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The World and Everything In It
3.25.26 Government control and public tolerance, Muslim converts to Christianity, a drop in Memphis violent crime, and Nebraska families battling wildfire
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- [00:06]
Lindsay Mast
Good morning. Border claims, ballot deadlines and pressure on Iran and US Airports.
- [00:12]
Chad Wolf
When you get a two or a three hour line in a place like Atlanta, that becomes a soft target in and of itself.
- [00:18]
Nick Iger
That's ahead on Washington Wednesday. Hunter Baker standing by. Also today, world tour, a bishop charged with leading converts from Islam. Later, families on the front lines fighting wildfire.
- [00:31]
Carmen Malloy
Everybody has a part to play. And the wives that have to stay home are doing a lot of praying.
- [00:36]
Nick Iger
And commentator Cal Thomas on the great wealth migration.
- [00:47]
Lindsay Mast
It's Wednesday, March 25th. This is the world and everything in it from listener supported World Radio. I'm Lindsay Mast.
- [00:54]
Nick Iger
And I'm Nick Iger. Good morning.
- [00:58]
Lindsay Mast
Up next, Kent Covington with today's news.
- [01:02]
Benjamin Eicher
President Trump said once again on Tuesday that things are looking up with regard to possibly ending the war in Iran soon.
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Cal Thomas
We're in negotiations right now. They're doing it along with Marco. J.D. we have a number of people doing it. And the other side, I can tell
- [01:17]
Hunter Baker
you they'd like to make a deal.
- [01:19]
Benjamin Eicher
The president there referring to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President J.D. vance, Trump pointed to an unspecified goodwill gesture of some kind from Iran, which he said was, quote, oil and gas relief, as evidence that his administration is now dealing with the right people.
- [01:35]
Cal Thomas
The gift they made to us was very significant and they said they were going to do it and it happened and they're the only ones that could have done it.
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Benjamin Eicher
The president has backed off a threat to order strikes on Iran's energy infrastructure because of what he said was Iran's willingness to make a deal that would end the country's nuclear program. Iran initially denied that it is holding talks with the U.S. but Iran's foreign minister has held separate calls with his counterparts in Egypt, Oman, Pakistan and Turkey. And those are the same countries reportedly trying to mediate with the US to end the war. That comes as the US military is reportedly set to deploy around 1,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle east in the coming days. Meanwhile, in Israel, a familiar sound sirens blared over Tel Aviv yesterday as an Iranian missile was spotted over central Israel. Crews picked through debris after a missile hit several residential buildings, injuring at least a dozen. But Israel's military says Iran is now firing fewer and fewer missiles. Brigadier General Efri Defren says Iran fired fewer than 100 missiles on the first day of the conflict, half that the second day, and is now firing an average of about 10 per day. Meanwhile, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon issuing a challenge to other world leaders to tighten the screws on Iran.
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Jay Krish
Where are you? Where is the moral clarity? Where is the urgency? Where is your leadership? Israel is already in the arena. This is your moment to step up, to recognize the common enemy, to act now before it's too late for your people to act with unity, with resolve and clarity.
- [03:25]
Benjamin Eicher
Dadan told reporters that Iran's recent missile launch toward the joint US UK base on Diego Garcia island could demonstrate that Iran has a greater missile strike range than previously known and that he says makes Iran a global threat. At the White House, please raise your
- [03:43]
Onize Adua
right hand and repeat after me.
- [03:46]
Kathy Hochul
I do solemnly swear.
- [03:48]
Chad Wolf
I do solemnly swear.
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Benjamin Eicher
Markway Mullen Mark Wayne Mullen Attorney General Pam Bondi administering the oath of office to newly confirmed Homeland Security Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen. World's Benjamin Eicher reports.
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Mary Muncie
The former Oklahoma GOP senator takes over the Department of Homeland Security 40 days into a partial government shutdown. Senate Republicans are optimistic about landing a deal to pass DHS funding later this week after meeting with President Trump on Monday. Republicans are also talking about passing additional funding for ICE operations and some elements of the Save America act through a process known as budget reconciliation. Mullen explains, there's a framework that we
- [04:30]
Chad Wolf
can do through reconciliation, paying for it, put some of the policies that cost money in because there's nothing more important than the Save American Act.
