(dramatic music)- This is CBN NewsWatch.

- And thank you so much for joining us.

I'm Efrem Graham.

The Kremlin is warning Ukraine'sdeclaration of martial law

over Russia's seizureof three Ukrainian ships

might trigger a flare-up in hostilities

in Eastern Ukraine.

Our Dale Hurd is following this story.

- [Dale] Russia and Ukrainehave blamed each other

for Sunday's confrontationin the Kerch Strait.

On Sunday, near Crimea,Russian border guards

rammed into an open fire onthree Ukrainian navy vessels

traveling from the BlackSea toward a Ukrainian port.

The Russians seized theships and their crews.

- I believe that it isactually a desire for Putin

to show who's in control of Crimea.

- [Dale] And Steve Weber,

CBN's Regional Directorfor Russia and Ukraine

believes the Russianaction was also a response

to the decision by theleader of the Orthodox Church

to take Orthodox parishes in Ukraine

away from the Russian Patriarch in Moscow.

- It could be connected to what happened

just a few weeks ago whenthis Bartholomew in Istanbul,

with a stroke of a pen, took 12,000,

a third of all of the churchesunder the Moscow Patriarch,

and gave them to the Ukrainian Patriarch.

This created anger in Putin.

It's like you lostpower over all of these,

you know, a third of his parishes.

- [Dale] It's viewed in Russia

as further Ukrainian separationfrom the control of Moscow.

The decision and the rammingincident could reignite

the conflict between Russia and Ukraine,

and was condemned at the United Nations

by the U.S. and its allies.

The Ukrainian Parliament,Monday, imposed martial law

for 30 days, something Ukraine didn't do

even when Russia annexedUkraine's Crimean Peninsula

in 2014, were sent troopsinto Eastern Ukraine.

This can also be about politics.

Putin's popularity is said to be falling,

and Ukrainian President, PetroPoroshenko, faces reelection.

Dale Hurd, CBN News.

- A cross donned on World War I veterans

is at risk of being removed.

Here, with more on the efforts

to keep it where it standsin Bladensburg, Maryland

is Mike Berry with First Liberty.

So, Mike, give us a statuson the legal wranglings

of the cross right now.

- Well, the SupremeCourt recently announced

that it's gonna hear this case

in what's likely to be thefirst big blockbuster case

of the year, and, of the term,

and so, this case pits, like you said,

a World War I veteran's memorial

against the American Humanist Association,

who is fighting to havethis memorial torn down.

- Let's hear about the memorial,

this is a rare tribute toWorld War I veterans, correct?

- That's right, it was putup almost 100 years ago,

partially funded by mothers of 49 men

from Prince George's County, Maryland,

just outside of Washington D.C.,

who lost their sons in World War I,

and they put this memorialup to honor those who served

and sacrificed in World War I.

It stood there untouchedfor almost 100 years

and, like I said, theAmerican Humanist Association

filed a lawsuit to have it torn down.

First Liberty Institute, alongwith The American Legion,

is fighting to preserve this

and obviously many otherveteran's memorials

across our country fromthese types of legal attacks.

- [Efrem] That said,why is this a critical

and important case to win?

- Well, you know, fromthe human perspective,

it's important that wepreserve the memories

of those who served andsacrificed for our freedoms,

particularly those whoserved in World War I

and, really, any conflict onbehalf of the United States,

and from a legal perspective,it's really important

that the Court take this case as it did

to clear up the confusionaround the First Amendment

and whether the FirstAmendment requires us

to tear down these veteran's memorials

or whether the FirstAmendment will continue

to protect and honor those who've served

and the ability for peoplelike The American Legion

and millions of Americansto honor service members

who have served andsacrificed on our behalf.

- People who are interestedin getting involved,

what would you say to them?

