Skip to content 7/21/2025 U.S. International Relationships and Influence, and Efforts to Reinstate a Pastor’s Job at a Library Jul 21 · 59 min ...more
7/21/2025 U.S. International Relationships and Influence, and Efforts to Reinstate a Pastor’s Job at a Library
July 21, 2025 · 59 min
Unpacking the Israel-Syria ceasefire, President Trump’s rejection of WHO regulations, next steps in Iran, and follow-up on Pastor Luke Ash, who was fired from a library for standing for the truth.
Series Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Video July 21, 2025 · 59 min · Washington Watch with Tony Perkins - Video
Unpacking the Israel-Syria ceasefire, President Trump’s rejection of WHO regulations, next steps in Iran, and follow-up on Pastor Luke Ash, who was fired from a library for standing for the truth. ...more Show the full description Show less Unpacking the Israel-Syria ceasefire, President Trump’s rejection of WHO regulations, next steps in Iran, and follow-up on Pastor Luke Ash, who was fired from a library for standing for the truth.
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In this video 0:00 Political Allegations and Legal Battles1:28 Migrant Child Crisis and System Failures4:24 International Conflicts and Political Tensions18:34 Faith, Family, and Cultural Challenges32:04 Religious Freedom and Cultural Red Lines
1:30 Legal, which is a pro Trump legal group, they released these emails from Biden's DOJ showing attorneys looked for, quote, a hook to justify using federal law enforcement against these parents who
1:42 were protesting in school boards. Now arguing the bias within the DOJ has been there a long time, conservatives say it needs to be uprooted for America's sake. Now
1:54 in other news, president Trump has filed a lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal. Over what? It's reporting on the president's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Last week, the journal
2:05 broke a bombshell story. They say that Trump hand wrote a card with a vulgar drawing on it and sent it to Epstein with odd message about every day being a secret. Trump immediately attacked
2:17 the story. He called it fake news and has filed the lawsuit. Trump has had some success with his past lawsuits against media companies, so how this 1 shakes out remains to be
2:29 seen. And in another story, a new report shows that the migrant child crisis at the southern border may be worse than we previously thought. You probably know that millions
2:41 of illegal immigrants entered the US during the Biden administration. What many people don't realize though is that hundreds of thousands of children came with them. But it's never been clear who those children belong
2:53 to. Were they being trafficked? And who are their parents? Those kids were often put in a sponsor's home in the US around the country. But a new report shows an astonishing and truly sad
3:05 finding. It turns out from August 20 23 to January 20 25, that's less than 2 years, a hotline for migrant children missed 65000 calls for
3:16 help. That's right. 65000. Ali Hopper, president and founder of Guard Against Trafficking, she testified before the House Homeland Security Committee about this system, about
3:28 how children were often handed off to NGOs at the southern border and then lost in the system.
3:34 Those calls span from, you know, complaints about stale bread all the way to being abused to 1 case where a a
3:46 child's call was reporting that grown men were coming into his room at night, and they were touching him. Nothing happened with that call. That call went unanswered until
3:58 this administration took office, went through those 65000 calls, made follow ups, conducted a welfare check, and now that child has been rescued and that sponsor has
4:10 been arrested.
4:12 So if an unaccompanied minor was in a bad situation with the sponsor family, he called for help and was sent to voice mail. Thousands were. Hopefully, something like this can never happen
4:23 again. And those are today's stories. I'm Casey Harper. You can dive deeper with the Washington stand at washington stand dot com. Better yet, download the Stand Firm mobile app where
International Conflicts and Political Tensions
4:35 you can watch this and other news. Up next is Washington Watch with Tony Perkins. We're back tomorrow with more stories that matter.
4:53 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
5:04 newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins starts now.
5:11 What happened in the last few days is so complicated. Israel's intervention in the midst of this creates another very confusing chapter. But the answer is we we have to
5:23 stop the senseless killing.
5:25 That was US special envoy for Syria, Thomas Barrack, come commenting on the escalating situation in Syria. Welcome to this July 20 first edition of Washington Watch. I'm your host, Tony
5:36 Perkins. Thanks so much for tuning in. Well, coming up on today's program, freelance war correspondent Chuck Holton joins us live from Israel with the latest, not only on the conflict with Syria, but new tensions between
5:48 Israel and the United States.
5:50 Nations who accept the new regulations are signing over their power in health emergencies to an unelected international organization that could order lockdowns, travel restrictions, or
6:02 any other measures that sees fit. In fact, it doesn't even need to declare an emergency. Potential public health risks are enough for it to initiate action.
