The World and Everything in It - May 31, 2022

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning!

Pastors in Uvalde, Texas, are helping their community grieve in the wake of last week’s school shooting.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Also North Korea’s been launching more missiles lately. We’ll hear about the implications of that.

Plus yesterday was Memorial Day. We’ll hear the president’s remarks from Arlington National Cemetery. 

And moments that make the mundane seem less so.

REICHARD: It’s Tuesday, May 31st. 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 has the day’s news.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Biden presses for new gun laws in wake of Uvalde shooting » President Biden is renewing calls for new gun laws in the wake of last week’s Texas school shooting.

Speaking outside the White House, next to his Marine One helicopter, he told reporters that high capacity magazines should not be available to the general public.

BIDEN: Makes no sense to be able to purchase something that can fire up to 300 rounds.

He also wants to ban what he calls assault weapons, AR-15s and the like. The shooter in Uvalde reportedly wielded an AR-style rifle.

Republican Congressman and Afghanistan War veteran, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, said he is among a growing group of Republican lawmakers who are open to those discussions.

KINZINGER: Look, it’s a journey of getting sick of seeing the mass shootings. And one of the things that I believe that for some reason is a very rare thing is that as a person that appreciates and believes in the Second Amendment, we have to be the ones putting forward reasonable solutions to gun violence.

Kinzinger said he supports raising the minimum age to own a firearm to 21.

But fellow GOP Congressman Dan Crenshaw of Texas, a former Navy Seal, says we should be focused on securing our schools.

CRENSHAW: What we need to do is harden schools in a very serious way. There is no reason every school can’t have an armed guard at it at all times.

He noted that there was not an armed officer inside the school at the time of the shooting.

The Justice Department is also probing the police response.

Pacific season's 1st hurricane makes landfall in Mexico » A powerful hurricane slammed into tourist beaches and fishing villages in Mexico on Monday. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: Hurricane Agatha roared ashore about 5 miles west of Puerto Angel as a strong Category 2 storm.

It whipped palm trees and drove tourists and residents into shelters with sustained winds of more than 100 miles per hour.

National emergency officials have assembled a task force of thousands of people to assist in search and rescue efforts as needed. Officials warned of dangerous storm surge and flooding from heavy rains. And, authorities have reported rock and mudslides blocking some area roads.

Agatha is the strongest hurricane on record to make landfall in May in the eastern Pacific.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

EU leaders divided over Russia oil embargo » European Union leaders huddled on Monday in a renewed show of support for Ukraine. But they are still struggling over how to end Europe’s dependence on Russian energy.

At the start of a two-day summit, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tried to manage expectations, regarding new sanctions on Russian oil.

LEYEN: My expectations are low that it will be solved in the next 48 hours. But I’m confident that thereafter, there will be a possibility.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the bloc's 27 leaders by video.

ZELENSKYY: [Speaking in Ukrainian]

He again urged leaders to step up sanctions against Russia’s energy sector. The EU gets about 40 percent of its natural gas and 25 percent of its oil from Russia.

Von der Leyen recently announced a sixth round of sanctions against Russia, but those plans have hit a snag. The EU initially aimed to phase out imports of Russian crude oil within six months and refined products by the end of the year.

But some countries that are especially reliant on Russian energy are reportedly telling EU leaders that they cannot sign on to tougher measures anytime soon.

Hungary, for example, gets more than 60 percent of its oil and 85 percent of its natural gas from Russia.

Gas prices hit another record high » Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has of course contributed to rising gas prices, which have hit another record high in the United States.

Patrick De Haan with Gasbuddy.com said Monday…

DE HAAN: The national average is up about 2.5 cents per gallon in the last week. We are looking at the highest Memorial Day ever at the pump. The national average at $4.60. That’s nearly $1.60 higher than where it was just a year ago.

And De Haan said gas prices will likely head higher. He added that demand for gas is already seasonally soft, and as prices continue to climb, demand will likely dip further, which could eventually put some downward pressure on prices.