- [04:38]
Mary Muncie
That legislation aims to require voter verification, including photo id, in national elections. Trump over the weekend said he would not support breaking up the DHS appropriations bill to handle ICE separately, but when asked about it on Tuesday, he told reporters the process is up to Congress. Lawmakers are planning to fly home on Friday for a two week recess for Easter and Passover, so the incentive is strong to land a deal soon for World I'm Benjamin Eicher and Oklahoma's governor
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Benjamin Eicher
has chosen a temporary replacement for Mark Wayne Mullen in the Senate. Republican governor Kevin Stitt has appointed energy executive Alan Armstrong to fill the newly vacant U.S. senate seat through the end of the year.
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Cal Thomas
Few people have done more to champion America First Agenda to keep Oklahoma at the center of domestic production so that we can deliver clean, reliable and affordable energy to American citizens than Alan Armstrong.
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Benjamin Eicher
Armstrong is the chairman and former CEO of Williams Companies, a major pipeline operator based in Tulsa.
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Cal Thomas
I will admit to you I'm a little bit like I feel like I'm stepping off into the abyss with not exactly sure what I'm getting into but but I'm confident. Got great team around me, great support around me and I look really do
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Chad Wolf
look forward to making a difference for
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Cal Thomas
the short time that I'm in the Senate.
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Benjamin Eicher
Under Oklahoma law, Armstrong must agree not to run for a full term in November's general election. America is aiming to not only go back to the moon, it's planning to set up shop on the lunar surface. NASA administrator Jared Isaacman just announced a $20 billion plan to build a permanent base on the moon within seven years. To free up resources, the agency is canceling its planned Lunar Gateway space station, which was designed to orbit the moon, and it will direct those already constructed components toward a surface base instead.
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Chad Wolf
America will never again give up the moon. That brings us to the next step, building the moon base. It should not really surprise anyone that we are pausing Gateway in its current form and focusing on infrastructure that supports sustained operations on the lunar surface.
- [06:46]
Benjamin Eicher
The first crewed moon landing is now targeted for Artemis 4 in 2028, with annual lunar missions to follow. The urgency is driven in part by China, which is targeting its own crewed moon landing by 2030. I'm Kent Covington, and straight ahead on Washington Wednesday, the political importance of two major Supreme Court cases. Hunter Baker is standing by to talk about it. Plus, fighting wildfires becomes a family affair for Nebraska ranchers. This is the World and everything in It.
- [07:29]
Lindsay Mast
It's Wednesday, March 25th. Glad to have you along for today's edition of the World and Everything In It. Good morning. I'm Lindsay Mast.
- [07:36]
Nick Iger
And I'm Nick Eicher. Time now for Washington Wednesday, and joining us is political scientist Hunter Baker. He is a World Opinions contributor and our regular Washington Wednesday political analyst. Good morning to you, sir.
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Hunter Baker
Good morning.
- [07:51]
Nick Iger
Well, Hunter, two really big Supreme Court cases this week. We'll cover the legal arguments in due course after our legal affairs team has had a chance to get at them. But today, two in a row here Tuesday and Monday. I wanna talk with you about the political importance of both of them because I think they are politically important, hun, but because whatever the court decides, these are huge issues. So let's begin, I think, with the most recent one. First, the asylum claims case. Now, the legal question is going to turn on when someone has, quote, unquote, arrived in the United States. But politically, this is more about control of the border. These claims can take years to resolve and do take years to resolve. And in the meantime, people may be here in a kind of limbo, simply beyond effective control. So politically, is this case likely to reignite the immigration debate? Regardless of how it goes, it's just
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Hunter Baker
gonna add to the ongoing controversy. I mean, it's interesting that there Are many of us above a certain age who can remember when immigration was a very minor issue in American politics? And that has obviously changed. It's become a really serious one. I mean, there was a time in the past when the border was relatively porous and people came and went, but now things are different. And part of that is because we have a much broader social safety net and more ways to provide for these people. And people are sending tons of money back across the border. So it has a much larger impact, not to mention the employment competition, than perhaps it once did. And you know, this case about asylum. Well, asylum laws make a ton of sense, particularly when you think about the old Cold War context. People might be seeking asylum and we would want to help them. But I think that what's happened is, like many parts of our immigration system, it's become unmanageable. You know, people have realized that claiming asylum is a sort of a magic key that opens the door to being here for some indefinite time. Knowing that the administrative and judicial overload is there, it's going to be a long time before anybody is able to adjudicate it. And so now they're trying to decide, right. You know, can you actually prevent people from stepping foot into the country and therefore making some kind of asylum claim? When is somebody actually in the country able to make such a claim? My view is that we need to step back and relook at the whole immigration system. I think that we probably need some kind of comprehensive legislation to address these problems. But until then, we're going to continue kind of piecemeal working through these issues. And, of course, the Trump administration's approach has been just to make it real clear that it's not going to be easy to cross the border and therefore, to discourage a big part of that mass of people trying to come over.
