We got breaking news as Mom Donnie calls again to arrest Netanyahu, an explosive device rattles New York. Keeping you informed and engaged, now more than ever. This is Secular. We want to hear from you. Share and post your comments or call 1-800-684-3110.
And now, your host, Logan Sekulow. Welcome to Sekulow Phone Lines. They're open for you. It is Monday, July 20th. Welcome to the show.
Will Haynes is joining me in the studio. We've got a packed show today. Mike Pompeo is joining us, followed by Marsha Blackburn. It is, obviously, the center of Tennessee is running for governor. It is going to be a packed show.
So you're not going to want to miss it. But also, I'm going to be taking your phone calls at 1-800-684-3110. We are covering the breaking news out of New York City this morning as an explosive device was found. It was detonated outside of a federal building in Manhattan this morning. Few people are injured.
We don't know a lot of information yet, other than a man was taken into custody after police say he set a fire, ignited what they said were maybe fireworks. We have a gun outside of a federal building, and again, an explosive device that we're not exactly sure all the details yet. At the same time, you have Mondami making a lot of news over the weekend, still calling. For the arrest of Benjamin Netanyahu, as he plans to visit New York City in the coming weeks. Let's actually hear directly from The mayor of New York by one.
I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu, who belongs in The Hague, he's a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court. Whatever the law allows me to do in New York City, that's what we will do, but we won't be writing our own laws to that end. That's an active conversation with our legal department in seeing what the prospects are we have here in our municipality. Yeah, and we are dealing with, I've heard with some technical issues on YouTube. I don't know if you can hear me or not.
Even if you're hearing a rattled version, know that we are working on adjusting that right now. Phone lines are open for you if you are listening at 1-800-684-3110. 1-800-684-3110. Make sure we restate all of this coming in. Second segment.
Right now, the FBI is actually in the FBI in New York is talking about this and who the person is in custody. We'll pull that. We'll find out more information. Again, you have a time where New York is under a very interesting time where, of course, you hear about a failing New York a lot. I have been one of those proponents of a New York City being thriving.
I want it to be the center of the world. I want it to be where people come to visit and they feel safe. At the same time, you have a lot of crime happening. You had the World Cup having there just yesterday, coming off of what felt like a very peaceful President of the United States was there. It was a big moment for New York City.
Felt safe. Everything was secure. I was at the World Cup in Atlanta a few days before. But at the same time, here we are dealing with some sort of. Incendiary device, they've said, that was set out outside of a federal building in New York City just a few hours ago.
And what are we spending our time on? The mayor of New York City talking about arresting the prime minister of Israel. That's right. And remember, this is not the first time that an incendiary device was set off. Remember, even while you were in New York, Logan, outside of Gracie Mansion, there were those Molotov cocktails that were an incendiary device that did not go off, fortunately, but was a bomb there.
This is now in front of the FBI building. This is also where the immigration has offices, as well as an immigration court in New York City.
So if we are reading into that, it could be because it's a target against the policies of the United States. Once again, we will hopefully find out some more information soon and bring it to you. But the target itself, being a place where the federal government has offices in New York City, the FBI, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency has offices in there. We feel like this leads you to believe this is an attack against the policies of the administration. And at the same time, this is.
What's going on in New York these days? There's a lot of conversation about why could they arrest President or Prime Minister Netanyahu? What are the charges? We'll talk about that when we get back. If the sound has fixed on YouTube, stick around with us.
We'll reset all of what we talked about over the last couple minutes when we get back from a break. We are today launching Defend the Defenseless Week here at the ACLJ. This is about our pro-life work. We are really in a moment here when the vulnerable, the unborn, come under attack. And we feel like we are one of the few organizations that will actually step into this fight.
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Welcome back to Sekulow. I know we had some sound difficulties. I believe that's been fixed.
So I'm going to restate what we are talking about. There's kind of two separate incidents that are happening. All, of course, have to do with New York City. As it seems like all eyes seem to be on New York yesterday, you had the World Cup finals in New York, and now. You have this morning.
A what they're calling an incendiary device, a bomb, some sort of explosive device. that was detonated outside of a Federal building in Manhattan. This is again, this happened. They said it could have been some sort of fireworks. Whatever, a couple people are injured.
This is happening right now. An individual has been taken into custody. And we're going to hear probably from the FBI here shortly. This again is in New York City. And how did New York City decide to make news this weekend?
Not only by having, well, I think it was probably the most successful sporting event in probably a long, long time. The World Cup throughout the entire United States, which was in Mexico and Canada, was a fantastic thing for everybody. You add. Mayor Mondami making the rounds, telling people, yeah, he still plans on trying to figure out any effort they can to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu. We have a phone call about that, and I think we can use this as a setup of what people may have curious questions.
