The World and Everything in It: June 12, 2025

Editor's note: The following text is a transcript of a podcast story. To listen to the story, click on the arrow beneath the headline above.

PREROLL: Good morning. It’s Myrna! We’ve launched WORLD’s June Giving Drive, and thanks to a $130-thousand challenge gift from longtime supporters, we’re starting with momentum. Their message is simple: no one gives alone—let’s do this together. Add your vote of confidence for biblically grounded journalism at WNG.org/JuneGivingDrive. Thanks for supporting us!

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning!

A new law in Texas brings local police into the immigration fight.

VAUGHAN: It"s focused on the people who are already getting arrested and who are also in the country illegally.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Also a new law in Washington puts Catholic priests in a bind by tightening mandatory reporting guidelines.

And a determined woman in Alabama sees a housing crisis and takes action.

WILLIAMS: Well, I was just confused…why was there no affordable housing here?

And WORLD commentator Cal Thomas remembers the rescue of orphans from war-torn Vietnam in 1975, a mission that some called a miracle.

REICHARD: It’s Thursday, June 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: Time for the news. Here’s Kent Covington.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR:  U.S.-China trade » Progress in trade talks with China.

After high-level trade talks in London, the Trump administration says Beijing will make it easier for American industry to get much- needed magnets and rare earth minerals.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent:

BESSENT:  I have just returned in the middle of last night from successful negotiations in London with a Chinese delegation that will not only stabilize the economic relationship between our two economies, but make it more balanced.

President Trump said in addition to great access to magnets and minerals as part of a new agreed-upon framework the U.S. will maintain existing tariffs on Chinese goods, which Trump has described as totaling 55% across various categories.

That clears the way for talks to continue between the world’s two biggest economies.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer:

GREER:  We know that they're motivated. Uh, our president is motivated. Uh, we're moving as quickly as we can. So, you know, we would very much like to find an agreement that makes sense for both countries.

Trump said in return for China’s concessions, the U.S. will stop efforts to revoke the visas of Chinese nationals on U.S. college campuses. But beyond that, the president did not fully spell out what concessions the U.S. is making.

Anti-ICE protest latest » Anti-ICE protests continued in LA Wednesday for a sixth day.

President Trump again said it was absolutely the right call to bring in the National Guard, and even hundreds of U.S. Marines for the purpose of guarding federal agents.

TRUMP:  If we weren't there, if, uh, we didn't bring in the national cut and the Marines, uh, you would probably have a city that was burning to the ground just like it was a number of months ago. With the housing, you would've had a big problem there.

But Democrats continue to insist President Trump is to blame for the unrest. Some, including LA Mayor Karen Bass, say the president needlessly escalated tensions by calling in the Guard.

BASS:  This was provoked by the White House. The reason why we don't know, I posit that maybe we are part of a national experiment to determine how far the federal government can go.

Bass and others also blame Trump over the ICE immigration raids that sparked the protests, and are calling on him to end those raids.

The White House says no way, and that the administration will continue to enforce immigration law.

Inflation numbers » U.S. inflation came in lower than expected in May. Consumer prices rose just 0.1% from April, slowing from a 0.2% the month before.

Core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy, was also tame—0.1% for the month.

The cost of groceries, toys and games, and large appliances rose, which could reflect the impact of tariffs. But the price of new and used cars, clothes, airfares, and hotel rooms all dropped from April to May, offsetting the increases.

Musk apology » Elon Musk says he “regrets” some of the things he said about President Trump recently. In a post on X, he acknowledged he "went too far" in recent criticisms.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt:

LEAVITT:  The president acknowledged, uh, the statement that Elon put out this morning and he, uh, is appreciative of it, and we are continuing to focus on the business of the American people.

The former head of Trump’s department of Government Efficiency broke with Trump over a massive GOP reconciliation bill backed by the president. That disagreement escalated into an all-out feud.

Musk did not point to specific examples of social media posts he regrets. But among other things, Musk recently suggested that Trump’s name could be hidden in the so-called ‘Epstein files,’ referring to the now deceased convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Pakistani extradited » Canadian authorities have extradited a 20-year-old Pakistani man to face charges in the U.S. related to an alleged terror plot. WORLD’s Benjamin Eicher reports:

BENJAMIN EICHER: Prosecutors say Muhammad Shahzeb Khan plotted to carry out an ISIS-inspired mass shooting last year at a Jewish center in Brooklyn.

The plan was timed to mark the anniversary of the October 7th terror attack against Israel.

Canadian authorities intercepted him as he was traveling to the U.S.-Canada border last September and arrested him.

