Elizabeth Warren Threatens to Shut Down all Crisis Pregnancy Centers

Today on Sekulow, an absolutely outrageous attack from Senator Elizabeth Warren on pro-life pregnancy centers. We'll talk about that and we'll talk with the director of a pro-life pregnancy center today on Sekulow. People are looking for pregnancy termination help outnumber true abortion clinics by three to one. We need to shut them down here in Massachusetts and we need to shut them down all around the country. You should not be able to torture a pregnant person like that. We want to hear from you. Share and post your comments or call 1-800-684-3110. These words are actually horrific. Pregnancy centers throughout the entire country give away $266 million of free medical services and resources to communities all over this incredible country.

And now your host, Jordan Sekulow. Unlike Planned Parenthood, pro-life pregnancy centers don't receive $500 million a year in federal tax subsidies. They're not a billion dollar a year organization. In fact, most of them are local or regional or statewide. We are going to have a director, a CEO of a pro-life pregnancy center I've worked closely with, raised resources for, done events for, the Piedmont Women's Center, which is based in South Carolina. Kelly Ross is going to be joining us later on the broadcast to talk about this attack by Elizabeth Warren.

You may hear this and say, okay, this is just words by Elizabeth Warren. But we have had to defend these pro-life pregnancy centers across the country in federal court and state court, in New York City, in California. There is a move, there has been a move, long-term move by the pro-abortion industry to shut these pro-life pregnancy centers down. Remember in California, they wanted them to advertise for the abortion clinics. And they said, if you want to keep operating, you've got to tell people where they can go get an abortion. You've actually got to put that up and violate their freedom of speech. The whole basis of these centers, which are self-funded, nonprofit organizations where they raise their support, is that they have free speech. No one is forcing you to go into the pro-life pregnancy center. No one is forcing you to take their advice. They are not stopping you in any way from going to have an abortion.

And again, there's just this animosity. And what you realize is even in a state like Massachusetts, the pregnancy centers, the pro-life pregnancy centers outnumber the abortion clinics three to one. And I think that's great. That's just bad for the abortion businesses.

It's bad for their bottom line. But I want to go right to Thann Bennett in Washington, D.C. because, Thann, you see language like this. And she says the word torturing pregnant persons.

Now, of course, we use that. We can't say pregnant women. But it is pregnant women is what she's talking about. And using the word like torture for that on a place you would voluntarily go that would provide you all sorts of resources if you wanted to have your child but needed to put it up for adoption, needed financial support, needed basic items so you can care for your child, all of that. I mean, they do pre- and post-birth assistance for women. Jordan, these centers do some of the most selfless, important work you're going to see across our country. They come alongside pregnant mothers in very difficult circumstances and they take care of them all the way through a pregnancy. Then after delivery, provide the essentials for that mother to care for the child.

It is some of the most important work you're going to come to. You know, Jordan, I think it's interesting, though, even in a statement from Senator Warren, even in attacking them and even in throwing all of these falsehoods their direction, she concedes one of the very central points that we've said all along. You don't need Planned Parenthood. Even if they were providing care to women, why don't you need them, Jordan? Because pregnancy centers outnumber abortion facilities all across the nation. It might be three to one in Massachusetts.

Jordan is more like four to one nationwide. They are the ones doing the real health care for pregnant mothers. I want to take your calls on this, too. The idea, using words as if the pro-life movement and these pro-life pregnancy centers are torturing women, folks. That's the word they use.

Torture. So, folks, I want to, again, take your calls. 1-800-684-3110. That's 1-800-684-3110. We're going to ACLJ.org.

That's ACLJ.org. Welcome back to Sekulow. We're going to take your calls to 1-800-684-3110. In fact, I know that we have a lot of listeners, some of whom are already calling in, who work in or run pro-life pregnancy centers around the country.

I would love to hear from you all, folks, at 1-800-684-3110. Even if you just volunteer there because you've been under attack, literally. We've seen the fire bombings.

We've seen the spray-painting, the arson. We've seen just, again, the vandalism, the threats by pro-abortion radicals against pro-life pregnancy centers who force no one to come in their doors. But if you do, of course, they are going to provide you with information on how you can continue your pregnancy and if you need adoption, if you need financial assistance, if you need help with food or how to take care of your child. They are there. They are non-profit. They provide this to women. We're about to be joined by Kelly Ross, who runs Piedmont Women's Centers throughout South Carolina, in the upstate of South Carolina.

I know well and have worked with Piedmont and seen one of their newest locations as well just a few years ago. But I want to play the sound from Elizabeth Warren. This is Senator Warren. This is, by the way, what we have been fighting in states like hers. So in New York, in California, and now she wants it done in Massachusetts. Take a listen to Elizabeth Warren. In Massachusetts right now, those crisis pregnancy centers that are there to fool people who are looking for pregnancy termination help outnumber true abortion clinics by three to one. We need to shut them down here in Massachusetts and we need to shut them down all around the country.