Let's go to Robert in Maryland, ACLJ champion, longtime caller. Go ahead, Robert. Yes. I wanted to ask the question. Does the mayor Of New York City actually wants to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu, and if he does, What charge would he be arresting them on?
And would he be using the ICC, the International Criminal Court, as the medium to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu? Let's talk about would he want to? I think the answer is yes. 100%. Yes.
Will he be able to? Probably not. You know, this is someone who, yeah, he's saying we're an international city. We're able to use international law. And I don't think the mayor of New York has, even as the mayor of New York, has the ability to do such a thing.
I know you had Senator Fetterman saying that, you know, this is ridiculous. He's not even going to try it. Quit asking him. This is just a goofy needs to focus on his city. Clearly needs to focus on his city when a bomb just went off this morning, but over the weekend, spending his time talking about arresting Benjamin Netanyahu, of course, we know he's no friend to Israel.
Of course, we know he's no friend to the Netanyahu administration, but he has ramped it up. He hasn't like he's backed down from those. Sure, he was questioned about this as Netanyahu gets closer and closer to a visit to New York.
Well, we also know that this was something he ran on. He ran. As a part of, I will do everything within my power to see that he is held accountable for his crimes, right? As if that is the job of the mayor of New York. But when you look at what the DSA as an offshoot in American politics really has positioned as their number one issue.
It is what they say, free Palestine. Really, it's destroy Israel.
So, yeah, that makes sense that their poster boy is going making these rounds, still trying to push for something that isn't within his legal authority.
Now, He clearly has the general counsel of the mayor's office digging into these and his legal advisors digging into these issues to see whether or not this is something they can pull off. But, Robert, to your point, it wouldn't be an arrest on like any charges he's violated in New York within New York municipal code. It would be at the behest of a foreign court system, the ICC, of which the United States is not a party to. We have not signed on to the Rome Statute. We have actually, if the ACLJ, Fought at the ICC against them trying to expand their jurisdiction over the United States and Israel or citizens of those countries.
So it is alarming, though, when you have a very powerful person. I don't want to downplay the fact that he is the mayor of the largest city in the country, as well as one of the most important cities in the world. When he goes out and tries to say these things at the same time, as this is what he posted on X about the incendiary device this morning, what occurred outside 26 Federal Plaza this morning was deeply disturbing. I'm relieved no one was seriously injured and that a suspect is in custody. My team is in touch with the NYPD and we will support the federal investigation.
Our administration will continue to ensure that every New Yorker is safe in their city and hold accountable any who threaten that.
Now, that's a very benign statement when it comes to something that happened in your city when you have seen now multiple terroristic things happen in your city under your tenure. At the same time, this is the conversation. You can tell where his priority really is. With the New York Times over the weekend, let's play Byte Two. Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is perhaps planning to visit New York for the UN General Assembly.
You pledged during your campaign and after you won to order his arrest to comply with an International Criminal Court warrant. What will happen if he comes in September? Prime Minister Netanyahu, who belongs in The Hague. He's a war criminal who has been charged by the International Criminal Court. And What you will find is that is an opinion that is held by many purely because of what his actions have wrought over these last many years.
I've also said that I will follow the laws that we have here in New York City because I believe that There's an importance in following the law as a leader who presides over our city, and that's something that I plan to do. And once again, this is with the New York Times, the interview. It's a show that is released as a podcast in a video format. And you have the host, Lulu Garcia Navarro, which I think actually. Does a really good job as a journalist pushing back on individuals that come on and make statements like that?
Like, I believe he belongs in The Hague. Here's her follow-up: this is bite three. When, after he says, you know, as someone that's a leader and presides over the city, it's something I plan on doing is following the law. Let's hear bite three. I'm sorry, I don't understand what that means.
Meaning that whatever the law allows me to do in New York City, that's what we will do, but we won't be writing our own laws to that end. What does the law allow you to do? That's an active conversation with our legal department in seeing what the prospects are we have here in our municipality. However, what we've seen at the national level is a desire sometimes to write your own laws, to go outside of the bounds of legality. That's not something we have an interest in.
Normally, when people come to a UN General Assembly, they're granted a sort of amnesty because it is the seat of the United Nations. Is that what you're thinking that you'll honor? you're actively looking to see if You can actually arrest him. Trevor Burrus, Jr.: I think we are looking at all of our legal obligations, and one of them is with regards to the United Nations. But the other part of this is we're not talking about a personal assessment of Benjamin Netanyahu.
