Latest / The Ben Ferguson Podcast / A 47 Morning Update Memorial to Charlie Kirk

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A 47 Morning Update Memorial to Charlie Kirk · The Ben Ferguson Podcast

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: My husband, Charlie. He wanted to save young men just
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: like the one who took his life. Young man on
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: the cross. Our Savior said, Father, forgive them, for they
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: not know what they do.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: Man, forgive me.
• 0:22
  Speaker 3: This is a forty seven Morning Update special edition with
• 0:25
  Speaker 3: Ben ferguson.
• 0:26
  Speaker 4: Good Monday morning. It is nice to have you with
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  Speaker 4: us on the forty seven Morning Update, and this morning
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  Speaker 4: is going to be a little different than normal. I
• 0:34
  Speaker 4: have just gotten back from Charlie Kirk's memorial service. I
• 0:38
  Speaker 4: went with Senator Cruz and was there to be a
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  Speaker 4: part of it. I was also there to talk about
• 0:44
  Speaker 4: Charlie Kirk's legacy on Fox News Channel. Many of you
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  Speaker 4: may have seen those multiple appearances on Fox before the funeral,
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  Speaker 4: and I just wanted to take you guys there so
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  Speaker 4: that you know what happened, what we saw, what we witnessed.
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  Speaker 4: I think it's going to go down in history as
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  Speaker 4: one of the most important days for spreading the gospel
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  Speaker 4: that has nothing to do with politics. I think it's
• 1:09
  Speaker 4: going to go down in history as one of the
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  Speaker 4: most incredible days for what Charlie Cook believed in, what
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  Speaker 4: he wanted for this country and people that are going
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  Speaker 4: to have their lives forever change because the words that
• 1:23
  Speaker 4: were spoken at his memorial service. The entire political world
• 1:28
  Speaker 4: was there, but I can tell you what was really
• 1:30
  Speaker 4: there was the Holy Spirit. What I can tell you
• 1:33
  Speaker 4: was really there was an incredible amount of love and
• 1:37
  Speaker 4: people that were coming together to worship. So we're going
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  Speaker 4: to have a little different show this morning than normal,
• 1:44
  Speaker 4: but I want you to hear Sinata Cruz and I
• 1:46
  Speaker 4: reflect on on a day where both of us. So
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  Speaker 4: with that, it's the forty seven Morning Update and it
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  Speaker 4: starts right now. Today was I think maybe one of
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  Speaker 4: the most incredible things I've ever witnessed in my life.
• 2:01
  Speaker 4: And I'm saying that going to memorial service. But Centata,
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  Speaker 4: I think you probably feel the exact same way that
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  Speaker 4: I do that this was a day where I feel blessed.
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  Speaker 4: I feel honored that we were able to be there
• 2:12
  Speaker 4: to be a part of it. I feel like I
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  Speaker 4: am watching a revival take place that is so much
• 2:18
  Speaker 4: bigger than politics, and I think what we've witnessed today
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  Speaker 4: was the start of something that could transform this country.
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  Speaker 4: They're now saying over a hundred million was the number
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  Speaker 4: of streams coming out of this event, and well, over
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  Speaker 4: two hundred thousand people showed up, the majority of them
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  Speaker 4: without a ticket to go to the memorial service. It
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  Speaker 4: was incredible.
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  Speaker 5: It was extraordinary.
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  Speaker 6: Man.
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  Speaker 5: It is right now, twelve nineteen am, Sunday night, early
• 2:47
  Speaker 5: Monday morning. You and I spent the entire day in
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  Speaker 5: Arizona at the memorial service for Charlie Kirk, and I
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  Speaker 5: got to say, this was a powerful day. It was powerful.
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  Speaker 5: Number one, we were grieving our friend. Both you and
• 3:02
  Speaker 5: I knew Charlie really well. I talked to him not
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  Speaker 5: many weeks ago. You know, I met him when he
• 3:09
  Speaker 5: was eighteen years old. And the last two weeks have
• 3:13
  Speaker 5: been a hard week. You and I both watched our
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  Speaker 5: friend murdered on live video online, and the agony we
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  Speaker 5: felt was felt that without ipurbole, by millions of Americans
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  Speaker 5: who Charlie had touched. So there was grief, there was grieving,
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  Speaker 5: But I got to tell you, as much as there
• 3:34
  Speaker 5: was grief and then, there were certainly tears. There were
• 3:37
  Speaker 5: tears for Erica. There were tears for his two children
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  Speaker 5: that will never know their daddy. But today the atmosphere,
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  Speaker 5: more than anything, was one of celebration. It was one
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  Speaker 5: of celebrating a life well lived. It was one of
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  Speaker 5: celebrating a legacy an example. You know. I got to say,
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  Speaker 5: none of us know when.
