- [Narrator] Working towardpeace in the Middle East.
How Evangelicals are joining forces
with the White House on a plan for
the Palestinians and Israel.
Overhauling Obamacare on hold.
Why Republicans will wait to try to change
health care in America,and the Supreme Court
will soon decide are fertilized embryos
people or property?
All this and more tonight on Faith Nation.
(upbeat music)
- Faith leaders working to bring peace
in the Middle East,welcome to Faith Nation,
I'm John Jessup.
- And I'm Jenna Browder.
Evangelicals are joining President Trump
on the front lines as he crafts his plan
for peace in the Middle East, and while
faith leaders are urging the White House
to support Israel, they are also calling
for help and prayers for the Palestinians.
- CBN's White Housecorrespondent, Ben Kennedy
spoke with some of the evangelicals.
Ben, what did you learn?
- Well, John and Jenna, faith leaders
told the White House to never forget
that Iran remains the real enemy
in the Middle East, that being said,
the deal won't work unless the Palestinian
authority is open to talks.
To solve that dilemma,the Trump Administration
wanted to hear directlyfrom Christian leaders.
- We were stunned by that.
- [Ben] Stunned that the White House
wanted input from leaderslike pastor Jack Graham
on Middle East peace.
- We talked about, ofcourse, the sovereignty
of Israel, that that's very important
for Christians, andparticular Bible-believing
Christians, that Israelhas a right to exist
and Jerusalem as its capital.
- [Ben] In the meeting that included
Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo and
the President's son-in-law, Jared Kushner,
Graham and others, urgedthe security of Israel
must be a priority.
- Making sure that Israel is safe.
As long as people keep throwing bombs
at Israel, it's gonna bedifficult to have peace.
So everybody understandsthat, but at the same time,
we talked about partnershipswith Arab countries
and governments that could be partners
and economic development, I think,
will be a part of the plan.
- [Ben] Another attendee,pastor Jentezen Franklin agrees.
Do you think this plan could actually stop
the violence along the Gaza border?
- I believe there's a possibility.
There is a different, there's something
that is working andpeople like Jared Kushner,
and Jason Greenblatt and others
are working diligently, tryingto find some middle ground.
- The middle ground could include
a two state solution, the challenge lies
with the Palestinian authority
who has refused to speakwith the White House
since President Trump recognized
Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
What needs to be in this plan to get
the Palestinian authorityto the table to even talk?
- Opportunity.
Everyone needs to live with hope
and so many Palestinian peopleare living without hope.
- God cares and loves the Palestinians
and cares about them and so do we
in the evangelical community,but we cannot allow
parts of Israel that serve so greatly
to protect and secure the people of Israel
to be given away.
- The White House has stopped short
of releasing derailsabout that Middle East
peace plan in September, President Trump
said it would be ready in four months,
but clearly, it is takingmore time to hash out a deal.
John, Jenna.
- Ben, once the plan is unveiled,
do faith leaders thinkthe Palestinian authority
will actually negotiate?
- Well, Jenna, actually on Sunday,
PA President Mahmoud Abbassaid, "There is no room
"for the US in this peace process."
To be honest guys, it'sa bit of a wait and see
for one, if they willlook at the peace plan
once it is unveiled and then,if they're open to dialogue.
That's the latest outside the White House,
Ben Kennedy, CBN News.
- Alright, thank you,Ben, well it is unlikely
the Justice Departmentwill meet today's deadline
to release the full,un-redacted Mueller report.
House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler
and leading Democratsplan to vote tomorrow
to authorize subpoenas so they can see
the probes findings, alongwith all of the evidence
from the Trump-Russia investigation.
Attorney General Bill Barr, who issued
a summary of those findings last week,
told Congress he plans to release
the nearly 400 page report bymid-April or possibly sooner.
Some portions of thatreport might be concealed
to protect classified information,
like sources and methods, or material
that could effect ongoing matters.
Barr's summary of the Mueller Report,
cleared the President of any collusion
between Russia and the Trump campaign.
- Well President Trump's push to overhaul
Obamacare is on pause for now.
The President says onTwitter, "Republicans are
"developing a reallygreat healthcare plan,
"but that a vote won't comeuntil after the 2020 election."
