- [Announcer] This is CBN Newswatch.

- And thank you so much for joining us.

I'm Efrem Graham.

Today we are looking at Florence

as it storms ever closer to the Carolinas

bringing with it powerful winds

and a potentially deadly storm surge.

We'll look at this potential impact

and we'll have a reportfrom North Carolina

on the people there as they get ready.

Plus, is there bias against conservatives

and Christians in social media?

One group says it's going tostart tracking that issue.

And looking at the tragic shooting death

of a worship leader in Texas.

We've got that story today as well.

But we begin with the hurricane Florence.

It's the calm before the storm

as Florence closes in on the Carolinas.

The monster storm has beendowngraded to a category two

but still poses a serious threat.

Forecasters are predicting a storm surge

that could reach 13 feet in some places

and up to 40 inches of rain.

In the meantime, the timeto evacuate is running out.

At Ft. Bragg in North Carolina,

the 82nd Combat AviationBrigade has moved out.

And in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

hospitals are racing to evacuate patients.

Another concern are nuclear power plants

and other reactive areas in the Carolinas.

Along with Governors and area officials,

President Donald Trump had this warning

for people in the storm's path.

- Get out of its way.

Don't play games with it, it's a big one.

It's called mother nature,you never know, but we know.

- Forecasters say don'tbe fooled by Florence's

newly downgraded category two status.

Just to give you some perspective,

super storm Sandy was a category one

when it reached land in 2012.

As Florence closes in,

more than a million wereordered to leave their homes

and they are scrambling tofinish last minute preparations.

CBN's national security correspondent,

Erik Rosales brings us this story

from the storm zone in North Carolina.

- [Erik] Time is runningout to evacuate safely

and emotions are running high.

- This beautiful beach here.

I just can't imaginewhat it's gonna be like

when we come back.

It's in God's hand.

And we don't know whythings happen but they do.

And we can't control any of that.

- Here in WrightsvilleBeach, North Carolina

it is definitely thecalm before the storm.

The sun is out.

The wind is blowing a bit.

But it's definitely not the weather

that you'd predict with acategory three hurricane

just a few hundred milesoff the shore line.

A number of people have heeded the warning

and have packed up theirbelongings and headed off.

But some are deciding to stay.

- We're all boarded up.

Got our shutters shut andplywood on the windows

and we're battened down

and got enough for over aweek, water and what not.

- [Erik] So you're actuallygonna ride it out in your home?

- Oh yeah, yeah we are.

- We're expecting a number of supplies

that will be used byvolunteers to kind of assist

the victims of the storm in the aftermath.

- [Erik] Churches andfaith-based organizations

are gathering supplies tohelp care for those who will

be displaced after themassive storm leaves its mark.

- We have a number of feeding units

which are capable of feedingtens of thousand people a day.

We can have laundry unitswhich also help with some

of the immediate needs of the storm.

We also have volunteerswho are stand ready

with chainsaws andother equipment to help.

- [Erik] Others turned to social media

and held live prayer sessions

asking God to cause HurricaneFlorence to lose strength.

- Before it was over with,

I had about 1,600 people that were a part

have been part of praying withus about Hurricane Florence.

- And for a closer look right now

at where Florence is going,

Chief Forecaster forWeather Bell Analytics

Joe Bistardi joins us.

So Florence downgradednow to a category two.

Do you expect it to gainor lose strength today?

- Well I think it's gonnagain some strength today

but keep in mind thatwhat we're looking at here

is a storm that's expanding its wind fill.

Let's understand the Saffir-Simpson scale

says it's looking atthe maximum wind speed

anywhere in a storm and if for instance

suppose you had a 115mile an hour max winds

and you're a categorythree but that's only

ten miles wide.

Is that storm worse than a storm that has

100 mile an hour winds but they extend out

100 miles from the center?

You gotta understand sothe storm has spread out.

It's a bigger storm.

Hurricane force winds aregonna be extending out

75, 100 miles to the northeast

and 50 to 100 miles to thesouthwest of the center.

So it's a 200 mile diameterof hurricane winds.

Whether the center of winds areas strong as what they were.

So it has weakened a little bit.

I actually had an explanationfor that yesterday,

I put on Weatherbell.com's blog about,

it looked like it wasgetting distorted some

by a little bit of dryair feeding into the storm

and also the unusual configuration

of sea surface temperatures.

Usually don't have warmerwater to the northwest

and that may have beencompeting for the convergence

at the center.

In other words, that when these bands

get over the warm water way out in front

of the hurricane,

they take energy away fromthe center of the storm.

