The World and Everything in It - September 14, 2021

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning!

Get vaccinated or lose your job. President Biden’s mandate creates division among 100 million workers.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Also California’s top job. Voters today decide whether Governor Gavin Newsom keeps his job or loses it.

Plus we’ll meet a man who always wanted to be a missionary aviator, but found a calling instead to serve missionaries.

And when shortcuts cut short your enjoyment.

REICHARD: It’s Tuesday, September 14th. 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: Now here’s Kent Covington with today’s news.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Blinken defends handling of Afghanistan withdrawal in House testimony » Secretary of State Tony Blinken on Monday defended the Biden administration’s handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal.

Blinken told members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee...

BLINKEN: Even the most pessimistic assessments did not predict that government forces in Kabul would collapse while US forces remained.

He once again blamed the Trump administration, saying President Biden inherited a deal with the Taliban to end the war. But Republicans have noted that the Taliban repeatedly violated that agreement.

The Ranking Republican on the committee, Congressman Michael McCaul, said he wasn’t impressed by the administration’s excuses.

MCCAUL: This was an unmitigated disaster of epic proportions. I never thought in my lifetime that I would see an unconditional surrender to the Taliban.

Republicans have been demanding answers as to why American citizens were left behind in Afghanistan. They said they did not get satisfactory answers on Monday.

Blinken will testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today.

Taliban hunts U.S.-trained counterterrorism agents » Meantime in Afghanistan, Taliban militants are reportedly hunting down U.S.-allied Afghans who were left behind.

The Times in London reports that Taliban death squads have hunted down and executed at least four Afghan counterterrorism agents trained by U.S. and British forces. They were said to be members of units based at the National Directorate of Security—NDS for short.

The reports says Taliban militants tortured at least one of the men before killing him.

A top official working at the headquarters of the NDS told the paper that the Taliban got a hold of laptops and paperwork from the headquarters after capturing Kabul last month and are using that information to hunt down NDS agents.

Earlier this month, CNN reported accusations that Taliban fighters murdered a pregnant woman in front of her family members. And militants have killed several anti-Taliban demonstrators.

House Dems unveil planned tax hikes » House Democrats have unveiled their planned tax hikes as part of $3.5 trillion dollar spending proposal. WORLD’s Anna Johansen Brown reports.

ANNA JOHANSEN BROWN, REPORTER: Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee revealed a plan to fund the massive spending package by raising taxes on high-income Americans and corporations.

The largest increase, for businesses earning more than $5 million per year, would raise the rate from 21 percent to 26.5 percent. Couples earning more than $450,000 would be taxed at nearly 40 percent, up from 37. The plan also includes an additional 3 percent tax on people earning more than $5 million dollars.

GOP lawmakers say the tax hikes would hurt businesses and further stall job growth. Some also warn that raising corporate taxes could further fuel inflation.

The spending plan is in jeopardy. Democrat Senator Joe Manchin says he won’t support it. And without his vote, the bill cannot pass in the evenly divided Senate.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Anna Johansen Brown.

Nicholas slams Texas coastline » Tropical Storm Nicholas struck the Texas coastline last night after gathering strength over warm Gulf waters.

Nicholas battered coastal communities with winds around 70 miles per hour.

But the biggest threat with this storm is flooding. This will be a major rain event for days in Southeastern Texas and Louisiana.

Eric Blake with the National Hurricane Center...

BLAKE: We expect most of the Texas coast will be affected, especially the middle and upper Texas coast. We are expecting storm total rainfall of 8 to 16 inches with isolated totals of up to 20 inches.

Several schools in the Houston and Galveston area closed down on Monday as the region braced for the storm’s arrival, likely later today.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the state has placed rescue teams and resources in the Houston area and along the Texas Gulf Coast.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards has already declared a state of emergency. The state is still reeling from Hurricane Ida’s destruction. Nicholas is expected to blow into Louisiana tomorrow.

N.Korea says it has tested new long-range rockets » North Korea said Monday that it successfully tested new long-range cruise missiles over the weekend. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin reports.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: The state-run Korean Central News Agency published photos of a rocket launching from a large truck and then what appeared to be a missile soaring into the sky.