Kansas has the lowest average price at the moment, $4.13 per gallon. California, as usual, the highest in the nation with a per gallon average of $6.15.

3 more bodies found after Georgia boat crash; man charged » In Savannah, Georgia, Coast Guard searchers have recovered the bodies of three missing boaters after two vessels collided on a Georgia river, raising the death toll of the weekend crash. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin has more.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: Authorities found two people dead shortly after the vessels collided on Saturday on the Wilmington River. The recovery of three more bodies brings the death toll from the accident to five.

Police arrested one of the surviving boaters and charged him with boating under the influence. They identified him as 45-year-old Mark Christopher Stegall.

The Coast Guard said one of the boats had six people aboard and the other carried three people. At least four people were taken to hospitals.

The crash is the second involving a boat and serious injuries on the Wilmington River this month. A local businessman was killed in a crash on May 5th.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

I’m Kent Covington. Straight ahead: mourning and ministry in Uvalde.

Plus, counting everyday blessings.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Tuesday the 31st of May, 2022.

This is World Radio and we’re so happy you’ve joined us today. Good morning, I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. First up on The World and Everything in It: mourning with those who mourn.

One week ago, another shock. A gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. The funerals began this week.

WORLD’s Bonnie Pritchett traveled to the farming community of about 15 thousand at the end of last week. She talked with pastors and community members about how they’re coping.

BONNIE PRITCHETT, REPORTER: Two days after the shooting, shock, anger, and grief shroud Uvalde like the oppressive south Texas heat. Across town, from restaurants to makeshift memorials, residents linger in tight, spontaneous hugs. Some discreetly wipe away tears as if to stifle a public outburst—especially in view of all the strangers and cameras in town.

AUDIO: [MEDIA YELLING]

Hordes of media, curious out-of-towners, and kind-hearted volunteers converged on the town less than 24 hours after the attack. And everyone’s asking the same question: why?

Local pastors like Tony Gruben of Baptist Temple Church admit they’re struggling to provide answers.

GRUBEN: I have those questions: Why did you let this happen? You know, we have those questions. And God can handle those. And now, I probably can't handle the answer. But I also know and I look back on God is good…

Shattered families and a devastated community may not be ready to hear that. At least not now.

GRUBEN: They're mad at God, and it comes out. And they're mad at everybody…

On the day of the shooting, Gruben waited at the Uvalde Civic Center with other local pastors. Sequestered in another room, families waited to learn whether their child was hospitalized with injuries or dead.

Only pastors who had a relationship with the families were allowed to wait with them. To Gruben, it appeared not many families had that relationship. He’s pastored in this agricultural community for 19 years. And the spiritual ground has been hard to till.

Joe Ruiz agrees. He was born and raised in Uvalde and now pastors Templo Christiano Tree City Church.

RUIZ: We're living in a generation that, you know, people don't think they need God. You know, the younger generation. They're smart. They go to college, you know, they can figure things out. Or they think they can figure things out, you know, and they're very wise…

Then tragedy strikes. And, suddenly, people start questioning God.

For more than one reason, the deaths hit close to home for Ruiz. His cousin’s wife, Eva Mireles, was one of the teachers killed.

RUIZ: A young couple that they come to the English service. Their son got hit in the shoulder, but thank God, he went through surgery and he's doing good. Now, we do have a another sister that comes to church. She had two nieces, and they didn't make it…

How does he minister to the grieving?

RUIZ: Let me tell you this in my own personal life. Ten months ago, my son passed away in a motorcycle accident…

The morning after the school shooting, Ruiz awoke before dawn with the same sense of emptiness and desperation he felt the night his son died.

RUIZ: Since my son died, I had always been asking the Lord, what was the purpose of my son dying? You know, And that, that early morning, I felt that the Lord told me the purpose of your son dying was so that you can understand the hearts of the parents today. But I think that, you know, for me going through that, I was able to have answers hopefully have not maybe the answer completely because we never will. But I have a bigger picture that now the 10 months that have gone by.

