The World and Everything in It: June 16, 2025

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PREROLL: Good morning, this is David Bahnsen. Before we get started today, I want to take a moment to ask you to consider supporting the work of WORLD. This program—and so much of what WORLD produces across print, podcasts, video, and digital—all this is made possible by listeners like you who believe in sound journalism grounded in facts and Biblical truth. WORLD’s June Giving Drive is underway, and if you’ve benefited from WORLD's brand of reporting—reporting that doesn’t chase trends, but tries to get the story right—I hope you’ll join in. Please visit WNG.org/JuneGivingDrive and make your gift of support. And thanks! Talk to you in about 15 minutes on the Monday Moneybeat.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning!

The U.S. Supreme Court makes it easier for students with disabilities to sue for damages. But it’s still no slam dunk.The U.S. Supreme Court makes it easier for students with disabilities to sue for damages. But it’s still no slam dunk.

NICK EICHER, HOST: That’s ahead on Legal Docket.

Also, the Monday Moneybeat with economist David Bahnsen.

And:

OBAMA: Let me be clear, this continues to be a very difficult endeavor…

The WORLD History Book. Fifteen years ago a Navy Seal team prepares to take out one of the Taliban’s most ruthless leaders.

REICHARD: It’s Monday, June 16th. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

EICHER: And I’m Nick Eicher. Good morning!

REICHARD: Up next, Kent Covington with today’s news.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Iran-Israel war » Air raid sirens sounded in Jerusalem, as Israel and Iran traded missile strikes once again on Sunday.

Iranian missiles have broken through Israeli defenses, striking buildings deep inside the country.

Israel hit targets in Tehran including the Defense Ministry and sites it says are tied to Iran’s nuclear program.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday further explained the decision to launch the mission aimed at taking out Iran’s nuclear program.

US nuclear negotiations with Iran had reportedly stalled, and Netanyahu says it was clear to him that the talks were going nowhere.

NETANYAHU:  I could wait and wait and wait until they officially declared that the talks were off or they, uh, you know, and we'd officially declare that we're gonna attack them.

Israel says that would have fully surrendered any element of surprise and given Iran more time to continue enriching uranium.

UN nuclear officials have warned that Iran was one small technical step away from enriching at weapons grade levels.

Israeli Ambassador to the United States Yechiel (Michael) Leiter

LEITER:  This, uh, uh, uh, series of strikes is not going to end today or tomorrow, but only at a period of time, which may take weeks when we are absolutely certain that the nuclear infrastructure with the intention of weaponizing and threatening Israel is terminated.

Iran months ago launched a direct ballistic missile attack against Israel. And Israeli leaders say they won’t wait until Iran is capable of launching nuclear warheads.

Hundreds of civilians are believed to have been killed on both sides since Friday.

President Trump says the United States military was not involved in the Israeli mission in Iran, but notes that Israel is armed with the best American-made weapons. He’s urging Teheran to surrender its nuclear program and negotiate an end to the conflict.

Manhunt for political murderer » Lawmakers are still reeling from the shooting that killed one Democratic Minnesota state legislator and her husband and severely wounded another and his wife.

Democratic U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar said Sunday:

KLOBUCHAR:  Our delegation in Minnesota from, uh, the most conservative Republican to the most liberal Democrat, we all joined together and said, we condemn this political violence.

The attack killed Hortman, her husband Mark, and gravely wounded state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife.

Law enforcement continued the search Sunday for the suspect, 57-year-old Vance Boelter. The FBI has offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect.

The attacks come amid a recent flurry of political violence, including two assassination attempts against Donald Trump last year.

250th anniversary military parade » Thousands gathered in Washington over the weekend for a military parade to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army.

President Trump and other top officials paid tribute.

TRUMP:  We commemorate an event that did not just change American history, but change the history of the entire world with the creation of America's army on June 14th, 1775.

The procession featured more than 6,000 soldiers, more than a 100 Army tanks, Apache Gunships, Black Hawk Helicopters and more.

Vintage Army equipment was also on display, including WWII era B-25s from the Army Air Corp.

Immigration protests » An organized nationwide protest brought thousands into the streets in cities across the country over the weekend…

AUDIO: Hey hey, ho ho, Donald Trump has got to go

…demonstrating against President Trump’s immigration policies, and immigration law enforcement.

AUDIO:  It feels to me like we are losing the thread of democracy in our country. That, that it's unraveling before our eyes.

Many marched holding American flags, others with Mexican flags.