We're talking about the International Criminal Court and the fact that they have a warrant out for this prime minister's arrest. And I think it's important to talk about the weight that that has as a charge and also. that as the mayor of New York City, I'll be following the laws of New York City.
So certainly is KG in his response was able to say, look, I've definitively, this is what I want to do, but at least kind of openly admitting it without ever saying it. That nothing, he can't do anything about this. And look, the fact that you would ever want in the United States of America, by the way, for us to be even acknowledging. The International Criminal Court in this sense is pretty disturbing, pretty scary. If you want to start talking about your one world government kind of conspiracy theories, it's not a conspiracy theory when it comes to the International Criminal Court.
It feels dystopian. It's very strange. We've had representatives there. My dad's argued there because it is important to make sure that people are being defended because so many people do find some sort of legality and validation in this incredibly creepy board that sits.
Well, here's my concern because we've been very successful at fighting back against the ICC wanting to encroach on American sovereignty and Israeli sovereignty. When I hear this When she says, Is it something you're actively looking to see if you can actually arrest him? That's what the interviewer is asking. He says, I think we are looking at all of our legal obligations. Obligations.
And one of them is with regards to the United Nations. But the other part of this is, we're not talking about a personal assessment, we're talking about the ICC and the fact they have a warrant out for his arrest. And so My concern is: you have to realize these legal advisors, all this, this is his team. A lot of times legal advisors get you to the opinion you want. If he is saying we're looking at what our legal obligations are, and he has advisors that are predisposed.
To think that the ICC's jurisdiction is something that should be over. Then you get a legal opinion out of the general counsel of the mayor's office in New York that says. Uh you are legally obligated. To do some sort of action because the ICC has an arrest warrant out for an alleged war criminal. That's the scary thing because he's wanting to get there.
He's definitely tasked his advisors with get me there if we can. And my concern is when you have someone that is a part of this DSA-type regime. And all of the things we've seen. We see the DSA wants to tear down the Senate. They don't want to abolish the Senate.
They want to pack the courts. They want to do all these things that. Their mindset isn't let's follow the Constitution. They're wanting to disrupt the Constitution. I'm concerned his legal advisors are going to say, Your legal obligation is to arrest this prime minister.
That's a dangerous spot, and that's going to put a big conflict between the federal government and the municipality government. I want to hear from you. What do you think about this? At the same time, we are looking for updates. They are continuing to roll in about that bomb that was detonated against small, hopefully no real serious injuries, but was in front of a federal building in New York City just this morning.
There are some updates that are going to come in that we're going to have Secretary Mike Pompeo joining us in the next segment. And then the back half hour when we join in studio. My senator and currently running for governor of Tennessee, Marshall Blackbird.
So, you're not going to want to miss that. That is going to be a great segment. Don't go anywhere. Brother, be joining us for that. Phone lines are open for you, though, and I do want to hear from you.
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So be a part of the show right now. Secretary Pompeo is joining us. Of course, we were talking about what's going on in New York City. There was some sort of explosive device. It looks like no real injuries or serious injuries have been reported just yet, Secretary Pompeo.
But we know New York, obviously, a lot of eyes are on New York, and we see Mayor Mondami making headlines again for floating the idea of arresting Prime Minister Netanyahu when he comes and visits New York in September for the UN.
Now, we believe he probably has no legal authority to actually do this, but he starts looking at things like respecting the International Criminal Court and so on and making these statements pretty clear.
So, what's the plan here? Oh, goodness, great to be with you. Look, I think this is just some guy just literally blowing smoke, trying to make noise to his political domestic base. He's no more going to arrest. a prime minister or a President or a A leader of another country who comes into New York, then a man in the moon.
It's just, it's simply not going to happen. Not only is it unlawful, it's a practical matter, like who's going to pull that off, right? No, no, no policeman is actually going to say, yeah, I'm going to go take on their security forces that are going to be largely federal protection, right? When foreign diplomats travel, when foreign leaders travel, they're protected by the United States Department of State.
So that just seems as a practical matter unlikely. But more importantly, what he's actually doing is he's signaling to his DSA base. He's signaling to the anti-Semitic community that he is with them. And he is signaling that he has identified this one leader, the leader of the only Jewish state, the rightful homeland of the Jewish people. He hasn't talked about going after the President of the prime minister of Iran.
He hasn't talked about going after Vladimir Putin, who's taken thousands of kids out of Ukraine and squirreled them back inside of Russia. No, he's talking about going after the leader of the nation of Israel. I think that's what this is really all about.
