The World and Everything in It: August 7, 2023

The World and Everything in It is made possible by listeners like us. Hi, I'm Ellie Alkin and I live in Salt Lake City, Utah. When I'm not doing school, I love to play soccer, read, and practice piano. Shout out to Mary Reichard because she's my favorite host on World and Everything In It. And I hope you enjoy today's program.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Aw, thanks Ellie! Well, Good morning!

How close is too close for pro-lifers to hand out leaflets or give counsel outside abortion facilities? Pro-lifers assert their first amendment free speech rights against buffer zones.

PETER BREEN: I mean, you sit there and go, in any other area of speech or the law courts would laugh a restriction like that out of court. But because of the abortion distortion, it was allowed back in 2000.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: That’s ahead on Legal Docket

Also, the Monday Moneybeat…The number 3 credit rating agency downgrades the U.S. government’s credit score. Is Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen right to think it’s ridiculous?

Plus the WORLD History Book. 30 years ago this week, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg joins the Supreme Court:

GINSBURG: I, Ruth Bader Ginsburg do solemnly swear…

REICHARD: It’s Monday, August 7th. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

BROWN: And I’m Myrna Brown. Good morning!

REICHARD: It’s time for news. Here’s Kent Covington.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: 

Biden » House Republicans continue to ratchet up pressure on the Biden family and the Department of Justice. Florida Congressman Byron Donalds:

DONALDS: The DOJ is corrupt in my view. They are obstructing justice, especially when you look at how they were handling all these dealings with Hunter Biden.

Republicans say the more evidence they unfold, the more it undercuts President Biden’s claims that he had no connection with Hunter Biden’s business dealings … and barely any knowledge of them.

And many GOP lawmakers charge that the Justice Department is protecting the president.

Some Democrats concede that testimony last week from a former Hunter Biden business associate, wasn’t a good look for the Bidens. But Congressman Jake Auchind says where the president’s concerned, he’s seen no smoking gun.

AUCHIND: Again, what we saw from the Archer testimony was a very unflattering portraint of Hunter Biden and his business dealings, but no material involvement from Joe Biden himself.

Democrats accuse House Republicans of trying to manufacture a scandal to distract from former President Trump’s legal woes.

TRUMP » Meantime, the Justice Department is asking the judge overseeing the latest indictment against Donald Trump … to issue a protective order.

That came after Trump stated on social media—quote—“If you go after me, I’m coming after you.”

But Trump attorney John Lauro argued that context matters … and he added:

LAURO: President Trump was responding in a political way to some of his political opponents.

The protective order looks to limit Trump from publicly discussing case evidence.

Former President Trump on Sunday said his team plans to ask the judge in the case to recuse herself on what he called “very powerful grounds,” without getting into details.

Trump officials » Also on Sunday, at least two former top Trump administration officials say, if asked, they’re willing to testify against Donald Trump about alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Former Attorney General William Barr told CBS’ Face the Nation … that the prosecution of the former president is a “legitimate case.” And he recalled multiple conversation with Trump after the election.

BARR: I told him in no uncertain terms that there was no evidence of fraud that would have changed the outcome.

And former Vice President Mike Pence said on Sunday that if called upon to testify, he would simply tell the truth.

PENCE: President Trump was wrong. He was wrong then and he’s wrong now. I had no right to overturn the election.

John Lauro refuted the former vice president’s remarks … saying Trump never asked Mike Pence to choose between Trump and the Constitution as Pence asserts.

Russia-China naval exercises » The U-S navy chased Russian and Chinese navy vessels away from American waters last week… after the foreign ships approached Alaska.

The Chinese and Russian ships reportedly did not enter U-S territorial waters.

U-S Senator Dan Sullivan said that 11 foreign ships made up the joint fleet. He called the fleet evidence that the world had entered a new era of authoritarian aggression.

Meanwhile the U-S is prosecuting two of its sailors for allegedly supplying information to China. Congressman Mike Gallagher:

GALLAGHER - The CCP has continued its relentless espionage campaign against America. We are slowly waking up to it. But we’re just beginning to scratch the surface in terms of this activity on American soil.

The sailors allegedly provided information to China about critical technical materials… and wartime exercises.

