The World and Everything in It: July 25, 2024

PREROLL: The World and Everything in It is made possible by listeners like us. Hi, my name is Adam Bell, and I'm a song leader at my church and an area director for a nonprofit organization. I hope you enjoy today's program.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning! Israel’s Prime Minister speaks to a joint session of Congress with words of warning.

NETANYAHU: Today as Israel fights on the front line of civilization, I too appeal to America: give us the tools faster, and we’ll finish the job faster. 

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Also, a devastating church fire in Texas. And a rock climber makes it to the Olympics.

HUNT: Bouldering and lead is like problem solving in the moment. Speed is like a rehearsed track.

REICHARD: It’s Thursday, July 25th. 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 the news. Here’s Kent Covington.

BIDEN: My fellow Americans, I’m speaking to you tonight from behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Biden Oval Office address » President Biden addressed the nation last night, speaking out, for the first time, about his decision to end his reelection campaign after winning the Democratic nomination.

BIDEN: I decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. That’s the best way to unite our nation.

He did not, however, say what caused him to reach that conclusion. He offered no explanation for his unprecedented decision to drop out roughly 100 days before Election Day.

In his last Oval Office address less than two weeks ago he called on the nation to dial down heated political rhetoric in the wake of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. But in the Oval Office last night, he once again suggested Trump is a threat to democracy.

BIDEN: It has been the honor of my life to serve as your president. But in the defense of democracy, which is at stake, I think it’s more important than any title.

Biden announced his decision to bow out last weekend via social media after a weekslong pressure campaign from top Democratic officials and donors.

Netanyahu speech » Hours earlier, another world leader delivered a historic address in Washington …

AUDIO: Mr. Speaker, the prime minister of the state of Israel. (cheers)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress seeking to bolster U.S. support for his country’s fight against Hamas and other Iran-backed terrorists.

NETANYAHU: We meet today at a crossroads of history. Our world is in upheaval. In the Middle East Iran’s axis of terror confronts America, Israel, and our Arab friends. This is not a clash of civilizations. It’s a clash between barbarism and civilization.

He began by recalling the events that sparked the war in Gaza describing the horrendous acts of terror that Hamas carried out against Israel on October 7th.

Netanyahu thanked President Biden for his support of Israel in the wake of that attack and stressed the importance of the United States and Israel standing together.

And he had a message for pro-palestinian, anti-Israeli demonstrators, some of whom gathered outside the Capitol during his speech.

NETANYAHU: When the tyrants of Tehran, who hang gays from cranes and murder women for not covering their hair, are praising, promoting, and funding you, you have officially become Iran’s useful idiots. (cheers)

And the prime minister vowed once more that Israel’s war against Hamas will ultimately end only when Hamas has been destroyed.

Harris skips Netanyahu's speech » More than 50 Democratic lawmakers boycotted Netanyahu’s speech in protest of the war and humanitarian crisis in Gaza. 

Also skipping Netanyahu’s speech was Vice President Kamala Harris.

That decision drew sharp rebukes from some Republicans, including Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst.

ERNST: Whether she likes the prime minister of Israel or not, whether she respects him or not, she should be here.

GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham added that given the fact that Harris is now the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, her absence sends the wrong message to the common enemies of the U.S. and Israel.

GRAHAM: This is really her first major foreign policy decision, and she’s gotten an F.

But White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters:

PIERRE: She continues to be supportive to Israel, making sure that Israel’s security is ironclad, as we have been as a partner, as the president has been.

And she said Harris planned to meet privately with Nentanyahu this week in Washington.

Harris campaigns on abortion » While many leaders gathered on Capitol Hill, Kamala Harris campaigned Wednesday on abortion access, condemning the Supreme Court decision that reversed Roe v Wade.

HARRIS: Well, let me tell you something, when I am president of the United States, and when Congress passes a law to restore those freedoms, I will sign it into law!

The vice president spoke to a historically black sorority in Indianapolis.

Abortion had been a central theme of President Biden’s reelection campaign. Kamala Harris is doubling down on the issue as she launches her White House bid.

SOUND: [Committee called to order]

Chris Wray testimony » FBI Director Christopher testified before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday as lawmakers investigate the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.

