Latest / The Bridge Austin / This Week on Capitol Hill - Tony Perkins' Exclusive Interview with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy ... and Speaker Johnson Heads Into Final Weekend Before Tuesday's Midterm Elections

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This Week on Capitol Hill - Tony Perkins' Exclusive Interview with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy ... and Speaker Johnson Heads Into Final Weekend Before Tuesday's Midterm Elections · The Bridge Austin

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome to this week on Capitol Hill, your insider's guide
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: to the story shaping Washington and the world. I'm your host,
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Tony Perkins. Israel has voted. Now comes the challenge of
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: forming a government.
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: I'm hearing that in Israel.
• 0:14
  Speaker 3: That he, I mean, the top people are saying, wow,
• 0:17
  Speaker 3: he did a lot better than people thought. Sort of
• 0:20
  Speaker 3: like maybe a stalemate or a win.
• 0:24
  Speaker 4: But we'll find out pretty soon.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: That was President Donald Trump weighing in on Benjamin Netanyahu's
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: election performance. Neither major bloc secured a governing majority. CBN
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: News Middle East Bureau Chief Chris Mitchell joins us from
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: Jerusalem to explain what comes next and what it could
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: mean for the broader Middle East. And can a limited
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: ceasefire in Ukraine open the door to a broader peace?
• 0:47
  Speaker 3: I don't know when we will have meeting with Russia
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: on the level of leaders.
• 0:54
  Speaker 4: It depends for today, with all respect.
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: To different countries, but it depends on our Russian side
• 1:02
  Speaker 3: because they never supported before.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: That was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He joins us to
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: discuss prospects for ending the war, the fate of Ukrainian
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: children taken to Russia, and religious freedom for the occupied areas.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: Then Congressman Michael McCaul responds to President Zelensky and examines
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: how Tuesday's elections could shape America's foreign policy and the
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: calculations of our allies and adversaries. And here at home,
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: House Speaker Mike Johnson has a message for voters watching
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: the polls.
• 1:32
  Speaker 4: And I'm telling you the polling is wrong. is off,
• 1:36
  Speaker 4: big time. You know why?
• 1:38
  Speaker 5: Because Republicans don't respond to polls anymore. They are oversampling Democrats.
• 1:42
  Speaker 5: Many of the pollsters are acknowledging that now. Do not
• 1:45
  Speaker 5: pay attention to the pundits. Do not pay attention to
• 1:47
  Speaker 5: the polls.
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: House Speaker Mike Johnson joins us to discuss the battle
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: for Congress, the cost of living, and the growing influence
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: of democratic socialism. And finally, should churches stay out of
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: political matters? Even when those matters involve truths, Scripture directly addresses.
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: A few thoughts on the church's responsibility to speak and
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: the Christian's responsibility to vote. All of that ahead on
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: This Week on Capitol Hill.
• 2:13
  Speaker 6: Today's edition of This Week on Capitol Hill is being
• 2:16
  Speaker 6: presented by AARP.
• 2:18
  Speaker 4: AARP.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: This week, Israel held its first general election since the
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: Hamas-led terror attacks on October 7th, 2023. Turnout reached nearly 78%,
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: the highest since 1999 and up from the 71% in 2022.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: But the result has left the Jewish nation facing another
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: difficult task, forming a government. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: his allied party won 53 seats in Israel's 123 seats.
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: 120-seat parliament, the Knesset, while the main opposition camp won 48.
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: Arab parties secured a record 19 seats. Neither camp has
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: the 61 seats needed for a governing coalition. What will
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: it take to form that coalition, and how could the
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: outcome affect what's been unfolding in the Middle East? Joining
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: us now is Chris Mitchell, Middle East Bureau Chief for
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: CBN News. He joins us from Jerusalem. Chris, welcome back
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: to This Week on Capitol Hill. Thanks for joining us. Tony,
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: great to be with you again. All right, give us
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: the latest. What does this result mean for who will
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: govern Israel?
• 3:29
  Speaker 6: Well, the result means right now that, as President Trump said,
• 3:32
  Speaker 6: Netanyahu does have a bit of an edge right now
• 3:34
  Speaker 6: as they go into negotiations of forming a new government.
• 3:40
  Speaker 7: They do have a five-seat edge over the opposition.
• 3:42
  Speaker 6: What's going to happen now, Tony, is that the official
• 3:46
  Speaker 6: results will come out next Wednesday, November 4th. Then the president,
• 3:50
  Speaker 6: Isaac Herzog, is going to meet with all of the
• 3:52
  Speaker 6: parties and decide which party and which leader is going
• 3:55
  Speaker 6: to be able to try to form a coalition, presumably
• 3:59
  Speaker 6: with 53 seats.
• 4:00
  Speaker 7: That will be Benjamin Netanyahu.
• 4:02
  Speaker 6: And then he may try to reach out to some
• 4:05
  Speaker 6: of the parties on the opposition to see if he
• 4:08
  Speaker 6: can get to that 61 numbers.
• 4:10
  Speaker 7: To be able to actually form a coalition.
• 4:12
  Speaker 6: But it could be hard because many of those members
• 4:15
  Speaker 6: in the opposition have said they will not serve in
• 4:17
  Speaker 6: a government with Benjamin Netanyahu.
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: Now, what about the Arab Party's record 19 seats? I
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: would think that a coalition with them would almost be toxic.
