- [Announcer] This is CBN Newswatch.
- And thank you so much for joining us
for CBN Newswatch, I'm Efrem Graham.
Senate Democrats andRepublicans are talking about
the FBIs report on thesexual assault allegations
against Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
But no matter what it says,
Kavanaugh's Supreme Court confirmation
could come down to fivekey votes from both sides.
CBN's Jenna Browder is inWashington to break it all down.
- The countdown to the crucial vote is on,
as senators review the FBI's report
and determine whether ornot Judge Brett Kavanaugh
will sit on the Supreme Court.
- I'm filing cloture onJudge Kavanaugh's nomination.
- [Jenna] The announcementcoming late Wednesday night
form Senate MajorityLeader Mitch McConnell.
The FBI report is being closely guarded.
Each Senator given one hour to review it
in a secure room.
Democrats are complaining loudly
that the FBI didn't interviewKavanaugh's accuser,
Dr. Christine Blasey Ford.
But the White Housereportedly doesn't believe
the FBI probe supports thesexual misconduct claims
against Kavanaugh.
- Any response to the President's comment?
- [Jenna] Meantime tensionmounts on Capitol Hill,
where police have stepped up security
and are now escorting some lawmakers.
Because many senators,especially Republicans,
have been concerned about protestors.
- You guys really do, like,invade my comfort zone.
It's intense!
- [Jenna] On Wednesday theyarrested a Democratic intern
accused of posting thepersonal information,
home addresses, and phone numbers
of three Republican Senators.
The decision to confirm Judge Kavanaugh
comes down to a handful of senators
who could vote either way.
Republicans Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins,
and Jeff Flake.
And Democrats Joe Manchinand Heidi Heitkamp.
All condemned the President's comments
he made about Dr. Ford'stestimony against Kavanaugh
at a rally in Mississippi Tuesday night.
- How did you get home? I don't remember.
How'd you get there?
I don't remember.
Where is the place?
I don't remember.
- The President's commentswere just plain wrong.
- To discuss something thissensitive at a political rally
is just, it's just not right.
It's just not right.
I wish he hadn't of done it.
I just say it's kind of appalling.
- [Jenna] Even the President's close ally
Senator Lindsay Grahamsaid he would tell him
to knock it off,
though he was quick to defend Kavanaugh.
I don't like what thePresident said last night.
I'm the first person to say,
I wanna hear from Dr. Ford.
I thought she was handled respectfully.
I thought Kavanaugh was treated like crap.
- [Audience] Boo!
- Yeah, well boo yourself.
- But the President's commentsmay not have any impact
on the swing senators' votes.
The upcoming midterms play a big role
for Manchin and Heitkamp.
They're facing tough re-election battles
and voters in theirstates support Kavanaugh.
The two swing Democrats may wait to see
which way the threemoderate Republicans go.
The full Senate vote toconfirm Judge Kavanaugh
could come as soon as this weekend.
In Washington, Jenna Browder, CBN News.
- Jenna Ellis is theDirector of Public Policy
for the James Dobson Family Institute.
She joins us now with moreon the confirmation process.
So Jenna, the reaction inthe Senate and across America
is falling mostly along party lines.
How do you think the vote will go
with those key Senators?
- Well I think that the keySenators on the GOP side
are definitely needing torecognize what due process
and their faithful adherenceto the Constitution
really means.
Because we have toremember in context here,
a Senate confirmation hearingis not a criminal jury trial.
And so they're not ultimately determining
the guilt or innocence of Brett Kavanaugh
specifically to this allegation.
They're determining his fitness for office
and the FBI report andall previous reports
are showing that there's absolutely no
corroborating evidence or proof
that should sway their vote.
And so I think that, withthe USA Today even reporting
that there's about an 83%chance of confirmation,
I think there is a verygood indication here
that Judge Kavanaugh will be confirmed
even with the two Democraticsenators, as well.
- Let's shift to the culture here.
We have seen protests andcontention on the hill.
What should Americans remember
when it comes to our constitutionand exercising democracy?
- We have to rememberthat our constitution
placed specific limitedpowers to our government
for the sole purpose ofpreserving and protecting
our fundamental rights thatour Declaration of Independence
recognizes are given by God.
And so we don't have a direct democracy,
because people's whimsand feelings can change.
And we've seen that overthe course of America.
So we need to make surethat we do participate
in our constitutional republic process.
That's why Dr. Dobsonand our Dobson Center
are encouraging everyoneto get out and vote.
