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Good morning. I'm Jane Pauley, and this is Sunday morning. OBESITY. It's one of the most significant public health concerns in America today. posing serious health risks to millions.
It also adds untold strain to the nation's health care system. But what if we told you there's a country that has almost none of these problems? where obesity is virtually nonexistent. That place is Japan. And this morning Adam Yamaguchi shares how moving more and eating less have become hallmarks of modern Japanese culture.
Yeah. In Japan. A healthy weight isn't a goal. It's a lifestyle. Walking is big and the portions are small.
Healthy eating is something they learn at a very young age. I don't know that I've ever been excited about cafeteria food. Uh something tells me this is gonna hit a little different. Stopping obesity before it starts. Ahead on Sunday morning.
From best-selling author to U.S. Senator. To Vice President, J.D. Vance has risen to the top of the nation's political establishment. This morning, our Robert Costa talks with him and Second Lady Usha Vance.
about matters of faith. You've called the second lady a good barometer for whether you've said anything that's a little bit. too far out there. How does she let you know?
Well, she just texts me or calls me, or if we're sitting in the house together, she'll just tell me. You know, Usha is very blunt. It's one of the things I've always loved about Usha from the very beginning. Vice President J.D. Vance has written a new book on what he calls his faith journey.
how it has guided his politics, his family life, and his vision for the country. Later on Sunday morning, the Vice President and the Second Lady. Back in the 1960s and 70s, he was one of the most recognizable kids in America. Billy Moomey, perhaps best known as Will Robinson in the classic T V series Lost in Space. Decades later, Bill Moomy is still living the creative life.
and in conversation with Jim Axelrod. This is a Will Robinson action figure. For someone who started acting as a kid. Bill Moomi somehow managed to avoid the career dangers that plagued other child stars. I couldn't do that to you, robot.
You seem to me. to be remarkably balanced. Acting. Why Bill Moomy was never lost in space. Danger, Will Robinson.
Or Hollywood. Coming up. On Sunday morning. We're jamming. A decade ago, Congress mandated that a time capsule be created to commemorate the nation's upcoming 250th birthday.
With faith saley, we'll peek inside. Mo Raka takes us back in time to learn the surprising fate of the world's first domed stadium. A story from Steve Hartman and more. It's the last Sunday morning of spring. june fourteenth, twenty twenty six.
and will be back after this. Yeah. We turn again to our series on obesity this morning with correspondent Adam Yamaguchi. who shows us how in Japan less is more. Here's a number that might make you put that second donut down.
In the United States, around 40% of all adults are considered obese. In Japan, the obesity rate is only a tenth of that. We're not saying you'll never see a heavy person in Japan. You'll just need to look really hard. But compared to Americans, few Japanese ever go to a gym.
They just move more in everyday life. In Tokyo, where fewer people own cars, they average at least 10,000 steps a day. I'm not sure if I can do it. Stamita. and it continues when they get to work.
Like a lot of other Japanese companies, Tokyo's Tanita Corporation is all in on personal fitness. Even a routine business meeting can be a chance to get your steps in. The Tanita company makes scales, and employees like Ito Takeshi are required to use them at least once a month. It's a new level of accountability, but it seems to work. Here's how Ito looked before he started working at Tanita.
How has your health improved as a result of being an employee here? I lost 15 kilograms, about 35 pounds, after starting at Tanita. And that weight loss came from eating better and walking every day. Just part of the job, says CEO Senry Tanita. In America.
A program like this would be unimaginable. Americans would not want to share their weight. their BMI with anyone, let alone With Companies. In Japan, sharing your weight or the number of steps you've taken isn't something that people necessarily want to hide.
So the hurdles to getting the Japanese to agree are pretty low. It might seem extreme, But if Tanita doesn't weigh and measure employees over 40, Their national health insurance payments go up, so it's mandatory for anyone who wears the Tanita badge. This is not your standard employee badge. This measures how many steps you've taken in a given day and it also knows if you haven't weighed yourself on a scale for the last month. If you haven't done so...