• 4:30
  Speaker 6: Very much so, Tony, especially for a couple of reasons.
• 4:34
  Speaker 6: First of all, there have been allegations that They haven't
• 4:36
  Speaker 6: been proven just yet that there was foreign money, and
• 4:40
  Speaker 6: I think from perhaps Qatar. that might have influenced some
• 4:44
  Speaker 6: of the voters on the Arab section. But regardless of that,
• 4:48
  Speaker 6: the 19 members, some would call them toxic because of
• 4:52
  Speaker 6: a few things. First of all, the night of the election,
• 4:56
  Speaker 6: some of them were singing baladi baladi in Arabic called
• 4:59
  Speaker 6: my country, my country. Some of them are calling Hamas
• 5:03
  Speaker 6: a charitable organization. And when you consider that in the Knesset,
• 5:08
  Speaker 6: that six members on the Israeli side have members that
• 5:13
  Speaker 6: were murdered on October 7th, and then you have members
• 5:17
  Speaker 6: perhaps in the Arab parties that calling Hamas a charitable
• 5:20
  Speaker 6: organization or even celebrating October 7th, it would be toxic
• 5:25
  Speaker 6: to really put them into a coalition government. So very
• 5:29
  Speaker 6: problematic going forward to see what happens with the 19
• 5:34
  Speaker 6: Arab seats.
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: Now, Christian, you were saying they were singing My Country,
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: My Country. They were not celebrating the Jewish state of Israel.
• 5:42
  Speaker 6: No, they're celebrating the state of Palestine.
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: What do you attribute the record turnout? I mean, this
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: is high turnout. What do you attribute that to?
• 5:54
  Speaker 6: Well, the high turnout is it became such a pivotal election,
• 5:58
  Speaker 6: the first one in four years, even before October 7th.
• 6:02
  Speaker 6: This is the first government that went through its four-year term,
• 6:08
  Speaker 6: I believe, since 1988. So, There's been a lot of
• 6:12
  Speaker 6: pent-up emotion behind this, certainly on the Arab side, and
• 6:16
  Speaker 6: that's one explanation for the record turnout and the record
• 6:19
  Speaker 6: number of seats they have. And certainly on the opposition,
• 6:22
  Speaker 6: they had really made a tremendous effort to try to
• 6:26
  Speaker 6: finally topple Benjamin Netanyahu. Part of the reason behind this
• 6:31
  Speaker 6: opposition is not necessarily disagreement with all of the policies,
• 6:35
  Speaker 6: but certainly this anti-Netanyahu coalition that has been going on
• 6:40
  Speaker 6: for many years. Some of these parties, you know, may
• 6:43
  Speaker 6: agree with some of the policies, but they just don't
• 6:46
  Speaker 6: want to serve with Benjamin Netanyahu, which complicates things going
• 6:50
  Speaker 6: forward to have a coalition, you know, established in the
• 6:54
  Speaker 6: next few weeks.
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: Now, back in 2019 and 2020, there were multiple elections
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: following one another because they could not put together a
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: coalition government. Do you foresee that being a real possibility here?
• 7:09
  Speaker 6: It's a very real possibility. One possibility would be a
• 7:12
  Speaker 6: unity government. If they can, some of these opposition members
• 7:16
  Speaker 6: can join a coalition with Benjamin Netanyahu. But, you know,
• 7:21
  Speaker 6: a stalemate looks very possible. And what happens if there
• 7:25
  Speaker 6: is no coalition government formed, Benjamin Netanyahu and the current
• 7:30
  Speaker 6: government will continue in office.
• 7:32
  Speaker 7: There's no vacuum of leadership.
• 7:34
  Speaker 6: The Knesset may not be in session, but the government
• 7:37
  Speaker 6: will continue in And in that regard, they can still,
• 7:41
  Speaker 6: you know, wage war. And that's a very likely possibility,
• 7:45
  Speaker 6: perhaps in the next few weeks. It's interesting, Tony, you know,
• 7:49
  Speaker 6: almost people here in the Middle East have been putting
• 7:52
  Speaker 6: the war on their calendar. They've been talking about an
• 7:54
  Speaker 6: intense short campaign. People in the Gulf are expecting it.
• 7:58
  Speaker 6: People here in Israel expecting it. And Iran seems to
• 8:01
  Speaker 6: be expecting it as well. So if the government, if
• 8:05
  Speaker 6: the coalition is not formed, then a military action could
• 8:09
  Speaker 6: go forth after the midterms.
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: Does that strengthen, as the caretaker remaining in place, the
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: Knesset not meeting, does that strengthen the hand of Benjamin Netanyahu?
• 8:22
  Speaker 6: It really does right now, and especially since he did
• 8:25
  Speaker 6: better than expected. Some people in the opposition were thinking
• 8:29
  Speaker 6: they could get to 61 seats.
• 8:31
  Speaker 7: They only get to 48 seats.
• 8:32
  Speaker 6: And now with five seat advantage, he really does sort
• 8:37
  Speaker 6: of have the upper hand when he goes to the
• 8:39
  Speaker 6: negotiating table with these coalition partners or the opposition partners,
• 8:44
  Speaker 6: that is. So, yeah, it does strengthen his hand. And
• 8:46
  Speaker 6: a lot of people thought he was going to come
• 8:48
  Speaker 6: out on the short end. But it looks like he,
• 8:51
  Speaker 6: you know, he did quite well, as he often does.