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  Speaker 2: We will go.
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  Speaker 5: We don't know if we'll be here tomorrow. We don't
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  Speaker 5: know if we'll be here in ten years and twenty years,
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  Speaker 5: in fifty years. But I will tell you there's not
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  Speaker 5: a one of us who wouldn't hope to be remembered
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  Speaker 5: the way Charlie was today.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah.
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  Speaker 5: I mean, what a life well lived and what a celebration.
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  Speaker 5: And you mentioned revival. That was a term that was
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  Speaker 5: used over and over and over again by speakers today,
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  Speaker 5: and there was a feel of revival. There was a feel,
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  Speaker 5: you know. I saw the Babylon Bee had a story
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  Speaker 5: today about the devil saying, uh oh, I went too far,
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  Speaker 5: And I gotta say it is amazing. You know. Earlier today,
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  Speaker 5: Charlie Kirk's producer of his podcast sent out a tweet
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  Speaker 5: and the tweet said, I was just told that we
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  Speaker 5: have more press interest Sunday celebration of Charlie Kirk's life
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  Speaker 5: and legacy than there is for the Super Bowl. The
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  Speaker 5: Gospel of Jesus Christ is about to be proclaimed to
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  Speaker 5: the largest audience in the history of humanity. To God
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  Speaker 5: be the glory. And I got to say. A friend
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  Speaker 5: of mine who's a pastor, he texted that to me
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  Speaker 5: and I just said, Amen, God is sovereign and God
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  Speaker 5: is good. And look, none of us know why God
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  Speaker 5: allowed this deranged killer to take Charlie's life, to take
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  Speaker 5: it too early, to take it at just age thirty one.
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  Speaker 5: But I have to say it is breath taking number one.
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  Speaker 5: I think it is very likely that in the last
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  Speaker 5: two weeks more people have listened to Charlie Kirk than
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  Speaker 5: listened in his entire life. It has been amazing, the
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  Speaker 5: penetration and this was it did. It felt like a
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  Speaker 5: Billy Graham revival. And the degree to which you know,
• 6:03
  Speaker 5: I'll tell you Friday night, I was at a youth
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  Speaker 5: summit in Texas and two to three thousand young people
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  Speaker 5: came out to it. The attendance more than doubled what
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  Speaker 5: it typically was, and it ended up being just a
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  Speaker 5: remembrance of Charlie Kirk. And I spoke at it. I'll
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  Speaker 5: tell you. At the beginning, a pastor preached and about
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  Speaker 5: two hundred young people gave their lives to Christ at
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  Speaker 5: a gathering.
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  Speaker 4: Incredible.
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  Speaker 5: It's incredible in Texas on a Friday night, and that
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  Speaker 5: it was staggering. This you know, this was in the
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  Speaker 5: football stadium in Phoenix, Arizona. It's a huge stadium. People
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  Speaker 5: started showing up at four and four point thirty in
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  Speaker 5: the morning to line up to get in. And if
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  Speaker 5: you were there, I ran into people who were there
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  Speaker 5: by eight am. They didn't get in. The program started
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  Speaker 5: at eleven. If you showed up at eight, you didn't
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  Speaker 5: make it in. And and and the over one hundred
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  Speaker 5: million views is astonishing and powerful and and I think transformational.
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  Speaker 6: Uh.
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  Speaker 5: The Gospel was proclaimed to millions today. And I think
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  Speaker 5: a lot of people in the United States and across
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  Speaker 5: the world are are listening to what is said, and
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  Speaker 5: and and and are are moved. And you know, I'm
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  Speaker 5: reminded of of Jesus in the New Testament. Gives the
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  Speaker 5: parallel of the parable, and gives the parable of sowing seeds,
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  Speaker 5: and sowing seeds is spreading the gospel. And some of
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  Speaker 5: the seeds fall on rocky soil. Uh, some of the
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  Speaker 5: seeds are eaten by birds. But some of the seeds
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  Speaker 5: fall in fertile ground, and and and they take root
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  Speaker 5: and they bear fruit. And and not everyone who watched
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  Speaker 5: and listened to the service today is going to have
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  Speaker 5: their life transformed. But about I think and astonishing number
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  Speaker 5: are and I pray and I think you do too,
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  Speaker 5: that that that revival comes from this, that that that
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  Speaker 5: Charlie's death becomes a moment, particularly for young people, for
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  Speaker 5: young people to say, you know what what he had?
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  Speaker 5: I want my life to I want that kind of peace.