Well, and you even mention Iran, as we saw over the weekend, what unfortunately we had tragedy. We lost some service members that were defending our nation and performing their duty as members of our armed services. But I think this goes back to even the unseriousness of what the mayor is talking about when such serious things are going on in the world. Obviously, we've seen a lot of people try to now come out, and there's articles in Wall Street Journal being written saying it was an Israeli campaign against the MOU when in reality. What we saw is that the Iranians couldn't live up to even the most basic, simple.
Memorandum of understanding, not even a deal. They couldn't not fire at shipping vessels. And what happens? They violate the MOU. And now there has been more activity both from the United States in striking back against the Iranians, but also this situation where we had loss of American life.
As we're here, it's not surprising that we are back where we are. But I think just a reiterating of why it is so important to be fighting this regime at this time as things seem to be escalating as they did over the weekend.
Now you make a really good point. You know, the storyline from the left has been that this was a war of choice, and frankly, some on the right too, that this was a war of choice. What you can plainly see now is that this war was chosen by the Islamic Republic in 1979, and they've been a war with the United States since then. These tragic loss of lives over these past few days, add to them the dozen folks or so that were killed in the previous fights, are on top of thousands of Americans that have been killed by the Iranians over the past decades. And so this is something that the United States is going to have to make sure we get right.
I've talked about this as finished the job. We need to continue the economic blockade. We need to reopen the strait. And then we need to use every capacity to get our friends and allies in the world to understand that this Islamic threat from the regime, from the IRGC, is real, it's serious, and they're not just coming after Israel. They're coming after Europe.
They're coming after the United States. And so for the American people to get this right, to keep a nuclear weapon out of the hands of this regime. is an absolute security imperative. One of the things that also came along with the strikes that we saw was kind of really a flood of news out of and reporting out of the Middle East. We saw reports that the Ayatollah may not even be in Iran anymore.
He may have fled. That a lot of the reporting is that. Statements are just the IRGC, which is not unexpected at this point, especially when he has not even been seen in public. But a lot of also other interesting reports, obviously, not you never can really weigh the credibility of stuff that's being reported out of Iran, but things that Iran may be looking at a preemptive march on Kuwait to try and attack the U.S. bases there, which I hope that they've read history of what that could end up looking like for them.
But all of these things, you mentioned finish the job. It does look more and more inevitable that there will be another layer to this conflict in order to finish that job. What are some sorts of scenarios that you could envision playing out in these next few months as finishing the job appears to be what needs to happen from the United States?
So, Iran does still have some capacity to escalate. We've seen that, right? They now successfully fired missiles into Jordan, although we stopped most of them. They've gone after Bahrain, Kuwait. We should all be mindful.
These are their Muslim brothers that they're killing. And so, Muslim nations around the world should be outraged that the Iranians are killing their fellow Muslims. This isn't about killing the Jews and the Christians. They are now attacking Muslim nations. Second, their tools are now more limited, but not zero.
They still have capacity in Lebanon with Hezbollah. Today, the Houthis announced that they were going to close the Strait of Baba Mandeb. At least to Saudi traffic. Not sure they're capable of doing that. But they will continue to use every tool in their toolkit until we get to what President Trump talked about at the very beginning.
Surrender, capitulation. The Iranian regime understands one thing, that's power. We should negotiate with them. That seems fine. But we should never stop doing the things that degrade their capacity to inflict terror.
And so that was the, if you ask me, that was the mistake of the MOU. Signing the MOU was fine, but we should have never let off. the economic stranglehold that we had on them. They rearmed. They got some money.
That makes it more difficult and puts more Americans at risk. We should stay at this until it's the case that the Iranian regime understands that their continued survival depends on giving up nuclear weapons, not closing the straits, stop using their ballistic missiles and terror proxies. We can achieve that. I'm very confident of that. We just need to know that President Trump needs to be given the space and the capacity to do it because it will take some time.
Yeah, it will take some time and we have to have the appetite for it. And the media needs to understand that as well. Like you said, the conservative media. And the liberal media needs to understand we're actually dealing with here. Thank you, Secretary Pompeo, for joining us today.
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So, again, 1-800-684-3110. And we have the latest updates on that device and attack in New York when we get back from this break.
So, stick around, we'll be right back with more. Keeping you informed and engaged now more than ever. This is Sekulow. And now, your host, Logan Sekulow. Welcome to the second half of Sekulow.
We got a packed show. We're going to try to get to as many calls as we can at 1-800-68-430-110. Going through a couple updates going on in New York City. One, you have Mayor Madami saying, I still want to arrest Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel. I'm going to look at all the different options I can because he believes he's a war criminal, and some reason thinks New York City.
