Sekulow

Logan Sekulow: On today's show, we're covering the report where President Trump used a decoy plane to escape the Iranian terror plot. Keeping you informed and engaged now more than ever, this is Sekulow. We want to hear from you. Share and post your comments or call 1-800-684-3110. And now your host, Logan Sekulow. Welcome to Sekulow. Phone lines are open for you at 1-800-684-3110. We've got a major update and a packed show. Will is in the studio. CeCe Heil, our Senior Attorney, will be joining us a little bit later. Jeff Ballabon from ACLJ Jerusalem will also be joining us. We have a packed show, but I still want to hear from you. We're going to be talking about what happened in Massachusetts. Don't worry if you heard about the new abortion laws that have come into play—really horrible stuff. We'll discuss that later. We wanted to open the show talking about President Trump. You may remember a few weeks ago, there was confusion when they were leaving the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey. They changed planes at the last second. They were on the new Air Force One, then the old Air Force One. The press mentioned they were asked to lower the windows. They asked President Trump about it, and he said he didn't ask them to do it, but the threat was there. Come to find out, according to these reports, President Trump was not on that plane. They used a decoy system to get him onto a much smaller plane. He entered the plane like normal, and then reports are that he was escorted out using a catering truck and taken to a smaller plane for the first leg of their journey. You can see the video of it happening in real time. I don't love reporting on this because it shows some of the secrets of how we have to live in society right now, but it's become major news. I actually think the administration probably wanted this out there so people understand the real threats that were going on during this time. That opens up another conversation about what the press were doing on that plane, which we can discuss moving forward. The threat from Iran was so strong they felt this was a necessary secretive move.
Will: This could happen all the time. We don't know how often it happens or if it's fairly regular with the president. This is the first time in recent history it's been made known. In theory, Air Force One is traditionally the safest place for the president because of all the anti-missile and anti-nuclear defense systems in place. Part of the story was why they switched back to the old one so that established technology was in service. When they did this, they took him up the normal steps so the press saw it. Anyone watching saw him go onto Air Force One. He then went out the back into the catering truck with the elevator lift. It lowered and drove to the other plane, which was an Air Force C-32A, a smaller version but still with the same light blue livery. No one was aware of this. Later, when President Trump had a gaggle with reporters about switching planes, he made it seem as though he had been on that plane with them.
Logan Sekulow: The press is not happy about this, understandably. There is a moral gray area here. It wasn't as if they switched planes, he took a secret flight, and then they announced he was out of here while Air Force One continued. The people on Air Force One were a decoy if there were to be a plot against the plane. They were fully expecting President Trump was on the plane with them. Is it their business? I don't know. There's some moral gray area, but the job of the Secret Service is to protect the president at all costs.
Guest (Male): Do you even realize the impact you make? Choosing freedom or oppression, justice or corruption, faith or godlessness, life or death? One factor can make the difference, and what is it? You. As an ACLJ supporter, you have great power. You make a tremendous impact. This month, you can double that impact. Right now, your most sacred rights as an American—your freedom of speech, your freedom to pray and worship, even our free and fair election process—are being threatened. As part of our ACLJ Impact Match, you can double your support. Go to aclj.org/impact and have your tax-deductible gift doubled dollar for dollar, doubling your impact to defend faith, freedom, and innocent life. Your impact is powerful, but the time is short.
Guest (Male): We've witnessed monumental legal victories from defending the 14th Amendment and protecting our sacred American right to vote, to the overturning of Roe v. Wade and standing up for the religious liberty of our kids and seniors. But even with the many historic wins we've achieved, the battle is far from over. The attacks on our constitutionally protected rights persist. Countless unborn babies remain in jeopardy, and across the globe, innocent Christians are being targeted and killed. This fight isn't just the ACLJ's; it's all of ours. It belongs to every American who wants to preserve the values and beliefs on which this nation was founded. None of the victories we've won would have been possible without the unwavering support of ACLJ members. Join us in fighting for freedom. Have your donation doubled at aclj.org/freedom.
Logan Sekulow: Phone lines are lighting up. We have a bunch of guests today, so I want to make sure we have time to take some of your calls at 1-800-684-3110. CeCe Heil joins us in the next segment. Jeff Ballabon from ACLJ Jerusalem will also be joining us. We're talking about the Governor of Massachusetts signing new laws removing all restrictions on abortion essentially until the day of birth. We're going to discuss what that looks like and what we can do. Our fight has been in Massachusetts for years. We know there are a lot of great people there who support our work at the ACLJ, and they must feel a little defeated when this happens in their state. We're leading today with the conversation about President Trump using the decoy plane to get out of a serious threat from Iran. We took out their leadership, so all bets are off in terms of their support. This highlights that the threats were so severe they were willing to move the president in a catering truck.