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  Speaker 5: I want that satisfaction. I want the joy of getting
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  Speaker 5: married and having kids and having a life where I'm
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  Speaker 5: a husband and a father and I know that that
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  Speaker 5: that that God loves me and I have a personal
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  Speaker 5: relationship with Jesus Christ, and I think Charlie's life was
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  Speaker 5: a powerful testament to that. But I think Charlie's death
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  Speaker 5: may have been an even more powerful testament to that.
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  Speaker 4: No doubt. And I want to paint a picture for
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  Speaker 4: people that weren't there, so you understand that many of you,
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  Speaker 4: we know, I'm sure, watched online, as we know from
• 8:52
  Speaker 4: the number of streams. It's just incredible. But from the
• 8:56
  Speaker 4: moment that I left Houston, you and I flew separately,
• 8:59
  Speaker 4: and I was flying in uh To. When we touched
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  Speaker 4: down in Arizona, amazing grace broke out on the plane
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  Speaker 4: and I was able to.
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  Speaker 5: Play that video because that video is beautiful, to describe it,
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  Speaker 5: paint the scene and then play the video.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, we landed, and it was an organic moment that
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  Speaker 4: just a flight United. Yeah, this is not Southwest is
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  Speaker 4: the best way I can describe it. This is a
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  Speaker 4: United flight, This is not normal on a United flight.
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  Speaker 4: And it just started and and I'm going to play
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  Speaker 4: it for you because you're gonna hear the very end
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  Speaker 4: of what I what what I was able to witness,
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  Speaker 4: which was just incredible, And I grabbed my phone out
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  Speaker 4: because I was I wanted to just share it. And
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  Speaker 4: it was as we landed and it was just people singing,
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  Speaker 4: amazing grace on a United flight number one. What a
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  Speaker 4: testimony to to everyone. Incredible testimony from just a standpoint
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  Speaker 4: of the flight attendants and the and the the there
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  Speaker 4: was there was I think it was pretty clear. There
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  Speaker 4: was tears in the eyes of one of the pilots
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  Speaker 4: when we were walking off the plane and the people
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  Speaker 4: were singing, and I want to play it for you,
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  Speaker 4: and it went viral yesterday and then Fox News played
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  Speaker 4: it this morning when I was on They put it
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  Speaker 4: up on Fox News dot Com and it's hit millions
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  Speaker 4: and millions of views, and that just tells the power
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  Speaker 4: I think of of Charlie's legacy. But but listen to
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  Speaker 4: this on the plane. It was amazing for Charlie. I mean,
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  Speaker 4: you can hear it there, and it was it was
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  Speaker 4: a moment that I'm thankful I was able to capture
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  Speaker 4: on video. But that was the mood. And I think
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  Speaker 4: the other thing. You got up early this morning and
• 11:00
  Speaker 4: you went to the stadium to do Maria's show. I
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  Speaker 4: got up early as well and was going to go
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  Speaker 4: do Fox beforehand. The number of people that were at
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  Speaker 4: the stadium without a ticket, that just on blind faith,
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  Speaker 4: because they felt like they just needed to be there.
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  Speaker 4: They just went and they were in a.
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  Speaker 5: Stadium at six in the morning, and there was a
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  Speaker 5: line of people. It wasn't one or two, It was
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  Speaker 5: a steady line. And you know what, it looked like
• 11:31
  Speaker 5: the Super Bowl. It looked like the Final Four or
• 11:33
  Speaker 5: if you know, any major sporting event, except this was
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  Speaker 5: at six in the morning and it was a constant
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  Speaker 5: line of people just walking to the stadium. They wanted
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  Speaker 5: to pay their respects to Charlie. They wanted to honor
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  Speaker 5: his legacy. They wanted to give thanks, give thanks for
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  Speaker 5: a life well lived, and and and that that that
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  Speaker 5: was incredibly impactful. And I will say we heard a
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  Speaker 5: lot of really powerful remarks, a lineup of one after
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  Speaker 5: the other after the other. I will say, by far,
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  Speaker 5: the most impactful speech was from Erica Kirk, Charlie's widow.
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  Speaker 5: And you and I were sitting next to each other
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  Speaker 5: in the memorial and we both looked at each other
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  Speaker 5: and said the same thing. When she finished, we just
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  Speaker 5: said wow.
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  Speaker 4: Like it was. It was.