Congressional Democratshave long been critical
over the President's calls to repeal
and replace the Affordable Care Act,
also known as Obamacare,even more so today
after the President'sannouncement on delaying action.
- The President Tweetedthat they will come up
with their plan in 2021.
Translation, they haveno health care plan.
It's the same old songthey've been singing.
They're for repeal, they have no replace.
President Trump confirmedthat he will hold
Americans hostagethrough the 2020 election
when it comes to health care.
- The Justice Department agreed with
a District Court rulingthat the Affordable Care Act
is unconstitutional andshould be thrown out.
Meanwhile, House Democrats introduced
a new bill to strengthenthe Affordable Care Act.
It would make more middle class people
eligible for subsidies, and help
lower income recipientsalready in the system.
That bill should make it through the House
but not the Republican-controlled Senate.
Well, Indiana senator Mike Braun says
before Obamacare repealeffort takes place,
Republicans need a clearplan on what will replace it.
Today he spoke with CBN News' Capitol Hill
correspondent, Abigail Robertson.
Abigail, the President keeps saying
Republicans are going to be the party
known for health care,does Senator Braun agree?
- Well Senator Braun toldme that he was surprised
to hear President Trumpsay this, but he said
it's very much somethingthat he would like to do.
Now, Senator Braun has only been here
just over a hundred days and he told me
that he thinks Republicans, people in
his own party have defended big
health care companies for too long.
He said he knows from personal experience
running his own business, that patients
and companies are not getting good deals
from these insurance companies,
and there are many changeshe would like to see
take place, now while he does not agree
that a repeal should happenwithout a replacement,
he said he's willing towork with the President
on a more long term solution, take a look.
- Leader McConnell I think was wise
to step in and say that, let's make sure
we get it right this time, and I think
it is such a big deal, so comprehensive,
that it'd be hard forus to be out there now.
What I'm gonna do is workon lowering the cost,
making it more transparent,and take that approach.
Somewhere down the road, it's gonna be
the alternative, that theother side is offering
which sounds so enticing,Medicare for all.
I think we'd regret it,because first of all,
it costs so much more when we're already
running deficits to where we don't pay
for the government thatwe're already demanding,
so I think they've gota lot that we can hit
to where how's that gonna work,
that's not gonna pan out.
On the other hand, we'vegotta devise a system
if we wanna save thesystem, it's gotta shrink,
it's gotta get better, it's gotta offer
better value, thatmeans solve the problems
and lower the prices.
- Senator Braun addedthat while President Trump
wants to wait until after 2020,
he's going to go ahead and put forth
some bills that wouldhelp patients right now.
- Abby, as we just reported,Democrats on the Hill
are demanding to seethe full Mueller Report
even on the brink of issuing subpoenas
for that report, what did Senator Braun
have to say about that?
- Well, Senator Braun is all for releasing
the full report, here's his full answer.
- And I think it should beout in its fullest form.
Only qualified by whatevercan't be displayed
due to ongoing investigations,
and classified material,but it should be out there
so we can all see it to the extent we can.
- That's definitely a sentiment
that has strong bipartisansupport here on the Hill.
- Abigail, another issue the Senate is set
to tackle this week is the nuclear option
to confirm Judicial nominees.
What did he say about that?
- Well, John, that's right.
We're hearing reports from Republicans
of lower courts that are really struggling
with backups because theyhave a lot of vacancies
and they say that thisis because Democrats
are taking the full 30hours of debate time
on each nominee, which theysay is pretty unprecedented.
So they're prepared to go nuclear in order
to get these PresidentTrumps nominees through
and this is something thatSenator Braun supports.
- The Democrats are all for this,
if it would go into effect in 2021,
that's what I don't like about this place.
I feel almost certain that if the had
the levers of power, there'd be no doubt
what would happen and here, the fact that
through the Clinton, Bushand Obama Administrations
they were only in the first two years
an average of eight cloture votes
and we've had a 128, I'mglad Leader McConnell
was doing it and I think we're all
gonna be on board and surely we'll get
a few Democrats and if not, I think
we'll get it done the other way.
- And we'll see how that votepans out later this week.
- Capitol Hill correspondent,Abigail Robertson.
