The World and Everything in It: January 5, 2023

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning!

A Covid era policy at the southern border is still in place despite a judge’s order to end it.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: We’ll find out why. Also, the latest out of Ukraine.

Plus pro-life answers to pro-abortion arguments.

And commentator Cal Thomas compares life now to what it was a hundred years ago.

REICHARD: It’s Thursday, January 5th. 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: Up next, Kent Covington with today’s news.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: House speaker » On Capitol Hill Wednesday, it was a new day, but the same story.

AUDIO: No member elect having received a majority of the votes cast, a speaker has not been elected.

GOP leader Kevin McCarthy fell short in several more rounds of voting for the speakership.

A group of 20 Republicans on McCarthy’s right flank stand between him and the speaker’s gavel, including Congressman Scott Perry.

PERRY: We are showing the American people that this process works. Yeah, it’s been about 100 years since this has happened before. But we have said we’re not going to take any more of Washington being broken.

Perry says McCarthy is part of that brokenness.

On Tuesday, the holdouts supported Ohio’s Jim Jordan instead of McCarthy. Yesterday, they threw their votes behind a new alternative.

AUDIO: The honorable Byron Donalds of the state of Florida has received 20.

McCarthy says the dissenting Republicans are putting their own interests above the good of the country. But the group of 20 says it’s tried to bridge the gap, but McCarthy has refused the group’s policy proposals.

Ukraine-Russia » Russia’s defense ministry now says 89 troops died in a missile attack on a military facility in the occupied Donetsk region. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin reports.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: Moscow raised the official death toll as top commanders continue to take rhetorical fire from within Russia.

They clustered hundreds of troops together in a single building close to the front lines in the town of Makiivka. The building was well within range of Ukraine’s artillery and right next to an ammunition stockpile.

Russian critics say it was a recipe for disaster.

The Kremlin says Russian troops using cell phones may have given away their position.

It was one of Ukraine’s most effective single strikes since the start of Russia’s invasion.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

China COVID US offer » China is facing a massive COVID-19 surge after easing strict lockdowns.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says Washington has offered assistance, but so far, Beijing has said “no thanks.”

PIERRE: We’ll continue to stand by our offer. We clearly cannot speak for China and their decision on that. We can only speak for what we have done as a leader globally.

Pierre says the United States has offered to share vaccine doses with China to help curb the outbreak.

Many experts question the effectiveness of Chinese-made vaccines. And after long lockdowns, many people there have no natural immunity to the virus.

Colorado migrants » Democrats in recent months have blasted Republican governors for busing migrants to so-called sanctuary cities. But now a Democratic governor is reportedly doing the same.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams:

ADAMS: We were notified yesterday that the governor of Colorado has now stated that they are going to be sending migrants to places like New York and Chicago.

He told WABC radio that it’s unfair for local governments to have to shoulder this national obligation.

Colorado’s Democratic Gov. Jared Polis said his state is helping migrants get to their desired destinations.

Border officials reported a record high of more than 2 million migrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border in the last fiscal year. The crisis has strained resources in border states, and, increasingly in states and cities across the country.

FDA abortion pill » Regulators at the FDA have just finalized a rule that could make abortion pills much easier to get. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: The rule change will make abortion drugs available to many more pharmacies, including mail-order companies.

The Biden administration partially implemented the change last year. It announced it would stop enforcing long-standing rules governing access to the drugs.

For decades, the FDA allowed only certain facilities to provide the pills, citing safety concerns.

Some states still have pro-life laws that require women to see a licensed provider to receive the drugs.

They can cause heavy cramping, bleeding, and other complications.

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

Hamlin update » Damar Hamlin’s recovery is moving in “a positive direction” two days after the Buffalo Bills safety suffered cardiac arrest during a game.

He’s still sedated on a ventilator, but doctors have reportedly been able to reduce the amount of oxygen they’re giving him.

Hamlin collapsed on the field during a game Monday night in Cincinnati. And Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said Wednesday…

TAYLOR: We’re all praying for the best possible outcome here. So any information that’s trending in a positive direction is what everybody hopes to hear and has prayed about.

Hamlin remains hospitalized in critical condition.

I’m Kent Covington. Straight ahead: why the COVID-era Title 42 policy is still in effect at the southern border.

Plus, pro-life answers to pro-abortion questions.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Thursday the 5th of January, 2023.

Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Mary Reichard.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

First up: another immigration policy flip-flop.

