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- Pressure mounts onSaudi Arabia as the world
looks for answers into thedisappearance of a journalist.
Welcome to Faith Nation,I'm Jenna Browder.
- And I'm John Jessup.
The President taking to Twitter today,
saying the Crowned Prince denies
knowing what took place inside
the Saudi Consulate in Turkey.
- [Jenna] Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
is in Saudi Arabia meeting with officials
as tensions rise over what happened
to journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
- CBN's National SecurityCorrespondent Erik Rosales
joins us, Erik, the US andSaudi Arabia are allies,
so how is this affecting thesituation between the two?
- Well I tell you what guys,
this is a very complicated issue.
While it's important tosend a strong message
that the killing of a journalist is wrong,
Saudi Arabia is a strongally to the United States.
Plus Saudi's location givesthe US strategic advantages
in combating the threat of ISIS.
Middle East experts saywith the Secretary of State
on the ground, strongdiscussions in private
could lead to negotiations to
bring those responsible forward.
Secretary of State MikePompeo arrived in Saudi Arabia
over night on a mission to get answers.
- I thank you for hosting me.
- [Erik] Pompeo met withSaudi Royalty hoping
to find out what happened to
Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
Khashoggi was last seenentering the Saudi Consulate
to get paperwork forhis marriage weeks ago.
- We're gonna try getting tothe bottom of it very soon.
- [Erik] President Trump said he spoke
with the Saudi King on Monday.
- The King firmly deniedany knowledge of it.
He didn't really know,maybe, I don't want to
get into his mind butit sounded to me like
maybe these could've been rogue killers.
Who knows.
- [Erik] Turkishauthorities reportedly claim
they have tapes proving thereporter was interrogated,
tortured, and then murdered.
Flight records obtainedby ABC News show two
private planes from Saudi Arabia arriving
in Istanbul and departing the same day.
Turkish officials allegethey carried a 15 man
Saudi hit squad, whilePro-Saudi media claims
they were simply tourists.
While Pompeo looks foranswers, Congress is
gearing up to take action of it's own.
- He had this guy murdered in a Consulate
in Turkey and to expect me to ignore it,
I feel used and abused.
I'm gonna do, I'm gonna sanction
the hell out of Saudi Arabia.
- [Erik] But Middle Eastexperts say the United States
next move must not damagethe close partnership
with the Saudi's.
- Certainly the Russians and the Chinese
would like to takeadvantage of any kind of
conflict between Washington and then Riad,
the Saudi capital.
And so I think that certainly
this is a delicate situation.
- [Erik] Nile Gardiner withthe Heritage Foundation
says Iran, a regionalrival of Saudi Arabia
comes into play as well.
He says Iran would bethe prime beneficiary
if the Saudi's were to losetheir defensive US umbrella.
- The United States issupporting Saudi Arabia
in it's military effortsagainst Iranian backed
Hugi rebels inside Yemen.
So it's a very complex picture.
- Gardiner and othersbelieve that the Trump
administration may likely bring limited
economic sanctions, onlyagainst those responsible
for the suspected murder.
Similar to what happened inTurkey's Justice Minister
in the detainment ofPastor Andrew Brunson.
Erik Rosales, CBN News.
- Erik.
Well, Claire Lopez with theCenter for Security Policy
joins us now for more, Clairethanks for being here with us.
- Thanks for having me.
- With reports from Turkeysaying Khashoggi's body
was cut up into piecesafter he was tortured
and treated so badly, why should the US
trust these Saudi leaderswhen they say they don't
know what happened to him?
- Well I think it's verydifficult to use the word
trust with the Saudi'son this particular issue.
Number one, we have to remember that
whatever Jamal Khashoggiformer ties were to
the Muslim brotherhoodand previous to that
even, earlier in his careerwith Osama Bin Laden.
He was a US person, hewas a permanent resident.
We have the right, andPresident Trump and also
Secretary of State Pompeohave the obligation
to hold to account those who it looks like
are responsible for hisdisappearance at a minimum,
and probably murder.
While it may be that KingSolomon himself is not
aware of what happened,there is not much likelihood
that the Crowned PrinceMuhammad Bin Salmad
is unaware of what happened.
- Claire, as you just mentionedthe Saudi Crowned Prince
did speak with both SecretaryPompeo and the President today
promising a full investigation.