Wray revealed some troubling new information about the shooter, including his recent web searches for information about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

WRAY: On July 6, he did a Google search for, quote, how far away was Oswald from Kennedy.

That, of course, a reference to Lee Harvey Oswald who assassinated Kennedy in 1963.

Wray said the attacker also had three explosive devices, two of which were discovered inside his car.

WRAY: I would say these were relatively—again, keyword relatively—crude devices themselves. But they did have the ability to be detonated remotely.

Wray said officials found detonators on his body after he’d been killed by law enforcement.

The director also testified that the would-be assassin flew a drone a couple hundred yards away from the venue in the hours before the rally and likely viewed more than 10 minutes of aerial footage.

Investigators, though, still have not determined a motive.

Oregon wildfires » Authorities say a wildfire burning in Oregon that’s kicking smoke into neighboring Idaho and beyond is now the largest active blaze in the country.

A spokeswoman for the fire management team, Jessica Reed, told reporters:

REED:  Firefighters have made progress on fire lines around the perimeter of the fire, um, but it's hard to keep up when the fire... at one point, two days ago, it grew 10, 000 acres in a half an hour.

The Durkee Fire is burning near the Oregon-Idaho border, about 130 miles west of Boise, Idaho. It shut down Interstate 84 for hours on Wednesday, and officials have evacuated hundreds of residents in its path.

Josh Smith with the National Weather Service says severely hot and dry weather hasn’t helped.

And he adds that a fire this large can, to some extent, create its own weather.

SMITH:  They've generated a lot of heat, which has helped them control their own environment. Uh, we've seen a lot of, uh, cumulus development. We call that pyrocumulus and we've seen some lightning strikes out of that.

Lightning strikes sparked the blaze last week not far from the site of another wildfire.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Analysis of Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress. Plus, becoming an Olympic athlete.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Thursday the 25th of July.

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.

Up first, Netanyahu’s speech.

The Prime Minister of Israel arrived in Washington on Monday, but was not greeted by any American officials. House Speaker Mike Johnson invited Benjamin Netanyahu several months ago, when the war in Gaza was still headline news. Now more domestic issues have taken priority.

REICHARD: President Biden cited his COVID diagnosis as reason to reschedule a meeting with Netanyahu. Vice President Kamala Harris declined to attend the prime minister’s address yesterday to a joint session of Congress.

Cold welcome aside, Netanyahu’s speech covered antisemitism, the war in Gaza, and the future of the Middle East.

NETANYAHU: As Britain fought on the front lines of civilization, Winston Churchill appealed to Americans with these famous words: “Give us the tools, and we’ll finish the job.” Today as Israel fights on the front line of civilization, I too appeal to America: give us the tools faster, and we’ll finish the job faster.

BROWN: What does the Prime Minister’s speech mean for American audiences?

Joining us now to talk about it and our government’s response is WORLD Correspondent Jill Nelson.

REICHARD: Jill, good morning.

JILL NELSON: Good morning, Mary.

REICHARD: Well, this is now the fourth time Netanyahu has addressed Congress and one of his most memorable speeches was in 2015, under President Obama. Netanyahu criticized him for signing the Iran Nuclear Deal.

Jill, what’s the context for this visit, and what was at stake for Netanyahu coming into this speech?

NELSON: Well, first of all, it’s really an interesting time in American politics, so I think he was there in part to keep Israel on the agenda and to try to shore up continued support for the war against Hamas in Gaza. He has been under attack both here and back home in Israel for the way he’s conducted the war and of course the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has dominated American news cycles. And then you have you know international bodies - I’m thinking of like the ICC, the International Criminal Court - that have accused Israel of genocide in Gaza. So I think this was also an opportunity for Netanyahu to defend Israel’s actions in Gaza.

REICHARD: Any parts in particular that stood out to you from what he said?

