Good morning. Churches rethink security after protests inside City's church in St. Paul. It became from theoretical to reality, not what if this happens, but when this is going to happen. That's ahead. Also, investigating claims that pro-life laws endanger the lives of pregnant women and changing course for someone on the path to violence. I wanted to make them deal with the fact that I was the monster that I knew that I was. And World Opinions Editor Albert Moeller on the need for dignity in the White House. It's Tuesday, February 10th. This is The World and Everything In It from listener-supported World Radio. I'm Mary Reichert. And I'm Erna Brown. Good morning. Up next, Kent Covington has today's news. Israel is willing to do whatever it takes to stop Iran's ballistic missile program, and that reportedly includes military strikes against Iran even if they have to go it alone. That's according to a report from the Jerusalem Post citing unnamed defense officials who call Iran's missile program a threat to Israel's very existence. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will press President Trump about that during a meeting tomorrow in Washington. The huge amounts of long-range ballistic missiles that the Iranian regime seeks to produce. He said that has to be curbed. This comes as the United States and Iran have been holding talks in Oman over Tehran's nuclear ambitions. President Trump has threatened military action if Iran refuses to cooperate. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday marked one year of his Make America Healthy Again initiative, speaking at the offices of the Heritage Foundation. And we need to change what we're feeding these children or we're going to lose our country. World's Harrison Waters has more now from Washington. Kennedy told attendees that health policy has come a long way in the last year through changing FDA rules for food dyes and pushing drug companies to lower their prices in the U.S. For parents, Kennedy said raising healthy children first requires making informed decisions, with a healthy dose of skepticism. Trusting the experts is not a feature of democracy and it's not a feature of science. It's a feature of religion and totalitarianism. Near the top of Kennedy's agenda for this year, requiring hospitals to publish prices for medical procedures so patients can shop around before scheduling an operation. Reporting for World, I'm Harrison Waters in Washington. Ghislaine Maxwell refused to answer questions from House investigators during a deposition Monday related to Jeffrey Epstein. She repeatedly pleaded the fifth, invoking her right against self-incrimination. Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer. Her attorney said that she would answer questions if she were granted clemency. Maxwell is serving a 20-year federal sentence for sex trafficking on Epstein's behalf. But Congressman Andy Biggs and her lawyer did provide some information regarding President Trump and former President Bill Clinton. The attorney for Ms. Maxwell said that she has no indication and would say that neither Presidents Trump or Clinton are culpable for any wrongdoing. Her attorney said Maxwell could testify to that if granted clemency, but lawmakers from both parties quickly rejected that idea, as has the White House. Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are scheduled to answer questions later this month, and depositions related to Epstein neither are accused of any wrongdoing. Meantime, in the UK, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is caught up in the Epstein scandal and is now fighting for his job. That is not due to any misconduct allegations against Starmer, who never met Epstein. But two years ago, he appointed Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington, despite his known ties to the late sex offender. The leader of Britain's Reform UK party, Nigel Farage, predicted this ordeal will cost Starmer his job. Its depth, the numbers of people it involves, the sheer level of corruption, is probably the biggest political scandal we've seen for 100 years. and it's not as if the PM wasn't warned. Everyone knew. And some lawmakers in Starmer's own Labour Party have called on him to resign for appointing Mandelson to the post. Starmer has apologized, saying he was wrong to believe Mandelson's denials and has vowed to stay on as prime minister. There is global outcry today over the sentencing of former Hong Kong pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai. A court handed the 78-year-old Lye a 20-year sentence, drawing condemnation from Democratic governments everywhere. The United States called Lye's sentence unjust and tragic, and the United Nations and EU have called it a monumental injustice. Jimmy Lye's son, Sebastian Lye, said he had hoped the government would consider his father's age and health. His life is at threat. He lost 10 kilos over the last year alone. He's got heart issues now. He's got diabetes. We're incredibly worried about his life. Jimmy was convicted of supposed conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and conspiring with others to publish seditious articles critical of the government. He was charged under a so-called national security law, which Beijing imposed on Hong Kong, which has been used to silence dissent. Jonathan Price, an attorney for Jimmy Lai's family, says this sends a clear message. that political dissent, even moderate and peaceful campaigning for greater democracy in Hong Kong will not be tolerated. Authorities in China and Hong Kong defended the court's decision, saying it reflects the spirit of the rule of law. In Venezuela, less than 12 hours after the government released a close ally of the nation's opposition leader, the country's top prosecutor ordered his arrest. World's Benjamin Eicher reports. Juan Pablo Guanipa was among numerous prisoners set free as part of a move to release detainees who are facing politically motivated accusations. The government there is under heavy pressure from the United States to implement reforms. The attorney general's office claims Guanipa violated court-imposed conditions, but did not specify which ones. Opposition leader Maria Karina Machado says that shortly after his release, Guanipa was taken by armed men in Caracas, the country's capital. Ramon Guanipa said his father did not violate the two conditions of his release, monthly check-ins with the court and no travel outside of Venezuela. And he showed reporters the court document listing them. For World, I'm Benjamin Eicher. And I'm Kent Covington. Still ahead, churches are rethinking security after aggressive anti-ice protests in Minnesota, and later investigating claims that pro-life laws endanger the lives of pregnant women. This is The World and Everything in It. It's Tuesday, the 10th of February. Glad to have you along for today's edition of The World and everything in it. Good morning. I'm Mary Reichert. And I'm Erna Brown. First up, saving them both. After the Dobbs decision returned abortion laws to the states, abortion advocates say that pro-life laws could restrict critical care for pregnant women. While treating a pregnant mother can be more complicated, pro-life doctors argue that no woman should have to choose between her own life and the life of her unborn child. World's Lauren Canterbury has the story. Tammy Hansen's doctor called to deliver devastating news, that she had a brain tumor. The Florida mother of three was celebrating her 39th birthday and had a large growth on the nerve leading from her ear to her brain. That's rare in patients as young as Hansen. And when she was diagnosed in 2001, surgeons had only removed them successfully a handful of times Hansen and her husband sought specialists right away As we were looking for you know options and doctors and things I turned out pregnant At the time, Roe v. Wade was the law of the land, and Hansen's doctors did not want to delay surgery. The doctor looked at me and said, you really need to have an abortion. We need to take care of you. Because my husband and I totally agreed now. We believe in the sanctity of life. And if this is what God has for us and something happens to me, you know, God knows. And we're just going to trust him through this whole thing. Doctors agreed to wait until after Hansen delivered her baby girl to operate. Three months after giving birth to her healthy daughter, Hansen went in for surgery. Doctors removed the tumor. Recovery took years. But today, she has four adult children, all Christians. The journey has not been easy for me, but it's been well worth it. Tens of thousands of women in the United States experience high-risk pregnancies each year. While both sides agree women need better maternity care, abortion advocates argue that ending a pregnancy must sometimes be an option. Pro-life physicians reject that framing. They say high-risk cases highlight the importance of continuous, attentive prenatal care. They also say that delivering a baby early should always be the last resort, and that it is not the same as an intentional abortion. Last month, ProPublica published a report blaming a woman's death on her state's protective pro-life law. Dr. Gary Ott is a pro-life cardiovascular surgeon. They set up a false argument in that, oh, if we only had abortion, this wouldn't have happened. The year was 2023, and the state was North Carolina. C.G. Graham sought treatment for an irregular heartbeat, atrial fibrillation. She expected the doctor to perform a procedure she had undergone previously called cardioversion. But while there, she learned she was unexpectedly pregnant. We see increasing incidences of atrial fibrillation in pregnancy, and it's treated well with this. Graham was sent home and told to follow up with other doctors. Ott finds that surprising. There would have to be a good reason why you're not doing it. And if you're not doing it, you wouldn't send her home. The next day, another cardiologist sent Graham home with blood thinners and scheduled the procedure for weeks later. The report says Graham believed ending her pregnancy was the only way to receive prompt treatment. She scheduled an abortion but died at home before either appointment. While atrial fibrillation usually doesn't cause death, it can lead to serious complications. Doctors who spoke with World and ProPublica agreed Graham did not receive care consistent with standard treatment for pregnant women. But pro-life doctors disagree that abortion was her only option. It's a false dichotomy. It's making a choice between two extremes that don't have to exist in that because the obvious right thing to do here was to treat the mom properly and mother and baby would both be healthy. When a pregnant woman is diagnosed with a serious medical condition, an OB-GYN will typically oversee her care. Dr. Ingrid Skopp is an OB-GYN in Texas and the vice president and director of medical affairs for the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute. Often we will have a multidisciplinary conference to bring in the experts to discuss treatment options. It is not clear if Graham ever visited an OB-GYN. Skopp said in rare cases, doctors may recommend delivering a baby early to protect the mother, but those decisions usually come after hospital admission and close monitoring. If an emergency threatens my patient's life after the time of viability, then my job is to separate the child from the mother. Ending the pregnancy will help the mother to begin to recover from this complication. And I can hand that baby to the NICU team and say, please try to save his life. While pro-life laws explicitly protect these decisions, Skop said some doctors still do not have clear guidance or assurance from medical boards. No doctor has ever been sued for delivering a baby early to save a pregnant woman's life, but many have been sued over claims