We should not be able to torture a pregnant person like that. I want to walk through this with Kelly Ross, who is the CEO of Piedmont Women's Center. That's piedmontwomenscenter.org in South Carolina.

They've got multiple locations. Kelly, thanks for joining us today on Secula. I appreciate you being with us. When I saw this from Elizabeth Warren, I said I really hope I can get Kelly on the show because I want to start with this. First, Kelly, do you mislead women when they come through your doors the fact that you are not an abortion clinic?

Absolutely not. In fact, on our website, we actually make it clear that we do not provide, recommend, or refer for an abortion. And our location there on Grove Road in Greenville is across the street from an abortion clinic. And if somebody comes in our office believing they're at the abortion clinic and they say that they're there for their abortion, we just clearly tell them we do not provide, recommend, or refer for an abortion. Here are the services that we provide, and we would love to assist you today. Talk about that assistance, Kelly, because Elizabeth Warren called it torture.

I mean, it's so absurd, the language. But we have seen, maybe not in South Carolina yet, but we've seen these attempts in these much more liberal states to try and shut down pro-life pregnancy centers. That is their goal.

They see this as the number one. Even with the overturning of Roe vs. Wade, you all are on the front lines. I always say that about the pro-life pregnancy centers.

You're the answer to the question of, well, what are you all going to do if Roe vs. Wade was overturned? And the infrastructure is already there, Kelly, because you guys have been doing this work. You had these organizations set up to help women if they are in a situation, in a pregnancy, which they're not sure how to move forward and how they can move forward. And you provide them the services they need. And they use the word torture to describe the work you're doing.

I encourage people to go look at Piedmont Women's Center's website, look at one of their new facilities, and see if the word torture would make sense to anything you use. But the rhetoric, though, is so that your staff is under threat. It's to make it difficult to do your job, and ultimately they want to shut you down, Kelly.

Yeah, it doesn't make any sense at all. We don't actually take any funding from the government, which I think is part of their problem. If we took money from the government, then they would be able to control us and tell us what to do and how to provide compassionate care. Compassionate care starts at Piedmont Women's Center and the host of 2,000-plus pregnancy centers across this nation.

And I can guarantee you none of us torture women. What we do is we provide them what Planned Parenthood doesn't, which is somebody who is willing to listen to their current situation and circumstance. And that's what Planned Parenthood doesn't do.

That's what abortion clinics don't do. They actually talk about choice, but they do not provide choice. They provide a singular, unilateral option.

And the last time I heard a singular, unilateral option is not choice. At Piedmont Women's Center and at the other pregnancy centers across this country, what we actually do is help people look at their current situation. We listen to where they are with their circumstances. And then we can provide them true options, whether that's creating a parenting plan, whether that's creating an adoption plan, whether there's some assistance that they need, whether it's materially, financially. We have all of those resources. And at Piedmont Women's Center and Greenville, we've been doing this over 30 years.

And I'll be honest with you. We've been doing it under some pretty difficult circumstances under Roe v. Wade. I'm excited to see how the pregnancy care movement grows and expands now that the weight of Roe is going to be lifted. And I'm not ashamed of what we do. I'm proud of what we do and how we serve clients. And we had a client come in.

I can just share this story real quickly with you. She came in seeking an abortion. And we explained to her who we were and what we do, and she decided to stay. And we were able to provide her pregnancy tests and her ultrasound. And the nurse who was providing her ultrasound, she said, well, I want to abort this baby because I don't know who the father is. And the nurse who was providing the ultrasound, she said, well, that's not as important as knowing who the mother is.

You know, this is not torture. It's actually pointing towards truth. And I think that that is what our country desperately needs. This young woman left so encouraged. And on her survey, we survey every client as they leave our doors. And she gave us, you know, a 10 out of 10. And she put on there no abortion. Kelly, is that torture? I don't understand where Elizabeth Warren is coming from.

I really don't. No, it's any way to shut you all down because you are the alternative. And I think in the post-war world, even more so. And you've already been established, like you said, for 30-plus years doing this work right across the street from an abortion clinic.

She comes in your doors. Again, these are adults. They get to make their decision. You tell them right up front, we don't do this. This is what we do do. If you want to talk to us about it, we're willing to talk about it. You still don't have to do what we hope you do. But because you're an adult, you can walk out of here and walk across the street to the abortion clinic if you want to.

And no one is stopping them from doing that. At the same time, Jo, I want you to talk about it too, because you provide this care for women, both pre-birth but also after birth. Absolutely, absolutely. We provide a host of parenting programs at Piedmont Women's Center. We have some psychology-based programs that we provide. We also provide material assistance. So every client who comes through and receives a positive pregnancy test at Piedmont Women's Center, whether they sign up for any additional classes or not, we provide them what we call a baby shower and a bag.

