The World and Everything in It - January 12, 2023

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning!

The Biden Administration moves to expand access to abortion pills.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Also, unrest in Brazil. What happened and what comes next in Brazil?

Plus brothers whose Lego hobby and Christian witness came together.

And commentator Cal Thomas reflects on a recent trip to New York City.

REICHARD: It’s Thursday, January 12th. 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: Now here’s Kent Covington with today’s news.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Biden responds to classified document discovery » The White House says President Biden is fully cooperating with the Justice Department as it looks into potentially classified documents found at his old Washington office.

Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre:

PIERRE: He sees it very seriously when it comes to taking classified documents and information.

She echoed the president’s remarks one day earlier when Biden said he had been unaware of the documents.

BIDEN: I was briefed about this discovery and surprised to learn that there were any government records that were taken there.

His attorneys found documents with classified markings as they cleared out an office Biden used before moving into the Oval Office.

Republican Congressman James Comer:

COMER: Now we found out that the documents that Joe Biden had that were classified, some of them pertained to Ukraine. I mean there are so many questions here.

The Justice Department is currently investigating former President Trump for allegedly hanging onto classified documents.

Republicans are demanding a thorough probe of this incident as well.

Agencies to probe flight outage » The Department of Transportation is investigating a computer error that grounded all domestic flights yesterday.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg

BUTTIGIEG: We are now pivoting to focus on understanding the causes of the issue. And the main thing I want everybody to understand is that every step of the way, safety is going to be our North Star, as it always is.

The problem arose when a software program that warns of runway problems went down temporarily.

The flight-tracking website FlightAware says the error led to more than 1,200 flight cancellations and 8,500 delays by early afternoon.

Authorities say there is no evidence of a cyberattack.

CA weather » In many California communities, residents are taking it upon themselves to clean up the streets after major flooding.

Governor Gavin Newsom.

NEWSOM: The owners of these businesses said people just showed up, said they just needed one thing, which was gloves, and they took it upon themselves to help clear out the debris and try to get this community back on its feet.

The state has experienced at least 17 weather-related deaths in the past week and the federal government has listed every county in the state as a disaster area.

Heavy rains have flooded major highways and blocked others with rocks and mud. Meanwhile, winds have knocked down trees and battered electrical lines across the state.

Recovery from the storms could cost billions.

D.Hamlin back home » Buffalo Bills Defensive Back Damar Hamlin is home from the hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest on the football field last week.

Bills head coach Sean McDermott.

McDERMOTT: You know, obviously grateful, first and foremost, that he's home and with his parents and and his brother, which is great. I'm sure it's felt like a long time since he's been able to be home naturally there and I'm sure it's a great feeling.

McDermott did not provide a timeline for when Hamlin is expected to play again, saying that his recovery is the main priority right now.

Prayers poured in from around the country following Hamlin’s collapse. Doctors called his recovery “remarkable.”

Calls for Santos to quit » REPORTER 1: Congressman Santos will you resign?

SANTOS: I will not.

REPORTER 2: Congressman Santos will you step down?

SANTOS: I will not.

Freshman GOP Congressman George Santos says he’s not going anywhere. Even as calls for him resign grow louder on both sides of the aisle.

Santos has admitted to lying about much of his personal and professional history during his campaign for Congress.

Republicans from his home state of New York denounced him today.

Jen DeSena is a town supervisor on Long Island:

DeSENA: Today, I am calling on George Santos to immediately resign from Congress for the third district. The lies George Santos told are too numerous to count.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Santos should not be seated on any top committees. The House Ethics Committee is now investigating Santos’ conduct.

Afghan attack » In Afghanistan, authorities are investigating an explosion near Foreign Ministry that killed at least five people yesterday. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: The ISIS affiliate in the region has claimed responsibility for the attack. It has carried out numerous attacks against the new Taliban government and the country’s Shiite population.

