Kent Covington (2:11)

The Americans beat Canada by a score of 2 to 1 in overtime for

David Bonson (2:15)

the first time since the 1980 Miracle. The United States takes the gold.

Kent Covington (2:21)

The US women also won gold in hockey, also in overtime against Canada. The United states racked up 33 medals in total, 12 of the gold variety. It's one of the best Winter Olympics for the US Ever outside of North America. Parts of the east coast are under blizzard warnings or other severe weather alerts today. Cody Snell with the National Weather Service said some areas were bracing for Snowfall rates of 1 inch per hour or more.

David Bonson (2:46)

That could span all the way back into the Washington, D.C. area through the Delmarva Peninsula, New Jersey, northeast including New York City, up through New England, including the Boston area.

Kent Covington (2:57)

And he said within that area, some parts could see 2 to 3 inches per hour. New York grocery store owner Stu Leonard said Sunday that his stores were packed with many New Yorkers, quote, panic buying

Johnny Cash (voice clips) (3:08)

things like shovels, sleds, all those things go up, like you can't buy enough of them.

Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh (voice clips) / Treasury Secretary Scott Besant (voice clips) (3:16)

You know, they just fly.

Johnny Cash (voice clips) (3:18)

Literally every customer just about wants one.

Kent Covington (3:21)

Authorities issued emergency declarations in New York and New Jersey ahead of the storm. Forecasters said up to 2ft of snow was possible in some areas into today, with heavy winds and possible flooding in certain spots. Members of Congress are returning to Washington today as a partial government shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security continues. Negotiators from both parties have traded proposals but remain far apart on the issue. At the center of the shutdown, proposed changes to immigration enforcement. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has maintained

Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh (voice clips) / Treasury Secretary Scott Besant (voice clips) (3:54)

ICE needs to be reformed in a dramatic, bold, meaningful and transformational manner. And if that doesn't happen, the DHS funding bill will not move forward.

Kent Covington (4:10)

But Democratic Senator John Fetterman, an outspoken critic of the shutdown, says that all Democrats want changes to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But he noted once more on Sunday that ICE has already been fully funded through previous legislation and the shutdown does not affect it.

Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh (voice clips) / Treasury Secretary Scott Besant (voice clips) (4:25)

This shutdown is nothing more than people

David Bonson (4:28)

that are afraid of the base to

Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh (voice clips) / Treasury Secretary Scott Besant (voice clips) (4:29)

just explain to them that shutting down the entire DHS will have no impact or make those kinds of reforms. For ice.

Kent Covington (4:37)

The shutdown is now nine days old. Essential DHS staff will be asked to continue working without their full paychecks for now, including at the TSA and the Coast Guard. Lawmakers are expected to resume negotiations this week, with pressure mounting ahead of the president's State of the Union address tomorrow. Gas prices are holding steady with the average right now at $2.93 per gallon, largely unchanged from a week ago. But industry analyst Shilby Lundberg says where prices might be going in the weeks ahead is less certain.

David Bonson (5:09)

We have crude oil jumping because of increased tensions between US And Iran. And Iran now playing a stoppage exercise, is straight up Hormuz, which moves 20% of the world's oil.

Kent Covington (5:24)

Oklahoma has the cheapest gas in the country right now at $2.34 per gallon on average. California, on the opposite end, has the most expensive at $4.62. I'm Kent Covington. And straight ahead, a closer look at the US Supreme Court ruling on President Trump's sweeping tariffs, plus the Monday money beat with David Bo this is the World and everything in It.

Jenny Ruff (6:04)

It's Monday, 23rd February. Glad to have you along for today's edition of the World and Everything In It. Good morning. I'm Jenny Ruff.

Nick Eicher (6:11)

And I'm Nick Iker. Time now for legal docket. Last Friday, 10:00am the nine U.S. supreme Court justices took to the bench. Chief Justice John Roberts announcing the judgment of the court in a set of highly anticipated cases. And within moments, news alerts lit up screens across the country.

Jenny Ruff (6:33)

One of the most significant cases that the justices have decided in recent years.

Arsenio Orteza (6:37)

Significant decisions on presidential power in decades.

David Bonson (6:40)

Breaking news alert for you. It's finally here. The Supreme Court has made a decision on President Trump's tariffs.

Jenny Ruff (6:46)

It appears to me to be a 6 to 3 decision.