that they denied or delayed care due to pro-life laws. No state requires that risk to be immediate, nor does any state require a doctor to be certain that she will die. Ultimately, pro-life doctors agree that women should receive the critical care they need, but not at the cost of intentionally killing an unborn baby. Dr. Gary Ott has occasionally had to tell parents that delivering their baby is truly the only way to save the mother's life, even before that baby could reasonably survive. His most recent case involved a mother who developed a hernia and could not breathe at about 20 weeks pregnant. She desperately wanted to keep the baby, but there was no way to do it. Doctors performed a C-section and gave the baby to the father while Ott fixed the mother's hernia. He held it till the baby stopped breathing. And I can tell you there wasn't a dry eye in the room. There was no way you could go through that and not think that that baby meant something. Prompt medical care is vital to protect pregnant mothers. But pro-life doctors argue it should never default to deliberately ending a child's life. Reporting for World, I'm Lauren Canterbury. Coming up next on The World and Everything in It, church safety in tense times. In January, protesters shut down the Sunday morning service at Cities Church in Minnesota. Video of the protests has prompted some churches to re-examine their safety plans. World reporter Emma Frayer has the story. On a Saturday morning last fall, a church congregation in Maryland gathered for a long-scheduled security training. Lockdown. Lockdown. A volunteer posed as an intruder while the congregation practiced what it would be like awaiting law enforcement. Red lights flashed for a lockdown. This is how the system works. Lockdown. If an intruder got in, the congregation was instructed to run. You got to move fast. You got to go as quick as possible. But you got to be low. And you want to get far away from here. You want to keep your eyes up. Or fight. You have to fight far and dirty. You don't stop because of threat. That's stop. Use every the entrance of souls, including fighters, hinders, canes. Fight them if you have to. World agreed not to name the church for security reasons. Its training occurred prior to the January 18th invasion of Cities Church in St. Paul. That incident has raised new security concerns around the country. And that changed a lot of conversation for the churches. That's Zach Baker, who helps run a private security firm in Oregon. Where are you? Baker says the Cities Church incident broadened the scope of scenarios churches may need to consider. One thing that definitely happened was it became from theoretical to reality, not what if this happens, but when this is going to happen. Security measures pose a special challenge for churches because they aim to be warm and inviting while at the same time keeping everyone safe. Baker says a church's budget is a big factor and what churches spend on security can vary widely. Baker says the lowest cost option is simply to monitor who is coming and going. Generally, churches are pretty tight-knit communities, so you probably know everybody that's supposed to be in there, but also providing some sort of reactive time. If they're posted outside where they could see something like a mob coming to the church, they could put that security plan in place to lock down the facilities, which could be as minimal as just locking the doors. Surveillance cameras also help, and Baker says there are reasons to consider hiring a guard. You're having somebody designated that's not going to be distracted by services or relationships inside the church that can be really dedicated to those eyes and ears for the facilities But he acknowledges many churches won have the budget If you were to ask somebody there eight hours a day seven days a week you looking at probably a annual bill Westminster Presbyterian Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, put security in place 15 years ago. Associate Pastor Tucker York. I think with just a growing awareness of churches are soft targets, there's increasing publicity of church attacks, a growing awareness of threats, dangers to children, gathering of people. So we formed a safety team. That was about it for a decade. Now, surveillance cameras monitor inside and outside, and the safety team follows stricter policies. Sunny morning, two services, sunny school, usually three safety team volunteers, one observing the security cameras, the other two on patrol, engaging doorways, entrances, hallways, the parking lot. The church provides training. They train two or three times a year and go through various incidents, disruptive person, active assailant, medical emergency, fire, escape, And they come up with scenarios. Westminster Presbyterian has a don't ask, don't tell policy when it comes to members carrying concealed weapons at church. Baker supports that idea, but has one warning. I think it's something where you'd want to verify the training of those members, making sure that it's not just somebody on a whim decided to go get a concealed handgun without any training. York says the congregation has never seen political protesters at the church property. But there's a plan should it happen. They would be asked to leave, and if there was resistance, we would call the police and cite them for trespassing and do what we can to mitigate, keep them from interrupting service. We would not tolerate an active protest on our property or inside our facilities. Baker, the security expert, says the city's church incident may have churchgoers concerned. But? There's always a silver lining in that, which is hopefully action and creating those defensive measures within a church that will then give people a newfound peace of mind. Reporting for World, I'm Emma Frere. Additional support comes from the Joshua Program at St. Dunstan's Academy in the Blue Ridge Mountains, work, prayer, and adventure for young men. stdunstansacademy.org From Water's Edge, competitive rates and supporting churches. 4.55% APY on a 13-month term investment. watersedge.com slash invest. And from the Masters University, equipping students for lives of faithfulness to the Master Jesus Christ. Christ. Masters.edu. Jackson Hayes of the L.A. Lakers is hoping to dominate the slam dunk competition at the NBA All-Star Game this weekend. No doubt that'll be more fun than getting dunked on on social media. Video showed the seven-foot Hayes dipping a shoulder into the Washington Wizards mascot, G-Wiz, sending him flying. The NBA suspended Hayes one game for roughing up the lovable character. But Hayes blames Wiz for stepping on his foot. Might have lost it, should have handled it a different way. And, you know, we live and we learn. Yeah, a $20,000 lesson learned. Obviously, apologize to the team and to the mascot. Yeah, and speaking of G-Wiz the mascot, he made the next game, waving flags, firing T-shirts into the crowd, and proving video replay is always right. Gotta behave. It's the world and everything in it. Today is Tuesday, February 10th. Thank you for turning to World Radio to help start your day. Good morning. I'm Mary Reichard. And I'm Myrna Brown. Coming next on The World and Everything in It, stopping mass violence before it starts. Now, before we go further, a warning for parents. This story is not suitable for young children, so we'll give you a second to pause or fast forward. Mass violence dominates political debates, as incidents have climbed steadily over the past decade. Lawmakers argue over solutions from gun control to expanded mental health care. But the solution may be closer to home. World's Mary Muncy talked to a man who plotted a mass attack and how ordinary people helped to change his heart. Aaron Stark's very first memory is trying to keep his father from killing his mother with a tire iron. He stalked us and chased us from state to state. That chapter ended when Stark's mom left his biological dad and married a cocaine addict. And it went from Stephen King, epic level violence, to crack cocaine and crime, where my stepdad was a criminal. So they kept moving every few months, trying to keep his stepfather ahead of the law. By the time he graduated, Stark had been enrolled in 40 different high schools. I was dirty, smelly, fat. I was the kid that when the kids get picked on, they came to pick on me to make themselves feel better. In his teens, he developed severe depression and started self-harming. The family started sticking closer to the Denver area. Stark developed a group of friends like him, boys with trauma in their past making increasingly violent plans for the future. His family bounced between a few different neighborhoods. One had a kid named Mike Stacy. He had a totally opposite life than I had. A big house, two stable parents. Stark would sleep on Stacy's couch for a few days or a week at a time. If I'm standing up off his couch, his mom's cleaning the stain that I'm leaving. So he became my home base. So anytime I was in Denver, I knew I had someplace to stay. Other times, he slept in a ditch behind a restaurant. One day, when he was 16, he woke up in the snow, feeling like he was going to freeze to death. That pushed him into a mental health office, where they turned him away. And when I stepped out of that porch, that's where I felt my brain snap like a mirror. The plans crystallized in his head. I knew that I wanted to cause a mass attack to kill as many people as I possibly could, to scream out so someone would finally see me. He'd already worked out the details with his friends. He would fire on his school or the mall because both of those places had uniformed officers on duty. I was going to die by suicide by cop. But neither the school nor the mall were his real targets. My target were my parents. I wanted to make my parents deal with the fact that I existed. I wanted to make them deal with the fact that I was the monster that I knew that I was and they made me and I wanted them to deal with the fact that I was really me. Some boys at school told Stark that they could get him a gun in three days, in exchange for some weed. Then Stark started saying goodbye. Stark's story isn't unique. James Densley worked on the Violence Project, which studied mass shootings over the last 60 years. That project revealed a pattern in the violence. It's often rooted in an early childhood trauma that is unresolved, that then over time festers into a grievance and then an existential crisis for the individual. Densley says most people with unresolved childhood trauma never commit an act of violence, and it hard to pinpoint exactly what separates them from those who do He says a lot of the time it comes down to whether they had access to a weapon during their crisis From the outside, a crisis looks like a time-limited change in baseline behavior. So as long as you know what the baseline behaviors are, you can notice the change. And when you see the change, you can then reach out and do something about it. He says violence prevention is a team sport. Coworkers, parents, peers, teachers and police officers all working together to see their community. And Densley thinks those people's work is why shootings are still mathematically rare. It always seemed to be very simple things that got people off of the pathway to violence. That it was the right person saying the right thing at the right time, that all of a sudden they decided life was still worth living. For Stark, it was what he thought would be one last trip to Stacey's house. He knocked on the door in tears. Stacey didn't ask any questions. They just played video games, ate snacks, and watched movies. Stark stayed for a week. He never went to pick up the gun. I was able to be a regular human again for a little bit. Just enough of a shift of my perspective to let me remember that I was a human and that