Do you think that that's likely to happen?
- I think that we the United States
need to insist that it happen.
We need to insist that those responsible
be held to account, evenif that means the Saudi
Crowned Prince, butthen, all of that said,
we do need keep in mind that the bilateral
relationship between the United States
and the Saudi's is an important one.
No, they're not our allies.
But they are partnersin the regional issues
that are very close toUS National Security
including countering the Iranian regime of
their nuclear weapons program.
And remember all of thebases, the facilities we have
in the region, rememberthe critical water waste.
Strait of Hormuse, Bab-el-Mandeb, these
are important issues onwhich the Saudi's are
partners with the UnitedStates, not allies.
Partners for these issues, but that said,
we must demand full accountability.
This was a US person, not todemand that accountability.
And then to demand a price,to demand that punishment
that President Trump mentionedwill be extremely important
for our own credibility and for
the respect of the UnitedStates to stand up for it's own
persons as a permanent resident is.
- Claire Lopez, Vice Presidentfor research and analysis
for the Center for SecurityPolicy, thank you so much
for joining us.
- Thank you.- Well, the US military
says it has conductedit's deadliest airstrike
against the extremist groupAl Shabob in nearly a year.
About 60 Al Shabob fighters were
killed in the attack in Somalia.
The US military has carried out more than
two dozen airstrikes againstthe Al Keida linked group.
Al Shabob is the deadliestIslamic extremist group
in Sub Saharan America.
- A CBN Senior internationalreporter George Thomas,
has been to Somalia andcovered this battle against
Al Shabob, George, whatis Al Shabob's goal here?
- In essence they want toturn the nation of Somalia
into an Islamic state.
They have waged a fiercebattle for close to about
10 years to try andoverthrow the secular imposed
government in Mogadishuand they wanted to turn
it into an Islamic country.
That is ruled not by secularismbut by Islamic Sharia law.
- The Trump administration,what's it doing George,
to tackle these terrorgroups and their activities?
- When the administration came into office
and shortly thereafter,they upped the anti
against Al Shabob in 2017.
They launched dozens of airstrikes against the group
this year, more thantwo dozen have already
been launched from variousneighboring countries
against the terror group.
Clearly they're trying to send a signal
to Al Shabob that they knowwhere they're activities
are taking place, and theyknow that they are aggressively
recruiting amongstdisenfranchised African youth
who are primarily, in asense, they are exasperated
by what's going on onthe African continent.
- Boko Haram, of course, theother deadly terror group
on the African continent hasgotten most of the attention
really in recent years, howdoes it stack up to Al Shabob?
- You're absolutely right, Jenna.
Boko Haram continues to,whether it's in Nigeria parts
of Niger, and the sub SaharanAfrica, they do continue
to gain the spotlight andcapture the spotlight.
But Al Shabob, lets be veryclear, they are a serious threat
across the African continents,specifically for the
nation of Kenya, a nation Ihave traveled to extensively
documenting Al Shabob's atrocities there.
They continue to try to also
overthrow the Kenyan government.
- They've been particularlycruel toward Christians,
talk about that George.
- Yeah, just a couple of daysago, two Christian teachers
in the northeastern partof Nigeria were killed
by Boko Haram extremists.
They have targeted Christianschools, Christian villages,
cities that the border theSomali, Kenya territory,
again another area that I'vetraveled to extensively.
But look, what we havehere is there's a large
swathe of the Africancontinent, many African
continents that really are lawless places.
And so these terror groupslike Al Shabob, Al Keida,
Boko Haram, they go into these countries,
into these areas that islawless, they have no police
presence, no military presence.
And they use these places for training.
And then on top of that,they use modern technology
to be able to go online and to recruit.
And to give the sense to the Muslim world,
to Muslims across the African continent
that you're religion is under attack
by principally the West,principally the United States.
And they paint Americaas a Christian nation
that's attacking the Muslim community,
the Muslim Oma, and soyou've got this combination
of lawlessness, and theInternet, and it's a perfect
recipe for recruitment,funding, and training
for future terror attacks.
- George, we appreciateyou reporting on this.
There's really no one better when it comes
to this, George Thomas, thank you.