David Bonson (6:48)

Bottom line, it is a 6, 3.

Jenny Ruff (6:50)

To invalidate the use of these sweeping

David Bonson (6:53)

tariffs, the Constitution gives Congress the power to impose taxes based on two words, regulate and importation.

Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh (voice clips) / Treasury Secretary Scott Besant (voice clips) (7:01)

Those words, the Supreme Court says, cannot bear such weight.

Nick Eicher (7:06)

Those are the words of the Supreme Court ruling that the president's position on the tariff authority he's been using cannot bear such weight.

Jenny Ruff (7:14)

Let's back up and see how we got here. It's not often that tariff related cases come before the Supreme Court. But this past November, the court heard oral arguments in Learning Resources versus Trump, which was actually dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, and its companion, Trump vs. Vos selections, which got right to the heart of the matter.

Gil Rothenberg (7:34)

Well, tariffs are the imposition of a tax on imported goods.

Jenny Ruff (7:40)

Gil Rothenberg is the former chief of the Tax Division's Appellate section of the U.S. department of Justice.

Gil Rothenberg (7:46)

So they are simply a tax on imports.

Jenny Ruff (7:50)

That matters because if tariffs are taxes, Congress has the power to levy them. So this wasn't just a fight over trade. It was a fight over who sets the nation's economic course. The Constitution separates powers among three branches of government. And Article 1, Section 8 gives Congress the power alone to impose taxes.

Gil Rothenberg (8:09)

Therefore, the president cannot impose a tax on his own.

Nick Eicher (8:13)

Here, the president concedes he has no authority in the Constitution to impose tariffs. But this case centers on a federal statute targeted to emergencies. Trump argued that Congress delegated that power in a law from 1977. It's known as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, IEPA as it's known by the acronym.

Jenny Ruff (8:35)

Shortly after President Trump took office for the second time, he pointed to two emergencies he deemed foreign the flood of illegal drugs from Canada, Mexico and China and the United States large trade deficit. So he imposed tariffs on most Canadian, Mexican and Chinese imported goods and most imported goods from all trading partners.

Nick Eicher (8:54)

The tariffs are imposed on the importer.

Gil Rothenberg (8:57)

Frequently the importer passes on the tariff in the form of higher prices the to the consumer. But some of these tariffs were so large that the importer was reluctant to say double the price of a product because the sales would disappear.

Nick Eicher (9:14)

Several small family businesses, as well as 12 states filed a lawsuit against the administration arguing IEPA does not authorize the president's tariffs. It does authorize the president to do a long list of other things, though,

Ilya Shapiro (9:29)

to investigate, block, regulate, direct, compel, nullify, void, prevent, and prohibit various economic actions in cases of emergency.

Jenny Ruff (9:40)

Ilya Shapiro is the director of Constitutional Studies at the Manhattan Institute. Missing from that list, he says, the

Ilya Shapiro (9:47)

word levy tariffs or duties or taxes is not there.

Jenny Ruff (9:51)

The Trump administration argued that the statute's language allowing him to regulate imports was enough to authorize tariffs.

Ilya Shapiro (9:58)

The government's backup argument was that regulate importation supports tariffs because tariffs are a type of regulation, they said. But the Court said that that's not correct.

Jenny Ruff (10:11)

The two words regulate importation, as the Court put it, cannot bear such weight

Ilya Shapiro (10:17)

anytime that the Congress authorizes regulations doesn't mean that it gives authority to the designated agency also to raise taxes.

Nick Eicher (10:27)

Overall, six justices agreed the statute does not authorize what the President contends they are. Chief Justice Roberts, joined by conservative Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, and liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Ilya Shapiro (10:45)

The one that got six votes was that the text of the statute IIPA does not grant tariff levying power. Period.

Nick Eicher (10:53)

Three justices dissented. We'll get to the dissent in just a moment, but first let's return to the sixth justice majority. Three of them said this Roberts, Gorsuch,

Ilya Shapiro (11:04)

and Barrett said this was a significant broad authority that if Congress wants to delegate that kind of authority, it has to be explicit and clear.

Jenny Ruff (11:15)

In other words, they relied on what's known in legal lingo as the major questions doctrine that says if the executive branch interprets a statute's general language to give it the right to do something sweeping, something economically and politically significant, there's a presumption against it. Congress's authorization must be very specific, and it wasn't here.

