Today on Sekulow, we have breaking news as President Trump declares the blockade on Iran will remain. Keeping you informed and engaged now more than ever. This is Sekulow. We want to hear from you. Share and post your comments or call 1-800-684-3110.
And now your host, Logan Seculum. Logan Sekulow will be joining us briefly. I'm Will Haynes, and Jordan Sekulow joining me in the studio as well. A lot of news on this Friday. As we see that the Iranians have agreed to fully open the Strait of Hormuz for commercial vessels.
This is a statement from the Iranian spokesperson and foreign minister. In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire on the coordinated route, as already announced by Ports and Maritime Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran. President Trump echoes this to a degree. The Strait of Hormuz is completely open and ready for business, and full passage. But And this is important.
the naval blockade will remain in full force and effect as it pertains to Iran only until such a time as our transaction with Iran is one hundred percent complete.
Okay. This process should go very quickly in that most of the points are already negotiated. Thank you for your attention to this matter, President Donald J. Trump.
So, folks, the market is reacting wonderfully to this news, as well as the price of oil. Last I checked down 12% already back into the low 80s. We are seeing the reopening of business for the majority of the world, but this blockade on Iran, which would have never happened if Iran didn't try and play a game of chicken with the President of the United States, and guess who blinked first? The Iranians. Jordan, this is a big deal here on this Friday.
No, this is a huge deal because it's also impacting those who relied on violating the sanctions to try and get cheap Iranian oil and gas. Who are those? One, an adversary, at least economically and closer, almost becoming militarily China, and then Russia.
So they're not getting their cheap oil and gas, but our friends in the Gulf. Our friends around the world are receiving the gas and oil they need to keep their economies afloat and bring prices down. And that is a great move. And I think what it shows you is the strategic power of our military, not just to go on a bombing campaign that took out all the leadership in Iran, but to be able to just sit on the coast. Of their ports and basically shut down an economy.
It's why you never want an economy based off one good. And Iran now, again, you tried to play chicken with the most powerful country of the world. You'll use it almost 99.9% of the time, you'll lose. And I think when President Trump is there, it's closer to 100%. Folks, if you want to join this conversation, call us at 1-800-684-3110.
What do you think about this? Also, the shift in narrative now as the President who was not using the Strait of Hormuz as a bargaining chip in these negotiations now is. And whose fault is that? The Iranian leadership or whatever they may be that is in Iran at this point. Give us a call, 1-800-684-3110.
And Jordan, you have something else? Iran was at a point where the U.S., to give up their uranium, was willing to split some surcharge to pass through the Strait of Hormuz with Iran. And now That's off the table because of the way they treated our vice President and negotiators basically came in and, as usual with Iran, said, Oh, yes, we'll come negotiate. And they had they were willing to negotiate on no major points.
So. President Trump, who everyone said the whole time he has no plan, he's doing this blindfolded, think you can just bob your way out of everything. A, the U.S. probably can bomb its way out of a lot of things. That's number one, but we don't always want to do that because of civilian life.
So, two, we have multiple plans, and this one only hurts our enemies.
So, do we really care how long it hurts? Which also could cause. the people to be able to rise up in Iran. That's still not over yet. That's right.
Folks, we're going to get into more of this as well as taking your calls. But support the work of the ACLJ. We are at the end of our Law and Justice Week, and you can double the difference when you give today at aclj.org. Welcome back to Secula. A lot to cover.
And one of the reasons, if you click this broadcast and you're seeing breaking, Trump declares blockade will remain. This is one thing we wanted to focus in on because a lot of the push notifications people are receiving are that the straight is open, the straight of Hormuz is open, and it is for all commercial traffic that doesn't include. Iran.
Now, how did this happen? What we're looking at here is there was a post on X this morning by the foreign minister of Iran that said, in line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire. We know that yesterday afternoon, the President announced that Israel and Lebanon had come to a 10-day ceasefire when it comes to Israel's actions against Lebanon, going after Hezbollah. But also, we know that the leaders of Israel as well as Lebanon are going to meet in the White House, Jordan, for the first time in 35 years to continue these talks. First of all, When did you ever think you'd hear that the leaders of Lebanon and Israel would be getting together for more talks, not just this ceasefire?
