Fake News: Media Publishes Lies About President Trump & the Military

Fake news leading into the election as the media publishes lies about President Trump in our US military. We'll talk about that more today on JCQO Live. Live from Washington DC, JCQO Live. Phone lines are open for your questions right now. Call 1-800-684-3110.

That's 1-800-684-3110. And now your host, Jordan Sekulow. So there are very aggressive attacks right now in the media, the mainstream media, this one coming from the Atlantic about President Trump saying that the President has repeatedly disparaged the intelligence of service members and asked that wounded veterans be kept out of military parades. And of course, it's all anonymous sources.

The headlines even worse than that. Americans who died in wars are losers, what the President said. We want to go to the facts. And the facts are, I don't think there's a modern day President that's done more to rebuild our US military than President Trump. He's talked about the visits to Walter Reed. He's talked about all the visits to our troops. He's gone to military bases. But most importantly, he's given them the best and newest tools available to use on the battlefield and to protect themselves.

Think about this. You compare the current five-year defense plan with the five-year defense plan from Obama and the Bush administration. By that comparison, the Pentagon lost more than $250 billion in purchasing power. In 2009, during his first year in office, Obama directed then Defense Secretary Robert Gates to cut about $300 billion from Pentagon programs. Now let's move up to, again, President Trump and the military. In 2020 alone, President Trump's budget increased military pay 3.1% and increased the overall budget by $21 billion. The military budget has increased during all four years of President Trump's presidency. And the current budget is north of $738 billion, over $130 billion increase from when President Trump took office.

In 2017, it was roughly $605 billion or roughly $60 billion less than 2009. So there's the facts and statistics for you about just what the President has done for the US military when it comes to funding and making sure they've got the best resources and tools available. But see the other side, they want to defund the military. So instead of talking about that, they want to say that the President somehow doesn't like our servicemen or doesn't pay them the right respect. Well, this is interesting because most recently, President Trump featured a disabled veteran. I thought he didn't like putting those disabled veterans on parades and things like that because most recently, a disabled veteran appeared at the last night of the RNC convention. And there were veterans featured all during the RNC during the four days. Just this year, President Trump signed a bill to expand funding eligibility for housing grants for disabled veterans. President Trump awarded nearly twice as many Medal of Honors in his first two years in office as President Obama did in the same period. In October 17th of 2019, President Trump stood behind a podium in the East Room of the White House and delivered a speech for one of his favorite public events, the award ceremony for the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for courage in combat.

And he said, I like brave people. We have them right here. But the media doesn't report that. I want to take your calls on that, 1-800-684-3110. And the President's spoken to it, Mike Pompeo's spoken to it, as well as others.

But just think about that for a moment. And again, Thea, just quickly, this reaction Washington, of course, they ignore all of the facts, the numbers, and they go to their anonymous sources to say he has some disdain for US military and veterans and those who lost their lives in combat. Yeah, Jordan, I'll get into more specifics down the line, but this is such a bizarre attack because literally the only part of the federal budget that Washington, D.C. Democrats don't want to increase. Jordan, it's the military, and it's literally the only part of the budget that you have to have a corresponding cut in domestic plans if you want to provide a cut there. So, Jordan, just the attack is disingenuous.

If you look at the facts as they play out, they don't support this in any way, shape, or form. Share this with your friends and family. If you're watching on Facebook and Periscope, we may have some breaking news as well on Serbia and Kosovo.

So stay tuned for that. And more information on this, 1-800-684-3110. Go to ACLJ.org.

We'll be right back. The challenges facing Americans are substantial at a time when our values, our freedoms, our constitutional rights are under attack. It's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedoms, defending your rights in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena. And we have an exceptional track record of success.

But here's the bottom line. We could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms.

That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life changing work.

Become a member today. ACLJ.org. Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected is there any hope for that culture to survive. And that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life. We've created a free, powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn.

It's called Mission Life. It will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support. And the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases, how we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists, the ramifications of Roe v. Wade 40 years later, play on parenthood's role in the abortion industry, and what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement. Discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life. Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift. Welcome back to Jay Sekulow Live. This is Jordan Sekulow.

Well, don't just take it from me. I wanted to bring in one of our analysts here at the ACLJ, retired Colonel Wes Smith, to speak to this just absurd report in The Atlantic. It used to be a magazine you can at least trust for being kind of fair and down the middle when it came to have foreign policy and big issues. But, you know, interestingly enough, the same magazine, The Atlantic, had a little trouble last month because one of its writers claiming to be an eyewitness fabricated a story about a uniformed cop shooting an unarmed black child and getting away with it. So that's The Atlantic.

