(tense music)
- The date is set forthe State of the Union.
A look at President Trump's first speech
to a Democratic House.
Plus, what the growing deficitmeans for the US economy.
And bitterly cold weatherbeing seen across the country.
We'll show you where temperatureswill drop the lowest.
All this and more tonight on Faith Nation.
(friendly music)
Well, this time next week, President Trump
will be gearing up todeliver a slightly delayed
State of the Union.
Welcome to Faith Nation,I'm Jenna Browder.
- And I'm John Jessup.
Well, the President'sspeech before lawmakers
and the American publicwas put on hold during
the fight and the historic35 day government shutdown.
It's now scheduled for nextTuesday, all while Washington
works to find a way to preventanother partial shutdown.
- Capitol Hill CorrespondentAbigail Robertson
joins us now.
Abigail, the Presidentwill give his speech
against the backdrop of aticking clock when it comes
to funding the government.
(swoosh)
- Yes, (laughing) whenPresident Trump speaks
before the House, Senateand American people,
lawmakers will have just 10days left to reach a deal
to keep the government up and running.
Now the White House insistsany deal must include
funding for the border wall,as erosion begins to show
in the Democrat Party against a barrier.
- We are willing to supportfencing where it makes sense.
- [Abigail] Democrats are showing signs
they might give more thana dollar for a barrier
along the US-Mexico border.
- We've consistently saidthat we do not support
a medieval border wallfrom sea to shining sea.
- [Abigail] The Presidenthas already walked back
that earlier request andthe White House could
be willing to work with Democrats
on their immigration priorities.
- The President's openedthe government on the basis
that Democrats have signaledto us that they're willing
to actually get serious about a real deal
and get serious about fixingthe problem at the border
including funding for a border wall.
- [Abigail] A deal withthe Democrats could include
increased protections forundocumented immigrants
already in the country.
- The President has laidout things in the past
that he's willing to do.
We'll see what they comeback with but what I do know
is that if they don'tcome back with a deal
that means Democratsget virtually nothing.
That will make the Presidentand force him to have to
take Executive Action thatdoes not give Democrats
the things that they want.
- [Abigail] With the threatof an Executive Action
in his pocket, thePresident isn't letting go
of another possible shutdown.
As the Smithsonian and othermuseums reopen Tuesday,
House Democrats made a push toprevent any future shutdowns.
- Shutdowns are a stupid thing.
The House DemocraticCaucus strongly supports
the end of using shutdownsas a negotiating tactic.
- [Abigail] A bipartisanSenate Bill, called the
Stop Stupidity Act, wouldensure funding for all
branches of government except
the White House and Congress.
- If there's gonna be pain inflicted,
maybe it ought to be on us to do our jobs,
not on federal workers.
- Now, Democrats and Republicans will meet
in Conference Committeefor the first time tomorrow
since the government reopenedand this is the group
that lawmakers are puttingtheir hope and faith in
to find some kind of compromiseso that they can reopen
the government for the long term.
- Now, Abigail, this is the first meeting
since the end of the shutdown.
Both sides are still holdingfirm on their demands
from the original negotiations.
I imagine that there's notgonna be any big breakthroughs.
- That's true, manylawmakers are skeptical
if they will be able toreach a deal that will pass
both the House and Senate andbe signed by the President.
But they don't have toappeal to the far left
or the far right of each party.
So there is optimism andhope that they will find
some kind of reasonableagreement that will get
enough support fromboth sides of the aisle
to be able to pass the House and Senate
and hopefully, be signedinto law by the President.
- I like that, keeping hopeful.
So who exactly is involvedin these negotiations
this time around?
- There are 17 lawmakersfrom both the House
and Senate, it's a bipartisan group.
All members of this committee are members
of different appropriations committees
in both of the House and Senate.
And really, this group, youlikely haven't heard of,
you might not have heardof many of their names,
because it's a group really comprised
of a lot of deal makers.
They're not really the farright or the hard left.
It's really a lot of peoplewhose job in Capitol Hill
is to make deals, tofind spending agreements.
So that both the Houseand Senate, the chairmen
and chairwoman for theAppropriations Committee
are on this committee aswell as the top ranking
Republican and Democratsin those committees.
So they're very hopeful.
There's optimism thatthey will find something.
I think both sides aregonna have to give a little
and hopefully they cancome up with something.
- Abby, finally we gotword late this afternoon
on who will give the Democratic response
to the President's Stateof the Union Speech.
You have more on that?
- That's right, we now knowthat it will be Stacy Abrams.
She ran for governor inthe State of Georgia.
She was a Democratic candidateand just narrowly lost
to the Republicancandidate there in Georgia.
And she will be the one whowill give the Democrat response
after President Trump's Address next week.
- Thanks Abby.