Those statements are interesting because they say, you know, what happens is when Israel hits. Hezbollah in Lebanon, that then we have to get engaged, and it ends up, you know, Lebanese troops, not Hezbollah troops, but Lebanese government troops who are still loyal to the Lebanese government, which is not controlled by Hezbollah, has Hezbollah members in its parliament or legislature, but is controlled actually by a separate party that is not supported by Hezbollah and does not support Hezbollah. And there's actually parts of even Beirut that are Hezbollah-controlled. There's parts of Beirut that are controlled by the government. And what they've said is, let's work together.
to destroy Hezbollah. I mean, Will, that's unheard of as well. That Lebanon's military would be willing to work with the Israeli military. Once again, it's been a long time since that's happened to get rid of this radical group. And I think the reason why is not just because Israel showed that, listen, we can do this on our own if we have to, but two, the Lebanese are not as afraid of the Iranians.
Once again, you're also looking at what the real remaking of the Middle East in this. You're hearing the Saudis are considering using Israeli ports on the Mediterranean to move their oil. Talk about something you never thought you'd hear. We'd always had this discussion of whether Saudi Arabia would join the Abraham Accords. We know they were close in 2020, and then obviously all that was derailed by President Biden.
But these new friendships with the Israelis that are starting to spring up as a result of this action in Iran, these are generational changes in and of themselves. Because economic friendships, when you're talking about state to state, nation to nation. Those are the tightest relationships. I mean, the only tighter would be going to war together. And those countries already allow us to keep sizable military bases inside their countries.
And they take, they have to deal with terrorism because of that. But it also protects their governments. But that economic tie. To Israel and Saudi Arabia. I mean, that would be a more direct tie than anything I could even imagine diplomatically because they'd both be financially benefiting, and thus it could be something that they're tied together in a way where you must trust each other on both sides for, like you said, Will, generations to come.
And that's how you change hearts and minds of these kids who, even in Saudi Arabia, which is not as the schools are not as extreme against Israel. Change their whole mind about Jews, Christians, and this idea that in the world economy, we have to deal with everybody if. If we're not gonna go the route of radical Islam just to give our life because of our religious belief.
Now, here's where the other interesting chess move here is today. Remember, after the talks fell apart, after J.D. Vance decided to leave Pakistan last weekend after 21 hours of negotiating with the Iranians directly. Which in and of itself is historic, that the United States vice President was directly negotiating with the Iranians. When that fell apart, and he said, I'm going home, they're not budging on the key points on our non-negotiables, they're not budging.
The President immediately said, Here's what we're doing Sunday morning: full blockade of all the Iranian ships. We sent U.S. destroyers not just on the open sea side of the Strait of Hormuz, but up through the Strait of Hormuz to blockade the ports so that the Iranian vessels that the Iranians were letting through the Strait.
so that they could make money, their economic lifeline, he said, we're shutting that down. And it was a bold move. There were people on the left saying, oh, it's going to put American lives at danger more, et cetera. But what we saw is that it started to work and it put the pressure on the regime. That wasn't something that we were doing prior to them shutting down the strait.
And then they got to the negotiation table in this ceasefire, which they never really abided by. And now they've reopened the strait. They're trying to say it's because of Lebanon. We know that really the blockade is putting extreme pressure on the regime, those that are technically the leadership right now, which could easily turn over very quickly. They have lifted their closure of the Strait of Hormuz, but the President said, we're keeping ours.
Your economic lifeline is not resuming. We kind of like the way things are right now. You're seeing our markets react fantastically today and the oil price dropping. Quickly, around 12 points, 12%. The last I checked, I'll get a more updated number for you.
But that is a resetting of what had happened because of Their blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, all the panic that people were saying was going to continue on forever. You're seeing, as President Trump said, this is going to be a short-lived increase in prices. We understand it hurts, it's not ideal. But at the end of the day, this is something that has been a problem, a thorn in the side of the Americans, and has taken so many American lives for 47 years. The short-lived temporary spike in gas prices, I would argue, is worth it.
But, Jordan, there is. Another side to this. Because the President is saying we're keeping this blockade until We sign a deal. Here's what that means. One, the economic pressure remains.
Two, there's reports that we could be back at the negotiation table this weekend with Iran, already starting to hear some rumblings of where that deal, the President keeps saying it's close and the war may end soon. What that deal may look like. Yeah.