Thanks, Abby.
- Well, today Republicans are moving
to force a House vote on a bill that would
protect infants to survivea botched abortion.
The Born Alive AbortionSurvivors Protection Act
would make it a crime to withhold
life saving medical carefor abortion survivors.
- Is the Born Alive Act even necessary?
- [Jenna] Survivors of abortions
gone awry say the answer is yes.
- And I wish I could tell you that when I
was born alive, everyone saw my humanity.
And immediately provided me medical care.
- [Jenna] Melissa Ohdensurvived an attempted abortion.
- I was the little girlgasping for breath.
- [Jenna] And she's not the only one.
- My life, actually, was a miracle.
- [Jenna] Claire Culwell isan abortion survivor too.
- I wasn't my birth mother's body.
I was a separate body andI had a separate heartbeat
inside of my birth mother's body.
- [Jenna] So is Gianna Jessen.
- I was born aliveafter being burned alive
in my mother's womb.
- [Jenna] Republicanswant to force the issue
and get Democrats on record.
- All of us here today havea message for Nancy Pelosi.
If you won't bring itup, we'll bring it up.
- [Jenna] Representative Steve Scalise,
is second in command inthe Republican House.
- It should be easy toget all four hundred
and thirty five membersof Congress to sign this,
but it's not, in fact,it's going to be hard.
We know it's an uphill battle.
- [Jenna] And Republicanssay they have support
from some Democrats in the house.
- And I thank those brave Democrats
that are gonna cross the line.
- [Jenna] Scalise saysthis is their chance.
- There are a lot of Democrats who won
their election last yearflipping a Republican seat
saying that they wouldcontinue to be pro-life
and stand up to Nancy Pelosi.
Here's gonna be their opportunity.
- [Jenna] Democrats saythe bill goes too far.
- This bill is Washingtonpolitics at its worst.
I will vote no.
- [Jenna] All but three Democrats voted
to block a similar billlast month in the Senate.
- So this vote does not occur in a vacuum.
It's part of a patterntaken by President Trump
and Congressional Republicans to limit,
deny, or circumscribe awoman's right to health care.
- [Jenna] Democrats say the bill
is an attack on abortion rights
and prevents doctors fromusing their best judgment.
- Decisions such asthis, should be made by
providers, physicians.
- [Jenna] That judgment,put on full display
last month during a radio interview
with Doctor and VirginiaGovernor Ralph Northam.
- The infant would be delivered,
the infant would be kept comfortable,
the infant would be resuscitated if that's
what the mother and the family desired,
and then a discussion would ensue.
- [Jenna] Republicanssays doctors like Northam
are only comforting themselves.
- There's nothing comforting about
abandoning a little baby to die.
- [Jenna] Jill Stanek is a nurse
who claims infants wereleft to die on her watch.
- I couldn't bear the thoughtof this suffering child
dying alone and so Icradled and rocked him
for the 45 minutes that he lived.
(dramatic swooshing)
- Born alive, joins usnow from Capitol Hill.
Congresswoman Wagner, thanks so much
for joining us, it's great to see you.
- It's wonderful to bewith you and your viewers.
- Why do you think it's important
to demand a vote now in the House?
- We've been trying nowfor well over a month.
We passed forward and moved on the floor
25 different unanimous consent to try
and force Nancy Pelosi tobring this bill to the floor,
as has been brought in the past.
This is a piece of legislation
that has been passed inthe previous Congress
and before that, also,on a bipartisan basis.
But now more than ever, while we see
legislatures and governorsacross the country
that are rolling backprotections for children
and babies that are born alive,
we must act, we must act as a Congress
and put everyone's vote onrecord with their districts.
- Congresswoman, criticssay a measure like this
the Born Alive ProtectionAct is unnecessary
because cases where infantsneed to be protected
like this are extremely rare or could
penalize or criminalize doctors.
How do you respond to that?
- Well it's simply not true.
There are only six statesthat actually report
right now and the CDC has put forward
hundreds of cases of babies and infants
that are born alive and then left to die
and be discarded andkilled in the procedure
or operating room.
What this bill does, whatpeople have to understand,
it does four very, very key things.