More than 40 injured people received treatment at a nearby surgical center run by a humanitarian group.

Officials at the hospital said more people succumbed to their injuries.

And authorities expect the death toll to climb.

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

I’m Kent Covington. Straight ahead: how the Biden administration is expanding access to abortion.

Plus, a visit to a Lego championship.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Thursday the 12th of January, 2023.

You’re listening to The World and Everything in It and we’re so glad you’ve joined us today! Good morning, I’m Mary Reichard.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. First up: the Biden administration makes moves to expand the availability of the abortion pill in the United States. 

WORLD’s life beat reporter Leah Savas is here to talk us through these developments.

REICHARD: Welcome, Leah.

LEAH SAVAS, REPORTER: Thanks, I’m glad to be here.

REICHARD: Leah, what changes are we talking about with regard to the abortion pill?

SAVAS: Well, the first one came out of the FDA, the Food and Drug Administration. Over a year ago, the FDA said it would get rid of a longstanding requirement that abortionists had to give out the abortion drug mifepristone to women in person. Since then, some online pharmacies have been filling prescriptions and shipping out the drug. Last week’s change officially removes that in-person requirement. And it removes a part of the mifepristone guidelines that prohibited retail pharmacies from dispensing the drug, which is basically an open invitation to companies like Walgreens and CVS to enter the abortion business. And in fact those two pharmacy companies have already announced their plans to pursue certification.

REICHARD: What was the purpose of that in-person requirement?

SAVAS: Mifepristone is the first of two drugs used in chemical abortions, and the FDA first approved it for use in the United States. in 2000 with certain rules. The most important one required abortionists to give the drug out in person. The reason for that was to ensure that the woman wouldn’t be taking it too late in pregnancy and to make sure she didn’t have an ectopic pregnancy—both of which would be dangerous to the woman. Other reasons would include making sure the woman wasn’t being forced into the abortion. Things like that.

REICHARD: So physical safety and coercion. Back to the original question, what was the Biden administration’s other big move last week on the abortion issue?

SAVAS: A few hours after the FDA published its rule change, the Department of Justice released a memo responding to an earlier inquiry from the U.S. Postal Service. The postal service had asked the Justice Department a question about a particular federal law that—if you interpret it literally—prohibits mailing drugs used for abortion. Justice sent a memo that is essentially a 20-page workaround of that law with lots of references to past court cases regarding the mailing of contraceptive devices and drugs. The memo’s main takeaway is that, based on these court cases, the law only makes sending contraceptive or abortive drugs in the mail illegal if the sender intends that the recipient use the drugs illegally. Now, abortion groups have already been sending abortion pills through the mail, but I know of no attempt so far to enforce that law. Obviously if you read the law literally, you won’t agree with this opinion. But it gives the greenlight for mail order abortions to continue.

REICHARD: What does that memo mean for the different parties involved in getting the abortion pill into someone’s mailbox?

SAVAS: From a federal perspective, it gives a greenlight to the post office to feel free to deliver abortive drugs without having to worry about the federal government penalizing them under this law. A footnote also mentions that this applies to express carriers like FedEx and UPS. That means that they don’t have to worry about breaking this federal law if they also deliver abortion pills.

REICHARD: That’s the federal perspective. What about the state perspective?

SAVAS: From a state-level perspective, it seems that shipping companies like FedEx and UPS should still be concerned about delivering abortion pills in states that prohibit abortions or just mailing abortion pills. And so should the groups sending the abortion pill into those states, because they’d be breaking state laws. But in a footnote the memo says that the doctrine of intergovernmental immunity would protect postal workers—because they’re federal employees—from facing charges under state pro-life laws because they’re fulfilling duties under federal law. So while it doesn’t exactly open up the floodgates for abortion pills to enter pro-life states, it does give a bit of an “in” for groups that want to make that happen.

REICHARD: The FDA and Justice Department made moves on the same day. Any significance to that?