- You're welcome, thanks.- Well Jenna,
just three weeks to gobefore the first midterm
elections since PresidentTrump won the White House.
The question many are stilltrying to figure out is
who will walk away withcontrol of Congress?
One senate race CBN Newshas had a close eye on
is in Texas, Senator TedCruz is facing challenger
Beto O'Rourke, tonight the two will
hold their last debate ahead of the vote,
our Capital Hill CorrespondentAbigail Robertson
is in San Antonio for that debate.
Look for the coverage on CBNNews as the week continues.
- Well with just 21 daysto go, many candidates
like Cruz and O'Rourke aremaking their final appeal
to voters, the trickypart really is remembering
what works in one state or election,
really may not work in another.
- That's right Jenna, DavidBrody, and Amber Strong
bring us that story from Washington.
- [narrator] Politicians theysay one thing and do another.
Barry Moore isn't a politician,he's Alabama's most--
- [David] Well Republicansrunning in this falls
midterm elections, therewill be one Shakespearean
query that they're gonnahave to answer when it comes
to running in the age of Trump.
To embrace or not to embrace,that is the question.
So far, mixed results, inSouth Carolina Republican
Mark Sanford challenged thePresident on numerous issues.
And he lost in his primary race.
- It may have cost meelection in this case,
but I stand by everyone of those decisions
to disagree with the President--
- [David] Sanford is a solid conservative,
but with Trump as Presidentyou defy him at your peril.
- We're in a strangepeople, I mean, it's almost
it's becoming a cultish thing isn't it?
- [David] Then again,embracing Trump too much can
cost you as well, a Republicancandidate for governor
in Georgia went all in on immigration.
Even campaigning in thestate in what he called his
Deportation Bus tour.
- We're not just gonna trackthem, watch them roam around
our state, we're gonnaput them on this bus
and send them home.
- [David] He lost big time.
So what's the right mixwhere you incorporate
Trump like boldness.
- You are fake dudes.
- With conservative principles.
The truth is, nobodyknows the right answer.
A lot is gonna depend onthe district the candidate
is running in, and a lot's gonnadepend on President Trump's
Twitter feed, that couldcause too many headaches
for candidates to bear.
And speaking of headaches,the democrats have their
share of pain inducingmoments coming up in
these midterms as well.
With more on that, mycolleague, Amber Strong, Amber?
- When it comes to the democratic party,
flickers of 2016 as the battlebetween the establishment
and the progressives continue.
- We are writing the nextchapter of Georgia's future.
Where no one is unseen, no one unheard,
and no one is uninspired.
- [Amber] From state racesto congressional primaries,
we've seen candidatesroll the dice by moving
from the middle and winning bigwith a progressive platform.
- I've waited tables.
- [Amber] Case in point,democratic socialist
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, sheousted veteran congressman
Joe Crowli in New York's 14th district.
- Oh my god.
- [Amber] Cortez told CBN News her success
was less about the socialist label,
and more about appealingto the working class.
- Working class issues thateven I think republican
voters want as well.
My goal is to make surethat every working family
is covered with dignified healthcare.
Dignified and affordable healthcare,
that every child canhave access to a college
or trade school educationif they choose it.
That no family feels like they're instable
in their housing or their homebecause it's too expensive.
Those are my goals.
- [Amber] Some questionwhether that same message
can work on a nationallevel, or even statewide.
Regardless, former DNCChairwoman Donna Brazile
tells CBN News, democrats need to learn
from their losses in 2016.
- We have to talk aboutissues that resonates
with the American people,whether it's kitchen table
issues, jobs, how do werebuild our infrastructure.
The American peoplewant to hear solutions,
they don't want to heargratuitous attacks.
- All important thingsto remember for a big tip
party searching for a unified message.
Amber Strong, CBN News, Washington.
- Well Jonathan Merrittwrites about the intersection
of culture and politics, Jonathan, clearly
we're still three weeksaway from midterm elections.
That evangelical vote hasalways been somewhat up
for grabs, voters overwhelminglyvoted for President
Trump in 2016, four years beforeRomney, they voted for him,
but Trump won by a greater margin.
How are things shapingup this time around?
- Well you know you havethis fracturing among
the evangelical vote and thereare a lot of evangelicals
even conservative ones,who oppose this President
either wholesale or ona range of issues that
they feel like don't reflect their views
and their values.