Russian strikes in Ukraine » Russian missile and drone have killed six people across Ukraine.

ZELENSKYY - Ukrainian

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed missile defense systems provided by Ukraine’s allies proved effective shooting down the Russian missiles.

Some missiles still struck their targets.

Moscow says the strikes are retaliation for a Ukrainian strike on one of its oil tankers. Ukraine says the tanker was trying to supply Russian troops.

Ukraine and Russia have declared each others’ ports on the Black Sea to be wartime targets.

Niger deadline » Leaders of military coup in Niger on Sunday ignored an ultimatum by a bloc of West African nations demanding the reinstatement of Niger’s president. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher.

JS: Leaders of the military junta in Niger ignored a Sunday deadline … to reinstate President Mohamed Bazoum … or face the consequences.

Leaders from an alliance of 11 West African countries threatened possible military action if the junta did not comply. But as of last night, there was no sign of any mobilization against Niger’s junta.

Supporters of the coup gathered for a rally in Niger’s capital yesterday as the deadline passed.

Many others remain fearful of what military rule will mean for their country.

The Nigerien military toppled ousted the president late last month… and Mohamed Bazoum says he is now being held hostage.

The US government has called for his release and reinstatement.

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

And I'm KENT COVINGTON.

Straight ahead: freedom of speech in front of abortion clinics on Legal Docket.

Plus, the Monday Moneybeat.

This is The World and Everything in It.

BROWN: It’s Monday morning, August 7th and you’re listening to The World and Everything in It from WORLD Radio. Good morning! I’m Myrna Brown.

REICHARD: And I’m Mary Reichard. It’s time for Legal Docket, summer edition. While the Supreme Court is in recess, we’ll hear about litigation pending in the lower courts.

Today, disputes about buffer zones, bubble zones, free speech and pro-life counseling.

We’ll start in the midwest, in Illinois, where abortion is legal. Many surrounding states banned abortions in some form after the Dobbs decision struck down Roe versus Wade.

The college town of Carbondale, Illinois is in the southern part of the state, closer to Peducah, Kentucky than to Chicago. Population around 22,000. The flagship campus of Southern Illinois University is there. It enrolls thousands of young people each year.

BROWN: And that has attracted the attention of abortion businesses. The town didn’t even have an abortion facility until last fall. Now more are on the way… making Carbondale an abortion hub for the southeastern part of the United States.

Brian Westbrook directs the pro-life organization called Coalition Life. It seeks to save lives directly in front of abortion businesses.

WESTBROOK: Yeah, so… you know, just late last year, when these abortion facilities were welcomed with a red carpet into Carbondale. City Council were emailing back and forth about how this is going to be great for the hotel business and ….great for the economy. But we know that the vast majority of the women going there are from out of state. So our statistics show that over 80% of those traveling to Carbondale to get abortions are coming from Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, even down in Texas, are coming all the way up to Carbondale to get their abortions...

BROWN: So trained Coalition Life volunteers started to pray outside the building. They offered literature and alternatives to abortion. In short, they stood as a witness to the sanctity of human life.

But the city council passed an ordinance that prohibits these volunteers from approaching within 100 feet of the facility.

REICHARD: That’s when lawyers from Thomas More Society stepped in on behalf of Coalition Life.

Peter Breen is head of litigation. He gives some background to Carbondale’s ordinance: it creates a moving “bubble” around each person outside an abortion building that you can’t go, say, within 8 feet of a person to offer literature.

BREEN: They put one of these bubble zones in place and they copied it verbatim from the city of Chicago and the state of Colorado, both of which had been upheld in court, based on this year 2000 precedent from the Supreme Court. So that's what we're fighting. …The district court we don't believe can really help us too much. We've got to get it up on appeal to start reversing appellate precedent and then eventually Supreme Court precedent in order to get relief…the city has moved to dismiss, a very short motion. We filed a short response. We're waiting for the judge's decision any day, letting us go up on appeal.

REICHARD: I contacted the City of Carbondale for comment, but city attorney Jamie Turner declined, citing this pending litigation. Nothing unusual about that.

But the complaints against the city include violation of First Amendment free speech rights, 14th Amendment Due Process rights, and violation of some state laws.