6:12 That was secretary of health and human services Robert f Kennedy discussing why the United States rejected amendments proposed by the World Health Organization. We'll unpack what that means and what comes next.
6:24 Also, newly obtained documents show the Biden administration was actively searching for ways to criminally charge parents who showed up at public school board meetings during COVID. Congressman Tim
6:36 Wahlberg, chairman of the House Education Committee, joins us to weigh in.
6:40 The Ayatollah still want nuclear weapons, and the question is whether they can, bluff us out of, surveillance over their their nuclear sites to make sure that they can't rebuild from
6:52 the damage that's been done to them. This this regime, has has never modified its radical theology that, came into power back in 19 79.
7:03 That was former UN ambassador John Bolton who joined, me over the weekend for my weekend program. I'm gonna share a portion of that conversation we had with you about Iran. And finally, pastors across Louisiana
7:15 are rallying in defense of pastor Luke Ash, who was fired by the East Baton Rouge Parish Library for refusing to use so called preferred pronouns. 1 of the pastors leading the effort, pastor
7:27 Louis Rickerson, joins me to explain why many pastors see this as a cultural red line. All of that and more ahead on this edition of Washington Watch. On
7:39 Saturday, the Syrian government announced that it had reached a ceasefire agreement with the Druze and Bedouin groups whose deadly clashes in the southern province of Sawaida last week
7:50 drew Israeli intervention. Calm was reported in Zwaita yesterday after fighting continued Saturday despite that ceasefire announcement. Now some of the Trump administration have expressed frustration
8:03 with Israel's intervention. Joining me now to discuss this is freelance war correspondent Chuck Holden, who has been tracking the situation there in the Middle East, and he joins us live from Israel. Chuck,
8:14 welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us.
8:17 Thank you, Tony.
8:19 So, Chuck, first, give us, bring us up to speed on what unfolded over the weekend.
8:26 So more information is coming out of Zueta as we speak. And just hour by hour, we're getting more videos and and death tolls. It's now over 2000 people who were
8:37 murdered in that killing spree, of the Druze and some Christians. As a matter of fact, there was a pastor who had converted from the Druze faith to Christianity and then
8:49 started an evangelical church in Sueda, and the Druze had no problem with that. The they were they don't mind. But he and his entire family, his parents, his wife, his
9:01 children, his brothers and sisters, and their children were all murdered in the church, more than 20 people, all in just 1 go. And so, obviously, this is more than just a
9:13 problem for this, small ethno religious sect that nobody's heard of until day before yesterday. But, go ahead.
9:21 Well, give us what's behind this? What caused this latest outbreak of violence there?
9:28 A lot of people that I've been talking to say they believe it was planned, and they used, a clash, kind of a a something small local thing that happened
9:40 between some Bedouin and some Druze to sort of kick the thing off. But then you watched it just grow very quickly as the, the Syrian tribal council, which is a nationwide
9:52 organization, called for a general mobilization to support the Bedouins, which are ISIS affiliated, against the Druze. And so you saw thousands of
10:04 fighters getting on trucks and heading force away to planning to expunge the Druze from that whole region. And that's exactly what they said they planned to do. And in
10:16 incidentally, some of those that were captured later said that they also had planned to attack Israel after they finished with the Druze.
10:24 So so, Chuck, what's the connection then with the the the new Syrian interim government? Any connection there?
10:32 Well, it is. Yeah. The Syrian Syrian interim government is doing its best to put a a progressive forward face on the the new regime.
10:44 But, Ahmed al Sharra, everybody knows, was actually arrested and spent 6 years in prison by the United States in Iraq for being, Al Qaeda.
10:56 And so as everybody I was just up in Mazel Shams, which is a Israeli Druze village in the north of Israel. And everybody up there says, look, you can put a suit on a terrorist, and he's still a terrorist. And
11:08 they what I'm hearing I was just in Syria not long ago. And what I'm hearing from the people who are in areas that are under regime control is that the face that he's giving to the Western
11:20 world does not fit with the actions on the ground in the areas that that he's over. So, they are instituting Sharia law. Women have to sit in the back of the bus. They're, you know,
11:32 segregating people. And, there is a lot of extrajudicial killing. Now some of that might have to do with the fact that there are a couple of hundred militias who are all sort of just loosely related. And in
11:44 fact, Al Sharad doesn't have that much control over any of them. And so the United States is trying to get them to, just give this a chance, and that's 1 of the reasons why
11:56 they express frustration with Israel. But is the Israeli bruise, we're talking a hundred and 50000, or so that live in Israel, are telling the Israeli government, look,
12:08 we vote. And if you don't go help our brothers in Syria, we are going to do it. And at several times now, they have broken through the fence into Syria and rushed in, I mean, like, over a thousand
12:20 of them to try to help their brothers over in Syria. So, Israel is finding itself, like, pressured from both sides. It's just a little ironic that
12:31 the United Nations is saying that Israel needs to protect Syria's national sovereignty. When Syria is a failed state, they don't control all of their their land at all. And there's a literal
12:43 attempted genocide going on of the Druze, and Israel are the is the only country that's going to their aid. And they're not just doing it militarily. They're flying, they're flying,
12:55 like, supplies and humanitarian aid into Soweto as well. So they're the only ones that are helping.