So, what the deal may look like is some unfreezing of Iranian assets in the United States. They have billions and billions in assets. You remember we criticized President Obama as the JCPOA because the JCPOA was so bad and it allowed Iran to continue its nuclear weapons program and its nuclear program and gave them, I think at the time, it was like $7 billion in cash. And the only other thing we got was they had released one of our clients, Saeed Abedini, a Washington Post reporter, and one other person. And I remember Saeed said after that, when he found out that we put $7 billion into the hands of that regime, he felt horrible for those Christians in Iran while he was being escorted out of the country by the U.S.
and said. He would have opposed that as a Christian pastor. This, though, remember, is not your money, it's not your taxpayer dollars.
So, if you see this number of 20 billion. Uh but we get all the uranium. And by that that means all of their uranium. Uh that's the $20 billion of Iranian frozen assets, so it's not coming from me or you. And I think to get all of their uranium and shut down their nuclear program, that's 20 billion dollars worth unfreezing if.
We truly do get all of that uranium. I don't think President Trump would ever make a deal, will, where we haven't secured all that uranium. For ourselves, everywhere it is and everywhere it could be, before they get that money. And once again, this will, and where I think we will be skeptical until we see what the deal looks like. Always when you're talking about money and uranium.
Right. And we 100% were critical of the JCPOA because it gave Iranians their money. It's freeing up sanctioned dollars that they technically have earned but are frozen in bank accounts. They can't access it. Why were we critical of that?
Well, it allowed them to continue enriching uranium. There was actually no moratorium on it. They just had to keep it within the levels that they lied about, which we know they lied about. It had the ridiculous IAEA inspectors, which had to give like 40 days advance notice that they were going to come look. There were no real safeguards, but yet they just got enriched.
And what did they do? They carried out more terror. If this is a true shutdown of their program. We take all the uranium. The President even said we will get the nuclear dust created by the B two bombers when they blew up the facilities.
So things that could be technically mined and re put together and reused in a way, or create a dirty bomb or anything like that. And it's also no real taxpayer dollars. It is unfreezing of assets that are sanctioned. The sanctions are mostly because they have a nuclear program. If we can get rid of the nuclear program, Then they shouldn't be sanctioned because those sanctions would go away.
Now, human rights abuses, things of that other sanctions, I believe, we'll have to see what the deal looks like. Those I imagine would still remain in place, trying to use those to encourage them to change that behavior. upset the apple cart and see real regime change there. But once again, the difference will be in the details. Will this unfreezing of assets and lifting of sanctions be because of a genuine dismantling of their nuclear program?
That is something we could get on board with. If it is another JCPOA that looks stronger but isn't, I think we will vocally speak out against something like that. The details will matter. We will be following it. And they could be meeting as early as Saturday, once again, restarting this tomorrow.
We have much more ahead. If you are watching, go ahead and leave a comment where you're from. Call us at 1-800-684-3110 or join us, give to the ACLJ at aclj.org/slash justice. Stand with us. Welcome back, Sekulow.
I'm here now. Logan is here. Jordan's here. Will's here. Thanks for joining us, Logan.
I was stuck in the Strait of Hormus. Oh, no. Blockaded. I could not get through. Unfortunately, we had horrible traffic.
I've been in the car four hours today.
So, you know what? I made it, though. A little bit late, but we're here. Phone lines are open for you at 1-800-684-30110. I mean, I could have given up at some point.
I thought about it. You could have done the phone zoom. I thought about it, so I was do it from the car, you know, or just say, you know, y'all can handle it. But I'm here, we're gonna do a good rest of the show. Will knows what we're talking about.
I was listening, though. I'm not going to. I'm glad you tuned in. I was listening. There's ways you can find the show.
There was. I was watching it on YouTube, but I thought I have serious exit. There's so many different ways. Right. I had to make a decision.
I felt like one of our listeners has been like, how do I take this in?
So I pulled up a YouTube feed. Did you like and subscribe while you're at it? I was putting a comment where you're listening from. I think I was already there. But, you know, this is Law and Justice Week.
We are wrapping that up here at the ACLJ. It is still part of the Double the Difference Drive, which goes for the rest of the month. And you can be a part of that at aclj.org. Will, did we want to play a video here? Do you want to get a little more?
Before we get back to this Iran topic, our team put together this video because the Law and Justice Week was really focusing on the work that we do at the Supreme Court. And at the beginning of the week, I talked a little bit about that history and how we've been a part of so many landmark decisions that the ACLJ and your dad have really helped shape the way that the Constitution is. Carried out and protected through these Supreme Court precedents that have come down over the great history of the organization.