Khan now faces charges in a Manhattan federal court. He’s accused of providing material support to ISIS and attempting to commit terrorism across national borders.

Officials say an undercover FBI operation exposed the plot—and they allege he worked with a U.S.-based co‑conspirator.

If convicted, Khan could face decades behind bars.

For WORLD, I’m Benjamin Eicher.

SOUND: [California Girls]

Brian Wilson Obituary » Brian Wilson, one of the founding members of the Beach Boys, has died.

With Wilson writing songs and playing bass guitar, the group rose in the 1960s and landed 30 singles on the Top-40 charts, including California Girls, Surfin’ USA, and Good Vibrations.

The group sold more than 100 million records.

The eldest and last surviving of three musical brothers, Wilson was a Grammy-winning musician and an honoree in the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

He was 82 years old.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: immigration enforcement in Texas. Plus, small houses and big dreams.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: It’s Thursday, the 12th of June.

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

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

First up, a new law in Texas pulls local police deeper into immigration enforcement.

The legislation requires local sheriffs to assist federal immigration agents to detain illegal immigrants.

Supporters say it’s about protecting public safety, but others warn it’ll damage trust between local police and the communities they serve.

BROWN: WORLD reporter Josh Schumacher has the story

JOSH SCHUMACHER: When an illegal immigrant is arrested for a criminal offense in Texas, that person is not automatically booked for deportation.

BENENSON: They're in the jail, they're set to be released, and ICE wants to take custody of them.

Laurence Benenson is with the National Immigration Forum. Right now, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials don’t have the manpower to arrest every illegal immigrant in the state. And when local cops arrest illegal immigrants for driving under the influence, trespassing, or other misdemeanor offenses, they often have to release them before ICE agents can come take them off their hands.

BENENSON: Somebody serves their time, it's the release date. Um, they get released. There’s no authority to hold them.

But Texas lawmakers want to change that. Senate Bill 8 would require county jails and sheriff’s departments to enter into what’s called Section 287(g) agreements with ICE. Under those agreements, local sheriffs will be able to re-arrest illegal immigrants who are about to be released and hold them until ICE comes to pick them up.

Benenson explains.

BENENSON: You have a deputized officer in the jail who can then say, I'm going to take custody of you on behalf of ICE. Now, because I'm serving under ICE, I can have you and then get you into the immigration, the removal process.

Right now, the program is voluntary. But if Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signs the bill into law, every county sheriff with a jail in his jurisdiction would be required to hand illegal immigrants in their custody over to ICE.

And Texas isn’t the first state working on this. In recent years, Florida and Georgia have passed similar laws. And the governors of Virginia and Louisiana have also ordered local police to help the federal government counter illegal immigration.

While supporters say Section 287(g) agreements provide officials with an easy way to get criminals off the streets, Benenson says it doesn’t generally catch the really dangerous criminals. The program more often catches those charged with low-level offenses, such as traffic infractions.

BENENSON: The program isn't like scooping up, like, people who commit violent crimes who otherwise aren’t being turned over, those people still can be transferred ICE custody, just not through the 287(g) program.

And Benenson says the fact that local police could turn anyone in to federal immigration authorities means that many community members may refuse to report crimes or work with local police. And that could jeopardize public safety.

BENENSON: This isn't just like the unauthorized or undocumented community. This could be family members or people who have a close relationship with someone who's undocumented, even if they themselves aren't at risk.

Additionally, it could burden local law enforcement with extra duties that make it harder to fulfill the responsibilities they already have.

BENENSON: Particularly if you're a small law enforcement agency, a small jurisdiction, you have 20 officers, you have four deputized to do this work, those are for officers who are now going to be focusing on federal immigration enforcement and not doing breaking-and-entering, or patrol, or other things in the community.

But supporters say the bill could actually have the opposite effect by getting criminals off the streets for good.

VAUGHAN: This effort is aimed at removing that small fraction of the illegal population who have been arrested for crimes already.

Jessica Vaughan is policy director at the Center for Immigration Studies. She says while there are fears of wider ramifications, Section 287(g) agreements can only be used against that small fraction.

VAUGHAN: People should be reassured that this is not a program that's going to have local cops going around arresting illegal alien school children or anything like that. It's, it's focused on the people who are already getting arrested and who are also in the country illegally.

With the Trump administration putting a higher priority on detaining and deporting criminal illegal immigrants, Vaughan says sheriffs have a greater incentive to join forces with ICE.

VAUGHAN: And so that's why we're seeing much more interest in this program now because they know that there's actually going to be follow-through by ICE at the federal level.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Coming up next: a new law in Washington state puts the privacy of the Catholic confessional to the test.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST:The law will soon require all clergy to report suspected child abuse, including what they learn in the confessional.