I asked Breen why the Supreme Court decision in McCullen v Coakley from 2013 hadn’t resolved these disputes. That unanimous ruling struck down a Massachusetts law that created a 35-foot buffer zone around abortion buildings. The justices ruled the law kept people from engaging in precisely the transmission of ideas the First Amendment is meant to protect.

That case involved “buffer zones,” while the Carbondale case involves “bubble zones.”

BROWN: What’s the difference? Lawyer Breen:

BREEN: …it gets confusing because your eight foot bubble might be within 100 feet of an abortion clinic door. So there's a zone where these bubbles apply. But that's the difference really that a buffer zone just says nobody anywhere in here. Bubble zone says no, no, each person in there has a floating eight foot bubble. So the way around it, you don't say the bubble zone, you get around it by standing still, essentially. So if you're standing still you're okay. You can extend an arm but you can't move your body.

I mean, you sit there and go, in any other area of speech or the law courts would laugh a restriction like that out of court. But because of the abortion distortion, it was allowed back in 2000. But uniquely in 2022 in the Dobbs decision where the Supreme Court overturned Roe, they dropped a footnote and highlighted the fact that these bubble zone laws were a distortion of First Amendment principles. So they recognized it. The only problem is the Supreme Court has not yet overturned it.

BROWN: Breen emphasized the importance of the work of sidewalk counselors like Coalition Life:

BREEN: And, you know, just a very, very recently, the state of Illinois finally released…its 2021 abortion numbers: over 51,000 abortions in Illinois in 2021. So that's during the pandemic. And that number, historically, Illinois had been roughly about 40,000 abortions. And over the course of two years, they got up to 51,000. Again, this is pre Dobbs and it's during the pandemic. So 25% increase in two years. I shudder to think what the numbers from 2022 and now 2023 where every state surrounding Illinois has better abortion laws on the books. We’re thinking it could be at 70 or 80,000 abortions so almost double from our historical rate in Illinois very soon. So again, the work of …Coalition Life is utterly vital to making sure folks have a real choice and not being coerced. I mean imagine traveling you know oftentimes being brought maybe by a non supportive partner or parent, you know, you're you're scared, you're far from home and really the only friend you may have is one of Coalition Life sidewalk counselors standing there just offer a kind word and an alternative.

REICHARD: Before we leave Illinois, some good news came this past Thursday. Different issue, but still in the pro-life arena.

Governor J.B. Pritzker in late July signed a law that labels speech by crisis pregnancy centers as “deceptive business practice.” That language did not apply to abortion businesses. Thomas More Society sought to halt the law in court, and Peter Breen argued it violates the free speech rights of pregnancy centers.

A federal judge then ordered a preliminary injunction that stops enforcement of the law for now, pending further litigation. In Judge Iain Johnston’s ruling, he said the law violated the First Amendment and later wrote: “Justice Scalia once said that he wished all federal judges were given a stamp that read ‘stupid but constitutional.’ SB 1909 is both stupid and very likely unconstitutional.”

BROWN: He didn’t mince words there, did he?

Alright, now to Florida, with a similar dispute to Carbondale’s…this time over a five-foot buffer zone on either side of a driveway of an abortion facility in Clearwater. Thomas More Society filed a complaint in federal court in June over that.

When we asked for comment from the city attorney, he said yes. A pleasant surprise.

REICHARD: Luke Lirot is counsel for the city of Clearwater defending the five-foot buffer zone ordinance. He told me the abortion building is on a busy, two lane road. Cars can still come and go, but facility personnel complained that the pro-life counselors were impeding traffic.

LIROT: Anywhere else on the property if someone wants to hand out a leaflet or have a compassionate conversation with someone about their various options… then they’re free to do that. It’s just the driveway that they can’t really facilitate. So it’s a very unique ordinance. And I think that the city worked hard to figure out the least restrictive method they could use to try to make this situation safer for everybody. And obviously the folks that are the plaintiffs in the case feel that it does impinge their First Amendment rights.

REICHARD: Lirot told me he’s seen police reports and body cam footage showing what he considers to be confrontational activity. Police told him of screeching brakes, breach of the peace, that sort of thing.

LIROT: And it applies across the board. It doesn’t apply just to those people wanting to hand out leaflets, it applies to the people that may want to receive a leaflet.

