Your News Talk America
Show Notes · September 22, 2026
9:00 AM ET · Hamas Controls Gaza's Media Narrative
A Gaza journalist who has met with New York Mayor Mamdani and picked up a Nobel Peace Prize nomination and a spot on the Time100 list has admitted he buried footage of Israeli hostages being beaten by a Palestinian mob on October 7, 2023, in order to protect the attackers.
- Photographer Motaz Azaiza revealed that all media in Gaza runs through a single WhatsApp group controlled by Hamas, and that the terror group targets any journalist who publishes criticism of it.
- Azaiza, one of the most recognized journalists working in Gaza, was in the territory on October 7 when Hamas marched hostages taken from Israel through the streets as crowds attacked them.
- Azaiza told the Taqarrab podcast he filmed the abuse but chose not to release it, telling the podcast, "I did not publish those videos."
- The world's picture of the war was shaped by coverage operating inside red lines set by Hamas, under threat of punishment for crossing them, a reality that too often got lost by the time Gaza's stories reached Western screens, fueling campus protests and unverified claims repeated as fact.
- Ever since its violent takeover after Gaza's 2007 civil war, Hamas has tightly controlled the narrative reaching the outside world to legitimize its rule and its framing of violence against Israel as "resistance."
- Panelist Joan Leslie McGill previews the U.N. General Assembly from an Israeli perspective.
Guest: Joan Leslie McGill, Executive Director, U.S.-Israel Education Association
Sources:
Gaza journalist who met with Mamdani admits he buried footage of Israeli hostages being beaten ·
Freed Israeli hostage reveals unthinkable horror during captivity ·
Netanyahu to sue Israeli newspaper over reports UAE warned him of Oct. 7 ·
NY Times Gaza war coverage was clearly biased against Israel, study finds ·
Journalist admits anti Israel narrative driving protests is based on Hamas lies
9:20 AM ET · The Gen Z Tax Cliff
More than two thirds of Generation Z thinks wealthy Americans should pay up, and economists are now asking whether national pessimism, not just economics, is what is stalling consumer confidence.
- A new CBS/YouGov poll released Sunday found that 69 percent of respondents under 30 favor candidates who support raising taxes on wealthy Americans, a higher rate than among millennials, Gen Xers and baby boomers, though majorities in older brackets also back higher taxes on the wealthy.
- What would California style wealth taxes do to America? Polling on California's Proposition 40, a one time 5 percent tax on the net worth of the state's 200 billionaires, shows voters split nearly down the middle.
- Does the economy stall when Americans are pessimistic about society? Goldman Sachs says the answer is yes, identifying a decline in happiness as a potential culprit behind sour consumer sentiment readings.
- The consumer sentiment index tracked by the University of Michigan hit record lows this year, falling 13 percent year over year in September, including an almost 8 percent drop from August alone.
- Economists have long questioned why sentiment has stayed depressed since the COVID pandemic even as the economy hummed along on paper. Goldman economist Joseph Briggs told clients this week the downward pressure may stem from broader pessimism in society.
Guest: Dr. Paul Mueller, Senior Research Fellow, American Institute for Economic Research
Sources:
Gen Z favors taxing the wealthy, new poll finds ·
CBS/YouGov poll (PDF) ·
Proposition 40 billionaire tax poll ·
Goldman Sachs on happiness and consumer sentiment ·
Consumer outlook plunges in September ·
Consumer sentiment hits fresh record low in May ·
CNBC Consumer Confidence ·
CNBC Economy
9:35 AM ET · Actions, Not Just Words, to Peace
There is no shortage of words on how to achieve peace in the Holy Land. There are words, and then there are deeds, such as the actual work of bringing peace about.
- The first step is understanding each other.
- The next step is working together toward greater understanding through Root and Branch.
Guest: Jonathan Feldstein, President, Genesis 1 2 3 Foundation
Sources:
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement ·
Root and Branch
10:00 AM ET · Xi's Visit and China's Shadow War
Xi Jinping visits the White House on Thursday, but China is attacking the United States in more ways than ever before.
- Asian affairs expert Gordon Chang told this program last week that China is preparing for war against the United States. Does Captain Murphy agree?
- How does the U.S. Navy actually compare with China's navy? China has more ships, but is that fleet anywhere near U.S. Navy capabilities?
- Will Xi carry messages back to Iran on President Trump's conditions for ending the war?