Nick Eicher (11:34)

But three other justices declined to go that far. Justice Kagan filed the concurring opinion, joined by Justices Sotomayor and Jackson, to say that we don't need the major questions doctrine. The plain language of the statute is clear enough. Tax expert Rothenberg explains the split among the six justice majority.

Gil Rothenberg (11:53)

This way, Roberts says we've got more than one arrow in our quiver. And the concurring judges would just rather rest on the single arrow of statutory interpretation.

Jenny Ruff (12:05)

Dissenting was Justice Brett Kavanaugh, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. In what you might call a battle of the textualists. Kavanaugh said the statute's language that allows the President to regulate imports does mean the President can impose tariffs. Tariffs are a means of regulating.

Nick Eicher (12:22)

Back in November, in the oral argument in the case, Justice Kavanaugh gave a clue as to where he'd land. He pointed out to the plaintiff's attorney that to interpret the statute to allow the President to take all sorts of economic actions but not allow the tariffs makes no sense. Here's a clip from the argument.

Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh (voice clips) / Treasury Secretary Scott Besant (voice clips) (12:40)

Your interpretation of the statute, as she pointed out, would allow the President to shut down all trade with every other country in the world or to impose some significant quota on imports from every other country in the world, but would not allow a 1% tariff. And that leaves, in the government's words in sprif, an odd doughnut hole in the statute. Why would a radical Congress say, yeah, we're going to give the President the power to shut down trade. I mean, think about the effects. But you're admitting that power's in there. Yeah, but can't do a 1% tariff. That doesn't seem to have a lot of common sense behind it.

Jenny Ruff (13:31)

Justice Kavanaugh relied on early US History to point to other instances where a President's power to impose tariffs has been

Ilya Shapiro (13:38)

upheld and that Congress has historically granted Presidents tariff discretion. Which is true, but again with more specificity.

Nick Eicher (13:47)

Con law expert Shapiro explaining he means by more specificity that Congress historically has added limits and constraints.

Ilya Shapiro (13:55)

I just think that the Court is saying, look, if we were to allow this, there'd be no limits on this power. Any President could wake up, declare an emergency, and levy any tariffs on anything and any amount. That can't be the law.

Nick Eicher (14:07)

But Justice Kavanaugh had a second argument in his dissent. Back now to Rothenburg.

Gil Rothenberg (14:12)

If it's a matter of foreign policy, the President has so much leeway the President could do it. If it's a matter of foreign policy.

Jenny Ruff (14:20)

Justice Kavanaugh also referred to the mess of practical consequences, the refund of billions of dollars that the government has collected from importers, an issue the Court did not address.

Ilya Shapiro (14:30)

They didn't say anything about how someone goes for a refund, what the process might be, how much they're eligible for, whether there's time limits. None of that. That's because that wasn't an issue that was presented, that wasn't briefed. No lower court had ruled on that.

Jenny Ruff (14:45)

Shapiro says the government was prepared for this ruling and has been looking for alternative options.

Ilya Shapiro (14:51)

There are other provisions that allow national security tariffs or reciprocal tariffs or strategic temporary tariffs for all sorts of reasons. And I think that's what the administration is going to go back to. Scott Besant, the treasury secretary has now for months been kind of priming the field in anticipation of such a ruling, noting that the government does have alternative methods of levying more targeted, which I think would be a better policy for

Nick Eicher (15:19)

tariffs, which is what happened. And more on that when David Bonson joins us in just a moment. Overall, Shapiro says a big takeaway is that this ruling is narrow.

Ilya Shapiro (15:30)

Now, the court did not rule on whether there really was an emergency or whether the ostensible reason for the emergency was properly connected. Tariffs. Get into that. It merely said that iipa, this one particular statute, did not allow these kinds of tariffs.

Jenny Ruff (15:46)

And quickly, I'll mention that along with Roberts principal opinion and Kavanaugh's principal dissent, every other justice with the exception of Alito wrote his or her own separate concurrence or dissent. Thomas's dissent said Congress cannot delegate so called core powers that touch on life, liberty or property, but it can delegate non core powers like economic ones. And the last page of Justice Gorsuch's concurrence contained a mini civics lesson. He addressed it to those who may be disappointed in the ruling. He said the framers of the Constitution made legislation hard and time consuming on purpose. But that deliberate process is aimed at trying to ensure our nation's laws are well thought out. And that's this week's legal docket.