That being said as it gets to the coast,

or it gets closer to the coast,

it should converge a little bit more.

When you get more convergence

and air piling in at the center,

it's probably gonna wrap up.

It's a bigger storm this morning

than it was yesterday.

But it's sort of like arguing whether

you got a fullback running the football

or a tailback that's running the football.

The tailback's a lot faster,

but the fullback, if he hits you

is still gonna pack a real punch.

So there's no backingdown on the magnitude

of this storm in relationto where it's gonna hit.

Now there is some disagreement

mainly with me and a little bit,

but I think this stormis gonna really slow down

and turn southwest along the coast.

A lot of the modeling and the US modeling

and certainly HurricaneCenter is bringing it inland

further north and Icertainly later on today

we have to see if this slowing down trend

and the turn more to thesouthwest looks more apparent.

But the fact is it variance.

You folks in Wilmongton,

you're gonna be under asiege for one to two days

of hurricane force wind gusts.

And there's gonna bethree to four feet of rain

in some places because of this.

And so for the area Ithink from Cape Lookout

all the way down to Myrtle Beach

and to about 50 miles inland.

This is the equivalent of what Harvey did

around the Houston area, asfar as the rainfall goes.

And the wind along the coast

I mean, it's gonna rival anyhurricane that's hit in there,

especially that area fromCape Lookout to Cape Fear.

- So bottom line at force right now,

you say that people should not be fooled

Florence is still the beastthat it was advertised to be.

- Yes, absolutely.

You know it's interesting inthe calls you have to make

when you are the National Hurricane Center

because you have certain,I mean, literally

it's a category two accordingto the Saffir-Simpson scale.

My power and impact scale that I developed

ten years ago after Ike.

Remember Ike went in as a category two.

But anybody that experiencedIke in southeast Texas

knows that was a majorhurricane as far as the damage.

$25 billion in damage andit was a fast-moving storm.

So my argument is well let'slook at the overall power

of the storm and you can lookat it on the cloud photograph.

You don't need me to tell you.

Just look at the cloud photograph,

you can see it expanding like it is.

So it's a big, powerful,Atlantic hurricane

coming right into NorthCarolina initially.

And then, you have to seewhether it wants to turn back

to the southwest and hug the coast

all the way down to Charleston

before finally making its way inland.

It's every bit, whenit's all said and done,

it's gonna be every bitwhat was advertised.

In spite of the details, andthe devil is in the details

at the end game of any storm.

- Indeed, indeed.

Joe Bastardi Chief Forecasterfor WeatherBell Analytics.

Again thank you so much for being with us.

- Thank you for having me.

- CBN's Operation Blessingbegan making plans

to help victims before Florence arrived

at the US east coast andis preparing to move in

as soon as the storm clears.

Our Heather Sells brings us this look

at how Operation Blessing

and other Christiangroups are getting ready

to help those who willbe in desperate need.

- Disaster relief groupslike Operation Blessing

are positioning themselvesup and down the east coast

right now waiting to get more of a sense

of where Florence will land.

We'll hold some back herein the Virginia Beach area.

If it's highly impacted here,

then we'll pre-deploy somewherein southeastern Virginia.

We haven't chosen a place yet.

- [Heather] VirginiaBeach-based Operation Blessing

is one of a number of faithbased humanitarian groups

watching Florence closely,

and getting ready tohelp those most in need.

It plans to serve meals to volunteers

and provide everything fromemergency relief supplies

to construction tools for rebuilding.

Mercy Chefs spent Tuesday loading

two of its mobile kitchens.

Each of which can produceup to 15,000 meals a day.

- That's our goal is to beon site within eight hours

of a disaster and feedthese incredibly dedicated

men and women that give so muchto their local communities.

- Mercy Chefs is preparingto serve meals to

first responders and those in shelters

in its hometown area inHampton Roads, Virginia

as well as North Carolina.

- Mercy Chefs is usedto running to the fight.

We always run where the greatest need is.

We're sort of a littleback on our heels this time

because the fight's coming to us.

- [Heather] Other faith-based groups

like World Vision, Samaritan's Purse,

and Convoy of Hope spentTuesday loading supplies

and sending trucks to stateswhere Florence may hit

and then unload.

Some areas are getting readyfor two feet of rain or more.

The challenge right now,

positioning resources in themost strategic locations.

Florence is so wide,

and the surge over theweekend could be so great

that disaster reliefgroups are still waiting

to make final decisions.