So they put together some of those, some highlights of that to kind of show this work. And let's go ahead and roll that for people before we get back to the topic of the day. The ACLJ has spent decades fighting for your freedoms. And that fight has taken us all the way to the United States Supreme Court. Vergen's lawsuit has emerged as a major test of the Federal Equal Access Act, a 1984 law which says if public schools make their facilities available for non-curriculum-related activities, religious groups must get the same access.
We wanted to have the Bible study meet in the school and we thought it'd be no problem to start. In today's Supreme Court hearing, the lawyer for the school board argued the 1984 law shouldn't apply because the activities of all the other student groups were related to classwork. The lawyer for the students countered that the school board was violating free speech. By a surprisingly decisive margin, the Supreme Court ruled today that a student Bible study club has as much right to meet in a public school as any other group. The vote was 8 to 1.
The highest court in the land is the ultimate authority on constitutional interpretation. And the final arbiter of how the law is enforced. The pro-choice movement was humming along. No real Opposition, and then suddenly hundreds of people are coming into the streets kneeling at clinics. On this day, October 16th, 1991, these people were lined outside the United States Supreme Court building waiting to get a seat to hear arguments on a case called Bray versus Alexandria Women's Health Clinic.
At stake was whether federal courts should use their authority to stop pro-life advocates from blocking entrance to abortion facilities. The opinion of the court number 9985 Bray against Alexandria Women's Health Clinic will be announced by Justice Scalia. Opposition to abortion does not qualify as a class-based animal. Nor does opposition to abortion reflect an invidiously discriminatory animus against women in general. When Roe v.
Wade was overturned, the Supreme Court quoted our case, Brave v. Alexandria Women's Health Clinic, in its historic ruling. That's the power of precedent. A case we argue didn't just win, it shaped the legal landscape, influencing how courts interpret and apply the law for generations ahead. In 1988, this Long Island church, Lamb's Chapel, asked the Centima Riches School District for the use of this high school gymnasium to show a film series on family values.
But the school district refused the request, saying the film series' religious content violated a New York state law prohibiting religious activities on school property. You cannot. Eliminate religious speech or give it a special disability because you disagree with it. The church appealed, and today, Justice Byron White, writing for the Supreme Court, rejected the school board's arguments and said denying access violated the church's right to free speech. We won that case unanimously, and then a whole arena, if you will, of litigation exploded.
We have cases at the Supreme Court right now that could have a major impact on your rights, like freedom of speech and even your right to go to church and worship together without consequence. And that's why your support of the ACLJ is so crucial. Getting cases of this magnitude to the Supreme Court takes a lot of work? And resources. It's because of ACLJ members and champions that we can continue to engage these critical cases and defend the freedoms afforded to all of us by the Constitution.
And again, that is just a look during Law and Justice Week at the work of the ACLJ historically. Again, we're talking back, flashing back 30, 40 years at this point, that the work of the ACLJ has been in the Supreme Court of the United States, and it continues at the Supreme Court of the United States to this day. We are actively working on cases, whether it is the situation with CNN or it's because that's a deadline right now, right? That should be happening as we speak. That's right.
So we know that CNN will be submitting their reply. I'll get the exact date. I think it is this Friday. But today. Right.
I know. That's what I mean. Today. But once again, that is a very important case that we have before the Supreme Court. We know that it could really reshape the way that the entire media industry is able to operate.
And when we look at all of these things and put it together, we know we talk about what's there before with the Calvary Chapel case. We know that that. Is going before conference next week, and today their response is due. And then we will have a reply brief that is due May 1st.
So all these things are moving so quickly and very important. But we've been doing it. for decades. And the team, though, some faces have changed, some names have changed over the years, as people have come and gone, people have started here, have retired here. The mission remains the same, and the organization is still stronger than ever right now because of people like you who support the work financially.
And look, we got a lot going on in the back half of this show. Jeff Balabon from ACLJ Jerusalem is going to join us. Of course, Israel plays a major part in what's happening with Iran. And according to President Trump, he said that Iran will never close the strait again, is what they're saying.
So, what does that look like? And what does the real negotiations look like also with Israel and Lebanon? We're going to get into that in the second half hour of the broadcast. And also, I want to hear from you. Give me a call at 1-800-684-3110.
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Keeping you informed and engaged.
Now more than ever. This is Sekulow. And now your host, Logan Secular. Welcome to the second half hour of Sekulow. Jordan's in studio.
Will's in studio. Jeff Balabon from ACLJ Jerusalem is going to be joining us in the next segment. And I want to hear from you at 1-800-68-430-110. I'm going to reset a little bit for those who are just joining us right now. We know a lot of you come back for just for the second half.