Kent Covington (16:41)

Additional support comes from Planted Gap Year, where young adults combine Bible classes, hands on farming and outdoor adventure.

Nick Eicher (16:49)

More@plantedgapyear.org from Rich Haven Camp in North

Kent Covington (16:55)

Carolina and Iowa, summer camp registration open

Nick Eicher (16:59)

now@richhaven.org and from the Joshua Program at

Kent Covington (17:05)

St. Dunstan's Academy in Virginia, a gap year shaping young men through trades, Farming, Prayer, St. Dunstansacademy.org.

Jenny Ruff (17:29)

Coming up next on THE WORLD and everything in it, the Monday Money beat.

Nick Eicher (17:35)

Time now to talk business, markets and the economy with financial analyst and advisor David Bonson. David heads up the wealth management firm the Bonson Group, and he is here now. Good morning to you, David.

David Bonson (17:46)

Good morning, Nick. Good to be with you.

Nick Eicher (17:48)

All right, David, you've heard the legal analysis there of the Supreme Court's decision on President Trump's tariffs. One of the analysts that we heard just a moment ago made the point that the president does have other options. Same thing that you've said for quite a while. But right on cue, Treasury Secretary Scott Besant was at the Economic Club of Dallas. This was just hours after the ruling on Friday. And he says that this changes very little, that the administration can pivot to other statutes and keep tariff revenue virtually unchanged. He points to two major sections of the law, sections 232 and 301, to keep the tariff pressure on. So let's listen to the treasury secretary.

Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh (voice clips) / Treasury Secretary Scott Besant (voice clips) (18:35)

There are 232 and 301 tariffs that have withstood more than 4,000 lawsuits since the first Trump term. And then a number of 232 and section 301 tariff investigations will be started. Those take a number of weeks and months to implement. So I can tell you that the total amount of revenue that treasury will collect this year will be little change, if changed at all.

David Bonson (19:03)

So you've already clicked around 100.

Nick Eicher (19:05)

So if the revenue stays roughly the same, David, and the tariffs largely stay in place under different legal authority, does this ruling materially change the economics or doesn't it?

David Bonson (19:17)

Well, the very good news is that he is so wrong, it's almost comical. He's right. The Supreme Court only ruled on the tariffs that have been nationalized by IIPA, but that's over 60% of the tariffs. So I say this is a very good thing for the administration that the revenue that they are going to generate to the treasury from tariffs is going to go down. And that's before we get any clarity from the lower courts that the Supreme Court punted back to on refunds. My best guess is that there's a lot of companies that will not know how to fight it and how to go through the process, but that some of the more resourced ones will and that they will end up prevailing, getting some money back. But it's true, the Supreme Court didn't give perfect clarity on refunds. So let's just go off of what we know, that over 60% of the tariffs now are called into question. And I'm not convinced that the administration wants to go put all of them back on, because I think that, as you've already seen over the last several months, with coffee, with sugar, with bananas, with household products, with kitchen appliances, they saw the affordability impact. They see that goods inflation is back up to 1.7%. It was 0% when Biden left office. So I don't think that they want to fight a lot of this. But I definitely understand that the president and the Treasury Secretary need to maintain that public posture, either for politics and optics or for negotiating with some of the other countries that are counterparts parties. But no, my view is very much that they will attempt to move some of the tariffs to other rationales, but there's no way they can move all of it. No possible way.

Nick Eicher (21:09)

Well, David, you said that the Supreme Court may have done the administration a favor in ruling against it, which sounds a bit counterintuitive. Not that the ruling is going to create economic growth, but you are saying that removing some of these tariffs may prevent further contraction. So please explain why you think that is.

David Bonson (21:28)

No, a Supreme Court ruling can't generate economic growth, but getting rid of an executive branch overreach can help stave off what was an economic contraction. Here's where it doesn't help though, is that there is still, because of the way that the White House has responded, the worst thing we have going right now in the economy is uncertainty. And there's still now more uncertainty. But right now, the ability to make commitments for hiring, the ability to make commitments for capital expenditures. My Dividend Cafe on Friday wrote extensively about how we have a capex less society right now outside of data center, and that is not going to allow for the diversification for a fully robust economy. And I think a big part of it, not all of it, but a big part of it is related to some of these tariffs and the uncertainty around them. So that's what I mean by the Supreme Court doing them a favor is these tariffs in particular are I think, the worst from a policy standpoint. And to the extent that some of them can now go away or be punted or allowed to kind of fall off, it is going to enhance economic activity. Any dollar that they don't collect in tariffs now because of this, is a dollar circulating in the United States economy, in the private sector available for capex for hiring. So it's one of the dangers. Nick and I think you and I have talked about this for over a year now, almost on average every other week. We have a real problem talking about tariffs as revenue instead of talking about them as expenses.