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  Speaker 5: It actually reminded me of years ago. If you remember
• 12:30
  Speaker 5: Ben Carson's speech at the National Prayer Breakfast that he
• 12:34
  Speaker 5: gave a speech or the Obama presidency and it went
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  Speaker 5: viral nationally and it launched Ben Carson and it made
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  Speaker 5: him a national superstar. Erica's speech had had that power,
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  Speaker 5: and I think for a lot of people who had
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  Speaker 5: never seen her before that they were turning on their TV,
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  Speaker 5: they were opening their phone to their computer. The strength
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  Speaker 5: it took to give that speech less than two weeks
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  Speaker 5: after you've lost your husband, less than two weeks after
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  Speaker 5: you've lost the father of your kids, It boggles the
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  Speaker 5: mind and You could see her before she went up,
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  Speaker 5: just stopping and just just praying, God give me the
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  Speaker 5: strength to make it through this, and and and and
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  Speaker 5: she was so openly relying on on on God's strength.
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  Speaker 5: That's that's part of what made it so unbelievably powerful.
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  Speaker 5: I'll tell you at the beginning, she made a really
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  Speaker 5: important point, a point distinguishing what the reaction was across America,
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  Speaker 5: across the world to Charlie's murder compared to something like
• 13:42
  Speaker 5: like George Floyd being killed and and the riots and
• 13:45
  Speaker 5: everything that played out. Give a listen to what Erica
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  Speaker 5: Kirk said on this point.
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  Speaker 1: Most of all, God's mercy and God's love have been
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: real revealed to me these past ten days after Charlie's assassination.
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  Speaker 1: We didn't see violin, we didn't see rioting, we didn't
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: see revolution. Instead, we saw what my husband always prayed
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: he would see in this country. We saw revival.
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  Speaker 4: You know when she walked up there, I was choked up,
• 14:38
  Speaker 4: you were, and I think everyone their eyes, Yeah, it
• 14:43
  Speaker 4: was how is she going to do this? You and
• 14:45
  Speaker 4: I had the conversation, I don't know if I could
• 14:47
  Speaker 4: have done that. And we do this for a living,
• 14:50
  Speaker 4: I mean you and I speak a lot. Yeah, that's
• 14:54
  Speaker 4: part of I think, just watching God work in that room.
• 14:58
  Speaker 4: I walked to that room earlier in the day, you
• 15:00
  Speaker 4: and I you came back after Maria and I left
• 15:03
  Speaker 4: early because we knew it was just there were so
• 15:05
  Speaker 4: many people there. I abandoned the car and walked a
• 15:07
  Speaker 4: mile and a half just trying to get into the
• 15:09
  Speaker 4: stadium and seeing all the people that weren't going to
• 15:11
  Speaker 4: get in, and they were joyful, they weren't angry, they
• 15:14
  Speaker 4: were praying. I saw groups holding hand.
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  Speaker 5: There's a whole second stadium filled with people watching it
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  Speaker 5: that we're just watching it on TV.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, And I walked in. I finally got inside and
• 15:25
  Speaker 4: was meeting one of the Fox producers to get down
• 15:27
  Speaker 4: to the risers, and they were singing the worship music
• 15:30
  Speaker 4: that you and I hear at church when we go
• 15:32
  Speaker 4: on Sundays before the pastor speaks. I literally on Fox,
• 15:38
  Speaker 4: and I'm not a crier, but like talking about now
• 15:40
  Speaker 4: it's even because this has been an incredible and a
• 15:43
  Speaker 4: sad but amazing day. I told them on air, I
• 15:47
  Speaker 4: was like, I've never felt in my life the Holy
• 15:51
  Speaker 4: Spirit's presence and the way that I felt it today, ever,
• 15:56
  Speaker 4: and I'm forty three and I've been to some pretty cool,
• 16:00
  Speaker 4: amazing Christian events, promise keepers and different things that you've
• 16:03
  Speaker 4: been to. It was a feeling I will never forget.
• 16:08
  Speaker 4: And it was very clear that God's presence were there.
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  Speaker 4: And if you were in that room, and I hope
• 16:13
  Speaker 4: if you were watching it on TV, you felt it too,
• 16:15
  Speaker 4: because what she was able to do was by the
• 16:19
  Speaker 4: grace of God, who gave her the power and the
• 16:21
  Speaker 4: strength to do it, because on your own, no one
• 16:23
  Speaker 4: could do that. Yeah.
• 16:25
  Speaker 5: Absolutely, there was one portion of her speech that I
• 16:30
  Speaker 5: think will go down as the most memorable, the most consequential,
• 16:35
  Speaker 5: and the most profound. And I want you to just
• 16:38
  Speaker 5: just to listen to it, because, to be honest, if
• 16:40
  Speaker 5: you heard nothing else that happened today at Charlie Kirk's
• 16:45
  Speaker 5: memorial service, hear these two minutes, because this was the
• 16:49
  Speaker 5: entirety of the service boiled down in two minutes.