The tested rocket reportedly traveled more than 900 miles before plunging into North Korea’s territorial waters.

Pyongyang is hailing it as a “strategic weapon of great significance.” The wording implies they intend to arm the rockets with nuclear warheads.

U.S.-led negotiations on the nuclear issue have been stalled since the collapse of a summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and then-President Donald Trump in 2019.

North Korea ended a yearlong pause in ballistic tests in March by firing two short-range missiles into the sea, continuing a tradition of testing new U.S. administrations to measure Washington’s response.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin. 

I’m Kent Covington. Straight ahead: workers respond to the president’s vaccine mandate.

Plus, a lesson on efficiency from hummingbirds.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: It’s Tuesday the 14th of September, 2021. Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. First up: vaccine mandates.

On Thursday, President Biden announced sweeping vaccine mandates for four categories of Americans: workers in private companies that have 100 or more employees; most federal workers and federal contractors; teachers and staff at federal programs related to education; and finally, healthcare workers at facilities that receive money from Medicare or Medicaid.

REICHARD: All-in-all, the mandates cover about 100 million American workers. If they don’t comply, they could face getting fired. WORLD’s Sarah Schweinsberg reports.

SARAH SCHWEINSBERG, REPORTER: In some respects, Rebecca wasn’t all that surprised by the Biden administration’s new vaccine mandate. She figured the government would require federal employees and maybe even medical workers to get vaccinated.

But she was surprised her company got caught up in the requirements.

Rebecca works for an appliance repair business in Washington state. It has about 130 employees. We’re not using her last name to protect her job.

REBECCA: I don't think anybody thought that it would be mandated for private, like, employers, especially. So yeah, I think I am a little surprised on that.

Rebecca doesn’t want to get the vaccine. She and her husband have been struggling with infertility for the past two years. She’s concerned about how it could affect her hormones. She also doesn’t want to get it for religious and political reasons.

REBECCA: I don't feel like the government should be telling us what to do.

Her husband works at a hospital, so he’s also affected by the mandate. If the federal government is able to implement its vaccine requirements, they could both lose their jobs.

REBECCA: So our life is up in the air.

But that’s a big ‘if” says Jonathan Emord. He’s an attorney who specializes in health law claims. He says the Biden administration’s mandates violate the Constitution as well as federal law.

EMORD: So for those who have natural immunity, this likely violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution. It likely violates the 10th Amendment. And as applied to the States that would violate what's called the anti-commandeering doctrine, which prevents the federal government from commandeering the states and forcing them to implement a federal mandate. He has usurped the power of Congress, because Congress has the exclusive power to make the laws. Then there are federal statutory laws that he's violating. So under Title V of the Rehabilitation Act, which implements the Americans with Disabilities Act on the federal level, he has violated the rights of those who are disabled.

Emord believes lawsuits will swamp the mandates—lawsuits that could take months if not years to litigate.

EMORD: It's going to drown the nation in a cesspool of litigation. And as a result, years will pass before there's any resolution to this.

Some Republican governors are already threatening legal challenges, taking to Twitter to voice their opposition. They especially take issue with the mandate requiring private companies to get their employees vaccinated—something that would cover 80 million workers.

On Friday, President Biden said he would welcome the lawsuits.

Some legal experts say the president is on solid legal ground. Lawrence Gostin is a professor of global health law at Georgetown University.

GOSTIN: President Biden doesn't have the general power to require vaccinations across America. But he does have substantial, specific powers. As a funder for Medicaid and Medicare, he can set reasonable conditions on the receipt of Medicare or Medicaid funds. In this case, asking hospitals and health care facilities to vaccinate everyone. And under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, Congress gave him express power to regulate health and safety in the workplace. And that's why he's able, clearly, to require vaccines in large businesses across the United States.

But the president’s mandates reflect a substantial change in position with his administration resisting earlier calls for nation-wide mandates.

Dr. Amesh Adalja is an expert in infectious diseases at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. He says even though 65 percent of Americans are already vaccinated, the Delta variant forced President Biden’s hand.

ADALJA: I think that there's frustration, especially among healthcare workers, that we're continuing to deal with COVID-19 at a level that it shouldn't be at, because we've got such a great tool. And the the amount of data I think, is overwhelming in support of the fact that what we are in is a pandemic of the unvaccinated, the pandemic of the non immune.