Pastor Tony Gruben also sees God’s providential work prior to last Tuesday.

GRUBEN: Well, there are people here that are doing jobs. They went to school to be a counselor, they didn't go to school to know that they were gonna do this noise. But God did. And God has those people there that had been trained and ready, that have good hearts that are working under extreme, beyond measure stress. And doing it greatly…

Even his role as president of the Uvalde Ministerial Alliance seems part of God’s plan. Gruben initially balked at being the media spokesman for some of the local pastors.

GRUBEN: I said, Lord, help me to share the gospel. I talked to Time Magazine this morning for 30 minutes. I've talked to news service from Denmark, and interviewed by a guy in Australia last night at the prayer thing. Talking to the major news network in Canada. But my prayer has been ‘Lord, you know, I talk like a hick and everybody’s gonna go, that’s the dumpiest old place in the world. But Lord, help me to, to share the gospel in a, in a relevant and understandable way’…

The pastors are grateful for the outpouring of support outsiders have shown to their community. But they know that assistance will eventually run dry, leaving them to water and till the spiritual ground, so hearts don’t grow hard.

When asked how Christians across the country can help, both Tony Gruben and Joe Ruiz are quick with an answer.

RUIZ: Pray. You know, prayer works. Prayer gives us strength and gives us direction. So just pray for us. I know that right now there's a lot of people in Uvalde and that's great, you know they are supporting Uvalde, but in three weeks, four weeks, when everybody's gone, is when people are really gonna feel it.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Bonnie Pritchett in Uvalde, Texas.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: North Korea is up to its old tricks, once again flexing its military muscles.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: North Korea’s launched several more missiles within the last week, including the country’s biggest intercontinental ballistic missile. Those are just the latest in a long series of missile launches in recent months.

That has South Korea and Western nations calling for a new round of sanctions against the North.

EICHER: Joining us now to talk about it is Anthony Ruggiero. He worked at the White House as a senior national security advisor to President Trump. He also served as the National Security Council’s Director for North Korea. 

REICHARD: Anthony, good morning!

ANTHONY RUGGIERO, GUEST: Good morning. Thanks for having me.

REICHARD: Well, you were national security adviser for much of the time in the Trump years, and plenty of ups and downs in U.S. relations with North Korea. Walk us through some of the twists and turns as you advised the White House during that time.

RUGGIERO: Well, North Korea has been the subject that we’ve been dealing with really back since 1994. And North Korea likes to do these kinds of provocations, really, for two reasons. The first is to make sure their equipment and new missiles and probably eventually a nuclear test works properly. But then also they're trying to really extract concessions from us. I think the Trump administration started out with a lot of pressure, which led to leader level face to face meetings. But unfortunately, the Trump administration reduced that pressure and, and Biden has continued, really with very minimal pressure on North Korea.

reichard: There were lots of face to face meetings between Kim Jong Un and President Trump along with a major shift in tone—much friendlier. Do you think Kim was sincere back then about striking a nuclear deal or was that merely a charm offensive?

RUGGIERO: Well, I think the leader level meetings are important, important to themselves, because those are the two individuals that can make the decisions, and especially in North Korea, where there's not a lot of input. I mean, there's certainly some input, but for the most part, Kim, the leader, makes these decisions. And we had not had a sitting U.S. president have that conversation directly with a North Korean leader. And I noticed the interesting point that President Biden, when he was in Asia, made the same point that he'd be willing to sit down but with an important caveat, if Kim was ready to have serious discussions. So while the meetings seemed friendly—and they were friendly, the real missing element is and was, and still is, whether North Korea has made what we call the strategic decision to denuclearize. And until that that major decision is made, it's not getting at the core issue with regard to North Korea's nuclear program.

REICHARD: Anthony, what do you think is behind the timing of the stepped up missile launches? Why now?