13:03 So this is not the first outbreak we've seen under the new interim government. Shortly after they took over, we saw the Alawites being targeted. So there is a I I I would from
13:15 my perspective, and and, Chuck, you know better, you're there on the ground, but it looks like there's a pattern.
13:21 Well and, again, everybody that's in there that's living under their control says what you're looking at is ISIS 2. They tried to declare a caliphate and create a new country, and
13:33 that didn't go well for them. They had a lot of pushback from even Muslim countries on that. Now what they're trying to do is take over Syria and just declare themselves to be the new the new government.
13:45 Everybody's referring to Ahmed al Shiraz, the new president of Syria, but nobody voted for him. He's just self declared and has no intention of holding elections anytime soon.
13:57 Well, as you made reference to the there has been some of the Trump administration complaining about the aggressiveness of, of Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu in particular as it pertains to
14:09 Syria bombing, near the presidential palace in, military command centers. But I I I wanna and and part of it is they said, well, this is to help him domestically from a a
14:20 political standpoint. And you made reference to the fact there's a hundred and 50000 Druze there in Israel, and they vote. Just for comparison purposes, it's not much different than Christians here in
14:32 the United States advocating for our government to go to the aid of Christians elsewhere who are being targeted and persecuted.
14:40 Yeah. That's that's correct. And, the the difference is the Americans in the United States that would like that to happen are not saying if you don't, we will do it. And hundreds of
14:52 thousands of us will go and fight in another country. So that that would complicate things for sure. But, again, look, I don't think that there's a real downside for Israel in this. Even
15:03 though it's causing a little friction with the United States and it certainly is getting the world, up in arms against Israel, but that's nothing new. It strategically makes sense. It weakens the, Al
15:15 Saraz government. Israel, you bet. You you've got to understand that Israel's Mossad has intelligence on Al Shariah that is we're not all privy to. So
15:27 the strikes that they're making to sort of take them down a notch can only help Israel in the long run. It also creates the opening for Israel to get a lot more intelligence gathering
15:39 capability inside the country while everything is, chaotic. Yeah.
15:44 Yeah. And I don't wanna go down this path, but it also, I think, keeps Turkey at bay since they seem to have a, pretty strong connection with the new president there. Speaking of tensions, we just have about, 2 and a
15:54 half minutes left, Chuck Holden. But the tension between the United States and Israel, I mean, last week, a week before last, I was at a reception with the prime minister when he was, here in the United
16:06 States. I mean, it couldn't have been stronger. This has opened the door to some criticism. We saw and you've been tracking this story, ambassador Mike Huckabee, going to a Palestinian
16:18 village, but you've talked about how how there was some fake news there that may have drawn US, well, they may maybe they just didn't understand completely what was happening. Talk
16:30 talk about that situation.
16:32 That's right. This is the village of Taybeh. It's 1 of the oldest Christian villages and 1 of the only Christian villages in the, Judea and Samaria area. And there was a
16:44 story that came out, and there were some grainy video that showed, Israeli citizens who live legally in, Samaria who were running around
16:56 in the cemetery in front of the church and inside the church, and it showed some smoke and flames kinda down below the church. And it made the they they made the claim
17:08 that Jewish illegal settlers had come in and burned the church and the cemetery, this this ancient church. Well, we just sent 1 of our people out there today to that church, and he talked
17:20 to the bishop that runs that church. The church is not destroyed. There was no fire in the church. There was no fire in the cemetery. The videos that you
17:31 saw of the settlers running around was them trying to put out a fire that had been started by a Palestinian, on the land that belonged to, an Israeli farmer out
17:43 there. So it was burning, farmers' crops, and the wind blew it out of control, and it was blowing it up for the church. And these guys were putting it out. So, a lot it it's of course, as soon
17:55 as the the word came out and and a lot of it's been pushed by the bishop of this church. He told our guy, today that he's Palestinian first and Christian second. So apparently, he hasn't been reading his
18:07 bible a whole lot, but that tells you pretty much what you need to know about the motivation behind why he would put out a story that is obviously false because, you know, anybody that wants to can go see that church
18:18 now and it's not burned and the the, you know, all of that. So this is 1 thing that we've seen over and over and over again. This information war that is being waged against Israel,
18:31 and it it it's never gonna stop. But I think that as Christians, we need to think critically about that and push back against that where we're
Faith, Family, and Cultural Challenges
18:39 going to be. Very discerning. Be very discerning. Fake news knows no boundaries. Chuck Holton, always great to see you. Thanks so much for joining us, and, stay safe. Folks, don't go away. We're back with more after
18:50 this.