They've got reporters who just flat out lie about being witnesses to things, and then they put out things like this, which have only anonymous sources in it. And what we said was, you know, this idea that this President has a disdain for the military, well, it really doesn't add up in the actions he's taken or in the funding he's provided to the U.S. military. So I want to bring in Wes Smith now because, Wes, one of your jobs, one of your positions in the military as a chaplain, was to serve at a joint air base, Andrews, when those American soldiers returned home whose lives were lost on the battlefield. Do you see any merit in calling this President someone who has a disdain for service members?

Absolutely not. And I spent some of my time at Andrews. Most of the casualties came into Dover Air Force Base. But yeah, I read this article and it was amusing, but not in a good way. As you mentioned, all the sources are anonymous. Even the four-star general that the writer claims as a source would not identify himself if he actually exists. It's basically a slam on the President of the United States, fed by a fantasy that's rooted, as we all know, in the American military in Trump Arrangement Syndrome, which is an illogical and contempt-filled hatred of Donald Trump that feeds in an echo chamber of the left and their allies in the media. And you mentioned the casualties and the President coming there.

You're right, I did work there for three years. And President Obama, the only time he came in my three years there, and it was just a few times, was when there were larger amounts of casualties and only if the media were present. On the other hand, Donald Trump has traveled to Dover when casualties come in, sometimes when there's been only one or two casualties, and sometimes even in the middle of the night. And the morale in the military is the highest it's been in a long time.

At the end of President Obama's eight years, it was the lowest it had been since the presidency of Jimmy Carter. And there's a reason, Jordan, that morale in the military is so high. He has rebuilt the US military, President Trump has, by increasing troop levels, by increasing the budget for the Department of Defense, by buying new weapons platforms. And for the last three years running, every year military service members have gotten a pay raise. That did not happen in the previous administration. And so the article is false on so many facts.

Not only are the sources anonymous, the one source that they actually credited was a White House staff person who responded to the writer of the article and point by point said that every allegation in the Atlantic piece was categorically false. And I believe that because President Trump is respected by veterans and by those who are still actively serving because he is patriotic. He does support the military along with law enforcement and law and order in general. And troops know that. And most of the troops are very, very thankful that Donald Trump is now the commander in chief. You know, I think what you said there, Wes, is so important that when you served at Dover, President Obama came a handful of times when they were pressed there and there was a lot of casualties coming back. But that you know that President Trump has come many, many times, oftentimes it's just been maybe even one or two American bodies have come back sometimes in the middle of the night. It's not about the press. It was about honoring those Americans.

And you know firsthand. But of course, the Atlantic doesn't call you. They use anonymous sources.

We don't even know if they exist based off Atlantic getting caught last week with a reporter fabricating a story about a cop shooting a young black kid that was totally fake. So, you know, this is again, I think it's just what we're going to see going into this election is just the media doing anything possible to try and convince people not to go and cast a vote for President Trump, even by trying to cast him as somehow anti-military, when as Wes said, there's been a pay raise every year and he's been in office for our armed forces. The budget for the U.S. military has gone up over $130 billion.

He is rebuilding the military. Under President Obama, it was cut, cut significantly. In fact, lost more than $250 billion in purchasing power alone. And then another $300 billion from Pentagon programs. That was the Obama administration. The Trump administration has not just gotten it back up to even.

It's now over $130 billion more than that. And Wes, I think important to point out, let's play because let's play from a source who was there. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, take a listen.

If I'm tracking correctly, I think I was on that trip as well. But what I can say for sure is I've never heard. I've been with this President now for coming on four years. I've never heard the President use the language that certainly is said in that article about him calling military suckers and losers.

I've never seen that. Indeed, just the contrary. He has always had the deepest respect. You know, and Wes, this is someone again, Mike Pompeo's West Point grad. I mean, this is again, if they would have heard this kind of language, it probably would have upset them to the point of resigning.

I mean, if it was the kind of language at the Atlantic, I'm not even going to go through all of it. It's just to me, what the Atlantic doesn't do, even to try and look fair, is to say, well, even if he does use this kind of language, we have to be honest that he's fixed the Veterans Affairs, you know, VA. He's done a ton to fix that for veterans. He's increased all military pay and he's increased the military of the budget. He's gotten the military out of wars that were war zones that are unnecessary. He's got, he made sure he really, I think the difference, Wes, is that this President, unlike others, doesn't just see our military men and women as chess pieces on a board, but he sees them as Americans and when they get killed, it hurts him. So that is why when he does utilize military force, it is done so, it is a very serious decision like the raid to get al-Baghdadi.

Absolutely, yeah. He does not make false or vague promises. He's very reluctant to use the military and that is the mark of a good commander, not a weak commander, and yet when he does use the military, he uses it decisively.