You get locked out. And then there's the matter of what Japanese eat. The traditional Japanese diet is pretty basic. rice, miso soup, and pickled vegetables. The fermentation in the miso and pickles is good for a healthy gut.
Legendary Japanese culinary expert Yoshiharu Doi cooked us up a classic Japanese meal that included all three. And it's through this simplicity and accessibility that we're all able to remain healthy. But the Japanese eat a lot more than this. In Tokyo, there's plenty of fast food and junk food. Trust me.
The donuts alone are exceptional. Oh my god. Pizza is getting more popular. And so are hamburgers made with high grade wagyu beef. But the Japanese tend to eat a lot less of these things.
and the Japanese practice something called harahachibu. eating until they're only 80% full. There's also an effort to teach young people healthy eating habits right from the start. Ah my This is Shikahamamirai Elementary School, but it could be any public school in Japan. By the time classes begin at 8 a.m., The staff is already making lunch in a spotless kitchen.
run by people dressed like they work in a sterile microchip factory. Around here, school lunch is a big deal. and it has been for years. Inside Japan, G.I. Joe relaxes and turns sightseer.
He's a strange, new kind of tourist to native small fry. Japan's school lunch program was actually started after World War II. when the country was shattered and food was scarce. The occupying U.S. authority ordered that all school children get one good free meal a day.
And when the Americans pulled out, the Japanese government kept the policy in place.
So today, no kid goes hungry at school.
Okay. Most of the food is sourced locally and delivered daily. Vegetables are always a big part of the menu. Maybe the biggest. The food is cooked and tasted.
and taste it again. There's a full-time on-site nutritionist like Kawano Komiko here on every campus. She says parents have told her they can't get kids to eat vegetables at home. but they love vegetables at school. That's a good thing.
There's no cafeteria here. The lunch ladies cart the food up and deliver it to the classrooms. The principal and vice-principal get the first haste. Once they sign off, The feeding ballet begins. Yeah.
The kids suit up in sterile white smocks and collect the food carts. Then they wheel them back to the individual classrooms and set up a lunch line. I don't know that I've ever been excited about cafeteria food. Uh something tells me this is gonna hit a little different. On the menu the day we were there.
rice, blanched vegetables, soup, and a special treat. Fried squid. The school says the kids only get fried foods about twice a month. This is a very balanced meal. You've got your protein, your carb.
a lot of vegetables and the dessert is uh quarter of an orange. No one eats until everyone is served. They briefly give thanks. And then Gozo, me shiagare. Bon appetite.
Everyone eats the same meal, including the teachers. And the guests. And these vegetables As I eat this, I enjoy this stuff, but I'm shocked. that the kids have cleared their place of these vegetables. But getting kids to eat healthy is more than a skill.
It's a mission, says the school nutritionist. The main principle here is we want to teach kids from an early age to know how to eat so they can carry on those life lessons through adult food. In other words, she says they just want to give their children and Japan's future. A taste of a healthy life. We all belong outside.
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Why have I asked my electrician I found on Angie.com to bury my pet hamster nibbles in our yard for me? Because I was so moved by how carefully he buried my electrical wires, I knew I could trust him to bury my sweet nibbles after his untimely end. Huh, Nibbles. Gone too soon. May he scurry in peace.
Ace, sorry about your pet, but I just wire stuff. Nibbles would have loved you like a brother. Connecting homeowners with skilled pros for over 30 years. Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find pros for all your home projects at Angie.com.
America's 250th birthday is less than three weeks away. But our faith saley is wondering what future Americans will think of us 250 years from now. As America approaches this milestone anniversary. Yeah. Many celebrations are looking back at our past.
But this one looks forward. The Time Capsule gives everybody the chance to talk to the future. It is a form of time travel for ideas and for physical things.
So we need them to test paper, to test. Tom Medima is the project manager for America's Time Capsule, responsible for assembling a team of experts across disciplines. You've got scientists, you've got lawmakers. You've got librarians? To fulfill a 2016 mandate from Congress to honor the semi-quincentennial.
You shall have a time capsule. It shall be buried in Philadelphia at Independence National Historical Park on the 4th of July. And to be unearthed on the occasion of America's 500th birthday. Very prescriptive. Who decides the content, the quality, the message of what goes in?
