congresswoman, always great to see you. Thank you so much for joining us again on Washington Watch.
23:00 Well, you do such great programming. It's an honor to be here.
23:05 Well, thank you very much. Let me begin with this. You I don't know if you saw it or not, but on CBS's Face the Nation yesterday, Democrat congressman Jason Crow of Colorado,
23:17 He said that the meeting last Friday between Trump and Putin was a historic embarrassment for the United States. What is your take on not only that comment, but the summit that
23:29 took place on Friday?
23:31 I think that's delusional, and I think anybody who paid attention to what happened on Friday knows that it's delusional, and it just demonstrates how the Democrats are flailing. And you made the comment in your opening
23:43 introduction. I don't think that there is anything that president Trump could do that would satisfy them. But instead of just sitting silently or maybe changing the subject or focusing on policies
23:55 that actually they believe in, they have to tear everything down. Anytime 2 world leaders meet in an effort to try to resolve an ongoing war, it is not a failure. It is not an embarrassment.
24:08 What it is is it is an effort to stop the killing. We've had this going on for 3 and a half years now. The the, Putin has said it never would have happened on president Trump's watch in the first place,
24:20 and now president Trump is the 1 who's willing to step up, put his moral authority on the line, his reputation on the line, and say, come on, everybody. Let's see if we can get together and see if we can get this thing
24:30 solved because the killing needs to stop.
24:33 Well said. And I think that's the the right perspective with all of this. Whenever 2 world leaders meet together, just put a stop to something like this. It's great step in the right direction. And then following that,
24:45 today, we have the meeting with Zelensky and other European leaders. And, of course, the jury is still out on that, but everything we're hearing so far, and it just ended, probably 20 minutes ago, but what
24:57 we're hearing so far is very positive on that. Do you what's your take in terms of the overall direction that same things seem to be headed right now?
25:08 I believe in life, and I wanna preserve life. And what we're watching take place between Russia and Ukraine has been a tragedy for all sides. Russia was the aggressor. Russia Russia did the wrong thing. It
25:20 never should have happened, but we also know that it was in part in response to the Biden administration continuing to say that Ukraine should be a part of NATO. We now know after the last 4 and a half
25:31 years of the incredible corruption that was taking place with Hunter Biden and various interests in Ukraine. How much of that was how much of the Biden policy was a spillover in relation to what
25:43 other Biden had been doing for the previous 4, 5, 7, 8 years? I can't answer that. I don't know if any of us know at this point, but we do know that there was an impact because the president of the United States
25:55 had a son who was engaging in in corrupt practices in foreign countries, and we're now all separating the consequences of it. So here we are yet again. I will say it that anytime you have world
26:07 leaders who attempt to come together to resolve a conflict of this nature, it is a good thing. Is it gonna succeed? I can't sit here and tell you what it is. I'm not even sure what success looks like right now. It's
26:19 1 of the reasons that I have been, that I have pushed back against, sending additional aid to Ukraine because nobody has been able to tell us, number 1, where all the money has been going, what the
26:31 accounting has been, what the money is being spent on, and at the same time, what is the ultimate goal here? And I look at the ultimate goal here? And I look at the European leaders over the last couple of years, and if
26:40 you'll remember, there were 2 different times that mister Zelensky came out and said we need to talk about a ceasefire. And it was the western leaders who came out and said, no. No. No. No. No. There will be no
26:51 ceasefire. It was the European leaders who came out and said, no. No. No. No. No. We're not talking about a ceasefire. And I always thought that that was so strange because it was the though we they had some kind of
27:02 interest in perpetuating a never ending war. I just don't believe that way, and I think that this is an opportunity to try to get some peace in the region.
27:12 Yeah. Very good. And I remember those. I think that's a good perspective to bring back into this equation and this conversation. I was able to be in some of those meetings too, and you're exactly right what happened
27:24 there. Congresswoman, if I can, I I wish I could have you on and on? There's so many things I'd like to put out there for you. But as you're talking about some of these decisions
27:36 like this, let me bring it a little bit closer to home. You have been, on top of the FISA reform efforts. This is a foreign intelligence surveillance act and how that initially
27:48 intended to spy on potential terrorists in our country, foreign terrorists, has unfortunately been used to spy on American citizens. What needs to happen to correct that, the 7 0 2 portion in
28:00 particular?