18:57 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.
19:09 That's why we need organizations like the Family Research Council that can effectively defend and strengthen the family.
19:17 Family Research 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
19:29 champion faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview.
19:36 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.
19:46 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
19:58 that enjoyed all of the freedom and all the opportunity that we enjoyed in this great land.
20:04 It's just a wonderful parachurch 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
20:16 successfully, not in a defensive mode, but in an offensive mode as we seek to live our lives according to the holy scriptures.
20:25 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.
20:34 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
20:45 never be silent.
20:53 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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21:22 Looking for a trusted source of news that shares your Christian values? Turn to the Washington Stand, your ultimate destination for informed, faith centered reporting. Our dedicated team goes beyond the headlines,
21:35 delivering stories that matter most to believers. From breaking events to cultural insights, we provide clear, compassionate coverage through a biblical lens. Discover news you can trust at the Washington Stand,
21:47 where faith and facts meet every day.
21:54 Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us on this Monday. If you've not yet downloaded the Stand Firm app, I encourage you to do so. Go to the App Store, get Stand Firm app. That way, you can watch
22:05 Washington Watch no matter where you're at. You can get our news and commentary from a biblical perspective, the Washington Stand, on a regular basis. It's, updating constantly throughout the
22:17 day as we're writing more stories, and you can start the day with our devotional, Stand on the Word. All of that is found on the Stand For map. Additionally, there are action items so that you know when to
22:29 engage. Remember, our republic was not made for spectators. It was made for participants. So get the Stand Firm app. Well, speaking of action, if you've tuned into this program over the past 2
22:41 or 3 years, you'll recall the alarms that we frequently raised over the efforts by the World Health Organization, a UN entity, trying to give itself more power and authority
22:53 post COVID. Well, you'll recall how we also highlighted WHO's incompetent and corrupt handling of the pandemic. Well, last week, we raised the alarm
23:04 again as the deadline approach for countries to reject the WHO's latest attempt. And thankfully, thankfully, the Trump administration took action. Here to discuss this, congressman Tim Wohlberg. He is the
23:16 chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee. He represents the fifth congressional district of Michigan. Chairman Wohlberg, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks for joining us.
23:26 Tony, it's good to be back with you, and, thanks for highlighting the challenges and the dangers we have in our our country and our world today.
23:34 Well, what a difference an election makes. Instead of having an administration working behind the scenes to surrender sovereignty, we now have an administration working to protect national sovereignty and
23:46 saying no to the World Health Organization.
23:49 What a unique thought that we would not be a globalist country, but rather stands firmly on the fact that American ought to be leading the world and, doing it independently,
24:01 respecting our sovereignty and our our founding principles, our people, and our freedoms. And, we don't do that by joining with any other entity and letting them chart the course.
24:13 I mean, as the chairman of the House Education Committee, you know so well the devastating effect that bad policies have had on our children and hardworking Americans. I mean, that and
24:24 that's just a kind of a a micro of the macro when you look at the United Nations and the World Health Organization. Why would anyone want to put that type of power into the hands of an unaccountable,
24:37 unelected international organization that could literally take our freedoms away at the next, declared international health crisis.
24:49 Well, absolutely. And I think it comes, Tony, you know, sitting here feeling every day of my life with the education issues. Realizing that the US Department of Education was thankfully our president wants to
25:01 abolish and, the secretary of education wants the same thing and I want the same thing. And we know that Congress is the only 1 that can do that, but we can do some significant reforms
25:13 down downplaying, rightsizing, depowering in the process. But our our our citizens for too long have been especially since 19 80 when the
25:24 Department of Education was formed and put in place. We've been taught a different thing about our country. We've been taught that that there are bad things about our country, that
25:36 we've never learned from our mistakes and that the world needs to help us along the way. And so WHO, World Health Organization, is 1 of those. And yet we saw
25:48 during COVID the WHO, which was inextricably tied to China Right. And serve us well. In fact, put us in worst state. And I think our nation
26:00 suffered as a result of that. And certainly, we weren't taken care of medically and in health wise during that process as well. And you would think we would learn, but there are still people who have been brainwashed to
26:12 think that someone else has to watch out for America doing the wrong things for its people Right. As opposed to the people themselves.
