transcript
Speaker 1:
[00:05] Good morning. A green light for research on psychedelic drugs.
Speaker 2:
[00:10] We need the same sense of urgency that we had with HIV to address mental illness.
Speaker 3:
[00:15] Also today, pro-lifers work together to fight abortion tourism. And later, an Iranian-born pastor reacts to the war in his homeland.
Speaker 4:
[00:25] The people of Iran have been, I like to say, held hostage by these tyrants.
Speaker 3:
[00:29] And World commentator Cal Thomas says redrawing congressional maps takes the country down a dangerous road.
Speaker 1:
[00:42] It's Thursday, April 23rd. This is The World and Everything In It for Listener Supported World Radio. I'm Mary Reichard.
Speaker 3:
[00:49] And I'm Myrna Brown. Good morning.
Speaker 1:
[00:53] Up next, Kent Covington with Today's News.
Speaker 5:
[00:56] Iranian forces fired on three cargo ships in the Strait of Hormuz Wednesday, seizing two of them. Revolutionary Guard gunboats fired on a container ship off of Oman's coast, damaging its bridge. They hit another vessel hours later. White House Press Secretary, Caroline Levitt.
Speaker 6:
[01:11] Iran has gone from having the most lethal Navy in the Middle East to now acting like a bunch of pirates. They don't have control over the strait. This is piracy that we are seeing on display.
Speaker 5:
[01:23] The White House says the seizures did not break the current ceasefire because neither ship flies an American or an Israeli flag. In peacetime, about one-fifth of the world's oil supply passes through the strait, and the threat of Iranian attacks there has impacted oil prices globally. Meantime, peace talks between the US and Iran are on ice. President Trump indefinitely extended the ceasefire on Tuesday to allow time for talks, but Iran thus far is refusing to return to the negotiating table until the US lifts a naval blockade of its ports. But Levitz says in this diplomatic standoff, Washington has all the leverage.
Speaker 6:
[01:57] We are strangling their main source of revenue. They can't pay their own people. They're losing $500 million every single day. Karg Island is completely full of oil because they can't transport it to and from. So the president, the cards are in his hands.
Speaker 5:
[02:13] President Trump has not set a deadline for Iran's next move. Elsewhere in the Middle East, Israel celebrated its Independence Day Wednesday with a traditional ceremony at the president's Jerusalem residence. Amid the events, officials thanked Israeli service members and reiterated that the military stands ready to respond to threats. And speaking of those threats, Israeli officials continue to call on Lebanon to work with the Jewish state to disarm and expel the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah from Lebanon. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Tsar.
Speaker 7:
[02:47] We don't have any serious disagreements with Lebanon. There are a few minor border disputes that can be solved. The obstacle to peace and normalization between the countries is one, Hezbollah.
Speaker 5:
[03:04] The current 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon is set to expire on Monday. On Capitol Hill, Senate Democrats failed again on Wednesday in their push to force US troops out of the war with Iran. The chamber voted largely down party lines 53 to 47, shooting down the resolution from Senator Chris Murphy. It is the fifth time that Democrats have tried unsuccessfully to limit President Trump's authority as Commander-in-Chief, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Speaker 8:
[03:31] Senate Republicans acquiesced to Donald Trump and gave this historic blunder their stamp of approval.
Speaker 5:
[03:37] But Majority Leader John Thune defended the military action.
Speaker 9:
[03:40] The President is operating under his authority, the Article 2 branch of the government, as Commander-in-Chief and doing what needs to be done to ensure that America's vital national security interests are preserved and protected.
Speaker 5:
[03:53] Schumer vows to force the vote again every week until the war ends or Republicans break with the President. And hours earlier, Democrats grilled Treasury Secretary Scott Besant as he testified before a Senate panel. He was there to talk about President Trump's fiscal year 2027 budget request. But Democratic Senator Chris Coons pressed Besant about the Trump administration's decision to pause sanctions on Iranian oil. You don't have to read the art of war to know that helping your adversaries gain money while you're at war is a terrible idea. And it's shocking to me that the countries currently profiting from the release of sanctions are our enemies. Coons asserted that Iran has taken in some $14 billion as a result of that sanctions relief. But Besant insisted that is not so. And the reason for the sanctions pause, he said, is to provide some temporary relief from elevated oil prices.