But President Biden’s order could have downsides…both for the economy and his popularity.

In a Washington Post-ABC News survey taken two weeks ago, only 16 percent of unvaccinated respondents said they’d get shots if their employer required them. One-third said they’d ask for an exemption while nearly half said they would quit. That could make the economy’s ongoing labor shortage even worse.

Mark Caleb Smith is a political scientist at Cedarville University. He says the mandates' popularity could go either way with employers and the public.

SMITH: I think there's an awful lot of virus fatigue out there. And maybe some people will welcome his action and see it as a strong step of leadership. It could also play in just the other direction, right, create a lot of enemies out of people who are sympathetic to him. They could view this as just such an amazing abuse of power, that they're no longer supportive of him.

Smith anticipates the courts will bring resolution to the legality of the mandates sooner than later.

SMITH: I don't think it'll be long and drawn out, because the courts can move really quickly, if they feel like they have to due to circumstances. I think we're probably looking at more like days or even a couple of weeks, in order to see some sort of resolution.

Meanwhile in Washington state, Rebecca and her husband both plan to file religious exemptions. But if those are denied, they face a difficult choice.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Sarah Schweinsberg.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Up next: the California recall.

Voters will head back to the polls today in the Golden State to decide whether Gov. Gavin Newsom can keep his job.

Critics of the Democratic governor gathered more than 2 million signatures to force the recall election under state law. They cited, in part, his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and related to that back in November, photos showed the governor mingling in a restaurant without a mask even as he mandated that Californians mask up in public. He later apologized, calling it a “bad mistake,” but the political damage was done.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: That’s not the only complaint his opponents have. The petition that led to the recall vote stated, quote: “People in this state suffer the highest taxes in the nation, the highest homelessness rates, and the lowest quality of life as a result.”

Well, here now to fill us in on the latest in the California recall election and what it all means is Kyle Kondik. He is director of communications at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics. 

Kyle, good morning!

KYLE KONDIK, GUEST: Good morning.

REICHARD: Well, Kyle, gubernatorial recall votes are pretty rare. If memory serves, it happened once before in 2003 and that was the election that made Arnold Schwarzenegger governor, correct?

KONDIK: Yeah, there's only been four in American history. There are a number of states that do have the provisions for recalls. About 20 years ago, Democratic Governor Gray Davis was recalled. He was much more unpopular than Gavin Newsom is now. But, of course, Gray Davis ended up being replaced by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

One other famous gubernatorial recall more recently was Scott Walker, who was the Republican governor of Wisconsin faced a recall vote in 2012. That was a little bit different. It was a lot different, really, than what is happening in California, because what happens in a recall in Wisconsin is that there's actually an opponent who gets nominated, and it's sort of another election, and it ended up being Republican Scott Walker versus a Democrat in that race.

REICHARD: Okay, so let’s drill down to specifics in California and explain how this works. Republican Larry Elder is Newsom’s top opponent—and I’ll ask you about him in a moment. But is Elder actually on the ballot? Or would Newsom’s replacement be decided separately if voters decided to oust him?

KONDIK: So, the ballot has two questions. The first one is just an up or down vote on Gavin Newsom—do you want to recall him or not? And then voters also can vote—if they want—for a replacement and that's where Larry Elder’s name is on the ballot and almost four dozen other candidates. Elder has emerged as sort of the the clear alternative to Newsom in the sense that Elder generally polls much higher than the other candidates. But it is not really, you know, it's not who do you choose: Newsom or Elder. It's do you want to recall Newsom and then who do you want to replace Newsom if in fact he is recalled? And the Democrats—there are Democrats on the ballot, but there's really not a prominent Democrat on the ballot. Which is different than in 2003 when Chris Bustamante, who was the Lieutenant Governor—Democrat at the time—he was on a ballot as sort of a clear alternative--Democratic alternative to Gray Davis. There are several prominent Republicans—Larry Elder, conservative radio talk show host, is the most prominent. But also Kevin Faulconer, who is a former mayor of San Diego and has long been regarded as the Republicans’ sort of top statewide prospect. Also John Cox who is Newsom’s opponent in 2018. And, you know, there are other celebrities on the ballot like Caitlyn Jenner, the reality television star.