- Well, the easiest way isto go to firstliberty.org,

or you can go to donttearmedown.com

and there, you can findout more about the history

of these veteran's memorials,

you can find out about the 49 men

who served and died in World War I,

and you can learn about howyou can support First Liberty

and our effort to protect

not only the Bladensburgveteran's memorial,

but veteran's memorials thatare all across the country

that are coming under attack.

So, again, that's firstliberty.org.

- Good, give us a bit of a timeline

in terms of how soon you expect things

to begin unfolding more here.

- Well, actually, we have justbegan the briefing process.

So, we're gonna be submitting our briefs

to the Supreme Court,arguing the legality of this,

and the constitutionalityof this memorial.

And we expect that theCourt will probably have

an oral argument in thissometime in the late winter,

early spring of 2019.

So, people should definitely stay tuned

for those blockbuster argumentssome time early in 2019.

- Alright, we'll be watching indeed.

Mike Berry, thank youso much for your time.

- Thank you for having me.

- The Supreme Court has givena property rights victory.

The nation's highestcourt ruled unanimously

in the case of

Weyerhaeuser v. The U.S.Fish and Wildlife Services.

Justice determined thatthe government overstepped

its bounds by declaring1500 acres of private land

in Louisiana as a criticalhabitat for a frog

that questionably can'teven survive there.

CBN News reported on the case.

Property owner, Edward Poitevent,

called the initial move unrealistic.

- It's over 1500 acres,

almost double the size ofCentral Park in New York,

and it would take millionsand millions and millions

of dollars to recreate that habitat.

- Poitevent now says thenation's highest court

not only had his back but the backs

of all American landownersin that decision.

The federal government releasedits newest comprehensive

report on climate change and its effects.

Our Mark Martin joins usnow live in the newsroom

with more on this, Mark?

- Efrem, according to NPR,

the government report blameshumans for climate change.

It also says the actions of people

make wildfires, extreme rainfall, floods,

and droughts worse.

In addition, the temperatureof the 48 contiguous states

are nearly two degreeswarmer than 100 years ago.

The water that surrounds these states

is around nine inches higher.

Also, heat waves take place more often

and are a lot more intense.

Evangelical Christian, Katharine Hayhoe

of Texas Tech's Climate Science Center

spoke with NPR about the report.

She says the main reasonshe and others care

about climate change isbecause it takes the risks

we already face and makes them worse.

CBN News also spoke withHayhoe a few years ago.

- When we burn coal andoil and natural gas,

it releases that carbontrapped in those fuels

into the atmosphere.

And in the atmosphere,we already have this

amazing natural blanketthat God has designed

for our planet that keepsus almost 60 degrees warmer

than we would be otherwise.

When putting all that extra carbon dioxide

into the atmosphere, we'readding to that blanket.

We're overheating, that's whatwe're doing to our planet.

- In her interview with NPR, Hayhoe says,

we can avoid the worstimpacts if we act now,

and she says the reportexplains that very clearly.

NPR reports that the Trumpadministration doesn't agree

entirely with the climatechange report, Efrem?

- Mark, Katharine Hayhoe isan Evangelical Christian.

Some might think because ofher stance on climate change,

she leans to the Left, is that the case?

- Actually, our CBN news report from 2015

described her as havingconservative leanings

which might surprise many of our viewers.

Many conservative Christians don't agree

that humans help cause climate change

or that people can affect

the Earth's warming or cooling, Efrem?

- Alright, Mark, thankyou for that report.

The global economy,tax cuts, deregulation,

and job training, thosewere among the issues

raised at the first WhiteHouse press briefing

in two months.

Larry Kudlow, NationalEconomic Council director,

talked about China and tariffs.

Our Chief PoliticalCorrespondent David Brody

is an analyst and he joinsus now from Washington

with more on this.

So, David, what do you thinkabout Kudlow's comments

on making trade, makinga trade deal with China

and no more tariffs?

- Right, well, Efrem,it doesn't surprise me.