New York State and the United States of America should be under control by the International Criminal Court, which we find ridiculous. At the same time, there was an explosive device that happened in New York City just this morning in front of a federal building. We're actually getting a lot more information that's just coming out right now about the suspect who is currently been detained. That's right. So, two individuals were hurt in this.
They suffered minor injuries. One was a federal employee and a civilian. They've been treated and released.
So, we had reports of injuries earlier. It appears that they were minor enough that these individuals have been released from treatment. This individual that was detained. Has a history of anti-ICE activity.
So, this is, we may see that this may have been someone that was known to them, but regardless, they already know that he has a history of anti-ICE activity. And then the FBI assistant director in charge that was giving that presser just earlier. called this an anti-government attack on a federal facility. They said that the suspect had the incendiary device, which we saw there was fire and then fireworks that kind of went off within it. Explosion.
A pellet gun.
So that updates what earlier they said he was waving a firearm. It appears it was not a firearm, a real true firearm, but a pellet gun, and then had a sign that said ice off our streets.
So that motive becoming more clear as we get reports out of this. But yes. What we suspected earlier, that because of what was housed in that federal building, that there were ICE offices as well as an immigration court, that that attack. Goes back to what even earlier in this segment, talking about the mayor looking at situations with saying we have to look at the ICC, we have to go follow the law. Has also been someone pushing this anti-ICE narrative in New York City.
When that's, you know, federal law when it comes to immigration. Let's take a quick call on that. Let's go to D in California. D, go ahead. Yes, uh I find it ironic that uh This Madani talks about going by the letter, you know, by going by the law of the ICC.
However, you look, he doesn't uh Thing to be concerned about going by working with our federal government when the ice fits his narrative, if you will. That's when you can say, well, you've got to follow the law. As long as it fits his narrative. And of course, even when he's saying you got to follow the law, he's not talking about federal law. He's not talking about state or local law.
He's talking about laws coming in from the International Criminal Court. Which, again, do some digging on that and tell me that you love it. Again, that's at aclj.org. You can be a part of our show today. We are going to be back in just a moment.
With Senator Marsha Blackburn, who's going to be joining us in the studio. My brother's going to be joining us in studio. You're not going to want to miss that. And then, when that's done, I'll hop back in and we're going to take all your calls.
So, if you're on hold right now, stay on hold. We also have a couple lines open for you at 1-800-684-3110. This is a great time for our phone screeners to be able to take their time getting through them.
So, right now, actually, we had a couple lines just open up.
So, this is the time to do it. 1-800-684-3110. To Dee's point, exactly, and this is what we were saying about recognizing the ICC as almost superior and supreme over United States Constitution and laws. The mayor himself has called on the abolishment of ICE. They were releasing individuals from custody that were here illegally.
So when he talks about what we can do in following the law, It doesn't appear he means US law. It doesn't appear that he means constitutional law. What does he mean when he talks about following the law? That's where it's scary because it means I'm gonna start recognizing international law over the laws of the land. And that it frankly seems where the city is going.
This is the time to get on hold. Do it right now if you have feelings on this. 1-800-68-4-31-10. Again, in the next segment, we're joined by Senator Marshall Blackburn, currently running for governor, state of Tennessee. Then we're going to take your calls and comments coming up right after that.
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So aclj.org. We'll be right back with Senator Blackburn. Hey everybody, welcome back to Secchio. This is Jordan Secchio. It's a very special guest we have in the studio.
Now, it's a guest. Who I will say has taken a lot of her time out of her very busy schedule the last decade or more in the U.S. Senate and in the House of Representatives to join us live on these broadcasts. It's Senator Marcia Blackburn, who also happens to be, this might be surprising to some of you, is my home state senator, of course, along with Senator Bill Haggerty. But she is now, and this is.
I think even more exciting for those of us who live in Tennessee, maybe a little sad for the conservatives out there across the country, is running for governor of the great state of Tennessee. And I wanted to jump right into that because, Senator, In one ways, you know, because we do state work and national work.
So on the one way side, I say, oh, it's tough to lose Marcia in Washington, D.C. On the other hand, being a Tennessean and the growth that we're starting to expect to make sure. It works the right way for all of us, whether you're at the top of the income level, the lower level, or right in between.
So, what was that decision point to say, you know what, enough of Washington. Let's go take care of today. Yes, and President Trump is sending power and responsibility back to the states. As I tell him, he is going to make the states great again. That's a good thing.
That's what we as conservatives have wanted. To see that power go back to the states. And you look at what he's doing: deregulating, simplifying permitting, closing the U.S. Department of Education, sending a lot of energy production and generation back to the states. Health care is coming back to the states.