However, if you look at hissupport, it's still quite
strong up into the 70's percentage wise.
And it's going to bea question of turnout.
Is it's going to be a question of whether
evangelicals are reallyexcited about Donald Trump
or whether they're holdingtheir nose and supporting them.
And so I think we'll havea lot of conversations
after this midterm electionto see how many people
actually turned out tosupport the republican party.
- Absolutely, you writeabout, in the New York Times,
you have this piece inthere, where you talk to
the Barda group, andthe study you conducted,
I found it so interesting.
70% of American'sidentify as Christian, yet
3/4 of American's do not have
spiritual or religious conversations,
I guess my question for you is
is this talk of God, whydo you think we see this?
There's such a disparity there?
- Well there is, there's thismassive crisis happening.
And a lot of people aren'tnoticing it which is
that there are an increasinglylarge portion of American's
who don't feel confident or comfortable
having conversations about faith.
Only 7% of American's saythey have a spiritual or
religious conversation on a regular basis.
And if you look at practicing Christian's,
that is Christian's whogo to church regularly,
that number is only 13%.
Only one in eightpracticing Christian's say
they have a spiritual orreligious conversation
on a regular basis, and when you ask them
why not, why aren't theyhaving these conversations,
you get a range of answers.
The number one answer ispeople say these days,
religious and spiritual conversations
seem to create tension or arguments.
Of course, we're comingup on Thanksgiving,
so a lot of people willknow the pain of that.
Sitting across thetable from Uncle Phillip
shaking a drumstick atthem arguing about faith.
And then you have a lotof people who just say,
I've been hurt by these words,or another really popular
answer, about 13% I think of those people
who say they don't havethese conversations
is that these wordshave become politicized.
That they look out at the landscape today
and they see pastorstalking like politicians
and politicians talking like pastors,
and it all gets jumbled up in a way
that makes them uncomfortablehaving conversations
about faith.- Jonathan, a quick
follow up to that question,for those who do feel
uncomfortable you writelater in that opinion piece
that that really causesa little bit of a deficit
when it comes to God talkif they don't speak up
because the other voicesare like a megaphone.
- Yeah, that's right,so a lot of people say
I don't like the waythat people are talking
about faith, or aboutreligion in popular culture.
Or in politics, et cetera.
And as a result that they stop what I say,
what I call speaking God,they stop speaking God.
But what's interestingis when we don't want to
contribute to thisproblem, we end up actually
making it worse becausewhen we stop speaking God,
all the people who are causing the problem
they get to hog themicrophone if you will.
And so all of thosedemographics who are speaking
about God in ways we mightthink are inappropriate
or unhelpful or unbiblical,they then get the platform
all to themselves and theyget to shape what being
a Christian, what beinga God follower looks like
in 21st century America.
Well because the rest ofus, the descenting voices
have stopped having, being apart of these conversations.
- Jonathan, interestingly,in today's America
we have President Trumpwho has church leaders
literally waiting in theWest wing, but yet he might
not be the example that those same people
would point to as a beacon whenit comes to moral authority,
so how does that playout with what you observe
in your piece?
- You know, I think thereare a lot of people now
particularly Christians in America who,
they're logic has sort of shifted.
And it doesn't mean thattheir new logic is wrong,
its just interesting.
If you look back at the Bill Clinton era,
the mid to late 90'swhen a lot of Christians
were sort of rallyingthe troops if you will
under the banner of thephrase Character Counts.
And they believe that the personal life
of a person really mattered when it came
to running for higher offices
like the President of the United States.
That has shifted, so now you're hearing
conversations among evangelicalswhere they say things
like we're not electingthe pope, or we're electing
the commander in chief,not the pastor in chief.
And so for them, it mattersnot how the President
has conducted himself in this marriage,
or in previous marriages,in various alleged affairs
or financial dealings,they really want to know
what kind of a justiceswill you appoint to
the Supreme Court.
Will you protect religiousliberty in the United States,
and the rights of Conservative Christians
who believe as they want to believe.
Who speak as they want to speak,
to run their businesses how they want to.
And whatever his personal lifeis, it doesn't really matter.
And it is akin to the argumentsthat you heard liberals
making in the late 1990's.
