- [Announcer] This is CBN Newswatch.

And thank you so much for joining us

for this half hour of CBN Newswatch.

I'm Efrem Graham.

We are just two weeks away

from the midterm elections

and on both sides it is allabout getting out the vote.

There are 218 House races at stake,

17 Senate seats, 18 Governorships,

and more than 3,300 statehouse and senate races.

With six toss ups in the Senate,

it is not likely to change hands.

But there are 31 toss ups in the House

which means the Democrats couldgain control of that body.

Evangelicals will againbe a crucial voting block

for Republicans.

Exit polls show 81% of white evangelicals

voted for President Donald Trump in 2016.

That was the highest margin of support

for a Republican Presidentialcandidate since 2004.

When 78% voted to re-electPresident George W Bush.

John Graves of Vision America is helping

to educate evangelical voters.

Vision America prints voter guides

and makes them available to churches

so Christians can know wherecandidates stand on the issues.

But his group has become the target

of some dirty tricks.

In Texas, for example,

someone copied their voter guides

and re-worded them to mislead voters.

Take a look at this.

On the left side is the real guide

and on the right side is the fake one.

Republican Senate candidateTed Cruz is pro-life

but as you can see on the fake side

it says he opposes right to life.

Hundreds of those fake voter guides

were distributed at several campuses

of a megachurch in Dallas Ft. Worth.

John Graves joins us now to tell us more.

So John tell us more about what happened

with these fake voter guides.

- Well thank you for having me.

We share these all over the nation.

And each state like Texas,

they're the same everywhere.

We give 'em free to churches

and so we have no way toknow how widespread this is.

But I got a call this weekend,

and said hey John didyou know there's some

fraudulent voter guidesor fake voter guides

with inaccurate information?

So we began looking into it and found

what you have now shown everybody.

We know it's happened in different cities.

We have no way to knowhow widespread this is

or who's behind it.

We're trying to get tothe bottom of that now.

- Now they keep your logo as we show,

but rewrote the guide withsome different information.

Is that illegal?

- It is.

It's copyright violation

if it's found out tobe from Beto's campaign

it's a violation of theFEC under federal law.

There's fraud, there'sall kinds of other issues.

We're having some attorneys

that are specialists in election law

and voter fraud look into it as well.

- Now I understand some evangelical women

are being mislead to voteagainst a Senate candidate

because these fake guidesmisrepresent his position.

Tell us about that.

- So one of the questions that they did

there were a lot of the Democrat or Beto

talking points, if you will.

And one of those isthat it misleads people

to say Senator Cruz wantsto separate families

at the border.

That actually has beenpart of the interview,

Ted Cruz, that's not his position.

He's actually trying to work against that.

And trying to passlegislation in the Senate

and so it's just an attempt to deceive.

But the really, probablythe nastiest part of this,

is that they snuck secretlyinside of churches.

We don't know how many.

They're doing this, we don'tknow if its just in this state

or other states.

But they snuck inside churchesto deceive church members.

And I've been aroundthis for over 20 years.

I've never seen or heardanything like that.

So, it's pretty appalling.

- What are some of themost important issues

to evangelical voters inthese midterm elections?

- The Supreme Court has been the

big, big, big, huge issue.

If you look at the statistical polls,

60% of the people thatare evangelical that voted

for Donald Trump,

didn't necessarily likehim or wanna vote for him

but they wanted theSupreme Court appointments

and they're very happy with those.

The second, it used to be pro-life.

Pro-life has now beensurpassed in some ways

in many of these stateby religious liberty.

Because people are losingtheir religious liberties.

And if you lose your religious liberty,

then you can't even talk about pro-life.

And then obviously the marriage issue.

With men going in women's bathroom

was a huge battle herein Texas this last cycle

and in many, many statesaround the country.

But we try to deal with many issues.

We talk to the pastors.

Ask them what the top issues are

and try to deal with many of those.

And we footnote ours.

One of things that was fascinating

is we footnote ours,they just left it blank

and made campaign statements if you will.

- All right John Graveswith Vision America.

Thank you so much for your time.

Much appreciated.

- Thank you.

- The Trump administrationis redefining transgender.

Officials want to changethe definition of gender

to a biological condition

determined at birth aseither male or female.

The New York Times reports,

the Department of Healthand Human Services

is leading an effort to establish

a legal definition ofsex under Title Nine.

Under it a person's gendercould not be changed

once it was defined by the genitalia

he or she is born with.

Joining us now with moreon this is Jenna Ellis.

She is the Constitutional Law attorney

and the Director of Public Policy

with the James Dobson Family Institute.

So Jenna, how does this affect

future Title Nine cases?