Once again, some of those protests turned violent.

Police in LA deploying tear gas to protect themselves, the public, and property. Some threw objects, including chunks of concrete at officers and fired commercial grade fireworks at them.

Democrats still demanding investigation over Padilla incident » On Capitol Hill,  Democrats are still demanding an investigation after California Senator Alex Padilla was forcibly removed from a press conference with Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem and handcuffed.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom:

NEWSOM: I hope we look at what happened to Senator Padilla, not through the blue or red lens. But through your own set of eyes.

But Republicans say they watched the footage with their own eyes. And they say it was clear that Padilla was aggressively charging toward the podium, that Padilla’s identity was not clear to Secret Service and FBI agents guarding the event, and that he resisted as they tried to remove him.

House Speaker Mike Johnson:

JOHNSON: I think that that behavior at a minimum is, um, it rises to the level of a censure. I think there needs to be a message sent by the body as a whole that that is not what we are going to do.

Secretary Noem calling the interruption disrespectful.

But she says the two have since opened a line of communication.

Gas prices » Gas prices are lower than they were two weeks ago, according to the national Lundberg Survey. But its publisher, Trilby Lundberg says, don’t get used to it, given the conflict in the Middle East.

LUNDBERG:  Our latest survey shows a drop of a nickel in the national average price of gasoline. Regular grade now at $3 21 cents, but it's already old news because on Friday a shot came to the oil markets with a move up of about $5 per barrel just from the day before.

She says that means about 12 cents per gallon if it were at the pump and that prices are expected to climb in the days ahead.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: decisions. Plus, the WORLD History Book.

This is The World and Everything in It.

NICK EICHER, HOST: It’s The World and Everything in It for this 16th day of June, 2025. We’re so glad you’ve joined us today. Good morning! I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Quick update on the June Giving Drive: In case you missed it, we reported Friday that you blew past the first $130-thousand-dollar challenge gift. That scoreboard lit up fast—thank you!

EICHER: It did, and a whole new circle of WORLD Movers took the field, loving what they heard and decided to crank up the stakes—issuing a new challenge gift of $161-thousand-dollars. Think of it as the next step, level two, and let’s see how quickly we can clear this one.

REICHARD: Maybe you ask: Why $161-thousand-dollars? Pretty simple, that’s what came in, and it nudges the grand total into a whole new weight class and keeps the momentum rolling, all without having to break out the boring budget spreadsheets on the air.

EICHER: So if you haven’t jumped in yet, now’s the moment. As you heard David Bahnsen at the beginning of the program today, your gift in whatever amount pushes us toward that next benchmark of listener support for Biblically grounded journalism.

REICHARD: Would you make your gift today at WNG.org/JuneGivingDrive. Again, WNG.org/JuneGivingDrive. Let’s top that new challenge and keep the story going!

EICHER: All right! Time now for Legal Docket.

On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down six opinions. We’ll run through all of them today, in brief.

And we begin with a big win for a student with disabilities.

Ava Tharpe, we told you about her case last week.

This young lady suffers from a rare, severe form of epilepsy. Her seizures are worst in mornings. Before her family had to move, the school she attended in Kentucky worked around that by offering classes from noon to six. After she moved to Minnesota, the new district refused. Ava got far less instruction than did other students

REICHARD: So the family sued—and won some relief. A court ordered the school to provide more instruction time to Ava under one disability law. But they lost out on money damages under other laws.

That’s because the federal appeals court, the Eighth Circuit, set a tougher standard.

I called up an expert to understand this. Perry Zirkel spent 40 years as a professor at Lehigh University, teaching education law:

ZIRKEL: In other words, if the district said, “Sorry, maybe we should have given this child evening instruction, but we didn't do it for sort of nasty or vindictive or bad faith reasons. We were just under the impression that the school day ends at that time and our limited budgets, etc.” And so unless you can show bad faith or gross misjudgment, your case is dismissed.

EICHER: That’s the standard the lower courts used and the Supreme Court said no to it, another unanimous decision.

Now, the test is deliberate indifference. It’s the same standard used in other disability disputes. And it’s easier to prove.

But Zirkel says it’s not a free-for-all.

ZIRKEL: So in most jurisdictions, predictably, it'll be easier to get money damages, but still, there is a hurdle to go over: this deliberate indifference standard. …So that's the major question that the court did not address, and it will have to address in future litigation, if a case bubbles up to the Supreme Court.

Next up: Martin v. United States, another unanimous decision, and a partial win for a Georgia homeowner.