- Ships in the strait continue to come under attack. How is that happening, and who is responsible?
- Iran is allegedly preparing to strike U.S. targets while the U.K. commits air defenses to Saudi Arabia. Do they still have that capability?
- Syria is growing concerned over unidentified explosions near Aleppo, and Iranian airlines have been cut off from the global system.
Guest: Captain Morgan Murphy, USN (ret), former White House official and former Pentagon press secretary who served the nation for 26 years · morganwwmurphy.com
Sources:
China wiretapped Red Sea spy hub 6 miles from U.S. base, ex Pentagon official warns
10:30 AM ET · Austin ICE Shooting Fallout
Following Sunday's ICE involved shooting in Austin, Texas Rep. Greg Casar is calling for ICE to end its enforcement surge in the city, arguing that for Austin to be safe, ICE should end its surge there.
- Socialist and communist groups, including the Democratic Socialists of America and the Party for Socialism and Liberation, coordinated and promoted "spontaneous" anti ICE protests in Austin, mobilizing within hours of the shooting.
- Ammon Blair, a former Border Patrol agent, gives his assessment of what occurred in Austin over the weekend.
- Do these organized responses to ICE operations suggest coordinated training among these groups?
- How does an investigation into one officer's actions differ from broader opposition to immigration enforcement, and why is the FBI investigating?
- Audio from the incident indicates the suspect was shot immediately after the pursuit ended, while still in his car. What circumstances would lead an ICE agent to discharge a weapon in that moment?
- Does the American public understand that communist aligned groups, some funded by foreign sources, are working to slow the deportation of dangerous individuals in the country illegally?
- What do ICE and Border Patrol agents actually encounter in real world enforcement operations, and what are the public safety and border security consequences of severely restricting that enforcement?
- How does rhetoric framing immigration enforcement as a "war" affect agents, operations and communities, and how does Blair rate the job Tom Homan and Secretary Mullin have done so far?
Guest: Ammon Blair, Senior Fellow, Texas Public Policy Foundation, a 20 plus year U.S. Border Patrol veteran
Sources:
Socialist, communist groups coordinate, promote "spontaneous" anti ICE protests in Austin
11:00 AM ET · Xi and the Long War Against Communism
Xi Jinping arrives in Washington this week for his first White House visit in more than a decade, complete with a state dinner, military honors and high stakes negotiations over trade, artificial intelligence and rare earth minerals. Amid the diplomatic pageantry, is Washington forgetting whom it is dealing with?
- Dr. Bradley Thayer warns that Xi is not merely the leader of an economic competitor, but the head of a Marxist Leninist regime engaged in a long term ideological, economic and strategic campaign against the United States.
- Why should Xi's visit be understood as a meeting with the leader of America's foremost communist adversary?
- How does Beijing use diplomacy and economic engagement to buy time and strategic advantage?
- Why are AI, rare earth minerals and American technology now central fronts in the conflict?
- Can Washington negotiate with Xi without underestimating the Chinese Communist Party's ideology?
- What must America do to win what Thayer calls its century long war against communism?
Guest: Dr. Bradley A. Thayer, Ph.D., author of America's 100 Years' War: How to Win Against Communism
11:30 AM ET · Massachusetts Targets the Lone Juror
Is the lone holdout juror in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial facing more legal scrutiny than Clancy herself?
- The lone holdout juror in the Lindsay Clancy trial is reportedly facing death threats, harassment and strangers appearing at his home after refusing to join the other 11 jurors in finding Clancy not criminally responsible for strangling her three young children.
- Michael Desronvil maintains that the physical evidence and witness testimony convinced him Clancy knew what she was doing. His refusal to abandon that conclusion resulted in a mistrial, and after his identity became public, brought intense scrutiny of his politics, religion and personal history. His attorney says he has since been moved to a secure, undisclosed location.
- Edward Bartlett says the controversy raises a far larger question: can Americans still serve on a jury and vote their conscience without fearing public exposure, professional ruin or physical threats?
- Was this trial's outcome predetermined? If so, that could explain why the lone juror is now a target.
Guest: Edward E. Bartlett, President, DAVIA: Domestic Abuse and Violence International Alliance, a coalition of 235 organizations across 44 countries working to promote fairness, due process and equal treatment under the law
11:50 AM ET · Salute the Troops
Today's show honors SFC Dustin B. Ard.
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