28:01 So we have done some very major reforms to FISA. The judiciary committee took the lead on that, and we did some very significant reforms last year. I believe that we had 56 different points, but in my
28:13 opinion, we did not go far enough. And I still do not believe that it complies with the constitution, most specifically in relation to the warrant requirements. What you're referring to is the Obama administration, and
28:25 we now, every single day almost, we have a new revelation as to what the Obama administration did in terms of not only spying on the Trump campaign by using and abusing FISA, but then what
28:37 they did afterwards to cover it up, which was the entire Russia hoax all the way through the first 2 years of president Trump's administration. But when you look at how FISA was abused, the individuals
28:49 obtained a FISA warrant against Carter Page, a domestic a an American citizen who was actually the CIA asset, they they spied on him so that they could then do the
29:01 that they're make the effort to spy on the Trump campaign because they could look at his emails and look at his text messages and things like that. So FISA was terribly abused. We can never let that happen again. The
29:12 government does not have the right to do that to us, and it is imperative that we continue to make reforms and changes to FISA to protect our civil liberties.
29:22 It is so refreshing to hear you say that. Wyoming congresswoman Harriet Hagelin, thank you so much for the incredible leadership that you bring to the table. And as always, it's great to have you on
29:34 Washington Watch with us.
29:36 Thank you.
29:39 Friends. Coming up, more on Israel and Hamas when I'm joined by doctor AJ Nolte coming to me from Israel. So stick around.
29:53 Download the new Stand Firm app for Apple and Android phones today. You can join a wonderful community of fellow believers. We've created a special place for you to
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31:38 Thank you for your support. It is so critical to the work that we at Family Resource Counsel are doing day to day as we support and strengthen the family. So thank you.
31:54 Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thank you so much for joining us. An honor to be filling in today for Tony. I'm Jody Heise, and welcome aboard. Alright. A ceasefire and hostage
32:06 release proposal may actually be back on the table between Israel and the Hamas terror group. And all of this is coming as Hamas, at least reportedly,
32:18 has dropped a vast majority of their previous demands. And, of course, those demands killed any potential for a deal. But all of this is coming about as Israel
32:30 advances its plans to take over Gaza City, which apparently has put Hamas under immense pressure, at least according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
32:42 Netanyahu. But 1 has to ask, is this all just more smoke and mirrors from Hamas or are they actually approaching the end of the rope? Well, joining me
32:53 now to discuss this from Israel is doctor AJ Nolte. He's the associate professor and director of the Institute of Israel Studies at Regent University. Doctor Nolte,
33:05 welcome back to Washington March, and thank you for staying up late to join us.
33:10 No problem, Jody. It's great to be here with you.
33:14 Okay. So let's let's jump into this. It certainly can be hard to trust anything coming out of the mouth of Hamas. But, what's the latest that you're hearing on a potential
33:26 ceasefire and hostage proposal?
33:29 Well, I think I think the main thing to keep in mind is always what is what are Hamas' core interests? And, you know, there's there's 1 of, obviously, 1 of their imperatives is always
33:41 to try to cause as much, pain for Israel as possible, to bring the fight to Israel. But, ultimately, to do that, they have to survive. And so what Netanyahu is basically threatening to do here
33:53 is to go into a part of Gaza that they've never been into before. There's also a part of Gaza that Hamas controls absolutely, which is Gaza City. And so Hamas is interested at a
34:04 minimum in delaying that as much as possible. And I think they're making the calculation, and this would be kind of my guess is is how this goes down. They may be making the calculation that if they let some
34:16 of the hostages out, they can then get, essentially, extracted the lay out of Israel, which will at least buy them some more time to survive. So IShow more
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Tony Perkins94K followers
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