NELSON: He really covered a lot of ground. But he did take time to thank Biden for his support and for his friendship to Israel. He also thanked Trump for his part in brokering the Abraham Accords in 2020, that was the peace deal between Israel and moderate Sunni Arab nations, including United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, in particular. And then, he said he deeply appreciated America’s support, but at the same time he pushed hard for fast tracking American aid. But what he really spent I think quite a bit of time doing was defending Israel’s offensive in Gaza and addressing accusations of genocide there. I thought it was notable that he mentioned John Spencer, in particular. He’s an expert on urban warfare. I’ve actually followed some of his work, and he really pointed out specifically John Spencer’s conclusion that Israel has implemented more precautions to limit civilian harm than any nation in history. And of course he had to address a potential hostage deal. This is a very contentious issue back at home. One of the former hostages was sitting in the gallery next to his wife, Sarah. And of course there were other family members in attendance as well, and he pointed out that there are efforts in the works to free hostages. And then finally, he did briefly touch on the future of Gaza. This is a big question mark in negotiations right now and his perspective is that there should be a civilian administration run by Palestinians, and he emphasized this part, who are not seeking to destroy Israel.

REICHARD: Now we were watching all of this through C-SPAN, so as far as that limitation goes, what about how the audience reacted? What was the mood in the room, what did you see?

NELSON: Well, similar to his 2015 speech, there were many enthusiastic standing ovations with some in the gallery of course refusing to stand and clap. This time I feel like he was more to the point. He jumped right in. And you know I also noticed—I was thinking back to his 2015 speech when he had author and Holocaust Survivor, Ellie Wiesel, in the gallery sitting next to his wife Sarah—a lot of emotional appeal there. This time, as I mentioned, he had a former hostage there, but also he pointed out four Israeli soldiers in the audience. One was an Ethiopian Jew and then one was a Muslim Bedouin. And I think what Bibi was trying to do here is challenge this progressive narrative that Israel is a white colonial state engaged in genocide against an oppressed minority.

REICHARD: Well, President Biden won't be in office this time next year so Netanyahu knows he’ll either be dealing with Donald Trump or whoever wins the Democratic nomination. What do we know about Kamala Harris’ posture towards Middle East policy if she does become commander-in-chief?

NELSON: Well, I think we can expect that she'll be more critical of Israel and would likely take a decidedly different approach than Biden. She was noticeably absent yesterday and usually the vice president oversees a joint session of Congress. So there's been some speculation that she's trying to distance herself from Biden's overall posture toward Israel. But historically she's pushed for a tougher stance, this past year, on Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza and has really emphasized the humanitarian crisis and death toll while avoiding the topic of Israel's national security crisis. So I think going forward there's a couple things that I would be watching for: One will she align herself with the more progressive elements of the Democratic party and two does she really understand the regional dynamics and the Iran threat in their quest to destabilize the region. But also the kind of growing potential realignment in the region that includes those moderate Sunni Arab countries.

REICHARD: Well, you’ve studied Middle East politics for years and years. Any other takeaways from this?

NELSON: It's interesting also to notice or to remember that Israel is also facing a threat from the northern border. He touched on that as well and specifically mentioned the tens of thousands of Israelis who have had to leave their homes up in the north. This is due to continued rocket fire and missile attacks from Hezbollah. So, I think he spent a lot of time also addressing the Iran threat and the connection between Iran, what's happening in Gaza, Hamas's attempt to exterminate Israel, but also Hezbollah’s quest to do the same. And I think that's going to continue to be a front that we’re going to keep an eye on. Israel is continually concerned that this could break out into an all-out war with Iran and I think he did a good job highlighting the Iran threat in his speech as well.

REICHARD: Jill Nelson is a WORLD Correspondent on the foreign affairs beat. Jill, thanks so much.

NELSON: Thanks for having me.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: a four alarm fire in Dallas.

On Friday evening, firefighters responded to calls from the First Baptist Church where the section of the church built in the 1890s was on fire. What happened and how is the congregation responding?

WORLD Radio executive producer Paul Butler has the story.

 SOUND: [Firefighters, flames and shouting]

PAUL BUTLER, PRODUCER: At 6:09pm central time on July 19th, firefighters arrived on the scene. Black smoke billowed from the roof, and soon flames were bursting through as well.

Senior Pastor Robert Jeffress spoke with reporters outside the sanctuary.

JEFFRESS: I just left the church and a little bit after 6 p.m. (local time) we got word that the church was on fire, our historic sanctuary.

