- Welcome folks to thisedition of The 700 Club.

Can you believe it?

There's a so-calledCivil Rights Commission

in Colorado that apparentlyhates Christians.

And you know, after theSupreme Court ruled clearly

in favor of the Christian baker saying he

had the free speech rightto refuse to bake cakes,

they're now after him again,

even though the Supreme Court ruled

in the favor of Jack Philips.

That same Civil RightsCommission that criticizes faith

and almost put him out ofbusiness is once again trying

to punish this Christian baker.

- This time, Phillips refusedto make a cake celebrating

a transgender transition.

As Heather Sells reports, somesay the gay rights community

wants to take down this Christian baker.

- Six years ago, authoritieswent after Jack Phillips

for refusing to bake acake for a gay wedding.

Now he's in trouble again,this time for refusing to bake

a cake to celebrate a gender transition.

- The Bible teaches thatGod made male and female

and I believe that wedon't get to choose that

and we don't get to change that.

- [Heather] That's apolitically incorrect belief

these days.

Regent University lawprofessor, Brad Jacob,

says it makes sense that Phillips

is once again in hot water.

- Phillips has become a target.

Now the lesbian, gay, bisexual,

transgender community inColorado, has focused on him.

He's become kind of theposter boy of Christians

who don't accept all thepractices of the gay community.

So it's not particularly surprising

that they're going after him again.

- [Heather] The Supreme Court'sruling helps put the target

on Phillips' back byfailing to address his claim

that he has the rightto obey his conscience.

Instead, the Justices blame

the Colorado Civil Rights Commission

for showing hostility to his beliefs

and now that the Commissionis after him again,

Phillips says that hostility is back too.

But this time, he'sgoing on the offensive.

- The State is essentiallyempowering people

who wanna harass him, tofile these complaints,

and to essentially bringhim down by continuing

to harass him through thesediscrimination charges.

We need the FederalCourt to step in and say

the State can't allow that.

- [Heather] Jacob says it'snot clear that the Commission

is indeed targeting Phillips,although he believes

it could have ignoredthe latest complaint.

- The Commission certainly could say,

we've already gone after this guy once,

let's drop it, let's leave him alone.

- What's needed ultimatelyis for the high court

to decide just how peopleof faith can draw a line

when it comes to issuessuch as same-sex marriage

and gender transition thatgo against their beliefs.

Until then, Christians andothers face a host of questions

with uncertain consequences.

Heather Sells, CBN News.

- You know, it isn't like there's

only one baker in Colorado.

Surely in Denver orsomewhere where he lives,

there must be two bakers,maybe three or four.

Why go after him?

- It's obvious thatthey're making a point.

- Well, obviously, they'retrying to set him up,

and they come to him and they say,

well, we want you to dothis and then he says

that violates my conscience.

If you wanna buy something off the shelf,

I've got plenty of cakes for ya.

- So Pat, how do, anybody whowants to stand for freedom

of conscience, freedom of speech,needs to support this man.

How do you do that?

- I guess the thing you can do is maybe,

I don't know if he's got a defense fund.

He probably needs something.

But never the less,

I think the lawyers are working for free

on this one and they say it's pro bono.

But in any event, it looks likethat Civil Rights Commission

ought to realize theSupreme Court has spoken.

- [Terry] Really.

- How much higher do you wanna get it?

We have freedom of speechand what they're saying

is that you cannot force somebody

to perform an act against his conscience.

That's what they're saying.

And these other people are saying,

I don't care what your conscience says,

we are gay, lesbian, bisexual,

and all this other stuff,

and we want people to agree

with us whether they like it or not.

That's what it is.

They want to enforce theirpoint of view on the public,

and Phillips is standingagainst that and God bless him.

In other news, just two weeks before

his confirmation hearingsare set to begin,

Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh,

has crucial meetings on the Hill today.

John Jessup has more on that.

- Thanks, Pat.

The nominee meets with MaineSenator, Susan Collins, today.

Collins, a moderate Republican,is seen as a key vote

because of her vote for Roe V Wade.

However, she's spoken well of Kavanaugh,

describing him as qualified for the job.

Kavanaugh also meets with oneof his fiercest opponents,

New York Democrat, Chuck Schumer.

Schumer is still leading the charge

to delay the confirmation,

demanding review ofnearly a million documents

from Kavanaugh's time in theGeorge W. Bush Administration.

You can learn more about the battle

for Kavanaugh's confirmation on

our Supreme Court Showdownpage at CBNNEWS.com.

Russian hackers are targetingconservative political groups

and the United States Senate

in a run up to the midterm elections.

Microsoft announced today groups tied

to the Russian governmentcreated fake internet sites

for the Hudson Institute

and the InternationalRepublican Institute.

Other pages mimic the US Senate.

There's no evidence anyonevisited the fake sites

but clicking on the pagescould've exposed users

to surveillance and possible data theft.