- [10:59]
Lindsay Mast
Well, Hunter, similar thread, but different. I'd like to jump to the case argued Monday. That one was a case about mail in voting. The legal issue is going to revolve around deadlines, but this seems, again, like part of a much larger argument, not unlike the debate over the save election, integrity, public confidence, and what the rules of voting are supposed to guarantee. So, again, regardless of what the court does, the court isn't going to settle the issue. It seems more likely it may reawaken it at some level, don't you think?
- [11:30]
Hunter Baker
It really could. I actually think that a ruling from the court on this will be welcome. You know, we've talked about the SAVE Act. We've talked about when you discuss the idea of a really solid voter ID plan for Americans. We all know that the polling has indicated the support is high. In my time working with a political depolarization project, one of the things that we talked about was elections, and we gathered a diverse group of people and one of the things that they were pretty united on was the idea of being able to have election integrity to be sure that the result is a real result, to be sure that citizens are voting, and to have voter id. So this is the same kind of a thing, right? When we talk about votes that come in after an election and when you have close elections, and we're having an awful lot of close elections these days, it's just devastating to have this idea that late ballots could come in and affect the outcome in some way, that we could have electoral votes of a state decided, you know, effectively after the election, after we sort of think we already know the outcome. And so I think the court has taken a really hard look at this idea of, well, what does election day really mean? And trying to, I think they have the opportunity to really improve the confidence of Americans in the electoral process. There are other things, and the SAVE act addresses some of those other things. But to me, this question of how late are ballots gonna be allowed to come in? This is a huge question. The court, I think, can really help us with this one.
- [13:16]
Nick Iger
Well, Hunter, let's talk about the government shutdown. You'll remember, of course, the record setting shutdown toward the end of the year that nobody really noticed. This is a much smaller one, but it is really hitting people. And we're getting a lot of news about it because ordinary people are showing up at airports and seeing the effects of this. Now, of course, we've reported about the pressure that's building these long, long lines at airport security checkpoints. TSA reported that more than 4400 agents have quit since the beginning of the shutdown. 41% on Sunday called in sick in Atlanta. That's one of the world's busiest airports. Of course, now President Trump has deployed ICE agents to try to keep the lines moving and to some success. But let's listen to former acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf. He served in the first Trump administration and he talked about sending ICE in and what that was all about.
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Chad Wolf
When you get a two or a three hour line in a place like Atlanta or any other major airport, that becomes a soft target in and of itself. Those baggage claims. And a lot of the places where you see those lines are not secure areas of that airport, meaning anyone from the Public can come into those areas. And so again, ICE is being surged into there, making sure that those travelers are safe before they even get into that secure part of the airport.
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Nick Iger
So, Hunter, do a political risk assessment here. How does that work in a situation like this?
- [14:47]
Hunter Baker
First of all, I just wanna say that you are talking to a three hours early to the airport guy even before.
- [14:55]
Nick Iger
Right.