(swoosh)
- Well, Chief PoliticalAnalyst, David Brody
joins us now for more.
David in most State of the Union speeches,
they use the line, the stateof our union is strong.
Given the 35 historicdays to our shutdown,
the threat of another shutdownhere in a couple of weeks,
how can the President goabout making this argument
that in fact our unionis strong right now?
- Well, he's gotta start out I think,
the state of our unionisn't all that great
but Jesus is on the throne.
I'd love him to say that. (laughing)
I don't think he's gonna go with the Jesus
on the throne part.
Look, I think he has to concentrateon some of the successes
of this administration.
There have been many.
The economy is going well.
And how do you not arguethat the state of our union,
at least economically, is strong?
I think he has to though,address the divisiveness
in the country.
And I think that willbe key as to how this
speech is perceived becauseI think a lot of people
want him to take the high road.
And typically in momentslike this, he does take
the high road and stayson prompter. (laughing)
- The latest Wall StreetJournal/NBC News Poll,
finds that a majority ofAmericans think the country
is on the wrong track.
What does President Trumpneed to do to win back
some of these people whothink we're not headed
in the right direction?
- I think it's really tough.
I'll be honest with you.
I don't think this speechis gonna change anything
specifically, with the Xamount percentage-wise.
I think he's got all sortsof problems and this country
has problems and he's not the solution.
I don't think he's gonna change minds.
Though, it's thatindependent, the independents
in the middle, he has achance to really talk to them,
specifically and I think onborder security specifically
as well, because if youlook at independents,
we've talked about this, Jenna, before.
Independents want a strong border.
Independents don't wantfolks just flooding
over the country illegally.
And I think if he makesthe common sense argument
from humanitarian standpoint,I think he can start
to convince some of those independents,
possibly to his side andthat's where he has to hope
the court of public opinionwill be on his side.
- Of course Congress is now split.
This'll be the first time hegives a State of the Union
to a Democratic House.
How do you think thatwill change his speech
this year from say, last year?
- I think I'm gonna be lookingfor a lot of different things
this time around.
First of all, on immigration specifically,
does he say the words, 5.7 billion?
Will that be in the speech?
Will DACA be in the speech?
Who will he invite?
Will the Angel Moms show up in force?
A lot of this is whatI'm gonna be looking for.
How much does he mention Nancy Pelosi?
How much does he say I wantto reach across the aisle?
How much will it be an uplifting speech
as opposed to the law and order speech.
And I think that fromthe Republican Convention
of 2016 where there was law and order
to the State of the Unionwhich have been a little bit
more highbrow, or Ishouldn't say highbrow,
but a little bit more uplifting.
I wonder how much he'll beable to thread the needle.
Look, he took a hit on Fridaywith that government shutdown.
I don't think there'sany question about it,
when he had to reopen the government.
So I think he comeshere a bit more contrite
this time around.
- Now who do you thinkthe Democrats will bring
as their special guests, Speaker Pelosi?
- Well, here come the undocumented workers
into the Gallery.
I don't think there'sany question about it.
Of course the Trump folkswill say, do you mean
the illegal immigrants, notthe undocumented workers?
Look, this is the state ofour politics today, right?
But I think you'll have bothsides kind of explain that.
Now, here's the thing,President Trump though,
has the bully pulpit.
He'll be the one thatwill be there on stage,
being able, or in the HouseChamber, being able to say,
look up into the rafters andexplain who these folks are.
Nancy Pelosi won't reallyhave that opportunity.
Now the networks will do it for her.
They'll explain who's there.
Also it'll be interestingto see what Mike Pence
and Nancy Pelosi do behind Donald Trump.
I'm waiting for thememes on that. (laughing)
That'll be very, very interesting to see.
Especially Nancy Pelosi, all eyes will be,
not just on Donald Trumpbut on her reaction as well.
- You bet.
Alright David, thank you so much.
- Thanks Jenna.
- Well the Trump Administrationis blocking all US funds
to Venezuela's National Oil Company.
It's America's latest move to force
President Nicolas Maduro from power.
(swoosh)
CBN's White HouseCorrespondent, Ben Kennedy
joins us with the details.
Ben?
- Well, John these sanctionsare meant to hit Venezuela
pretty hard, to the tune of $18 billion.
It's a critical economicmove aimed to increase
pressure on Maduro to cede power.
The White House imposedsanctions, blocked $7 billion
in assets, which could costthe country $11 billion
in oil revenues.
- The United States is holding accountable
those responsible forVenezuela's tragic decline.
We will continue to use allof our diplomatic and economic
tools to support Interim President Guaido.
- [Ben] The sanctions even block Americans
from doing business with Venezuela's
state owned oil company.
- PDVSA has long been avehicle for embezzlement,
for corruption, for Venezuelanofficials and businessmen.