Nick Eicher (23:09)

Well, David, I want to call attention to something in this week's Dividend Cafe. You made the point that I think is kind of easy to miss, that the tariffs are sometimes more damaging when they're disinflationary, meaning when companies can't pass along or don't pass along the costs and instead absorb them. So help the listener out with that why can it be worse when businesses eat the tariff instead of passing it on?

David Bonson (23:36)

Well, it's a disinflationary drag when a company can pass on the impacted tariffs, who doesn't think that they would? There's some company out there that says I'm just gonna be nice about this when the customer will pick it up. Now likewise when a customer won't pick it up, when they don't have pricing power, when they don't wanna sacrifice market share, it's what we refer to as price inelasticity. When they can't pass it on, no matter what the company does with the impacted tariffs, they're going to be operating what they believe is their own self interest. So in some cases the prices go higher like we saw last year with coffee, with steel, aluminum, in other cases they don't. But then profit margins come down. The disinflationary part is the latter part, that anytime someone says oh, they didn't pass that on to consumer, that's good, they're eating it. It's not good that they're eating it if it's going to lead to less capital investment, less orders, less inventory, less confidence for the future, and most importantly, less hiring and less wage growth. And so this is the study of history here that tariffs become inflationary and then disinflationary, meaning at first you see some prices go up where they can go up, but then you see it go down and if it puts downward pressure on total trade, capital flows, business investment, all of these other things. The part that mixes this up in a confusing way is that nobody really knows the tariff policy because of this executive discretion and all the waivers and carve outs. And I can't tell you how many people said to me the last six months, well, I really thought it was going to be bad too. But when you look at Nvidia and Apple and the big cap stock market, they're all doing pretty well. Maybe the tariffs haven't been that bad. And I say they're not paying them. It's the small businesses that are paying them and they clearly are not hiring. And yes, correlation is not causation in economics. But you saw a complete death of new hiring, a freeze of new hiring in businesses with less than 250 employees and especially businesses with less than 50 employees right around the time the tariff uncertainty came in. And I believe it's causation.

Nick Eicher (26:07)

Well, David, let's turn away from tariffs and turn toward GDP. We got that report last week, the fourth quarter growth number. It came in at an annualized 1.4%. And even when you adjust for the government shutdown, that's still a number that's softer than many had hoped. You've made the point, David, that outside of data centers and AI construction, we're seeing very little broad business investment. So is this GDP report just evidence that growth is becoming too narrow and that we really have a capital expenditures problem?

David Bonson (26:44)

I think the number would have been into the twos annualized, not on the quarter, but an annualized number for the quarter if it weren't for government shutdown. But even that would have led to a total GDP number that would have been in the high ones or low twos, far below what many were projecting and hoping and far below the capacity of this US Economy. And the part that was significantly compressed was capex business investment. And then the hard part for that is that it's not only hard in the quarter it's reported, but it foreshadows what I expect to be difficulty going forward, because business investment is the fertilization of things that are going to lead to more consumption and activity in the future. And so it is. The most important part of economic growth is the supply side. Tariffs are not the only thing weighing on it, but it is a big factor and the uncertainty around all of it is a big problem.

Nick Eicher (27:47)

Hey, David, before we go, the Federal Reserve's most trusted inflation measure, personal consumption expenditures, that number has just come in and the headline number looks like persistent inflation still. But your argument is that the composition bears a lot closer look than just the headline. What did you take away from it?

David Bonson (28:09)

Yeah, you know, it's funny. I wrote a dividend cafe saying disinflation is coming here this year and you got a PCE print that ran a little bit hot. And yet my argument is a little bit more complicated than the headline suggests. Goods inflation is what's gone up, and services inflation has actually come lower. And I believe you're going to see it continue to go lower as the way that they're pricing rent and rent expectations and stuff around the shelter side is going to keep coming down. But I don't think that the PCE thing is the White House's concern. It's really to my point that they need to get this economic growth narrative right. And. And there's so much confusion right now around tariffs, it's hard to do it. And a confused PCE number doesn't help.