REICHARD: Okay, now for those who don’t know, who is Larry Elder and how did he come to be the governor’s leading rival?

KONDIK: Elder has been around for a long time. He's sort of a prominent conservative commentator. And I think he basically just had kind of the best name ID and the best profile of these alternative Republican candidates. And so he began to lead in the polls and I think in some ways, Newsom has sort of elevated Elder to his main opponent because I think Newsom wanted there to be a clear foil on the Republican side and someone who has, kind of, you know, he's a radio talk show host and so he’s -- definitely those sorts of people can say a lot of outrageous things over time and so Elder has and those are things that Newsom has highlighted. And so I think in some ways maybe Newsom has been kind of running against Elder which is a way for Elder to have increased his own prominence. But I think that's probably also been helpful to Newsom and there's been some -- you know, just--over time there’s sort of more opposition research has come out on Elder, which I think has had a benefit for Newsom.

REICHARD: What does the latest polling suggest might happen today?

KONDIK: It looks like Newsom is in good shape. I think if you kind of average the recent polls—keep Newsom versus remove Newsom, the keep side is up by double digits. And also, California has a very robust vote by mail system. And in fact, starting in 2020, every voter is mailed a ballot as is done in some other Western states. So that was a sort of a change to based on COVID. But California already had a very robust system of early and mail-in voting, etc. But there have already been close to 8 million ballots returned. And we do know the sort of statistics about the ballots returned. And more than 50% of the ballots come from registered Democrats—only about 25% of registered Republicans, the rest are Independents. That basically approximates what the partisan breakdown in California is anyway, in terms of registered voters. There's just way more registered Democrats than registered Republicans. Now, look, it's possible that there are a significant number of registered Democrats who vote to recall Newsom and if this thing ends up a lot closer than then the polling indicates, that probably will have been what had happened. But California is also known for having kind of a long vote count. So we'll probably have -- if this thing is actually really close, we may not know the winner on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. But we should have enough of the vote in that if Newsom won relatively comfortably, that should probably be clear from the returns.

REICHARD: Kyle Kondik with the University of Virginia‘s Center for Politics has been our guest. Kyle, thanks so much!

KONDIK: Thank you.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Football fans in Miami felt all the drama on Saturday during a game between the Miami Hurricanes and the Appalachian State Mountaineers.

But the drama wasn’t on the field at the Hard Rock Stadium.

Fans’ eyes were glued to the rafters as a small black and white cat dangled from the upper deck, desperately clinging to a nylon banner several stories above the terrace below.

The cat held on with one paw, swiping the air with the other, gradually losing its grip.

AUDIO: [SOUND FROM STADIUM]

And then it happened. Unable to hold on any longer, the cat plunged some 50 feet to a near-certain death.

AUDIO: [SOUND FROM STADIUM]

But this story has a happy ending.

Some fans below had unfurled a flag, using it as a net.

The cat initially fell into the flag before bouncing into the rows below where a fan caught it.

The gasps quickly turned to cheers as he held the cat over his head, like Simba in the Lion King.

Now that had to be the biggest catch of the game!

It’s The World and Everything in It.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Tuesday, September 14th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

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

Coming next on The World and Everything in It we return to the Experimental Aircraft Association “Air Venture”— held each summer in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Hundreds of thousands of fans come for the air show, exhibitions, and friendships. Many Christian missionary organizations also fly in to meet and mingle. And thanks to one man and a team of volunteers, they’re well cared for by a network of local churches. 

WORLD’s Hayley Schoeppler has the story.

AUDIO: [SOUND OF CAR]

HAYLEY SCHOEPPLER, REPORTER: It’s a rainy morning in Wisconsin, and while a vanful of missionaries are still waking up, their driver, Lee Smoll is ready for the day.

SMOLL: We've got a car full of people in the back and they are watching things happen and listening to the rain and hoping it goes away before we get too far into the day. But it's been kind of amazing.

Smoll does a whole lot more than just drive people around during the annual EAA AirVenture event. He works behind the scenes to make sure that over 200 guests at Oshkosh are taken care of—from housing, to meals, to transportation.