(shooting)
- [Ben] It's a move meant todisrupt Maduro's government
and pave a path for JuanGuaido who declared himself
Interim Leader lastweek and was recognized
by more than 20 countries.
- We think stability anddemocracy in Venezuela
are in the direct nationalinterest of the United States.
Right now under theChavez-Maduro government,
civil society in Venezuelais disintegrating.
The economy is in a state of collapse.
(speaking foreign language)
- [Ben] Maduro threatenedto break diplomatic ties
with the US and closed thecountry's Embassy and Consulates.
- We believe we are nowprepared, as prepared
as we can be.
We're reevaluating the safetyconditions at all time.
- Now, the State Departmentordered the evacuation
of non-emergency staff andfamilies out of concern
for their safety.
John, Jenna?
- Ben, what about thisnote, National Security
Advisor, John Bolton was seen carrying
suggesting sending thousandsof troops to Columbia?
- Yeah, Jenna, I could see itkind of in the briefing room.
But yes, the handwritten message read,
Afghanistan, welcome the talk,5,000 troops to Columbia.
Now, Venezuela and Columbia share a border
and the White House responded to this note
saying, now look, alloptions are on the table.
- Can you talk a littlebit about the international
response to these sanctions?
- Yeah, John.
Russia slammed the US sanctionsand vows to back Maduro.
Maduro is a key ally ofRussia, extending billions
of dollars in loans to Venezuela.
The Kremlin says thisis the latest example
of Washington using economicsanctions to further
its commercial interests.
- White House Correspondent,Ben Kennedy, thanks Ben.
- Meantime, the United Stateshas reached an agreement
with the Taliban that could end 17 years
of war in Afghanistan.
After six days of talkwith high ranking members
of the terror group, a topUS Envoy says they have
a framework of a peacedeal but the details
still need to be fleshed out.
Almost 3,500 Coalition Forceshave died in Afghanistan
since the start ofOperation Enduring Freedom
back in 2001.
2,200 of them were Americans.
Nearly 150,000 civilianshave died in 17 years of war.
- Well here at home RogerStone is pleading not guilty
to charges related tothe Russia Investigation.
The longtime advisor tothe President faces charges
of lying to Congress and witness tampering
as well as obstructing aCongressional Investigation
into the link betweenRussia and President Trump's
2016 Presidential Campaign.
He was arraigned todayin a Washington court.
Stone is now the 6thTrump associate charged
in Special Counsel RobertMueller's Investigation.
(swoosh)
- Coming up, how the growingdeficit could affect you.
(tense music)
A new report is out from theCongressional Budget Office.
It predicts the US deficit is set
to hit $897 billion this year.
That's up $118 billionover last year's deficit.
The US Treasury says it'sborrowing $1 trillion
to make the payments.
The report also predicts aslowing economy with growth
at 2.3%, down from 3.1% last year.
A former economic advisorto President Trump
tell CBN News, Americansbelieve lawmakers are to blame.
- America people know thatWashington is extremely wasteful.
Shame on both partiesfor not buckling down,
starting to look at the budget and say
these are the things weneed, these are the essential
functions of government,and these are the things
that are wasteful, ornot providing the kinds
of services that the American people need.
(swoosh)
- Well, Dan Celia is thePresident of Financial
Issues Stewardship Ministry.
He joins us now for more.
Dan, thanks for being with us.
- Great to be here John, thanks.
- Dan, we're talking aboutalmost $900 billion in deficits.
What does a ballooning deficit mean
for the average American?
- It means a lot of things.
It means probably someeconomic times ahead
that could be very difficultso that certainly means that.
It will likely mean highertaxes down the road.
And I'm not just talkingabout federal taxes.
That might equate toa higher gasoline tax,
higher state tax insome way, shape or form.
But somehow, as the deficit balloons
revenues have to increase,it's just the way it is.
And yes, you can increaserevenues through certain
growth in the economy butthe fact of the matter is,
us, future generations as well,
if that debt continues to balloon,
it is going to mean higher taxes.
- Dan, it's almost hardto believe we're nearly
at the end of the month ofJanuary, the first month of 2019.
What's your sense overall?
How's the economy is 2019 doing?
- Well, I think so farit's been doing okay,
under a lot of circumstances,unusual circumstances, John.
We've got unprecedented political concerns
just in the environment in which we live
from a political perspective.
We are seeing things, just the move,
when you think aboutthe move that we've made
in attitude towardssocialism and things that are
hard to even imagine for America,
yet it seems to be a movement almost,
going towards that.
That brings uncertainty into economies
and creates some worries and concerns.
The political environment of hatred
that we have seen, it's unbelievable.
All of that breeds anuncertainty like none other
because we've never experienced it before.
We've never had a politicalparty that may be filled
with such hatred that itclouds every decision,
their ability to putinto place fiscal policy
that's good for America andgood for the American people.
It clouds everything.
They begin to look atthings with blinders on.
From a market perspective,from an economic perspective,
that breeds even more uncertainty.
Markets, economies, wedon't like uncertainty.
They don't likeuncertainty, it's very hard
to try to put any kindof analytics together
and analysis of economywhen you have uncertainties
that are new uncertainties.
And that's where we are right now.
- And certainly the government shutdown
did not help with that uncertainty.
- That's for sure.
- Last question for you, China's economy
appears to be slowing.
What kind of implicationsor what kind of effect
does that have on the economyhere in the United States?
- Well from my perspective,John, I don't think
it has a huge impact on the United States.
It does have an impact on the Eurozone.
And that then will trickledown to the United States.
Remember the Eurozone,we don't think of this,
we think of America being thelargest economy in the world
which it is as country,China being number two,
Japan being number three.
But the Eurozone is the largesteconomy in the world by far
when you look at the entire zone.
That Eurozone is very,very important to China
and it's also important to the Eurozone
as far as exports outof Euro and other goods
and services and so and so forth.
So my biggest concernabout what is happening
to China and the impact on the Eurozone
is the banking sector,the financial sector
and what that is gonna do.
And we haven't reallyplaced enough emphasis
on the financial sector like we should.
It is not healthy, it is not good.
The financial sector in andof itself, has a lot of debt.
A lot of this debt is whatwe would call leveraged debt.
But what it is leveragedon, is really just paper
and air and things thatdon't have any real
sense of value.
And they're the kinds of things
that I'm most concerned about.
So we don't want to see China continuing
to slow, not to mentionthe human rights issues
that'll come out of that.
- Well, Dan we're gonna haveto leave it right there.
Dan Celia with FinancialIssues Stewardship Ministries.
Thanks so much for yourtime and look forward
to having you back again.
- Thank you John, I appreciate.
(swoosh)
- Well, bundle up.
Still ahead, a look atblistering winter weather
bearing down on the country.
(tense music)
Arctic air is freezingthe Midwest bringing
the coldest temperatures in decades.
Chicago could set a record,as low as -30 degrees.
- Brr, the so-calledPolar Vortex will hover
over the country for severaldays and along with it
a storm bringing ice and snow to the East
and parts of the South.
Caitlyn Burke has moreon the winter weather.
- It's being described as thecoldest air in generations.
What that means islife-threatening low temperatures
expected to shatter recordsand plunge the Midwest
into a deep freeze.
It's all because of the Polar Vortex,
a large pocket of very cold air, typically
the coldest air in thenorthern hemisphere,
which sits over the polarregion during the winter season.
Well, that air has found itsway to the United States.
- This is just not, oh, it'sJanuary, it's getting cold.
There were a bunch of thingslining up in the preseason
and they've all come togetherfor this extreme event
that's gonna be occurringover the next four, five days.
- [Caitlin] The extremetemperatures started
in the upper Midwest onSunday, with temperatures
plummeting well below zero.
But believe it or not,the worst is yet to come.
Windchills of 50 to even 60 below zero
are expected across the Midwest this week
causing government officials to declare
States of Emergency fromWisconsin all the way
down to Alabama.
- By the way, I'vedubbed this Coldmageddon
because if it can getto 25 below in Chicago
that's far beyond this Polar Vortex stuff.
- [Caitlin] One of themost dangerous aspects
of this deep freeze is howlong it will stick around.
Parts of the Midwest couldbe experiencing those
subzero temperatures for 48 to 72 hours.
And for some areas it'scoming on the heels
of a snowstorm, making fordangerous travel conditions.
- It's rough, slippery and it's nasty.
- I wouldn't want to drive inthis type of weather at all.
- [Caitlin] For reference, by Wednesday,
Chicago could be colderthan Mount Everest,
Antarctica and even Siberia.
- I actually tweeted back on January 10th,
there gonna be a big warbetween people saying
it's the Ice Age comingbecause of no sun spots
and the other guys saying, well it's CO2.
You know what it is?
It's nature, of course it's nature.
How did it happen before?
The same way it's happening again.
- It's not only the Midwest being affected
by the Polar Vortex, inthe South temperatures
are way less severe but stillmuch colder than residents
in those areas are used toand could be accompanied
by ice and snow.
In Atlanta, where theSuperbowl in happening Sunday,
flights have been canceled,schools are already
being canceled and emergencypreparations are underway.
Caitlyn Burke, CBN News.
- Colder than Siberia,that's hard to believe.
- I can't believe it.
But you know what, we can'tcomplain about our 12 degrees
that we're about to get
because Fargo, in Caitlyn's map said -54.
- -50, -44 yes, no thanks.
- Wall, that's gonna do itfor tonight's Faith Nation.
- Stay warm.
