FBI Data Shows Biggest Crime Drop in a Century, Israel Warns Turkey Over a Syria Red Line, the $40 Trillion Deficit No One Will Touch | Your News Talk America | August 21, 2026
Your News Talk America with Jake Smith
Show Notes for Friday, August 21, 2026
Today's Featured Guest
Joseph Vazquez is a Business Associate Editor in the News Analysis Division at the Media Research Center. He joins Jake for the first two segments to run the worst media quotes of the week and to break down how the press spins inflation and slants its coverage. Bio: mrc.org/staff/joseph-vazquez
9:00 Show Open: The Worst Media Quotes of the Week
Jake opens with Joseph Vazquez of the Media Research Center for a run through the week's most outrageous quotes from the legacy media.
- Joe Scarborough called ICE agents Nazi shock troops gunning down Americans on MS NOW's Morning Joe, August 13.
- John Oliver mocked Ronald Reagan as the Forrest Gump of societal ills on HBO's Last Week Tonight, August 16.
- Rosie O'Donnell, guest hosting Jimmy Kimmel Live, likened Trump's return to bringing back fascism and the measles, August 18.
Source: MRC on X
Guest: Joseph Vazquez (@JV3MRC), Media Research Center · mrc.org/staff/joseph-vazquez
9:20 Two Inflation Rates and the Spinmasters Who Cover Them
Joseph Vazquez stays on to show how the press frames the numbers and picks its favorites.
- A tale of two inflation rates, and the media spinmasters who decide which one you hear about.
- An MRC study finds Apple and Google push news outlets that have not backed a Republican in the last 10 elections, a 31 to 0 tilt toward Democrats.
- The double standard on labels: the press freely calls Republicans Nazis but will not call the Democratic left communist.
Sources: NewsBusters, a tale of two inflation rates · MRC Free Speech America, Apple and Google · NewsBusters, the Nazi label study
Guest: Joseph Vazquez (@JV3MRC), Media Research Center
9:35 The $40 Trillion Deficit No One Will Touch
Brandon Arnold of the National Taxpayers Union joins Jake on a crisis both parties keep dodging. Nobody likes a $40 trillion deficit, but nobody is doing anything about it.
- Why is this crippling debt almost absent from the political conversation?
- What are the early signs that ordinary Americans will start to feel the squeeze?
- Does the road end at Medicare for all?
Guest: Brandon Arnold, Executive Vice President, National Taxpayers Union · ntu.org/about/staff/brandon-arnold
10:00 What to Do About the FBI
Author Joe Hoft joins Jake, revisiting Jake's 2022 monologue on the FBI and asking whether anything has really changed.
- Has Kash Patel actually cleaned up the bureau? Joe Hoft says no.
- Is the FBI withholding documents tied to the Seth Rich case, and what questions remain about his death?
- FBI agents confronted former Congressman Eric Swalwell and, with a warrant, seized his personal electronic devices at San Francisco International Airport.
- How many corrupt FBI agents have actually been convicted so far?
Sources: Joe Hoft on the Seth Rich documents · Gateway Pundit on the Swalwell seizure
Guest: Joe Hoft (@RealJoeHoft), author of The Steal Volumes 1 to 3 · joehoft.com
10:20 A New Axis of Evil?
Dr. John Marshall Callahan of the Institute of World Politics joins Jake on whether Russia, China, and Iran have formed a new axis, and whether America is fighting the same enemy on several fronts.
- Iranian weapons are turning up in the war against Ukraine.
- Drone warfare has exploded, and it is far easier to wage war with a drone than to defend against one.
- How worried should we be about the tension between NATO and Russia?
- How does the economic war now being waged against Iran differ from ordinary sanctions?
Guest: Dr. John Marshall Callahan, Professor, Institute of World Politics, and former Deputy Spokesperson at the Office of the DNI · iwp.edu/faculty/john-marshall-callahan
10:30 The Biggest Crime Drop in a Century
Zack Smith of the Heritage Foundation joins Jake on striking new FBI numbers and the justice questions behind them.
- New FBI data show violent crime fell 9.3 percent and murders dropped 18.1 percent in 2025, the largest one year decline in nearly a century. What is driving it, and can it last?
- Where is the deterrence when many high crime cities still run turnstile justice?
- What to make of the FBI seizing Eric Swalwell's electronics at San Francisco International Airport.
- A South Carolina officer was arrested for illegally accessing Flock traffic camera data. Should the public be concerned?
- The lawfare against President Trump and his administration from Obama and Biden appointed judges, and a stalled confirmation process for US attorneys.
Guest: Zack Smith, Senior Legal Fellow, Courts and the Constitution, The Heritage Foundation · heritage.org/staff/zack-smith
11:00 Israel Warns Turkey Over a Syria Red Line
EJ Kimball of the US Israel Education Association joins Jake as elections in both the United States and Israel could reshape the Middle East.
- Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter told The Jerusalem Post that Israel had clear intelligence that Turkey intended to expand its military presence in Syria, a move Jerusalem called crossing a red line.
- We are not seeking war with Turkey or Syria, Leiter said, but a red line was crossed.
- Israel keeps striking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. Is it degrading the Iranian proxy?
- Reports say President Trump chose to widen the economic war on Iran rather than resume military operations. How are DSA candidates' promises to abandon Israel landing on Capitol Hill and in Jerusalem?
Source: The Jerusalem Post on the Turkey red line
Guest: EJ Kimball (@KimballEJ), Director of Policy, US Israel Education Association · usieducation.org/leadership
11:20 Impeachment 3.0 if Democrats Take the House?
Jeff Crouere joins Jake on what a Democratic House majority would mean in January.
- If Democrats win the House in November, another Trump impeachment is all but inevitable, though conviction and removal are far murkier.
- Crouere expects impeachment used mainly as political theater, as in Trump's first term.
- Republicans could face far more treacherous political waters in the back half of the second term.
Guest: Jeff Crouere (@jeffcrouere), host of Ringside Politics on Real America's Voice and author of America's Last Chance! · on Amazon
11:30 Can a Chatbot Cure Loneliness?
JP De Gance of Communio joins Jake on new Stanford research and the real cost of trading human connection for artificial company.
- Stanford researchers find that as more people lean on AI chatbots for friendship and emotional support, vulnerable users can end up lonelier and worse off.
- De Gance argues the answer to America's loneliness crisis is not better artificial relationships but a return to families, marriages, and real friendships.
- Do social media, cell phones, and dating apps pull us further apart?
Source: Stanford News on AI companions and loneliness
Guest: JP De Gance, President of Communio · communio.org/leadership
11:50 Salute the Troops
Jake closes the show honoring Chief Warrant Officer 2 Deontre T. Huey and Warrant Officer Seth L. Olmstead. We thank them for their service and sacrifice.
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