It's about $250 worth of items. And here's the thing, if they need more than that, we can provide more than that. If clients simply complete 10 of our parenting classes, which they can either do virtually or in-house, if they complete 10 of those, we give them a voucher for either a free car seat, a free pack and play, a month's supply of diapers. I don't know where they're going to get that kind of service anywhere else outside of the pregnancy help movement. And there are many of our sisters out there who are fighting the difficult fight. The level of protesting that is taking place and the violence that's taking place, it's not who we are, but what we want clients to know is that we hear you.

We see you. I was so impressed when I saw your new facility in Greenville. I've been to facilities like yours across the country, but again, the attack on you. I wanted to just have someone like you be able to talk through to our audience and tell people exactly what happens, what is the process like, because when she uses words like torture, she's trying to encourage those attacks on centers like yours.

So Kelly, thank you so much for taking time to be with us on the broadcast today. Let me tell people it's piedmontwomenscenter.org so you can learn more about their work. If you're in South Carolina and in the upstate area of South Carolina, they need volunteers, they need help as well. I'm sure on their website you can donate, you can volunteer. So again, I encourage you folks, because the abortion industry always says, well, now what are you going to do?

There's going to be all these children. These centers, like Kelly's, have been in place for over 30 years. If you work in these centers, I want to hear from you today on the broadcast.

1-800-684-3110, that's 1-800-684-3110. And again, I appreciate Kelly joining us right off the bat today because this is not a joke from Elizabeth Warren, though some will say, you can't really do what she's saying. We've seen, and we'll talk about that when we come back, city councils and state governments try and shut down pro-life pregnancy centers. They do want them shut down. Right now there's an intimidation campaign against them, but there has also been legal actions we've had to fight out of California and New York. They are on the front lines, and we're proud at the ACLJ to provide legal support when necessary at no cost to those pregnancy centers when they need it so that they can continue to do their work when they are being intimidated by local governments and state governments, and you've got a U.S. senator saying that they torture women.

I mean, think about that. Not the abortion clinic, the pro-life pregnancy center. We'll take your calls when we come back on Secular 1-800-684-3110. Support the work of the ACLJ, our matching challenge. Double the impact, your donation to ACLJ.org.

Welcome back to Secular. We are taking your calls, too, as Elizabeth Warren, Senator Warren calling pro-life pregnancy centers that they need to be shut down. There's too many of them, and that they torture women. We just heard from Kelly Ross, who runs the Piedmont Women's Center in South Carolina, and of course there's 2,000-plus of these centers around the country. I want to hear and ask for people to call in who work and volunteer in these centers, and Leah does as well in Georgia online, too. Hey, Leah, welcome to Secular.

You're on the air. Thank you for taking my call. I've been volunteering in our local closest pregnancy center, and it has been such a blessing to work with these women. Most of them just want a listening ear. We supply emotional, physical, and spiritual support, and I've never been involved with such a wonderful group of servants that have a heart for these babies and these women.

Well, now, Leah, and I appreciate you volunteering your time to do that work, and it's so true, if you've ever had a chance to be at one of these centers and to visit to see that they're actually doing the ultrasounds there, and they're actually providing that for women there. Again, to hear those words from Elizabeth Warren, that's why even though he has one U.S. senator who's extremist, I want to take that opportunity because this is not so outside. This is not outside the norm than in the pro-abortion movement inside Washington and throughout the country, they do want to shut these centers down, and we've had to fight to keep them open.

I would say it is the norm, Jordan. They want to shut them down. They want to make sure that there is no alternative other than abortion. Look, let me just echo something that both Kelly and Leah talked about, and that's the fact that volunteers and community support, they really form the backbone of these crises pregnancy centers. You know, Jordan, our family has done partnership work with centers as well. We've also partnered with an adoption agency.

We actually have a beautiful baby girl in our care right now, Jordan, and I say all that to say this. There are a number of heroes anytime you have a child that comes into a crisis pregnancy center. You have the birth mother, who Kelly talked about, who has made the decision to carry that child to term and might need support. You've got the pregnancy center. You've got the volunteers like Leah that come alongside that mother.

Then you've got the adoption agencies that may need to place that child if the birth mother decides to make that placement, and then, of course, the adoptive family. So, Jordan, what you've got is what the left says they believe in, which is a community that has decided to come together to help those in need. So why would someone like Senator Warren want to shut that down?

Jordan, there's only one answer to this. It's that they're not pro-choice. They are pro-abortion, on-demand, and in any and every circumstance.