- Well this isn't reallythe Trump administration

redefining so much asgoing back to pre-Obama era

regulations and policy.

So this is a very good thing for America.

And the faith based communityshould be encouraged.

Because what the HHS memo is essentially

attempting to do is to goback to that pre-Obama era

regulation that says thatgender based discrimination

when we're talking about that

and the term sex specifically

is just talking about male versus female.

It wouldn't include transgender,

a sexual orientation, orgender identity language.

Which is properly excludedfrom the definition of sex.

So hopefully, movingforward not only will this

be a good thing to establisha consistent definition

within the Trump administration.

But it should encourageCongress that we really need

to have them to act on this

to provide a legal definition

to make sure that those TitleNine cases are clarified.

- Why is it important for

the Department of Healthand Human Services

to have a clear cut definition of sex?

- Because they deal withthese types of regulations

quite frequently.

And I think it's notonly important for HHS,

but it's also going to be important

for any type of executiveagency as well as

the Supreme Court to havea clear understanding

of what Congress meant by sex

when they originallyestablished Title Nine.

And so this is an ongoing conversation

in American policy and certainly

in the social agenda circles

where the LGBT community is attempting

to shoehorn these othertypes of identities

and really fictitious identities

that go against biological science

into Title Nine and intothe definition of sex.

And so for the Trumpadministration to stand firm

to say that sex based discrimination

really is only gender basedbiologically male and female

is not only consistent with science

but it's consistent withthe traditional definition

that we've had as a country

and understood as a countrythroughout our history.

- Some see this law as discriminatory

towards transgender people.

What are your thoughts on that?

- Well this is just basicallygoing along with science.

And so for the LGBTcommunity to attempt again

to try to create certainrights that are not present

within sex based discrimination,

they're attempting to draw a distinctly

protected class thatreally should not properly,

or scientifically, or biologically

fall under the definitionof sex based discrimination.

And so we can certainlyhave those conversations.

But again, Congress has never passed a law

that has recognized that those types

of category of sexualorientation or gender identity

is part of the definition of sex

when we're talking about discrimination.

And so what they shouldproperly do is go to Congress.

But they know, and the left knows,

that they can't get that through Congress,

so they've been attempting to do this

through the Supreme Court,

through other policies inthe executive branches,

and they were relatively successful

under the Obama administration.

So for the Trump administration

to take this very clear stand,

is very encouraging not only to

the James Dobson Family Institute,

but I think with all ofour faith based partners.

- All right Jenna.

Thank you so much for your time.

Much appreciated.

- Thank you.

- The Oregon couple forcedto close their bakery

for refusing to make a cake

to celebrate a same sex wedding

is taking their case to the Supreme Court.

Aaron and Melissa Klein had to shut down

their business after a stateagency fined them $135,000.

The Bureau Of Labor And Industries

also issued a gag order forbidding them

to discuss their beliefs publicly.

The Oregon State SupremeCourt reversed the gag order

but upheld the board'sdecision to fine the bakers.

Now the Kleins are appealing that decision

to the nation's high court.

First Liberty attorney, Kelly Shackelford

said the case will quote clarify

whether speech is truly freeif its government mandated.

Thousands of Central Americanspushed past border police

and into Mexico this weekend.

The migrant caravan headed for the US

has increased to about 7,000.

President Trump is threateningto use military force

at the US borders to keep them out.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

met with Mexico's President Sunday

saying the caravan is supported by leaders

with political motivations.

President Trump blames the caravan

on an open borders policy hesays the Democrats support.

He tweeted, the caravan is a disgrace

to the Democratic party.

Well he spent two yearsimprisoned in Turkey

on charges related to terrorism.

But after intense pressurefrom the Trump administration,

evangelical pastor AndrewBrunson was released

and was back here in the US the next day.

CBN's Senior InternationalCorrespondent Gary Lane

sat down with Brunson totalk about his experience.

Here's part one of that interview.

- You were in house arrest

and then within 24 hours

you were in the United States

sitting in the Oval Office

with the President of the United States.

How did that feel?

- Well it's kind of a Joseph situation.

Actually I was just a week ago

standing in a Turkish court room

and it became apparentsuddenly that they were

going to convict me.

We did not know what was going to happen.

But it was clear they haddecided to convict me.

And I didn't know how manyyears they would give me

at that time and how it wouldescalate things politically.

How many years I'd end up in prison.

And within 24 hours,

after I was convicted asa terrorist in Turkey.

I'm officially convicted now.

But released for time served.

And then within 24 hours to beable to visit the White House

and pray with the President,

it's a Joseph type situation.

Being in solitary confinementwas very, very difficult.

Especially for a long timeI didn't have a Bible.