You mentioned the budget again. I was thinking, and most people don't realize this, unless you're in the military and you follow this, at the end of the previous administration, and this sounds unbelievable, but it's actually true, half the fighter jets in the United States Air Force were not flight worthy and the Marine Corps Aviation, part of the Marine Corps, they were short one half of their allotted Marine Corps pilots in fighter jets. This is a President who has categorically turned that around and I think this article in the Atlantic, and there are other people in the media that they have the same slant that's not based in fact, that is always based in anonymous sources, but when I read it, I thought to myself, this article is demeaning to the military because it's attempting to use the military itself as a political pawn and as weapons against the President of the United States and it's not based in fact. It is a rage-filled fantasy against the sitting commander-in-chief. It just is.

Yeah, it's interesting. The President was just asked by a reporter, he's doing a briefing in the Oval Office right now and we'll have it for the next segment, but he said, do you think you need to apologize to the troops? He said, absolutely not. This is a fake story. I mean, I think it's just for our audience, prepare for a lot more of this and just what they need to do, what we're going to do on this show is look at the facts. It was the Obama-Biden administration that cut the military funding, but I think it's close to 500 billion when you include their purchasing power or over that. It was the Trump administration now that's got the funding back up to normal plus 130 billion dollars and it's the Trump administration that's had such a focus on fixing the VA and yet that will all be left out of what is now a very partisan media. I felt like today we had to respond to this because the left, MSNBC, the Morning Joes of the world, the CNNs of the world, they were going nuts with it. It's transparently apparently unsubstantiated, Jordan, and I was glad to hear Wes talk about the budget because a lot of people don't follow this and this is a truth that I just want people to look at.

Look, they don't have to take our word for it. Just look at what has happened over the last eight years, specifically under the Obama administration, the eight years leading up to the Trump administration. The strategy specifically has been, Jordan, and you can hear this out of the mouth of Democrat officials in Washington DC, has been to hold hostage defense spending. They've done it in two ways. They have done it where you cannot give and they will not agree to an increase of military pay or defense spending unless you also increase domestic spending. We know how much waste is on the domestic side of the ledger, Jordan. There has been way more wasted just simply to get the military increases that President Trump has requested. And the second way they have done it, Jordan, is they have not allowed cuts to wasteful spending. You can find a wasteful program, one that everybody agrees is wasteful, and you cannot cut that program or cut spending to it unless you do what? Unless you also cut military spending. The strategy has been to hold the defense budget hostage to it. All you got to do is look at the facts, Jordan. Don't have to take our word for it.

Just pull it up. That's been the strategy leading up until the Trump administration. One of our analysts on our radio team, production team, Aaron Colbrancy, said, you know, this article is like the media pressing the panic button.

And when you have polls showing President Trump leading in Pennsylvania, again in Michigan, and he never had polls like that in 2016, that good. They certainly shouldn't probably be pressing the panic button, but we're going to fight back against their lies. We're going to start taking more of your calls. 1-800-684-3110.

That's 1-800-684-3110. And as always, go to ACLJ.org for the most up-to-date information. Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected is there any hope for that culture to survive. And that's exactly what you were saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life. We've created a free, powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn.

It's called Mission Life. It will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support. And the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases, how we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists, the ramifications of Roe v. Wade 40 years later, Planned Parenthood's role in the abortion industry, and what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement. Discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life.

Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift. The challenges facing Americans are substantial at a time when our values, our freedoms, our constitutional rights are under attack. It's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedoms, defending your rights in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena.

And we have an exceptional track record of success. But here's the bottom line, we could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms. That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life-changing work.

Become a member today, ACLJ.org. Yeah, the media is getting, have to be used to being called that. Whether you want to call it fake news or just outright lies, these anonymous sources to make claims like this, like the President of the United States after having this record of almost four years of boosting military spending, rebuilding our military, rebuilding the Department of Veterans Affairs, rebuilding those VA hospitals so that they work for veterans. I mean, taking the budget back from how it was cut almost $500 billion by the Obama-Biden administration, back now to where not even just even, but now it's an additional $130 billion that's been increased.

The budget has raised military pay every single year President Trump has been in office. West Smith has talked about, retired Colonel West Smith talked about how he makes those trips out to Dover to receive the bodies of American soldiers killed in action. Whether or not there's a lot of media there, it's 20 bodies and lots of family, or whether it's one in the middle of the night. So again, none of that is in that article, The Atlantic.

But I think Aaron Gilbranson from our team, I think a lot of us, we saw this, we see this as the panic button. But what you have to make sure is that you have to combat it immediately. You can't let the even discussion or narrative start because if the media sees they've got an opening, that you're not just hitting back immediately with truth and facts.

You know what you'll do? You'll be hearing about this all weekend and next week it'll start making it into even like local newspapers and local news reports and people who usually don't vote in every election but do vote in Presidential elections will start saying, well, this is a good, you know, and they're not going to be able to go into all those numbers because guess who's not going to give those out? The fake news, the media.

They didn't put any of those numbers in The Atlantic article. I want to go so you can listen. This was President Trump just moments ago addressing this in the Oval Office. Take a listen. Sir, do you need to apologize to service members and veterans?