SAVAS: I talked to some legal experts about this, and they saw the timing as a way to help pharmacies feel more comfortable about getting certified. The new pharmacy agreement form requires that pharmacies that want to be certified to dispense the abortion pill need to be able to ship them using a shipping service that provides tracking information. So this Justice Department opinion is a signal to these companies that, if they pursue certification, they don’t need to be worried about the federal law that technically prohibits shipping abortive drugs.

REICHARD: How are pro-life groups responding to these changes?

SAVAS: Pro-lifers I’ve spoken with are frustrated. To them, this is just the Biden administration pushing a pro-abortion agenda. One pro-lifer I spoke with said that he’s encouraging 40 Days for Life to move their prayer vigils outside of Walgreens and CVS pharmacies. Another pro-life group is already planning to hold protests outside of these pharmacies.

REICHARD: Leah, which development is most concerning?

SAVAS: To the folks I talked to, the FDA rule change is the most concerning because it’s largely a cultural shift and will just normalize the abortion pill in people’s minds because—well—the drug store down the street carries it. The Justice Department opinion is also disturbing to them, but they thought the legal reasoning was atrocious and unlikely to hold up in a court battle. It’s also easier for a future administration to change or for a court to contradict. So if these companies are wise, they won’t just jump right in and get certified and start mailing the abortion pill right away. They’ll have to look at their potential liability under federal law and state laws. So let’s hope they take their time and eventually decide abortion not a good business for them to be a part of.

REICHARD: Leah Savas is WORLD’s reporter on the life beat. Thanks for talking through these changes with us, Leah.

SAVAS: Glad to help.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: unrest in Brazil.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: On Sunday, January 8th, thousands of supporters of former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro forced their way into the country’s congress, supreme court, and presidential palace. Some broke windows, set carpets on fire, and vandalized the highest seats of power.

Bolsonaro lost the recent presidential election to Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva—who is commonly known as Lula. But Bolsonaro’s supporters claim the election was stolen.

Many have drawn comparisons between January 8 in Brazil and January 6, 2021 in Washington.

But how similar are these two events?

REICHARD: Emma Freire is a senior writer at World who used to live in Brazil. And she joins us now. Good morning, Emma!

EMMA FREIRE, REPORTER: Good morning, Mary.

REICHARD: Well, give us your take on what exactly happened on January 8th.

FREIRE: Around 3,000 to 4,000 supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro gathered for a protest in the capital of Brasilia. They went on a square called The Square of the Three Powers, which is where the Brazilian Congress, Supreme Court, and presidential residence are all located. And then at that point, things got very badly out of hand. Some of the protesters started vandalizing the government buildings. They broke windows and furniture and they set fire to carpets and broke artworks.

REICHARD: And what led up to the riot? How did we get here?

FREIRE: So, Lula won the election by less than 2%. That's a very, very small margin. Brazil has 100% electronic voting and even during the election campaign, Bolsonaro had been questioning whether or not the result might be stolen. So his supporters were already ready to protest if the result went against them. I have been talking to many Bolsonaro supporters in the past couple days who were very perplexed by this development. There were protests after the election and up until Lula's inauguration on the first of January, but the protests all stopped once the inauguration took place. They acknowledged that they had lost. So it seems strange that there would be a violent protest after everything had already been lost, and some Bolsonaro supporters say that maybe Lula supporters agitated Bolsonaro supporters into engaging in the vandalism.

REICHARD: Lula, the current president, has blamed former President Jair Bolsonaro for inciting the riot. But you say there’s reason to believe that Bolsonaro absolutely did not want this to happen. Why so?

FREIRE: Well, this does absolutely nothing for him. He's lost. Lula has been inaugurated and the only thing this does is open him up to potential prosecution. And Brazilian authorities are already investigating him to see if they can charge him with anything in connection to this riot. He's currently in Florida. He was going on vacation, but it looks like he'll come back early. But unfortunately, he's been hospitalized there. During his first presidential campaign, he was stabbed in the abdomen by a extreme left wing activist. He's had five surgeries connected to that stabbing—it was very serious and it's been bothering him again. But I imagine that as soon as he is released from the hospital, he'll be returning to Brazil.