Speaker 2:
[04:45] I was approached by more than 10 of the most vulnerable and poorest countries in terms of energy and they ask us to extend that sanction and it's only for 30 days.
Speaker 5:
[04:57] The Trump administration also extended its sanctions pause for Russian oil after the Treasury Secretary had previously ruled that out. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has declared a state of emergency across more than half the state that as wildfires are tearing through southern Georgia and northern Florida. A vast moving fire in Brantley County has burned 5000 acres and destroyed roughly 50 homes, threatening about 1000 others. That blaze is just 10% contained, forcing evacuations.
Speaker 10:
[05:26] This morning we started gathering stuff in one location, taking stuff off the wall, pictures and things we can't replace.
Speaker 5:
[05:35] One of nearly 1000 evacuees in Georgia says she's hoping and praying for the best.
Speaker 10:
[05:39] It's more than our house. It's land that my dad bought years ago. And so it's special to me and the thought that it might burn is there's 50 acres there and then it's like the most beautiful place in the world to me.
Speaker 5:
[05:55] Florida firefighters meantime are battling more than 100 wildfires of their own as drought and strong winds feed the flames. Congress is mourning the loss of a sitting Democratic lawmaker. His passing was announced on the House floor Wednesday.
Speaker 11:
[06:09] The chair announces to the House that in light of the passing of the gentleman from Georgia, Mr. David Scott, the whole number of the House is 430.
Speaker 5:
[06:23] The 80-year-old congressman was seeking his 13th term in Congress despite challenges from within his party. Scott's health had been declining in recent years. His campaign had recently dodged questions about his fitness to serve another term. I'm Kent Covington and coming up, are your medical concerns safe with AI? Plus, why redrawing congressional maps is a dangerous game? This is The World and Everything In It.
Speaker 3:
[07:07] It's Thursday, the 23rd of April. Glad to have you along for today's edition of The World and Everything In It. Good morning, I'm Myrna Brown.
Speaker 1:
[07:16] And I'm Mary Reichard. First up, will psychedelics cure what ails you? Researchers will be taking a closer look at hallucinogenic drugs following an executive order signed by President Trump on Saturday.
Speaker 12:
[07:32] In many cases, these experimental treatments have shown life-changing potential for those suffering from severe mental illness and depression, including our cherished veterans.
Speaker 3:
[07:44] Advocates, including military veterans and influential podcaster Joe Rogan, welcome the potential for new treatment options for conditions conventional medicine fails to cure. But critics worry it sends the wrong message and could poison the drug approval process. WORLD Harrison Waters has the story.
Speaker 13:
[08:05] John Costas had tried just about everything to end his alcohol addiction at age 25.
Speaker 14:
[08:10] It was either this or I knew I was going to die from my drinking. That's how desperate I was.
Speaker 13:
[08:15] In 2015, he learned about a clinical trial for psilocybin, a compound derived from hallucinogenic mushrooms. Costas had lots of questions.
Speaker 14:
[08:24] You know, can I get stuck in a trip? Is this going to change my personality? Is this going to, you know, I didn't know if this was something similar to lobotomy.
Speaker 13:
[08:34] Psychedelics like psilocybin are regulated as Schedule I controlled substances, with high potential for abuse and no legitimate medical purpose. They also distort the user's perception of reality for hours or days at a time. But in recent years, researchers have begun studying how psychedelics affect addiction cravings. Costas took part in a randomized controlled trial under constant medical supervision in a hospital.
Speaker 14:
[08:58] This worked like an antibiotic almost for me, where I was sick with the disease. I went in, I got treated and I was fine. I didn't need to treat my disease anymore.
Speaker 13:
[09:12] Today, Costas is Executive Director for the Association for Prescription Psychedelics, advocating for reviewing and legalizing psychedelics for wider use. President Trump's executive order puts that goal within reach. It directs the Food and Drug Administration to prioritize reviewing psychedelic compounds that are in the clinical trial pipeline, including psilocybin. The order relies on a program that gives FDA Commissioner Marty McCary the authority to accelerate review and approval.
Speaker 2:
[09:40] Under this new program, in this administration, drugs can get approved in weeks, not a year or a year plus, but in weeks, if they are in line with our national priorities.
Speaker 13:
[09:51] The order also authorizes human trials to research a more obscure drug called Ibogaine. It's made from the bark of a West African shrub, and anecdotal evidence suggests it can provide long-term relief from opioid addiction. After learning about Ibogaine's potential in a recent interview, Joe Rogan says he texted President Trump about it.