We are still discussing the main topic of the day. Of course, there seems to be a deal at hand as Iran has declared. The Strait of Hormuz is open, while President Trump has also responded saying the blockade will remain. I know, Will and Jordan, you both have talked about this in the first half hour, but maybe we need to give a little clarity on where we're at. That's right.
And I think that's what's interesting is most people are getting the push notifications that the Strait of Hormuz is open. And you're also seeing probably your 401k or investment accounts soaring today because the Dow is up over 1,000 points as we speak. Good day to retire. The oil market is down 12%. Everything is looking very positive.
The markets are reacting positive to the news of the Straight Ormoz being open.
However, the President was also clear The blockade on Iran. Will continue until they sign a deal. We know that the negotiations are expected to begin again this weekend. With the Iranians. There is also some leaks to the press, or maybe not leaks, but sources that are letting the press know.
And sometimes this is to get ahead of the story, not as a nefarious thing, but that there could be an exchange for all of the uranium. And I am curious about what our listeners think about this. The unfreezing of about $20 billion of Iran's assets that are in banks.
Now, where does this money come from? That is a lot of money that may have gone from selling oil or energy to nations that don't want to get sanctioned by the United States. And so they pay their money, but then it just gets frozen in an account somewhere, or whether that bank is in a nation that doesn't want to get sanctions from the U.S.
So it just gets basically held there. They are still performing the service. A lot of that with Iraq. They have trade between Iraq and Iran, but that money, while it changes hands in theory, it just gets frozen for a time because of these sanctions. How would you feel about that if we unfreeze these assets, but in exchange for?
A solid deal. That takes away all their uranium in their enrichment. How solid of a deal it has to be? I think it has to be a deal where they have no uranium. And no no way to restart.
That uranium.
So you're not just like leaving the centrifuges behind. You're taking down their nuclear abilities and you're taking the active uranium they have away.
So, that they know that if you start to re if you try and restart a program from scratch again, we can say they can they will probably say things that they won't say publicly when they're making a deal. This is what will happen to you.
So, and this is what happens if you are not. Dealing with this in good faith because some of this uranium. Is in places that we don't even necessarily know. We know a lot of it gets moved around underground continually.
So I would not, I would be okay with a deal like this, and maybe even celebrate a deal like this if. The uranium goes before the money comes. If the money goes first... The Iranians will never let it. They may take us to a couple places to seize uranium and make it feel like we got everything.
And the truth is, you know, knowing them. They'll have other places with it.
So I think you've got to create that has to come first before the money. I know a lot of you are going to have questions or comments also related to Israel and how Israel plays into this newly structured deal. They were certainly referenced by President Trump. We'll get into that in the next segment extensively with Jeff Balabon, who runs our office in Jerusalem, ACLJ Jerusalem, which exists to make sure your values, your messaging makes its way to the Holy Land. It's always interesting to have Jeff on get his perspective.
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We'll take your calls in the next segment. Jeff Balabon is joining us. We got him connected via phone. Connected via phone from ACLJ Jerusalem. Jeff, obviously.
The big news today has to do with The straight of removal is being reopened. There obviously still is a blockade set in place, and that. majorly had to do with these talks between Israel and Lebanon, something that has not happened in many, many years.
So I want to get your thoughts from your perspective on these pretty historic conversations, talks, negotiations. Lebanon was a predominantly Christian country, and it's been in a terrible you know, there was civil war periods. There's there's a huge chunk of it is basically run by Hezbollah, which is an Iranian proxy. And as we know, Israel has really degraded Hezbollah's uh capabilities over the last couple of years.
So the fact that this talks now, I know that the view in Israel pretty much across the board seems to be at the military, intelligence, political level, is that there's a tremendous amount of trust now between Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, between the between not just them, but and well beyond the operational battle level, which has been incredible. But the level of trust is that no one knows exactly where this is going to go, but everyone's more than happy to give this a chance to see if they can come up with something new. They've degraded Hezbollah. The hope is that the Lebanese people can try and take back their country. And we'll see if that happens.
I mean, this has been a long time happening for decades in many of the countries in the region where Iranian proxies have really brutalized the people of those countries.
Well, and I think Jeff as well, what you see is an emboldened government of Lebanon who, because of the influence of Hezbollah, has not really been in a position to even talk to Israel, even if the government itself wanted to. Behind the scenes, they knew that they didn't have a lot of wiggle room because of the terrorist organization that controlled a vast majority of their country. And then you also look at these reports that. Saudi Arabia may be about to make deals with Israel about using Israel's ports for moving oil. I mean, just the remarkable shift in the entire.