Now the question is, iswhether the first logic
was flawed, or current logic is flawed.
And that sort of is for your
viewers to decide for themselves.
- All right JonathanMerritt, wonderful piece.
We encourage everybody to check it out,
It's Getting Harder To Talk About God.
Well thank you so much for joining us.
- My pleasure as always.
- [Jenna] Well the stock marketended on a high note today.
The DOW Jones industrial averagewas up nearly 547 points.
And we will be right back.
- Welcome back the vicePresident got his first look
at the storm damage fromHurricane Michael during a visit
to southwest Georgia today.
- Let me say, to all thefarmers gathered here today
in the wake of HurricaneMichael, we are with you.
And we will stay with you until we rebuild
and recover better than ever before.
- [John] While on the ground,Pence and the second lady
Karen Pence, met local farmers to discuss
the impact of the hurricaneto their crops and businesses,
and the recovery effortsthroughout the state.
- Well a number of thosekilled in the storm
is now up to 19, butofficials fear that number
may still be rising.
Meanwhile, those who arefled are returning to find
what's left of their homes.
- As Caitlyn Burke reports,churches weren't spared
by the storm, but manyare looking beyond their
own needs to serve the community.
- [Caitlyn] Residents whofled Florida's panhandle
ahead of Hurricane Michaelare beginning to make
their way back home to seeif there is any home left.
- It's pretty devastating.
Like everybody we know lost their house.
Everybody, and their jobs.
- It's a devastation, likea bomb just went off here.
- [Caitlyn] In Panama City Beach Florida,
churches are ready tohelp, even though they
weren't spared destruction.
Destiny Worship Center lostthe side of it's kids building.
But that's not stopping themfrom serving their community.
The church is helpingto collect and deliver
basic necessities to those in need.
- What really we'rebeginning to communicate
to take supplies here on the beach level.
And bring them over into Panama City,
and Springfield, andCalloway where the churches
over there were reallydestroyed, major damage.
And allow them to be collection points
to take the supplies thatpeople are giving us,
and distribute to the people in need.
- Just down the road, Lighthouse
church took a more direct hit.
The eye wall of HurricaneMichael came right through
this area and you cansee the type of damage
that that can do.
But the folks here atLighthouse church say
this is not gonna stopthem from being the hands
and feet of Jesus.
Lighthouse church welcomedall who could make
it to worship with them on Sunday.
- I think we all knowthat's just the building.
That's just the building,we can build a building.
But we want to make sure ourcommunity is taken care of.
We want to make sure ourmembers are taken care of,
we have teams out right now.
We have seven teams running right now,
with chainsaws and front end loaders and
we're moving trees andmaking sure that everybody's
accounted for and thatthey can get out and
they get the aid that they need.
- [Caitlyn] Pastor Colesays that by meeting
the basic needs of his community,
he's able to pursue them for Christ.
- I can tell you I love you all day long,
or I can show you that I love you.
So our neighbors, if they'vewondered if we love them
they're about to find outfor sure when they see
one of these Dream Team t-shirts on.
- [Caitlyn] We also found MercyChefs in Panama City Beach.
This ministry can serveup to 18000 meals a day to
victims, volunteers, and first responders.
- We'll be able to standup three separate locations
around Florida and Georgia as needed.
But from those sites we send food out
to different distribution points.
- [Caitlyn] As devastated as this area is,
God can be found, not in the destruction,
but in the response.
Caitlyn Burke, CBN News,Panama City Beach Florida.
- And to find out how youcan help Operation Blessing,
head to ob.org.
- Welcome back, well Jenna,we're only in middle of October,
and just one week nowafter hurricane Michael
hit the southeast, and insome parts of the country
winter is already here.
- Some of the pictures,just incredible, Montana,
Wyoming, and South Dakota sawas much as six to 12 inches
of snow this week.
Wichita Kansas saw the earliestsnow in the state's history
and parts of the country arefeeling cold temperatures
a lot earlier than usual.
Denver had a record lowfor this time of year,
John, just 18 degrees.
That's pretty cold forDenver, I'm from Colorado,
that's cold this time of year.
- Brr, that's all I can say.
- Yeah one word.
- Well that's gonna do itfor tonight's Faith Nation.
- Have a great evening.
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