Speaker 15:
[10:09] The text message came back, sounds great, do you want FDA approval? Let's do it. It was literally that quick.
Speaker 13:
[10:17] In a phone call yesterday, Commissioner McCary told World there's good precedent for getting drugs reviewed and approved quickly.
Speaker 2:
[10:24] The fastest FDA approved drug in US history was during the HIV epidemic. Well, we need the same sense of urgency that we had with HIV to address mental illness, PTSD, addiction and other intractable and debilitating mental illnesses.
Speaker 13:
[10:42] Not only was the executive order quick, it's light on details that some say need to be addressed. Paul Larkin was a Department of Justice attorney and is now a senior legal fellow at the think tank Advancing American Freedom. He's concerned the order is focused more on satisfying demand than ensuring public health.
Speaker 5:
[11:00] All it referred to was getting it through the federal government regulatory approval process as quickly as possible.
Speaker 4:
[11:08] It didn't mention any of the downsides. And there are some.
Speaker 13:
[11:12] In addition to hallucination, research has found that Ibogaine specifically can cause cardiac arrest. And in 2024, the FDA found a different psychedelic-assisted treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder wasn't safe and effective. On Saturday, NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya said scientists cannot take safe psychedelics for granted. That caught President Trump's attention.
Speaker 8:
[11:35] We still gotta figure out somehow how it works or why it works. That we gotta keep doing even as we move forward fast.
Speaker 12:
[11:41] But it does work.
Speaker 8:
[11:42] Some of those, I mean, absolutely some of those, it's absolutely working. Yes, it works. It works.
Speaker 12:
[11:48] I'm trying to get an answer because it either works or it doesn't. I would think that there's been a lot of research already. Indirect research, maybe the ultimate research people that have taken it because...
Speaker 13:
[11:59] Larkin and others are concerned that political pressure from the White House is rushing scientific research of drugs that are not yet well understood. But Dr. McCary told World that developers still need to demonstrate in multiple rounds of testing that their drugs are safe and effective. Even with approval, he says psychedelics will require careful prescription.
Speaker 2:
[12:17] So we want to ensure that these are not medications that can simply be picked up at a pharmacy counter or mailed to your home after a telehealth visit. That will not be happening with psychedelics on our watch. We have set clear conditions by which these drugs would be administered in a medical setting and administered safely.
Speaker 13:
[12:37] It's now up to FDA researchers to discern psychedelic treatments are truly good medicine and not just good politics. Reporting for WORLD, I'm Harrison Waters.
Speaker 1:
[12:51] Up next, pro-lifers in New Mexico fight an abortion facility under construction. In recent years, the state has become a destination for women seeking abortions.
Speaker 3:
[13:02] Now, pro-lifers have formed a new coalition that they hope will help turn around that trend. WORLD's Lauren Canterbury has the story.
Speaker 16:
[13:11] When Benny Gonzalez joined the Knights of Columbus chapter in Santa Fe, New Mexico last spring, he had one goal.
Speaker 2:
[13:18] I actually joined the Knights because I was always interested in my, and my wife was interested in supporting the pro-life movement.
Speaker 16:
[13:28] Other members of the Catholic Brotherhood also wanted to support the local fight to save unborn babies. They set up a meeting with about a dozen pro-life leaders from around the state.
Speaker 2:
[13:38] They're the ones that really understand the issues, the problems.
Speaker 16:
[13:42] A pattern in the discussion quickly developed.
Speaker 2:
[13:45] And we asked them, what was the number one threat right now? And it was unanimous. All the people who were there, they said is this construction in southern New Mexico, Las Cruces.
Speaker 16:
[13:58] A $10 million state-funded building that, if completed, will become an abortion hub. Abortionists there will perform chemical and surgical abortions, and the facility will partner with the University of New Mexico to train abortionists. In 2022, pro-abortion governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed an executive order directing the state to set aside funding for the facility. Lawmakers then voted to fund what they're calling the Center for Reproductive Health.
Speaker 17:
[14:27] The facade is, it's a medical center.
Speaker 16:
[14:29] Jessica Cifuentes is the CEO and president of the Southwest Coalition for Life. She says the state has been intentionally vague about the plans when seeking bids. Southwest Coalition for Life has worked to stop the construction in Las Cruces by telling contractors what the facility actually is.