We do hear now from the President,

through Larry Kudlow, that he believes,

he being the President, thinksthere's a good opportunity

for a deal to be madeand we also understand

that there'll be a dinner

between President Trumpand President Xi of China

at the G20 in Argentina, andso, this is some new news

coming out of the briefing today.

Now, whether or not a deal can be struck

is a whole 'nother matter.

I will say this, that remember,

there's about $500 billion of goods

that we get in from China,already, a tariff is on

about half of that, 250 billion.

Here's the key to all of this, Efrem.

The President says, if there's not a deal

that he can strike withChina before January 1st,

then the rest of thatmoney, about 267 billion,

which would take it to over 500 billion,

all of it will be taxedcoming in from China,

there'll be a tariff on it.

And it wouldn't be just a10% tariff that it is now,

it would be 25%, so,that's the bargaining chip

by this president, thedinner in Argentina,

coming up this weekend.

- That said, how likely do you think it is

that china can strike atrade deal to benefit both?

- Well, I guess we're gonna wait and see.

I mean, look, China's, atleast, according to Larry Kudlow

today at the briefing, he, his words now,

he says that China's economyis in a bit of a slump.

'Course, we know America'seconomy, doing pretty well,

and so, obviously, it's allabout bargaining position.

So, you would think, at least,the White House would think

that China is in a, a moodto bargain at this point.

I don't know about that,but I will say this,

that one of the thingsthat the administration

is gonna be looking for is to make sure

that there is some sort ofdeal on intellectual property,

because, remember, rightnow, if an American company

is over in China, theybasically have to sign

an agreement to give theirintellectual property,

in other words, the waythey do their business,

the way they take care of their products

from an intellectual standpoint,

they have to give that to China.

And Donald Trump says, wait, what?

What in the world?

So, that'll part of the negotiations.

- Well, David, we said earlier

that this is the firstWhite House press briefing

in two months, why such along time between briefings?

- Well, let's dial this back for a moment.

This may be the first briefingin a couple of months,

but this just in, Efrem,the Trump administration

doesn't do things likeother administrations,

have you heard?

And indeed, that's what's happened,

because this president hasactually been very accessible

to the media, holding scrums, if you will,

outside the White House's,he goes to Air Force Ones

on a daily basis now, andso, they've been hearing

quite a bit from the President.

Not just that, but Sarah Sanders clearly

will take her opportunitiesto do briefings

when the White House feelsthat they want to do briefings.

And today, quite, quitefrankly, they not only,

she didn't just show upin the briefing room,

but they brought the NationalSecurity Advisor John Bolton

and Larry Kudlow's been talking about--

(dramatic music)- Coming up,

a missionary's death brings attention

to the dangers of takingthe gospel to the nations.

Welcome back to CBN NewsWatch.

The missions group thatsent missionary John Chau

to a remote Indian islandis defending his strategy

in trying to reach theisolated people group.

Authorities believe the peopleon North Sentinel Island

killed Chau after he attempted

to make contact with them this month.

They're still trying to recover his body.

All Nations leader, Mary Ho, says,

that Chau joined theorganization last year

and was well-prepared.

She said All Nationsconsidered any health risk

he posed to be minimal.

Chau received 13 immunizationsbefore heading out

and he quarantined himself for days.

- No one knows the exacthealth condition of the people,

and in past history, yes,contact with Western population

has wiped out local populations,

but we are actually in a differenttime of advanced medicine

and antibiotics, and I thinka lot of modern medicine

may be able to help the local population

in some of the health issues.

We just don't know.

- Senior National CorrespondentGary Lane joins us now

with more on this, now, Gary,this story is certainly tragic

but also a reminder ofhow dangerous it can be

for missionaries.- Extremely dangerous,

especially, if you havea zeal to share Christ

with people who are hostileor potentially hostile,

and that is what happened to John Chau.

Now, he was a young man who just wanted

the people of North SentinelIsland to know Christ,

and for that, he paidwith his life, Efrem.

He wasn't going to give up on that.

