The World and Everything in It - June 29, 2022

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning!

The Supreme Court delivers a big win for the rights of citizens to defend themselves under the Second Amendment.

NICK EICHER, HOST: We’ll talk about that ahead on Washington Wednesday.

Also today, World Tour.

Plus, we’ll take you to the jubilant and chaotic scene outside the Supreme Court after Dobbs came down.

And a reflection on how to bring up a boy to become a man who answers the call of duty.

REICHARD: It’s Wednesday, June 29th. 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: It’s time for the news. Here’s Kent Covington.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Turkey drops objection to NATO membership for Sweden, Finland » Turkey now says it will not stand in the way of Sweden and Finland joining the NATO alliance.

At the start of this week’s NATO summit in Madrid, leaders said the Nordic nations were able to allay Turkey’s concerns on counterterrorism policy.

President Biden on Tuesday said the alliance is only growing stronger.

BIDEN: Transatlantic unity has been and will continue to be the greatest strength in our response to Russia. We're standing as one to support Ukraine and to enhance our own deterrence and defense capabilities.

And Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said during the summit, leaders will outline a new NATO defense strategy.

STOLTENBERG: We will agree to a new strategic concept, the Madrid Strategic Concept, that will be the blueprint of NATO in a more dangerous and unpredictable world.

Already this week, the alliance announced plans to multiply the size of its rapid response force eightfold—from 40,000 to 300,000 troops.

Macron, Boris Johnson condemn Russian missile strike on mall » Hours earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking at the end of the G7 summit in Germany condemned Russia’s deadly missile strike on a crowded shopping mall as a“war crime.”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson agreed. He said he and other G7 leaders received word of the attack as they gathered for meetings on Monday.

JOHNSON: And you could feel the whole mood of the meeting become yet more somber. I think people are just shocked by what Putin is capable of doing.

The long-range missiles killed at least 18 people at the mall in the city of Kremenchuk.

And G7 leaders said the attack further strengthened their resolve to stand behind Ukraine.

Families of migrants seek word of loved ones after human smuggling deaths » Desperate families of migrants are frantically seeking word of their loved ones as Texas authorities work to identify 50 people found dead inside a tractor trailer.

Police found the victims trapped inside the abandoned trailer near San Antonio as it baked in the sun. Others inside were still alive but near death from heatstroke.

The White House called the deaths “horrifying and heartbreaking.” And Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre added …

JEAN-PIERRE: Far too many lives have been lost to this dangerous journey. We will continue to take action to disrupt human smuggling networks which have no regard for lives.

Authorities have reportedly arrested the driver of the truck and two other people.

U.S., Iran gather for indirect talks » Iran and the United States began indirect talks Tuesday in Qatar aimed at restoring the 2015 nuclear deal. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin reports.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: With Iran refusing to meet in person with U.S. diplomats, an EU official is delivering messages between the two sides.

Former President Trump pulled the plug on U.S. participation in the 2015 deal four years ago. President Biden wants to rejoin the pact.

Iran is cooperating less and less with UN nuclear inspectors. Many analysts believe that’s a ploy to gain more leverage in negotiations and relief from U.S. sanctions.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

House Capitol riot panel calls former White House aide to witness stand » The House panel investigating the Capitol riot held another public hearing on Tuesday.

Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson testified that President Trump wanted to join protesters at the Capitol, but the Secret Service said it wasn’t safe and refused. She said someone inside the limousine told her the president had a brief altercation with the head of his security detail, Bobby Engel.

HUTCHINSON: The president reached up toward the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel. Mr. Engel grabbed his arm and said sir, you need to take your hand off the steering wheel.

She said she was told that Trump then used his free hand to lunge at Engel.

Former President Trump disputed her testimony, calling it a “fake story.” He added that it—quote—“Wouldn’t even have been possible to do such a ridiculous thing.”

Fire kills 49 after riot attempt in Colombian prison » A fire in a Colombian prison killed more than 50 people on Tuesday. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has that story.

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: The fire broke out during what appeared to be an attempted riot at the medium security prison in the city of Tulua.

Fifty-one people died, and more than 20 inmates were hospitalized. Two prison guards sustained minor injuries.

The director of the prison system said the facility was overcrowded and the building did not have a suppression system to control the blaze.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher

I’m Kent Covington. Straight ahead on Washington Wednesday, a look at a new gun safety law and a big run rights ruling from the Supreme Court.