There were no books, it was just a bed.

And that was it.

And so I had nothing to dothroughout the entire day.

And actually what really saved me there

is somehow a booklet by Mike Bickle,

somebody got it in to me.

Which we were not allowed to have books.

But someone got that into me.

And it was just some prayer points.

And that helped me to keep my sanity.

I just began to pray through that.

And I paced back and forthacross that room for hours

just praying for these prayerpoints, crying out to God.

- And before this interview,

you were telling mehow you started dancing

before the Lord.

Tell me how that came about.

- Well, I read a book by Richard Wurmbrand

where he describes how whenhe was in solitary confinement

that Jesus said actually blessed are you

when people persecute you and revile you,

falsely say all kinds ofevil things about you.

Rejoice and be glad,exceedingly glad actually.

And Wurmbrand danced before the Lord

in obedience to this and I thought well,

I don't feel joy, I don'tsense joy right now.

But I'm going to dance before the Lord

as Wurmbrand did as a sacrifice of praise.

I was really broken.

And then it was in the second year,

that God began to rebuild me.

I could think of several of my friends,

I thought they would do somuch better in this situation.

They're prayer warriors,they're intercessors,

they would just spendall their time praying.

And I said a number of times,

God you got the wrong man.

You chose the wrong man for this.

This is a mistake.

Because I'm so weak.

So he allowed me to be broken.

I believe God allowed this,

but then he began to rebuildme in the second year.

- Coming up a stern warningby Israel's Prime Minister

for terror groups riotingnear the nation's border.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

promised painful blows against Hamas

if they don't stop their violent protests.

As Chris Mitchell reportsnow from Jerusalem.

The threat comes afterseveral months of riots

along Israel's southern border.

- [Chris] Israeli PrimeMinister Benjamin Netanyahu

said Israel may choose a different way

to confront Hamas's violence.

- (foreign language)

- [Interpreter] We're closeto a different kind of action.

This action will includevery painful blows.

If Hamas is smart, it will cease its fire

and violent outbursts now.

- [Chris] Hamas led riotsbegan on March 30th.

IDF spokesman JohnathanConricus told CBN News,

Hamas plans events for different days.

On Monday it's the beach.

- For instance Mondays arealways the naval riots.

When they embark from the Gaza harbor

and they try to breechinto Israeli waters.

- [Chris] Friday is the weekly main event.

- Where an average ofabout 18,000 rioters gather

in six different locations trying to

violently get across into Israel.

Becoming more and more violent.

We see a clear escalation in violence

in the weapons that they use.

Last Friday, the most violent attempt,

IEDs were placed byPalestinians on the fence,

were detonated and thatblew a hole in the fence

through which 20 or so Palestinians got in

and they tried to assault an IDF position.

Hamas is actively pushingPalestinians towards the fence

really escalating the level of violence,

and trying to get Palestinianskilled on the fence.

- [Chris] Ambassador Michael Oren

addressed the Gaza situation

to Christian journalistsfrom around the world.

- The demonstrator is the new missile.

That's the better missile.

Because in more cases its multi usage.

And they get the picture.

They get the picture of innocent kids

being killed by Israel.

Which causes the same type of dent,

it erodes our national legitimacy.

- [Chris] Earlier CBNNews got a firsthand look

at what Israeli soldiers have faced

for more than half a year.

- [Soldier] It's notlegitimate and civilian riot.

The leaders of the riot is Hamas

and they are trying to challenge us.

- [Chris] Hamas has also flown hundreds of

arson balloons into Israel that burn

thousands of acres of Israeli farmland.

The goal of Hamas is to infiltrate

into Israeli border communities,

to attack Israeli civilians.

- It should be very clear to our enemies

that there is a limit tothe amount of violence

that can be tolerated

to the amount the amount of terror

that is inflicted upon Israel's civilians.

And of course IDF has the tools

and the capabilities todefend against those.

- [Chris] Chris Mitchell,CBN News, Jerusalem.

- CBN saw more than 100,000 requests

for the booklet Build A Better Gut.

Many viewers asking questions like

how can I eat healthy foods for my gut

without breaking the bank.

Medical reporter LorieJohnson has some answers.

- Just because some unhealthy foods like

processed macaroni and cheese are cheap

and some healthy foodslike wild caught salmon

are expensive,

don't think for a minuteyou have to spend a lot

to eat healthy.

Tiffany Terczak is living proof.

She feeds her Atlanta familyof four super healthy food

for get this, only $330 a month.

- We eat real food, so foodthat comes from the ground,

animals that eat plants from the ground.

We hardly eat anything processed.

And by processed I'm referring to boxes.

Just add water type of things.

We don't eat that.