We wanted all states and territories and DC to be represented. To choose their own objects to submit. And it has to be seed to shining seed. It has to be grassroots, community-driven. It has to be personal.
Rosie Rios is the chair of America 250. We met her at the White House Visitor Center, where guests can compose their own messages to the future. The goal is to have as many folks as possible participate in this and then also choose a select few that will be included in our time capsule. There's a lot of hope, there's a lot of optimism. We'll sneak a peek at some other contributions later.
Because even before choosing what goes inside the time capsule, there's the question of how to ensure those precious items will survive 15 feet below ground until they're unearthed in 2276. The existence of a time capsule to last 250 years has never been done. We are taking on this challenge and just. you know, doubling, tripling down and saying, yeah, we're going to make another 250 years. Mike Barilla is the director of the Fabrication Technology Office at NIST, the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
So what were the lessons you learned from former time capsules? What works, what doesn't? Most time capsules fail because water comes in. Initially we had three different designs. We had a box, we had a star.
and we had a cylinder. And the star would have been a nightmare, but so cool to pull off. And so you think about all the edges there. That's the problem. Because water can get in?
That's right. The stainless steel cylindrical design they settled on weighs one ton even before being loaded with the contents, which have been mailed to NIST from across the fifty states, DC and five territories. Let's see what the West Virginians sent. A shaped piece of coal that they have carved into the shape of the state of West Virginia. That's perfect.
What does Ohio send?
So inside of here, we have a piece of fabric. from the right flyer. as the Wright brothers actually came from Ohio. with an original statement from Orville Wright. That's extraordinary.
Archivists at the Library of Congress determined what will stand the test of time and rejected submissions that won't. What cannot go inside the time capsule? Anything that will decay, decompose, or affect the other objects around them is a no-go. No adhesive, no leather, so much for apple pie.
So, what the capsule will hold includes an iPhone 17, Native American artwork. Essays from students. coins and pins. A Coca-Cola bottle. even a feather from the eagle that accompanied Union soldiers into battle.
And, courtesy of the Library of Congress, our founding documents with a 2026 high-tech twist. It's actually information stored on DNA. Is that a mini library in there? It is a mini library. Synthetic DNA encoded with digital copies of Thomas Jefferson's original draft of the Declaration, a rendering of Abraham Lincoln's hand, and music.
inside of this little vessel. is a recording of the Star-Spangled Banner. but that something of this size can hold that much power and that much of our history in it. is mind-blowing. For Tom Medima, the time capsule embodies our faith in the continuation of the American experiment.
This time capsule is all tangible things. but it's connected to ideas that are timeless. The ideals that are outlined in the Declaration of Independence are timeless. We haven't always lived up to them. But Everyone around the world can agree.
that they are the aspiration of everybody. You're a bad man. You're a very bad man. And you keep thinking bad thoughts about me. With starring roles in classics like The Twilight Zone, Bill Moomi was one of the most successful child stars of the 1960s and 70s.
Yet, unlike no small number of other child stars, Bill Moomey's adulthood is no tale of woe. He's still entertaining audiences as an all grown up musician. we ask Jim Axelrod to find out his secret. He has never been to Disneyland. And he comes to see me?
There aren't a whole lot of people who can relate. to Bill Moomy's childhood. I was the first American actor to get a kiss from Bridget Bardot. In the nineteen sixties he was among the busiest child actors in Hollywood. a career born of rough housing.
At the age of six.
So one day I'm in my Zorro outfit. And I'm jumping off of the bed and I cracked my left leg like in half. But It was my lucky break.
So I was sitting there in a cast watching Zorro and Superman, and I very passionately said to my parents, That is what I want to do. I want to be inside the television. He was the son of a California cattle rancher and and a secretary at twentieth Century Fox. who kept meticulous track of her son's work. She kept a record.
of my gigs. Uh This is 1961. May 8th through May 11th. did a Twilight Zone called It's a Good Life. I forgot to introduce you to the monster.
Mm. This is the monster. Billy did a wonderful job. $600. You're a bad.