I could exist. His life didn't change. He still struggled with depression and suicidal ideation. But eventually, he separated himself from his family, got a job, and got married. But no one, not even Stacey, knew how close he was to mass violence in his teens. I always thought, if anybody ever found this really out about me, they would hate me. But about 10 years ago, after a school shooting in Colorado, Stark started to share his story. My wife only knew about 60% of my history. My daughter only knew about 20% of my history. They didn't know any of this. He started traveling and speaking at schools and conferences. Now he has four kids and still lives in Colorado. Stacey lives down the road, and Stark's kids treat him like a second father. If you ask Stacey, he would say he wasn't doing anything spectacular. He was just doing what friends are supposed to do. And Stark says that's exactly what he needed. You never know what little tiny acts of kindness that you can do that can change someone's entire life. Reporting for World, I'm Mary Muncy. Good morning. This is The World and Everything In It. From listener-supported World Radio, I'm Myrna Brown. And I'm Mary Reichard. An offensive image of former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama appeared on President Trump's social media account last week. And when it did, it set off a wave of backlash from Republicans and Democrats alike. World Opinions commentator Albert Moeller offers a broader reflection on power, dignity, and why the presidency cannot afford further erosion of moral authority. Walter Badgett, the great 19th century analyst of the British Constitution, argued that every successful political system contains two essential parts, the efficient and the dignified. The efficient part governs, it legislates, it establishes policy, it argues, it gets things done, often loudly and inelegantly. The dignified part does something else entirely. It embodies authority, it models restraint, it supplies the moral gravitas without which the social order cannot last. In Britain, parliament represents the efficient part of government. The monarchy supplies the dignified part. That arrangement only works if the dignity is real. I had the rare privilege years ago of watching Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at work in Parliament. Her wit and eloquence, her utter command made every debate an event. She could be elegant, but she was devastatingly efficient. Sometimes efficiency sounded like this. The gap between the richest 10% and the poorest 10% in this country has widened substantially. How can she justify many people in a constituency such as mine being relatively much poorer? That is not a record that any prime minister can be proud of. Mr. Speaker, all levels of income are better off. What the honourable member is saying is that he would rather the poor were poorer, provided the rich were less rich. That is the liberal policy. I think I must have hit the right nail on the head when I pointed out that the logic of those policies are they'd rather have the poor poorer. You do not create wealth and opportunity that way. You do not create a poverty-owning democracy that way. So Margaret Thatcher understood efficiency. The dignified part of the system belonged to the monarch. And Queen Elizabeth II, in her time, understood that role with extraordinary seriousness. As a young woman, before she ever wore the crown, she made a vow, one that defined her entire reign. I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and to the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong. And she meant it, and she supplied the dignified part of Britain's constitutional order. For 70 years, she lived it and bore it all with nearly unbreakable serenity and grace. She understood that the monarchy would be fatally wounded if it lacked dignity. British history proves the point. When King Edward VIII surrendered dignity to desire, the crown nearly paid the price. And recent royal scandals only reinforced the lesson monarchy cannot survive without moral seriousness. Dignity. That brings us home to the United States, where President Donald Trump seems not to care that the presidency in our constitutional order unites both the dignified and the efficient. The presidency and individual presidents cannot lead for long without moral authority. And moral authority, well, it depends upon dignity. We now know that many presidents committed scandalous and immoral acts, even in the White House. I will not attempt a comprehensive list. Dignity, though, once broken, does not easily return. The circulation of racist images of former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama. In a recent video posted on True Social, it's the latest evidence of a White House losing dignity. I am thankful for much of what President Trump has accomplished, and I want him to succeed in reaching his stated aims. But this is precisely why this must be said. Mr. President, does it not trouble you to know that undermining your own dignity simultaneously undermines your authority, Even your efficiency. Your most ardent supporters recognize that those images drawing on grotesque racial tropes were a profound mistake, no matter how they came to be posted. Efficiency in the White House cannot long survive the loss of dignity. Those of us who want this president to govern successfully must be the very ones who call on him to recover the dignified part of leadership. And Mr. President, please do it fast. For World, I'm Albert Mueller. Tomorrow, Hunter Baker is back for Washington Wednesday, and creative thieves force changes in museum security. That and more tomorrow. I'm Myrna Brown. And I'm Mary Reichard. 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 whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life, but he who rejects reproof leads others astray. Verse 17 of Proverbs chapter 10. Go now in grace and peace. Thank you.