Order of the Middle East and the way that the previous enemies would never speak to each other are now looking at ways to cooperate. I mean, even just that as a result of this action against the Ayatollah and the regime in Iran could be paying dividends to the safety of the world in the future. Ellis, I think this is what has animated our own and when I say our own, I mean ACLJ is posturing all of this, that Israel is not has never been the problem. Israel has been the solution. And America standing really shoulder to shoulder with Israel in a way that we have never seen as we're seeing with this President Has enabled in the first administration us to reach a level of peace in the Middle East with the Abraham Accords, and now.
you know, there was the gap with Biden and the bad side got just funded and riled up and took horrible action. And the result now is the I don't use the wordization in a negative sense, but the mobilization of the potential of the Abraham Accords that go well beyond just a cold peace, but an active participation. And there's this term PAX silica in the new world of warfare in which our most important hour, America's most important ally, according to some, might end up being Israel, because America is the giant scaling up model, but Israel is the one that keeps on coming up with new ideas about how to add a wage war. But the point of waging war isn't conquest. It's just peace and stability.
And that's what this is now emerging, hopefully, to become, including with these ceasefires. We'll see where they go. Jeff, one thing I did want to pivot to real quickly here is today you're at Yale University, your alma mater. We've been doing work with the academic world for so long fighting anti-Semitism, something we were calling out long before we were seeing the actions on these campuses at these elite universities. But there's an interesting tie here, and I want you to talk about what you're doing because you've written a piece that is fascinating in light of something that Yale just did as well.
You have a piece that's up at jns.org called Shedding Light on Truth at Yale. But Yale also put out a report this week that the New York Times was widely reporting on. All of these people are reporting on that they did a report. that found That the reason people don't trust higher education is in large part Because of the elite universities and the way they've been operating and the way that they've conducted academic business over the past some years. But you also, I think it ties into also the things that we've had to fight: the anti-Semitism, the discrimination that happens on these campuses as well.
And I wanted to give you a chance to speak about what you're doing on campus this weekend. Absolutely.
So, in fact, I'm now between meetings exactly on this subject. It's a combination of Recent reports, things that I've learned because I've become more involved with the Yale Club of Yale at the Yale Club of Israel, which is involved. The Yale clubs around the world are involved with admissions. And it turns out that it's possible, we're not 100% clear on this yet, that not a single Israeli Jew was even interviewed, which is shocking. While there were Israeli Arabs and Druze were, but not a single Jew.
And at the same time, Yale is famous. There used to be very specific quotas limiting the number of Jews at Yale. This is back in the 30s and 40s. And then those quotas were released. And now the presence of Jews at Yale is lower now than it was even then.
And this is it's particularly bad at Yale. It's bad at Harvard also. And other and so this is that the Ivy Leagues are looking at themselves and trying to make comparisons. But it's against the backdrop, not just of specifically hostility to Jews or Israelis, but of hostility to a whole bunch of ideas or the importation of a whole bunch of ideas in terms of how universities should work that may have departed from merit, may have departed from knowledge and gone more into, for lack of a better word, Trying to inculcate a set of ideas with people.
So, this is also the problem as it applies to Jews and Israelis on campus here and at the universities. And by the way, I'm here, but there's also, I just met with a colleague who's responsible for the Harvard Jewish Alumni Association report, which I referred to in that piece, which is what found that the situation is worse at Yale than it is at other universities. We're talking about this. I just met meeting with Jewish students here, Israeli students here with faculty, professors, and with others to hear what their experiences are also because A, the broader policy issue, but B, as you know, there may be those, we're being contacted by someone who may have potential litigations here as well.
So, this is another institution that needs to be taken a look at. We know what happened with Harvard and Columbia. Yale sort of escaped it because it's New Haven, not a big media place, so the agitators don't come here. But the situation here, in some ways, might even be worse. Jeff, it's Jordan.
But I mean, I think what you said was very important there. When they try to start these talks to try and figure out the problem, when they get raided these ways, that doesn't mean that there aren't students, professors, adjuncts, and others, employees on campus who may have legal claims and are fed up enough that they are ready to go to court against Yale. And we'd be there for them. 100% right, Jordan. We're actually looking.