REICHARD: I asked him the same question I asked Breen from Thomas More Society: how is this different from the buffer zone in Massachusetts that the Supreme Court struck down in 2013, the one with the 35 foot buffer zone?

LIROT: You can’t communicate with anybody from 35 feet away in a meaningful way unless you got a megaphone. So five feet from our perspective certainly my clients’ perspective is not a whole lot different than people having a conversation at a dinner table….five feet seems to be much more narrowly tailored. And again it doesn’t apply to the whole property. It applies only to the driveway.

BROWN: But Breen for the pro-lifers explained there’s still a problem. Clinic personnel can be in that five foot zone; pro-life counselors cannot. He argues that is unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination, and that violates the free speech rights of the pro-lifers.

Lirot for the city makes a distinction:

LIROT: Well, I think this is more conduct related than viewpoint related. Obviously, assisting someone to get in and out of a vehicle, you know, people that are there for any kind of medical type of treatment would be certainly welcome to have the assistance that they would like. I don’t think it does stop anybody from talking to those people that would otherwise be entering that area. So if someone wanted to try to in some way counsel someone that would be assisted by the other people from a few feet away, nothing stops them from doing that.

REICHARD: As for lawyer Breen and the pro-life volunteers, the goal is a uniform rule, one in which everyone understands the rules to protect freedom of speech.

BREEN: …we want to establish good case law for the whole country. Because these sorts of speech restrictive laws would never be, just it wouldn't be thinkable in any other area of life. So we want to establish good laws so that other municipalities and states that may be more pro abortion, don't even think about doing this anymore. We’re playing Whack a Mole with this, with these various laws. We'd rather that stop, you know, we want to get off to the next thing because we think these are all flagrantly unconstitutional. Violation of your free speech rights under the First Amendment.

REICHARD: Both of these cases are in early stages of litigation. We’ll keep an ear out for what happens.

And that’s this week’s Legal Docket!

REICHARD: Next up on The World and Everything in It … the Monday Moneybeat.

BROWN: It’s time to talk business, markets, and the economy with financial analyst and adviser David Bahnsen. He’s head of the wealth management firm The Bahnsen Group and he’s here now.

David, good morning!

DAVID BAHNSEN, GUEST: Well, good morning. Great to be with you.

BAHNSEN: David, economics is not my area, but I know a big story when I see one: namely, that the U.S. government’s credit rating has been downgraded.

The story is that Fitch Ratings has become the second of three credit-ratings agencies to knock down the U.S. government’s rating. Standard & Poor’s was the other, more than a decade ago. So the federal government credit rating goes from triple-A to double-A-plus … and most of the stories pinned the blame on the recent debate over raising the debt ceiling.

But left out of most of the stories was the fact that Fitch also cited rising deficits and the ratio of debt to gross domestic product. Additionally, Fitch criticized the government for not tackling entitlement spending.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen countered that the Fitch downgrade was “arbitrary” and “based on outdated data.”

So who’s right: the treasury secretary or the ratings agency?

And … I know you’re not a fan of the financial press … but how do you rate the media coverage of this downgrade?

BAHNSEN: Well, that last part I'll do first. The media coverage was just outrageous and and, but not at all unexpected. It's their job to create clicks and ratings and to say things that are totally untrue or disconnected from reality to do so seems to be a pretty common deal. I do not believe that Fitch should be considered a story at all. I believe this idea that 12 years after Standard and Poor's went from the highest credit rating on the planet to the second highest credit rating on the planet, that now Fitch has joined that while Moody's, by the way still keeps that a triple A is hysterical. And you, it should be pointed out to that Fitch is the third most significant of the credit rating agencies. Many issuers don't go to Fitch for rating at all. S&P and Moody's are sort of the the duopoly here. But see, the problem is that in me saying that I'm not saying anything close to this idea that the debt doesn't matter. I'm saying that the credit rating on the debt doesn't matter. 

Credit rating refers to someone's assessment of their ability to pay principal and interest. And I am as big of a critic as American governmental excessive indebtedness, as anybody could be. However, I am a critic of it based on what it does to our economic growth and what it does to future generations. I'm not a critic of it, based on our ability to pay it to now I don't want them to print money to pay it, I don't want them to raise taxes to pay it. I don't want them to do all sorts of the things that they will have to do to pay it. But the ability to make the payments is what Fitch is supposed to be assessing. And there's no difference and their ability to make a payment today versus a month ago versus four months ago versus four years ago. 