A group of Catholic priests is suing, arguing the law violates their religious duty to keep confessions secret. But some Christians don’t think confessions should be off limits.

WORLD’s Juliana Chan Erikson has the story.

FILM CLIP: I confess to Almighty God and to you brother that I have sinned. When was your last confession? I can’t remember. Can you remember approximately? I have killed Mr. Villette.

JULIANA CHAN ERIKSON: In the 1953 Alfred Hitchcock film I Confess, a murderer confesses to a Catholic priest named Father Logan. But when an investigator approaches Logan, he faces a dilemma:

FILM CLIP: Give me the name and address of the person. I can’t. Father, don’t you want to help me? I’ve done my best. But you refuse to answer my questions!

Here’s the problem. The Catholic Church—both the real one and the one depicted in the Hitchcock movie—forbids priests from sharing anything they’ve heard during the sacrament of confession. So if Father Logan tells the cops, he will be excommunicated from the Catholic Church. If he doesn’t, a man gets away with murder.

Now, Catholic priests in Washington state may face a similar dilemma. A new state law requires them to report child abuse or neglect—even if they learn about it in the confessional. If a priest breaks the seal of confession to tell the cops, the Catholic Church will excommunicate him. But if he doesn’t, he might go to jail.

FERGUSON: So for me, I’m aware of my upbringing as a Catholic and having an uncle who’s a Jesuit priest, this is very clear legislation.

Last month, Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson signed the bill into law. The law applies to clergy from all religions, but Ferguson pointed out that as a Catholic, he sees no issue with the legislation.

But not all Catholics agree. David DeWolf is a visiting law professor at St. Thomas University.

DEWOLF: Child abusers don't come to the confessional to confess that and and to that extent, it's it's more a way of taking sides in a in a state versus church issue, which goes back a long, long way

DeWolf says the law still shields lawyers from revealing child abuse mentioned in confidential conversations with their clients. He says that ensures the clients get a fair trial, and it should apply for truly repentant child abusers who want to make right with God.

DEWOLF: The theory of both the attorney client privilege and of the priest penitent privilege is, the society benefits, in the long run, from maintaining this avenue for people to come in, out of the cold and find someone who will listen to their story…

Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it was opening a civil rights investigation into the law, saying it may run afoul of the First Amendment’s free exercise of religion. And on May 29th, a group of Catholic priests announced they were suing the state. A bishop in Spokane issued a statement saying he would rather go to jail than obey.

Josh Mercer, vice president of the advocacy group CatholicVote, says taking away the complete privacy of confession will deter people from coming.

MERCER: Catholics know right now, they can go to a priest and they can say anything. If that priest had to turn around and said, Oh, by the way, I'm going to go tell the sheriff you just did that, then, well, why would you confess those sins? You would keep tight lipped.

Catholics believe that the Sacrament of Reconciliation through a priest’s absolution is one way for them to receive God's forgiveness. If they can’t confess grave sins, they might not be able to get total forgiveness from God. And that, Mercer says, could have eternal consequences for a man’s soul.

But some Christians argue that confession doesn’t need to be shrouded in absolute secrecy.

VIETH: The Bible is fully inspired, then we have to ask ourselves, why did God inspire the writers to record in some detail the rape of Tamar, the rape of Dinah, the sexual exploitation of Bathsheba, and so on and so forth.

Victor Vieth is a Lutheran, and director of the Center for Faith and Child Protection at the Zero Abuse Project. Catholics and Protestants may interpret the Bible differently, but Vieth believes scripture is pretty clear about the need to protect people from abuse.

VIETH: Obviously, God must have wanted us to learn something from these stories of trauma and to learn what can happen if we don't respond appropriately.

Even if child abuse is not reported to local authorities, Vieth says all Christians are accountable to a greater authority.

VIETH: Ultimately, though, each Christian has to ask, How will I defend myself before Jesus one day, if I truly did take a confession from somebody who's a pedophile, a Jerry Sandusky sort of person, and we have reason to believe they're going to continue to molest, even though they may promise otherwise, and we fail to make a report? How does that conversation go with Jesus one day?

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Juliana Chan Erikson.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: What do Donald Trump, Dolly Parton, and the Pope have in common?

Well, they’ve all had the honor of being sculpted in salad. At the Lambeth Country Show in London, the real attraction isn’t the livestock. It’s the veggie art! Fairgoer Maddy Luxon:

LUXON: Every year, this is what we get so excited about is the vegetable sculptures. It’s just so unique and witty. And we love the political ones.