No, it was a fake story written by a magazine that was probably not going to be around much longer but it was a totally fake story and that was confirmed by many people who were actually there. Nobody's done what I've done and that includes salary increases but it really includes the rebuilding of our military because as you know when I came here our military was totally depleted and we spent almost 2.5 trillion dollars much more than you spent on your military I can tell you that but slightly more. 2.5 trillion dollars all made in the USA. F-35s, brand new jets and rockets and missiles and hope to God that we never have to use it but our nuclear is now in extraordinary shape.

So I mean that again that's from President Trump directly. Let me go take some of the phone calls. Is it Kidna in Missouri on line one? Kidna, welcome to Jay Sekio Live. You're on the air.

Hello. This is just so upsetting. Why does the media, why are they able to get away with complete and utter lies?

This President has done more for the military and he constantly has military people with him at his press conference. I've seen these things. I watch them. This is a total lie and they're able to get it away with it with immunity and it's just not right. We need to stop this. Well what's interesting now is you know we have to push back and that is the goal is that we don't. The goal is that broadcasts like ours we get focused on other issues or we say oh this is just junk and we let it go because we're not the kind of MSNBC viewer or CNN person that may be watching and get hoodwinked by something like this. But a lot of people who vote in November and who may be inclined to vote for President Trump they don't have the time necessarily to get totally educated on all of this.

So Than I mean we have got to push back. I mean let me tell you what this is Jordan. I mean this is one of those data points in the upcoming election that President Trump is going to win. I mean we've talked about the ones that are on sort of different sides of the ledger and I still think that the economy and safety in the streets are going to be numbers one and two. But Jordan this is going to be an issue that impacts the election and that President Trump is going to win the splits on. What does that mean? That means that people that are looking at this issue are going to disproportionately vote for President Trump than they are for Vice President Biden.

I think both campaigns would would admit that Jordan. So what is this? This is an effort to blunt the impact of this issue. It's an effort to throw disinformation at the issue so while President Trump might still win the splits he's going to win them narrower than he would have. Got to break news right now.

Than I got to jump in breaking news. You know Rick Rinnell is a former director of national intelligence is now a special advisor to the American Center for Law Justice. But he after leaving the government continued to serve and roll as a special Presidential envoy for Serbia and Kosovo peace negotiations. And Rick you're joining us via phone from the White House.

You're calling in. Tell us the breaking news about what's happened historically between Serbia and Kosovo just now. Jordan it's really exciting. I am here at the White House. I just walked out of the Oval Office after we had a historic economic normalization agreement between Serbia and Kosovo. This is one of those problems that has existed for decades and we've been stuck on political issues and political talk and politicians focusing on symbolism. What President Trump wanted to do was to try something new in the Serbia-Kosovo discussions.

And what he said a while ago when he appointed me was why don't we try to concentrate on economic development and job creation. Why don't we show the people of Kosovo and the people of Serbia just how beneficial it is to have economic normalization. We can worry about the political normalization later but so many times politicians just tried to to forge agreements without showing the people the benefit of what could happen. And so we just signed a historic agreement which has a whole bunch of economic normalization things like diploma recognition and and that hasn't happened between the two countries before. They've allowed now a one-year reprieve on the de-recognition and recognition campaign between the two of them. So for one year we will now concentrate on all of the economic normalizations.

A first ever flight between or I should say a first flight in 21 years between Belgrade and Pristina the capitals of Serbia and Kosovo. A railway agreement which normalizes the border. An opening of the border for for motor agreements.