Nick Eicher (28:57)

All right. David Bonson is founder, managing partner, and chief investment officer at the Bonson Group. He writes@dividendcafe.com and at World Opinions. David, have a great week. We'll see you next time.

David Bonson (29:09)

Thanks so much, Nick.

Jenny Ruff (29:26)

Today is Monday, February 23rd. Thank you for turning to World Radio to help start your day. Good morning. I'm Jenny Ruff.

Nick Eicher (29:33)

And I'm Nick Iker. Coming next on THE World and everything in it, an American original. When Johnny Cash was honorably discharged as a staff sergeant from the U.S. air Force in July 1954, no one could have foreseen what his future held. Not least Cash himself. But just over a year later, he would write and record the first of his many country top 10 hits. And over the next 50 years, he would become not only a country music star, but a pop culture icon as well. This week would have marked his 94th birthday. World's Arsenio Ortezza now with an appreciation of the life and music of of Johnny Cash.

Arsenio Orteza (30:15)

Before he became Johnny Cash, he was simply J.R. cash, initials that didn't so much represent names as a compromise, Cash's mother wanted to name him John and his father, Ray, wanted to name him Ray. J.R. cash didn't become John Ray Cash until 1950, when the air Force wouldn't let him register without a first and a middle name. And he stayed John until he began recording for Sun Record. Sam Phillips, who thought Johnny better personified youthful rebellion. The rebellious part marked Cash's career. The youthful part, not so much. Though just 24 when he scored his first chart topping single in 1956, he already sounded like someone who'd lived more lifetimes than one.

Johnny Cash (voice clips) (31:01)

I keep a close watch on this heart of mine I keep my eyes wide open all the time I keep the ends out for the tithe that binds because you're mine I walk the line.

Arsenio Orteza (31:21)

In a sense, Cash had lived more lifetimes than one. Born into a poor Baptist cotton farming family in Arkansas, he was the fourth of seven children and learned early the connection between hard work and survival. It would serve him well. He also learned the inevitability of tragedy. When he was 12, his older brother Jack, a devout Christian whose faith had made a strong impression on him, died as the result of a sawmill accident. Faith, hard work and tragedy would eventually come to characterize his music as well and prove a potent and popular combination. As a solo performer, Cash recorded 45 Billboard country top tens and 13 number ones with June Carter Cash, Waylon Jennings and the Highwayman, he scored even more. Faith and tragedy, not necessarily in that order, also made him newsworthy. His immersion in the popular musician lifestyle took its toll on his first marriage and young family, and he nearly killed both his career and himself with a steady diet of amphetamines, barbiturates and alcohol. It was his marriage to June Carter, which began as an affair and was his second marriage in her third, and a return to his Christian faith in 1968 that stabilized him and led to his second classic period.

Johnny Cash (voice clips) (32:37)

Hello, I'm Johnny Cash.

Arsenio Orteza (32:40)

Folsom Prison Blues was the lead track from his live album at Folsom Prison.

Johnny Cash (voice clips) (32:47)

I hear the train a comin it's rolling around a bend and I ain't seen the sunshine since I don't know when I'm stuck in Folsom Prison and time, time keeps dragging on.

Arsenio Orteza (33:02)

By 2003, both it and its 1969 follow up at San Quentin had gone triple platinum, making them two of the best selling country albums recorded during the 1960s. They also re established Cash as a first rate performer and in so doing made him into a survivor. Survivors are, by definition sympathetic figures. When faith comes into the picture, they can become persuasive figures too.

Johnny Cash (voice clips) (33:27)

Jesus came to the shores of the beautiful Sea of Galilee, to the city of Capernaum, and he said, I perform miracles for you so that you believe.

Arsenio Orteza (33:39)

Between 1969, when he released the album the Holy Land, and 1973, when he released the film the Gospel Road and its soundtrack, Cash became one of the most outspoken Christian celebrities in America.

Johnny Cash (voice clips) (33:51)

In the city of Bethsaida, they brought a blind man to Jesus. And the blind man said, if you'd only stop and touch me if you'd only stop and touch me if you'd only stop and touch me I know I could see.