That is the element of theprocess we're very privileged,
and I believe have a moralobligation, to participate in.
But recognize that the founders were wise
by only inserting a very limited element
of democracy into ourconstitutional republic
so that we can makesure that our government
protects and preserves our freedoms.
And that's why we should bevoting with conservative values.
- Senator Rand Paul'swife wrote a commentary
and talked about theneed for extra security
and sleeping with a loadedgun by her head, in her bed.
What should this say to people
on both the left and the right?
- Unfortunately our culturehas really deteriorated
to the point that we are having
not just this type of hateful rhetoric
but actual actions toward each other.
The Bible calls us as Christians
to stand up for our valuesand absolutely to speak faith,
but speak faith and truth in love.
And so we need to make sure as Christians
that we are the first
that are really embracingaction on our faith
and that we're not participating
even if the culture is committingthese types of atrocities.
- If there are practical things
Christians are looking todo right now as we wait,
what would you say to them?
- Well, the best thing that wecan do is come November 6th,
get out and vote.
And you know Dr. Dobsonin a report by CBN,
and I'll quote him, he said,
"May we be careful with the way we speak
"and think and talk against those
"who are opposed to everything we believe.
"You have to maintain aspirit of charity and love
"and God will bless us if we do."
And so for Christianswho are really looking
to impact the culturebetween now and November,
we can speak that truth in love
and we can also encourageour fellow American citizens
to stand up for conservative values
and get out to the polls November 6th.
Because that's where ourvoice is the most heard,
when we are voting for thepeople who will represent us
in the federal and the state and local
elections in government.
- All right Jenna Ellis.
Thank you so much for your insights.
- Thank you.
- Many pastors acrossthe country are talking
about sexual abuse as the debate
over the Kavanaugh nomination plays out.
Pastor Miles McPherson ofRock Church in San Diego
is one of them.
Sunday, he encouraged abuse victims
attending his church service
to find a way to share their story.
- I had a guy come up to me that Sunday,
70-something years old.
Said, "I've never told anybody.
"I'm gonna tell somebody."
And he's 70-something years old.
I wanted to encourage all the victims,
one in three women, one in six guys,
who have been sexuallyabused in this country.
Most have never said anything.
And when you hold that in,
you relive that over and over again.
And the event creates lies in your head.
You're dirty, it's yourfault, you're damaged goods,
you're never gonna be loved.
That's all from the pit of hell.
And so need to minister to people.
We need to make coming forward easy.
Make accessible to themall the resources they need
to deal with that horribleact that's been violated.
- Pastor Miles McPhersonsays he encourages victims
to get counseling and tobe a part of a small group
in their church where they can continue
to share their journey.
A Utah man suspected ofmailing poisonous letters
to the White House and Pentagon
is in the custody of the FederalBureau of Investigations.
His name is William Clyde Allen III.
A Pentagon source says two envelopes
suspected of containingRicin were discovered
and isolated earlier this weekat a mail screening facility.
The letters appeared to onlycontain castor bean seeds,
which actually have to beprocessed to become Ricin.
But charges could stillbe filed against Allen
if it is determined the letterswere intended as a threat.
Flags are flying at halfstaff in South Carolina,
where a police officer wasshot and killed in a standoff.
Six other officers were injured.
52-year-old Terrence Carraway is described
as a caring man who loved giving back
to the Florence community,
where he served for years.
A sheriff from a neighboring county
is leading the investigation
and says his officers are focusing
on the families of the victims right now.
The suspected gunman opened fire
when police tried to serve a warrant.
Once again, he is now in custody.
Indonesia's death tollis now more than 1,400,
and it's expected to go even higher
following its latestquake tsunami disaster.
Some 200,000 people arein urgent need of help,
and CBNs Operation Blessing is there.
Our Lucille Talusan isfollowing them and their work.
(yells in foreign language)
- [Lucille] There is a growing desperation
among survivors of themassive 7.5 earthquake
and the tsunami that followed.
More than 70,000 aredisplaced and living in tents,
their homes flattened and destroyed.
The wait for help hasled to looting and chaos.
Clean water, food, and medical help,
among others, are badly needed.
Despite difficulties in logistics,
Indonesia's OperationBlessing managed to bring aid
to survivors in Palu.
They brought in boxes of food, medicine,
and gave medical helpto the sick and injured.
This mother is relieved thatan Operation Blessing doctor
can dress the stitched forehead of her son
before it gets infected.