The victorian-style red brick church was built in 1890, and since the beginning has been led by pastors with national influence.

DENNY BURK: In the 20th century, they had two pastors—one right after the other—that had 50 year pastorates. So you had George W. Truett, and then he was followed immediately by W. A. Criswell. So for 100 years, they had two pastors.

Denny Burk attended First Baptist Church of Dallas from 2004 to 2008 while teaching at the church’s school, Criswell College.

BURK: So the church has just been enormously important, not only to Southern Baptists, but also just in terms of national influence and significance, and a lot of it has centered in that old sanctuary that was right there, there in downtown Dallas.

By 7:30pm, the firefighters raised the level of alarm from two bells to three, increasing the number of units on the ground. And news of the fire was spreading on social media.

RON HARRIS: I was actually out of the country and saw some Facebook posts.

Ron Harris is a long-time member of the church. He was traveling in Europe when the news broke.

HARRIS: Probably 30 minutes afterwards uh, a comment and then couldn't go back to sleep for wanting to see what was happening to our church. If you saw the video and the flames, uh, and the smoke that poured over all of downtown Dallas, it was astounding to see that place go up in those flames, and I think everyone was shocked.

Remarkably, no one was injured. Here’s Pastor Jeffress again.

JEFFRESS: We had just concluded Vacation Bible School with over 2,000 kids. They were all gone. So, God has protected us through all of this.

About three hours after arriving on the scene, firefighters had the fire under control, but not before the roof came crashing down. Fire Chief Justin Ball:

JUSTIN BALL: We think it may have started in the basement and then gone up to the second floor, but until we clear it out and get an investigation we won't know.

In the days since the fire, authorities have begun their investigation, but have yet to determine how the fire started…or if any mischief was involved.

As to where it started, Harris says the basement was more than a storage space.

HARRIS: The church library. And the church historical area, which housed not only that pulpit, but the, the offices or replicas of the offices of Dr. Criswell and before him, Dr. Truett with their desk and chairs and things. And that was all there. I'm sure that's probably gone.

All that’s left of the historic church building is three exterior walls and its iconic steeple.

JEFFRESS: I’m grateful that the church is not bricks or mortar or wood, it’s people. And the people of God will endure, First Baptist Dallas will endure, and we thank so many of our friends around the country who are praying for us right now.

The church’s newer $130 million dollar worship center next door is unharmed, but smoke has left its mark. And so on Sunday morning, the congregation met at a nearby convention center for worship and a sermon from Colossians…preached by Executive Pastor Ben Lovvorn.

LOVVORN: Trials and tribulations will come our way. But Jesus promised that he would build his church and even the gates of hell would not prevail against it.

Pastor Jeffress also addressed the congregation.

JEFFRESS: I want to say a special word of thanks to the 100 firefighters, and the untold number of police … (duck applause and thanks)

Jeffress reported that the church’s insurance would cover the damage, and he promised that the historic sanctuary would not stay in ruins.

JEFFRESS: So we’re going to rebuild that sanctuary. We’re going to recreate it as a standing symbol of the truth. The unchangeable, the endurance of the word of God, the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God shall stand forever.

The leaders of First Baptist are now working with the city to see if the structure is stable enough to remain standing…or if it will need to be demolished before rebuilding can begin. On Wednesday, Pastor Lovvorn announced that the city approved the church’s plan to try and preserve the walls.

LOVVORN: Now, I can make no guarantees about how that work will go or even if it will be successful, but we do have approval to try.

But in the midst of the devastation, one artifact was saved. Here’s Ron Harris again.

HARRIS: Bdy God's grace, that historic desk somehow made it through the fire, and everyone has been astounded to see it. Now, it's scarred a bit, maybe singed a bit, but even the red velvet on the top of the pulpit is there, and I'm certain they can easily restore it.

Harris sees the historic pulpit as a metaphor for a more important lesson.

HARRIS: The Word of God that was preached from that place, uh, will remain. And it becomes kind of a visual illustration for many, many people uh, about the power, the Word of God preached from that pulpit for so many, many decades.

For WORLD, I’m Paul Butler, with reporting by Harrison Watters.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Thursday, July 25th. Thank you for turning 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: the Olympics!