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Hunter Baker
And I think that the reason that I am that is because I remember that post 911 period when the security thing could really stretch out long. And so, you know, here I am over 20 years later, still reacting to that. So it really affects people, and certainly people like me. With regard to this question about putting ice into the airports to help with tsa. I think this is kind of a political masterstroke. I mean, it's a different look for ice. You've got them helping out in a situation that is very frustrating to a lot of people. So, you know, here they are. They're present. They're helping to alleviate the burden on the traveler and on those brave TSA agents who are showing up despite their paychecks not being delivered. And so this kind of takes the focus off of Minneapolis and gives you a different sort of a look. Right. It kind of pushes the idea of ICE back into our vision of the regular federal workforce, the regular law enforcement. You know, they're not just out there on those icy streets of Minneapolis. They're doing something that probably just about everybody is happy that they're doing. Now, in terms of the broader issue of what's been going on with the shutdown, I mean, I think that most Americans are probably deeply frustrated with government not taking care of business, not dealing with the nuts and bolts of what they're supposed to do. If the government cannot handle tsa, we could just as easily hand this over to some sort of a private workforce to handle. But instead, the government has taken control of this function, and now everybody is subject to when government breaks down. So what I would say is I think that we're seeing that politics is eating government, is taking the American people hostage with what I think are ridiculous battles that should not be going on. If you want to change policy, don't use shutdowns to impose changes of policy and campaign on your change, make it obvious what the change is that you want and win elections don't create misery in the midst of an administration. But that's what's going on so far.
- [17:14]
Lindsay Mast
Well, Hunter, the president continues to indicate that a deal might be near with Iran. He said in the Oval Office yesterday that talks with Iran are ongoing and that leaders there agree to never have a nuclear weapon. But the Wall Street Journal is reporting that the president will deploy 3,000 troops from the Army's 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East. Officials the Journal talked to say that doesn't. There will be boots on the ground. But this also doesn't seem to indicate we're nearing the end either. Is this boiling down to a test of who can outlast? And if so, which side do you think has the will to keep going?
- [17:49]
Hunter Baker
Yeah, this is some very high wire stuff for the American President. And I think that Donald Trump, when he managed to win that second term after losing in 2020, comes back in 2024 and wins. I think that it just made him believe in himself more than he ever did before. And that was already a lot. And so, you know, he was able to take on this very ambitious plan of tariffs and then Venezuela and Cuba and now tackling the big bad guy, Iran. And you asked who can outlast? Well, that's for Iran. That's the only question, right? I mean, if this was a straight up military battle, they lose, it's over. Right? Most of their military is destroyed. Much of their leadership has been killed. But that's not the game in the modern world. The game is an asymmetric one. And everybody understands that if you're gonna beat the United States of America, you're gonna do it in an asymmetric fashion by creating discomfort, particularly among American citizens, and facilitated by the American media. So that's the game, you're right. Who can outlast all of this pain and discomfort. But one thing that our founders knew, and they talked about, the things that you had to take account of. Reason, revelation, and the law of fashion. And when I say the law of fashion, I do not mean, you know, the length of skirts or the type of hats that men might wear. I mean, public opinion, and Americans have always recognized that public opinion is a powerful force. That may be the most powerful force that we deal with outside of the sovereignty of God. And have the American people been convinced? Not yet. It appears polling indicates that probably below 40% of people support the action. They may not like Iran. They may think it would be better if Iran was gone, destabilized, defeated. But they're not sure that this was necessary. And so they're encountering pain in the pump, pain in the 401k. And those gas prices will also eventually hit the stores, if they haven't already. So people need to believe in a successful ending of this thing. They've already been traumatized by our failures in the Middle east and they're dying to believe that he's telling the truth about productive talks with Iran right now. If that happens, it's gonna be a tremendous win. But if we're still where we are or anywhere close to it at the midterms, I can't even imagine how painful that will be for Trump and the Republicans.
- [20:30]
Nick Iger
Hunter Baker is provost at North Greenville University. Hunter, thank you so much. We'll see you next week.
- [20:36]
Hunter Baker
Thank you.
- [20:43]
Benjamin Eicher
Additional support comes from from Water's Edge, competitive rates and supporting churches. 4.55% APY on a 13 month term investment. Watersedge.com invest from the evangelistic film Heaven How I Got Here with Stephen Baldwin as the thief on the cross in 30 languages. OpenTheBible.org heaven and from the Joshua program at St. Dunstan's Academy in Virginia, a gap year shaping young men through trades, farming, prayer. St. Dunstansacademy.org
- [21:25]
Lindsay Mast
Coming up next on THE WORLD and Everything in IT World Tour, a Sudan born convert is now leading an Anglican diocese of Muslim converts around the world without restrictions of borders. World's Africa reporter Onize Adua brings us this special report.
- [21:41]
Onize Adua
Bishop Yasser Eric vividly remembers when he lost his childhood. He was eight and carted away to an Islamic school in Sudan without explanation.
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Bishop Yasser Eric
We were beaten up every single day because the education system there is not being done by educators.
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Onize Adua
He learned to memorize the Quran though he barely understood the text. He waited for two years before his father finally returned to pick him up. Eric comes from a reputable Islamic family in Sudan and was trained to also follow the faith.
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Bishop Yasser Eric
I was not taught to tolerate. I was not taught to accept diversity within our community, but I was taught to hate Jews, to hate Christians, but even other sector of Muslim, the Shia, because I was a Sunni Muslim.
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Onize Adua
That began to change after he visited a hospital where his cousin was gravely ill. There he met two Coptic Christians who asked to pray over the sick boy. He listened as they prayed with compassion and intimacy with God.
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Bishop Yasser Eric
I was watching all of this and the minute they said amen, this child opened his eyes for the first time and life came back into him.
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Onize Adua
But he says the biggest miracle that day was not the physical healing, but his change of heart.
- [23:01]
Bishop Yasser Eric
This was 1990 when I gave my life to Christ and I said to Jesus, if you are really the one that this person speaks about, I would like you to come into my life and change me. And this is what he did.
- [23:16]
Onize Adua
His conversion only marks the start of his journey. Eric describes the Islamic culture as a collective community, or ummah, where one gets identity but also pays the price for defying the norm.
- [23:29]
Bishop Yasser Eric
So I was cut off from the ummah, from my family, and then I was also in prison because of my faith. But this is not only my story, this, you could say, the story of converts across the Muslim world.
- [23:46]
Onize Adua
Eric eventually left for Kenya to study theology. He met a German family that eventually took him to their home country. He continued his studies there and now lectures at Columbia International University in Germany. Eric is also tasked with leading a non geographical province for Muslim background believers under the Global Anglican Communion, a group of conservative Anglicans. The diocese is unusual without a fixed location or cathedral. Its members run from West African nations like Senegal to Central Asia and as far as Afghanistan. Some worship in underground house churches for their safety. Eric says the community has become a spiritual lifeline for the Muslim converts.
- [24:31]
Bishop Yasser Eric
They would lose their homes, they would lose the Islamic community, but then the Christian community is not open to receive them for different reasons. Sometimes it's security reasons, sometimes it's social reasons, sometimes it's also cultural reasons. And so you leave your ummah, you leave your home and you belong nowhere. And for those people, God have called us to establish a home.
- [24:58]
Onize Adua
He says what he's doing now is a natural extension of what was done for him.
- [25:03]
Bishop Yasser Eric
You know, I'm talking to you today because of people who open their home homes, people who opened their hearts, people who accompanied me, who discipled me and who showed me who Jesus Christ is. And what I'm doing now is exactly what I received. I'm just giving it back.
- [25:22]
Onize Adua
Eric says he isn't so much leading a church as he is integrating a family within the body of Christ. That's this week's world tour. I'm Onizi Odua in Abuja, Nigeria.
- [25:53]
Lindsay Mast
Coming up next on the World and everything in it safety in Memphis.
- [25:57]
Nick Iger
That city in Tennessee has long had a reputation as well, one of the most dangerous in the nation. Six months ago, the Memphis Safe Task Force arrived in the city. And this week President Trump hosted a roundtable there to tout its success. World's Mary Muncie reports.
- [26:14]
Stephen Cohen
The FBI says Memphis had the highest violent crime rate of any city in the US in 2024. It had been steadily climbing for a decade and reached an all time high in 2023. And while it had been trending downward since then, it remained alarmingly high. That spurred President Trump to launch the Memphis Safe Task Force. It's the same tactic used by Washington, D.C. it combines the FBI, DEA, National Guard and others to try to make the city safer.
- [26:46]
Jay Krish
Without question, the public safety outlook in Memphis has improved dramatically in the past six months. Collectively, our efforts have resulted in a 43% reduction in total serious crimes, 37% reduction in murder, 56% reduction in robbery.
- [27:04]
Stephen Cohen
Jay Krish has owned a convenience store in downtown Memphis for the last 10 years. He sees the National Guard everywhere and says he thinks the increased presence is helping tourists feel safer.
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Jay Krish
We got a new public safety guard, it's a new team, so they're doing a really good job right now. Like they've been helping every day, checking on the business, taking on the people, taking care of the, the tourists and everything.
- [27:32]
Stephen Cohen
Another Memphis worker told World the difference in the last six months has been night and day. But others see it differently. Protesting the task force, Democratic State Representative Justin Pearson told WNC tv, if we
- [27:47]
Benjamin Eicher
were given the money that they wasted
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Kathy Hochul
on this unsafe task force, we could
- [27:50]
Onize Adua
have provided more housing, improved our education,
- [27:53]
Benjamin Eicher
helped with medical expenses for families and actually benefited our community. We need poverty eradication, not military occupation.
- [28:00]
Stephen Cohen
Some people accuse the task force of harassing minorities, and the mayor claims it's having a chilling effect. Others, like Democratic Congressman Stephen Cohen, say the task force isn't doing what Trump says it is.
- [28:13]
Hunter Baker
The task force came into Memphis in September 25th.
- [28:16]
Chad Wolf
Crime was already down 25% because the good work of our Mayor Young and our police director Davis, they've continued to
- [28:24]
Hunter Baker
do their good work.
- [28:25]
Stephen Cohen
In his view, the surge in FBI and DEA agents was helpful, but the National Guard and ICE need to go home. Back at the roundtable, U.S. marshals Service Director Gaddy Sirolta says public events have gotten safer. He points to the St. Jude Marathon
- [28:42]
Jay Krish
in December, where 22,000 runners gathered without a single reported downtown burglary compared to multiple incidents in the prior year.
- [28:55]
Stephen Cohen
Meanwhile, President Trump says he wants to expand this tactic to other American cities.
- [29:01]
Cal Thomas
In another two or three months he'll
- [29:03]
Hunter Baker
have like no crime.
- [29:04]
Stephen Cohen
He encouraged Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton to keep focusing on tough on crime bills. Some of those measures include denying bail to some violent offenders and increasing penalties for both adult and juvenile offenders. Reporting for World I'm Mary Muncie.
- [29:35]
Nick Iger
It's opening day for Major League Baseball. Yes, baseball is back. And with it, one more branded interruption. MLB rolling out for 2026 an all new ABS challenge, automated balls and strikes. Each team receiving two chances per game to show up the ump without getting kicked out of the ballpark. Only the batter, pitcher or catcher gets to challenge by tapping his helmet or cap. The system tracks the questionable call. The scoreboard shows the result. And we all get a little closer to living inside a video game. They even tried it out at last year's All Star game.
- [30:13]
Chad Wolf
Ball down.
- [30:14]
Hunter Baker
What do you think? Yeah, I like that.
- [30:16]
Chad Wolf
Made at balls and strikes. Powered by T Mobile's network.
- [30:20]
Nick Iger
There it is. Yet another revenue opportunity brought to you by your name. Here it's the world and everything in it. Today is Wednesday, March 25th. Thank you for turning to World Radio to help start your day. Good morning, I'm Nick Iker.
- [30:47]
Lindsay Mast
And I'm Lindsay Mast. Coming next on the World and everything in it. Fire in America's heartland. Last week, Nebraska experienced the biggest wildfire in its history. The Morrill fire decimated an area the size of Rhode island, burning up the food supply of roughly 35,000 head of cattle. World correspondent Elizabeth Schenck spoke with a ranch family on the front lines fighting back the fire for days until help arrived.