And this is truly historic and something that President Trump believes could happen if we flipped the script and instead of pushing on just politics that we started to create economic normalization first and and it has worked. Rick let me ask you as you know again Rick Rinnell serves as a special advisor to the ACLJ but he's also he kept on this role after leaving as the acting director of national intelligence as special Presidential envoy for Serbia and Kosovo peace negotiations. There's a part of this Rick that just broke that I think is very important for our audience and that is that Serbia as part of this deal has agreed to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and even bigger for the first time in history Kosovo a predominantly Muslim country will be recognizing Israel as a state. Yes both of these things are happening and we just actually had a conversation in the oval between Prime Minister Hoti of Kosovo President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu and that was just solidified and there will be mutual recognition between Israel and Kosovo as you say a predominantly Muslim country in Europe and we will have a embassy from Kosovo in Jerusalem this is truly historic and President Trump has pushed for it it's pretty exciting. Rick just finally got 10 seconds why is this important to Americans? Well first of all we have a lot of economic interest in the region so U.S. businesses will be able to expand but we also have Albanian Americans Serbian Americans Kosovar Americans who care very deeply about this it's going to make Americans safer. Folks we're going to be right back on JCEC Live second half hour bringing you more breaking news. For decades now the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedoms defending your rights in courts in congress and in the public arena the American Center for Law and Justice is on your side if you're already a member thank you and if you're not well this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org where you can learn more about our life-changing work become a member today ACLJ.org Live from Washington DC Jay Sekulow Live and now your host Jordan Sekulow. So if you just missed the final few minutes of the first half hour let me go back through it for you just quickly the ACLJ's newest addition to our team is Rick Rinnell you may know him as the former acting director of national intelligence or former US ambassador to Germany he now serves as special advisor for national security and foreign policy to the ACLJ joins us on the broadcast a couple of times a week also his first written piece for the ACLJ was posted just yesterday on ACLJ.org it's called addressing a crisis of leaks DNI Ratcliffe's moves to limit intelligence briefings to congress to written form is a big step in the right direction that's his first piece he'll be doing one each week exclusive for the ACLJ that's up at ACLJ.org share with your friends and family but even though he left government service full-time he kept on a role as special advisor special Presidential envoy for Serbia and Kosovo peace negotiations those are going on the last couple of days and finishing today in Washington DC and Rick just called in at the very tail end of the last 30 minutes to announce I mean he said he literally just stepped out of the oval office he's at the white house right now with the leaders from Serbia and Kosovo who had just got off the phone with prime minister Netanyahu and President Trump and he's the special envoy for this situation there's now an economic deal between Serbia and Kosovo which is very important there's also Serbia has decided it will move its embassy to Jerusalem and for the first time in history Kosovo which is predominantly Muslim will be recognizing Israel as an official state and building an embassy in Israel this is huge news now folks think about the source you got that from an ACLJ special advisor for national security and foreign policy that is why we brought on Rick or no to the ACLJ team for moments like that for moments where he could step out of the oval office and give you our audience an update like no one else is getting no one got that on Fox News no one got that on CNN no one got that on MSNBC no one got that anywhere else and we can do that because you support the work of the ACLJ we had two great months July and August our matching challenge but it is a reminder we continue we get to fund you know we have to fundraise throughout the year that was just a reminder of why it's important to support the work of the ACLJ at ACLJ.org Wes your reaction to the former acting director of national intelligence Rick Rinal just and our special advisor at the ACLJ stepping out of the oval office to update our listeners about what just happened yeah and you probably will not hear this success story in much of the media but it's really an incredible it is it is the biggest story of the week one of the biggest stories of the last month or two think about it that one of these nations is recognizing Israel the other moving their capital to Jerusalem I mean the bottom line is this President gets results you know people you know depending on who you are you may not like his personality but in fact he is effective and this is just another continuing piece of that as he continues to really work for peace in the world for for you know taking long-standing enemies like Serbia and Kosovo and bringing them to the table negotiating with them getting them to to basically agree to live in peace with one another this is a huge story Jordan a huge story I mean again they have this economic deal normalizing their economic relationships this is the second time by the way this has happened remember the deal with the United Arab Emirates and Israel and that first flight I saw Jared Kushner was on from Jerusalem to Dubai that happened under President Trump you don't like his rhetoric you think it's divisive and making the world a more dangerous place Muslim countries record for the first time in history recognizing the Jewish state of Israel today historic peace deals the Abraham Accords between a predominantly Muslim country the Gulf and Israel allowing Israelis and UAE Arab nations to Muslims to travel and do business easily between each other Serbia moving its capital like we did the United States did to Jerusalem all under President Trump you don't like his rhetoric well it certainly gets results with these world leaders we'll be back taking your phone calls 1-800-684-3110 why are is the left pushing the panic button this is the reason why 1-800-684-3110 the challenges facing Americans are substantial at a time when our values our freedoms our constitutional rights are under attack it's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice for decades now the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedoms defending your rights in courts in congress and in the public arena and we have an exceptional track record of success but here's the bottom line we could not do our work without your support we remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms that remains our top priority especially now during these challenging times the American Center for Law and Justice is on your side if you're already a member thank you and if you're not well this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org where you can learn more about our life-changing work become a member today ACLJ.org only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected is there any hope for that culture to survive and that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life we've created a free powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn it's called Mission Life it will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support and the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases how we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists the ramifications of Roe v Wade 40 years later play on parenthood's role in the abortion industry and what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift and i've been taking care of business every day taking care of business yeah so in the midst of this by the way that amazing a moment for you for the ACLJ audience we'll make sure to clip that too so that people who didn't catch this live can uh see that moment where our newest addition to our team our special advisor uh Rick Rinnell uh called in after just walked out of the Oval Office with the two leaders from Serbia and Kosovo the President of the United States they were on the phone with Prime Minister Netanyahu announcing this historic uh deal uh which again is called the Belgrade-Prestida deal uh which normalizes economic relations between the two countries and includes Kosovo which is predominantly Muslim recognizing Israel for the first time in its history and Serbia moving its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem like the US did under President Trump because our special advisor Rick Rinnell he's the ACLJ special advisor for national security and foreign policy whose first piece by the way he's going to write a piece exclusive piece for us each week at ACLJ.org went up just yesterday that's right on the home page of ACLJ.org he is not only that but he continued in his role when he left government there was a special Presidential envoy for Serbia and Kosovo peace negotiations if you're watching us on Facebook and Periscope you're seeing the photo there is uh Rick Rinnell right there he's to the right of well that that photo is with Robert O'Brien who is the current national security advisor uh you'll see him again in these photos these historic uh photos that we're playing now uh from these meetings and then of course uh that these leaders so uh as we continue the discussion today uh there is Rick he is next to Vice President Pence well uh the President is of course at the the desk and then the two leaders signing these accords very important folks uh very important that tells you the kind of team we're assembling with the ACLJ the kind of team that can walk out of the Oval Office and break news to you but more importantly than just breaking the news to you it's the kind of team who's also negotiating deals like that which benefit the United States of course the people in Serbia and Kosovo and one of our greatest allies I know a country you all care about deeply the Jewish state of Israel give us a call 1-800-684-3110 that's 1-800-684-3110 let's go back to the phones uh let's go to Deanna call in from Michigan online one Deanna welcome to JCECIO live hello and good afternoon hi Deanna you're on the air hey um I just wanted to say when Trump got first elected he promised he'd make the veterans hospitals or doctor's office more easily accessible because they were waiting hours and hours and sometimes weren't seen downstate well he did that Traverse City has a nice one Gaylord has a nice one and I know they're in other places and they're complete they're done and they're full and it it it helps them so much I have seen it firsthand so uh that's not being said the other thing is isn't there a law against all this lying well you know they've got sources right there they all have they have got sources they're anonymous sources of course like as Wes pointed out the only source that was named in the Atlantic article was a source for the White House saying all of this is lies of course President Trump has addressed it Secretary of State Pompeo has addressed it uh so they have no named sources they even say there's a retired four-star general but they don't give a name there uh so so that's what they hide behind they had though the Atlantic recently has been caught in their lies another reporter got in trouble for saying he was an eyewitness to a police shooting of a of a black kid that wasn't true he wasn't there it was a made-up story so these news outlets are going they have Trump derangement syndrome full speed ahead in these next two months leading up to the election well the benefit of using anonymous sources Jordan as you know is you can't ask them questions you can't put the data to them and ask well what about this does this fit your narrative if you use anonymous sources they don't have to answer follow-up and that's why they do it Jordan I would encourage our listeners to key in on a couple of things specifically on this veterans issue not only has the funding increased and the accountability but an increase clearly there was a backlog and there was a problem and that has started to right himself but Jordan I think the most impressive thing to me that has been accomplished over the last several years is actually the White House VA hotline which has taken more than a quarter of a million calls from veterans who need assistance Jordan what the White House has done is they have staffed that hotline with veterans themselves so people who have been through these issues who are facing complications with the bureaucracy and can help those who are in it now Jordan that's the kind of hands-on tangible reform that Washington needs because look as great as the funding increases have been and I think they were desperately needed they are important just throwing money at it itself is not enough to actually accomplish so solution so much like we've advocated in the school choice space Jordan they have taken people who know the real problems and have brought them aside vet alongside veterans who are facing those problems now and help them walk through it Jordan I really think that's been one of the most impactful changes that has happened in that space yeah think about the President I mean the VA was just a disaster too it was a disaster we've just got a call about how much improved the services have been those health care services that those veterans deserve you know they risked their lives for they put their lives on the line for they serve their country they they spent long tours of duty away from their their children their family their wife their loved ones here's President Trump this was just moments ago in the middle of the you know peace deal the economic deal with Kosovo and Serbia and the the recognitions of Israel by Kosovo a majority Muslim country has always refused and Serbia say we're going to also move our embassy to Jerusalem like you did the United States and there was a phone call with that yahoo and we had Rick Rinnell of course coming out of the Oval Office to tell us all about this in the midst of this the President was also having to address this ridiculous story and he talked about the VA specifically and improving the VA take a listen it was a terrible thing that somebody could say the kind of things and especially to me because I've done more for the military than almost anybody else you look at how the VA is doing it's doing incredibly well we got all sorts of things done from accountability to veterans choice to everything and it's got right now and it's got right