National Guard Shooting, a Bad Deal for Ukraine, and U.S. War Crimes?

The Bulletin

Christianity Today

News, News Commentary, Society & Culture, Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.4 • 586 Ratings

🗓️ 5 December 2025

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week, the Trump administration temporarily halted all asylum application decisions following the shooting of two National Guardsmen by an Afghan refugee. CT’s Andy Olsen joins Mike Cosper and Russell Moore to discuss the implications of this change. Then, Dalibor Rohac of the American Enterprise Institute stops by to talk about Russia’s rejection of the U.S.’s 28-point proposal for ending the war in Ukraine, despite indications that the proposal was overly favorable to Russia. Last, Mike and Russell talk about the fallout from the U.S. Navy’s attack of alleged Venezuelan drug boats and whether the U.S. committed war crimes by killing survivors. REFERENCED IN THE SHOW: -‘Amid Peace Talks, Russian Drone Damages Christian School in Kyiv’ by Jill Nelson -‘⁠Trump's full 28-point Ukraine-Russia peace plan⁠’ - Axios GO DEEPER WITH THE BULLETIN: -Join the conversation at our Substack. -Find us on YouTube. -Rate and review the show in your podcast app of choice. ABOUT THE GUESTS: Andy Olsen is the senior features writer at Christianity Today. He previously oversaw the print magazine team. His writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune, among other outlets, and has been recognized by the Religion News Association and the Evangelical Press Association. Dalibor Rohac is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, where he studies the political economy of the European Union and transatlantic relations. He is concurrently a research associate at the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies in Brussels. ABOUT THE BULLETIN: The Bulletin is a twice-weekly politics and current events show from Christianity Today moderated by Clarissa Moll, with senior commentary from Russell Moore (Christianity Today’s editor-at-large and columnist) and Mike Cosper (senior contributor). Each week, the show explores current events and breaking news and shares a Christian perspective on issues that are shaping our world. We also offer special one-on-one conversations with writers, artists, and thought leaders whose impact on the world brings important significance to a Christian worldview, like Bono, Sharon McMahon, Harrison Scott Key, Frank Bruni, and more. The Bulletin listeners get 25% off CT. Go to https://orderct.com/THEBULLETIN to learn more. “The Bulletin” is a production of Christianity Today Producer: Clarissa Moll Associate Producer: Alexa Burke Editing and Mix: TJ Hester Graphic Design: Rick Szuecs Music: Dan Phelps Executive Producer: Erik Petrik Senior Producer: Matt Stevens Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Part of the problem is suggesting that there are only two courses of action here.
0:08.1	Either we have to allow dangerous people to be here, or we shut down the entire program.
0:18.8	From Christianity today, you're listening to The Bulletin, a podcast about the people, events, and issues that are shaping our world.
0:25.8	Clarissa Mall is out today, so I'm Mike Cosper, senior contributor at CT and moderator of today's show.
0:32.7	I'm joined by editor-at-large Russell Moore.
0:35.6	On the show today, CT contributor Andy Olson joins us to talk about
0:39.5	what's happened in the aftermath of a recent shooting by an Afghan refugee and how that's
0:44.2	reshaping the government's policy for American refugee programs and what the church might think
0:49.3	about. Then, Dalabor Rojak joins us to talk about what's happening with an attempt at a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
0:56.9	Finally, Russell and I will sit down for a one-on-one in the aftermath of this so-called double-tap strike on a boat near Venezuela.
1:05.1	Stay with us and welcome to the show. This paid message is from Pew Research Center. The U.S. Census doesn't track religion,
1:22.3	but Pew Research Center's religious landscape study does. Since 2007, it's provided a comprehensive look at the ever-changing role of faith in America.
1:31.5	With responses from more than 35,000 Americans, the Religious Landscape Study provides authoritative
1:37.1	data on religious beliefs, practices, and identities across all 50 states.
1:42.2	To explore how faith shapes your community, visit pewresearch.org slash RLS.
1:48.0	It's past week in a story out of Washington, D.C.
1:55.0	Two members of the National Guard were on duty near the White House when they were ambushed by a gunman.
2:00.0	One of them, 20-year-old Sarah Bextram, was killed. Her partner, Andrew Wolf, is still in critical condition. Very quickly, authorities identified the shooter. Ramah Nula, Lockenwall, a 29-year-old Afghan National who came to the U.S. after the fall of Kabul in 2021. He'd been vetted, admitted through the standard asylum process,
2:18.9	and had been living here for several years. It's still not clear what his motive was or what was
2:22.5	going on in his life leading up to the attack. But as often happens in our climate, the facts
2:26.9	barely had time to settle before the reaction took off. Within hours, anti-immigration commentators
2:31.6	were framing the shooting as proof that the U.S. refugee vetting system is broken, or in some cases that Afghan resettlement as a whole was a mistake.
	...

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