That's the only way that it is. And look, how do you combat it? You have to combat it federally, but then I think, more importantly, in a post-war world, you have to do what we're doing at the ACLJ. You have to come alongside these pregnancy centers in each and every community and each and every state and make sure they have a defense when they're attacked from this high-profile level. Yeah, I mean, a Rumble comment came and said, watching the left fight for Planned Parenthood gives us insight into how much money they take in for Planned Parenthood. That's true, too. They hand out a lot of money to politicians to make those kind of statements, go out there and say those pro-life pregnancy centers are torturing women.

It's just absurd, and that's why I wanted to have one of the directors. So you weren't just hearing it from me as the attorneys that represent them, but from the people actually running the centers on a day-to-day basis, what they do. And I think you heard in that last segment exactly how it works if you come in there as a woman seeking help. And they make it very clear right off the bat they're not trying to hide what they are, that they are not abortion clinics. They're not going to refer you to an abortion. But there are adults that are going there who can decide on their own what they want to do next if they want to take the information the pro-life pregnancy centers have provided them or not. I mean, it's all the answer to that question, which is, what are you going to do if you shut down all these abortion clinics? And see, what they don't like is that what you were just talking about is the answer we already have. We don't have to create the response to what happens if abortion is banned in these states and not available here. We do have all those.

You went through it. All the different lines of people, it already exists. Jordan, you're so correct. I mean, one of the things that I just cringe whenever I hear it is that we're going to have this huge amount of unwanted children.

Jordan, let me just set the record straight on this. There is no such thing as an unwanted child in the United States of America. The adoption agency that we partner with has a long, long waiting list waiting for babies to be placed for adoption. They are willing to take a child with all sorts of complications from all sorts of different backgrounds. There is a backlog of families waiting to make those adoptions. So the statement, Jordan, that there is such a thing as an unwanted child in the United States of America, Jordan, it's nothing short than a lie. It's a lie.

It is not true. And if a birth mother decides she is going to bring her child to term and deliver it, that's a huge sacrifice in and of itself, right, Jordan? But if she is willing to do that, there are communities like the one that Kelly was talking about, like the one that Kelly's been leading for a number of years in a pre-Dobbs world, in a row world.

Jordan, now that there is an opportunity in a post-row world for these mothers to maybe in even increasing numbers bring those children to term, I can guarantee you there are families ready to provide those children a loving and a forever home, and that's the end that we're shooting for, Jordan. Thad, I want to turn to something that's going on in Washington, D.C., and it's Joe Manchin's right at the center of it. Last night there was pretty big news that Joe Manchin had come out and said, you know what, I'm not doing any more tax increases, these economic packages and climate packages, I'm out. Of course, by this morning he has changed his mind on that. Yeah, I mean, we've talked about this so many times with Senator Manchin. Senator Manchin sometimes does the right thing until he does the wrong thing, Jordan, and you just, you know, you go by the last statement that he gives to the press and it's almost always just a negotiating posture. Look, what he said last night is that he thought the inflation numbers that are out of control, you know, over 9%, of course they mean that you should not increase taxes on the American people, you should not increase spending from Washington, D.C. That's, of course, absolutely correct. I mean, it's a no-brainer. But you're right, Jordan, today he is sort of backing down from that and said, well, you know, it might depend what next month's numbers look like as far as inflation goes. I mean, Jordan, think about this.

The American people aren't stupid. Let's say next month's inflation number isn't quite as historically terrible as the last month was. What will that mean as far as annual inflation goes?

Jordan, it will still mean the worst inflation in decades and decades. So this is just posturing from Joe Manchin, and the answer next month needs to be the same one that it was last night. It would be the worst time to raise taxes on the American people and to get even more spending out of Washington, D.C. One real quick deadline, an important date on this, Jordan. The end of September is when they would have to move a bill in order to not lose their current reconciliation instructions. I don't think they'll be able to pass a new budget next year.

So if it pushes past September, that's probably the deadline you're looking at. But again, let me just close where I started. Senator Joe Manchin, he means what he says until he says something different, Jordan.

Yeah, I mean, that's so true. Okay, folks, we come back. We're going to be shifting a little bit to what's going on overseas right now. You know that President Biden was in Israel. He's now in Saudi Arabia. He's landed there.

We're going to be joined by Rick Rinnell. He's actually joining us from Albania, and he was just in Serbia. So we'll get an update on what he's doing there again and also an update kind of from him on what it is like working with the Saudis so that you get some insight there. They are an ally, especially when it comes to intel and national security. They're not perfect by any means.

No one has ever tried to say that, but there's been some missteps, to say the least, by the Biden administration in dealing with the Saudis, especially now that they're needing their assistance when it comes to energy. So if you've got calls and questions about that, 1-800-684-3110, that's 1-800-684-3110. Let me just say right now, if you're financially able to, we have a matching challenge right now at ACLJ where you double the impact of your donation if you donate online at ACLJ.org. And if you're financially able to, those pro-life pregnancy centers, that work that we do to make sure they can remain on the front lines doing the work that they do to help women, support the work of the ACLJ at ACLJ.org.