All of these responsibilities that have gravitated to Washington now are landing back to the state. That means it is time to do a reset with our state. And actually, we've not done one. Since I led that fight against the state income tax, And killed that state income tax proposal. Then, after that, we had done a reset, got our fiscal house in order.
We're an economic powerhouse.
Now, we've got that same opportunity. Do a reset, bring that responsibility home. We should be America's conservative leader. I want 49 states to be jealous of what we're doing in Tennessee. Senator Blackburn, this is something that I know even with my friends and family members, we shared this story when it came out.
Because CNBC, you know, normally devoted to economic news and things, you'd think they'd be. praising what's happened in Tennessee, but they put out this list that recently listed Tennessee. Is one of the worst places to live in the country. Actually, I think it was number one, which was, then we started trying to dig and find the, like, how did they rank that? Because everyone wants to move here.
But tell us why they're exactly wrong on their list of putting Tennessee at the worst place to live. Yes. And when I saw this story, I did the same thing. I thought, where did this come from? And is this a spoof?
And so I looked at it, and Vermont. Bernie Sanders territory was listed the best place to live.
Well, the criteria, when you look at this, it is all this DEI, ESG, woke. Those things that we don't like.
So that's why conservative states, Tennessee, Florida, Texas, they're the states that are at the bottom of this list. And all these leftist states that people are trying to flee because of high taxes, high crime, loss of individual freedom. They're trying to get out of those states. You know, our audience loves the fact you're time on the Judiciary Committee.
So as governor, you know, you have the special role appointing the AG and that team as well.
So you can, a lot of the. national issues you fought through and uh the folks that you've Gone through that process with the judges, the different nominees that go through judiciary, the DOJs teams. We're a pro-life state in Tennessee. And but we know that the pro-abortion industry is always ready to go with legal challenges and to fight back. How important is this for you?
Because it was and is still today so important for you in Washington, D.C. on the national level. Tennesseans want to see us as a Christian conservative state. You know, they would like for us to be America's conservative leader, where people know that this is what the foundation of your policy is going to be. And serving on Senate Judiciary Committee, one of the activities that I did was to really help shepherd Justice Amy Coney Barrett through that confirmation and seeing her sworn in, being at the White House with...
The group and the President and the justice and her family as she was sworn in. That is something that truly was a service there. I will say, also on the Judiciary Committee, we take these judges and justices very, very seriously. But during the Biden years, what you had were activists that were coming forward to go on the bench. We were able to block some of those because they clearly were not qualified.
They had never been a judge. They had no experience as a state judge or a county judge or a city judge, or as I like to say, they had never judged the pie contest at the county fair. They were not qualified. And there were some that the administration finally had to pull. And when you look at that as a national issue, we've seen the effects of that when judges do make it to the bench, even especially these district court judges that were trying to dictate policy for the entire country as soon as President Trump was re-elected.
When you think about it at a state level, that We've heard about the prosecutor issues, the local prosecutors that are funded by George Soros and things of that issue, that nature. When you think about being governor and protecting the state and the judiciary here, do you think that even that time, being able to go through those processes, those nomination processes, is going to be something that will help inform the decisions you make as governor as well as keep the judiciary in Tennessee as conservative as we need it to be? Yes, indeed. People want judges to call balls and strikes. and they want them to stay focused on that.
They want them to be constitutionalists and they want them to honor the rule of law. People do not want activist judges on the bench. And in Tennessee, people want fairness and they want to know that when they approach a time for getting into court, that they're going to be able to work through that, that the judge is going to take up that docket and is going to move through that docket.
So having that state Supreme Court, having those state judges, making certain that DAs are doing their job. You know, we've had the issue over in Memphis with a DA that does not want to prosecute some of these gangs and cartels and criminals. And I will tell you something. I think it's important that we send that message to these gangs and cartels. If you are in our state and you're selling Drugs and you are trafficking people.
We are going to find you. We are going to apprehend you. We are going to lock you up. We are going to take you to court. If you are here illegally, we are going to deport you.
But you're not going to carry out this activity in our state. And of course, over in Memphis with the Memphis Safe Task Force and the cooperation of your mayor and police chief and elected officials, over in less than a year, we've cut the crime rate in half. Memphis has become the model for how you build out public safety. There's that growing movement across the country. You've been very involved in it with big tech and protecting children, whether it's the COSA, the Kids Online Safety Act that we've supported and said is constitutional, and that markup's moving through the App Store Accountability Act.