AUDIO: [CHURCH]

Echoes of his story could be heard in an opening prayer at a nearby church that kicked off the week-long event for the Christian aviators:

NEVIN: They don’t realize planes and Jesus can go together. Lord there’s going to be a lot of idolatry this week, people coming to Oshkosh because they worship planes. I pray Lord, this week, we could redirect those affections to you in a meaningful way that you might be glorified.

A “redirection of affections” is exactly what happened to Lee Smoll. Back in the 1970s, EAA and AirVenture were just beginning in Oshkosh. Smoll’s story started with a car ride.

SMOLL: One of the guys at our church, this friend of mine, knew that I was interested in missionary aviation. And so he said, “Lee, why don't you pick up Bob Griffin at the airport in Appleton and take him to Oshkosh."

At the time, missionary pilot Bob Griffin served with JAARS, originally Jungle Aviation and Radio Service. The ministry saw EAA as a great opportunity to get the word out about their work to aviators. Smoll jumped at the opportunity to help.

He was facing what might be called a midlife crisis. He loved aviation and felt like God wanted him to do something with airplanes —yet when he tried, he kept hitting dead ends. That car ride sparked an idea.

SMOLL: Then I think the next year or something like that, we said let's have a social event in the midweek and the JAARS people were here and so we had a corn roast on Wednesday night and invited some of our local friends and we went out and join them for the corn roast.

Through these socials, Smoll would meet another local who was interested in aviation—Debbie. She’s now his wife. But that’s not the end of the story as they’ll tell you:

SMOLL: I wanted to enjoy Oshkosh. And so I took my three boys. And we went down there and stayed the whole week and we camped out right beside Bob and Louise Griffin as they've made food for the JAARS people. And there by then there was probably five or six people . . .

Seeing the Christian missionaries cooking their own food gave Lee an idea. Soon he’d mobilized local Christians to bring in food for the missionaries at EAA so they could focus more on the event.

SMOLL: I says hey, you go to a church in Oshkosh, why don't you bring food in and serve it to these people and so her church decided sure we can do that.

At first things went well, but as EAA grew, they signed a food contract with a catering company. This meant the church team could no longer bring in food for the missionaries.

SMOLL: So they ended up telling us that we can't do that, they kicked us off the grounds that year, and said next year, you can't be on the ground. So if you want to do something you got to you got to do it a little differently. So the next year, then we set up, there's a farm right south of the EAA grounds. And the farm there was a little bit further, but we set up our camp ground there . . .

Word got around though—all the way up to the AirVenture founder.

SMOLL: Paul Poberezny found out about it, when Paul realized that they had done that, His comment was, don't mess with God. Don't mess with God. And they came back to us. And I heard the story and was able to walk in there and they blessed us with armbands for the week. They blessed us with a free campsite that we could go right outside the South Gate. South Gate was a lot closer at that point. But we got a special blessing from the EAA friends. And ever since then, we have been blessed.

After years of praying for a way to serve God through aviation, Smoll found his calling with his “Mission Aviation Support Association,” or “MASA” for short:

SMOLL: We're now serving three meals a day, to the missionaries that come to Oshkosh. And each year, there's right now 250 or so coming, and we're serving those three meals a day. And when you put five and five together, we've got about 5000 plates of food that we serve during the week at the EAA. It's incredible.

From meals to housing, from driving a vanful of missionaries to building personal relationships with many missionaries over the years —Smoll loves this annual opportunity.

SMOLL: When you get a team together, rubbing elbows for the week and dreaming and talking and thinking, things change and things happen to see God do some mighty things with us while we were at the EAA, you know, and so it's been awesome.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Hayley Schoeppler in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Tuesday, September 14th. Good morning! You’re listening to The World and Everything in It and we’re so glad you are! I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. Ain’t nothing like the real thing, the old song says. And WORLD commentator Kim Henderson found that to be true.

KIM HENDERSON, COMMENTATOR: On Labor Day we did as all good Americans do. We labored over household to-do lists. My husband’s list involved downing a huge lightning-struck tree.

The good news is the tree landed pretty much where he planned for it to fall. The bad news is I insulted the hummingbirds. Yeah, the hummingbirds.