You're a very bad man. Moomi did three episodes of the Twilight Zone on TV. How come you're 10 years old again? That's what he am, Pop. I'm 10 years old.
And worked with movie stars like Jimmy Stewart. And we don't want that, do we? Closer. And Lucille Ball. I'm too big to sleep with ladies.
All before he was ten. Ah, don't worry, I'll take the seat. He learned how to behave from Cloris Leachman. You're such a smart boy, Anthony. I'm not a boy, mother.
Of course you're not. And how not to. from Alfred Hitchcock. I hated Alfred Hitchcock. who was mean to a fidgety seven-year-old on set.
And this is exactly what he said. Yeah. If you don't stop moving about. I'm going to get a nail. and I'm going to nail your feet to your mark.
And the blood. will come pouring out like milk. But all of that was prologue because in 1965, I just want to put this loose retro stat wire back. Moomi got famous.
So, what we have here are some action figures that are based on me. Action figure famous. This is a Will Robinson action figure. This is another Will Robinson action figure. Starring as Will Robinson.
This is Will Robinson in the freezing tube. The youngest member of a marooned space-age Swiss family Robinson. For three seasons of Lost in Space. At its peak, more than 25 million viewers a week. Watch the adventures Moomi shared with his sidekick.
A robot named Bina. This replica built by this man. Fred Barton. when you are in his presence sixty years later. What do you think?
I think he still looks great. I wish I was in a purple velour and a turtleneck right now, going to work with him. The robot would warn Mumi of one threat or another. With one of TV's most enduring catchphrases. Danger, Will Robinson.
Danger! My hooks are flailing wildly. Danger. Danger, Will Robinson. Something random strangers still shout when seeing him.
I accepted it as a blessing. How many people have something that people want to shout out at them, right?
So it's cool. When Lost in Space ended in 1968, Of course Moomi was sad. And I cried. I actually can remember. sitting on the blue couch In R den?
and putting my head in my mom's lap, And her just kinda petting my head going, That's your business, honey. And this is where the story gets both really interesting and highly instructive. Moomi avoided the headlines other child stars could not When the Bright Lights Fade. There are a lot of child stars who had s sad endings. And when that one experience of a long running television show was over, They weren't treated special anymore, and they had to find out who they were.
By Bill Mooney. already knew who he was. It's cold in the cornfield. Once you're there, it's where you stay. You're one of the most prolific Child actors of the 1960s.
but all along, while that is unfolding, What you really are connected to is your music. Yeah. I was connected to my music more than anything else. Memories are a souvenir. Everything's bound to disappear.
Acting is something he does. Music. is who he is. I don't want to diminish. my enjoyment of acting.
I know the craft of acting and I'm comfortable whenever I do it. But if I'm not doing it, it's not like I go home and act. It's not like my wife Eileen and I sit around and do plays in the living room. But what I do do is I play guitar and piano and music. All the time.
For the nearly sixty years since Lost in Space folded, Moomi has performed with his own bands. toured with groups like America. And been an Emmy-nominated songwriter. At the age of 72, Moomi still acts. He was an admirable student.
And does plenty of voiceover work. That's why at Farmers Insurance, everything we do is about getting life back to normal again. But while it's music that fuels him, he just released a new album. I know the power of will. It's only a shop.
It's still not the most important ingredient. What do you want for dinner? Maybe a salmon bowl with rice. In the recipe. for staying grounded.
We're jamming. Yeah, you got a great group going there. Bill Moomy has captured something that's eluded so many others. Touched by fame at an early age. This is my family.
This is the good stuff right here. This is the A-roll. And understanding that the only applause that matters under attack by the bubble aliens. Is for how he does as husband? Father.
and grandfather. I must say, You seem to me to be remarkably balanced. Acting. And you keep thinking bad thoughts about me. To this Hollywood fixture for more than six and a half decades.
Those were the only roles. worth chasing. In the big picture, I'd much rather Be me? And have a wonderful relationship with my wife, and my son, and my daughter, and my grandchildren than have. more gold records and uh You know, two divorces and alimony and unhappiness.