National Security Advisor, John Bolton,

said it's crucial to go on the offensive

to counter cyber threatsto protect not only

our Democracy but critical infrastructures

like power utilities.

- I think you need to establishstructures of deterrents,

so that our adversaries whohave conducted cyber operations

against us or who are contemplating it,

come to understand, theywill pay a much higher price

if they do that thanif they simply refrain.

- And last week, PresidentTrump announced plans to scrap

an Obama era directivethat critics saw as,

pardon me one moment,

critics saw as limitingof Americas ability

to conduct cyber warfare.

Pat, back to you.

- Well you know, I've saidit before, I'll say it again,

the NSA has the preeminentqualification in terms of cyber.

There is no organization in the world

that can match our NSA.

They have huge facilities andthey thing Bolton is saying

and I totally agree with, all right,

if these guys wanna come afterus, then let's go after them,

and let's make it pay,if they're gonna permit,

now was this a governmentactivity in Russia

or are these individual hackers?

We don't know for sure.

But never the less, theRussian government is aiding

and abetting in this kind of activity,

as are the Koreans, as arethe Chinese, and others.

So let's just turn our cyberactivities against them

and to say, if you come after us,

we're going to punish you inways that you will not like.

And I think that's what happened.

Apparently, under theObama administration,

our cyber forces were being restrained,

but now Bolton is saying andI totally agree with him,

let's turn the dogs loseand let's see what happens.

All right, John.

- Pat, President Trumpfears any statement he makes

to Special Counsel, Robert Mueller,

could put him in a perjury trap.

In an interview withReuters, the President said,

if his testimony contradictsformer FBI Director,

James Comey's, the SpecialCounsel might choose

to believe Comey over him.

The President continued saying,"it's my word against his,

"and he's best friends with Mueller,

"so Mueller might say,'well, I believe Comey,'

"and even if I'm telling the truth,

"that makes me a liar."

"That's no good."

Mr. Trump said, also Pat,

that he hasn't decided if he'll answer

the Special Counsel's questions.

- You know, Jay Sekulowworked for the America Center

for Law and Justice;he's a general counsel.

He's one of Trump's counselor.

I've spoken with him, I'vespoken with Rudy Giuliani.

No lawyer in his rightmind would put his client

into a situation where hecould be charged with perjury.

And what Giuliani saidis absolutely truth,

I mean, absolutely correct,

there is no such thing astruth when you're dealing

with a matter like this.

Trump said, I didn't talk about that,

the other man says he did.

So what's truth?

Well all it's gotta do isto have the General Counsel,

the Special Prosector,bring charges and say,

well that's actually, Trumpnow is guilty of perjury.

So now you've got a wholeperjury trial for the President

on the strength of an innocent statement.

And there is no truth.

And you've got a hostile General Counsel.

He's got a team of Democratpartisans working with him.

Virtually every person he's hired

has been a Hillary Clinton supporter

and what are they gonna do?

You gonna put the Presidentin that kind of thing?

No way.

Written in interrogatories by all means.

If he wants to get written answers,

give him written answers,

but don't put him intothat kind of a trap.

And no lawyer in hisright mind would do that.

The President shouldnot be faced with that

and if it's a Supreme Court showdown,

well by all means, have one.

But don't let the Presidentget set up for perjury.

John.

- Thanks, Pat.

Where should prison reform begin?

While lawmakers on CapitolHill work toward changing

the system, others saytackling incarceration

should start in the courtroom.

Amber Strong has the story.

- [Amber] To friends and family,

Matthew Charles appearedto be a model citizen.

- Matthew is a kind, considerate person.

Very good heart.

- He spent 21 years inprison on a drug charge.

He was released for twoyears and on an apparent path

to redemption until a technical error

put him back behind bars.

His case and others likeit are grabbing headlines

and the attention of everyone

from celebrities to the President.

Earlier this year, a bipartisan effort

to pass prison reformsailed through the House.

Now, criminal justice reformadvocates are in a race

against time to getsupport from the Senate.

Dubbed the First Step Act,

it aims to fund prisonredemption programs,

and allows certain prisonersthe chance to serve

out their time in halfway houses.

But when it comes to theSenate, there's another hurdle.

Groups on both sides of the aisle want

to see an effort to reform sentencing.

- You have judges aroundthis country who are saying,

"I don't think you deserve that."

"I don't want to send you away for life."

"You don't need to die inprison for society to be safe,

"but I have no choice becauseCongress passed this law."

So we have to get rid of these policies

and let judges have discretionwhen they sentence people.

- [Amber] Research shows theUS locks up a larger share

of its population than any other country,

due, in part, to mandatory,minimum sentences.

Fresh off a meeting with President Trump,

Senator Tim Scott sayshe's hopeful the Senate

can find a way to meet in the middle.