26:19 I mean, the the the the closer government gets to the people, the better it is. The further removed it is, the less accountable and the more dangerous it becomes. 1 final question on the WHO topic,
26:32 congressman, is I know this puts an end to it for now, but do you think they'll stop? I mean, I've never seen the United Nations take no for an answer.
26:44 No. They won't until we stop the funding, until we separate separate ourselves from them in a very solid fashion. And I think also, potentially putting a legislation in place
26:56 that that would require any change in that regard, their ownership, a a lot, must not happen unless congress says so clearly. So I think those are things
27:08 we ought to
27:09 Chairman, I I wanna I wanna go down a lane here that's clearly down the education front. This coming out end of last week, you know, we we we we knew something was wrong. We we we could smell a rat, looking
27:21 back in the Biden administration when, the attorney general, Merrick Garland, went after parents who showed up at school board meetings to raise issues about COVID policies, to
27:33 raise issues about bathroom policies. Now new evidence as a result of America First Legal going after documentation, finding that they were looking for a hook.
27:45 This is the the DOJ, the the the the attorney general looking for a federal hook to criminally charge these parents who were showing up at these public hearings. This is outrageous.
27:58 Outrageous, and it makes me even more grateful that Mitch McConnell had the insight and ability to stop Merrick Garland from ever getting on the US Supreme Court, at least for now. But this is they they just will not
28:10 accept the fact that this is not what America wants. I think 77000000 people said that at the last election. But I've often said ad nauseam to some of my colleagues on the
28:22 education committee that the 3 things we need to get right will make our education system work and our workforce work. If we get it right for the student, the parent, and the teacher,
28:34 we will succeed. The parent has to be there to central focus. The parents are the ones that brought these children into the world. The parents are the ones that give the opportunity for schools to be in place and have a
28:46 purpose. And if we make sure that they're center focus, then teachers, I think, will have not only an understanding where they sit in supplementing the parents' education responsibility, but also coming
28:58 under that authority. So to think that they would ever be considered as domestic terrorists, but just because they stand up to speak for the best, impact on their kids' lives is ridiculous.
29:10 It's horrific, and it's anti American. So we need to push back on that and make sure that this doesn't happen to out Merrick Garland and and his ilk from moving that direction along with the,
29:22 radical teachers union leadership. Yeah. It's something that's quite
29:26 That that that's such a well balanced statement where you wanna put the child, the parent, and the teacher. And instead of making policy to reach the lowest common denominator, we
29:38 we understand the role of the parent, and we challenge them to fill that role. Chairman, we're out of time. Always great to see you. Thanks so much for, joining us today. Folks, stick with us. We're back with more after
29:49 this.
29:54 The Center for Biblical Worldviews all day workshops delves into the formation of a worldview, what it is, how it's formed, when it's formed, what that means to them personally and their
30:06 churches and communities.
30:07 My hope for people when they come to these worldview workshops is that they will come away better equipped to engage the people and the ideas that they're living with and around. And
30:19 our goal is to give people more confidence in the gospel, in the fact that what God said to us actually is true, actually is the path to happiness and human flourishing for all of us, but also
30:31 more confidence in their ability to have these conversations and help lead other people to the truth.
30:37 For bible believing Christians to know what God's word says on these issues and to learn how they can apply it to their lives. And we believe that the more Christians that we equip, that's how we'll change the
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30:50 Hey, fam. Listen. Pastor Sammy here at Lighthouse Church, and I cannot tell you how equipping, how empowering, how incredibly educating this conference has been. And so
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31:14 out. Stand behind it myself. I can't commend it enough. We're gonna be talking about this for some time to come.
31:20 The culture is kind of squeezing in on us as god's people, forcing those of us with biblical views, to change those views or to suppress those views. It's forcing us to engage
31:31 with issues that we've never had to engage with. And so what this teaches us is what those issues are, what the bible says about those issues, and then how we can critically engage our culture on these
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31:55 Welcome back to Washington Watch. Thanks so much for, tuning in. Just 1 final note on that previous story about, Merrick Garland and the, Department of Justice. The actual full time orShow more
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