RUGGIERO: Yeah, I think the thing that might surprise people is that we've seen and we're only going into, about to enter the sixth month of this year, we've already had more missile launches in 2022 than we had in 2020 and 2021 combined. I think he's certainly focused on the military aspect of that, because these are a variety of missile launches. But he is sending a signal. Essentially, he is comfortable with the status quo. And unfortunately, we have done little to change his approach. And so, especially he believes we’re distracted by the war in Ukraine, and he's probably right by that. And I think he's just trying to take advantage and move his program forward in the interim.

REICHARD: What do you think is the right path forward for the United States and the rest of the world to rein in North Korea?

RUGGIERO: Financial sanctions are inadequate and infrequent. They have increased some of the military pressure. Again, when Biden was in South Korea with the new South Korean president, they talked about restoring and potentially enhancing the military exercises that the U.S. has with South Korea. Of course, we have more than 28,000 troops on the peninsula in South Korea. But really, we're talking about the financial pressure. This is the ability to reduce the amount of resources, both the items that are needed for these programs, but then the money themselves that go into North Korea and really force Kim to make a different decision. And when you look at it, the sanctions really were at the apex the last year of the Barack Obama administration in 2016, and the first two years of the Donald Trump administration in 2017 and 2018. And really, you see a dramatic drop off that, unfortunately, Biden has sustained. In those three years alone, you can see more than 65% of all sanctions since 2005 have been issued during those three years. So really, we need to return to that pressure campaign. It's pretty easy. We're showing with regard to Russia that we know how to implement a pressure campaign. It'd be great if we decided to do the same, just in a little different way with regard to North Korea.

REICHARD: Do you believe North Korea poses a real nuclear threat … or is it just chest thumping and blackmail to try and get concessions from the United States?

RUGGIERO: Well, it can be both. I think blackmail, both to the United States and to South Korea. I mean, Kim's ultimate goal, just as his father and grandfather before him, is to reunify the Korean peninsula on his terms. And as I mentioned, there are American troops there, so that would mean Americans in harm's way. But I think that folks should be very concerned in the sense that North Korea may look like sometimes a backwards country, but their technology is for real. The nuclear side, the missile side, and it's definitely something that we want to make sure that we are able to roll back.

REICHARD: We’ve been talking to Anthony Ruggiero, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Anthony, thanks so much!

RUGGIERO: Thank you for having me.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Engineers at Northwestern University in Illinois have just developed the world’s smallest remote-controlled walking robot. And just wait till you hear how small it is.

The robot is designed to resemble a tiny crab with eight legs, but even smaller than the smallest pea crab. It can not only walk, it can twist, turn, and even jump.

Professor John Rogers said it took a year and a half to develop the tiny creatures.

Rogers said the robots could be used to help repair small machines or even in surgeries! That’s because the minuscule robotic crabs are just a half-millimeter wide. That is smaller than a flea!

REICHARD: And presumably less itchy.

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

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Tuesday, May 31st. We’re glad you’ve turned 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: honoring our nation’s fallen.

AUDIO: [SOUND OF WREATH LAYING]

President Joe Biden and the first lady attended the 154th National Memorial Day observance yesterday at Arlington National Cemetery. The ceremony began with the traditional wreath laying at the tomb of the unknown soldier.

REICHARD: A few minutes later the president addressed a small crowd gathered at the nearby Memorial Amphitheater. He honored the nation’s fallen, reflected on the life of his son, and emphasized the importance of protecting the freedom others died defending.

EICHER: Here is a portion of his Memorial Day speech. We have shortened it to fit the available time.

U.S. PRESIDENT JOSEPH BIDEN: They lie here in glory and honor — in quiet rows in Arlington, in cemeteries in Europe that I visited and many of you have, in graves across our country, in towns large and small — America’s beloved daughters and sons who dared all, risked all, and gave all to preserve and defend an idea unlike any other in human history: the idea of the United States of America.