This is The World and Everything in It.

NICK EICHER, HOST: It’s Wednesday the 29th of June, 2022.

Thank you for tuning in to WORLD Radio. We’re so glad you’ve joined us today. Good morning, I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. It’s time now for Washington Wednesday.

Today, the other big news: Congress approves a new gun law while the Supreme Court affirms Second Amendment rights.

EICHER: First the law. On Saturday, President Biden signed a bill negotiated by a bipartisan group of senators.

BIDEN: While this bill doesn’t do everything I want, it does include actions I’ve long called for that are going to save lives.

Indeed, it did not deliver the gun restrictions that the president and other Democrats have called for. Instead, it focused on areas of common ground.

The law will expand background checks for gun buyers under 21 years of age—like the two teenage gunmen in the recent mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas and Buffalo, New York.

REICHARD: It will also fund local programs for school safety and mental health. And it provides incentives for states to pass so-called red flag laws, which allow law enforcement to temporarily remove firearms from someone deemed to be a threat.

Democrats called it a good start.

EICHER: Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said it will make Americans safer while also protecting the rights of those who own guns.

MCCONNELL: The American people want their constitutional rights protected and their kids to be safe in school.

Just days before the president signed that bill into law, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a major ruling on gun rights.

The court said New Yorkers no longer have to justify to the government their need for a firearm to obtain a license to carry.

In a 6-to-3 ruling, the high court said the state’s requirements violated the Second Amendment rights of its citizens.

Joining us now to talk about that ruling is Brad Jacob. He is an associate dean and professor at Regent University School of Law.

REICHARD: Professor, good morning!

BRAD JACOB, GUEST: Good morning. It's a pleasure to be with you.

REICHARD: I think it might be useful to understand how we got here. Justice Thomas writing for the majority says this ruling in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association follows logically the Heller ruling in 2008 and the McDonald ruling in 2010. What were those rulings?

JACOB: Well, DC vs. Heller back in 2008 established that there is an individual right to keep and bear arms under the Second Amendment to the Constitution. Up until that point, there had been—well, and there still is today—disagreement amongst some folks who say, ‘No, it's just a right to have the militia, which is now the National Guard. It doesn't mean any individual has a right to have arms.’ But Heller said, ‘Yes, that's what the Second Amendment means individual right to weapons.’ McDonald vs. Chicago two years later said that that right applies not only against the federal government, but against the states. And there's a whole wonkish thing there of how the Supreme Court incorporates fundamental rights from the Bill of Rights and puts them into the due process clause of the 14th Amendment. But essentially, McDonald said, ‘That applies here.’ So not only the federal government, but the state governments have to respect people's Second Amendment rights. The problem is that Heller and McDonald leave huge questions unanswered about what limits can be put on firearms without violating the Second Amendment? Can certain weapons be kept away from people? What sort of process can you have to get guns, permits, and background checks? And can they be kept out of public buildings of different kinds? The earlier cases don't do any of that. They don't answer those questions. And the new case, the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, takes on one small chunk, and it's really a very limited holding. All it says is if the state allows you to keep a gun in your home, but you can't ever bear it outside your home, they're violating your right to keep and bear arms. So, something that amounts to a flat prohibition on carrying your gun is not constitutional. So that in itself is not a huge ruling, but it is a step down the path of answering these other questions.

REICHARD: Let’s talk about the New York gun law now. It said if you wanted to apply for a license to carry for purposes of self-defense, you had to persuade a local county official that your reason was good enough. You had to show a particular need to carry a firearm. But the opinion says a state can’t force citizens to justify their need to exercise a constitutional right.
So that’s clear enough. So what was New York’s constitutional argument for keeping that law in place?

JACOB: Well, New York had a more limited view of the Second Amendment right. New York said we allow people to get a concealed carry permit, if they have need. And the keep and bear arms right is dependent on your needs. So if you can show that there's something about your job or where you have to be or that there are people trying to kill you, if you can establish that, you can carry your weapon. But the problem is, there was no guidance at all, no statute laid out what conditions have to be met. So it ended up being totally discretionary, which could well mean, if you're famous, and you're important, and you're well connected, you get the permit. And if you're just a regular person in New York, you don't. It was so discretionary, that it amounted to no ability at all to carry weapons.