REICHARD: And how did Lula respond to the riots? Was he at the presidential residence when it happened?

FREIRE: No, Lula was not in Brasilia on January 8th. He was actually visiting a different state where there had just been heavy rains and flooding. But he gave a press conference right after the riot, and he blamed Bolsonaro directly for what happened. Lula used very strong language he called Bolsonaro "um genocida," which means an agent of genocide. And Lula said that twice. He said at first, because he claims Bolsonaro hadn't left sufficient public funds to deal with natural disasters. And then he also called Bolsonaro an agent of genocide again for inciting the violence on January 8th. Lula also criticized the police. He said the police in Brasilia had acted with "incompetence, malice, or bad faith." Now, that does sound about right. This is a massive failure by law enforcement. Protests are pretty common in Brazil. And it's never resulted in this level of vandalism before. And also, the protests on January 8th had been widely announced on social media, so the police were aware that this was going to happen and they weren't ready for it. Now, a few days after the riot Lula gave another press conference and this time he struck a more conciliatory tone. He said that the vast majority of Bolsonaro voters are decent people and there were just a small number of vandals that engaged in this really bad behavior. So it seems like Lula has maybe made a strategic decision to focus his criticism directly at Bolsonaro and to be a little bit more conciliatory to Bolsonaro's voters.

REICHARD: What will happen next?

FREIRE: President Lula has declared a public order emergency which was quickly approved by the Congress. That allows him to appoint an official to take over Brasilia and possibly send in troops if needed, though it doesn't seem like that's necessary. Around 1,500 people who participated in the protests are being detained in indoor facilities and some of them had children with them. So I'm seeing a lot of images on Brazilian social media of children in detention facilities, which is obviously a very bad look for Lula and is feeding into Bolsonaro supporters' fears that they're going to be rounded up and put in camps. I suspect a lot of these people will be facing pretty heavy prison sentences. The Brazilian law allows for sentences of up to 12 years for vandalizing government buildings. And the Supreme Court of Brazil has also removed the governor of Brasilia for a period of 90 days, and it's likely that Lula will use this event to call for more laws censoring the media because that's something he had been running on during his election campaign.

REICHARD: I’m glad we have you to keep an ear on all this. WORLD senior writer Emma Freire. Emma, thanks so much!

FREIRE: It’s been a pleasure, Mary.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Thursday, January 12th. We’re so glad you’ve turned to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Myrna Brown.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: Brickmasters!

No, not the people who wear hard hats and work with concrete. We’re talking about another kind of brick. The plastic, colorful kind known as LEGO. You know, the ones that really hurt bare feet when you step on them?

BROWN: Well, in my house, we were always losing pieces. So, we could never get organized to build anything. Not so, for two brothers who got to show off their life-long hobby and share their faith before a national audience.

It was Super Bowl Sunday, 2020. Like most families in the U.S., the Tulls were gathered around the television.

BRENDAN TULL: We’re not big football folks, but just for fun we gathered to watch the game and my nephews had their little lego collection out and they were messing around. My niece had asked if I would make a helicopter. Well there’s not much here, but I’ll see what I can scrape together. And then one of my nephews saw that and he was like, hey can you make me a monster truck. And then another one said, hey we’ll you make me a train. So, they’re running around the room showing off these little models that Uncle Brendan made. And then meanwhile, a commercial comes on to the TV.

LEGO MASTERS INTRO: Last week LEGO Masters kicked it into high gear…

BRENDAN: And my siblings started piping up like, hey you guys should do this. You guys are great at this. And I’m thinking…why not?

Days later, Brendan Tull and his brother Greg began pursuing a spot on FOX Network’s reality-competition, LEGO Masters. The series invites LEGO enthusiasts from around the country to bring their imagination and designs to a snazzy studio slash playroom. Supplied with wall to wall unlimited LEGO bricks, teams of two go head to head. Each team is vying for the $100,000 cash prize, a shiny trophy, and the grand title of LEGO Masters.

GREG TULL: And we got cast in season two and that was out of something like 11,000, 15,000 open applications. It was a huge number.

A bout with COVID pushed the brothers back to season three. Both Greg and Brendan took leaves of absence from their jobs to compete. Greg an active duty Coast Guard and Brendan worked for an e-commerce development agency.

LEGO MASTERS PROMO: It was brothers Brendan and Greg and influencers Nick and Stacey who accelerated their way into first place…

Greg and Brendan competed against two dozen other teams of LEGO brick builders. They faced down ambitious and at times outlandish challenges, like building race cars, castles, and life-size-show dogs.

LEGO MASTERS GET YOUR BRICK ON PROMO: So give it everything you got. Are you ready… ready…ready…get your brick on! Got some ideas going here… drawing time, drawing time….

It was a 6 ½ week adventure.

MYRNA TO TEAM: How much time do you think you all spent together throughout that entire season?

GREG TULL: Ok. So that would have been 1,142 hours for the time that we were there and I would say we probably spent two-thirds of that time in each other’s presence, so you’re looking at about 760 hours that we were probably in each other’s physical company.

The two brothers admit they had drifted apart. That time together took them back to their childhood and days of building with their father’s hand-me-down LEGO. Raised in the tiny town of Cole Camp, Missouri, the Tulls were a family of ten: four boys, four girls, an IT/electrical engineer father and a homeschooling mother. They lived on a 42-acre farm, but thanks to neighbors, had access to another 300 acres.

BRENDAN TULL: We made up a lot of games. We’d climb trees, we’d play Robinhood. We’d build a fire and play cowboys and Indians.

GREG TULL: We invented a sport call “bocker”, which was a combination of soccer and hockey that you would play on a frozen pond.

But it wasn’t just adventure that helped mold the two.

BRENDAN TULL: We weren’t only discipled in the faith, we were taught history, we were taught apologetics. We were taught critical thinking and reasoning.

Back on the LEGO Masters set, Greg’s imagination and big ideas, coupled with Brendan’s problem-solving skills helped the two soar through the beginning of season three. But they say it was their Christian faith that kept them grounded.

GREG TULL: In episode five when we did the build of the Boston Terrier, Mikey, on his back left leg, we were doing some finishing touches and we finished that model right up to the wire.

Greg says at some point during their building, they inadvertently knocked off a few pieces from the structure’s back leg.

GREG TULL: His back leg kind of looks like someone like stripped it or skinned it on his back left leg. And so it was really just a very… at least in our minds kind of glaring and frustrating, like gross imperfection in this model that we were otherwise pretty proud of for what we created.

Time was up and they only had a moment to consider their next move.

GREG TULL: And there was kind of a moment there where we could have gotten those pieces back on in a way that probably nobody would have realized.

BRENDAN TULL: Yeah, especially when we’re clearing the table, moving the model around.

GREG TULL: We didn’t fix it. The model is still imperfect. We did win that episode, which was pretty great, but even with an opportunity to be dishonest, I suppose you could say, the witness even extends to those areas that other people don’t see.

29-year-old Greg and 27-year-old Brendan advanced to the season finale…

BRENDAN: The idea of making things out of LEGO that are propelled by water is a really exciting idea.

...But got stuck under a wave of indecision.

GREG: Do we need to step back on this whole idea then?

With only a few precious hours left to build, Greg finally had an epiphany.

BRENDAN: So we’re building a Holland -style windmill with tulips that grow out of the ground from the rainfall

GREG: The blades will turn for the movement of the water and then fill our bucket mechanism….

