The Daily Signal

“Average” is not the adjective that comes to mind when talking about an American who took a religious freedom case all the way to the Supreme Court, but football coach Joe Kennedy says he identified with the word. “I’ve always looked at myself actually [as] below average,” Kennedy says. “I really had no idea that God was going to take my life in this way, in this path.” In his new book, “Average Joe: The Coach Joe Kennedy Story,” Kennedy explains how his simple commitment to God to take a knee in silent prayer on the 50-yard line after the high school football games he coached landed him at the center of one of the largest religious freedom cases in recent history, Kennedy v. Bremerton, Wash., School District. It was decided in his favor 6-3 by the Supreme Court on June 27, 2022.“If you could take a schmuck like me and change the path of the nation as far as religious freedom and the First Amendment goes, imagine what [God] could do with some other people,” the coach says.Kennedy joins “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss his new book and to explain why he chose to take a stand for religious freedom and why he left coaching shortly after his Supreme Court victory.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

TOP NEWS | On today’s Daily Signal Top News, we break down: After three rounds of voting, there is still no speaker of the House and there is now no GOP nominee.  The war between Israel and Hamas rages on as the two-week mark approaches since the terrorist organization launched its Oct. 7 attack. President Joe Biden’s delivers a speech from the Oval Office on Thursday evening. Tyler O’Neil reports that The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project is requesting any documents sent or received by Nejwa Ali, a former spokeswoman for the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s now-defunct U.S. delegation, in her official capacity at the Department of Homeland Security. https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/10/19/dhs-hired-pro-hamas-former-plo-spokeswoman-handle-asylum-claims-heritage-demands-answers/ Gallup’s findings: https://news.gallup.com/poll/512861/media-confidence-matches-2016-record-low.aspx Relevant LinksListen to other podcasts from The Daily Signal: https://www.dailysignal.com/podcasts/Get daily conservative news you can trust from our Morning Bell newsletter: DailySignal.com/morningbellsubscription Listen to more Heritage podcasts: https://www.heritage.org/podcastsSign up for The Agenda newsletter — the lowdown on top issues conservatives need to know about each week: https://www.heritage.org/agenda Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For Rabbi Scott Kahn, Oct. 7 was a holy day, the Sabbath.He went to an early morning service at his synagogue and standing outside for a moment, he saw something strange.“We suddenly heard booms overhead in our city of Ramat Beit Shemesh. So we looked up, and we saw smoke just randomly. It wasn’t a plane. It was just like bursts of smoke,” he tells The Daily Signal.Soon, he heard about how his loved ones were affected, including his son-in-law in the army reserves, who was called up to serve near Gaza. Kahn heard about one distant family member who was shot, but who had survived by hiding in a ditch. In Sderot, another family member escaped to a bomb shelter with her three children “less because of the rockets and more because there were terrorists roaming the streets of Sderot looking for Jews to kill.”In Kahn’s full interview for “The Daily Signal Podcast,” he discusses the spiritual significance of Oct. 7 to Jews this year, how he and other Israelis are responding after the attacks, and what his hope for the future is. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

TOP NEWS | On today’s Daily Signal Top News, we break down: The House moves ahead with a plan to place North Carolina Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry in the position of speaker pro-tempore. Sidney Powell pleads guilty to six misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to commit election interference in Geprgia’s Fulton County Superior Court. U.S. Capitol Police arrest hundreds of protesters in a congressional office building who were calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.  America has given Iran much more than $6 billion, foreign policy expert says. U.S. Central Command reports drone attacks on U.S. military bases in Iraq and Syria.  Relevant LinksListen to other podcasts from The Daily Signal: https://www.dailysignal.com/podcasts/Get daily conservative news you can trust from our Morning Bell newsletter: DailySignal.com/morningbellsubscription Listen to more Heritage podcasts: https://www.heritage.org/podcastsSign up for The Agenda newsletter — the lowdown on top issues conservatives need to know about each week: https://www.heritage.org/agenda Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Israel is a country who cherishes life,” Yael Eckstein says, “and our enemies know that."Those enemies use that fact as a tool against Israel, adds Eckstein, president and CEO of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, who is today's guest on "The Daily Signal Podcast."  Hamas killed 1,300 Israelis and took hostage about 200 “elderly, babies, children, women, [and] handicapped” in its surpise attack Oct. 7 on Israel, she says, and the situation is “unfathomable.”“Even ISIS didn't do things like this,” Eckstein says, adding that when Hamas describes its aim as “to wipe Israel off the map and kill every man, woman and child, we have to take that seriously.”Speaking as a wife, mother, and global ministry leader living in Israel, Eckstein explains that Israelis are living in a paradox right now. “On one hand, we are as broken as I can ever remember the people of Israel being. And on the other hand, we are stronger than we've ever been,” she says on the podcast. On the podcast, Eckstein describes the work in Israel of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, as well as Israel's response to the surprise terrorist attack by Hamas. Learn more about the Internationals Fellowship of Christians and Jews here: https://www.ifcj.org/Enjoy the show! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