Curtrina Martin was jolted awake at four in the morning, when an FBI SWAT team showed up, guns drawn. Turns out they were at the wrong house. The agents realized the mistake and left. But Martin says the damage was already done, she and her family were traumatized. So she sued.

REICHARD: Normally, you don’t get to... sue the government, that is. But there is an exception for things like trespass or assault, unless the agents were using their “discretion,” meaning their professional judgment. If they were, the law protects the agents. So the key question: Was the botched raid a judgment call—or a flat-out mistake?

The Supreme Court says the discretionary judgment rule lives on. So this means the case returns to lower court. There, a judge will decide: Did the agents act within that protected gray area? If they did, Curtrina Martin’s claim will be tossed. If they were not, then she’ll have a chance to prove the government was at fault.

Martin’s then-boyfriend Toi Cliatt is also part of the lawsuit as he was in the home at the time of the raid. Sound from NBC’s 11alive:

CLIATT: We’re hoping that some of their procedures change. I would actually like for them to ban no-knock warrants if it was possible. We don’t want to see any other[s] … victimized the same way that we were.

EICHER: Now, three quick rulings: First a win for the IRS, but not for taxpayers. Jennifer Zuch challenged a tax bill for $36-thousand-dollars after the IRS credited all her joint estimated payments to the account of her ex-husband.

She appealed but before the case could be heard, the IRS seized her refund money to pay off what it considered her debt and declared the case moot.

The Supreme Court went along with that, 8-to-1, saying once the IRS collects, that’s the end of the jurisdiction of the Tax Court. One justice dissented, Justice Neil Gorsuch. Quoting him now: Bullies should lose, he said. Today … the court allows one to prevail.

REICHARD: Now a win for a disabled Green Beret. Simon Soto served two combat tours in Iraq. The V-A rated him 100 percent disabled. And so he applied for Combat-Related Special Compensation—a benefit that makes up for lost retirement pay due to combat injuries. The Navy approved it but gave him only six years of back pay. Soto sued … arguing the six-year limit didn’t apply to this kind of compensation. The justices agreed unanimously. The case now goes back to figure out how much more he’s owed, not to mention other veterans like him.

EICHER: Now to a loss for an inmate in Texas.

Danny Rivers is serving 38 years for child sex abuse and child pornography. He challenged his conviction once, claiming his lawyer failed him. While that was still pending, he discovered new evidence and filed another petition.

But the court said, too late for that. You get one shot at federal habeas relief, as it’s known. No second tries.

Here’s Justice Gorsuch during oral argument:

GORSUCH: I mean you’re asking us to treat habeas differently than any other form of civil litigation. I’ve never heard of being able to amend my complaint when I’m on appeal after a 12(b)(6) dismissal. Boy, I would have liked to amend my complaint on appeal a few times." (Laughter.)

Gorsuch never could, and now Rivers never will.

REICHARD: And finally, a ruling favoring fairness over formality.

Federal prisoner Donte Parrish didn’t learn that his case had been dismissed until after was transferred to another prison. But once he found out, he filed a notice to appeal. A judge gave him a new window to do it again—but the appeals court said he missed that one, too. The Supreme Court said, stop it. Parrish’s first notice was good enough.

Here’s Justice Sonia Sotomayor in oral argument.

SOTOMAYOR: We have to consider efficiency and not to read the rules literally but with a view to what’s just, correct?

In other words, serve justice—don’t try to trip people up. She wrote the 8-1 majority opinion.

And that’s this week’s Legal Docket!

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

NICK EICHER, HOST: Time now to talk business, markets, and the economy with financial analyst and adviser David Bahnsen. David heads up the wealth management firm The Bahnsen Group. He is here now. Good morning to you, David.

DAVID BAHNSEN: Good morning, Nick, Good to be with you.

EICHER: We’ll start with something fast-moving: Israel’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites. I’m curious at this early stage, with limited data, do you see this as a temporary disruption economically, or might markets take it as a welcome check on Iran’s nuclear ambitions?

BAHNSEN: Yeah, well, it’s really going to depend on how it goes, Nick. I think that the most obviously relevant economic impact is in commodities—specifically oil prices, which spiked about 10% on Friday.

The reason that matters is concern over supply. You might say, “Wait, Iran wasn’t supplying anyways. They weren’t supposed to be.” But on the margin, they were supplying because OPEC+ was cheating on the sanctions. More important still, if this escalates, even countries not under sanctions could see their ability to transport oil threatened. That’s a very obvious potential impact economically, and it’s always the case with Middle East flare-ups: markets ask, “What’s happening to oil?”

I would also note that oil had been trading between $70 and $75 for quite a while, and just before the spike it had dipped into the low $60s—briefly falling below $60 during the height of the trade war, then settling back in the mid-$60s. Because this rally started from a lower base, I think the economy can absorb oil holding in the $70–$75 range. It closed Friday around $73. So for now, markets are focused on that energy shock and the added uncertainty.

And while Thursday night’s strike and Friday’s escalation were major geopolitical events, Friday’s market reaction was relatively muted. Yes, the Dow fell about 800 points, but the S&P 500 was only down roughly 1%—a move we’ve seen many times before. That tells me investors aren’t yet pricing in a full-blown crisis. Of course, that can change if Iran retaliates in force or the conflict spreads—say, with strikes on Tehran or ground operations—so we’ll have to watch how this plays out in the coming days.

EICHER: David, the Fed meets this week. Are you looking for something new from Chairman Powell, in light of these current geopolitical events, or is the Fed’s plan baked in and they just stay the course on interest rates?

BAHNSEN: Well, we most certainly know what the Fed is going to do this week, which is nothing.

But to your point about listening to what they say, I think that Chairman Powell is a big believer in forward guidance, where he uses signals to the market of what they’ll do in the future as a policy tool in the present. If the Fed intends to start cutting rates sooner than what markets currently expect, he will use language that will make that clear.

Right now, going into this week, there’s a 0% chance the Fed touches rates. Markets expect two to three cuts by year-end, but maybe not until September. After this week, those odds could shift toward July or August. We’ll have to wait and see.

EICHER: All right, one more. David, Last week, the White House back-pedaled on those ICE raids at farms and hotels after pushback from the agriculture and hospitality sectors. What can we read into that reversal—political pressure, economic necessity, or both?

BAHNSEN: This is a controversial issue for a lot of people, so I’ll tread carefully. You’re absolutely right that he has reversed, at least rhetorically, on some of that. There’s a lot of people who would prefer our deportation policies not distinguish between those who came here illegally and have been working at a restaurant for 20 years and not committed any crimes, and then those that are full-blown MS-13 members and criminals.

My own view is that prioritizing your deportation efforts on the really, really bad folks makes a lot more sense politically—and it makes a heck of a lot more sense economically. The president—I don’t know if it’s just pressure—I think he’s also seeing empirical information that indicates, both in agriculture and hospitality, that there’s a labor void. We learned in the Biden years, post-COVID, that labor voids are inflationary.

So to me, I’m very grateful to see the president go in this direction. I know that there’s some folks who feel differently, but we’ll see—it’s going to help his agenda overall. There’s just a really broad popularity for deporting folks who have committed crimes once they were here, and there’s a public resistance to deporting people that have been here, not committing crimes, working and often known in their communities for a long period of time. We’ll see how that plays out for the president.

EICHER: All right, David Bahnsen is founder, managing partner, and chief investment officer at The Bahnsen Group. He writes regularly for WORLD Opinions, and at dividend-cafe.com. David, thank you so much. We’ll see you next week.

BAHNSEN: Thanks so much, Nick.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Monday, June 16th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Up next, the WORLD History Book.

Fifteen years ago the war in Afghanistan is reaching a fever pitch. 2010 is the deadliest year for U.S. troops in the conflict.

On March 17th, a group of Navy SEALs from SEAL Team Six are sneaking into a valley to capture—or kill—a high ranking Taliban leader.

EICHER: One of those SEALs is on what’s scheduled to be his last deployment: thirty-six year old Adam Brown.

Here’s WORLD correspondent Caleb Welde with the story.

CALEB WELDE: Adam and his teammates are hunting down a man code-named: Lake James. According to one Army officer, this Taliban leader “has more blood on his hands than anyone else in his district.” Adam’s helicopter drops below a granite ridgeline in the Hindu Kush mountains.

The SEALs knew this mission would be different. For one of Adam’s teammates…

FEARLESS EXCERPT: Hands down, this was the most hellacious landing zone he’d encountered in his entire career.

Audio from the 2012 book, Fearless by Eric Blehm.

FEARLESS EXCERPT: Nobody in his right mind would fly a helicopter into this ravine, he thought. Exactly why it had been chosen as the LZ.

Adam and his teammates fast rope out of the hovering chopper into the darkness below: ninety feet, onto boulders. They have six brutal hours ahead of them to the target.