now the highest approval rating that it's ever had 91 approval rating it's never been anywhere close to that I mean there it is right there that the VA in that short of time could go from such a really an organization that veterans themselves did not want to go to did not want to utilize to a 91 approval rating that's about as good as you can get as any kind of hospital service there's always going to be someone who's not happy someone who feels like they could have gotten treated better someone who thought you know some problem they had and issues and this is while it's still being reformed they're already up to 91 percent approval and the President is still making changes to make it better that I guarantee that's better than most hospitals that exist private hospitals that exist across the country and certainly better than government hospitals oh unquestionably Jordan that's why they didn't include those numbers in the article that's why they didn't talk to the veterans because it didn't fit the narrative and Jordan I really do think this goes back to the analysis we were given in the last segment of the broadcast what would be the purpose of this article why would you venture into a space where clearly President Trump is outperforming the former vice President Jordan it's to blunt the impact of that issue they know that their preferred candidate is not going to win on this issue so the effort is to throw misinformation at it it's to muddy the water it's to minimize excitement around an issue so that that particular issue area that particular set of voters is not as motivated to go to the polls in November you don't want to make this about politics Jordan because the the issue itself is so much more important but when you look at a lack of substance in an article like this and you look at a lack of sources a lack of sources that you can follow up with that's really the only conclusion you come back to Jordan it's not actually about convincing the people who are being serviced by the VA it's about minimizing the impact at the ballot box and again I would just one more time Jordan I'd encourage people to go to the numbers look at the numbers yourself don't believe us don't believe the Atlantic Arnold look at the numbers itself and decide for yourself what the truth is I say I suspect you will find that the truth is clear as day and it does not at all align with what the Atlantic put out this is what I want to ask you folks give us a call we got another segment coming up we'll take more and more your phone calls so we can fill up the phone lines now there's some lines open because we've been taking calls throughout the show but does ask yourself this does the left and the democrats really want to engage on this they want to make this the issue when Joe Biden tenure as vice President included Benghazi think about that give us a call 1-800-684-3110 also his 40 plus years in government including as vice President and he was cutting military funding not uh not improving the VA does he want to really make this a top issue you want to make the number one issue whether the military supports which candidate because let me tell you something they support overwhelmingly and veterans President Trump the numbers don't lie on that so very dangerous territory for the Biden campaign but see there's they're saying it's not really about the military they're trying to convince moderates moms out there grandmothers out there to say oh that's horrible if he said that even though it's anonymous sources so even though I was going to vote for it maybe I just won't maybe we need somebody like Biden who's so boring and stays in his basement that kind of thing I want to take your calls on that 1-800-684-3110 we're going to get some economic data as well which is truly outstanding of course doesn't get the attention it deserves 1-800-684-3110 let me encourage you check out our new special advisor's first piece and these are exclusive for the aclj.org Rick Cornell's first piece was posted yesterday at aclj.org he joined us live today just stepping out of the white house out of the oval office at the white house while he was in those final signings of the agreement between Kosovo and Serbia and on the phone with prime minister Netanyahu you had President Trump there as well he stepped out just to give our audience an update on that just for you it's just one of the reasons why we bring on people like that as advisors to the American Center for Law and Justice because of what information we can deliver for you now we can do that because you support the work of the aclj as always you can donate online to aclj.org and support the work that we do and stay up to speed on our work through aclj.org in our social media only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected is there any hope for that culture to survive and that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life we've created a free powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the aclj's battle for the unborn it's called mission life it will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support and the publication includes a look at all major aclj pro-life cases how we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists the ramifications of Roe v Wade 40 years later playing parenthood's role in the abortion industry and what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement discover the many ways your membership with the aclj is empowering the right to life request your free copy of mission life today online at aclj.org slash gift the challenges facing Americans are substantial at a time when our values our freedoms our 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President Trump just tweeted out another great day for peace with the Middle East of course referring previously to the peace deal between the UAE United Arab Emirates and Israel and now again today another great day for peace with for peace with Middle East Muslim majority Kosovo and Israel have agreed to normalize ties and establish diplomatic relations well done and he adds this this is very interesting by the way just to just put this out there for our audience more Islamic and Arab nations will follow soon so will there be more of these announcements coming which each one of them so historic for Israel and of course for peace which affects all of us including the United States and for the economy and so important for our ally Israel those other Muslim majority countries are very important for their economies but it's important for you all of us too and especially for those who care about the state of Israel but there's an American impact there as well as well specifically I want to talk some on this va issue to get to a little bit of the economic numbers we got a lot of calls in though on the va issue Kathy called in from Missouri on live for Kathy welcome to jsecio live you're on the air okay how you doing sir we're great thank you okay I just I just want to tell you a story from just this week we've been with the va for years my husband is 100 service-connected disabled and uh thanks to my President making sure we had veterans choice both enabled and expanded my husband was able to get a an aortic heart uh well I'm not saying you're right an aortic valve transplant I'm sorry it was one of the special ones where he had to be taken outside the va to do it and because of that his life his span has been lengthened and his quality of life has been