And then we've also got, of course, the Texas App Store Accountability Act, which is, again, the Supreme Court's allowed to remain in effect for now.
So whether it's federal or state, I think. It's important to point out to just everyone here, for all the ACLJ listeners, not just the Tennesseans, that those two tracks are always important, that you can fight both in your home state and at the federal level to protect kids as best you can. And a lot of times, you can go further in states in protecting and protecting children. That's right. And you want to preserve the right of those states' attorneys general to protect our children, to protect citizens and communities.
And I've been working with President Trump's team at the White House on an AI framework to make certain we have protections for our children, for our creators and intellectual property rights holders, for individuals to protect their name, image, likeness, and voice, for making certain communities are protected from high electric rates when it comes to data centers, and also making certain that there's a Responsibility on big tech that they are not biasing these large language models.
Now, Jordan, you're exactly right. This is a two-tiered approach because there needs to be some federal preemption in some areas, but then the right to carry cases forward and protect children, protect citizens, that lays with your states and the state's attorneys general. And we've got a great one in Tennessee. He's done a great job. Yes, he has.
Yes, he has. And we're close with them. And we work a lot, of course, with the ACLJ, with a lot of AGs across the country consistently. And, you know, each state is different, but you have an important role to play as governor here because it's not an elected position. A lot of people here at state AG outside Tennessee, they think, oh, it's another person running necessarily.
It's not the case in Tennessee. But let me just thank you for all the time you've taken as a U.S. Senator to keep our audience updated on. I couldn't even go through all the issues, but then how cool it is to have someone willing to come back. Home as our governor to take all of that knowledge for those of us in our home state in Tennessee.
And I thank you for being with us today. Thank you, Senator Blackburn. Thank you. Senator Blackburn, thank you so much for joining us in studio today. And folks, we'll be back with more on Sekulow.
Welcome back to Secular.
Some phone lines open for you, 1-800-684-3110. Again, thanks to Senator Blackburn for coming on, sitting in with us here in the studio, which was always going to be interesting. It was hopefully you enjoyed it. I saw a lot of people had great comments coming in, but now it's time to hear from you. Of course, our main topic of the day is focused not on state of Tennessee, but focused on New York City, because New York City not only just had an explosive device go off that injured some, thankfully, nothing serious, but also at the same time over the weekend, you had the good mayor there going on there talking about arresting.
Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, and how he still is going to try to do it. We got some phone lines open. I can still get you online. 1-800-684-31-10. Let's start with David, who is calling from New York.
David in Florida, hold on. But David in New York. A lot of top Davids today, Will. David in New York. No, there's Dan calling.
Oh, it's too many wild. SD Day, if you will. David's calling in New York. David, whatever the... Go ahead.
Yes, this is me, David from New York. Can you hear me? We can hear you, David.
Okay, I just turned up my computer and I saw you guys on a YouTube. First time I've heard of A-C-L-J. Thank you. But you guys will talk about things like concerns me. I'm an American.
I'm a patriot. And I live in New York. And this guy, Mandani, first of all, he's a communist. He's on socials. He's a communist, right?
And it was up there and he picks and chooses the the law that he'd like to follow. Like, why doesn't he help out ICE? Right? That's federal law. They're just trying to get these illegal aliens out of here.
But he doesn't want to help them because he doesn't want to follow the law because he picks and chooses what he wants to follow, right? David, you're exactly right. Because the entire thing in that interview, he's saying we're looking at all of our legal options, what we can do under the law when it comes to following the demands of the International Criminal Court. But meanwhile, we have this supercut that Ali, our producer, just pulled of times he's going after ICE.
Something that uh a federal agency that he's supposed to cooperate with. to follow the laws of America. There's something called the supremacy clause in the Constitution, where the laws of the America have to deal with the laws of the country, and he has to follow that. Byte nine is him attacking the very agency. That was attacked by one of his citizens this morning by nine.
It's the cruelty of ICE, the need to abolish ICE. It's something that I've echoed myself. I believe that ICE is a cruel agency who has very little interest, if any at all, in public safety. And I believe it's a rogue agency that should be abolished. That should be abolished.
Netanyahu should be arrested.
Now, I wanted to say something really quick, David, because a lot of people join us the way you did. You said you just found us on YouTube, never saw us before. And what I always say is about 50% of the people that watch live every day have never seen us before.
So, what I will ask you to do is hit that subscribe button, get involved in the work we're doing here. And the first thing to do is just go to the website, spend some time on it, and join us here on the show each and every day. I think what's different, David, you're going to find with our show, especially when it comes to specifically New Yorkers, is that as someone that was a former New Yorker and as someone that loves the city. As someone who thinks it's one of the best places in the entire world, or it can be one of the best places in the entire world, is we will continue to fight for New York. I believe New York should be a thriving place.