So I kind of am on Secretary Yellen's side that Fitch is operating off our data data, the 32 trillion of debt today made us go to double A plus but a year ago it didn't. It just is very arbitrary and very weird. But I'm not on Janet Yellen's side that this national debt should be considered in a sanguine manner. I think it is horrific. I think it is the fundamental economic issue of our day, that we are resigning ourself to lower levels of growth, crowding out private sector, allocating resources to unproductive uses, and leaving our children and grandchildren with a burden that they didn't create. And I don't believe that we should take that lightly. I just don't think that has anything to do with a credit rating.

BROWN: Another story I’d like to ask you about, David, is the employment report. The government said that in July, U.S. employers added a fewer-than-expected number of jobs: 187-thousand. That comes on top of adjustments to the jobs numbers for June and May by a total of 50-thousand jobs. Remember that June was originally reported to be more than 200-thousand, but that’s been cut back to 185-thousand.

You look at these figures much more deeply, so what did you see in this latest report?

BAHNSEN: Yeah, it was another pretty good report, but it was not another incredibly good report. Those job revisions are pretty minor. But nevertheless, they're downward instead of upward. There isn't anybody that could try to paint the jobs picture right now in a negative way. If they're referring to judging how many people who want a job that have one, that data is just simply overwhelmingly positive. The negative jobs data is the area that most people do not look to, which is what I'm obsessed with. Which is why there's so many people who aren't looking for a job, that declining labor participation force, which has definitely improved post COVID, but has not gotten back to where it was at a pre-COVID level, and is nowhere near back to where it was pre financial crisis 15 years ago. So that's a very different metric. 

In terms of this week's data, the ADP private sector report that came on Wednesday was really strong. The initial jobless claims on Thursday, the four week average is now the lowest it's been since March. So that was starting to look a little hairy about two months ago. And that's improved. And then the government data that came out Friday with what's called BLS, the Bureau of Labor Statistics wasn't great, it was a little bit less than expected. But I mean, very, very small. So the jobs picture shouldn't be something that is controversial. It just simply isn't continuing to explode higher. But it isn't showing weakness. It's a stronger part of the economy in an economy that has plenty of other weaker parts if we wanted to focus on such.

BROWN: David, Nick tells me that you said to him last week off the air that you were feeling pretty good about the current earnings season, where the big companies give earnings reports. And you said last week that you thought by now we’d have a clearer picture on where things stand. So tell me how you evaluate the current earnings season and what it says about the strength of the U.S. economy.

BAHNSEN: Yeah, I think that we are now you know, through the heart of earnings season, these last two weeks, you had about 65% of the S&P report. Before that, you have already heard about 2015 to 20. So we're near, you know, roughly 80% through earnings season. And it looks to me like year over a year profits will be down about 6%. And so you consider that a year ago, the Fed funds rate was basically right around 1%. And now it's up over 5%. I don't think anybody could have predicted with the way the last 12 months have gone, the profits would be down a whopping 6%. Many were predicting 20 or 25% decline in corporate profits. 

So the profit picture seems to have bottomed for now. And revenue year over year is about flat, it hasn't really come down. Some of that is inflationary. But overall, it's been a really positive earning season. And the guidance forward has been good, it has not been universally good. There have been pockets of weakness and concern. But the environment does not feel as negative as many would have expected. And the year over year, profits growth is definitely better than than many would have expected. So that's, again, very similar to the employment number. No one's talking about this stuff all being great. It just isn't as bad as some thought. And that's kind of where this economy lies right now.

BROWN: Ok, David Bahnsen is founder, managing partner, and chief investment officer of The Bahnsen Group … you can keep up with David at his personal website, Bahnsen-dot-com. His weekly Dividend Cafe is at dividend-cafe-dot-com.

Thank you, David

BROWN: Today is Monday, August 7th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

REICHARD: And I’m Mary Reichard. Next up, the WORLD History Book. Fifteen years ago, struggling roommates rent out a spare room and a hospitality company is born. Also, 20 years ago this week temperatures in the U-K exceed 100 degrees fahrenheit. But first, we return to 1993 as Ruth Bader Ginsburg joins the Supreme Court as a justice. Here’s WORLD executive producer, Paul Butler.

PAUL BUTLER, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: We start today on August 10th, 1993.

RGB: I Ruth Bader Ginsburg, do solemnly swear…that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States…

In a Whitehouse ceremony, Ruth Bader Ginsburg becomes the second woman to serve as a US Supreme Court Justice. Audio here courtesy of the Clinton Presidential Library:

RBG: But I also have no doubt that women, like persons of different racial groups and ethnic origins, contribute what a fine jurist—the late Fifth Circuit Judge Alvin Rubin—described as a distinctive medley of views. Influenced by differences in biology, cultural impact, and life experience. A system of justice will be the richer for diversity of background and experience. It will be the poorer in terms of appreciating what is at stake, and the impact of its judgments, if all of its members are cast from the same mold.

During Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s 27-year career on the Supreme Court she wrote well over 400 opinions. She believed that the court should interpret the constitution in light of current social and cultural values. She is remembered as a great advocate for equal protection for women under the law. Though for many, that record is tainted by her support for same-sex marriage and her role in the incremental expansion of abortion as a so-called “constitutional right” through the American legal system.

Next, August 10th, 2003…

BBC: The highest temperature ever measured in Britain was recorded at Heathrow Airport this afternoon, it reached 37.9 degrees Celsius or more than 100 Fahrenheit...

Later that same day, the Gravesend reporting station in Kent recorded an even hotter temperature of 101.3 degrees Fahrenheit. It was the first time the United Kingdom had recorded an official temperature over 100 degrees since modern records began in 1875.

Much of Europe experienced a similar heatwave that week in 2003. Media coverage often cited human caused global warming…

SIR CRISPIN TICKELL: And you can see it over the last few years quite clearly. The world is getting warmer.

But not all climate scientists agreed. The BBC spoke with WeatherAction’s Piers Corbyn:

PIERS CORBYN: Now we would say it has nothing to do with global warming. There have been heat waves in the past and the average world temperatures have gone up in the last 100 years. And that is correlated best with particles from the sun.

Despite alarmist predictions about Britain’s impending warming trend, it takes another 16 years before that high temperature record is broken…and then, just barely…though last year’s heatwave did quite easily set a new record at over 104 degrees in central England.

And finally this morning, fifteen years ago this week, three entrepreneurs start the hospitality company: airbnb. Nathan Blecharczyk told the origin story in 2017 at the 4YFN Start-up Conference. It all began when co-founder Brian Chesky needed rent money when he moved to San Francisco:

NATHAN BLECHARCZYK: ​​Brian quit his job in Los Angeles, drove to San Francisco, and upon arrival was told that the rent would be $1,150. But Brian only had $1,000 in his bank account, and he’d just quit his job. So he had a math problem. And it just so happened that there was a design conference that was coming to San Francisco, the following weekend. And they got the idea to rent out one of the extra bedrooms as a bed and breakfast. Well, there is no bed in this bedroom. But Joe had an air bed and the closet. So instead of calling it a bed and breakfast, they called it an air bed and breakfast.

They earned $1000 that weekend. And what started with an air mattress in a spare room has become a global company operating in more than 220 countries.

AIRBNB COMMERCIAL

In 2021, airbnb customers booked more than ninety three million reservations. Last year’s revenue approached $8.5 billion.

Airbnb—along with their many competitors—are partially responsible for inflating home rents in popular areas. And it's frequently criticized by many in the hospitality industry for not meeting standard hotel regulations. The company announced sweeping changes this year to address common customer complaints about fees, security concerns, and check out complexity.

That’s this week’s WORLD History Book. I’m Paul Butler.

REICHARD: Tomorrow: A hazing scandal at Northwestern University raises questions about protecting student athletes from abusive initiation rituals.

And, learning about theology and computer science from a C. S. Lewis chatbot.

That and more tomorrow.

I’m Mary Reichard.

BROWN: 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.

Jesus said: Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. Mark chapter 13, verse 31.

Go now in grace and peace.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.