- The question is, isthere a way for us to add

on top of the prison reform legislation,

criminal justice reform thatwould give release valves

on nonviolent, perhapsfirst-time offenders,

as opposed to having to dealwith the mandatory minimums,

having a way to reduce the sentence.

That is a far more treacherous ground

for us to wade through.

- [Amber] In the past,

the Administration has notbeen open to sentencing reform,

but advocates tell CBNNEWS they see flickers

of hope from the President.

In the meantime,faith-based organizations,

like Prison Fellowship,will stand in the gap,

reaching out to prisonersbefore they are released.

- As Christians, we suit up,

we show up and we do whatChrist would have us do.

We go into the prisons.

As we heal the prisons in America,

I think we heal thecommunities in America.

- [Amber] Charles' girlfriend, Naomi,

believes faith makes the difference

in his journey then and now.

- Not once have I seen animosity or anger

throughout this whole situation.

He has a very strong spirit.

God is with him, no doubt.

- [Amber] Amber Strong,CBN News, Washington.

- Thanks, Amber.

Pat, back to you.

- You know, we've beenfollowing this whole thing.

We've had a series we'vecalled, A Nation of Criminals.

And it is a shocking truth thatthe United States of America

incarcerates more people, percentage wise,

than Soviet Russia or Communist China,

if you can believe that.

Now I've asked our newsdepartment to do a feature on it

and I think we're gonna haveone in the next week or so.

The agencies, notCongress, but the agencies,

have put something like300,000 criminal sanctions

in their rulings, 300,000 of them.

I want to find out how manypeople are incarcerated

because they violated some sanction

that was established by a Federal agency.

That's something the President,by the stroke of the pen,

can do away with.

But Congress, again, has yet to reform.

We had all this prisonreform thing and get tough

on crime and all this,but what's happened is,

we have mandatory, minimum sentences.

Now judges hands are tied

and we are putting people in jail.

They have a couple of joints of marijuana;

the next thing you know, they'vegot five years in prison.

And it's just outrageous.

The cost is extraordinary,but not only financially,

the cost in human capital.

What we're doing to people by putting

them into prison is terrible.

There's one thing to have rehabilitation

and to try to rehab people.

And there are programs

that are very beneficial in that regard,

but no, this is just,I don't know who it is,

the Democrats, Republicans or all of 'em.

But they had to run on I'm tough on crime.

I'll get elected, I'm gonna be tough.

Well, we hurt ourselvesvery badly and the President

has a way of changing it,

but we ought to getbefore him those agencies

that put people in prison forviolating one of their rules.

That's where we start.

John.

- Pat, President Trump sayshe won't make any concessions

with Turkey to get detainedAmerican Pastor, Andrew Brunson,

out of the country.

Trump told Reuters hethought he had a deal

with Turkey's President whenhe helped persuade Israel

to release a Turkishcitizen it had detained.

Mr. Trump said heexpected President Erdogan

to free Brunson, calling the Pastor,

quote, "very innocent and wonderful man

"and a great Christian father."

But Turkey denies it ever agreed

to release Brunson in return.

The Israeli security agencyknown as Shin Bet says

it has stopped at least 250terrorist attacks this year.

It's one reason why Israel is qualified

to help other nationsprevent such attacks.

CBN Middle East Bureau Chief,

Chris Mitchell, has that story.

(dramatic music)

(people screaming)

- [Chris] This terroristsimulation is part of a training

at Israel's National Police Academy.

- [Male] In a fire fight with a terrorist.

It's a sad defense, but wetrain them day and night

because this mass attackis not our imagination.

It's happened in Israel.

It's happened in the war.

And this is our job as acounter-terrorism unit,

to save and protect.

- For Israel, terrorism has been a reality

for more than 70 years.

A terrorist in a truckcarried out an attack

similar to the simulation two years ago.

He plowed into a group ofsoldiers, killing four.

That deadly terror attacktook place right here,

a popular place called theTayelet, overlooking Jerusalem.

And that's why these securitybarriers were installed

to prevent future attacks.

The reenactments were the grand finale

of the First InternationalHomeland Security Forum

in Jerusalem.

- We're sharing intelligence strategies,

how we deal with preventing those attacks,

how we can improvetransferring intelligence,

'cause when you have strong intelligence,

you can prevent a terroristattack from taking place.

- [Chris] It drew HomelandSecurity Ministers

from some 20 countries.

- The goal we've set before us,

enhancing our cooperation infighting terror incitement,

radicalization, and cyberthreats is extremely,

extremely complex.

- [Chris] According toPublic Security Minister,

Gilad Erdan, two definingcharacteristics make

up the current terror wave in Israel,

online incitement andradicalization combined

with easily accessible weapons.

Erdan says he doesn'tbelieve that democracies

are doomed to sufferfrom terrorism forever.

By working together, countriescan meet the challenges

to protect their citizensand make their country safe.

Chris Mitchell, CBN News, Jerusalem.

- Impressive andincredibly important work.