At the American Center for Law and Justice, we're engaged in critical issues at home and abroad. For a limited time, you can participate in the ACLJ's matching challenge. For every dollar you donate, it will be matched. A $10 gift becomes $20. A $50 gift becomes $100. You can make a difference in the work we do, protecting the constitutional and religious freedoms that are most important to you and your family.

Give a gift today online at ACLJ.org. Keeping you informed and engaged, now more than ever, this is Sekulow. And now your host, Jordan Sekulow.

Welcome back to Sekulow. As you know, President Biden is now in Saudi Arabia. He was in Israel. We talked about that extensively.

We're going to talk about it a little bit more later in the broadcast with R.E.A. Lightstone, who was a former senior advisor to the U.S. ambassador to Israel. He's got a new book out about the Middle East peace that was put together by the Trump administration. And that goes directly to this question asked by a reporter to Jake Sullivan, because President Biden's been all over the place. And one minute he praises Abraham Accords, kind of, and then the next minute he says the Trump administration just messed up everything in the Middle East.

Take a listen by 20. What did the President mean yesterday when he said that the last administration had walked away from the Middle East when only a day earlier he had praised the last administration for the Abraham Accords? He was referring to a series of steps that he thinks were wrong and that he has taken a different approach on as President.

What steps are those? I mean, that's what I keep trying to figure out, because with the Abraham Accords, you were just starting a process that was revolutionary. I think where they disagree, I know where they disagree, is that they thought that you should never go to that next step without first solving the Palestinian issue that they like to say. And the truth is, Palestinians can't solve that issue right now. They have a divided government. The Gaza Strip is run by a terrorist group, Hamas. The West Bank is run by the Palestinian Authority, which also has links to terrorist groups as well. And so, okay, you've got two divided governments. And again, the radical thinking from the Trump administration was, let's circumvent that.

That's an issue, yes, but there's other issues here. Let's see if we can get Israel to work with some of these Gulf states. And now we've got President Biden. He is in Saudi Arabia, so we're going to talk to Rick Renell when we come back from this shorter part of the segment in the second half hour about that. If you've got calls and questions, Rick's happy to answer those as well. 1-800-684-3110.

If you want to talk to Rick Renell, that's 1-800-684-3110. He's actually in Albania right now. I just traveled from Serbia to Albania, so we'll talk to him about that at 1-800-684-3110. This trip, again, I think it is highly significant because you had Joe Biden go in and calling the Saudis a pariah and calling them the Saudis, they're worthless, and we're going to take almost like calling for regime shame. Actually, I don't think it was almost that he did call for regime shame, and now he's fist-bumping with the guy. He said he was going to be calling for regime change when inflation is so high in the U.S. and we need oil and gas.

We need more produced by OPEC states and, of course, and from the Saudis. So, again, we'll talk about all of that with Rick. We'll talk about some more of the foreign policy, and we'll take your questions and calls on it too. So don't be afraid to call in. We will take your calls and questions while we're talking to Rick at 1-800-684-3110.

That's 1-800-684-3110. I did want to go to Sam again quickly because, Sam, just on the Washington radar, we talked about the Manchin news. Anything else people need to be watching closely right now? Well, I think maybe the vote that's taking place in the House of Representatives today, you talked about it in an earlier segment, Jordan, but actually the vote series is underway right now, so just kind of explain to people. Here in a little bit, the House of Representatives will vote on that bill to codify a Roe v. Wade into law. This is a bill they've already passed in the House of Representatives, but what they did, Jordan, is they wrote 15 pages of preamble after the Dobbs decision, and they're putting it back on the floor of the House of Representatives really just as a messaging vote.

Now, I don't want to tamp it down, Jordan. This is a terrible, terrible bill that would be harmful to women, but here's the deal. I mean, the Senate has already rejected this twice, so they're going to pass this. They're going to send it over to the Senate, and what has changed? Well, nothing unless, and we teased this a minute ago, unless Joe Manchin changes his mind.

So, Jordan, you know, maybe don't hold your breath on that one. Yeah, again, really to watch carefully again because the House is going to be able to pass to codify an abortion right. I mean, it's not really Roe. Roe's gone, so it's to codify right to abortion. We have to really watch what goes on in the Senate, and, of course, these midterm elections are very important coming up as well, but they're trying to get this done before that, and we've got to watch some Republicans as well. This is not, you know, we're fair and honest to you.

There's Republicans we have to watch, like Collins and Murkowski as well in the U.S. Senate, so, again, they've got the 60-vote threshold. There's issues at play here, but it's moving again. We're going to watch it very close. When we come back, Rick Renell joins us. All right, folks, welcome back to Secular. We are taking your phone calls to 1-800-684-3110.