So you can look back on the whole picture of your life. And say I'm good. Oh yeah. I can look back on the whole picture of my life and say I'm real good.
Okay. Yeah Hi, I'm Angie Hicks, co-founder of Angie. And one thing I've learned is that you buy a house, but you make it a home. Because with every fix, update, and renovation, it becomes a little more your own.
So you need all your jobs done well. For nearly 30 years, Angie has helped millions of homeowners hire skilled pros for the projects that matter-from plumbing to electrical, roof repair to deck upgrades.
So leave it to the pros who will get your jobs done well. Angie, the one you trust, to find the ones you trust. Find a pro for your project at Angie.com. You know that thing where you get an amazing pair of shoes at a really great price and want to tell everyone about it? Yeah, so do we.
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and the World Cup under way, the eyes of millions, even billions, are focussed on stadiums across North America. Except for a stadium once built as the eighth wonder of the world. Moraka has the then And now. President Lyndon Johnson is expected as the moment sports fans across the world have been waiting for. When the astrodome opened in 1965, there was no hyperbole too grand to describe it.
It rises above the landscape like a man-made mountain, the eighth wonder of the world. A place that has to be seen to be believed. and it was an engineering marvel. the world's first domed stadium. Fantasy Becomes Fact, an indoor stadium seating 47,000 for baseball, 54,000 for football.
But the Astrodome Hosted a whole lot more than ball games. Dr. Graham has drawn nearly 700,000 to the astrodome. The rider wants to hang on until the whistle. For nearly four decades, it was a temple to every kind of spectacle.
Largest convention balloon dropped in history. But that was then. This is the astrodome today. For the past 20 years, it's sat empty, stripped of its former glory. The so-called Eighth Wonder now reduced to a storage locker.
So right now we're sitting in the balcony. Astrodome Conservancy Chairman Phoebe Tudor showed me what remains. And it was first air-conditioned stadium.
So you can see the air conditioning units that blew the air out. and what doesn't. Behind us was the iconic sign. It was the first time that these really interactive sports scoreboards were used.
Now the only light in the once biggest room in the world streams in through its signature Lamella skylight. This is not Notre Dame. This is not the Eiffel Tower, but in a way it's our Eiffel Tower. It's what we have. It's our recognizable icon.
And from its very start, this icon made news all over the world. inspired by the Colosseum of Imperial Rome. It has its own genuine homegrown Texas emperor, Judge Roy Hoffheints. That would be former Houston Mayor Judge Roy Hoffines, who wanted to attract a major league baseball franchise to Houston. But because of the city's heat and humidity, Hoffines' field of dreams would have to exist indoors.
The finest air-conditioned sports facility that man has ever known. If there's one word. that would describe the building of the astrodome, what is it? I think I'd have to say it's audacity. Architect and dome historian Jim Gast says it took Hoffins' showmanship and political acumen to make it happen.
It's a wonderful story of people and technology. and politics. To lock in support from both white and black voters, Hoffins staged two different groundbreaking photos, each with six shooters instead of shovels. The first photo was of the group of county commissioners and Houston Sports Authority leadership. And the African American leaders took their place and they got a chance to break ground.
The fact that the African American leaders were there at all was a big sign. A sign of what was to come. The dome was the first integrated stadium in the South. and in a nod to nearby NASA, Hoffines dubbed it the Astrodome. Our lovely space sets.
How big a tourist attraction was this? In the five years after it opened, the Clear Spanish Stadium is 642 feet. It was the third most popular tourist attraction in the United States. Statue of Liberty was a runner-up. But there was at least one problem with the dome.
Players couldn't see the ball.
Well, you can see it until it gets up to the lights up there, and then it just disappears. There have been all sorts of experiments. Today they're painting the dome.
So they tried painting the roof. a paint and an unintended consequence of killing the grass.
So it was kind of this cascade of misfortune. Fortune did strike with the invention of artificial grass named, you guessed it, Astroturf. A lot like playing on your living room carpet. Another astrodome creation? Luxury sky boxes, with Mayor Roy Hoffins's the most luxurious, with a bowling alley, a barber shop, and a chapel.