He, he felt that he, of course, he said

that he didn't wanna die,but he was willing to die

because he felt it was important

that God was calling him to do that.

- He knew the risk

and dangers going in.- Yes, he did.

- Now, something like this happened before

in the 1950s with a group of missionaries

in South America?

- Yes, and unlike John Chau,

now, Chau went into NorthSentinel Island by boat.

In 1956, Nate Saint and Jim Elliot

and three others went intoEastern Ecuador, into,

and this is from themovie, End of the Spear.

By the way, that moviecame out, as you know,

about 13 years ago, wonderful story,

but tragic as well, andthey just felt a need,

they flew into thisarea in Eastern Ecuador,

into the Auca tribe, at that time,

they were called the Auca tribe,

and brought Jesus to them, but with that,

the tribal people turned onthem and speared them to death,

and, and they died.

Now, we say this is a tragedy,

but God uses this to buildHis Church, and guess what?

The leader of that tribe,Efrem, came to Christ

after that incident andso did other members,

and, of course, you get the tribal leader,

then you get other members--

- Absolutely, absolutely.- Of the tribe

that come to Christ.

- So, sacrifice theirlife to take the gospel.

Tell us about anotherdangerous part of the world,

the 10/40 Window, and effortsto take the gospel there.

- Well, the 10/40 Window is an area,

if you look at a map, itbegins in Northwestern Africa,

across Africa, Northern Africa, actually,

the northern half of Africa,

and moves into the MiddleEast, into places like Iran

and Saudi Arabia, and then, from there,

into Afghanistan, India, into Myanmar,

China, and of course Japan.

So, that's the 10/40 Window, Efrem.

And those are peoplethat are either Muslim,

Buddhist, or Hindu, andmostly unreached people.

People have never heard thegospel, you'd be amazed.

You go into places likethe Hindu Kush Mountains,

and there are people there whohave never heard of Christ,

they've never met aChristian in their life.

It's very dangerous ifyou go into these areas

but also very fruitful, becausemany people in those areas,

once they hear the gospel,will come to Christ,

they're very receptive.

People are afraid to goin, but once you go in,

you find that the people are very warm

and will come to Christ.

- Can you share a little bit about

just the heart of missionaries?

I know you traveled the world,

you get to spend a lot of time with them.

Just share a little theirheart and why they do

what they do.- Well, and I've worked

for a mission group,the Voice of the Martyrs

for about three years.

I can tell you the heart of missionaries

is to serve and to share the gospel.

They're Evangelists, first and foremost,

but they want to serve as well.

It's not just bringing the gospel

but going and living with the people,

sharing the love of Christ.

Materially, providing material goods

and also, spiritually,Bibles and so forth.

So, it isn't just bringing the gospel,

but also demonstrating the love of Christ

and being with the peoplethat you want to reach

and serving them, building relationship.

- That's beautiful, realquick, before we go,

how should we be praying for missionaries?

- Well, missionaries have a very,

I mean, not all missionaries,

some live in pretty good countries

where they don't have the same risks,

but we have risks righthere in the United States.

I met some Evangelists who were beaten up

just for sharing thegospel here in the U.S.

But pray that God willprotect them, of course,

but pray that He will give them wisdom

when they go into those areasthat are difficult and risky.

- Our government is caringfor 13,000 immigrant children

in federal shelters.

Many are placed inmassive group facilities

that can only meet their physical needs.

But some have been placedin family foster care.

Our Heather Sells hasthis story of one couple

giving these children love and comfort.

- For the last two years,

foster parents Silas and Coryn

have welcomed immigrant childreninto their Michigan home.

These children oftenarrive alone at the border

and the government oversees their care

while it locates their families.

Silas and Coryn received their training

from Grand Rapids-basedBethany Christian Services.

It's become a leadingprovider of family-based care

for immigrant children.

For almost 40 years,Bethany has helped kids

showing up alone at the border.

Then, this spring, came a newand surprising development,

the children began tellingtheir foster parents

how they came with their parents

and then were taken fromthem by the government.