The two gave it their all. But it wasn’t enough.

LEGO MASTERS JUDGE: (soft music) Brendan and Greg you two are incredible builders and you came together as brothers….

GREG: (heavy sigh) I’m not usually an emotional guy.

GREG TULL: It was like being told that you’re disqualified in like mile 25 of a marathon right.

While they didn’t advance to the next level, Greg and Brendan say they walked away with another kind of satisfaction.

BRENDAN TULL: We know that our lives belong to Him. He’s redeemed us because we belong to Him. We are to live for Him and in a way that honors Him and so you know we don’t get to say at the end of the day right…. If our goal is to live in a way that honors Him that means trusting Him with the outcome.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Myrna Brown.

Editor’s note: WORLD has updated the transcript of this segment to note that the Lego Masters cash prize is $100,000.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Thursday, January 12th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Commentator Cal Thomas now on his recent trip to New York City.

CAL THOMAS, COMMENTATOR: I was a teenager when I first visited New York. The flight cost $15 on the Eastern Airlines Shuttle from Washington, D.C. You could buy your ticket from a flight attendant on board. She (and it was always a she back then) would roll a cart down the aisle with a credit card device on top.

New York in the ’60s was THE place to visit. There was Greenwich Village with folk music. Broadway shows were cheap and the subway cost a dime. The streets were mostly clear of trash (except during the occasional garbage strike) and most importantly they were free of criminals.

One New Year’s Eve I decided to join the crowd in Times Square. I had no fear of being mugged or my pocket picked.

For 10 years I came to New York every week to appear on Fox News programs. It was exhilarating for a guy who once lived here with little money while in the Army.

The old New York is a fading memory and unknown to younger people brave enough to visit the city. Then, I brought a camera to record my experiences. On a more recent trip, after seeing TV images of people being attacked with bats and fists and pushed onto subway tracks, I brought Mace.

The Exodus of New Yorkers for less expensive and safer climes has been well documented. In 2021, the U.S. Census Bureau reported 300,000 residents left the state. I suspect the number this year will match or exceed that. High taxes, crime, the cost of housing and living are all contributing factors. Police are leaving too, 831 so far this year. Who can blame them given the way they are treated?

New York is not alone. Other big cities faced with rising crime, woke district attorneys like New York’s Michael Bragg, who free violent criminals on low or no bail, are experiencing similar reductions in their populations. A new Redfin study has found the number of people leaving Los Angeles for safer and cheaper cities is at record levels. Homelessness, panhandlers and filthy streets also make these cities less attractive.

It gives a new meaning to the opening line of the Frank Sinatra song “Start spreading the news. I’m leaving today.” Except the leaving now is from, not to New York.

Businesses, too, are fleeing New York, many for Florida, which has no state income tax, thus diminishing New York’s overtaxed base.

Much of this could be reversed with the right political leadership. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) laid out a detailed plan to fight crime and improve the state’s economy when he ran for governor. Unfortunately, he lost to the incompetent Kathy Hochul.

Democratic mayors and governors of these cities and states own these issues, but the media never hold Democrats accountable for their failures as they would Republicans. 

So many songs have been written about New York and the love people used to have for it. Some still do love it. These are the diehards who seem to think it’s not as bad as one sees on TV or in The New York Post, the only newspaper that pays attention to the criminals who roam the streets, shoplifting and attacking innocent people.

As for me, I have no intention of dying hard or easy in New York. It’s why I carry Mace.

I’m Cal Thomas.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Tomorrow on Culture Friday, John Stonestreet joins us to talk about silent prayer and what’s happening in the United Kingdom.

And, a tribute to the late Christian music artist Rich Mullins. I love his music.

That and more tomorrow.

I’m Mary Reichard.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: 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 says God created mankind in his own image—.male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.”…God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. (Genesis 1:27-28,31 ESV)

Go now in grace and peace.

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