This year’s big hit? A miniature papal “cornclave” made entirely of maize, cabbage, and red peppers.

Also turning heads: “Cauli Parton” in a movie-inspired piece titled “9 to Chive.”

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: A competition stalk full of creativity.

REICHARD: Right?! Fans just couldn’t leaf it alone.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Thursday, June 12th.

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: a woman, a tool belt and a heart for the needy!

Housing experts say we have an affordable housing deficit. And national statistics, back that up. For every 100 extremely low-income renters in the US, only 35 affordable rental homes are available.

BROWN: Mary, I met a woman around our age, doing her part to close that gap.

SOUND: [Circular saw]

MYRNA BROWN: Standing in red dirt, under a canopy of tall trees, Allena Williams steadies her hand and tightens her grip. That’s how the petite 51-year-old is able to cut through pieces of wood with a circular saw.

SOUND: [Framing nail gun]

It’s also how she drives nails into that wood with a framing gun. But there’s one aspect of homebuilding she’s still getting used to.

WILLIAMS: I used to wouldn’t wear a tool belt. It was aggravating. I was like, I don’t want nothing on my hips. Finally, this year. I went to the flea market and bought this.

Williams’ second-hand tool belt is black with at least a dozen pockets and pouches. So, how does a middle-aged woman with no construction experience end up in this line of work?

When the Ohio native relocated to Alabama, she never imagined she’d be carrying around carpentry tools at all. She moved to teach at a local college and invest in real estate on the side. She still remembers the day she arrived back in April 2020.

WILLIAMS: COVID! It was a ghost town here. Everybody was in the house hiding.

COVID shuttered the college and stalled her dreams of flipping houses. After weeks of isolation, Williams ventured out and started working as an Uber driver.

WILLIAMS: So, that’s how I got out and about to meet people and felt like I wasn’t so alone in a place where I knew no one.

She enjoyed meeting her neighbors. But she found their circumstances troubling.

WILLIAMS: It was sad that I was picking up old people. Some people were in their fifties, but the majority were sixties and seventies that were asking me to pick them up from a motel because their first of the month check had run out and they could no longer afford the weekly rate for the rent at the motel.

And the requests became even more disturbing.

WILLIAMS: So they would say, drop me off at an abandoned building and I’m going to stay here until my check comes in a week or so and then I’m going to go back to the hotel and repeat this cycle.

Williams couldn’t get that cycle out of her head.

WILLIAMS: Well, I was just confused…why was there no affordable housing here? Started networking with people, talking with the Council on Aging and the housing authority and they confirmed, we don’t have enough units to support that.

Eventually, the college reopened and Williams started her teaching job. But her plans to flip houses? Those car conversations had changed all of that.

WILLIAMS: So, in my mind I was like, Lord this has to be a sign. Maybe I need to work on doing construction for these people.

Williams decided to provide affordable rental space for the elderly and veterans in need in her community. She bought land in the next county over, found an old camper, relocated it to her property and refurbished it for her first occupant.

WILLIAMS: The first person was Richard, a veteran from Birmingham. So he said he could afford $400 a month. He had not learned how to cope with life and so he was using substances. But what I learned from him was that I needed wrap-around services. Because it’s not just a house that they need.

Wrap-around services, things like counseling and financial planning. She started collaborating with college students in those fields. But Williams also wanted to learn how to help people with her own two hands.

WILLIAMS: So I learned that I had to network and get some advocates and people to help me with my guests when they come.

Williams found one of those advocates after putting out an SOS on a dating app.

WILLIAMS: And I said, hey I’m here from Ohio. I’m not here for dating. I’m here to find somebody who could teach me construction. If this is you, please reach out. So, needless to say, several guys were like, oh it’s me. But they really just didn’t care. But Raphael really showed me.

STANLEY: This the back side. It’s going to fall. So you don’t have nothing back there. All your overhanging is up here.

That's Raphael Stanley, a professional home builder. It was his idea to start building tiny homes.

STANLEY: I see the vision. And I have seen her put a lot of stuff together and it works. So I believe in what she is doing.

A partnership was born.

WILLIAMS: He taught me drywall. He taught me carpentry. How to have the confidence. I had no confidence to work those saws. I was scared to death. And he taught me roofing. And he taught me some plumbing and how to do flooring and baseboards, trim, install doors.

With all of those skills under her belt, Williams and Stanley built their first tiny home in 2023.

WILLIAMS: I really stayed in shock I think for at least a year and a half that I could do this. I just couldn’t believe it. I really just couldn’t believe it.

They built a second home in 2024. This summer, she’ll have a third 8 by 12 foot tiny house, complete with heat, air, and plumbing.