So you and your friends who feel the same way that are there that are New York residents or New York City residents even? Listen and watch our show, because I think you will be encouraged by it. Because, unlike a lot of people that just say, abandon New York, abandon LA, that is not the way we do it here. I think these are places that need to be saved and protected. As well as, we have fought against the ICC trying to expand jurisdiction over Israel.
Over the United States, over our armed forces. These were real fights that the ACLJ went to The Hague. And one. We'll have to show a video of that this week, I think, in some of these segments. For those of you that are new, that don't realize that we were even there.
In the very dystopian-looking room, fighting against some of these very things. But I think we should go on and now go to David, who's calling from Florida on line one. David, you're on Sekulow. Hey there, thanks for having me. My question really is, doesn't the Benjaminette and Yahoo have the same protections As an ambassador to a country has traveling to and from an embassy?
Aren't they considered on their sovereign land even in a car traveling to and from the airport?
So that, as well as when we're talking about the UN General Assembly, there's other protections that go along with that as well, David. And this is from the U.S. ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz. He posted this this morning. Mayor Mandami, here's why your threat to arrest Prime Minister Netanyahu in New York City during the UN General Assembly is not going to happen.
One, the U.S. is not party to the Rome Statute that underlies the ICC. Two, the UN headquarters agreement grants diplomatic protections to visiting heads of government. Three, head of state immunity applies. And four, federal authority trumps any local mayor's wishes.
Here's the one concern I have. It doesn't mean he's not going to try it, which is going to set up a state versus federal government fight. With a foreign government in the middle of it. I feel like, once again, we see the disdain he has for the laws of this country already and his desire to get closer to the international law of the ICC. I could see a world.
Where they get there and at least try something, try some sort of stunt. We'll see. Even if it's made for TV. Yeah, I'm not sure. I think this could be something where he got caught again saying something that he surely believes.
But he's got to know better. And that's essentially what Dan is calling about in Maryland Online 2. Dan, go ahead. Yeah, I didn't. Yeah, great show today.
Thank you. But yeah. As a former socialist, I know you have to speak to your base, and he knows he can't do anything legally, but yeah, he'll. like you say, maybe try to set this up. to look good again to to his DS.
Yes, he certainly is speaking to his base here. They would they love to hear this.
Well, as well as Dan, we played that bite earlier of him going after ice, the cruelty of ice. We need to abolish ice. The the very same time. What happened this morning We see that the federal government is saying that this individual has a history of anti-ICE activity. He had a sign with him that said, get ice off our streets.
Side by side with that video that we played was what was burning at an attack on ICE this morning.
So. The rhetoric of the mayor That is still pushing anti-ICE rhetoric. What happens? You see crazy people. attack a federal facility.
When he starts to put out there, we're going to do everything we legally can, he also. Needs to be cautious because what has all the rhetoric that we've seen over the past? Three, four, five years that has taken place when you see people going against Netanyahu and saying, he's a war criminal, we're going to arrest him. You see people attacking synagogues. attacking diplomats, murdering them in Washington, D.C.
It all stems from the same rhetoric.
So even if he can't do something legally, Uh uh though he may try. We also know the consequences of that type of rhetoric. We believe he's a war criminal. We believe that this is genocide. Those types of things lead to consequences that are real against people that are innocent.
All right, that is going to do it for today's show. I appreciate you. Look, it's Monday. It's a hot show, though. I hope you enjoyed it.
We covered a lot of topics, had a lot of guests. Thanks to Secretary Pompeo, Senator Blackburn, and of course, all of you who listen each and every day and watch each and every day. I do want to encourage you right now. Thanks for getting through some of the tech issues we had early on. I do want to encourage you right now to support the work of the ACLJ during our Defend the Defenseless Week.
It's time to do it. All donations are doubled today, and you can be a part of it. today. We're gonna cover a lot more of those kinds of things in future shows throughout the week. Today, we obviously needed to focus on what was going on on the world stage, what was going on in New York City.
And I appreciate everyone who called in. I appreciate everyone who supported the work, but today is the time. You spent decades defending the rights of the unborn or people who speak out for them. You need to be a part of it as well. Go to aclj.org/slash defend.
Defend the innocent. and have your gift doubled today. That again is at aclj.org slash defend or scan the QR code that you see on the screen right now. If you're brand new to the show, all I ask you to do is hit that subscribe button, be a part of it each and every day. We'll talk to you tomorrow.