• 8:54
  Speaker 6: I mean, he's been the longest serving prime minister in
• 8:57
  Speaker 6: Israel's history.
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: Speaking of an intensified short-term effort against Iran, the Times
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: of Israel reporting at the end of the week that
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: 10 American military transport aircraft landed in Israel coming from
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: Biggs Army Airfield in El Paso, which is a major U.S.
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: Army air defense installation. They're reinforcing the Patriot missiles and
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: missile defense there in Israel. Could that be signaling that
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: something is on the horizon?
• 9:29
  Speaker 7: Very much so. All of that and more.
• 9:32
  Speaker 6: The signaling air refuelers are coming here into Ben-Gurion Airport
• 9:37
  Speaker 6: and other airports here in Israel.
• 9:39
  Speaker 7: The third carrier group is on its way, if not
• 9:42
  Speaker 7: already here.
• 9:43
  Speaker 6: So all of these signals, military and political, is really
• 9:48
  Speaker 6: just an indication that war seems to be imminent. And
• 9:51
  Speaker 6: there's a sense that maybe this is the time to
• 9:53
  Speaker 6: finish the job. Recently, I was talking to some Iranians, Tony,
• 9:58
  Speaker 6: and they want. Israel and the U.S. to finish the job.
• 10:02
  Speaker 6: They were disappointed at the ceasefire, and they're hoping and
• 10:06
  Speaker 6: praying that this could be the time when the Iranian
• 10:08
  Speaker 6: regime will finally fall and they could have the freedom
• 10:12
  Speaker 6: that they've been praying and hoping for for many years.
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: Very quickly, 20 seconds left or so. Qatar, again, in
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: negotiations going in between the United States and Iran. Any
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: hope there that there might be a diplomatic resolution?
• 10:26
  Speaker 7: It doesn't seem to be. I know Vice President J.D.
• 10:29
  Speaker 6: Vance has sent a letter to the Iranian leaders, but
• 10:32
  Speaker 6: it doesn't seem, given all the other indications of a
• 10:35
  Speaker 6: possible war, that any negotiations are really going to be
• 10:38
  Speaker 6: fruitful and in light of all the other preparations going.
• 10:42
  Speaker 7: On here in the Middle East.
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: Well, and the history of those dealings would suggest the same.
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: Chris Mitchell, always great to see you. Thanks so much
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: for joining us. Coming up next, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: joins us. Stay with us.
• 11:00
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• 11:35
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to This Week on Capitol Hill. I'm your host,
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: Tony Perkins. Eight deliveries and civilian evacuations began Friday in Russia.
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: Russian-occupied Olesky under a localized ceasefire brokered with the help
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: of First Lady Melania Trump. Now fighting continues elsewhere. Can
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: this humanitarian cooperation lead to progress toward a greater peace?
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: Joining us now is the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
• 12:01
  Speaker 6: Mr.
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: President, thank you for joining us on this week on
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: Capitol Hill.
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: Thank you very much, Tony. Happy to see you. Thank
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: you for this opportunity to speak.
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: Mr. President, aid deliveries and evacuations have begun in Oleski.
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: Where are the civilians being evacuated? And could this be
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: an opening for a broader ceasefire?
• 12:23
  Speaker 8: Yeah.
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: So, first of all, we are very thankful to the
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: First Lady, Melania Trump, for this mediation and for this help.
• 12:33
  Speaker 3: Of course, our team, our group came with American partners,
• 12:37
  Speaker 3: came to the temporarily occupied Olenski, and they came to
• 12:41
  Speaker 3: bring medical equipment and humanitarian support. And now we understand
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: that we have opportunity to Take people who can go
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: to our territory, which is under our control. I mean,
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: to Ukraine, which is under our control. And they will
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: come to us. They are now on the way back.
• 13:06
  Speaker 4: With our group.
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: And, of course, we will help them. We will support them.
• 13:11
  Speaker 3: And everything what they will need, they will get. Do
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: you think this could be an opening to a broader ceasefire?
• 13:18
  Speaker 4: You know, this is a very difficult question.
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: We always supported the idea and proposition of the American side,
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: the American president, President Trump, and the.
• 13:28
  Speaker 4: Ceasefire, unconditional ceasefire.
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: It was at the very beginning of 2025, and then
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: it was several times supported by the Ukrainian side. But
• 13:38
  Speaker 3: Russia never, never accepted any kind of ceasefires, never. and
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: energy ceasefire or ceasefire on the sea in different territories.
• 13:48
  Speaker 4: And this is the first time when.
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: First Lady and she addressed to aggressors and she addressed
• 13:58
  Speaker 3: to them and proposed to have a ceasefire from both
• 14:03
  Speaker 3: sides on the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine. And, of course, because,
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: you know, all the roads have been mined by Russia
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: and people are there without food, without water. And, of course,
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: we supported this. And this is the first time. Hope
• 14:18
  Speaker 3: it can continue. Of course, if it will continue, if
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: such signals will come from America, again, it will be
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: absolutely great and we will support.
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: Now, there are reports that in November there will be
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: discussions again between Ukraine, Russia and the United States. What
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: has changed that may lead to some positive outcome there?
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: First of all, this is good that we will have
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: opportunity to bring Russians to negotiations. And we are thankful
• 14:54
  Speaker 3: to American side for mediation during our meeting in Oslo.
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: That was the proposition from America to have meeting in November.