I've been meeting with and looking already for quite a while at a bunch of different claims. And sometimes, Jordan, as you know, it's not one terrible action that takes place. It's sort of death by a thousand cuts. They created a hospital, and it's harder to prove, it's harder to flesh out that it's happening, there's no question. The question is whether there's enough grounds here to be able to prove it as a legal case.
So there's the social issue, the policy issue, and we're trying to work on all fronts to try and just make the situation better.
Well, and as we wrap up this segment, just what Jeff even said there, that one, they had to do a study to figure out that the reason people don't trust them is themselves, the way they've been operating, how much money did they waste spending on that. But the fact that almost 100 years ago, they had a quota to cap how many Jews they would let into their university. They were trying to keep as many as they could out, so they had a quota. And what the research is showing is that. Fewer.
students are Jewish now without those quotas. Largely because of the way they operate in their policies than when they were actively trying to keep them out. Right. That's insane. Just based on the fact of like, oh, it feels it doesn't, they're trying not to make it a geopolitical moment or a racist moment, but right.
In the moments when they were actually restricted, it was actually easier to get in. Jeff, that is sort of a wild part of today's American Ivy League. Yeah.
Yeah, listen, they, well, you know, you can look at the article I wrote, but it's a terrible situation. It's worse. They expanded the undergraduate population by 1,300 seats, and now there are like 33% fewer Jews, and not a single Jew got any of those seats. It's really exactly the opposite direction they should be going. That's well, Jeff.
Thanks for calling in today. We know you're busy, but we appreciate all the work that you do for us and with us and for our audience, so we appreciate it. With that being said, we're only about a minute left in this segment. We get back. We're going to hear from all of you, as many of you, as we possibly can.
We still have one line open. No guarantees. If you want to call in now, maybe you'll make it on the air. 1-800-684-3110. That's 1-800-684-3110 as we go to break.
But if you're on hold right now, Ann, Matthew, Jesse, Scott, Bill. Stay on hold. We're going to do our best to get to as many of you can. And if you've been on hold for a while, we'll definitely be getting to you. It is.
The wrap-up of Law and Justice Week here at the ACLJ. It is double the difference month throughout the month of April, but we've been celebrating and looking back and looking forward. As the ACLJ has a long history in the Supreme Court of the United States and continues that fight even to today, as today is actually the final deadline for CNN to respond at the Supreme Court in our case against them. We're going to keep this going, but if you want to be part of it, aclj.org, make your donation today and have it doubled. All right, last segment of the day, last segment of the week.
Let's kick it off strong. Go, we have a full bank of calls. We'll do our best to get to as many of them as we can, but we are going to go to Ann first in Pennsylvania because she's an ACLJ champion, which gets her bumped up to the front of the line. Thanks, Anne. You're on the air.
Oh, my gosh. Thank you so much, guys. I just love you. Listen, when is the left going to finally understand that the First Amendment of the United States Constitution is extremely Already delivered, decided, mandated. I'm going to tell you something.
The Supreme Court must uphold the First Amendment and the Bill of Rights. because arguably the First Amendment We should not even have to re-litigate it. We shouldn't have to redecide, you know, the right to be able to pray in front of an abortion clinic. We shouldn't have to be able to continually re-litigate the First Amendment in every single way.
Now, we're going to always need judges. We're going to always need they're always going to be important. But I want to see, guys, I want to see a day where we finally say, as conservatives and Christians, that we should not be re-litigating the First Amendment. And very important people, men and women in black robes, Should not decide what has already been decided for us since 1791. Yeah, I'd say this, and as an attorney, I think it is generational.
So every generation has had its own First Amendment. Battles of what does the extent of the First Amendment really mean when you say freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and all the freedom of the press. How far does that freedom go? What limits could possibly be there when you are dealing with private individuals, private businesses, private property? And the flip side of that is government property.
You know, at what point is your demonstration so large that they're not trying to prevent your demonstration, but because it's going to be taking the streets that to legally do it, you still have to have a permit that doesn't necessarily violate the First Amendment.
So that's why each generation. has to litigate Uh these constitutional basic Freedom, the Bill of Rights, basically. And so I think as long as we're fighting generationally, And you're ready for the next battle that's coming, and you know that it's coming, we will continue to win out the day when it comes to freedom of speech and those other guaranteed rights. And I think that they will actually continue to expand, but they will always be a little bit different of an issue because technology changes, the ability of communication changes, which changes then the ability of how you speak. And so, you know, at the time of the founders, geniuses, but I mean, they didn't have electric microphones where you could speak to a million people with a microphone and two speakers going down through Washington, D.C.