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Elizabeth Schenck
Christine Malloy's six kids know how to do what they're told.
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Carmen Malloy
A lot of kids out here are raised to listen to their parents really well. Because of safety,
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Elizabeth Schenck
Christine is loading hers onto H TVs on the family ranch in Angora, Nebraska, each armed with a shovel. Her husband, Coot is leading a search to find the fire's edge. That's where they'll begin working their second day in a row. The family documents everything with videos. This fire started on March 12 when hurricane force winds downed a power pole that lit the sandhills grasslands about six miles from the family's ranch. It raced 12 miles in the first 10 minutes and kept growing.
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Cal Thomas
No containment on this fire.
- [32:00]
Hunter Baker
No containment on this fire.
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Elizabeth Schenck
The fire blew through five counties over four days. The only thing that stood between the area ranches and that fire were the people who lived there. And without water, dirt was the best way to extinguish it.
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Chad Wolf
We put out a whole bunch and then came back over the hill and what we'd already put out had flared back up because something smoldered and took off again. So we had to put it all out again.
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Elizabeth Schenck
For the older folks, it's nothing new. Since just after the Civil War, generations of Malloys have fought off fires on this stretch of native prairie, perfect for grazing cattle, but easily decimated by fire and wind. Carmen Malloy is Coot's mother.
- [32:38]
Carmen Malloy
Everybody has a part to play, and the wives that have to stay home are doing a lot of praying and trying not to worry. Will my man get hurt? You know, will my kid, will my child get hurt? Okay, I'm getting emotional.
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Elizabeth Schenck
Coot volunteers with the Bridgeport fire department and he trains all of his kids. Carmen's grandkids, 11 year old cameo.
- [33:01]
Carmen Malloy
You take your shovel and if there's anything smoldering by the edges where there's grass, you want to kick this stuff back.
- [33:08]
Elizabeth Schenck
This is cameo's second fire.
- [33:10]
Carmen Malloy
So then it's at least 3ft and that might still not even be enough because the wind. So you also put dirt on it
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Elizabeth Schenck
and she says it's worse than her first.
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Carmen Malloy
It was scary because it was bigger. But then you think about it and it's like you feel so good that you helped your neighbors instead of sitting at home.
- [33:28]
Elizabeth Schenck
Megan Thoreau is Cameo's 15 year old cousin and this is her first fire.
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Carmen Malloy
I kept on dreaming about that we had to get the fire out because it was coming towards our house and then I kept on waking up.
- [33:39]
Elizabeth Schenck
Nebraska ranks right behind Texas in beef production and much of that comes from these family owned ranches. Half of the ranch land in Nebraska is in the burn zone, an area roughly the size of Maryland. About 30 neighbors and volunteer firefighters work alongside Coot and his family, dredging up dirt with shovels and tractors to cover burning yucca, soap, weed, sage and cow dung.
- [34:01]
Chad Wolf
But the tractors go, you know, you can't go very fast, especially in a lot of the terrain where it's real hilly.
- [34:09]
Elizabeth Schenck
There's no time to lose in a fire like this. This lives and livelihoods are at stake. One elderly woman died trying to flee the fire. The total cattle loss is being tallied. The land can't be grazed for one to two years and those who can't afford to feed their cows will have to sell them. 38 miles away, Naomi Loomis is considered a neighbor. While she was fighting fire at another ranch, flames swept through her yard. The Malloy kids showed up the next
- [34:36]
Carmen Malloy
morning and they're just so willing to help us put that fire out because that the wind did change and we did need their assistance for sure.
- [34:45]
Elizabeth Schenck
So the Loomises lost everything but their house and barn. Neighbors and friends are bringing semi loads of hay so they can feed their livestock.
- [34:53]
Carmen Malloy
They're just there because they love you. They love you because of Jesus and they know they, they want to help you. They've read the Bible, they know like you know, we're friends in Christ. So that is so uplifting about.