But by 1999, the dome was in decline. Houston held a farewell party for the Astro Dome. Baseball's Astros moved crosstown to greener pastures, a ballpark with a retractable roof and real grass. That's when our Bill Geist paid the Astrodome a visit. With baseball gone, they'll have to beef up their repertoire of less traditional offerings.
They'll come up with something. Here at the Astrodome, they always have. And they did come up with new ideas, lots of them. But Harris County, the Astrodome's owner, found neither the money nor the political will to keep the lights on. I think it's complicated, and if it was easy, a decision would have already been made.
Tao Costas is an official with Harris County. She says it's all about taxpayer priorities. I think we all appreciate preservation. We've got to weigh these plans against our priorities for public safety. public health.
housing affordability. A dynamic redevelopment of the Astrodome. But Phoebe Tudor and the Astrodome Conservancy are enlisting the help of the private sector to help repurpose the dome. One vision, a hotel retail office complex costing an estimated $850 million. How much the county would end up contributing is unclear.
So what do you say to people who say there's so many other priorities for Houston? Yes, every city has Competing priorities. And though finances are tight, with creativity. We can make it happen. It can be done.
Anyone familiar with preservation issues all over the country knows that sometimes the easiest thing is just to do nothing. Our leaders are actively seeking information right now to understand the cost of maintaining it. Or removing it. And with that, they will take that into consideration with the other priorities that they must make. In the meantime, Houstonians have coined another moniker for the former Eighth Wonder of the World.
Read into it what you will. The Dome That Will Never Die. Why have I asked my HVAC guy I found on Angie.com to change my grandpa's trachea tube? Because I was so amazed by how quickly he replaced our air ducts. I knew I could trust him to change pop-pops too while I was on vacation.
Make it quick, young man. Aw, see? Papa trusts you. Uh, I think we should call a doctor. Connecting homeowners with skilled pros for over 30 years.
Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find pros for all your home projects at angie.com. At DSW, we ask the important questions like, what shoes are you going to wear? Whether you're prepping for wedding season, festival season, or just planning the ultimate vacay, the right shoes can make or break an RSVP.
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Vice President J.D. Vance first rose to national prominence as the author of Hillbilly Elegy. A memoir exploring social and economic issues of working class Americans in Appalachia. He's come a long way since those days a very long way. and he's talking with Robert Costa.
On this porch. Yeah, it does. I mean, the president actually will bust my chops sometimes because he'll say, you have a nicer house than I do. The vice president's residence can feel like a world away from the rest of Washington, D.C. And it is now home to a family with young children.
The vice president and his wife, Second Lady Usha Vance, have three, ages four, six, and nine, with a fourth due in just a few weeks. The Vance has invited us here to talk about the news of the day as well as their family and the Vice President's faith, the subject of his new book, Communion. It's the story of J.D. Vance's 2019 conversion to Catholicism, how that's affected his life, his politics, and their marriage. You say she said to you, therapy didn't work for you, church does.
True? I do think that's true. And it's not that therapy doesn't work for other people, but. JD just didn't have the right kind of trust in that process. He just didn't feel at home in it, really exploring some of the feelings that he had and trying to figure out how he wanted to be the person that he wanted to be for the rest of his life.
I'm trying to take. The lessons, the moral truths that are rooted in Christianity, and I'm trying to apply them to a whole host of complicated real-world scenarios. Maybe I'm misreading these passages of the book, but I really sense. Going through it, you have this desire not only for faith but for the stability. faith and organized religion bring to your life.
You write at one point that sometimes in your own life you were, quote, permanently terrified that things will unravel. You have this sense sometimes that things could spiral if you're not, as you would put it, rooted. That's right. That's exactly right. Is that true about how you think about the world, about who you are?
Yeah, I think that's very insightful. And, you know, I grew up in, in some ways, a very non-traditional household. You know, a revolving door of people coming in, people coming out, raised by my grandparents at some points, raised by my parents at some points, my mom, my dad.