It was part of the controversial

and short-lived zero-tolerance policy.

- They didn't know thatthey weren't gonna see

their parents again in many cases.

So, these children were separated,

they were taken, put inon a bus or an airplane,

and they had no idea where they were going

or what was happening.

- [Heather] Adam and Rachel's foster child

told her counselor howshe saw Honduran police

shoot her grandmother.

After the girl and herfather fled to the U.S.,

she watched border agents take him away.

- [Adam] As a four-year-old,

she just had such a heavy,heavy soul from that

and from just constantlyreliving being torn away

from her dad and--

(girl yelling)

(sighs) There was times where,yeah, it would crush her.

- [Heather] Under the policy,

the government took 2400children from their parents.

Today, almost all are back with family,

either in the U.S. or their home country.

Still, foster parents are in high demand

because of children whocome alone to the U.S.

Right now, a staggering13,000 are in federal custody.

Bethany can only care for 100,

so the government puts many of the kids

in emergency facilities.

This is a new tent city in Texas,

where 1500 youth live while they wait

to be reunited with family.

- Kids should never haveto stay in a tent city.

Kids should never beapart from their parents,

and it just shows youhow desperate things are,

that kids are hearing about this

and they're still, the parentsare still sending them.

- We know in this country

that children are best caredfor in a family setting,

and that's what we do in ourown domestic foster cares.

We don't place thousands of children,

who are in foster care,in one large tent city

while we promote foster homes

and foster care placement,

'cause we know that's best for children.

These children are no different.

- [Heather] Expertsblame government red tape

for the high number of immigrant kids

still in government custody.

One reason, a new ruletook effect this year,

requiring all members of ahousehold taking in children

to be fingerprinted.

That has increased the wait time.

Now, the Trump administrationhas changed that rule

and there's hope that the number of kids

in shelters will drop.

- [Adam] Obviously, kids being separated

from their, from their parents is not His,

is not God's vision of the world,

and so, how do we stepinto the kingdom work

that He has for us

to, to solve that?

- [Heather] Coryn and Silas marvel

at the resiliencydisplayed by their children

and hope they can recover

and receive what they need tosomeday achieve their dreams.

- [Coryn] One of thelittle boys we just had,

his dream was to be afirefighter, a police officer.

So, they have these big dreams

and we just hope thatthey get the opportunity

to realize those.

- Going forward, Bethany hopesto expand its foster program

for the children who continueto pour across the border.

It also wants their home countries

and the U.S. to address the issues

that cause their familiesto flee in the first place.

Reporting in Grand Rapids,Heather Sells, CBN News.

- Coming up on this Giving Tuesday,

what motivates you to give?

Stay with us.

And welcome back to CBN NewsWatch.

It is Giving Tuesdaywhere we're all encouraged

to give back, so, whatmotivates you to give?

For Christians, theBarna Research Group says

emotions motivate charity.

62% believe they can make a difference.

45% heard a moving story.

38% find the purpose behind their giving.

34% have a relationship or know the person

behind the mission or charity.

Here at CBN, we have afamily of ministries.

Just one example, CBN's Orphan's Promise

has inaugurated a newsoup kitchen in Mexico

to help feed children in need

and to offer free after school classes.

For years, they could not serve

a larger amount ofchildren because of a lack

of a cooking facility.

But now, the new kitchen isready and can triple the amount

of recipients by providinghot meals to children.

In addition, they also useSuperbook to share the gospel

with those children.

You can visit our website cbnnews.com

to learn more about Giving Back Tuesday

and the work that Goddoes around the world

through CBN and you canalso partner with us.

Thank you so much for watching

this edition of CBN NewsWatch.

Remember, we have moreexclusive coverage of the issues

you care most about at cbnnews.com.

We'd love to know what you think

about the stories you've seen here today.

You can do that by emailingus, newswatch@cbn.com.

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at here the CBN NewsChannel, have a great day.