In November, a federal judge ordered an end to the public-health order known as Title 42. The policy permits immigration authorities to expel certain immigrants before they can claim asylum. Both the Trump and Biden administration used the policy to control an uptick in illegal immigration.

REICHARD: Federal Judge Emmet Sullivan found Title 42 had no public health basis and ignored the rights of immigrants. He gave the Biden administration five weeks to end the policy. But that’s come and gone, and Title 42 is still in place. WORLD’s Compassion beat reporter Addie Offereins joins us to talk about why.

BROWN: Welcome, Addie!

ADDIE OFFEREINS, REPORTER: Hi Myrna, glad to be here.

BROWN: So, why didn’t the administration end Title 42 five weeks after the ruling?

OFFEREINS: So when Judge Sullivan initially ended the policy in November, I spoke with some shelters along the border. And they were skeptical that the policy would actually end on time because of the legal wrangling in the past. So it wasn't surprising at all when the ending did face legal challenges. A coalition of Republican states made an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court to keep the policy. They argued ending it would worsen the crisis at the border. Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily delayed the court order to end Title 42 and demanded the Biden administration respond by the end of the day before the policy was supposed to end. The administration asked the Supreme Court to reject this bid by the states to keep the policy but they did ask for one more week to prepare fr the end of the policy until after Christmas.

BROWN: How did the justices respond?

OFFEREINS: So, the Supreme Court didn't grant the Biden administration's request and suspended Judge Sullivan's order to end the policy until the justices could hear arguments in February about whether the state should be able to intervene in this case at all. So immigration officials can still use the policy on certain immigrants.

BROWN: So for now Title 42 remains in place. What’s next?

OFFEREINS: I talked with Muzaffar Chishti, a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute. Chishti said that we should keep in mind that Title 42 isn't the main policy being used at the border. The policy can't be used on immigrants from countries who have a tense diplomatic relationship with the United States, and who won't accept their immigrants back—like Nicaragua and Cuba. And these account for the growing majority of the influx. Title 42 was only used in 29% of the over 230,000 encounters with immigrants in November, which was one of the highest monthly totals so far. So though it's really not being used as much as it once was, Chisti says Title 42 has become a talking point for smugglers, which has in fact contributed to the large numbers we are seeing at the border. Immigrants not expelled under Title 42 are processed under Title 8. Under this law, immigrants are subject to expedited removal if they do not have authorization to enter the country and they can be expelled, unless the immigrant asked for asylum, then they are given an interview to determine if they have a credible fear of persecution. So right now most people are processed, given a date to appear in court for their asylum hearing, and released into the United States. Here's Chishti:

CHISHTI: You have to be detaining people. Because otherwise, all people have to do is show up at the border and claim credible fear. That doesn't create any confidence in the system.Then the last thing we have to do is have a robust system because for people who pass the credible fear determination, then they have to get an asylum hearing quickly. Right now what happens then it takes seven years from the signing period complete, because it goes to a judge. The courts have a backlog like 1.9 million case backlog today. Making a case for asylum becomes an incentive, it becomes a magnet for people to come to the country. It needs to be more efficient and more fair.

BROWN: How has the legal ping-pong affected border crossings?

OFFEREINS: Border crossings have increased and encampments along the border have grown is where it has spread about the possible end of the policy and especially because of all the uncertainty surrounding it. Mayor Oscar Leeser in the border city of El Paso, Texas declared a state of emergency as about 20,000 immigrants waded across in Juarez, Mexico outside El Paso. He said crossings could jump to 5,000 per day if the policy is lifted. El Paso shelters are running out have room and some immigrants are sleeping on the streets, which is really unfortunate as Texas temperatures can drop suddenly during the winter. Officials announced the city will use two vacant schools and three hotels to shelter immigrants. And El Paso isn't the only city that's overwhelmed. Pastor Carlos Navarro ministers to immigrants in Brownsville, a small Texas border city about 12 hours east of El Paso. This city sees 1,700 to 1,900 crossings a day. He told WORLD's Bonnie Pritchett in an interview that he's worried how his community will react if crossings continue to increase.

NAVARRO: When that happens, I don't want to know that people are already angry. The residents in the city because [they are] seeing too many people.

OFFEREINS: His partners in Mexico are also overwhelmed.

NAVARRO: They're collecting, I mean, they're just gathering there. Hundreds of people 1000s of people. There's no There's no place anymore. There's no There's no camps, there's no refuges, there's no buildings to hold them anymore.