And today, as a nation, we undertake a sacred ritual: to reflect and to remember. Because if we forget the lives that each of those silent markers represent — mothers, fathers, siblings, spouses, children — if we forget what they sacrificed, what they made, then we forget who we are. … Today we renew our sacred vow — it’s a simple vow: to remember.

Memorial Day is always a day where pain and pride are mixed together. We all know it, sitting here…folks, for those who have lost a loved one in the service of our country, if your loved one is missing or unaccounted for, I know the ceremonies reopen that black hole in the center of your chest that just pulls you in, suffocates you…

Days like this bring back, before your eyes, their smile and their laugh. And the last conversation you had, each of you know it.

The hurt can be overwhelming. But for so many of you, as is with Jill and me, the hurt is wrapped around the knowledge that your loved one was part of something bigger — bigger than any of us. They chose a life of purpose…

They had a mission. And above all, they believed in duty; they believed in honor; they believed in their country. And still today, we are free because they were brave. We live by the light of the flame of liberty that they kept burning. And so a part of them is still with us no matter how long ago we lost them.

And as hard as it is for many to believe, especially those whose loss is still raw, I promise you the day will come when the memory of your loved one, your patriot, will bring a smile to your lip before it brings a tear to your eye. That’s when you know you’re going to make it.

Today, American service members stand watch around the world, and, as many of you know, often at great personal risk. And this Memorial Day, we know the memory is still painful of all the fallen who lost their lives during the last two decades in combat. Each of them leaving behind a family, a community. Hearts broken by their absence, and lives that will never be the same.

We see in the hundreds of graves here in Section 60, at Arlington, a reminder that there’s nothing low-risk or low-cost about war for the women and men who fight it.

And so, to every Gold Star family, to every survivor and family member and caregiver: this grateful nation owes you as well as that person you lost. And we can never repay the sacrifice, but we will never stop trying. We’ll never fail in our duty to remember: With their lives, they bought our freedom.

And so, with our lives, we must always live up to their example — putting service before self; caring for our neighbors as ourselves; working fervently to bring our union just that much closer to fulfilling the founding creed, as the Secretary said, that all men and women are created equal…

On Friday, I spoke at the graduation and commissioning of — ceremony of the U.S. Naval Academy, looking out at those young men and women — newly commissioned officers — embarking on a life of service.

They hold before them the example of the heroes who have gone before them — many of your family members — heroes who have answered duty’s call at Lexington and Concord, Antietam and Gettysburg, Belleau Woods and the Battle of the Bulge, in Korea and Vietnam and Afghanistan, Iraq, and so many other places around the world...

Every generation has to defeat democracy’s mortal foes. And into every generation, heroes are born, willing to shed their blood for that which they and we hold dear. Ladies and gentlemen, today we remember and we reaffirm: Freedom is worth the sacrifice. Democracy is not perfect…But it’s worth fighting for; if necessary, worth dying for…

We must never betray the lives laid down to make our nation a beacon to the world — a citadel of liberty and justice for everyone. This is the mission of our time. Our memorial to them must not be just a day when we pause and pray, it must be a daily commitment to act, to come together, to be worthy of the price that was paid.

May God bring comfort to all those who mourn. May God bless our Gold Star families and survivors. And please, God, protect our troops. God bless America and all of you. Thank you. (APPLAUSE)

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Tuesday, May 31st. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. Surprise!

WJI CHOIR: [Happy birthday to you!]

The WJI broadcast-track choir—take a bow!

REICHARD: Awww!

EICHER: And I have some podcake here for you—special theater-of-the-mind confection that can be anything you want it to be, rich and creamy yet calorie free.

REICHARD: I love it! Yeah, not afraid to say it’s my Big Six Oh. Feel like I’m just now getting into my productive years. I mean I only figured out what I wanted to do when I was in my 40s! And now I get to do the work I’m convinced God put me here to do.