Will: The press is obviously not happy they were used almost as pawns in an escape plan. Some people say they signed up for this. They know that traveling with the president involves a sense of danger and risk. Many members of the press corps traveled to war zones in Afghanistan or Iraq on board Air Force One with the president, sometimes in surprise visits. In this case, the press is naturally going to be displeased. It's a little different than signing up to fly with the president versus signing up to run interference for him. He got on the plane, talked to them, then left the plane and got on the other flight from England back to the United States. He was even saying he was their number one target and that if they took him out, they would take the press out as well. In this case, that wasn't true.
Logan Sekulow: We've created "Know Your Rights Week" specifically because there are moments like this where you want to make sure you understand where the Constitution protects you. We are highlighting those rights guaranteed to you by the Constitution. Unfortunately, many Americans are busy and may not realize when their rights are being violated. That's where our legal work in the courtroom and our education efforts have a massive impact. As a supporter of the ACLJ, you have helped millions of people understand their rights. I encourage you to go to aclj.org/act. Your gifts are all doubled today and throughout the week. It helps us continue our vital work. Everything we produce is absolutely free with no paywalls. Visit aclj.org to have your constitutional answers right there. Help us keep you and people of faith informed to help them defend their rights.
Will: This has been at the core of the ACLJ for the last 40 years. It started with things like the right to express yourself in front of an abortion clinic on a public sidewalk or the right to carry your Bible into a public school. These are things that are settled law in so many ways, yet these battles still keep rising up. The ACLJ is always there to help, but it's also important to remind people of their rights and to equip and educate them. Sometimes just the confidence of knowing your rights is enough. But we are also here as the ACLJ if you need help with that at aclj.org/help. We are rolling out videos throughout this week to show you the way you can stand confidently in knowing your rights.
Logan Sekulow: I encourage you to support the work of the ACLJ at any level. Most of our revenue comes from people who give $15, $25, or $75, maybe once a year. We celebrate that. If you can give monthly as an ACLJ Champion, we appreciate that so much. There are no levels of champions; whether it's $5 a month or $500 a month, a champion is someone saying they are dedicated to the ACLJ. In the next segment, we're going to talk about what happened in Massachusetts. If you've been involved in the pro-life fight for many years, there are moments that are heartbreaking and feel like a major step back. You would think as technology moves forward, it would create more restrictions on what we consider life. Then you have a state like Massachusetts, which has been at the center of all this. We ran an ad campaign there for the pro-life pregnancy resource centers that were being targeted. I saw the people and met with them. There's an amazing pro-life community there. At this point, you have Governor Healey signing into law the end of any sort of gestational limits on abortions. Up until the moment of birth, you can make that decision with your doctor. They hide it behind phrases like "medical emergency." We all understand if there are rare situations where something like this has to happen, but that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about a voluntary, legally allowed destruction of a human being up until the day of birth. They were at 24 weeks before this, so it's not like they had a three-month restriction like some other states.
CeCe Heil: It's very disingenuous. Governor Healey said she heard heartbreaking stories from women who were preparing to welcome a healthy baby only to receive devastating news later in their pregnancy. She said they were forced to travel hundreds of miles and pay out of pocket. That sounds sad, but it's a complete falsehood. The former law allowed abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy if the physician used their best medical judgment to preserve the life or physical or mental health of the patient, or because of a lethal fetal anomaly. That is already very broad. But she says they knew and trusted their doctor at home. Well, that doctor at home is making the decision. Now they've removed that and changed "best medical judgment" to "professional judgment." I would argue that's taking an informed decision based on clinical evidence and moving it to an ethical obligation and patient autonomy. This change is very drastic. You can have an abortion up until the time of birth for any reason whatsoever.
Will: This puts Massachusetts on a list with China and Vietnam for having no restrictions on abortion globally. They've joined this club of people who want no restriction in law. For people who don't know, Massachusetts, Alaska, Colorado, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and the District of Columbia are on this list. The biggest problem I have is the reality of what it is. They ran an entire ad campaign using taxpayer money to say "don't go to fake clinics." They called pregnancy resource centers fake and said they lied and were deceptive in their advertising. We've already filed our appeal in that case. The title of the bill she signed was "Prioritizing Patient Access to Care Act." Who is using fraudulent language here? It should be the "Abortion on Demand Without Restriction Until Birth Act."
CeCe Heil: There is definitely nothing that is "patient care" about killing a baby. We've called the pro-abortion lobbyists out on this all the time. They spin and spin. They don't want to call abortion what it is, which is literally taking the life of a child. You cannot argue that.
Will: It's discriminatory as well. They say they may find out something later in the pregnancy and want to kill the baby because of it—like a birth defect or Down Syndrome. We know that is happening across the country. They want to make sure you and your doctor can discriminate before a child is ever born. As soon as they're born, there's federal law protecting those individuals from discrimination, so they're trying to kill the baby before they're born.
Logan Sekulow: There are states trying to be able to kill a baby even after it's born. We still have a lot to break down. We have a second half hour coming up. Know Your Rights Week is part of our Impact Match. Have your donation doubled at aclj.org.