BROWN: Addie Offereins is WORLD’s reporter on the compassion beat. To keep up with her immigration coverage and more, head to wng.org and sign up for Addie's weekly newsletter called Compassion. Addie, thank you.

OFFEREINS: Thanks for having me, Myrna.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Up next: The war in Ukraine rages on into the new year.

A “special military operation” that Vladimir Putin thought would only take days has now stretched into 2023, and the war is almost a year old.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Over the weekend, Russia’s military suffered one of its deadliest attacks. Nearly 90 Russian troops were killed when Ukrainian missiles rained down on an occupied position in eastern Donetsk.

Even as the losses pile up for both sides, Putin is showing no signs that he’s ready to end the invasion. But will the war come to an end in 2023?

BROWN: Joining us now with insight is retired Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery. He previously served as policy director for the Senate Armed Services Committee under the leadership of the late Senator John McCain.

He served for 32 years in the U.S. Navy as a nuclear-trained surface warfare officer.

REICHARD: Admiral, good morning!

MARK MONTGOMERY, GUEST: Good morning and thank you very much for having me.

REICHARD: Well, let’s start with that missile strike in eastern Donetsk. There’s been a lot of criticism of Russian commanders from within Russia over that. Give us your take on what happened there?

MONTGOMERY: Well, listen, I think what happened there was the Russians probably had very poor emissions control, which is to say their junior personnel were on their cell phones and there was enough cell phones being detected in a certain area that at some point, the Ukrainians were able to determine through that or through maybe imagery from small drones that there was a concentration of Russian forces. That then brought a HIMARS which does have a range restriction of under 90 kilometers, but they brought a HIMARS into the appropriate range ring and got off, what they report, report as six rounds and obviously destroyed probably a birthing and troop collection area. And you know, I'd be surprised if it was only 60 people killed only in the sense that six HIMARS is a lot of destructive power. They're actually six GMLRS, guided missile rounds, that struck that target, and that's going to create a lot of casualties.

REICHARD: Putin is sending new hypersonic cruise missiles to the Atlantic. What is the significance of this news?

MONTGOMERY: So I think Putin in general is trying to signal to the United States and Western Europe that we need to be very careful about what we're providing to the Ukrainians. And, in fairness, the United States has been. We provide HIMARS. Initially, we provided 155 millimeter artillery, which was about 20 to 30 kilometers. We eventually extended that to the HIMARS system, which has a guided missile launcher that has got about 90 kilometers. We have not provided the ATACMS rounds, which would take the HIMARS range out to 300 kilometers and allow Ukraine to strike Russian territory. I also believe we have a handshake agreement with the Ukrainians to not strike Russian territory with U.S. rounds. So the United States is trying to limit the friction, the cost admission of U.S. weaponry, confine it to the sovereign territory of Ukraine. But Russia is trying to signal to us that even that may be too much at this point.

REICHARD: Ukraine has talked about holding a peace summit to be moderated by the United Nations. Is there a point to that if Russia isn’t participating?

MONTGOMERY: No, I think at this point that's really about winning the public relations and strategic communications game. Obviously, any kind of a peace summit or summit to discuss a termination of the war has to include Russia and Ukraine.

REICHARD: If you were advising the White House on this war, what would you see the United States should do differently in 2023 with regard to supporting Ukraine?

MONTGOMERY: Well, the first thing I would tell you is they absolutely have to continue doing what they do, which is about every two weeks, we drop a $500 million to $1 billion arms package. And that's about the normal flow. We have to keep providing the 155 millimeter rounds. The GMLRS rounds for the HIMARS system, that's the 90 kilometer rounds. We have to really go find the NASAMS rounds, because the NASAMS system, which is an air defense system that we recently provided the Ukrainians has done a fantastic job shooting down Russian cruise missiles. We have to provide more rounds for that. In other words, we have to keep doing what we're doing that's absolutely essential to Ukraine maintaining any kind of offensive capability and defense of its national critical infrastructure. I think going forward, we have to work with the Europeans to make sure a significant restoration, humanitarian economic restoration package is being prepared and implemented in Ukraine. And I think here, you know, the way the military aid has been, has been about two thirds U.S, one third the rest of Europe. The humanitarian and economic recovery funding needs to be reversed. You're not going to find the United States willing to bear the the majority burden of that effort. So that is something we have to work with our European allies and partners and ensure that that's being prepared now. Because the Ukrainians are going to need that immediately.

REICHARD: And to tie this all together, what has to happen to see this war finally come to an end in 2023?