EICHER: I for one am glad you found your calling here at WORLD. We’ve been cohosting together for five years and this also happens to be your 10th anniversary with WORLD.

REICHARD: What a great decade it’s been!

And I don’t mind if you went through this whole month of the New Donor Drive kind of on the fence about giving for the first time. It would absolutely make my day if you picked today, my sixtieth birthday, to make a gift. Maybe a sixty dollar first time gift, maybe that amount recurring. That would make my birthday even that much more special.

EICHER: Well, that’s right, this is the final day of our New Donor Drive. You’ve heard encouragements from listeners like you for the past four weeks, you’ve heard encouragements from us … and today is the final day for you if you’ve never given before to cast your vote for the kind of biblically objective journalism you’ve come to trust. If you would visit WNG.org/donate today and make a first-time gift we’d be grateful.

And happy birthday!

REICHARD: Thanks! It already is. I’m grateful for the years.

And speaking of grateful, here’s WORLD commentator Whitney Williams on keeping things in perspective.

WHITNEY WILLIAMS, COMMENTATOR: I wake just before 6 a.m., brush my teeth, and tiptoe past my children’s bedrooms toward the kitchen to make some coffee. I avoid turning on lights, hoping to have just a few moments to myself—they’re drawn to the light.

As I make my way from the hallway into the living room, I’m startled by heavy breathing nearby. I squint through the darkness and spy crouching tiger, hidden 8-year-old boy, ready to pounce. But I’m not ready. Not ready at all.

My son promptly asks if I will play Gaga ball with him on the trampoline, while at the same time requesting that we make Funfetti pancakes. Oh, and “can we invite a friend over today?” he asks.

The long day ahead looms and intimidates—it will have sweet moments. But also crying, whining, and fights between brothers. Oh, and messes—plus, so many snack and screen-time requests.

While I attempt to read a quick devotional, my son emits random shrills, bumps into my chair, and tosses Farkle dice into the air. As the dice hit our stained concrete floor and bound in all different directions, my irritation and impatience rise. I wonder if the Lord’s new morning mercies have slept in.

“I need you today, Lord,” I silently pray. “Help me.” And He does. My children and I have a good day together, overall, though not without challenges.

Later that evening, I get a text from my mother-in-law. “Have you seen the news?” she writes. “Awful.”

I hadn’t.

I open the news app on my phone. “At least 19 Children Killed in Elementary School Shooting,” the headline reads.

The sticky hands of hell reach up and pull my soul down into my stomach. I’m reminded that faith and grief are not mutually exclusive.

The next morning, I drop my boys off at their Nana and Papa’s—they’re working on a treehouse. I slog through Walmart, thinking about the mamas, just like me, who sent their kids to school that day never dreaming that it would be the last time they’d interact. Had any of them been short with their child that morning? I wondered. Frustrated by whining, sinfulness, or sluggishness? Overwhelmed by all of the end-of-school to-dos? Most likely, I thought. And most understandable.

“God be with those mamas,” I pray, continually, as I make my way through my day’s work. “God help them. Help.”

Later that afternoon, three precious, hungry, sweaty gifts from God bid farewell to their Nana and Papa and barrel into my minivan.

“Y’all better buckle up,” I tell them, with renewed gratefulness, “cuz Mama’s ‘bout to whoop your booties in some Gaga ball.”

AUDIO: [Whitney and kids playing “Gaga ball” on the trampoline]

I think I’ll make time for Funfetti pancakes tomorrow, too.

I’m Whitney Williams.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Tomorrow: alliances in the Pacific. We’ll talk about U.S. foreign policy in the region.

And, World Tour.

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.

Today’s the last day of our new donor drive. I’d be so honored if you’d join the team on this day especially—as it’s a milestone birthday for me, 60! Just go to WNG.org/newdonor. Full speed ahead!

The Bible says: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; … and later on in the passage: if we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself. (2 Timothy 2: 11-13 ESV)

Go now in grace and peace.

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