That's 1-800-684-3110. Rick Renell joining us, our Senior Advisor for Foreign Policy and National Security. And Rick actually was in Serbia, now he's in Albania. And, Rick, I always like to ask you when you're making these trips first because it's a great opportunity to educate our audience on something that's not always front-page news here in the U.S. about the work that you're doing in that region of the world. Well, it's important work. It's an important part of the world, and it's certainly a part of the world in the Balkan region that successfully moved forward under Donald Trump, and there's a lot of frustration in this region with Joe Biden and the Democrats.

I would say it's an exciting time for the Balkan region to begin moving forward with economic development. I'm here as a private citizen. I brought private equity, American private equity folks with me. And what we're trying to do is figure out how can private equity firms in America help fund projects in this region that will strengthen the ties between this region and America while also allowing the private equity folks to make some money and to provide some good new programs for the region. For instance, we're looking at bringing solar energy into Albania and do it in a way that's responsible. There are projects in this region where the Chinese and the Russians are providing some of these services, and we're trying to come in to say, look, this is a region that should not be increasing their involvement with China and Russia, but rather with America.

These are the types of things the private sector does and the government supports. One funny thing, Jordan, as I'm walking through Tirana today, I ran into Ken Paxton, the Attorney General of Texas. That's great. Again, is he there because of work they're trying to do, Texas economic development work, I'm guessing, possibly? You know, I'm not sure. I think he's actually on vacation.

He was at a wedding in the region and then expanded and went on vacation. Look, Tirana, Albania is an exciting place. As you know, Albania is a member of NATO, and it's got a long history of communism and fascism, and they've come out of it. And so this is a country that very much wants to see America stand very strong because it helps the region, and there's a big frustration with Joe Biden in this part of the world. That's what I was about to ask Rick next is because you mentioned, when you mention Russia and the Chinese, we see that so much all over the world.

Hey, we're seeing it in our own country. Our C4s of ACLJ Action is looking to get involved in something happening in North Dakota right now with Chinese investments in land there, and so people can stay tuned for that. But again, the idea that the Chinas, the Russias of the world, rush to these countries who are our allies, like you said, members of NATO, and provide them these services and develop these economic relationships, and you're trying to bring in private investors to kind of counter that because the Biden administration is not. Yeah, look, part of this economic deal that the Trump administration negotiated, economic normalization deal between Kosovo and Serbia, the entities decided to come forward and say, let's try to find a way where we can move goods and services more freely. The whole idea of governments coming together to agree to that really hinges on private sector coming forward. There's this perceived conflict in the region, so a lot of American businesses have stayed out.

What that has done is created a vacuum and made the Chinese and the Russian participation in commerce in this region very easy. That's not good for America. I don't suggest that America come in and just give foreign aid to this region. We have to be able to do economic development from the private sector. People need to make money, but this region is hungry for American entrepreneurs and American investment.

You've got to take advantage of that opportunity when it's there, because if not, and I've seen this too often in places, especially throughout Africa and countries there, where they really wish that they didn't have to choose between, well, there was no choice for them. There wasn't an American business choice. It was a Chinese or a Middle Eastern or Iranian or Russian company that they have to choose from, and they don't really have another option. Like you said, the private sector has to go in, and you also do a lot of education from the U.S. government. You could come in and say, hey, this is a place we want you to do business. We are going to encourage you to go there and do business.

Instead of making people think, oh, this was a formerly war-torn area and it's too complicated and we're too nervous to actually be there and do the work. I want to shift a little bit, Rick, because we've got President Biden. He's gone from Israel. He's now in Saudi Arabia. He's with Mohammed bin Salman, MBS.

They did their fist bump. This is a guy he called a pariah who he's now asking for more oil and gas from and basically a little bit of begging. But I want a little bit of insight too, because as the acting director of national intelligence and your diplomatic work, just for people that are like, what is it like working inside that kingdom of Saudi Arabia in their kind of setup? Look, it's a good question. I very much, after spending eight years at the U.N. and working as a ambassador in Europe, I understand that the Saudis must have a powerful and consistent relationship with America. And that's difficult many times because we, in many instances, don't always share the same values. But we have to have a relationship with the Saudis. And many Americans can ask why, and I think it's a very good question to say, well, why?

Why do we need to care? We know that many of the 9-11 bombers came from Saudi Arabia. What I would say is that Middle East is a very difficult region. You've got Yemen. You've got Iran.

Many terrorist groups are fomenting in that area. And what we have to be able to do is have allies to keep the peace as much as possible. The Saudis are a blunt force against the Iranians. They are enemies, and we have to be able to control the Iranians, which are an aggressive, terrorist-supporting state. And many times we've been able to rely on the Saudis to blunt the growth of Iran. And now we see Russia and China becoming very close with Iran. It's a problem.