- You wanna put thosefolks in a place where

you kind of catch the falling knife.

You don't want 'em tobe victims in the storm.

But you want 'em to beable to get into the

high impact areas as quickly as possible.

- [Heather] Still all eyesare on North Carolina for now.

Florence is expected toslam the coast there harder

than any hurricane since 1954.

Heather Sells, CBN News.

- Here now is a look at someof the other major stories

we're following for you todayinside the CBN Newsroom.

The Vatican says PopeFrancis will meet with US

church officials Thursdayfollowing new sex abuse

and cover up revelations.

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, the head

of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops

says he wants answers.

And he is calling forthe meeting with the Pope

and other Catholic leaders.

The meeting comes after revelations

ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrickrose through the church ranks

despite allegations of sexual misconduct.

DiNardo wants the Pope toauthorize a full fledged

investigation on McCarrick.

Liberal activists in Maineare pushing to derail

Judge Brett Kavanaugh's nominationto the US Supreme Court.

The Maine People's Alliance

and Mainers For Accountable Leadership

have joined forces topush pro-choice Republican

Senator Susan Collins tovote against Kavanaugh.

The group has raised more than $1 million

and are threatening toremove her from office

if she votes in favor of him.

In a statement to Newsmax Collins says

their efforts wouldnot influence her vote.

The American Center For Law and Justice

delivered an oral presentationbefore the United Nations

this week urging them to help free

American pastor Andrew Brunson.

Brunson has been imprisoned in Turkey

for nearly two years becauseof his Christian faith.

Last month the Turkishcourt denied an appeal

to release the pastor.

Now the ACLJ is pleading for his release.

They claim Turkey is violatingnot only its obligations

under the UN charter,but its own Constitution.

The US State Department is also working

to bring Brunson home.

Coming up, a communityis searching for answers

in the tragic shooting deathof a young worship leader

by a Dallas police officer.

We've got this story when we come back.

(exciting music)

As we reported earlier this week,

a tragic incident betweena Dallas police officer

and a young worship leader inDallas left one person dead

and a community longing for answers.

Our Amber Strong is takinga closer look at this story.

♪ Then a little light from Heaven ♪

♪ Filled my soul ♪

- [Amber] Friends of Botham Jean

are looking to God for strength.

- And so Father in this situation,

this tragic situation, we ask for justice.

- [Amber] While communityleaders want action

after a tragic shooting involvinga Dallas police officer.

- We long for answers.

And we're demanding for justice.

- Officer Amber Guygeradmits to shooting Jean

a 26 year-old worship leader,

after mistakenly entering his apartment

thinking it was her own.

Guyger now faces manslaughtercharges in the shooting.

According to the arrest warrant,

Guyger yelled verbal commands,

fired two shots, striking Jean once.

She then called dispatch,turned on the lights,

and noticed she was inthe wrong apartment.

- The Grand Jury will beable to look at all aspects

of this case which will include anything

from murder, manslaughter,or what have you.

- [Amber] Jessica Berry whosays she regularly sat next

to Jean at the DallasWest Church of Christ

tells CBN News she's strugglingto make sense of it all.

- [Jessica] We can'tbelieve that he's gone.

Both suddenly and the waythat he left this Earth.

- [Amber] Berry creditsJean for helping her

learn the true meaning of worship.

- [Berry] There wasn't a songthat he sung half-heartedly.

He believed in connectingwith God during worship.

- [Amber] Berry says Jeanwould always be the first one

to step up and lead.

Now she says it's her turn to step up.

- [Berry] The situation will not go away

and will not become stale.

(choir vocalizing)

Because Botham would not want that.

If this happened to anyone else

and Botham was still alive,

he would still be talking about it.

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

- Up next how one mediawatchdog is on the lookout

for bias and evencensorship on social media

against conservatives andChristians and others.

We're gonna have thatconversation when we come back.

A new videotape obtained by Breitbart.com

shows executives at Google in shock

and lamenting DonaldTrump's victory in a meeting

shortly after the 2016Presidential election.

But Google said in responsethat nothing was said

at that meeting to indicatethat bias influences

its products and that itsproducts are built for everyone.

CBN News has brought you many stories

of reported bias andcensorship on social media

and the tech giants allegedly

often bow to political correctness.

CBN's Mark Martin spoke with Dan Gainor

with the Media Research Center

about a special effort to track and expose

the possible bias.

- Tell us about this newTech Watch initiative.

- Well what happened last year,

my boss Brett Bozell came to me and said

he kept listening, we were interacting,

talking about the problemthat you all reported,

many outlets reported,problems conservatives have had

on the various socialmedia, Twitter, Facebook,

Google, Youtube, and others.