Speaker 17:
[14:47] So once they had the full context of what this build was going to entail, what the facility was going to ultimately become, they started to pull out and no one was bidding.
Speaker 16:
[14:57] Work on the facility started in 2024, but ground to a halt when the state could not even find someone willing to pour the cement. Then earlier this year, Cefuentes and her team noticed crews working on the foundation. Workers on site told Prolifer as they had been explicitly ordered not to discuss the project.
Speaker 17:
[15:16] It's very, very hush hush. I don't know what happened if they reached out to a new group of contractors, but somebody definitely has taken the bid. And we are trying to figure out who that is.
Speaker 16:
[15:28] A University of New Mexico spokesman confirmed to WORLD that the facility is slated to open early next year. New Mexico does not protect unborn babies at any stage of pregnancy. Dominique Davis leads Project Defending Life, and she says the governor has leaned into the state's identity as an abortion tourism destination.
Speaker 18:
[15:49] We know that this is a strategic location for the governor to provide abortions to women from Texas and migrant women coming across the border.
Speaker 16:
[15:58] Las Cruces sits about 50 miles northwest of El Paso, Texas, where babies are protected from abortion in nearly all cases. Some women also come from pro-life Oklahoma. Now, the legislature has granted another request from Governor Luyenn Grisham to fund an abortion facility in the northern part of the state.
Speaker 18:
[16:17] And these are two huge threats to the health and safety, really, of women and men, but especially women and their unborn child.
Speaker 16:
[16:26] Cifuentes and Davis have shared ideas on how to work together to protect babies in their state.
Speaker 18:
[16:31] We have tried to unite on several fronts as a pro-life community in New Mexico for well over a decade.
Speaker 16:
[16:38] Earlier this month, the pro-life leaders reconvened in Albuquerque to sign the Spiritual Defense Coalition Unity Agreement, a binding commitment for the members to pray together and collaborate. One of the signatories was not from New Mexico. Chuck Hurley came down from Iowa.
Speaker 19:
[16:55] They're facing a Goliath right out of the gate, this gigantic abortion facility.
Speaker 16:
[17:01] Hurley is a member of the Hawkeye States Pro-Life Coalition. A 2017 agreement there served as the basis for the one in New Mexico. He says collaborating helped advocates turn Iowa from staunchly pro-abortion to far more protective of unborn babies. He hopes to see the same thing happen in New Mexico.
Speaker 19:
[17:20] And they'll need to encourage one another, receive encouragement from outsiders.
Speaker 16:
[17:27] Meanwhile, plans for both proposed abortion centers continue to move forward, as do the plans to fight them. Reporting for WORLD, I'm Lauren Canterbury.
Speaker 5:
[17:56] Additional support comes from Dordt University, host of the upcoming At Work in the Garden conference, celebrating God's good design of work.
Speaker 20:
[18:05] dordt.edu/garden.
Speaker 5:
[18:09] From the Lockman Foundation, translator of the New American Standard Bible, a translation true to the original scriptures, nasbible.com. And from Pensacola Christian College, academic excellence, biblical worldview, affordable cost, go.pcci.edu/world.
Speaker 3:
[18:34] Up next, medical help from artificial intelligence. A new Gallup poll shows that a quarter of Americans have used AI for medical information or advice.
Speaker 1:
[18:46] Most people are using it to supplement their doctor's visit either before or after. But some are using it in lieu of a provider. So just how much can AI do? And what happens to all that health data? World's Mary Muncie has the story.
Speaker 16:
[19:02] OpenAI says over 230 million people ask ChatGPT health questions every week. ChatGPT guessed my chronic illness before doctor and it was right.
Speaker 21:
[19:13] I asked ChatGPT to analyze my blood test results and it didn't hold back.
Speaker 16:
[19:18] Some check symptoms with tools like ChatGPT or Clawed. Others upload lab or scan results to see if models can catch things their doctors didn't. According to the Gallup poll, about one in four people who used AI for medical purposes say it helped them identify issues earlier than they would have otherwise. About one in five say it helped them avoid unnecessary tests. Anthropic is currently working on a health-specific Clawed model and partnering with doctors to create in-hospital systems. Amazon has released its own AI health system. And in January, OpenAI announced it's working on ChatGPT Health. Here's a user in a marketing video.
Speaker 20:
[20:00] Of course, you go to the doctor and they prescribe medication.