It all happened because I somehow found time to grill burgers in between the laundry room overhaul and paste wax application stage of a furniture painting project. So we ended up with nine around the table and a freezer of homemade ice cream to enjoy. (Can’t be all labor on Labor Day, right?) Afterwards, those of us without chainsaw skills decided to watch the demise of the white oak from under the pergola.

The first thing you need to know is that ours is no ordinary pergola. It’s covered with wisteria vines, and anybody who’s ever grown wisteria knows this plant has a mind of its own. It took a few years to get going, but once it did, wow. Twisting. Dangling. Climbing. Thick. Guess who loves it? I mean really loves it? Birds, that’s who.

That’s why we have this aviary vibe going on right out our backdoor. Scores of feathered friends swoop in and hang out on the vines, on the strands of lights, even the window ledges. For some reason, hummingbirds get a special invite. Not just one, but two containers of the red stuff beckon them to an all-you-can-eat buffet anytime they like. And you better believe, they like.

So we were out there dividing our time between watching the bird show and the lumberjacks when I noticed the feeders were empty. Well, nearly empty. I hated to think of those hummingbirds risking all to come within a yard of us for nothing.

But I’ve watched my husband prepare the liquid blend for his feeders. It's laborious business, with mixing charts and cooling times. I really didn’t want to learn how to do it. No, I didn’t, so I decided to just add a little water to what was left in the feeder. Turned out kind of pink. I felt very efficient.

An hour later we all were back in the air conditioning when my husband looked through a window and noticed the hummingbird feeders. He could tell. Suddenly, I no longer felt efficient.

“It’s a science,” he said, bemoaning my compromised concoction. “They will never come back. Never. The word will get out.”

What? Hummingbirds are going to tweet that I’m diluting the formula?

“They’re out there now, Mom,” one of our sons egged on. “They’re saying, ‘No more of this fake stuff. I’m going to Peggy’s.’”

Peggy’s backyard, you see, is known for hummingbird gatherings of ginormous proportions. Peggy, evidently, never dilutes their food.

So I learned my lesson. It’s one that can translate into other areas, too, like watering down the truth. It may seem efficient in the moment, but it will never satisfy a real seeker.

I’m Kim Henderson.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Before we wrap up today—a few words about WORLD Watch.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Or, we should say, a few words from parents about what WORLD Watch brings to their homes.

EICHER: This is about a minute and a half

AUDIO: From a Christian point of view, it's ten minutes, it's geared for kids, and I love to watch it with my kids. It's interesting and it really keeps the kids' attention. And though it's intended for junior high to high school, but really, my kindergartner last year, he really enjoyed it and he remembered lots of things from it.And he would explain things at lunch or dinner to my husband and very excited and in conversation with other adults and grandparents.

… At least half or more than half the stories are related to things going on in other parts of the world and some of the suffering that's going on in some of the unfairness. And it really has opened their eyes to be a place beyond them and has increased their compassion.

… But they never walk away from it being fearful, which with almost any other news broadcast they can, because they're not being reminded on the news for certain that God's in charge of all this like the world is crazy and is outside of our control. But God is in control of all of it

… I think most kids can sense an unrest in adults right now with everything that's going on in the world and they feed off that. So I feel like they were beginning to feed off like, hey, I feel like there's tension in this world and I don't know why. But now they have a little bit more idea of what's going on and they have a little bit more confidence that God is in control.

… For my kiddos, they're thinking outside themselves. It's not just our home and our little world. They're seeing people all over the world and how they're hurting and and how they can pray for those people.

REICHARD: I think that really tells it. My kids are grown and how, how I wish I had this when they were younger.

EICHER: Well mine are grown up, too, and we have grandkids—still really young. But you may have school age young ones or grandchildren in or near high school and WORLD Watch is probably for you, but you can see for yourself, as we mentioned yesterday. We’re offering 1,000 free trials, so claim yours today at WorldWatch.news. Simple as that: WorldWatch.news You’ll see a button “Claim your free 30-day trial.”

REICHARD: Click that and follow the instructions and I predict you’ll love it, just as these parents did.

NICK EICHER, HOST: Tomorrow: a rising Republican star. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis currently leads the pack of GOP presidential hopefuls. We’ll talk about the policies that have made him so popular.

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: Take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

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.