REICHARD: I’m going to quote from the dissent now that was written by Justice Stephen Breyer: “In my view, when courts interpret the Second Amendment, it is constitutionally proper, indeed often necessary, for them to consider the serious dangers and consequences of gun violence that lead states to regulate firearms.” So professor, to clarify, this ruling still allows for states to regulate guns, right? Is Justice Breyer’s comment overstating things?

JACOB: Justice Breyer’s comment is overstating things. Justice Breyer’s entire dissent is very emotional. He goes on and on with all the terrible things that happen with gun violence. And we all know that. We know that there are school shootings. We know that horrific things happen with guns. None of which really has anything to do with this law and this case, and he gets taken to task on that by a couple of the concurrences saying, that's nice, but that's not what this case is about. The state can still regulate. The state can still have conditions. Most states—43 of our states—have what's called must-issue or shall-issue laws, which means there are specific criteria and if you meet those criteria, you get a permit for your gun. This was what's called a may-issue statute, meaning even if you meet all the criteria that are there, the state may still just say, nah, we don't think you get to have a gun. So, Breyer is making a very passionate argument. But in fact, the states can still regulate in lots of ways and this case doesn’t define all the outer limits of that.

REICHARD: So we can say that this decision is a sure win for the two law-abiding men who were highly trained, I will add, in using firearms and who were denied a license to carry for purposes of self-defense. What does this ruling mean for regular folks in New York, and what’s it mean for the ability of the state to restrict gun use going forward?

JACOB: Well, it means particularly in those six states that have these may-issue laws, they can't do that anymore. They're going to have to define the conditions under which a citizen can get a permit to carry a handgun. They can't have a regime that simply lets people not be allowed to carry their gun. They can keep their arms in their house, but they can't bear them outside. That won't work anymore. So those six states are going to have to change their laws. Other than that, nothing really changes. The only other thing that may be significant is that Justice Thomas's opinion in this case makes it clear that the burden of showing whether a restriction is valid or not falls on the government. If the government is interfering with your ability to keep and bear arms, the court says we're not going to do a balancing test. We're not going to talk about intermediate scrutiny or strict scrutiny. We're going to say, is this analogous, is it similar to historical restrictions on individuals weapons? But it's the state that's going to have to show it. And down the long run, that may be the most interesting part of the opinion is that sort of burden-shifting aspect of the case.

REICHARD: So you don’t see much impact on gun restrictions in other states, I take it?

JACOB: Not in the short term. If they're already doing a shall-issue regime, nothing in this case directly forces them to change. But again, as some of those kinds of restrictions get challenged. The idea that the state will have a burden of proving the need for its restriction or proving that its restriction is consistent with history, that may have an effect down the road.

REICHARD: Brad Jacob is associate dean and professor of law at Regent University School of Law. Professor, thanks so much, appreciate your time.

JACOB: It’s my pleasure.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: WORLD Tour by our reporter in Africa, Onize Ohikere.

ONIZE OHIKERE, REPORTER: Afghanistan earthquake—Today’s World Tour kicks off in Afghanistan, where the aftermath of last week’s 6.1-magnitude earthquake is still unfolding.

AUDIO: [Aid workers/volunteers talking]

The quake struck mountainous villages near the border with Pakistan. The Taliban has reported more than a thousand deaths. The United Nations humanitarian office says the disaster also left about 65 children orphaned or alone.

Ramiz Alakbarov, Afghanistan’s top United Nations official, visited one of the affected villages.

ALAKBAROV: It's our obligation -- moral obligation, professional obligation, religious obligation -- to be here to help these people. To help these people because they deserve it. They deserve more, they deserve better.

Taliban officials have welcomed the support from other countries and international groups but say much more is needed.

Ecuador protests - We head over to Ecuador, where authorities are trying to contain more than two weeks of protests.

AUDIO: [Chants during protest]

Indigenous-led protests have blocked streets and brought the capital city of Quito to a near-standstill. The demonstrators want the government to cut the price of gasoline and agricultural products and provide more education funding.

Maria Elena Navarro belongs to a group of human rights observers.

NAVARRO: [Speaking in Spanish]

She said authorities have detained hundreds of protesters, and about seven people have disappeared.

In the latest concession, Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso reduced gasoline and diesel prices by 10 cents per gallon. Protest leaders called the cuts insufficient but agreed to hold discussions with the government.

North Korea war anniversary - Next, to North Korea.