TOP NEWS | On today’s Daily Signal Top News, we break down: GOP House Speaker nominee Jim Jordan falls short of the 217 votes needed to win the position in the second vote Wednesday.  President Joe Biden lands in Israel and delivers remarks alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. U.S. intelligence shows the deadly blast at the Gaza hospital appeared to have been caused by terrorist Hamas militants.   Biden is expected to ask Congress for $100 billion in supplemental funding for Israel, Ukraine, and domestic issues that include border security.  The prestigious New York City based law firm Davis Polk has rescinds letters of employment to three students from Harvard and Columbia universities after the students signed onto letters backing Hamas and blaming Israel for the recent brutal violence.  Relevant Linkshttps://www.dailysignal.com/2023/10/18/antisemitic-lie-orthodox-jewish-rabbis-condemn-rashida-tlaib-blaming-israel-gaza-hospital-bombing/ Listen to other podcasts from The Daily Signal: https://www.dailysignal.com/podcasts/Get daily conservative news you can trust from our Morning Bell newsletter: DailySignal.com/morningbellsubscription Listen to more Heritage podcasts: https://www.heritage.org/podcastsSign up for The Agenda newsletter — the lowdown on top issues conservatives need to know about each week: https://www.heritage.org/agenda Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Field reporter and former U.S. Marine Julio Rosas, who has been in Israel since Wednesday, is sharing details from the ground as the war between Hamas and Israel continues. "Just before I signed on to join this podcast, there was—I got alerts on my phone that there were rockets being launched further to the south of us, and so that is currently the biggest threat," said Rosas, author of "Fiery But Mostly Peaceful: The 2020 Riots and the Gaslighting of America," as he joined us for an interview on "The Daily Signal Podcast.""Also, there are some infiltrations attempts still being made, not obviously on [as] big of a scale as the initial attacks, but this is still—it's a pretty active area," said Rosas. Rosas was in Sderot, Israel, at the time of the interview. "The more north you go in Tel Aviv, which is where most of the flights go into right now, things are kind of normal. I would say that not as many businesses are open during normal hours," added Rosas. "And also just the fact, again, rockets get fired all the way as far north over there." Rosas, who said he was also in Northern Israel, shared that "[i]t's kind of the same story where the towns along the Lebanese border have been evacuated." Rosas continued: There's not that many people there left, and it's concerning because there's still a lot of kind of minimal fighting between the [Israel Defense Forces] and Lebanese and Hezbollah kind of back and forth.So that's one of the reasons why Israel hasn't gone fully into Gaza yet, is because they want to make sure that their northern and eastern regions are prepared for any response that they make here down south. Rosas joined today's episode of "The Daily Signal Podcast" to discuss what he's hearing from locals about the Israel-Hamas war, what he wants Americans to know about what he's seeing on the ground in Israel, and how the situation has changed since he arrived in the war-torn country. Julio's "X" page: https://twitter.com/Julio_Rosas11Julio's Substack: https://juliorosas.substack.com/subscribe Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

TOP NEWS | On today’s Daily Signal Top News, we break down: Fred Lucas reports that Senate Republicans today called for the Biden administration to refreeze $6 billion in Iranian funds amid the Israel-Hamas war, citing indications that Iran helped Hamas plan its Oct. 7 terrorist attack on the Jewish state. https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/10/17/gop-senators-demand-biden-refreeze-6b-for-iran/  Just two weeks after California Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy was removed as speaker of the House, the spot is still vacant.   As the war between Hamas and Israel continues, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not mince words while discussing Hamas.  General Motors postpones opening an electric-pickup-truck factory in Michigan, according to reporting from the Wall Street Journal.  Relevant LinksListen to other podcasts from The Daily Signal: https://www.dailysignal.com/podcasts/Get daily conservative news you can trust from our Morning Bell newsletter: DailySignal.com/morningbellsubscription Listen to more Heritage podcasts: https://www.heritage.org/podcastsSign up for The Agenda newsletter — the lowdown on top issues conservatives need to know about each week: https://www.heritage.org/agenda Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the war between Hamas and Israel continues, President Joe Biden is set to visit Israel on Wednesday following an invitation from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday. “I think it’s important for any American president to show support for, and solidarity with, Israel in its darkest hour. I mean, this is the darkest day in Israeli history,” Nathan Sales, former ambassador-at-large and coordinator for counterterrorism at the State Department, said prior to Biden’s trip being confirmed. “In the 75 years that the state of Israel has existed, we’ve never seen bloodshed and violence like this.”“In fact, it’s the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust,” said Sales, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. “Think about that. America needs to stand by our ally, our closest ally in the region and the only democracy in the region.” Politico reported Sunday that Biden could travel to the war-torn country “as early as this week.” “I think what I would like to hear from President Biden when he goes to Israel is ‘We’re going to change course on Iran. We are going to not just go after the tentacles of the octopus, the terrorist groups in Lebanon, the terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip,'” Sales said, continuing to cite what he thinks the president should say:“We’re going to go after the head, the masters of this entire strategy. We’re going to hold them accountable as well. We’re going to deprive them of the resources that they’re investing in terror proxies to kill Jews. Oh, and by the way, to kill 30 Americans as well.”Will he actually say that? I’m not going to hold my breath.Sales joins today’s episode of “The Daily Signal Podcast” to discuss how the U.S. can help Israel as the war continues, Iran’s history of supporting Hamas, and his thoughts on Biden’s comments during an interview with CBS that aired on Sunday night. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

TOP NEWS | On today’s Daily Signal Top News, we break down: Former President Donald Trump is facing new restrictions regarding what he can and cannot say.  Congressman Jim Jordan may have acquired the votes he needs to become the next speaker of the House.  Confusion looms as to whether the Rafah Crossing is open to those fleeing Gaza.  A catholic bishop offers to trade himself in exchange for the children being held hostage by Hamas.  Louisiana elects Republican Jeff Landry to serve as its new governor. New evidence indicates President Joe Biden’s classified documents were discovered long before they were reported to authorities.  Relevant LinksListen to other podcasts from The Daily Signal: https://www.dailysignal.com/podcasts/Get daily conservative news you can trust from our Morning Bell newsletter: DailySignal.com/morningbellsubscription Listen to more Heritage podcasts: https://www.heritage.org/podcastsSign up for The Agenda newsletter — the lowdown on top issues conservatives need to know about each week: https://www.heritage.org/agenda Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices