- I am very proud to announce today
that we have reached adeal to end the shutdown
and reopen the federal government.
(warm instrumental music)
- Well after 35 days
the partial government shutdown is over.
Welcome to Faith Nation,I'm Jenna Browder.
- And I'm John Jessup.
Well, in an afternoon Rose Garden speech
the president announced he plans
to sign a continuing resolution
to reopen the governmentuntil mid-February.
- That's right, CBN NewsWhite House correspondent
Ben Kennedy joins us for more.
Ben, why now and what type of pressure
did the president feel to make this deal?
- Well Jenna and John this all began
after the two bills failedin the Senate Thursday.
Then this morning a groundstop at LaGuardia Airport
after not enough staff showed up to work
to handle air traffic control
kicked things really into high gear.
Lawmakers and the president were warned
this partial shutdowncould impact airspace
and it did today.
President Trump and congressional leaders
reached a tentative dealto reopen the government
for three weeks and in themeantime continue talks
to tackle the issue of $5.7 billion
for the U.S.-Mexico border wall.
Trump spoke directly to Democrats saying,
"This is our best chance to get a deal
"that's a win-win for both of us."
He then turned his focus tothe 800,000 federal workers
who missed a second paycheck Friday.
- I want to thank all of theincredible federal workers
and their amazing families who have shown
such extraordinary devotion in the face
of this recent hardship.
You are fantastic people.
You are incredible patriots.
Many of you have suffered far greater
than anyone but your familieswould know or understand.
- And a bit of goodnews, the president said
that federal workers willget back pay very quickly
and as soon as possible, John, Jenna.
- And as I understand, thisis just a short-term solution.
So what happens if in 21days we don't have a deal?
- Well John, that's a great question.
The president said that ifhe doesn't get a fair deal
from Congress the governmentwill either shut down
on February 15th again or he will declare
a national emergency at the border
to lock in the moneyneeded to build a wall.
He said that we have no choice
but to build a wall or a steel barrier.
Now it's not the route he wants to take,
which is why he reopened thegovernment for three weeks
hoping that is enough time to compromise
so both sides can walk away with a win.
- Thanks Ben.- And we are joined now
by senior Washingtoncorrespondent Jennifer Wishon.
Jennifer, you know, President Trump,
there's quite a bit of mixed reaction.
He's been getting a lot of criticism
from people on the far, far right
like the Ann Coulters.- Yeah, sure.
- Do you think that's warranted?
Did he have any other option?
- Well he always hadan option but I think,
as Ben said, when thoseairplanes were grounded today,
you know, President Trump is a businessman
so he knows the cost of that.
He understands that thatlooked really bad for him.
He's a New Yorker, too,so I think that really
was kind of the final straw,put a lot of pressure on him
because just two days ago thepresident was in a meeting
with conservative leadersof the White House
where he was feelingemboldened to stay the course.
So I think that really did it.
You know, you were mentioning kind of
hard-right conservativesgiving him a hard time.
Ann Coulter basicallycalling him a coward.
Of course, Democrats reacting saying,
look, you're giving usexactly what we wanted.
And then other peoplesaying, give it some time.
This is just part of his art of the deal.
- No matter how you look at that though,
this is not something that thepresident ever wanted to do.
It appears as though, as ChuckSchumer came out right away
after the president madehis statement saying
that this is exactly what we'vebeen asking for all along.
This is the longest shutdown on record.
Poll numbers just weren'thelping the president at all.
So this really was a major,
if not just a temporaryloss for the president.
- Well I mean, we knowfrom the beginning John
the president said, I would be happy
to shut down the governmentto secure the border.
And so he has ownedthis from the beginning.
You're right, that was allputting pressure on him,
but I think the most important line
of what the president said today
was the very end where he said,
look if by February 15thCongress is not giving me a deal
that I think is good, thegovernment's gonna shut down again
or I'm gonna use my powers as president
to do what I thinkneeds to be done anyway.
And again, going back to that meeting
with conservative leaders I can tell you
talking to some peoplewho were in that room,
they encouraged thepresident to aggressively use
all the power at hisdisposal because they feel
like they have been hoodwinkedby Republicans for decades
when it comes toimmigration from Reagan on
and they feel like this is their chance
to really do somethingsubstantial at the border.
- Jennifer, the president mentioned
putting together a bipartisancommittee to negotiate,
to come up with some sort of agreement.
If they don't reach thisagreement by February 15th
what happens then, and do you think,
what are the odds that hewill get that $5.7 billion
for the border wall?
- Well, that's a good question.
I do think that this commission
kind of guided by Homeland Security,
basically they're gonnabring in the experts.
That's what they wanted to do
and I think that gives Democratsand Republicans some cover
because they can say look,
these are the Border Patrol agents.
They're telling us this is what they need
so it's our job to help them achieve that.
So I think in some waysit gives them some cover.
I know our colleague David Brody has said
he thought that it could come to this.
Will he get all of the money?
I don't know, but I think the president
can't walk away from the table politically
until he has done somethingso that in 2020 he can say,
look, the wall is right here.
I mean, he has to walk awaywith something tangible
from this or it is a major failure.
- It is a cornerstone of his campaign.
- Absolutely.
- Jennifer, thanks so much for that.
- Thank you.
- Well as we've beenreporting on Faith Nation
at the core of the shutdownis the president's pledge
to get the funding for aborder wall with Mexico.
Even after the partial shutdown ends,
the fight over border security
will continue well into the future.
Ben Kennedy joins usagain for that story, Ben?
- Well John, here's whatit all comes down to.
As Jennifer was just talking about
the president and many membersof the GOP want a border wall
but Democrats say, yeah not so fast.
(crowd clamoring)
Migrants continue to pourinto the U.S. seeking asylym.
- We're fighting for a better future.
- [Ben] That futurebegins at a port of entry.
Border agents argue they are understaffed,
and holding areas atcapacity creating long lines
and forcing some to waitfor weeks to get in.
(man speaking in foreign language)
And not everyone comes tothe U.S. for a better life.
The border has become apipeline for illegal drugs,
gangs, and human traffickers.
- [Crowd] Build thatwall, build that wall!
- [Ben] Which is why then-candidate Trump
made building a border wallthe backbone of his campaign.
- I will never ever back down.
- But yes, we do havea crisis at the border.
- [Ben] The border with Mexicois roughly 1,900 miles long
spanning four states, California, Arizona,
New Mexico, and Texas.
Trump recently visited the Lone Star state
to see firsthand what he calls a crisis.
Aside from a $5 billionwall Trump wants money
for humanitarian aid,additional personnel,
and new drug detection technology.
- Technology's great.
It's always that addedsituational awareness,
but we're always gonnaneed boots on the ground.
- [Ben] Democrats support more agents,
but stop short of giving thepresident a dime for the wall.
- Embodies the president's temper tantrum.
If you don't do it my way, I'mshuttin' down the government
and hurting lots of people.
- [Ben] Trump did admit that Mexico
won't be paying up front for the wall,
but maintains theU.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal
would cover the funding.
- Mexico is paying forthe wall indirectly.
And when I said Mexicowill pay for the wall
in front of thousandsand thousands of people
obviously they're not gonna write a check.
- Now President Trump saysaside from his demands
for the wall it's also what U.S. Customs
and border agents aretelling him is needed
to protect the U.S. fromcriminal elements, John.
- And joining us now is ChiefPolitical Analyst David Brody
to discuss the battle over the border.
This has been a point of contention,
really a point of divisionthat dates all the way back
to 2015, 2016, the president's launch
of his presidential campaign.
- That's right, June 2015 John.
That's where it started, andhonestly a lot of his critics,
and I'm pulling up a piece of paper.
Leave it to me to have a note.- What have you got there?
- Well, I have his quote fromwhat he said in June of 2015.
And this is the quotethat set everything off.
And he said, basicallyhe said, "when Mexico
"sends its people they'renot sending their best."
And then he said they're not sending you,
they said they have lots of problems.
They're bringing those problems with us.
They're bringing drugs,they're bringing crime.
Then he says at the end "andsome I assume are good people."
A qualifier at the end,but the point simply is
is that that line became, in essence the
marching orders if you will
throughout the whole campaignand it just kept growing
and growing, so there issome self-inflicted damage
right from the start here.
- Well that line, it seems to express
why Democrats have been so entrenched
by saying that the wall is immoral.
But you see a lot ofopponents of the president
and this wall seem tosuggest that this notion
of building a wall is based around racism.
Where's that rooted?- Right.
Well there's a couple of things going on.
First of all this whole idea of racism,
it's a very lazy argument to make.
I mean, look what happenedwith the Covington kids, right?
The Covington High Schoolkids, the Catholic.
- From Kentucky.- That's right.
You have a Make AmericaGreat Again hat on,
you're white, you'reCatholic, you support Trump
and boom all of a suddenyou're air quote racist,
which of course they hadto dial all of that back.
And this is what's part of the problem.
Look, over 30%, roughly30% of Hispanics in America
voted for Donald Trump in 2016,more than Mitt Romney got,
more than George W. Bush got.
The point simply is that there are folks
within the Hispanic community,record numbers actually,
that like the fact thatthere's record unemployment
in their communities as well.
So to say that he is just this racist
is obviously ridiculous.
I've said that many times.
But I don't think he helps himself
with some of the blunt language
that could be tempered a whole lot better.
- And as you've pointedout several times before
border security has been abipartisan issue for decades.
So I wanna ask you real quicklyabout the midterm elections.
President Trump drilleddown on border security,
talked about the caravan of migrants.
Do you think that helped or hurt
in the 2018 midterm elections?
- It probably ended up just helping him
only because folks vote typicallyout of emotion and anger
and that riles up the base.- Sure.
- So I think it was a pretty easy play
that you're gonna do that,but let's not kid ourselves.
Democrats do that as well,whether it be on healthcare,
remember what Barack Obama did.
And I'm not saying it was anything
from an anger perspective,but it's definitely emotional.
You know, this whole idea
that they're gonna takeyour healthcare away.
I mean look what the abortion,
the folks that are on thepro-choice side do all the time.
You know, they're going tomake you go to back alleys
and have abortions there,and I know they believe that,
but at the same timethey're provoking fear
and using emotion tocreate a divisive nature
in this country, both sides do it, John.
- We've got about 50 seconds left.
- Oh gosh, out of time.- This border, the border
has been responsible for thelongest government shutdown
on record, how much do you think
that this'll be a factor in 2020?
- 100%, let me rephrase that, 150%.
- Really?- Yeah, oh absolutely
because it's not gonna goaway no matter what happens.
Now I know the whole shutdown situation
that we've been seeing play out,
look, the bottom line is this is an issue
that provokes both sides.
Yes, the economy isimportant in all of that
but the bottom line is that both sides
are gonna use this, andthat's why Nancy Pelosi
has been digging in all this time as well.
She knows it plays wellto the progressive left,
and you have to motivateyour base in 2020.
Both sides think theycan motivate their base.
The question is, which basewill be motivated the most?
- Even more.- Even more,
but this border wall slashsecurity slash divisiveness
is all gonna play out rightin front of our eyes in 2020.
It's really unfortunate,but it's gonna happen.
- Well we will have to just wait and see
how bad it probably will get.- Yeah, for sure.
- David Brody, thank you for always,
always for your insight.- Anytime yeah, thanks.
(dramatic pounding echoes)
- When we come back we'll look at a reason
that is bringing both Democrats
and Republicans together each week.
(energetic instrumental music)
Though the current climate on Capitol Hill
sees sharp divisions betweenRepublicans and Democrats.
Senator Ben Sasse ofNebraska tells CBN News
it's important for Christianlawmakers to keep in mind
those across the aisle aremore than just political foes.
- Yeah, so I differ with Democrats
on really important policymatters, but my disagreement
with a Democrat about whether or not
the minimum wage willactually help poor people,
I don't think it will.
That's a debate thatpeople can reasonably have,
but that's not a coreidentity issue for me
and it shouldn't be for any Christian.
And so I wanna work reallyhard to treat my neighbor
in a debate as somebodywho has an eternal soul
and that God created andif I debate this person
on a policy issue I wanna make sure
it doesn't compromise my witness.
- And Sasse says people need to remember
their identity is more thantheir political beliefs.
And some lawmakers areliving that out each week.
- As Abigail Robertson reports
they gather to put aside their differences
and look to the one who unifies them.
- It is literally themost liberal Democrats
and the most conservative Republicans.
It's not just, you know,the centrist group.
- [Abigail] Democraticsenator Chris Coons,
who leads a group withRepublican senator James Lankford
tells CBN News it's thebest hour of his week.
- We do two things we don't otherwise do.
We listen to each otherand we trust each other.
- [Abigail] The only non-senator present
is Senate Chaplain Barry Black.
Each week a different senator is picked
to share a message to the group.
- 'Cause what you're sharing
is exactly what an opposition research guy
would love to know in yournext campaign, your weakness.
How have you fallen short?
What's been difficultabout your childhood,
about your marriage,about your public service.
That's the sort of, thesearen't just sort of easy,
two-dimensional, these are folks
really sharing of themselves.
- [Abigail] They close eachmeeting holding hands in prayer.
Coons says friendshipsmade in the prayer group
have helped improve his workingrelationships with members.
- Look, it is reallytough to throw a punch,
at least verbally, onthe floor of the senate
or in an interview when that morning
you were holding hands inprayer, and that's powerful.
That's important.
- From your perspective being here,
do you feel like Washington is as divided
as it feels like on the news.
- Yes. (chuckles)
I'll tell you that thething that's easy to miss
is that we've got someincredibly smart and capable
and motivated senators who all came here
intending to make the country better,
yet we find it awfully hard to compromise.
- One of the trends hurtingrelationships on the Hill
is a lack of social interaction
because lawmakers don't live here anymore.
- A generation or two ago
all senators moved their families here.
And so they knew each other as parents
on the edge of a soccer or baseball field
as much as they knew each other
as combatants on the Senate floor.
- [Abigail] Coons saysone of his best friends
and mentors here is someone
with whom he shares no political views,
Republican senator JohnnyIsakson of Georgia.
- If you're willing to do the work,
if you're willing to travel together,
meet each other's families,spend time listening
you can build amazing relationships here.
- [Abigail] He admits thoughsome take a long time to heal
such as the recentSupreme Court confirmation
of Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
- There was a particularly heated exchange
with Senator Graham, who I really,
I've traveled with, I've legislated with.
I'm fairly close to Senator Graham,
and that was a particularlyhard moment for me.
- [Abigail] A week laterGraham reached out to Coons
with an invitation tomeet with Jared Kushner
and hear the administration's plan
for peace in the Middle East.
He admitted it took afew days of consideration
before finally accepting.
- I came home and my wife said,
"What are you doing meetingwith Lindsey Graham?"
You know, and I said,"Honey, I'm still mad
"about the Kavanaughhearings, don't get me wrong.
"I'm still upset about that."
But it was a meeting about peace.
And you know, my jobis to figure out a way
to keep working with Senator Graham
on the things that weshare and we care about
and are important to our country.
- [Abigail] Coons hopes in time
they can overcome the past and reconcile.
- It is hard, it is not easy
to get over some of thefights we have here.
But that's what I think thepeople of Delaware hired me
to do is to stick to principle
on issues of core principle,but work across the aisle
and find ways to respecteach other and work together.
- [Abigail] A strong motivation for Coons
to restore relationships is
his awareness that the world is watching.
- And in dozens ofcountries around the world
they look at the Senate andthey look at the Congress
and they look at theUnited States and they say,
Democracy doesn't work.
- Mm-hmm.- That's bad,
so I remind my colleagues, look folks
it's not just our kids who are watching.
It's our kids, it's the restof the world, and it's history.
And we have to show thatthis is the best way
to resolve conflict peaceably,
and that we can reallysolve those problems
that the average Americanwants us to tackle.
- Coons tells me he hopesthis divided Congress
can force both parties tocompromise on major issues
that Americans are ready to see resolved.
Reporting from Washington,Abigail Robertson, CBN News.
(dramatic pounding echoes)
- [Jenna] Coming up, how theChurch should be responding
to the political division in America.
(energetic instrumental music)
- Between immigration, taxes,abortion, and climate change
Americans are increasinglyfinding fewer areas of agreement.
- The dividing line appears
to have even found its way to the Church.
So what role do Christiansplay in following God's command
to bind up the divisivewounds and build unity?
- That's a question I putto Bishop Harry Jackson.
Bishop Jackson, you were here
the day after the midtermelections on Faith Nation
talking about the needfor the country to unite.
- Yes.- How has the country done
since November at unity?- Not so well.
I would give them a D+ (laughs)
- D+?- Yeah,
meaning there are some lingothat says we need to unify.
But every time you sayUnited States of America
I think right now it's almostlike a prophetic declaration
we're calling those things whichbe not as though they were.
But I think our disunityreally stems from the fact
that Alexis de Tocqueville years ago
said that America's greatbecause she is moral,
and when she stops being moral or good,
'cause she's good, that shewill no longer be great.
And I feel as though what's happened
is that there is an attemptto make our nation secular.
And therefore every otherreligion other than Christianity
is celebrated becausefolks believe that we,
the Christian community,have a set of values
that they need to be freed from.
And so I think the battleover Christian values or not
creates a realm of disunity.
If you have the same moral standards
it's easier to begin to saywe're going to be unified.
Think about it this way,every law is an expression
of our collective morality, and therefore
we're not getting muchlegislation done recently.
Have you noticed?
And that's because we can'tdecide on what's right.
And if you look at the two parties,
the Democrats and the Republicans,
Democrats have a justice orientation
if you'll look throughall their platforms,
but justice without Jesusis just us, it has no value.
And then the Republican platform
really has a righteousness orientation,
but righteousness that hasno relational connection
with Jesus once again is a problem.
So we've got theseideological perspectives.
We say limited government is good,
but there's a role for government.
We say government shouldbring a sense of fairness
and justice, but if my sense of morality
is really anchored in humanismI really don't have morality.
So we're trying tofigure out at this point
what America's raison d'etre,as the French say, is.
- Let me ask you real quickly,
how does division amongst Americans
make us more vulnerable as a nation?
- In spiritual places thedevil wants to bring disunity.
Disunity fragments our power.
The Bible says one'll put1,000 to flight, two 10,000.
And if you go on, threewould put 100,000 to flight.
- Right.- So there's amplified power.
If two shall agree as touchingany thing it shall be done
of them by my Father with Jesus in Heaven.
So what you find the spirit of anarchy,
if I can use that phraseology,is pressing in on America
'cause we're at the thresholdof a defining moment
and it's trying to say Black, White,
whatever nationality you're from,
you're not getting a fair shake.
It's trying to say male female.
The Me Too movement is a justice movement.
And unless Christianslead the way in saying,
here's how we're gonna unify.
By the way, there's moreof us than anybody else,
so here's our standard.
We're gonna see the enemiesfragmenting, dividing,
to bring a lack of identity,and then most importantly to me
a lack of spiritual power.
- How do Christians lead the way
in the phrase that you just mentioned
if evangelicals in today'smedia cycle are often pinned
or seen as the cause ofdivision within society?
- Well I think we gottago back to the hard work.
I wrote a book some yearsago with George Barna.
It's called High ImpactAfrican-American Churches.
And in our study we said these things
Black churches are doingthat all churches should do.
The Black churches of yesteryearwould do community outreach
to gain a hearing.
They'd do good, they'd serve the poor.
If you look at every list of reasons
why Millennials and lower inage don't wanna go to church
they say you're not doinganything for the poor.
You're not doing these thingsthat help the community.
You're just talking down tous and telling us what to do.
So we've gotta go back toearning the right to be heard.
It's pre-evangelism really.
So I need to do good workto identify with hurt
and then speak our truth notas correction, but helpers.
- So plenty of work for the Church to do
and a conversation that wedon't often hear very much
reported on, so thank you for sharing.
- Thank you, John.
- Bishop Harry Jacksonwith Hope Christian Church.
And always, Bishop Harry Jackson
always has many words of wisdom.
- Yeah, great interview.- Yep.
- Well that does it for Faith Nation.
- Have a great night.(warm instrumental music)