- [35:04]
Elizabeth Schenck
Over the weekend, locals raised funds for the volunteer fire departments. Today the fire is at 98% containment. Christine Malloy again.
- [35:13]
Carmen Malloy
I mean, it would have burned to Lincoln. If we would have waited, it would have gone clear to Kansas. It just would have kept going.
- [35:22]
Elizabeth Schenck
And while the smoke clears, another generation of tough Nebraska ranchers has been tested by fire and come out more confident in themselves, themselves and each other. Reporting for world, I'm Elizabeth Schenck.
- [35:55]
Onize Adua
Good morning.
- [35:56]
Lindsay Mast
This is the World and everything in it. From listener supported World Radio, I'm Lindsay Mast.
- [36:01]
Nick Iger
And I'm Nick Iger. The latest IRS data simply confirm what we have. All that upper income people are leaving high tax states and heading for lower tax states. Here is commentary from World's Cal Thomas.
- [36:18]
Cal Thomas
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has provided one of the clearest demonstrations in recent memory of what happens when political rhetoric collides with economic reality. Back in 2022, campaigning against Republicans, Hochul had this to say.
- [36:32]
Kathy Hochul
The era of Trump and Zeldin and Molinaro, just jump on a bus and head down to Florida where you belong. Okay, get out of town. Get out of town because you don't re. You don't represent our values. You are not New Yorkers.
- [36:49]
Cal Thomas
That was then. Here is Hochul. Last week.
- [36:52]
Kathy Hochul
I need people who are high net worth to support the generous social programs that we want to have in our state. Right now. There are some patriotic millionaires who stepped up. Okay, cut me the checks if you want to be supportive, but maybe the first step should be go down to Palm beach and see who you can bring back home because our tax base has been eroded.
- [37:16]
Cal Thomas
So this is how you woo people back. First, you tell them they do not represent your values and do not belong. Then when their departure begins to pinch the treasury, you demand they come back to resume paying the bills. I can't imagine that sales pitch succeeding with many people. Perhaps Albany should try something more realistic, learning to live on a tighter budget like everybody else. Even someone with a rudimentary understanding of economics should know that if you tax a business or individual beyond their level of tolerance, many will pack up and leave for a state with lower or no state taxes and a friendlier climate for success. One cannot escape the long arm of federal taxes. But at the state level, people have choices and many are making them. The latest IRS migration data highlighted by the group Unleash Prosperity show the pattern. Continuing income is still flowing out of high tax states and into states with lower taxes. California leads the list of states losing tax revenue to migration. New York is a close number two, followed by Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The destinations are familiar too. Florida, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Arizona. None of this should surprise anyone except politicians living in denial who cannot seem to help themselves when it comes to squeezing more money out of securities, successful individuals and businesses. The only surprise is they're saying the quiet part out loud. Come back and fund the welfare state. But that's precisely the point. For government to grow and spending to rise, somebody must pay. And if the people expected to pay decide they have paid enough and leave, that starves the tax and spending machine. This is not complicated. Incentives matter. People respond to them. Businesses and investors do too. Democrats in Washington state seem determined to learn the lesson the hard way. They've adopted a 9.9% state tax scheduled to take effect in 2028. That gives those affected ample time to study a map and call a realtor. As this is the centenary year of our 30th president, Calvin Coolidge, his words remain instructive. A government which requires of the people the contribution of the bulk of their substance and rewards cannot be classed as a free government or long remain as such. That may sound old fashioned in an age of ever expanding government, but it has the advantage of being true. A state may raise taxes, it may expand programs, it may even convince voters both are necessary. But it cannot insult productive citizens, drive them away and then plead for their return once the going gets tough. For World, I'm Cal Thomas.
- [40:03]
Lindsay Mast
Tomorrow, end of life chaplains prepare to respond as assisted suicide becomes more prevalent. We'll have a report. And members of a tight knit community cope with a soldier's death in Operation Epic Fury. That and more tomorrow. I'm Lindsay Mast.
- [40:19]
Nick Iger
And I'm Nick Icker. 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 he established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn. And arise and tell them to their children so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments. Verses 5 through 7 of Psalm 78. Go now in grace and peace.