And we wanted to dig into it,

we've been digging into it for some time,

we've released a major special report,

massive special report, back in April,

and we've been following it more closely.

And he decided we really neededto make a firm commitment.

The MRC is leading a coalition right now,

of conservatives againstonline censorship.

And that coalition has about

40 different conservativeorganizations in it,

and he thought we reallyneeded to make a statement

to show just how strongly we're pushing

to defend the conservativemovement on these platforms.

- Well Dan, break it down forus, how big is this problem?

- As big as the world, andI don't say that jokingly.

Facebook's got 2.2 billionfollowers on Facebook.

Twitter is the mostdominant news platform,

so the people you find onthere are think-tank people,

journalists, politicians,so to be censored off there,

you're cut away from basically the people

who are making news.

YouTube is the number one video platform

and Google is far and away thenumber one search platform.

So just those four outletsand the conservative movement

is cut off from reachingmuch of the world.

If you expand it beyond them,

and the problem does go beyond them,

you're talking aboutthe top tech companies

basically having a net worththat is something akin to

what a GDP that a major nation would have,

one of the top couplenations of the world.

It's staggering when youthink about the trillions

of dollars of worth thatthese organizations have.

- [Mark] Are they reallyhoping to silence conservative

thinkers, and if so, shouldall Americans be concerned?

- Well all Americans shoulddefinitely be concerned,

I'm increasingly seeing liberals

be worried about this issue too.

And "they" is a very nebulous term,

what's happened is there'sa mixture of some policies

that are deliberate, somethings that are accidental,

some things where you hireemployees who are liberal

and they enforce thingswith their worldview,

so there's, it's not thisone ominous Big Brother.

I think we all read Orwell,

we're all concerned about that idea.

It turns out, Orwell, it'snot a giant government,

it's companies in many casesthat think they mean well.

The number one problemwe keep running into,

for conservatives, is thisnebulous term "hate speech"

and the left thinks hate speech means

"we can silence anythingwe disagree with."

- Well what, go ahead.

- I was gonna say, when inreality you can interpret

almost everything they doany of a number of ways.

The Facebook policy thatincludes the hate speech,

is 8,000 words long and then links out

to another 2,600 words,it's insurmountable.

- Well how can folks learnmore about Tech Watch, Dan?

- Well they should go to newsbusters.org,

Tech Watch has its own tab now,

a lot of stories that we've been doing

is part of our standardcoverage, our place there,

but we basically have a commitmentto doing regular stories

and that's one of the manythings that we're gonna be doing

as part of this ongoing effort.

- Alright, Dan Gainor withthe Media Research Center,

thanks for your time, sir.

- Thank you very much.

- [Announcer] Still ahead, seehow CBN is helping Christians

praise Jesus in the streets of Ecuador.

We're gonna have that story,when CBN Newswatch continues,

right after this.

(exciting music)

- CBN International is in Ecuador,

praising Jesus in the streets.

Every summer, hundreds of Christians

parade through the streetsfor the March for Jesus event.

This year, CBN's Orphan'sPromise helped to organize

the march, more than 100 children from

area Orphan's Promiseprojects joined in the parade,

where they danced and sang praises to God.

Pastors from surroundingcountries like Columbia

and Argentina attended theevent, and are now planning to

launch marches in their owncountries in the coming years.

You can find out moreabout what CBN is doing

around the world by visitingcbn.com/international.

Alright now, it is timefor your Thursday Thankful

and I hope you will join mein this prayer of gratitude.

Father, I sincerely thank you

that I only have to chaseafter you and in doing that,

your blessings are drawn to me.

Remember this, a life witha single focus on Christ

is actually most fulfillingin all other areas,

the word of God says,"seek ye first the kingdom

"and all other thingswill be added unto you."

With that single truth, Iencourage you to make this

an extremely thankful Thursday.

That is gonna do it for thisedition of CBN Newswatch.

Remember you can always findmore of our exclusive coverage

of the issues out at cbnnews.com.

And we would love to hear what you think

about the stories you've seen here today.

You can do that byemailing newswatch@cbn.com.

You can also reach out and touch us

on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

While this concludes thisportion of the newscast,

remember the news continues24/7 at cbnnews.com,

we're updating that foryou throughout the day,

bringing you the latestin what's happening.

Hope you'll join us againright here, next time.

Make this a thankful Thursday,we'll see you tomorrow.

(exciting music)