AUDIO: [Music]

Authorities organized three days of anti-American rallies to mark the 72nd anniversary of the Korean War. North Korean officials denounced the United States as imperialists for provoking the war.

The attendees gathered outside the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum, set up by North Korea to commemorate what it calls its victory in the Korean War.

Pyongyang has not held such rallies since 2018.

South Africa pub deaths - We end today in South Africa.

AUDIO: [Mourners talking]

Family members of 21 teenagers are still awaiting answers after the young people died at a pub over the weekend. Some of the eight girls and 12 boys were as young as 13.

They had gathered to celebrate the end of their winter school exams in the coastal town of East London.

Local media reported some of the victims were found strewn across tables and chairs but with no visible signs of injuries. Some of the survivors who were admitted to the hospital complained of chest and back pains.

AUDIO: [Speaking in Xhosa]

This mother said her 17-year-old daughter who died in the incident attended the celebration with a friend.

South Africa’s legal drinking age is 18, but regulations are not always enforced in township pubs. Authorities are conducting autopsies but say the deaths are likely linked to alcohol poisoning.

That’s it for this week’s World Tour. Reporting for WORLD, I’m Onize Ohikere in Abuja, Nigeria.

NICK EICHER, HOST: For Ashley Ness of Taunton, Massachusetts, this visit to the doctor produced quite the surprise.

NESS: I said … what? She said ‘you’ve having a baby.’

True, but not the whole truth.

An even bigger surprise showed up in an ultrasound. She told TV station WCVB…

NESS: She starts looking and she’s like, honey, you’re having four babies. I said … I’m sorry, what?

Quadruplets are extremely rare and for Ashley Ness, even more so. Because she’s carrying two sets of identical twins.

She was not receiving fertility treatments, so that makes the likelihood of this pregnancy one in 70-million, give or take a million.

NESS: I feel truly blessed.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Wednesday, June 29th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: voices from outside the Supreme Court.

A pro-life victory at the federal level these days is a rarity. The landmark Supreme Court ruling last week was as rare as it was monumental. Yet, it does not eliminate abortion nationwide, as we have reported consistently.

What it does do is give states the freedom to protect the unborn.

REICHARD: WORLD reporter Carolina Lumetta was at the Supreme Court just hours after the decision came down. She talked with people there about the emotional weight of the moment.

CAROLINA LUMETTA, REPORTER: Even though a draft version of the Dobbs ruling was leaked more than a month ago, pro-lifers were still shocked when the final decision was released on Friday.

Karina Salcedo is a law clerk in Senator Ted Cruz’s office for the Senate Judiciary Committee.

SALCEDO: When the opinion dropped, I was literally working on something and then all of a sudden I heard one of our attorneys go, “Oh my goodness.” And then we immediately knew what happened. Everyone erupted in tears of joy, it was truly an elating moment.

She was one of many pro-lifers who dropped her work and rushed to the Supreme Court in 90-degree heat to celebrate. Groups of students with Students for Life of America were already on the scene. They chanted pro-life slogans while waiting for the decision. Cecilia Junker is a junior at Penn State University. She described the celebration that broke out when someone yelled the result to the crowd.

JUNKER: Lots of crying, lots of emotions, pretty exciting. We were waiting for a long time for this, obviously. And it was really just like a day that's gonna go down in history. So it was pretty honorable to be there.

Lila Anderson has been waiting her whole life for an end to a federal right to abortion. Anderson said her mother, an immigrant to the United States, tried to use an abortive pill in the ‘80s, but Lila survived her premature birth. On Friday evening, she carried a sign that read, “I survived Roe, but Roe won’t survive me.”

Tempers and temperatures rose at the court as the day went on. Pro-abortion protesters flooded the street and screamed obscenities at Anderson, who silently held up her sign and prayed for changed hearts.

ANDERSON: There's so much I want to put, but it's too much emotion for me. So I know, eventually, they'll look back later on in their lives, and they will see this and they know that it's wrong.

Sisters Jordan and Katherine LaFever arrived at the Supreme Court on Friday with a different purpose. They echoed reasoning from the liberal justices’ dissent, saying women have fewer rights today than they did before Roe was overturned. Katherine said that,

LAFEVER:  Just simply not wanting a child is a good enough reason to have an abortion. It's sad that what you want to do with your body, they just don't care. They don't respect you as a human being in this country.

Single father and D.C.-area computer engineer Nhan Huynh disagrees. He rushed to the Supreme Court with a group of pro-life friends and held a sign that read, “Dismember Roe.” He fled communism in Vietnam in the 1990s and immigrated to the United States. He said he convinced his wife not to abort their third child, partly by promising to raise the baby boy. He recalled that life in a communist country was true oppression. Pro-life policies, he said, are not.

HUYNH: The pro choice groups are fighting for what they think are women's rights, but it doesn't necessitate to override or take away the baby's rights. What we are doing is speaking for those who can't speak. You want to be compassionate. Mothers do go through a lot to carry the child and give it birth and it's a wonderful gift but the baby also has its own right to life.

AUDIO: [Hymn singing]

Emily and Charity Wells come to the sidewalk in front of the Supreme Court every Saturday with fellow members of Graceway Baptist Church. They gather in a circle to sing hymns and pray. The Dobbs decision has been on the prayer list for months.

EMILY W:  The first time it leaked, I actually was confused. I thought it was kind of fake. And I was like, Wait, who's doing this? What's going on? And I didn't believe it at first [CHARITY W: Yeah, it didn’t feel real.] And then on Friday, it was just, It's surreal… Yes, we are divided, as you can see today, very divided in beliefs. But there are still people in the nation and even in higher power that are willing to change wrongs of the nation.

Now it’s up to each state to determine whether it will allow abortion or whether it will protect unborn babies. The pro-abortion lobby still argues that state constitutions guarantee rights to abortion, so pro-lifers celebrating at the Supreme Court know their fight is far from over.

CHANTS: What do we want? Abortion rights! When do we want it? Now!

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Carolina Lumetta.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Wednesday, June 29th. 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. Here’s WORLD commentator Kim Henderson on the people and things worth protecting.

KIM HENDERSON, COMMENTATOR: For me, military history begins in 2015. That’s when our youngest son flew the coop, landing 663.4 miles due east.

According to those who’ve been there, done that, Marine training is bad enough in cool seasons. Our person of interest arrived in a month of heat so notorious it is the stuff of country music. Even so, Trace Adkins’ song about Parris Island in July is said to have compelled a fair share of fence-straddlers toward the recruiting station, and his lyrics were belting out loud across our badminton net during a pre-D-Day family match. (That’s D-Day, as in departure day.) The song’s line, “So gung ho to go and pay the price,” was more than this mama could take, though. A five-minute meltdown/game delay ensued.

Just who was responsible for the military bent in our son I cannot say, but when pressed hard, he puts the blame on me.

“It was that diorama of the Twin Towers you made me do,” he finally admits, referring to a project back in ninth grade. “I feel like 9-11 was the call of my generation,” he goes on, reminding me (for the umpteenth time) why he had to do his four years—“his duty.”

I get it. Duty had him taking an oath and walking down a concourse on that long ago Monday, and it was duty that had me setting one less place at the dinner table.

At least our Marine-in-the-making went off with a happy hometown history tucked under his belt. One that began in a delivery room at the local hospital and wound its way through nearby baseball diamonds, Scout camps, and a whole bunch of yards deeply beholden to his weed eating skills.

Our friendly doctor taught him first aid, and the patient Mr. Russell taught (well, tried to teach) him piano.

He had coaches who worked him out and over, and mowing customers who just plain worked him.

He had the fish house and the pizza place and a host of kitchens in between spend years filling him up and filling him out.

He had afternoons at Ms. Dorsie’s pond, nights at Exchange Club fairs, and a first drive in his first truck down the town boulevard.

Best of all, he had a church send him off with its blessing and his pastors promise to hold him accountable.

So maybe the military bent started there, in a community with a way of life that made him believe they’re worth protecting. Maybe that’s the benefit of living where folks seek the welfare of their city, like Jeremiah described.

A mom should be thankful for that.

So maybe we’re all doing our duty, parents, growing them up just to see them go. And hometowns staying with them forever—even if only in their memories.

Who knows? Maybe Parris Island in July would be a bit more bearable if all recruits had happy hometown histories tucked under their belts.

I’m Kim Henderson.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Tomorrow: The ever-changing plans to secure America’s schools and students from violence.

And the World Health Organization says monkeypox is not a global health emergency. Is there cause for concern?

Plus a visit to the Liberty Bell!

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 has this to say about anxiety concerning the basic needs of life: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matt. 6:33 ESV)

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.