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: My husband, Charlie. He wanted to save young men just
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: like the one who took his life, that young man,
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: that young.
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: Man on the cross.
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: Our Savior said, Father, forgive them, for they not know
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: what they do.
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: That man, that young man I forgive him.
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: I forgive him because it was what Christ did and
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: is what Charlie would do. The answer to hate is
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: not hate. The answer we know from the Gospel is
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: love and always love, love for our enemies, and love
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: for those who persecute us.
• 19:09
  Speaker 4: You and I were there on the second row watching
• 19:13
  Speaker 4: those words, and you and I talked about it afterwards.
• 19:17
  Speaker 4: I don't know if I could have done that that quickly.
• 19:20
  Speaker 4: I know God says that we're supposed to forgive those
• 19:24
  Speaker 4: who have wronged us, But you want to talk about
• 19:28
  Speaker 4: a ministry to the world in that moment. If you
• 19:33
  Speaker 4: are not a Christian, you have to be asking yourself
• 19:37
  Speaker 4: a question, what is it that she has that I
• 19:39
  Speaker 4: don't How could she forgive in this moment? And why
• 19:44
  Speaker 4: would Charlie want her to forgive after what happened to Charlie.
• 19:48
  Speaker 4: It doesn't mean that we don't want justice, but wow.
• 19:53
  Speaker 5: Look when she said that, I had tears in my eyes,
• 19:55
  Speaker 5: you had tears in your eyes. Every one of us
• 19:58
  Speaker 5: one hundred thousand people tears in her eyes. And when
• 20:04
  Speaker 5: she started on that, when she referenced Jesus on the cross,
• 20:08
  Speaker 5: I knew where it was going. And I knew what
• 20:11
  Speaker 5: she was planning to say, and she was holding my
• 20:13
  Speaker 5: breath for because look, you just you and I both
• 20:17
  Speaker 5: had this conversation spontaneously walking out. To be honest, I
• 20:21
  Speaker 5: don't think I could say that. I would want to,
• 20:24
  Speaker 5: it would.
• 20:24
  Speaker 4: Be the right thing to do.
• 20:26
  Speaker 5: I like, I cannot imagine being in the situation she
• 20:32
  Speaker 5: is in and getting those words out, not just breaking down,
• 20:37
  Speaker 5: not breaking down with rage, breaking down with tears, and
• 20:41
  Speaker 5: in it. It was the Holy Spirit that helped her
• 20:43
  Speaker 5: get that out, because there's no there is not a
• 20:47
  Speaker 5: human strength that can say that. And one of the
• 20:51
  Speaker 5: amazing things. I mean, we talked a minute ago about
• 20:54
  Speaker 5: this being one of, if not the largest presentation of
• 20:57
  Speaker 5: the Gospel in history. What you just said, you and
• 21:02
  Speaker 5: I talked about there are millions of people who watch
• 21:04
  Speaker 5: this who are not Christians who have to have said,
• 21:08
  Speaker 5: where did that come from? I don't understand why would
• 21:12
  Speaker 5: you forgive someone who murdered your husband? And that I
• 21:17
  Speaker 5: hope and pray and believe that it caused many people
• 21:21
  Speaker 5: to say, you know, maybe I should ask a few
• 21:23
  Speaker 5: more questions about about Jesus. Maybe I should go read
• 21:27
  Speaker 5: the Bible. Maybe did Jesus really say on the cross, Father,
• 21:31
  Speaker 5: forgive them, for they know not what they do. Why
• 21:34
  Speaker 5: would he say that when they were murdering him. That's
• 21:37
  Speaker 5: what Jesus said as he was nailed to the cross,
• 21:39
  Speaker 5: as he was hanging there dying. Yeah, Jesus asked God
• 21:44
  Speaker 5: to forgive the people who killed him. And it was
• 21:50
  Speaker 5: you know, I'll tell you. I saw on Twitter a
• 21:53
  Speaker 5: tweet from a woman named Sanna Ibrahimi, and I don't
• 21:59
  Speaker 5: know her, but this tweet struck struck me. I'm just
• 22:02
  Speaker 5: going to read it to you. I retweeted it. I
• 22:05
  Speaker 5: listened to Erica Kirk's full speech at the memorial, and
• 22:08
  Speaker 5: I want to share a few thoughts that came to
• 22:10
  Speaker 5: me while live streaming the event. This is not political. First,
• 22:14
  Speaker 5: I should say that I grew up as a Muslim
• 22:17
  Speaker 5: in a Muslim country. I don't know enough about Christianity
• 22:20
  Speaker 5: to say if what I witnessed is rooted in faith
• 22:23
  Speaker 5: or culture. But what struck me most is how, even
• 22:28
  Speaker 5: though death is heavy and this was by nature a
• 22:30
  Speaker 5: sad occasion, the entire event carried a celebratory spirit that
• 22:35
  Speaker 5: honored life. That contrast hit me deeply. In Islam, even
• 22:41
  Speaker 5: though we believe that good people go to heaven. The
• 22:43
  Speaker 5: relationship with God is taught through fear. Funerals are overwhelmingly sad,
• 22:49
  Speaker 5: often filled with warnings of the terrifying first night in
• 22:51
  Speaker 5: the grave. Growing up hearing that and then witnessing people's
• 22:56
  Speaker 5: celebrate life, speak of God's love and remember someone through
• 23:01
  Speaker 5: the impact he had on others, it felt so refreshing
• 23:05
  Speaker 5: and positive. Second, I was profoundly moved by Erica Kirk's words.