heightened and I give that particularly to our President because because you're like what would you say it would be like in the va like six years ago before President trump to try to get a procedure like that done when he actually had to get go outside the va system but still needed the va to cover the cost I don't think it could be done there was some stuff being done but not much now we're we're with the kansas city va which we feel like is the better than normal va but even at that they would have had their hands tied greatly hands tied greatly and you know it's interesting kathy because and I thank you for sharing that personal story because alice on facebook wrote in that my brother has used the va hotline and has made all the difference he was so abused by the system before think about the word she was so abused by the system before let me talk to steve in missouri on line three steve welcome to jsecio live you're on the air hey jay thanks for oh i just want to speak i'm steve you're breaking up a little we're just going to see if we can get your line clear so we'll just put you on hold try to see if we get you a clear line let's go to jeff in washington state on line six hey jeff hey how we doing this morning hey great um i just wanted to give kudos to our President excellent work i've been going to the va since the vietnam war got denials got turned down this last week i got a large check reimbursement i go see off-site physicians i'm reimbursed for mileage trump does a great job with the va you know what jeff let me just say thank you for your service and it's amazing because these are the true stories stan these are the stories that matter these this is the truth about how President trump is treating our veterans he made these reforms and we're hearing it directly from callers who are calling it live they didn't even know we were going to be talking about this with their their their personal stories about how it's affected them yeah jordan i listened to alice and kathy and jeff and it really underscores the point i was making just a moment ago this this work in the veteran affairs space jordan it's very very hard it takes individualized specific case-by-case attention it's one of those issues where unlike a lot of government programs it can't be one size fits all jordan and again i think it's very much like our school choice work you have to look at an individual case and then provide somebody to walk alongside that veteran to get the care that they need and and jordan i really do think the linchpin in this whole strategy yes the funding for the va choice and the others was important but that va hotline that's housed at the white house provides the opportunity for someone to walk beside these veterans i think maybe it was kathy that said that said it the best it took someone to listen to the story and then find a specific way to provide a solution for it that actually allowed that case to move forward i i think that's been the most important piece of this jordan again you're not just trying to throw money at it you're not trying to create a program you're trying to find a real solution for a real veteran walking through need and i think this administration through that program has done it very well you know folks i think steve's lines back i want to make sure to take steve's call uh steve in missouri on line three uh you're on the air yeah jay is this better now yeah we can we got you yeah i was just going to say i utilize the gay services people seem to forget but it was after biden obama that veterans were dying before their disability claims processed and trump's fast track also well yeah i mean i think that that's the you're saying they couldn't get their claims processed i mean we we heard that again that even if you had a decent va hospital their hands were so tied that if you needed a procedure that would have to occur outside that va hospital like the valve the previous caller was talking about for her husband uh that their hands were so tied they wouldn't have been able to do it and his life wouldn't have been extended if under the obama biden administration the claims were being rejected no more no more so again just to kind of close on this part i think it just shows you you're going to hear lie after lie but this is a President who has great respect for our military men and women let me say it again he doesn't see them as pieces on a chessboard as too many past Presidents have he sees them as heroes who are willing to sacrifice their lives for our nation for our freedom but he he sees his strict only to be used in situations where there is no other option it's they are they to him each one of those lives matters remember what west smith said it didn't need to be 25 bodies coming back to dover and a bunch of press there uh for him to show up it could have been one in the middle of the night and he was there President obama wasn't you know there's huge differences the funding of the military the changes at the va to just the respect and yet the media wants to mislead you on that now another thing the media would love to mislead you on is the economy and fan i just want to get to this briefly because the us added 1.4 million jobs in august uh the unemployment rate has now declined to 8.4 that was from 10.2 in july it's the first time it's below 10 since covid hit hard and the mandatory shutdown that two-week stay-at-home order went into effect incredible report from august uh jordan and really the the employment report is the one when you're looking at the economic indicators that i always look at the most i know we're running out of time here three quick points jordan jobs up across the board 1.4 million jobs unemployment down jordan across all of the tabs across all of the minority tabs black hispanic asian across all of the tabs unemployment down and then maybe just as importantly as anything jordan even in the midst of this pandemic wages are up and wages are up across almost all tabs as well so again jobs up unemployment down wages up jordan that is the most important economic indicator across all of them a lot of the others are going to be flashier they're going to get more attention but whether or not the american people can return to work during the pandemic and as as the country starts to reopen that is the most important indicator to look for right folks we will continue of course to keep you updated go our social media twitter facebook parlor places like that of course aclj.org look out for that clip too today for our that special live interview with our newest special advisor rick renell stepping out of the oval office to update you on what occurred we're going to clip that out for everybody so you can share that with your friends and family on social media as well so look for that very soon coming out on our facebook pages and our twitter pages and places like that as always go to aclj.org and i i hope all of you even the midst of this pandemic can find some time to enjoy this labor day weekend with your with your friends family and loved ones we will talk to you next week for decades now the aclj has been on the front lines protecting your freedoms defending your rights in courts in congress and in the public arena the american center for law and justice is on your side if you're already a member thank you and if you're not well this is the perfect time to stand with us at aclj.org where you can learn more about our life-changing work become a member today aclj.org