So there was a certain movement and chaos to my youth. And I do think that I was searching for something that, again, felt a little bit more rooted and felt a little bit more stable. For those familiar with Vance's 2016 bestseller, Hillbilly Elegy, the story of his family's struggles, it's no surprise that Vance has sought order in his personal life. we saw every single congressional Democrat sit on their hands. They didn't care about you.
They didn't care about the people of this district. They didn't care about the farmers or the factory workers or the people who actually make this country run. He has also sought combat in his political life, winning allies and critics. You've called the second lady a good barometer for whether you've said anything that's a little bit. too far out there.
How does she let you know?
Well, she just texts me or calls me, or if we're sitting in the house together, she'll just tell me. You know, Usha is very blunt. It's one of the things I've always loved about Usha from the very beginning. Usha Vance, an attorney who once clerked for Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, is the daughter of immigrants from India. She was raised in the Hindu faith in Southern California.
Do you think there's anything misunderstood about how you both live your life as a couple, as a family.
Well, I mean, I think people really cottoned onto the idea at one point that JD was interested in my conversion. And I think that that was misunderstood for the fundamental reason that he is Catholic. Part of his faith is wanting to spread. His faith. but it's not like he's proselytizing to me every day.
In Vance's book, he describes how his values are shaped by his religion, his politics, and by people, including on the most personal of family matters. After last year's murder of conservative organizer Charlie Kirk, a conversation with Kirk's widow Erica helped lead the Vance's to have a fourth child. I think it really heightened JD's sense that He'd been talking about this for a while, this sense that there was this possibility of having another kid whom he could love as much as the three that we had. And it really did crystallize for you. That sense that if you could have that other child, then you would have nothing to regret.
And if we couldn't have that other child, then we were very happy with the children that we had.
So it was very powerful what she said about her own family, and certainly very moving to both of us. I think I had already Started to open my mind to the possibility. I wouldn't say that this was for me in any way. Um the decisive factor But It came in the middle of a conversation that we were already having. J.D.
Vance is 41 years old, and his relative youth is especially notable today as President Trump celebrates his 80th birthday this morning. While there seems to be very little daylight between their politics, the war in Iran has revealed differences in how Trump and Vance assessed the conflict at its start. He was, I would say, philosophically a little bit different. Uh then me. I think he was Uh Maybe less.
enthusiastic about going but he was Quite enthusiastic. Were you a skeptic, and are you still a skeptic?
Well, what I say, Bob, is two things. First of all, I think the President is exactly right. That we cannot let one of the most dangerous and largest sponsors of terrorism in the world have a nuclear weapon. That is exactly right. And our policy is going to achieve that outcome.
Of that, I feel extremely confident.
Now when you ask what was said in the privacy of deliberations, Well I'm not asking that, it's more on a big picture level, Mr. Vice President. Did you see yourself as someone who was forged by experience in the Marine Corps, served in uniform? Were you more skeptic of A war in the Middle East, broadly speaking.
Well, I'd say, by the way, I think the president's like this too. I think both of us are generally skeptical of foreign military entanglements. And I certainly was formed by my time in the Marine Corps to be very skeptical of some of these entanglements. But fundamentally, that doesn't mean you can never use military force. And I think the goal here of preventing the Iranians from having a nuclear weapon, we're going to be successful at that goal.
And when we are, that's going to be a very good outcome for the American people. Vance has defended war with Iran against criticism from the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV, who has stated, quote, there is no just war there. One of the things I sometimes will hear people say is that Christian pastors, Christian leaders, whether it's the Pope or anybody else, they ought to stick to politics or they ought to stick to religion and let the politicians stick to politics.
Sometimes President Trump says that.
Well, he hasn't said it exactly like that, but I actually think it's important for Christian leaders to understand that, you know, yes, there are classically Christian. Concepts like how does a husband treat a wife? What are the obligations that a father has to a son? Those are classic private matters that we think of as under the purview of Christian leaders. But I think it's totally reasonable and actually a good thing, even when I disagree.