• 23:11
  Speaker 5: I cannot fathom the strength it takes to stand and
• 23:15
  Speaker 5: deliver such a meaningful speech after losing the love of
• 23:17
  Speaker 5: your life, but even more than that, the grace it
• 23:21
  Speaker 5: takes to forgive the very person who destroyed your world.
• 23:27
  Speaker 5: I cannot imagine myself standing on a stage sending love
• 23:31
  Speaker 5: to those who cheered your husband's murder, or inviting others
• 23:36
  Speaker 5: to spread God's love in response, because, as she said,
• 23:41
  Speaker 5: we do not respond to hate with hate. That is
• 23:46
  Speaker 5: powerful beyond words. Again, I am ignorant when it comes
• 23:52
  Speaker 5: to Christianity, but if this is what it truly embodies,
• 23:57
  Speaker 5: then I am envious of those who get to experience
• 23:59
  Speaker 5: that feeling. I think this young lady is not alone,
• 24:04
  Speaker 5: and I think that message touched millions, and I got
• 24:08
  Speaker 5: to say it was an incredible privilege to be there
• 24:12
  Speaker 5: and witness it firsthand and be part of I think,
• 24:16
  Speaker 5: what is a significant moment in the history of America
• 24:20
  Speaker 5: and maybe the history of the world.
• 24:22
  Speaker 4: One of the things I think that is so cool
• 24:24
  Speaker 4: that came out of this that is just something that
• 24:30
  Speaker 4: no one could have planned, is how many people are
• 24:34
  Speaker 4: now sharing their own faith and sharing the gospel. You
• 24:38
  Speaker 4: and I have talked more about our faith on this
• 24:41
  Speaker 4: podcast in the last two weeks than we have ever before.
• 24:44
  Speaker 4: And it's not that we're afraid to talk about our faith,
• 24:46
  Speaker 4: but we talk a lot about what's happening in the
• 24:49
  Speaker 4: world in politics. JD Vance said.
• 24:52
  Speaker 5: Yeah, that was something really profound. JD said as he
• 24:55
  Speaker 5: said that he often felt uncomfortable talking about faith, and
• 24:58
  Speaker 5: he made the same comment that he talked more about
• 25:01
  Speaker 5: faith in the last two weeks than he has probably
• 25:04
  Speaker 5: in his entire life.
• 25:05
  Speaker 4: And I mean even this morning. I had two times
• 25:09
  Speaker 4: I was on Fox this morning before the before it started,
• 25:13
  Speaker 4: and the entire conversation was not about politics. The entire
• 25:16
  Speaker 4: conversation was about faith. Yeah, that his life being taken
• 25:22
  Speaker 4: has given the opportunity for all of us to share faith,
• 25:25
  Speaker 4: and I think in a more bold way, in a
• 25:26
  Speaker 4: more proud way, and a more I'm not afraid to
• 25:28
  Speaker 4: share my faith. I think sometimes I think I'm in
• 25:31
  Speaker 4: the world of politics, and that's maybe not my place
• 25:33
  Speaker 4: to be doing that as much. I'm going to change
• 25:36
  Speaker 4: my mentality on that, I think forever moving forward.
• 25:39
  Speaker 5: And I can think of a very few sentiments that
• 25:41
  Speaker 5: would make Charlie happier than that.
• 25:43
  Speaker 4: Yeah, and it was the whole time, it was about faith.
• 25:45
  Speaker 4: If you look at today, I also think one of
• 25:48
  Speaker 4: the most incredible things was you and I were sitting
• 25:50
  Speaker 4: there with the most powerful people in the world, certainly
• 25:53
  Speaker 4: in the conservative movement, where we're all in the political world,
• 25:58
  Speaker 4: and the entire thing was about God. I've never seen
• 26:01
  Speaker 4: that before. I've never been a part of that before.