• 15:02
  Speaker 4: It can be from the 6th to 10th.
• 15:05
  Speaker 3: And it can be the 10th of November, so we
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: will see. It has to be in Abu Dhabi, but
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: you know there are a lot of different sensitive moments
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: and a lot of challenges in the Middle East.
• 15:18
  Speaker 4: I don't know if it will.
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: Be exactly these days and exactly in Abu Dhabi, but
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: we will support.
• 15:24
  Speaker 4: We always support the idea to come to Emirates.
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: And of course, we supported the proposition from American side
• 15:31
  Speaker 3: to have a trilateral meeting on the tactical level. Three
• 15:35
  Speaker 3: groups from Ukraine, Russia and the United States will join
• 15:39
  Speaker 3: in November in Abu Dhabi. Mr.
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: President, I want to go back to these occupied territories.
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: When I was in Ukraine in August, I met with
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: a number of religious leaders and others who Russian forces
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: have been accused of detaining and torturing Christian pastors and
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: seizing churches in these occupied territories of Ukraine. What is
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: happening to Christians there and what progress is being made
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: toward returning Ukrainian children that have been abducted and taken
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: to Russia?
• 16:11
  Speaker 4: Thank you so much, first of all, Tony. Thank you
• 16:13
  Speaker 4: for your visit.
• 16:15
  Speaker 3: And it's very important not just to speak about it,
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: to visit and to see what's going on.
• 16:21
  Speaker 4: And thank you for your visit. You're always welcome.
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: And also all your colleagues and journalists, and journalists from
• 16:27
  Speaker 3: the United States, especially from the United States, because journalists
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: from the United States are very famous, very loud.
• 16:34
  Speaker 4: This is important for us to give.
• 16:36
  Speaker 3: Real, true information to the world what's going on in
• 16:40
  Speaker 3: Ukraine and on temporary occupied territories everywhere. And that's why
• 16:45
  Speaker 3: I thank you and your colleagues. Everybody is very welcome.
• 16:48
  Speaker 3: It really helps us. So what's going on with churches
• 16:53
  Speaker 3: and other religious institutions and with the people, with church leaders,
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: with pastors, et cetera. So around 120 representatives of different
• 17:05
  Speaker 3: religious institutions, 120 being killed by Russians. It was not
• 17:09
  Speaker 3: an accident. It was just the attack. on these people,
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: attack on the churches and other institutions.
• 17:18
  Speaker 8: Mr.
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: President, I want to ask you, you talk about American
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: journalist Tucker Carlson and others has accused your government of
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: persecuting Christians. I want to give you an opportunity to
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: address that in our final moment.
• 17:31
  Speaker 3: First of all, just to repeat, Tony, you've been in
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: our country and we are thankful again you and your
• 17:41
  Speaker 3: colleagues and that's why we can very clearly and openly
• 17:45
  Speaker 3: speak and understand each other so because you saw by
• 17:50
  Speaker 3: your eyes what's going on Tucker Carlson and other such
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: guys they I think they've never been I think this
• 17:59
  Speaker 3: man never been in Ukraine how he can discuss what's
• 18:02
  Speaker 3: going on in Ukraine And to speak about what's going
• 18:07
  Speaker 3: on with.
• 18:08
  Speaker 4: Religious people in Ukraine, we are very free.
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: Yes, you know that we have the biggest council in
• 18:14
  Speaker 3: Europe of religious institutions.
• 18:17
  Speaker 4: We all work together.
• 18:19
  Speaker 3: We have each month meetings in the presidential office, or
• 18:24
  Speaker 3: I can come to meetings. different of churches or different institutions,
• 18:29
  Speaker 3: we always together discuss all the questions, all the problems,
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: how to help, humanitarian aid, also if something has been destroyed,
• 18:39
  Speaker 3: or if somebody from religious representatives and leaders of churches
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: have been tortured by Russians or are in the prison.
• 18:49
  Speaker 4: I came to them.
• 18:51
  Speaker 3: And I come to them, and we have this council,
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: as I said, the biggest in Europe, and we manage
• 18:55
  Speaker 3: all the problems.
• 18:56
  Speaker 4: By the way, everybody together, yes, Christians.
• 19:00
  Speaker 3: Jewish people, yes, we have a lot of Catholic churches,
• 19:07
  Speaker 3: and also Muslims, all of us, we sit together in
• 19:11
  Speaker 3: one room together.
• 19:12
  Speaker 4: And manage all these problems and discuss.
• 19:16
  Speaker 3: So that's why I think this man, Tucker, he doesn't
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: know what's going on in Ukraine, but he can come
• 19:22
  Speaker 3: and see what's going on, what was destroyed by Russia,
• 19:27
  Speaker 3: and what is the attitude to different religions, different nationalities.
• 19:32
  Speaker 3: We have a lot of also nationalities in Ukraine, and
• 19:35
  Speaker 3: we live and stand together, and only together we can
• 19:38
  Speaker 3: defend our country.
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: And, Mr. President, while I was there, I actually met
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: with that council and with you, and we prayed for
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: you on the Independence Day. So it is what I
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: have seen, that there is religious fraternity.
• 19:50
  Speaker 6: There.
• 19:50
  Speaker 4: And you saw thousands of people. Yeah, thousands of people.