MONTGOMERY: Yeah, that's a really hard one, Mary. I would say, obviously, if either side had a significant military victory across all areas of the front, that could end it. I think, really, Vladimir Putin needs to recognize that the damage to his ability to maintain his regime in Russia is put at risk by continuing the conflict in Ukraine. In other words, the economic pain that his economy begins to feel from changing gas and oil export-import patterns, as Western Europe gets off of Russia, and we keep the price driven down on Russian oil and gas. Once he begins to feel that pressure, that I think is the only thing that will move Putin off of this terrible decision-making that he's got himself into in Ukraine. I do not believe he'll win on the battlefield. I, conversely, think it's going to be tough for Ukraine to completely push Russia out of Donetsk, the Donbas region, and out of Crimea. So the real solution comes when the economic pain is too high for the Russian population to maintain regime credibility for Putin.

REICHARD: Retired Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery. Thank you so much, appreciate your time.

MONTGOMERY: Thank you, Mary.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: A teenager is nearing the end of his journey from Maine to Florida—cycling all the way!

Avery Seuter decided to pedal his way down the Eastern Seaboard to raise money for the East Coast Greenway project. That’s an effort to create a network of cycling trails up and down the east coast.

He told TV station WNCN that he hopes to make cycling safer.

SEUTER: Unless you have accessible paths, you know, it can be scary.

Seuter will have pedaled more than 1,700 miles by journey’s end.

And get this, he’s doing it on a unicycle!

REICHARD: You know that’s hard, and I know because I can ride a unicycle! But I’m not going to try that!

BROWN: It’s The World and Everything in It.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Thursday, January 5th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Myrna Brown.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Thursday, January 5th.

Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Myrna Brown.

BROWN: Over the past few months, we’ve presented a series of pro-life answers to common pro-abortion arguments. So far we’ve heard arguments about the definition of a human and when a baby’s life begins.

REICHARD: Today, a more raw topic. We’re grappling with the question of babies conceived under tragic circumstances.

Here’s WORLD Correspondent Caleb Bailey.

WILEY: And I've never fully agreed with it, because it never looks at the woman's point of view.

CALEB BAILEY, CORRESPONDENT: Wiley is a pro-abortion activist. He lives in Asheville, North Carolina.

WILEY: Because there's so many questions left unanswered, because you have people that have been sexually abused, you have people that have been abused from incest.

Wiley has attended dozens of protests supporting groups like Black Lives Matter and women’s rights organizations. For him, this question is very personal: What about babies conceived through rape?

WILEY: My wife of 12 years passed away a couple of years ago. And while she was alive, she was raped, and she had an abortion from it, because she didn't want to keep the baby.

Abortion advocates often use this argument when pushing for legal abortion. Why should a woman who has experienced the trauma of rape be reminded of that fact each and every day as they care for the baby?

Randy Alcorn is a popular speaker and author of Pro-Life Answers to Pro-Choice Arguments.

Alcorn says that trauma is real. That pain is real. But abortion is a misdirected response.

ALCORN: The horrific thing is not made less horrific, by doing a horrific thing to the child who was born as the result of it. And I think we just sometimes we project our wrath concerning the horrible thing onto the child. And I've heard people say, No woman has the responsibility, or the duty to give birth to a monster and I go, how is that child the monster? That child's not a monster, you could say that the man who inflicted the rape, call him a monster if you wish. But don't talk about punishing the child.

The dilemma is not new. In fact, it was at the beginning of the legal fight for abortion in the 1970s.

Norma McCorvey went by the pseudonym Jane Roe in Roe v. Wade. She originally said her pregnancy was a result of rape, but later confessed to lying about that.

Still, for other women, it’s a painful reality.

ALCORN: The Alan Guttmacher Institute, which was originally founded by and funded by a Planned Parenthood, says in a survey of over 1200 women, 1.5% of abortions reported resulted from rape or incest.

Alcorn observes that number might be lower or higher, but not by much. Some reported rapes may be false and others may go unreported.

But, most sources report the number is below 2%.

ALCORN: Now, just because something doesn't happen often doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

Ryan Bomberger co-founded the Radiance Foundation with his wife, Bethany. The nonprofit’s mission is to highlight the value of every human life.

BOMBERGER: I'm one of those stories. My birth mom experienced the horror and the violence of rape. And although the she was a victim of the violence, of rape, she did not make me a victim of the violence of abortion.

Bomberger has spoken to a wide range of sexual assault victims. He’s noticed a common pattern among post-abortive women.