This lady's wounded legis finally being treated
after she sprained it whilerunning from falling debris.
The team also reachedSigi Biromaru District
where the quake leveled a church,
killing more than 30youngsters having Bible study.
There are still many worse-hit areas
isolated due to damagedroads and landslides.
Operation Blessing teams are pushing
to reach more survivors inthese areas in the coming weeks
and bring them much needed help.
And to let them know that there are people
who care about them.
Lucille Talusan, CBN News.
- Coming up, how onepastor's series of sermons
led to some surprisingresults for several couples
and one big special day for them all.
But first on this nationalTake Your Bible To School Day,
we're showing you images sent in to us
from all across the country.
We begin with this short video by
Haylen Curly of Chandler, Texas.
- The reason why I'm bringingmy Bible to school today
is because I wanna share the love of God
with other people, sothat they can encounter
the same love of God that I do.
- Once other people knowthat you're a Christian,
you can help others.
- [Efrem] Psalms 119:11 says,
"I have treasured your word in my heart
"so I might not sin against you."
We'll be right back.
- A church in Carrollton,Texas recently performed
some special wedding ceremoniesfor cohabitating couples.
Our Heather Sells spoke withthe pastor of the church
about how it all started with a sermon.
- A church in Carrollton,Texas recently performed
some special wedding ceremoniesfor cohabitating couples.
Here to tell us moreis Pastor Pete Briscoe
with Bent Tree Bible Fellowship.
Pastor, thanks a lot for joining us.
- It's great to behere, thank you Heather.
- Tell us about theseceremonies that you performed.
What was the motivation?
- So, last Saturday we did seven weddings,
one after the other,
starting at 10 in the morning
and going until aboutfive in the afternoon.
The motivation was really,
I did a sermon on cohabitation.
Talked about the fact thatit was a cheap imitation
of the real thing.
That God really has two great ways
to live life in Christ.
One is as a single person.
One is a married person,but if we're cohabitating,
we're missing the benefitsof both of those things,
and we're settling for something
less than what God has for us.
And so I wanted to preach this message
and then at the end of itI didn't want to just say,
"Okay, now go and fix it."
I wanted to give peoplean opportunity to fix it.
And so at the end of theservice, we just said,
"Hey, here's an offer you can't refuse.
"If it's time for you to get married,
"we'll give you a free weddingon Saturday, come on down."
- Wow, how did the couplesrespond in terms of that?
I take it the couples who you just married
were the ones who cameforward after that sermon.
- Yes they were, and theresponses were just amazing.
They were couples allover the map, age-wise.
We had very young couples.
We had some couplesthat were in their 60s,
some that have been together for years,
some that had two orthree children already,
others that have been togetherjust a very short time.
But their response wasuniversally grateful.
They were just so happyto be able to do this.
Most of them had been having conversations
about getting married before the sermon.
But when they heard the sermon,
they sensed the spirit saying it's time.
And so it was really a special day.
We had a ton of fun,
and they were all just really grateful.
- Tell us about the original motivation
behind the sermon.
I'm sensing that perhaps you struggled
wondering how to best reachpeople in your congregation
and perhaps outside your congregation
who are living together.
- The motivation for the sermon,
I was doing a series,
it was a four-week series called Awkward.
And we talked about four topics
that are hard to talk about,
but we really do need to talk about them.
So cohabitation was one of those topics.
And the idea was that a lotof people in our culture,
maybe they found Christa little later in life
and no one ever told them
the way that it's supposed to work.
The way it works beautifullywhen God's in the middle of it.
And so I was working on the assumption
that we had a numberof people in our church
that were living together that
really didn't know any different.
Or maybe just hadn't taken the time
to obey the Lord in this.
And we really wanted togive them an opportunity
to be challenged by the spirit in that,
and to step into something much better
than what they were experiencing,
and that's exactly what happened.
- That's really wonderful.
- Going forward, do youthink you'll do this again?
Have you heard from any other churches
that might wanna replicatewhat you've done?
- I don't know if we'veheard from any churches.
I did an interview earlierin the week on Moody Radio
and encouraged churches to call our church
and ask for Melissa,our wedding coordinator,
if they'd like to look atdoing something like this.
And I haven't had a chance to talk to her,
but we'd love to help any churches
that would like to do something like this.
What we've discovered is,
a lot of these younger couples especially,
they're in a place financially
where they can't afford a wedding,
and that's one of the reasonswhy they don't get married.