I'll give you one example. The Biden administration took the Houthi rebels, which are Iran-supported rebels, off the terrorist list, and within just a short couple of weeks, the Houthis were bombing the United Arab Emirates, our partners in the UAE, a hub of commerce in Abu Dhabi. It was really frightening. And this is the implications of bad policies coming out of Washington, D.C. We could go on and on about Russia's influence in the Middle East, certainly in the Balkans, but we have to have a strong United States, and we have to be smart about it. I am not suggesting, I want to be clear, I'm not suggesting that we start wars or that we have foreign aid that just free flows from the United States without getting anything in return. We've got to be very smart about our assistance. Yeah, I mean, this is, I want you to respond to Jake Sullivan, Rick, because this is his attack on the administration you serve.

Take a listen by 22. The previous administration walked away from the Iran nuclear deal and in doing so, walked away from our allies with whom we had been united so that it was the U.S. who was isolated on the Iranian nuclear issue, not Iran. And the last administration walked away from diplomacy when it came to ending the war in Yemen. This President reengaged on that, and now we have a 15-week truce, the longest peaceful period in that conflict in several years. And in Saudi Arabia, he will seek to deepen and extend that truce and start working towards a wider settlement. So that's just some of what he was referring to.

I want to go right to this, Rick. It's wonderful that they can get a truce. I don't agree with taking, like you said, taking those Houthis off that terror list was wrong. But he said that the administration, the Trump administration, who walked away from diplomacy, they continue, and that's why Rick kind of finished this out. They just ignore the Abraham Accords.

Just ignore them. Look, that bite from Jake Sullivan is so ridiculous that we don't even know where to begin here. Let's just take the fact that they inflamed the situation and now are taking credit for everybody in the region saying, oh, my God, you've got the Houthis bombing the UAE, something has to be done, and we walk it back a little bit. Inflaming the situation and then walking it back doesn't mean that you're successful.

It means you cause it. What Jake Sullivan is going to hear when he's in Saudi Arabia is a whole earful from the Saudis for how terrible their policies are. We can go on and on on this, but it's a rewriting of history by Jake Sullivan. Rick, I appreciate you joining us from Albania and also educating our audience. I think it's important in that region of the world, what's going on in that region of the world, and also about, of course, this bigger trip from President Biden. Rick, as always, we appreciate your joy and your insight from Rick Rinnell, the former acting director and national intelligence ambassador to Germany.

We come back. Another former Trump administration official is going to be joining us. He's a senior advisor to the U.S. Ambassador to Israel.

This is R.A. Leitz. He's got a new book out about peace in the Middle East and the Abraham Accords, so you don't want to miss that. Here we go. You know, about the Biden administration, even while they're in Israel and Saudi Arabia, they don't like talking about the Abraham Accords. They don't like mentioning these breakthroughs in Middle East peace that were almost mind-blowing happening under the Trump administration.

We're going to highlight that right now, and we've been highlighting it, of course, through ACLJ and through our broadcast here on Sekulow. And R.A. Lightstone, who was a former special envoy for economic normalization, also a senior advisor, former senior advisor to the U.S. Ambassador to Israel under the Trump administration, David Friedman. So, I mean, think about all the historic things that happened then, the embassy move to Jerusalem, of course, the economic normalization between Israel and some of the Gulf states. We've seen the travel that's occurring. Even today, Joe Biden was able to fly from Jerusalem straight to Riyadh.

That, again, even though we disagree so strongly with their policies, is a moment. R.A. Lightstone is joining us now, and R.A., you've got this new book out, Let My People Know the Incredible Story of Middle East Peace and What Lies Ahead. First, let's talk to people about how we got to the point where these peace deals were made, these economic deals were made between Israel and these Gulf states. Jordan, thank you so much for having me and let my people know the goal is to do exactly that.

How did we get here and what is it? And I'll give you an example of how little people know. There was tremendous celebration that Joe Biden was the first President to fly from Israel to Saudi Arabia, which is true. But President Trump already, four and a half years ago, flew from Saudi Arabia to Israel. It's not a two lane highway, but when Biden does it, it's an enormous celebration.

And when Trump did it, people rolled their eyes. So let's just understand where the historical correction is here. So look, what President Biden did today should be celebrated. A small step forward is a heck of a lot better than a large step backward. So the direct flight was a nice small step forward, but that's what it was.

It was a small step forward. Tell people about your work in getting these deals done, because the Biden administration sure doesn't highlight it for anybody. And a lot of the mainstream media doesn't highlight just how historic these peace deals were and are. They need to be cultivated, too. I mean, they can't just leave them be. It's like a relationship.

If you don't invest in it, it will go stale and it will go south. So they are being invested in, just not by the United States of America. I am pleased that President Biden did highlight the excitement of the Abraham Accords for the first time yesterday. But like most things with the President's visit to the Middle East, let's see if the deed matches the rhetoric.