Tomorrow, the Summer Games kick off in Paris. Athletes from around the world will compete in tournaments such as volleyball, fencing, and diving. And this year, a completely new sport debuts! Competitive dance!

That leads to a question: Who decides what sports deserve Olympic attention?

BROWN: WORLD met up with an Olympian at a climbing gym outside Atlanta to talk about how her sport made it to the Olympics. Bekah McCallum wrote the story, and Kristen Flavin brings it to us now.

EMMA HUNT: I hit my knee so hard a little while ago I had to get stitches. That’s like, super rare. I’ve only heard of one other person that has needed stitches from speed climbing.

KRISTEN FLAVIN: Twenty-one-year-old Emma Hunt straps on curved rock climbing shoes.

HUNT: And then I have my chalk to keep your hands dry. It’s like gymnastics chalk.

She’s at Stone Summit, a rock climbing gym in Kennesaw, Ga. In the months leading up to the Olympics, she spent over 25 hours here every week training for the 2024 Games.

HUNT: So training’s changed a lot over the last year and gearing up for the Olympics. And also like before that trying to qualify. And so it's a lot of repetition, and doing the speed wall over and over again, trying to get it kind of perfect.

Hunt is a speed climber, and the Paris Olympics will feature her discipline as a distinct category within rock climbing. That’s just one of the many updates coming to this year’s games.

MUSIC: [Olympic announcement music]

Athletes will compete in 32 sports chosen by the International Olympic Committee—or the IOC. It’s a 107-member organization that oversees the games. The IOC chooses to include games that will help boost viewership. That’s how they chose the tournaments for the 2020 Olympics. Sports director for the IOC Kit McConnell:

KIT MCCONNELL: One of the two new disciplines we’re introducing 3x3 basketball which really for us is one of the key indications of the youth and urban focus of the changes.

It’s a lengthy process to bring a game to the IOC’s attention. Climbing enthusiasts founded the International Federation of Sport Climbing in the late 2000s. That federation petitioned the IOC in 2015 to include climbing in the Olympic Games. The following year, the IOC agreed to unveil sport climbing at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

ANNOUNCER: But it’s Janja Garnbret of Slovenia who gets the gold medal and becomes this sport’s first female Olympic champion.

Climber Emma Hunt watched those Games in 2020 and watched Janja Garnbret win gold in sport climbing. But Hunt didn’t anticipate competing at that level. She has competed for over 16 years. Being an Olympian hasn’t been a lifelong goal.

HUNT: That was never like a dream I could have.

At least, not until fairly recently. That’s because sport climbing is divided into three categories: boulder, lead, and speed. When sport climbing came to the Tokyo Olympics, athletes competed in all three categories for one set of medals.

HUNT: Speed is so different than boulder and lead. Boulder and lead is like problem solving in the moment. Speed is like a rehearsed track.

Speed climbers will have their own competition this year, separate from the lead and boulder tournament. Hunt began training for Paris as soon as she heard the news. Most days, it takes 30 minutes to warm up for her climb. But she spends less than half a minute on the nearly 50-foot Olympic speed walls. Her all-time record is 6.30 seconds.

HUNT: It's very satisfying getting like a really low number. And I definitely have a perfectionist in me, and speed climbing is all about perfection.

Hunt is one of 34 women climbing in the Olympics this year, up from 20 in the previous games. That increase is part of a new gender quota set by the IOC.

ADVERTISEMENT: Paris 2024 will be the first Olympic Games with full gender equality on the field of play.

For the first time ever, the 2024 Olympics will include an even number of male and female athletes: 5,250 of each. So-called “gender parity” is a step in the right direction. But it could have unintended consequences according to Brock University’s Michele Donnelly

DONNELLY: What we've seen, really problematically as far as I'm concerned, if we’re making arguments about gender equality, is that men's events have been removed in order to add women's events.

For example, the IOC nixed the men’s 50 kilometer relay after the Tokyo Olympics. A mixed gender event will take its place. But the equality push hasn’t entirely left men out. Audio here from NPR:

NPR: The pool of athletes who can compete in artistic swimming has gotten bigger. The Olympics and the World Aquatics Championships will now allow men to participate.