And so, offering a free wedding
really can help couples take this step.
So, we really strongly encouragechurches to give it a try.
- Alright, Pastor Briscoe,that's a very uplifting message.
Thanks for your time.
- You bet, thank you, Heather!
- Still ahead and inanother part of the world,
a nation votes on thedefinition of marriage,
in the culture debate overthe biblical institution.
But first, we love God'sword here at CBN News.
And here's a picture of two sisters
who took their bibles to school today.
"With all my heart, do not letme stray from your commands."
Voters in Romania will decide on a measure
defining marriage asbetween a man and a woman.
CBN's Mark Martin spoke with Tudor Petan,
President of Alfa Omega TV,
a Christian television station in Romania,
about this important vote.
- What is the goal of the referendum?
- So, according to this referendum,
asked by 3 million people,
we want to have a small change
in the constitution of Romania,
and to allow the constitutiondefine the family
as a free will marriage between spouses.
And we want to have a small change
that the marriage is between,
a union between a man and a woman.
This is a small change,but with big significance.
- Why is it necessary to define marriage
as between one man and onewoman in the constitution?
- Yes, we have in the civil code
and in other place of the legislation,
we have a specificationthat the marriage is
between a man and a woman,
but in the constitution, it's not defined.
It's only between spouses,
and in a way, it's a big pressure.
As in all other countries,
by LGBT movement,
and never knows when,if we keep this family
as a marriage between spouses,
we expect it that soon,they will be able to change
even in the civil law,
and it's not a small, insignificant change
to the constitution, butit's a stand in front of God,
that we preserve the familyvalues here in Romania,
and we declare very clearly,
in front of the whole other nation,
and in front of our citizen,
that the marriage is between man and wife.
And looking in the future,
already it's a big pressureover our kids in our schools,
to introduce LGBT agenda,education, gender ideology.
So we want to preserve,
and to avoid future involvementof LGBT in our nation.
And in fact, we want tobe the same side with God
in our nation.
- Tudor, how strong isthe church in Romania?
- Shortly, in Romania,the majority of the church
are orthodox flavor.
I think around 85 percentage.
There are also six toseven Catholic members,
and also three percentage, maybe four,
evangelical group, Pentecostal,Baptist, other groups.
So almost all, like never before,
this referendum bringtogether all the church,
all the church leaders.
And I think all are pro.
But also, inside thechurch, there are groups,
there are people whoare different thinking.
We don't want to forcethem to go to the vote,
but many, all the church,are pro-referendum,
pro-family, in fact.
- Are biblical valueslike traditional marriage
being challenged there?
Can you elaborate alittle bit more on that?
- Oh, yes, it's a biblical value,
because here, we pray a lot.
And like never before, many prayer group,
prayer initiative arein this time, together.
Some people pray 21 days,fasting and praying.
Like Esther, where a recentcall, even from our studio,
came like three days of fasting and pray,
as in the Esther time,
because for the time as this,
we are call as a media,as a church leader,
to pray for our nation.
It's a big significance.
It's not a simple decision,
political decision, civil decision.
It's a decision where our nation will
align our nation withGod's plan for the future.
It's very important.
It's not a political decision.
Even not a civil decision,
it's a biblical decision forthe future of our nation.
- Alright, Tudor Petan,President of Alfa Omega TV.
Thanks so much for joining us
and sharing with us your insight, sir.
- So, hope for good news in few days.
- Yes, thank you, thanks again.
- [Efrem] And we'll be right back,
but first, here's anotherphoto sent in from a viewer
who participated in TakeYour Bible to School today.
Here's a look also at Psalm 119:9.
It says, "How can a young personstay on the path of purity?
"By living according to your word."
- And we're going to closetoday with more images
from Take Your Bible to School Day.
But first, a reminder that you can find
more of our exclusivecoverage of the issues
you care most about at cbnnews.com.
We'd also love to knowwhat you think about
the stories you've seen here today.
You can do that byemailing newswatch@cbn.com.
Also, reach out and touchus on Facebook, Twitter,
as well as Instagram.
And Focus on the Family is sponsoring
Take Your Bible to School Day,
encouraging students across the country
to take their bibles to school,
something they are free to do.
We wanna leave you with more pictures
from parents and familythat were sent in to us.
Some excited, smiling children,
proudly taking their biblesto class with them today.
Until next time, make it a great day.
(Christian worship music)