Let's see if his action is matched by his words and we'll see whether that's the case or not. But how this happened was very simple. And you hit it in the introduction. It was the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Some that Biden, President Biden, nearly walked back just earlier today in East Jerusalem. It was the recognition of the Golan Heights. It was the undoing of the Iran deal. It was bringing clarity to accomplish it when people used to describe one of the two most impossible things to do in life.

Brain surgery and peace in the Middle East. And it took an unlikely cast of characters by an unlikely President. So Ambassador David Friedman, Jared Kushner, Avi Berkowitz, Mike Pompeo, Mike Pence. This unlikely group of characters, right, are the ones who made it happen. They were deemed to be unqualified. And indeed, they were the ones who got it done. And it was my privilege to work for them to try to execute on the peace. But it only happened because we brought clarity to the region.

And when that clarity exists, fantastic things can happen. And what President Biden has done so far on this trip is to bring uncertainty. There's a question, will he, will he not talk about Khashoggi? Will he, will he not go with an Israeli until East Jerusalem? Will he or will he not be strong on the Iran deal?

All he's done so far is to bring confusion and then he'll say something and then it will be walked back. In the Middle East where you have confusion, oftentimes death and destruction follow. You call it in your book, and I don't think it's, I think it's the right way to say it because of how complicated you said brain surgery, peace in the Middle East.

We have our office in Jerusalem. And it was this radical new thinking, like you said, which is, hey, you know what, we can, we can deal with the Palestinian issue. We have to deal with that. We'll always be working through that. But we don't have to wait to deal with other countries in the region to develop these relationships. If we can't solve that right now, it doesn't mean we can't talk to the other Gulf states about working with economically with Israel or developing even tourism with Israel. So what will people learn in your new book?

It's just out this week. Yeah, so first of all, they'll learn how this happened. And the way it happened, if you look at President Biden's trip, that's really bad. I think America had a policy for 70 years that was based upon the European foreign policy. It was America first. And then we decided under the Trump administration to stand strong with Israel. You know what the rest of our allied region did? They chose to stand strong with Israel. And it stressed our people that all Americans are not pro-Israel.

You know, Aryeh, I think we're having some connection trouble. Let me tell everybody how to get your book because people need to read this. It does not get enough attention. I'm glad that you wrote the story of how it came about and then what it needs to be done next. We've got it up on, if you're watching our broadcast right now, it's letting my people know the incredible story of Middle East peace and what lies ahead.

Those two key parts are so important. And I want to encourage people to go to Amazon. You can look it up right away. If you put in Let My People Know, you'll find the book. It's out just this week.

So it's brand new. It's endorsed by people we've got on our team like Mike Pompeo. Is Aryeh still with us?

Our connection's gone. But he talked about Mike Pompeo. Mike Pompeo's on the team at the ACLJ.

He endorsed this book. So you know this is good information. And I know our audience wants to know more. It's not just something you can cover in a radio broadcast, but some behind the scenes about how this all worked between, again, something that on paper we've been told so many times by academics and experts and even by the Biden administration is, you can't have any kind of peace in the Middle East until you solve the Palestinian question or until you deal with Iran and you have to have a nuclear deal with them and you won't get anywhere with the Gulf states and they won't deal with the Israelis and they won't work together. Now, it took all that.

It threw it out the door. And as Aryeh said, it took these kind of a cast of actors and characters who just were not intimidated, who were not owned by that old school State Department thinking that we can't do, we can't get to be if we don't handle the Palestinian issue. We can't even discuss these issues. So let me encourage you again, check out the book. It said, let Amazon, let my people know the incredible story of Middle East peace and what lies ahead. Just saying that too, that there is this peace in the Middle East between these new allies that you've got to continue to foster that relationship. I'm going to be checking out the book. Our good friends of ours who have endorsed it, I'm glad that Aryeh was able to join us.

I know we kind of had some connection issues, but I'm glad he was able to join us on the broadcast. We kind of finished out today. So we're working on all these issues, of course, at the American Center for Law and Justice at ACLJ.org.

You know, July is a critical month for us at the ACLJ because financially we have a matching challenge month. So I know that there are a lot of you right now. You can't make that donation.

That's okay. You can do other things that don't cost you. You can share the broadcast, you can sign petitions, you get information out, share the info that we provide to people.

So that's one way you can do things. But for those of you who are in a financial position that's stable, where you're not making decisions between, can I donate to ACLJ or do this for my family? This is a time for you to step up, really, so that we can continue our work and even expand our work during this time. We've been able to continue to do that during the pandemic, during the election uncertainty, even to this day, because of those of you who are in a stable financial position and you're continuing your donations or even increasing your donations to the ACLJ when others just aren't able to make that donation right now. So it is critical time. The entire month of July is a matching challenge month, so you double the impact of your donation. And I hope you will, if you're able to, donate today at ACLJ.org. We'll talk to you next week.