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: It's not just five, ten people who manage all the
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: problem and decide. No, it's a will of people. That's
• 20:02
  Speaker 3: why we come together very often. And it's about thousands
• 20:06
  Speaker 3: of people. We stay together and we really respect each other. Mr.
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: President, I want to thank you for your time. Thank
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: you for joining us and know that Ukraine and the
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: people of Ukraine are in our prayers.
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: Thank you very much for your prayers. Thank you for
• 20:19
  Speaker 3: your support. God bless America. Thank you so much.
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: All right. Coming up next, Congressman Michael McCaul joins us.
• 20:26
  Speaker 4: Don't go away.
• 20:31
  Speaker 8: As prices keep rising, Social Security is even more important
• 20:35
  Speaker 8: to older Americans.
• 20:36
  Speaker 9: I counted on it to pay for groceries and prescriptions.
• 20:39
  Speaker 9: Everything costs more now.
• 20:41
  Speaker 8: AARP is fighting to protect the Social Security Americans earn
• 20:45
  Speaker 8: through a lifetime of hard work.
• 20:47
  Speaker 10: I've paid into Social Security since I was a teenager.
• 20:50
  Speaker 10: It isn't a handout. I earned it.
• 20:53
  Speaker 8: Join us to stand up for Social Security. Visit AARP.org
• 20:58
  Speaker 8: slash Social Security Voter. Paid for by AARP.
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to This Week on Capitol Hill. This Tuesday
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: is Election Day, and the outcome will shape the direction
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: of the country over the next two years. But the
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: stakes extend beyond domestic priorities like taxes, spending, and border security.
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: The outcome will also shape America's foreign policy priorities and.
• 21:23
  Speaker 4: Its role in the world.
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: What could the next two years look like? Joining us
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: now to discuss this and more is Congressman Michael McCaul,
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: chairman emeritus of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He represents
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: the 10th Congressional District of Texas. Chairman McCaul, welcome back
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: to This Week on Capitol Hill. Thanks for joining us.
• 21:40
  Speaker 7: Thanks, Tony.
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: Thanks for having me.
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: Before we get to the election, I just spoke with
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: President Zelensky from Ukraine. He shared with us the latest
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: in what is happening in the kind of the brokered
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: ceasefire in the occupied area of Oleski. But I want
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: to ask you this question because you have supported pressure.
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: You carried the bill in the House on the sanctions
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: bill on Russian energy. What should Congress be doing now
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: to strengthen the prospects for peace, for a peace agreement
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: that will actually hold between Russia and Ukraine?
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: Well, we gave the president all the authorities and tools
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: he needs to put pressure not only on Mr. Putin,
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: but also on the largest importer of Russian energy. That's China.
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: Chairman Xi, President Xi has a lot of leverage over Putin.
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: And so the idea that Lindsey Graham and I had
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: was to not only sanctions on Putin himself, sanctions on
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: the oligarchs, but tariffs on the top five importers of
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: Russian energy. to leverage these negotiated talks. I mean, this
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: will not end with a march to Moscow. It's going
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: to end in a negotiated settlement. We had a phone
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: call with Secretary Rubio. I asked, you know, why are
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: we not enforcing the sanctions, but rather waiving them? And
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: I think the answer was legitimate, that there's a trilateral
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: agreement or conference or meeting that they're trying to move
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: forward with after the election. I think we do have
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: to give that a chance, a talk between Russia, the
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: United States, and Ukraine to work this out. But I'm
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: not entirely optimistic because every time we give Putin a
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: chance for peace, he defies that. And he instead will
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: bomb innocent civilians. We saw him bomb Churches in October
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: in Ukraine, we saw them bomb buses and trains and
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: even a park with little children in strollers, all in
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: violation of international law. To me, this is a moral issue.
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: It's a moral question of our time. And there's no
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: question in my mind who is on the right side
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: of history here.
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: This is very similar to what we're facing with the
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: Iranian regime, every time we back off, they simply, they
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: don't change their behavior. They double down and they continue
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: their attacks. Along those same lines, Mr. Chairman, Reuters reports
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: that the Pentagon officials have urged several NATO allies to
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: moderate their public rhetoric about the threat from Russia. Now,
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: the Pentagon declined to discuss the private conversations, but is
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: that approach helpful to these peace negotiations or could it
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: weaken deterrence?
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: You know, I'm a Reagan Republican. I'm a peace through strength.
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: That's all Putin understands is strength. And if he sees
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: us if he sees weakness, which he saw after Afghanistan fell,
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: precisely why he invaded Ukraine. I think this soft approach
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: that I know is coming from Mr. Colby, who's the
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: policy advisor to the Secretary of War, I don't see
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: weakening NATO as an effective strategy to get Putin to
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: the negotiating table. In fact, it could have just the
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: opposite effect. And all the while, as you pointed out,
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: With Russia supporting Iran right now, we're at war with Iran,
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: and Russia is providing targeting information to kill American troops
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: in the Middle East. To me, it makes no sense
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: at all. I think he only understands strength. That's why
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: we passed the Lindsey Graham bill, to give the president
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: tools to leverage a peaceful environment. resolution. That's what I
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: told the president when I was in the Oval Office,
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: when he signed that bill into law. I hope, look,
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: we'll give this trilateral meeting a chance. If it fails,
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: I do think then is the time to enforce these sanctions.
• 26:02
  Speaker 3: Mr.