Speaker 5:
[20:03] But there is so much more that I can do to help with my care as well.
Speaker 22:
[20:08] I can take a picture of the plate before and after the meal.
Speaker 20:
[20:11] And it will calculate the calories and the inflammation score for that meal.
Speaker 16:
[20:15] It's a big market to tap. Health apps generated $3.5 billion last year. Doing things like tracking food and sleep and giving training insights. The creators of AI platforms say their new health-specific spinoffs will have increased privacy protections and more specific medical information to draw on.
Speaker 22:
[20:36] What they're really good at is addressing a number of very different problems.
Speaker 16:
[20:42] Anant Matabushi is a professor of biomedical engineering at Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Speaker 22:
[20:48] For instance, it can tell you about dog's preferred diet and also potentially read a ultrasound scan of a thyroid and sort of give a prediction.
Speaker 16:
[21:00] But that doesn't mean AI platforms will be able to replace a physician. Matabushi says AI models have been exposed to a large amount of disparate data, so they're not experts in anything. That causes hallucinations and when it is inaccurate, often no one knows why or how to fix it. And Matabushi says just because a model was trained on medical information doesn't mean it has all of the facts. For example, the United Kingdom's Biobank is one of the largest publicly available health data sets in the world. But almost all of the participants are Caucasian.
Speaker 22:
[21:38] And that's a problem because we know, for instance, in the South Asian population, that the cardio phenotype, the diabetes phenotype is markedly different compared to people of European ancestry.
Speaker 16:
[21:51] So while AI may be able to help, it's still best practice to consult a doctor about any results it spits out. Hospitals already use some AI platforms and expect more to come. Madhubushi and his team are currently working on AI systems to help identify cancer. But those in-hospital platforms are held to a higher standard because of the laws regulating medical equipment and privacy. Platforms outside the hospital are a different story because they're not covered by HIPAA or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
Speaker 23:
[22:25] It's really focused on particular entities. And that includes health care providers, health insurers, and then sort of these in-between data brokers.
Speaker 16:
[22:35] Paul Rothermel is an attorney with the Gardner Law Firm. He specializes in health care privacy. Right now, 20 states have laws that cover health care data outside of the hospital setting. But people outside of those states who share health data with platforms not covered by HIPAA are at the mercy of a company's privacy policy.
Speaker 23:
[22:55] It's not that I don't necessarily trust that very likely Chachi BT or Google or, you know, name the system probably has good security controls. But I certainly have my concerns about how able they are to control the use of that information once it's embedded there.
Speaker 16:
[23:14] Rothermel says there aren't specific laws barring an insurance company from buying health data and using it to determine premiums. It's only useful if it can be verified and is lawfully obtained. But still, he says if you're going to share health data, it's important to make sure it's anonymous. For now, broad use of artificial intelligence inside and outside of the hospital is still new. And technology is moving faster than legislation.
Speaker 23:
[23:42] The more that we see kind of states stepping in, I think that'll elevate some of the discussion around what's legal, who's liable, and so forth.
Speaker 16:
[23:52] That means for now, consumers are left to balance data risks with the hope of more health information. Reporting for World, I'm Mary Muncie.
Speaker 1:
[24:29] Out on the water near Seattle, a close call, a harbor seal, chased by a pod of killer whales.
Speaker 10:
[24:36] Oh, you poor thing.
Speaker 1:
[24:37] It made a desperate move, leaping from the water.
Speaker 16:
[24:40] He is on our boat.
Speaker 1:
[24:42] The whales didn't give up. They circled, they surfaced, and they even tried to rock the boat. At one point...
Speaker 9:
[24:49] He fell in. He fell in.
Speaker 18:
[24:51] He's back on, he's back on.
Speaker 1:
[24:52] And for a while, a standoff. Then the whales moved on, and the boat headed for safer water.
Speaker 20:
[24:58] All right, bye bunny.
Speaker 1:
[25:00] Sometimes survival is just a matter of finding a place to stand. It's the world and everything in it.
Speaker 3:
[25:19] Today is Thursday, April 23rd. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day. Good morning, I'm Myrna Brown.
Speaker 1:
[25:27] And I'm Mary Reichard. Coming next on The World and Everything In It, praying for freedom. The 1979 Revolution in Iran transformed that country almost overnight. It went from a monarchy with pro-Western values to an Islamic theocracy with a stated disdain for the West. Audio from ABC News.