And yet we figured it out. We figured out how to do it without it being a disaster every time. And very quickly, before we go to another call, just to piggyback off what Jordan's saying, is that that's why we're at the Supreme Court in Dershwitz, VCNN. Yes. Because that was a fight where the freedom of the press and freedom of speech and freedom of religion, all in the same amendment, somehow the press got a supercharged immunity from a Supreme Court precedent.
There's a First Amendment case. New York Times v. Sullivan. But once again, we think that the way that it was applied, the First Amendment, Needs to be re-looked at in that case. And that's exactly what we're doing right now.
I want to try to get some more calls. Let's do it. Matthew in Colorado, line two. Thanks for holding for a while. Matthew, you're on the air.
Hey, brother, good to hear you again. Uh I was on the air the other day because uh My ship was off the coast of Iran. In the uh fall and winter of 1979 And I want everybody to remember that Iran was a very westernized country before the Ayatollah took over. And we have to be careful not to intimidate those in Iran they want to get back to those westerns away. I think that's the dream.
I mean, the dream is to see in Iran the way we've seen, and my generation has seen the picture. We were born right around the time that was coming to an end, but you see it, and it's like you, you know, people have to tell you it's a different place. And then, of course, depending on where you live in the country, there are areas where there are large Persian communities. My wife's from Los Angeles, so she's had lots of friends whose families came from Iran. And We'll tell you those stories of what Iran was like.
And it was exactly as how you described it. That's the goal, ultimately, is to the people of Iran, the 90 million plus, to liberate themselves if. There are 90 million. If enough of those 90 million still left in Iran, share those values. And I think that's it.
We don't 100% know. We know a lot do because they risk their lives to protest. That's what is the majority.
Well, and as we go to this next call, remember also the next steps of this. If they agree to get rid of their nuclear program and accept these funds and they take $20 billion and don't make life better for the people of Iran. I think that could start an uprising and a real revolution as well. If it just goes to terrorism, it changes their threat ability. I mean, the IRGC loses a lot of threat ability.
If they don't have that, well, we may have a nuclear weapon. We may call it a dirty bomb, you know, those kind of things. Call about that. Let's go to Jesse in Texas. Go ahead, Jesse.
You're on the air. Hi. I do believe getting rid of the uranium is important, but there's a far more dangerous element there, and that is the remnant of any of the old guard that still has the radical Islamist Ideology Because as we know, they play long ball. And it doesn't have to be that long. Our dear President is going to be out of office in less than three years.
And I don't know that, that high octane leadership To make this deal happen is going to be replaced, but I don't think they should get any relief until those Islamists are. Have no contact with the levers of power in that country. Yeah, that's why, Jesse, I've said throughout the show, I don't think any of that money that is the Iranian money frozen by the United States, their assets, $20 billion in this instance. Should be unfrozen until we know for a fact that all of the uranium is out.
So that's not necessarily like a one-week program. That's not a one-week program. And what that would tell me is that if we got to that point. where our leaders felt like they were confident. that that all the uranium is out, then we have seen a shift.
in the leadership of Iran. It may not have been the shift that we've actually wanted 100%, but it's always hard to get to 100%. But I can't see them agreeing to that with the IRGC of Suleimani. And now that they have taken out Sue Lamani and two more downs since him, they're rethinking life. Let's quickly take Bill in Georgia to wrap it up.
Scott, unfortunately, we're not going to be able to get to you today. Call back on Monday early. I'll put you up first. Bill, go ahead. Hey there, gentlemen.
Thank you for what you do. I'm a new listener, and I like what I hear. Awesome. Thank you. Appreciate it.
Quick comment. I just wanted to we know this. From Art of the Deal. This is what our President does. He cuts deals.
And it's a beautiful, beautiful day for this country and for the world. And I'll tell you, you know what he's going to do. I mean, this is what he does: he spanks a little bit. And then he turns around and he helps.
So I've after all this over, I I potentially see that He'll be helping to put Iran back together in exchange for whatever. He ain't going to do it for free. But I'm just, I'm proud of how it went. I know J.D. Vance did his best to kind of.
I knew once Trump stepped in, it would get worked out. Bill, we appreciate you calling from Georgia. New listener, it's always great to hear from new people who are just joining us right now. You know, we do this show each and every day, 12 to 1 p.m. Eastern Time Live, whether that is on your local terrestrial radio stations or you can find us.
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