On the other side of the world in Virginia, Adam’s wife Kelly has this message sitting in her inbox, sent by Adam a few days earlier.

FEARLESS EXCERPT: I am so proud, happy and fortunate to have you as my wife. I listen to all these songs, and I realize I have the girl I always dreamed of. I wonder how many people can really say that and mean it. I love you, Adam.

Adam and Kelly met under less than ideal circumstances. He was three weeks out of a drug rehab program. She was a Baptist Sunday School teacher at a bar with friends. The two hit it off right away and clarified to each other the next day that the bar was not the place for either of them. They were both new Christians and began going to church together.

Then Adam relapsed. And not just once. Kelly stayed with him nine months. Nine months that eventually left her feeling, in her words, “crazy angry.” Adam eventually concluded it would be best for Kelly if he disappeared for good. Kelly easily guessed where he’d run. He only had one buddy living out of state. Over the phone Adam told her…

FEARLESS EXCERPT: I’m not good for you; that’s why I left. I don’t want you to keep chasing after me.

Kelly told Adam she’d been praying, and praying hard, asking God for guidance, asking him directly if she should abandon the relationship. Adam, she said, God has not told me to leave. I love you.

The day before the conversation, one of Adam’s friends suggested maybe he look at the military. Adam had been interested in the SEALs since highschool. He asked Kelly, “Do you think I can do it?”

FEARLESS EXCERPT: Of course you can, Kelly said without hesitation, even though she had only the most basic idea of what a SEAL did.

Adam became a SEAL in 2000. In 2004 he lost his right eye in a training accident. According to Kelly, he was pretty depressed for a few weeks but then decided “it was just another challenge.” In 2006 a SEAL commander wrote in an evaluation Adam was “clearly in the top one percent of the SEAL community.” Adam passed testing for “Team Six” the same year.

But on March 17th, 2010 in Afghanistan, things are not going according to plan. They arrive at their objective two hours late. An army officer in the area describes the situation like this. Like they’d infiltrated a hornets nest.

FEARLESS EXCERPT: That whole area was swarming with hardcore Taliban, so they snuck into that valley like it was the entrance to the nest, and they crept past all these hornets who were asleep and went straight for the queen that was James.

The SEALs’ weapons … are suppressed. The Taliban’s … are not. The hornets … wake up.

Before he left for this deployment, Adam spent his last weeks in Virginia dreaming with Kelly about life after the military. They want to settle near their family in Hot Springs, Arkansas. They have two kids now. Nathan, ten and Savannah seven. Adam turned thirty-six right before this deployment. During a family birthday party, his kids gave him the perfect gift. They couldn’t hold back the giggles as he opened it.

FEARLESS EXCERPT: Soon Adam was laughing too at the adult sized black and yellow Batman briefs he’d unwrapped. Pulling them on over his pants, he paraded around the kitchen, striking superhero poses. He got down face to face with Nathan and Savannah. “I’m going to make y’all a promise: I promise to wear them on every op I go out on, and” – lowering his voice to a whisper– “nobody will ever know my superhero capabilities. … “You dork,” said Kelly, and the kids cracked up again.

Back in Afghanistan, the superhero fights bravely. But ten minutes into the battle in the hornets nest Adam gets stung. He’s shot in the legs, up his side, and in the arm. His teammates rush to him and begin cutting away his uniform to find the bullet holes.

FEARLESS EXCERPT: As Zeke cut away through the rest of Adam’s pants, he paused for a moment. “The world stopped for a few seconds, and we just stared. He was wearing the Batman underwear his kids gave him.”

The SEALs got their man, Lake James, but at a high cost. Adam Brown died that night in the Hindu Cush mountains. Not long afterward, a family friend, a military representative, and a SEAL in dress blues knock on Kelly Brown’s door. It’s midnight.

FEARLESS EXCERPT: “You sure?” and looked to Christian, who nodded. “I’m so sorry Kelly.”

Kelly isn’t the only one devastated. Adam’s parents also struggle for answers. Tomorrow, we’ll hear their side of the story.

For WORLD, I’m Caleb Welde. Audio excerpts of Fearless are from Penguin Random House audio. Read by Robert Petkoff.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Tomorrow: More on the war between Israel and Iran—over the spread of nuclear weapons. And, a report from Los Angeles on how believers there are stepping into the chaos. That and more tomorrow.

I’m Nick Eicher.

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 says: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” —James 4:7, 8

Go now in grace and peace.

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