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: Chairman, 45 seconds left. If Democrats win control of the
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: Congress with their socialist, democratic socialist agenda, how does that
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: change our foreign policy approach from Congress?
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: No, it greatly weakened our foreign policy. They will. You know,
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: we have done a lot to beef up the military.
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: I know Mike Johnson's going to talk to you about this.
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: And what he what they will do is weaken our military,
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: not strengthen it. That's a bad foreign policy. It's a
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: bad result. And it'll end up in more wars, not less.
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: Chairman McCaul, always great to see you, my friend. Thanks
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: so much for taking time to join us.
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: Thank you, Tony. Thanks for having me.
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: All right, coming up next, House Speaker Mike Johnson joins
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: us from the campaign trail to further highlight what is
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: at stake this Tuesday when Americans head to the polls.
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: It's not just domestic issues. It's the foreign policy issues
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: as well. Stay with us.
• 27:02
  Speaker 8: As prices keep rising, Social Security is even more important
• 27:05
  Speaker 8: to older Americans.
• 27:07
  Speaker 9: I counted on it to pay for groceries and prescriptions.
• 27:10
  Speaker 9: Everything costs more now.
• 27:11
  Speaker 8: AARP is fighting to protect the Social Security Americans earn
• 27:15
  Speaker 8: through a lifetime of hard work.
• 27:18
  Speaker 10: I've paid into Social Security since I was a teenager.
• 27:21
  Speaker 10: It isn't a handout. I earned it.
• 27:24
  Speaker 8: Join us to stand up for Social Security. Visit aarp.org
• 27:28
  Speaker 8: slash socialsecurityvoter. Paid for by AARP.
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to This Week on Capitol Hill. I'm Tony Perkins. Well,
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: this coming Tuesday, Election Day, is more than a contest
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: over which party controls Congress. Voters will determine whether President
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: Trump has a Congress that advances his agenda or one
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: that works to stop it. The outcome will shape our laws,
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: our freedoms, and the direction of the country long after
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: the ballots are counted. With so much at stake, House
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: Speaker Mike Johnson has been traveling nonstop across the country
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: campaigning to preserve the Republican majority. He joins us now
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: from New Mexico.
• 28:08
  Speaker 3: Mr.
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: Speaker, welcome back to This Week on Capitol Hill. Thanks
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: for taking time off the campaign trail to join us
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: for a few minutes.
• 28:14
  Speaker 11: Hey, Tony.
• 28:15
  Speaker 5: Glad to do it. I've been moving nonstop, campaigning nonstop
• 28:18
  Speaker 5: all this month. We've been in, I've done campaign events
• 28:21
  Speaker 5: in more than 40 districts across 23 states now, I think.
• 28:24
  Speaker 11: I'm losing count.
• 28:25
  Speaker 5: But I tell you what, look, I remain just as
• 28:28
  Speaker 5: encouraged and enthusiastic as I was the last time we spoke.
• 28:32
  Speaker 5: Huge crowds, Tony. It feels like 2024 to me out there.
• 28:35
  Speaker 5: I keep saying that. I believe the polls are wildly
• 28:38
  Speaker 5: inaccurate this time around. And I believe that we can
• 28:40
  Speaker 5: hold this Republican majority in the House and the Senate.
• 28:43
  Speaker 11: We just have to get everybody out on Election Day.
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: You know, Mr. Speaker, Americans are concerned about affording affordability
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: when it comes to groceries, housing, raising a family, energy prices, etc.
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: But under the Democratic Socialists that heavily influenced the Democratic Party,
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: I mean, did they really have proposals that would allow
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: the economy to grow?
• 29:05
  Speaker 11: No, of course not.
• 29:06
  Speaker 5: I mean, obviously, the socialist whole regime, their whole idea,
• 29:09
  Speaker 5: their whole philosophy is that you grow government. Government is
• 29:11
  Speaker 5: supposed to supply everything to everyone. Government has no money
• 29:14
  Speaker 5: of its own, Tony. This is Econ 101, Poli Sci 101.
• 29:19
  Speaker 5: Government has to take a dollar out of someone's pocket
• 29:21
  Speaker 5: to give it to someone else. Their whole vision is
• 29:23
  Speaker 5: for the government to take over everything. Ultimately, that's what
• 29:26
  Speaker 5: socialist regimes do. Karl Marx wrote the Communist Manifesto. He
• 29:30
  Speaker 5: used socialism and communism interchangeably because he thought that Socialism
• 29:34
  Speaker 5: was a necessary step to get to communism, which he
• 29:37
  Speaker 5: thought was the utopia of the perfect society. The idea
• 29:40
  Speaker 5: is that the state controls everything, governs everything. takes away
• 29:43
  Speaker 5: private property ownership. When they tell people they're going to
• 29:46
  Speaker 5: give them free things, they don't talk about the loss
• 29:48
  Speaker 5: of freedom that goes with it and ultimately human suffering, famine,
• 29:53
  Speaker 5: and death. That's the story of communism and socialism every
• 29:55
  Speaker 5: single time it's been tried. So that's what they're offering,
• 29:58
  Speaker 5: more of that. If you think that electing Democrats would
• 30:01
  Speaker 5: bring your.
• 30:07
  Speaker 6: Mr.
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: Speaker, for those that are saying Republicans are using this
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: socialistic agenda from the Democratic Socialists as a straw man,
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: an undercover video published this week by Town Hall shows
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: California Governor Gavin Newsom saying the Democratic Socialists of America's
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: energy and demand for bold change will become dominant and mainstream.