Speaker 8:
[25:48] The news spread with the speed of the human shout.
Speaker 2:
[25:51] Shah Farhari Shodeh, the people cried.
Speaker 24:
[25:54] The Shah has escaped.
Speaker 8:
[25:55] There is still a strong sentiment against American interests in Iran.
Speaker 1:
[25:59] An estimated one million people left the country and never returned.
Speaker 3:
[26:03] In 1979, David Nasser was just nine years old. His father was a Shiite Muslim who was high ranking in the military. The family fled the country and settled in the US. Nasser eventually became a Christian and then a pastor, an author. But he still calls the country he left 47 years ago home. I spoke with Nasser recently. I started by asking him where he was when he heard the news that the regime that forced his family out, that executed dissidents, oppressed women and minorities for nearly five decades appeared to be collapsing. Here's some of that conversation.
Speaker 4:
[26:46] I woke up in the morning on that particular Saturday, about two months ago, with my phone having over a 100 text messages from friends who had woken up, I guess, before me, and turned on their televisions and seen the news. When you're a pastor, and I guess you're the only Iranian, a lot of them know, they find your number and text you. So some of them were Ezekiel 38 prophecies coming true. Some of them were, man, I'm praying for you and your family back home. So it was interesting because we had been praying for 47 years. The people of Iran have been, I like to say, held hostage by these tyrants. Ninety million Iranians held hostage by these religious tyrants who have the IRGC and these mullahs. We've been praying for a long time for an opportunity for them to be liberated. So in one sense, it was terrifying because you're hearing about people that you know and care about being under attack. But in another sense, it was exciting because you knew that Israel and America were not attacking Iran for their detriment but for their betterment to actually help liberate them.
Speaker 3:
[28:03] Did it all take you back to 1979 when, as I said, you were nine years old and you and your family were fleeing Iran during that violent revolution?
Speaker 4:
[28:14] It really did. You know, it took me back in the sense that it had a lot of the hints of the same instability, fear, religion, the wrong kind of it. Honestly, I kept thinking about the nine-year-old little boys that didn't get to escape, the nine-year-old little boys who didn't have afforded to them the things that were afforded to me. I keep thinking about, like, I was given the American dream and the best part of it being that it afforded me a chance to hear the gospel here in America and to come to Christ. And so, yeah, it brought me back to the reality that, like, maybe now some of the things that were afforded to me when I was nine can be afforded to the nine-year-old little boys that are right now in Iran.
Speaker 3:
[28:57] You sort of touched on this. I want to talk a little bit more about now that this regime is in chaos. I mean, does that bring you some closure? You talked a little about some grief or something more complicated.
Speaker 4:
[29:13] Yeah, I think you mourn places that you miss the most. You know, sometimes you're kind of happy to leave a job that you didn't love, or you're kind of happy to break up with a guy who was destructive. You know, if you're dating somebody who shouldn't have been dated in the first place. We loved Iran. I still have a heart for the people of Iran. My life in Iran for the first nine years of my life were a charmed life. I mean, my earliest memories of Iran look very different than the pictures people see on TV of Iran. There's a westernized world. I have vivid memories, you know, of people in a park holding hands and having ice cream and going to cafes. And my mom never wore a chador to cover her hair, you know. So you lose all of that. You have to hold things loosely when you're running for your life. But in another sense, everything that we held and we left was not life changing for us. And what we gained in being able to find refuge in America, I'm strongly patriotic because of what this country has afforded me, but also even greater than that, our citizenship in heaven and finding Christ as a family, would have not happened had we not left.
Speaker 3:
[30:28] I have heard you say the man on the street, so to speak, sentiment in Iran right now, is gratitude towards the United States. What else can you tell us about that?