• 26:05
  Speaker 5: No, and and and at the very end, President Trump
• 26:09
  Speaker 5: spoke and and and he gave I think, very good remarks.
• 26:13
  Speaker 5: But I want you to listen to what he said,
• 26:15
  Speaker 5: in particular about Erica and her testimony. Here here give
• 26:18
  Speaker 5: a listen.
• 26:19
  Speaker 6: To Charlie's incredible and beautiful widow, Erica. We know the
• 26:26
  Speaker 6: weight of this monumental loss is almost unbearable. But even
• 26:30
  Speaker 6: in the midst of heartache, pain too great to even fathom,
• 26:36
  Speaker 6: you have somehow found the strength and deep faith to
• 26:40
  Speaker 6: be a comfort to millions and millions of people. And
• 26:44
  Speaker 6: thank you very much, Erica, thank you very much.
• 26:52
  Speaker 4: You and I have seen Donald Trump give a lot
• 26:54
  Speaker 4: of speeches. This was one of the most I think, somber,
• 26:59
  Speaker 4: yeah since and one of the most incredible speeches I
• 27:03
  Speaker 4: think by Donald Trump that had nothing to really do
• 27:05
  Speaker 4: with him.
• 27:06
  Speaker 5: Well, and President Trump knew Charlie Well, Charlie has.
• 27:09
  Speaker 4: Spent a lot at rattled by it.
• 27:12
  Speaker 5: Charlie Charlie in the twenty sixteen campaign was Don Junior's
• 27:20
  Speaker 5: body man. He traveled with Don Junior all over the
• 27:23
  Speaker 5: country and Charlie helped mobilize young people for the twenty
• 27:27
  Speaker 5: sixteen election. He helped mobilize young people for the twenty twenty election.
• 27:31
  Speaker 5: He played a really, really integral part in the victory
• 27:34
  Speaker 5: in twenty twenty four. And President Trump has spent a
• 27:37
  Speaker 5: lot of time with Charlie Kirk. Just about everyone in
• 27:42
  Speaker 5: the White House has. I mean, it was one of
• 27:43
  Speaker 5: the things the entire White House has shaken. This is
• 27:46
  Speaker 5: not some distant person. They don't know this touched. Almost
• 27:54
  Speaker 5: everyone who works in the Trump administration had connected to Charlie,
• 28:00
  Speaker 5: had personal connections, and they were shaken by it. And
• 28:04
  Speaker 5: you know one of the bits of news that broke
• 28:06
  Speaker 5: this week that I thought it was a small snippet,
• 28:10
  Speaker 5: but it encapsulated who Charlie was well. And Van Jones,
• 28:16
  Speaker 5: you and I both know well. He's very much a
• 28:18
  Speaker 5: man of the left, maybe even far left. He's not
• 28:22
  Speaker 5: someone who you would typically envision saying nice things about
• 28:26
  Speaker 5: Charlie Kirk. But I want you to listen to what
• 28:28
  Speaker 5: he said in the last few days about his last
• 28:31
  Speaker 5: interaction with Charlie Kirk.
• 28:33
  Speaker 7: Charlie Kirk and I were not friends at all. In fact,
• 28:38
  Speaker 7: the last week of his life, we were beef and hard,
• 28:40
  Speaker 7: beefing online, beefing on air. But the day before he died,
• 28:45
  Speaker 7: he did something that shocked me. He sent me a
• 28:48
  Speaker 7: personal message calling for a personal dialogue. Wanted me to
• 28:51
  Speaker 7: come on the show. He said we could be gentlemen together.
• 28:54
  Speaker 7: He said we could deal with our disagreements agreeably. And
• 29:01
  Speaker 7: in the past week and a half, just watching people
• 29:03
  Speaker 7: talk about civil wars and censorship and all this stuff
• 29:05
  Speaker 7: coming out of his death, I just thought it was
• 29:08
  Speaker 7: important to let people know, don't put that on Charlie Kirk,
• 29:13
  Speaker 7: because the last day of his life he was reaching
• 29:16
  Speaker 7: out to have not more censorship, more conversation, more dialogue
• 29:21
  Speaker 7: with somebody who honestly was one of his adversaries. Me
• 29:25
  Speaker 7: and I just want to share that with the world,
• 29:28
  Speaker 7: and I hope that maybe it might help somebody on
• 29:34
  Speaker 7: both sides deal with issues more like you did.
• 29:38
  Speaker 4: Van putting that out there immediately brought me to today.