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: Listen to this clip.
• 30:31
  Speaker 4: The DSA, the energy.
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: And the desire and demand for burial change, non-inclemental change,
• 30:38
  Speaker 2: is very much going to be dominant. But, I mean,
• 30:41
  Speaker 2: that's going to be mainstream.
• 30:43
  Speaker 8: Absolutely.
• 30:44
  Speaker 4: No pressure.
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: You can't play in the margins anymore.
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: For once, is he speaking truth?
• 30:50
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, that's probably a legitimate video because that's
• 30:53
  Speaker 5: what they actually believe. Some of the candidates for the
• 30:55
  Speaker 5: House are actually saying those things to crowds. You know,
• 30:59
  Speaker 5: this isn't some conspiracy theory. This is what they are for.
• 31:02
  Speaker 5: They published a platform we've talked about many times. They
• 31:04
  Speaker 5: want to abolish the border, abolish prisons, defund police, defund
• 31:07
  Speaker 5: the Department of War, you know, remove the president, pack
• 31:09
  Speaker 5: the Supreme Court, trans surgeries for everyone, you know, for
• 31:12
  Speaker 5: minors without parental consent, men back in women's sports. Everything
• 31:16
  Speaker 5: that defies common sense and what is good and moral
• 31:19
  Speaker 5: and right and true, they are opposed to, and they're
• 31:22
  Speaker 5: going to advance this radical agenda.
• 31:24
  Speaker 11: The problem is, Gavin Newsom's right.
• 31:26
  Speaker 5: The problem is the energy, the excitement, the grassroots is
• 31:28
  Speaker 5: on the side of that insurgent radical left, and they
• 31:31
  Speaker 5: have taken over. They are already taking over the Democratic Party.
• 31:35
  Speaker 5: In the two years ahead of us, we will not
• 31:37
  Speaker 5: be arguing over marginal tax rates or taxes. shades of
• 31:40
  Speaker 5: regulation or the old traditional foreign policy arguments. We're going
• 31:43
  Speaker 5: to be arguing over whether or not we keep the republic,
• 31:45
  Speaker 5: the founding principles of America, or we destroy them and
• 31:48
  Speaker 5: tear them down. That's what the Democrat Socialists of America,
• 31:51
  Speaker 5: that's what the Democrat Party now represents, and it is
• 31:54
  Speaker 5: exactly what they will do.
• 31:55
  Speaker 11: That is the agenda that we are trying to oppose.
• 31:58
  Speaker 8: Now, Mr.
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: Speaker, I know that we've had multiple conversations about polls,
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: and we know that Republicans are not necessarily participating in
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: the polls, but There are some trends that you can
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: see in polling, and I like to watch the polling
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: for different purposes, not to make decisions, but to kind
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: of gauge where things are. But there's a new Economist
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: YouGov poll that finds half of registered voters would consider
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: voting for a democratic socialist, while only 20 percent prefer
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: socialism to capitalism. That seems inconsistent. What do you think
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: Republicans need to do more to explain the policies behind
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: that label of socialist?
• 32:39
  Speaker 5: Well, there is an education component to what we're doing
• 32:41
  Speaker 5: right now. I do it on the campaign trail. We
• 32:43
  Speaker 5: started a website, as you know, a few months back
• 32:46
  Speaker 5: when we recognized that so few people, and of course
• 32:49
  Speaker 5: many younger voters and younger people, they didn't live through
• 32:52
  Speaker 5: the Cold War.
• 32:52
  Speaker 11: They don't understand the realities of all this.
• 32:54
  Speaker 5: We started a website called contrastforamerica.com, and we just summarize
• 32:58
  Speaker 5: there on a couple of pages the true history of
• 33:01
  Speaker 5: socialism and communism. Every single time this has been attempted,
• 33:04
  Speaker 5: it leads to human misery, suffering, poverty, famine, and even death.
• 33:09
  Speaker 5: And the communists, of course, have been responsible for the
• 33:11
  Speaker 5: murder of tens of millions of innocent people in the
• 33:13
  Speaker 5: 20th century alone.
• 33:14
  Speaker 11: It is anti-American.
• 33:15
  Speaker 5: It is exactly the inverse of what America's founding principles
• 33:19
  Speaker 5: are about. Individual freedom, limited government, the rule of law,
• 33:23
  Speaker 5: peace through strength, fiscal responsibility, free markets.
• 33:25
  Speaker 11: Human dignity, those are the things that are on the
• 33:27
  Speaker 11: ballot on Tuesday. I mean, this is it. It comes
• 33:31
  Speaker 11: down to a midterm.
• 33:32
  Speaker 5: Election, and we have to vote our values, and we
• 33:34
  Speaker 5: have to vote for the American way over the communist way.
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: You know, that's another indicator of how our educational system
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: has failed our children, not teaching them the history of
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: the 20th century and what all happened all across the
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: globe where the communists reigned.
• 33:52
  Speaker 5: Absolutely right. And look, when it comes down to this election,
• 33:54
  Speaker 5: it is about affordability. It is about the cost of living.
• 33:56
  Speaker 5: But everybody remember one thing. What we inherited less than
• 33:59
  Speaker 5: two years ago was the worst economy, the worst disaster
• 34:02
  Speaker 5: in every metric of public policy in the Biden-Harris administration.