Speaker 4:
[30:39] Obviously, no one can speak for 90 million people collectively. However, we have so much family back home. But one cousin that keeps coming in my mind is one of my cousins who has MS And their family actually lives close by the Russian embassy in Iran. And so I just have concerns for their safety, you know? And I know everything is elevated because of her health. And so when there's power outages for days upon days, or when stores aren't even open for them to be able to grab, you know, necessities like they normally are, when we hear about even greater sanctions and those different kind of things, those things push down on them. But at the same time, I've been praying for their liberation. But the cost of that is expensive. This democracy is going to cost a lot. And so, yeah, for our family, it's the most expensive back home. And so this is more than just a people out there. These are people that we know personally. And I think I'm speaking for many of them, I would say the overwhelming majority of them, that they're thankful for allied help. And they don't see this as like the Trump administration versus the Biden administration. Man, when you're drowning, whoever's going to throw you a life jacket, you're going to grab it. They're thankful for them. They're just thankful that someone's coming along to help them push. This is their fight to fight. Ultimately, the freedom of the Iranian people is going to be based on the Iranian people having to actually fight this good fight. And by the way, talk about a lion spirit or the women of Iran, the lioness spirit. Come on, they got it in them to do the fight. However, if somebody wants to come grab the rope and help you pull in the same direction, let's go. And so I think the overwhelming sentiment is gratitude.
Speaker 1:
[32:38] You can hear more of David Nassar's story on a special weekend edition of The World and Everything In It. You can find it Saturday wherever you get this podcast. Good morning. This is The World and Everything In It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I'm Mary Reichard.
Speaker 3:
[33:07] And I'm Myrna Brown. Virginia Voters this week approved a controversial plan to redraw congressional districts, one that could reshape the balance of power in Washington. World commentator Cal Thomas says the result settles more than a map.
Speaker 24:
[33:26] What was once a warning is now a fact. Virginia Voters have approved a mid-decade redistricting plan by a bare majority vote 51 percent to 49 percent. The result will redraw the state's congressional boundaries from a six-house seats to five Democrat advantage to a commanding ten seats to one. Governor Abigail Spanberger defended the move this way.
Speaker 10:
[33:50] Whether or not they wanted to take this temporary responsive path forward, many voted yes, many voted no, but obviously the majority voted to move forward with the referendum.
Speaker 24:
[34:02] A temporary action, the governor says, merely a response to what Republicans have done elsewhere, she argues. But Republicans see something very different. House GOP leader Steve Scalise, who may soon see his majority dwindle, put it this way.
Speaker 20:
[34:16] It's a blatant abuse of power to disenfranchise millions of Virginia voters.
Speaker 24:
[34:22] Those are the competing claims. On one side, a necessary response. On the other, a power grab. What cannot be disputed is the result. This was not the once a decade redistricting that follows the census. This was a mid cycle redraw, triggered not by population changes, but by political opportunity. The narrow 51 to 49 margin matters. It suggests not a broad consensus, but a deeply divided electorate, one now bound by a map that could determine representation through the end of the decade. Supporters argue this is democracy in action. Sure, but a majority vote does not settle every question. It does not answer whether changing electoral rules in the middle of the game strengthens public trust or weakens it. It does not answer whether each new escalation by one party justifies the next escalation by the other. And it does not answer what happens when both sides decide that the new principle takes a backseat to power. It must be said this did not begin in Virginia. President Trump urged Republicans in Texas to redraw districts to their advantage. California followed, now Virginia. On CNN election night, Republican strategist Sher Michael Singleton warned, Other Republican states are going to do the same thing.
Speaker 25:
[35:41] And Democrats should not be surprised if there's one congressional district or if there's zero congressional districts because that is where we are now.
Speaker 24:
[35:49] He may be right, and Florida may be next. Each move will be defended as necessary, each one raising the stakes. At some point, the question is no longer who started it. The question is where it ends. Redistricting is supposed to happen every 10 years. This is the constitutional rhythm. What we're seeing now is something else entirely, a rolling partisan rewrite of the map, driven not by voters moving, but by politicians maneuvering. When that becomes the norm, voters may begin to wonder whether their choices matter or whether the outcomes have already been drawn for them. The courts may yet have a say. Republicans are already promising challenges. But for now, Virginia has spoken, at least a slim majority has. The rest are effectively silenced with no representation. The lines will change and so will the expectations about how far each party is willing to go when political power is within reach. For WORLD, I'm Cal Thomas.
Speaker 1:
[36:54] Tomorrow, John Stone Street joins us for Culture Friday and exploring the link between science and faith. We'll have an interview with author Stephen Meyer. That and more tomorrow. I'm Mary Reichard.
Speaker 3:
[37:06] And I'm Myrna Brown. The World and Everything In It comes to you from World Radio. World's mission is biblically objective journalism that informs, educates and inspires. The Bible records the words of Jesus. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one. Verses 27 through 30 of John, Chapter 10. Go now in grace and peace.