The gender quota isn’t set in stone. The Olympics change from year to year. Sports get added and discarded pretty regularly.

It’s unlikely, but the IOC could discontinue rock climbing if worldwide participation dips. Hunt isn’t thinking about that or about the millions of people who will watch online and in person as she climbs. With under 10 seconds to compete, she’s staying focused on the wall.

HUNT: And so I've had races where I slipped. But the other girl fell. So I won the race because I stayed on and I kept going even when I wanted to cry on the wall. It's a lot of emotions to handle in like, six seconds but just not giving up but keep going.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Thursday, July 25th. 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, WORLD commentator Cal Thomas sees political similarities between 1968 and today.

CAL THOMAS: What is amusing and simultaneously contributes to the cynicism some feel about politics is how many Democrats claimed until recently that President Biden was a different man in private than the mumbling, stumbling man everyone could hear and see in public. These include Vice President Kamala Harris, whom Biden apparently forgot to endorse in his withdrawal statement and then quickly tweeted his support of her as his successor.

Biden and other Democrats have been saying former president Donald Trump would be “a threat to democracy” should he win another term, but how democratic is it to potentially deny the choice of Democrat voters who selected him as their party’s nominee should they decide to do so at their convention next month?

Speaker Mike Johnson previewed what could be the main campaign theme for the GOP against Harris should she be the nominee: “The party’s prospects are no better now with Vice President Kamala Harris, who co-owns the disastrous policy failures of the Biden administration. As second in command and a completely inept border czar, Harris has been a gleeful accomplice – not only in the destruction of American sovereignty, security, and prosperity, but also in the largest political coverup in U.S. history. She has known for as long as anyone of his incapacity to serve.” Johnson called on Biden to resign, but that is unlikely to happen.

Harris may be the only person on the national political level capable of making Biden look articulate. Republicans are likely to create ads detailing her numerous nonsensical remarks. Just a few include: “It is time for us to be doing what we have been doing and that time is every day.”

Or this one, in a speech about broadband internet: “The governor and I, we were all doing a tour of the library here and talking about the significance of the passage of time, right, the significance of the passage of time. So, when you think about it, there is great significance to the passage of time in terms of what we need to do to lay these wires. What we need to do to create these jobs. And there is such great significance to the passage of time when we think about a day in the life of our children.”

Beyond the likely mocking by Republicans are facts. Harris cannot separate herself from the record of the Biden-Harris administration. While Biden’s age has disappeared as an issue, his record has not. Harris’ level of incompetence can only follow his, if she wins the nomination, and that’s still not a given – though likely.

The parallels between Biden’s withdrawal statement and that of Lyndon Johnson’s in 1968 are remarkably similar. Then, LBJ, whose approval ratings were also in decline, largely due to the Vietnam War and anti-war protests, claimed his withdrawal was for a higher purpose – peace. On Sunday, Biden listed what he considers his successes as president, as did LBJ. Among them was his repeated assertion that the economy was in ruins when he became president. Tell that to people who were paying less for just about everything four years ago when inflation was 1.4 percent, not the 9 percent Biden claims it was.

Following President Johnson’s withdrawal in 1968, the raucous Democratic Convention (also in Chicago as it is this year) featured police beating protesters and discord on the convention floor. History might repeat as unrest over American support for Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza threatens to flame up. In ‘68 the party’s eventual nominee, Hubert Humphrey, lost to Richard Nixon in the fall election. Humphrey tried to separate himself somewhat from Johnson’s Vietnam policies, but failed because, as part of the administration, he was tied to those policies. Harris now faces a similar problem, answering for failed immigration and economic policies.

Could this unpredictable political season become even more volatile? Probably.

I’m Cal Thomas.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Tomorrow: Katie McCoy joins us to talk about Elon Musk and the woke mind virus among other things. That’s on Culture Friday. And a film that can help people with short attention spans. That and more tomorrow.

I’m Myrna Brown.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard.

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 when Jesus stood before the governor of Rome, Pilate asked him: “‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ Jesus said, ‘You have said so.’ But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer. Then Pilate said to him, ‘Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?’ But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.’” —Matthew 27:11-14

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.