• 29:43
  Speaker 4: You and I were sitting there and we looked over
• 29:46
  Speaker 4: to the right of us, and you leaned over and
• 29:48
  Speaker 4: you said, there's Elon. And several weeks or months ago,
• 29:53
  Speaker 4: Charlie had said that he wanted Donald Trump and Elon
• 29:56
  Speaker 4: to make up.
• 29:57
  Speaker 6: Yep.
• 29:58
  Speaker 4: We then a few minutes later see Elon in the
• 30:00
  Speaker 4: box with President Trump. They hugged the President, patted him
• 30:05
  Speaker 4: on the chest, and he tweeted out a picture Elon
• 30:08
  Speaker 4: did of them talking, and all it said was for Charlie,
• 30:14
  Speaker 4: I mean, you want to talk about bringing people back together.
• 30:17
  Speaker 4: That's incredible.
• 30:19
  Speaker 5: I will say I respect Van Jones for putting that out.
• 30:22
  Speaker 5: You know Van better than I do. But he didn't
• 30:24
  Speaker 5: have to put that out. He didn't have to say that,
• 30:27
  Speaker 5: and I do think it reflects who Charlie was, and
• 30:31
  Speaker 5: I think the entire memorial today reflected. It was a
• 30:40
  Speaker 5: celebration of his life, and it was a proclamation of
• 30:43
  Speaker 5: the Gospel and that I'm really grateful to have been
• 30:49
  Speaker 5: friends with Charlie. I'm really grateful to have a chance
• 30:53
  Speaker 5: to be there for the celebration because I think it
• 30:56
  Speaker 5: is going to have really profound impacts on our co I.
• 31:00
  Speaker 4: Think we're going to end up finding out down the
• 31:02
  Speaker 4: road that today was one of the biggest days, not
• 31:05
  Speaker 4: in politics with the biggest people in politics in a room,
• 31:09
  Speaker 4: but one of the biggest days for young men and
• 31:11
  Speaker 4: women excepting Christ and learning about the Lord from this
• 31:15
  Speaker 4: horrific moment in our history. And I think you look
• 31:19
  Speaker 4: at that bring all these people together, the way that
• 31:23
  Speaker 4: he was doing it. I think it's going to change
• 31:25
  Speaker 4: the way we have dialogue and conversation. I think my
• 31:28
  Speaker 4: demeanor's probably gonna be different. I'm still going to fight
• 31:31
  Speaker 4: the good fight, and I'm still going to fight hard,
• 31:33
  Speaker 4: but I want to have better conversations while doing it.
• 31:36
  Speaker 4: I think everybody's temperature is going to change a little bit,
• 31:39
  Speaker 4: and how we interact the way that Charlie did it.
• 31:42
  Speaker 4: And I left there today, and I don't know. I
• 31:46
  Speaker 4: want to ask you this as we wrap. I left
• 31:48
  Speaker 4: there today more hopeful for the future of this country, yes,
• 31:54
  Speaker 4: than I have been in decades, and more hopeful for
• 31:58
  Speaker 4: the younger generation in this country that they're going to
• 32:03
  Speaker 4: see the light, because I've been very worried for quite
• 32:06
  Speaker 4: some time. It's part of the reason why I do
• 32:07
  Speaker 4: this is that we have lost an entire generation to
• 32:11
  Speaker 4: the radical left. I think we are seeing a very
• 32:15
  Speaker 4: quick pendulum shift that only God could create and put
• 32:20
  Speaker 4: people in a place to do it.
• 32:24
  Speaker 5: Absolutely. You know. I'm reminded of the Scripture Second Chronicles
• 32:29
  Speaker 5: seven fourteen. If my people, who are called by my
• 32:33
  Speaker 5: name will humble themselves in pray and seek my face
• 32:38
  Speaker 5: and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear
• 32:41
  Speaker 5: from heaven, and I will forgive their sins, and I
• 32:46
  Speaker 5: will heal their land. That has been my prayer for
• 32:52
  Speaker 5: a long time, and I think today was in a
• 32:59
  Speaker 5: very real sense a great many people in America calling
• 33:04
  Speaker 5: out for God to hear our prayer and to heal
• 33:08
  Speaker 5: our land. And I pray that that is the outcome.
• 33:13
  Speaker 5: The path we are on that we see revival our
• 33:17
  Speaker 5: country us.
• 33:18
  Speaker 3: Thank you for listening to the forty seven Morning Update
• 33:21
  Speaker 3: with Ben Ferguson. Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever
• 33:25
  Speaker 3: you're listening to this podcast right now and for more
• 33:28
  Speaker 3: in depth news, also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson podcast
• 33:32
  Speaker 3: and we will see you back here tomorrow