Like I've disagreed a lot with what the Pope has said about our immigration policy, for example. But I think it's a good thing for Christian leaders to say what they think about the moral issues of the day. Because I'm a big believer that the way that we ultimately find God, the way that we ultimately find truth, is to discuss some of these important issues with one another. As a man of faith, as just a fellow human being, when you see not just Pope Leo speak out, but fellow Catholics, fellow Christians speak out with alarm about the Trump administration's migration policies, its policies when it comes to Iran and military power and military action. How do you deal with that?
As someone sitting in the seat you're in, as Vice President of the United States, who also practices faith. You sense it as much as I do as a reporter. There is alarm out there as much as there is fervent support. There is alarm among Catholics and others about what's happening here. Yeah, look, I think if you took 10 random Catholics all across the United States of America, you'd get 10 different perspectives on any particular policy.
I think a lot of those Catholics, a lot of those Christians, would support what we're doing, some would not. And you ask, how do I deal with it? Do you respect most people's point of view? Do you kind of listen to them? Yeah, of course I do.
And I think that you have to, right? Part of my job as a political leader is to try to understand where the American people are coming from. It doesn't mean that I always have to agree with this or that particular American, but you have to listen to people. For J.D. Vance, navigating the political and the personal has been a constant of his rapid rise to the Senate.
And the vice presidency. Do you and President Trump ever talk about the future? I never bring it up, but sure, the president brings it up a lot, sometimes publicly, sometimes privately. The president's a political animal. He loves this stuff.
He's very fascinated by it. Do you find him to be coy about where his mind's at, or encouraging of you possibly seeking the nomination down the road? It's not coy, or it's not. positive or negative, it's just he's kind of he kind of talks about it. What's going to happen?
You know, how do we make sure that we're successful? What does that mean for the future? It's more of a conversation like that. I have no doubt that the President of the United States is going to be very supportive of anything that I ultimately decide to do, but we really just haven't talked about what that thing will be. With Steve Hartman now, we take an unlikely trip.
into the woods. Newark, New Jersey is no national park. For many, the only sights are the bumpers ahead. The only hikes at the whim of a walk sign. And yet, here, of all places, we found a high school, St.
Benedict's Prep. That requires students to step way outside their urban comfort zone.
Well, School Administrator Glenn Cassidy. You take a bunch of inner city kids who've never been out hiking or camping, you send them down the Appalachian Trail for five days without any adult supervision.
Some adult supervision. There might be some insurance companies watching right now. But yeah, the teams generally hike independently. Safe to say you're the only school in America doing this? I'm willing to put money on that, yes.
25. The program is a mandatory rite of passage for all freshmen. who start training in early spring with exercise and team building. Then they're broken into smaller units, with a captain, a camp specialist, navigators, cooks, and medics. Each kid trained in a specialty.
but none of them know everything they need to survive. We'll learn how to work together in different ways and finish the Task guy who. Yeah, the idea is that they have to rely on one another. The only way we can get through this is if we work together and make it there. The fifty five mile trek is now a fifty two year tradition at Saint Benedict's, and they do it shine or rain.
In fact, the administration actually prefers rain. When life gets difficult, it's something you can refer back to. You know, there's a lot of rainy days in life. Yeah, last night was rough. It's so wet and cold.
Just sleep. Yeah, I slept. Even dreamed. What'd you dream? that my mom was coming to pick me up but she never took me home.
Uh it was a crazy journey. In a world of helicopter parenting, This school still makes kids rise on their own. And when they do. It is quite a sight. Look at the view.
Show them the view. Oh my god, it's beautiful right now, man. I'm feeling so joyful. Oh, my God. It's nice.
It's nice. It's awesome. After five days of ups and downs. We had our rough times. The kids cross this bridge and officially become sophomores.
Oh, yeah. Good job. I'm proud of you.
Some of the hikers come away bruised. Oh. are weary. Their shoes will never be the same. But neither will they.
which, of course, was the real destination. All of all of us. Thank you for listening. Please join us when our trumpet sounds again next Sunday morning. This is the sound of captivity.
This is the sound of rescue. And this is the sound of freedom. Give Armenia's captive bears a second chance by supporting International Animal Rescue. Call 508-826-1083 or search The Great Bear Rescue to learn more. Uh So good, so good, so good.
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