• 34:05
  Speaker 5: They brought us to 40-year high inflation, 9.1%. The real
• 34:08
  Speaker 5: and actual inflation rate was about 21%, as the president's
• 34:12
  Speaker 5: been pointing out on the campaign trail, because that was
• 34:14
  Speaker 5: the actual rise in the cost of goods. We don't
• 34:16
  Speaker 5: flip a switch and fix it overnight, but we have
• 34:18
  Speaker 5: put in all the fundamental principles to fix it. The
• 34:21
  Speaker 5: economy will take off like a rocket when we get
• 34:23
  Speaker 5: the straightover moves straightened out. I think that happens right
• 34:25
  Speaker 5: after the election. I think we're right on the verge
• 34:27
  Speaker 5: of this thing going well. If you look at the
• 34:28
  Speaker 5: economic indicators, we've had trillions of dollars invested in America.
• 34:31
  Speaker 5: We added more than a million private sector jobs in
• 34:33
  Speaker 5: the economy the last 19 months. Wages are going up.
• 34:36
  Speaker 5: taxes are going down, regulations going down. We have set
• 34:39
  Speaker 5: the conditions in place for every family to do better,
• 34:41
  Speaker 5: and you've got to keep Republicans in charge. You cannot
• 34:43
  Speaker 5: turn it over to the big government socialist Democrats.
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: All right, final 30 seconds, Mr. Speaker. This will be
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: the last time we talk before the election. For those
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: that are considering sitting out the election, our viewers, our listeners,
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: what would you say to them?
• 34:55
  Speaker 5: Stakes are too high. This is not a normal election,
• 34:58
  Speaker 5: not a normal midterm. You have to vote your values
• 35:00
  Speaker 5: or your values could be destroyed. That is not hyperbole.
• 35:04
  Speaker 5: It is not rhetoric. That's exactly what's on the ballot
• 35:06
  Speaker 5: right now.
• 35:07
  Speaker 8: Mr.
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: Speaker, thanks for joining us. Stay safe on the campaign
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: trail and we will talk to you next week.
• 35:12
  Speaker 3: Thanks, Tony. God bless.
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: And folks, if you need a resource to help you vote,
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: we have a personalized voter guide. Simply text the word
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: VOTE to 67742. That's VOTE to 67742. All right, some
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: final thoughts after this. Welcome back, and thanks for tuning
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: in to This Week on Capitol Hill. A Pew Research
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: Center survey released earlier this year found that 66% of
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: Americans believe churches and other houses of worship should stay
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: out of political matters rather than address day-to-day social and
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: political questions. Does that mean a pastor should avoid any
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: subject politicians happen to debate? Consider abortion, marriage, human sexuality, immigration,
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: and justice. These are not merely political issues that divide
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: the parties. They are moral and spiritual issues which Scripture addresses.
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: If pastors were to cut every biblical passage that becomes
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: controversial in Washington out of the Bible, our Bibles would
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: soon resemble Swiss cheese. Perhaps the deeper question is whether
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: we understand how frequently God's people were called to bring
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: God's truth to bear on matters of civil government. In
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: a 2019 Pew survey of biblical knowledge, 79% correctly identified Moses, 78% David, 69% Abraham,
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: and 28% Esther. But Pew didn't ask what those four
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: individuals had in common. Besides being Hebrews, each had a
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: consequential encounter with political power. Moses stood before Pharaoh and
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: demanded freedom for God's people. David became Israel's model king.
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: Abraham dealt with kings and rulers. Esther, she risked her
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: life by approaching the Persian king to save her people
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: from destruction. And the list hardly ends there. Joseph rose
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: to authority in Egypt. Nehemiah served the Persian king before
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: becoming governor of Judah. Prophets such as Nathan, Elijah, and
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: Jeremiah confronted rulers when their actions violated God's commands. Then
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: there was Daniel. Daniel served under pagan kings in Babylon
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: and later under Persian rule. Yet his proximity to power
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: never silenced his allegiance to God. When King Belshazzar offered
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: him rewards, Daniel refused them and delivered a message the
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: king did not want to hear. God had weighed his
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: kingdom and found it wanting. Daniel understood something the church
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: must rediscover. God's people cannot remain silent on matters God
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: has clearly addressed simply because those matters have been declared political.
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: This pattern continues in the New Testament. John the Baptist
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: confronted Herod over his marriage. Paul asserted his rights as
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: a Roman citizen and testified before governors and kings. Their
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: witness did not stop at the palace gates. Certainly, ancient
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: Israel and Rome were not modern America, and Scripture does
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: not offer a party platform or a position on every
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: legislative measure. But it does establish moral truths that apply
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: to nations, to their rulers, and citizens alike. Jesus called
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: his followers the salt of the earth and the light
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: of the world. Neither image suggests withdrawal. Both describe engagement
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: that makes a difference. So the issue is not whether
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: the church should become political. It is whether Christians will
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: remain biblical when biblical truth has political consequences. Our calling
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: is neither to become the mouthpiece of a party nor
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: to retreat into silence. It is to stand on God's word,
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: defend what is right, confront what is wrong, and speak
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: with courage. remain silent. And with that, let me remind you,
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: this Tuesday is Election Day. For a personalized voter guide,
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: text the word VOTE to 67742. That's VOTE to 67742.
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: Make plans now to vote on Tuesday. And with that,
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: that has been this week on Capitol Hill.