BOMBERGER: Overwhelmingly, they shared their regret of having an abortion, they share the fact that the child would have been something that could have brought them healing, they shared, you know, the rapist didn't get punished, yet they felt like they were the ones who were punished because they are the ones have to live with the lifetime have not only experienced that the violence of rape, but then the violence of abortion that they were so quickly pushed into.

Suzanne Maurer was raped in 1960. Back then, abortion wasn’t an option in her home state of Oregon.

Maurer conceived a son and was pressured into marrying the man who raped her. The marriage was riddled with hurt, and she divorced him shortly after their second child Rick was born.

But the story wasn’t over. When Rick heard his mother’s story as an adult, he gave her a fresh perspective.

MAURER: And he said, Mom, do you realize if you'd have had an abortion, I wouldn't be sitting next to you right now. When we talk about abortion, to realize it's not just about one child. It's not just about the mother. It's not just about the father. I mean, I could show you my picture of my four children and 10 grandchildren, none of them would be alive today. God creates life.

Remarriage, adoption, and two more children. Maurer’s story of pain has turned into a beautiful story of redemption—topped off by a gift from Darin, the son conceived in rape.

MAURER: He said, Well, Mom, I don't see any pictures of my biological father, and you don't talk about him. But tomorrow, you're going to open up a gift that's going to explain so much for you, and gonna really help you. And the beauty of our story is that for my 40th birthday, Darin gave me a Bible that changed my life forever.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Caleb Bailey, in Asheville, North Carolina.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Thursday, January 5th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. Up next: Commentator Cal Thomas helps us start 2023 with a look back to the year 1923. 

He says while many things have changed, many more stayed the same.

CAL THOMAS, COMMENTATOR: People speak of a new year as turning the page, or starting out fresh, or forgetting the past. At the start of a new year, I like to look back a century ago to see what has changed and what hasn’t.

In 1923, America had finally recovered from the Spanish flu which killed 675 thousand in the U.S. and an estimated 50 million worldwide. If we learned anything from that plague, it wasn’t enough to protect the 1.08 million Americans who have died from Covid-19 (through November according to the CDC).

The biggest political event of the year was the death of Warren Harding, which elevated Calvin Coolidge to the presidency. Coolidge favored smaller government and left office with a budget surplus and a smaller budget than when he entered, but virtually every one of his economic principles has been thrown over to our national detriment and disgrace. Among my favorite Coolidge quotes is this one about government: “If we give the best that is in us to our private affairs we shall have little need of government aid.” If only that attitude prevailed today instead of our envy and entitlement mentality.

In the early 1920’s, Rowell's Directory calculated that there were more than 20,000 newspapers published in the United States, including dailies, weeklies, monthlies, and quarterlies. As of 2018, there were 1,279 daily newspapers in the United States. One-third of large U.S. newspapers experienced layoffs in 2020, more than in 2019. More than eight-in-ten Americans now get their “news” from digital devices, including social media. If we get the leadership we deserve, the decline in good journalism might have something to do with it.

One hundred years ago this month the U.S.S.R. was born. By the time of its collapse, an estimated 61 million people had been murdered, with Josef Stalin said to be responsible for 43 million of them.

The last American troops left Germany following the end of World War I, but they would return nineteen years later. Fascism was already on the rise in Germany and Italy in 1923.

Here’s a personal favorite: it became legal in 1923 for American women to wear trousers. Admit it, you never knew it was illegal.

Harry Houdini freed himself from a straight jacket while hanging upside down. There must be a modern political analogy involving our upside-down economy and politics.

The Senate issued its first report on the scandal known as Teapot Dome. More scandals would follow as they inevitably do when too many politicians hold too much power for too long. Term limits anyone?

In December, President Coolidge delivered the first radio broadcast speech and at the end of the month the first transatlantic radio broadcast took place.

There were conflicts, labor strikes and other problems we still experience today in one way or another. Air travel became easier and more available although safety was still a major concern in 1923.

Looking back 100 years at least two things are clear: while leaders and events may change, human nature never changes. As King Solomon wisely observed thousands of years ago, “there is nothing new under the sun.” A French saying echoes his observation: “plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.” The familiar English translation is, the more things change, the more they remain the same.

Happy New Year!

I’m Cal Thomas.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Tomorrow: John Stonestreet returns for Culture Friday where we’ll talk about Pope Benedict and Demar Hamlin.

And, a preview of the theatrical releases for 2023.

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 records that God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:9-10 ESV)

Go now in grace and peace.

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