AUDIO: We’re putting the support in, so the rafters are sturdy . So when we put the wooden roof on it won’t collapse. That’s the goal today.

So far, Williams has helped put roofs over the heads of eight people, men and women. She wants to do more but she has some problems to address. One of them: location.

WILLIAMS: A lot of them don’t want to come to Stockton. They say, you in the sticks. Or they say, you in the woods, girl. {laughter]

She plans to buy land and build tiny homes in more populated areas so she can help more people. But she says as a woman of faith, her goal isn’t to draw attention to herself or build another housing empire.

WILLIAMS: Everybody has a purpose and it’s connected to helping others.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Myrna Brown in Stockton, Alabama.

SOUND: [Sawing]

REICHARD: Myrna produced a companion piece on Allena Williams and her tiny homes for WORLD Watch, our video news program for students. We’ve posted a link to that story in our transcript.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Thursday, June 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.

Fifty years ago,with the fall of Saigon imminent, the U.S. launched Operation Babylift, an urgent effort to evacuate thousands of children out of South Vietnam. But not every child made it onto those planes.

BROWN: Along the coast, a Christian orphanage raced against time to save the children in its care, children left out of the airlift.

WORLD commentator Cal Thomas had a hand in that rescue, and he’s never forgotten what he saw.

CAL THOMAS, COMMENTATOR: Fifty years ago the director of the Cam Ranh Christian Orphanage decided it was time to act. Pastor Nguyen Xuan Ha - known to everyone as Mr. Ha put 85 children and staff on two buses and headed for Saigon. From there he hoped they could flee to safety.

One of the buses was shot at by a North Vietnamese soldier and the buses separated. Somehow they re-united in Saigon. After renting a boat and getting some distance from shore, the engine quit. For five days they drifted before a Thailand tanker approached. At first the captain refused to help. But later he changed his mind, turned around and towed them for a while. After cutting the tow line, a group of fishermen stepped in and towed them toward Singapore.

Soldiers there refused to let them ashore. Mr. Ha wrote a name on a piece of paper and asked a soldier if he could locate a missionary and church planter named Ralph Neighbour to help.

Neighbour was relatively new to Singapore—an island nation of more than two million people at the time. The soldier miraculously found him. Neighbour is now 96 years old but still remembers clearly what happened next. He wrote this to me in a recent email:

"Singapore government kept them out on St. John's island. Our missionary team took clothes and food out. USA embassy contacted Swiss United Nations Refugee Center. Special flight arrived. Children whisked thru Singapore on bus with windows covered. Government feared losing neutrality during war. No official record they were there."

I knew Neighbour from when he was a pastor in Houston. I worked at a local TV station at the time. He called me and asked if I could help get the orphans and staff to the U.S…and find temporary housing for them. I contacted some Washington officials I knew. They got permission for the orphans to enter the country. When they arrived in Houston, a church couple with a large ranch offered them shelter and food. Buckner Children and Family Services in Dallas assisted with processing and adoptions.

This past week I’ve been in Vietnam to mark the 50th anniversary of the orphans’ escape. I had the opportunity to interview many who made the commemorative trip.

Sam Schrade was a baby when he was rescued from the streets of Saigon. He’s now 51. He owns a successful media business in Houston. How would his life have been different had he stayed in Vietnam? He says the fact that he is of "mixed race" (American-Asian) would make it "doubly hard" because the Vietnamese "look down upon such people. I have been told by many people I would not have had a good life here because of the race issue and a government that didn't want me."

Kelli St. German, now 56, thinks she might have been growing coffee beans and doing hard labor had she not come to America. She also believes she would not have developed a strong faith because of the state's antipathy toward religion. She became a teacher for 30 years.

Thomas Ho, the oldest orphan, is now 76. He was 25 when he left Vietnam. He helped organize the evacuation and prepared small amounts of food for the children. In America he became a chef and then studied to become an engineer. He says if he had stayed in Vietnam, "I might not have survived, especially at my age now. Life here is very difficult. A lot of the food is not very healthy."

Reuniting with these adults, many of whom I met when they were children, is a reminder that there are things far greater than politics, celebrities, and the petty jealousies that are the focus of too many of us.

There are few greater blessings than to have had a role in changing these lives for the better. These former orphans are blessed. So am I.

I’m Cal Thomas.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Tomorrow: John Stonestreet will be with us once again for Culture Friday. Also, WORLD reviewer Joseph Holmes on the live action remake of How to Train your Dragon. And George Grant considers our proclivity to make mistakes…on Word Play. 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: “But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.” —Hebrews 10:39

Go now in grace and peace.

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