- [Lorie] Tiffany's onlineGrocery Budget Boot Camp

is so popular there's a waiting list.

Probably because she saves her students

an average of $2,400 a year.

- I believe God has given me the gift of

teaching people how toeat real food on a budget.

Everything involved in thatarena comes easy to me.

And I know it's hard for other people.

- [Lorie] Tiffany tookme to her local grocery

and shared her top tips.

Like stocking up on sale items.

- What really caught me eye, is this.

And these are drumsticksfor $1.79 per pound.

Marked down from $2.49.

And these are free range organic as well.

And there are several packages up here

there's at least, what, four,five, six packages of them.

So when someone is concernedabout eating healthier food,

trying to buy organics but they always say

that organic costs so much.

If you just keep your eyes open,

you can find really greatdeals on organic food

at the grocery store.

- So, you would buy all of those packages

and put 'em in the freezer.

- I would because the salecycle for grocery stores

is six to eight weeks.

And now I don't haveto buy it at full price

in say two weeks from now.

We're good to go for several weeks.

- [Lorie] When you hitthe produce department,

comparison shop.

You'll be surprised someorganics like carrots

are usually pretty cheap.

- So it's a 30 cent difference between

conventional and organic,

which is really great if you're trying

to buy better quality food,

but trying to keep it within the budget.

- [Lorie] Don't pay more forchopped or washed produce.

Save big money by doing it yourself.

Seasonal produce is usuallyless expensive and abundant.

And check out the bargain bin.

- Some of the stores willinclude organic produce

in this marked down section.

And it doesn't change the price.

It's still 99 cents for that bag.

Which can really save you a lot of money.

- [Lorie] Frozen producecan be just as healthy

as fresh and often a lot cheaper.

And buying the rightstuff in bulk also saves.

For example, these big containers

of probiotic rich yogurtare a lot less per ounce

than single serving containers.

Hunt for low priced canned foods

like these fiber filledorganic beans, 10 for $10.

- What you may not realize,

is that you don't have to buy 10

to get the deal of $1 per can.

- [Lorie] Wild canned fish is way cheaper

than fresh or frozen andit's just as healthy.

Here's a good tip,

only buy food at the grocery store.

- Aluminum foil will costyou more at the grocery store

than it would if you were to buy it

at a different store thatwasn't a food focused store.

- Like Wal-mart?

- Like Wal-Mart, Costco, Target.

- [Lorie] Watch out for thespecialty cheese section.

The blue cheese here is twice the price

of what's in the dairy section.

Steer clear of bottled and canned drinks

like juices and sodas.

Stick with good old tap water instead.

Also avoid packaged snackfoods like cereal bars.

It's much healthier and cheaperto make them from scratch

from organic whole oats.

- If you are intentional withwhat you cook from scratch,

and you cook the things that will have

the biggest impact on your budget,

then you can actuallymake cooking from scratch

work in your favor.

- Bone broth and kimchiare two of the best things

for your gut.

You can buy them at the store.

But they're also really cheapand easy to make at home.

First buy meat containing bones.

It's cheaper than boneless.

After eating the meat,

instead of throwing the bones away,

save and toss them in a crock-pot

with water and two tablespoonsof apple cider vinegar.

Let sit for an hour,

then add onion, carrot, and celery.

Cook on low for 24 hours or longer.

Remove the large piecesof bone and vegetables,

then strain and enjoy.

Lorie Johnson, CBN News.

- Coming up, the latest challenges for

TV and music star Selena Gomez

and where she's findingstrength to face them.

Pop star Selena Gomez recently checked

into a treatment facility for anxiety.

TMZ reports the singerwas hospitalized twice

within the last few weeks forlow white blood cell count

due to her kidney transplant a year ago.

Gomez revealed in 2015,

she was diagnosed with Lupus.

Since then she's evenopened up about her faith

and how she relies onGod to help her through.

Saying she often listens to worship music

when she is feeling low.

Certainly praying for Selena Gomez

for a full recovery.

And glad to know that she does indeed

rely upon her faith tohelp her get through.

It's inspiration forall of her fans as well.

Well that is gonna do it for this edition

of CBN Newswatch.

Thank you so much for watching.

Remember you can find moreof our exclusive coverage

of the issues you caremost about at cbnnews.com

we'd love to know what youthink about the stories

you've seen here today.

You can do that bye-mailing newswatch@cbn.com

and of course you can alwaysreach out and touch us

on Facebook, on Twitter,as well as Instagram.

That concludes this newscast,

but the news continues24/7 at cbnnews.com.

Hope you will join usagain right here next time.

Make it a marvelous Monday everybody.

We'll see you right back here tomorrow.

Goodbye and God bless.