Arsenio Orteza (34:15)

From 1969-71, Cash also hosted a popular TV show, and for the next decade he often performed over 100 concerts a year. There were times when he seemed to be everywhere, but the overexposure took its toll and sales of his music sagged. He was ordained as a minister by the charismatic preacher Bill Hammond in 1977, but instead of igniting a period of spiritual fervor, the event seemed to signal a last gasp. By decade's end, Cash wasn't affiliated with any particular body of believers, and he was abusing pills again, by some accounts even worse than he had in the 1960s. He wouldn't overcome his addictions for another 10 years.

Steve Turner (34:54)

His life story is a series of victories and relapses, really, which is, I guess, why people can relate to him.

Arsenio Orteza (35:01)

Steve Turner is the author of the excellent 2004 biography the Man Called the Life, Love and Faith of An American legend. I asked him what he made of Cash's notorious ups and downs.

Steve Turner (35:14)

I remember asking him when I interviewed him, like, would your life have been better if you'd been papooned? In other words, if he'd kept on the straight and narrow, if he'd never got into all that stuff and never taken drugs with. And he said, well, it might have been in that I might have got more work done, because taking drugs and being sick obviously takes the edge off your work. But he felt that the experiences had been valuable, and I think that's true. I mean, he looked like a man of experience and he kind of sang like a man of experience.

Arsenio Orteza (35:45)

The hip hop and heavy metal producer Rick Rubin tapped into that experience in the 1990s, beginning with the album American Recordings. Rubin and Cash recorded seven albums in one box set, some released posthumously. These projects made Cash cool again and found him recording all manner of songs. Some were Cash originals, but most were cover versions, and rather unlikely covers at that.

Johnny Cash (voice clips) (36:11)

I hurt myself today to see if I still feel I focus on the pain the only thing that's right.

Arsenio Orteza (36:32)

This 2002 rendition of Hurt by the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails was instantly recognized as one of Cash's most powerful performances ever, in part because of its award winning video. The video also made clear how much the 70 year old cash's health had degenerated. He'd suffered numerous debilitating ailments and as a result, he looked and no doubt felt 10, if not 20 years older. Larry King asked him whether he'd grown bitter.

Johnny Cash (voice clips) (36:58)

Bitter? Yeah, anger.

Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh (voice clips) / Treasury Secretary Scott Besant (voice clips) (37:00)

I mean, you know, you're a young

Arsenio Orteza (37:01)

guy, you're only 70.

Johnny Cash (voice clips) (37:02)

No, I'm not bitter. Why should I be bitter? I'm thrilled to death with life. Life is the way God has given it to me is just a platter, a golden platter of life laid out there for me. It's been beautiful. Yeah, yeah. Things have been good and things get better all the time.

Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh (voice clips) / Treasury Secretary Scott Besant (voice clips) (37:18)

So you have no regrets?

Johnny Cash (voice clips) (37:20)

No regrets.

Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh (voice clips) / Treasury Secretary Scott Besant (voice clips) (37:20)

And no anger at the why did God do this to me?

Johnny Cash (voice clips) (37:23)

Oh, no, no. I'm the last one that would be angry.

Arsenio Orteza (37:28)

As if to show how angry at God he wasn't, he'd even written a song brimming with biblical language about looking forward to the second coming of Christ. It was the title track of his then latest album, American 4. The man comes Around.

Johnny Cash (voice clips) (37:43)

Everybody won't be treated all the same There'll be a golden ladder reaching down when the man comes around the Man

Arsenio Orteza (37:57)

Comes around was the last of his albums that Cash would live to see released. And he sounded less youthful than ever. But his rebellion against despair, against bitterness, against the spirit of the age remained

Johnny Cash (voice clips) (38:10)

in measured 100 weight and penny pounds. When the man comes around, that's this

Arsenio Orteza (38:19)

week's world history book. I'm Arsenio Orteza.

Nick Eicher (38:34)

Tomorrow, the US Builds up its military presence in the Middle East. As the clock ticks on talks with Iran. And tomorrow marks four years of the world war in Ukraine. We'll hear from a pastor who chose to stay on the front lines with his congregation. That and more tomorrow. I'm Nick Iger.

Jenny Ruff (38:52)

And I'm Jenny Ruff. The world and everything in it comes to you from World Radio. World's mission is biblically objective journalism that informs, educates and inspires. The Bible says riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. Proverbs, chapter 11, verse 4. Go now in grace and peace.