First of all, it makessure first and foremost
that the doctor and the facility
are held criminallyliable, there are penalties
in place for someone that actually kills
a child that's been born alive.
Next, it also requiresthat records and data
be taken and kept so that we have
a sense of how prevalent this is.
It also is very important for the mother.
It gives the mother thekind of civil remedies
that may she need in caseshe wants to take action
against that doctor thatkilled a born alive baby.
But most important, itgives life saving care
to a baby that is bornalive, and that is just
it's not just a pro-life issue,
this is an issue that'sa human rights issue.
This is an issue that our Founding Fathers
guaranteed in ourConstitution, life, liberty
and equal protection under the law
and I assure you that our Founding Fathers
never put an age limit on life, liberty,
and equal protection under the law.
Every child deserves to havea chance at life after born.
- Congresswoman, how confident are you
that you will have thesupport to bring this about.
Do you think some Democratswill break with leadership?
- They need to, I expect we will have
some Democrats that willsign the discharge petition.
It depends on what kind of a stronghold
that Nancy Pelosi, Speaker Pelosi,
puts on her members,I hope that she allows
all members to votetheir conscience on this.
If she were to allow them to vote
their conscience, this would be
the easiest vote that any legislature
would ever choose, youeither choose to give
life-saving care to babies that are born
or you choose to let themdie, and discard them.
It's a simple choice and I think one that
all Americans can be for, and if you look
at some of the polling numbers out there,
you would see that the vast majority
of Americans, no matterwhere they may stand
on the abortion issue,believe that a child
that is born alive should always be given
life saving care.
- Congresswoman Wagner, thank you again,
always good to see you.
- It's my honor, thank you so much.
(dramatic swooshing)
- Senator Bernie Sanders'2020 Presidential
campaign has raised just over $18 million
in the first few months of 2019.
The campaign says the money comes from
about 900,000 contributorsand the average donation,
$20, a major grassroots campaign.
10 million came during the first week
after Sanders announced he was getting
into the race for the White House.
Sanders is expected tobe one of the biggest
fundraisers among the packof Democratic hopefuls.
(metallic swooshing)
- A second sexual assault victim
speaks out against Virginia'slieutenant governor.
What she's saying inher first TV interview
and reaction from lawmakersin the Commonwealth
when we come back.
Welcome back, a secondsexual assault victim
speaks out against Virginia'slieutenant governor.
What she's saying inher first TV interview
and reactions from lawmakersin the Commonwealth.
I apologize, a secondwoman who has accused
Virginia's lieutenantgovernor of sexual assault
is speaking out with details of her story.
Meredith Watson says while the two
were students at Duke University
back in 2000, Justin Fairfax raped her.
Fairfax denies that claim, saying Watson
has not filed criminalcharges or a lawsuit
but instead, is going to the media
speaking today on CBS this morning,
Watson said she had nothingto gain by coming forward.
- The only thing coming forward has done
is invited criticism andchaos and scrutiny of me.
And put me under a microscope.
And it's been difficult enough,
what I've gone through the last 20 years.
I didn't need this.
But I had to tell the truth.
- [John] Both Watson andFairfax's other accuser,
Vanessa Tyson, have askedVirginia's lawmakers
to hold a public hearingon their allegations.
Fairfax says such ahearing would be a partisan
media circus, and isinstead calling for a,
"Fair, full, and impartial investigation."
- Well, Eric Philips is in Richmond,
Virginia today, following the story
and he joins us now with more.
Eric, his accuser's pushedfor a public hearing.
- Party lies with this hearing regarding
the lieutenant governor is concerned.
The republicans are saying given
the horrible nature ofthe sexual assault charges
they need to be vetted publicly,
and they have made a proposal to do so,
but so far, Democrats have said no,
they will not have thispublic hearing move forward.
Now, the victims, the alleged victims,
both Meredith Watson and Vanessa Tyson
have said they wouldlike to testify publicly
in front of the people of the Commonwealth
but and this is justsomething we've learned
in the last hour, theysay they will only do so
if there is bipartisansupport for this hearing.
They will not speak underany other circumstances
and that is why HouseMajority Leader, Todd Gilbert
says he's hopingDemocrats will reconsider.
- I think that anybody who takes off
their partisan hat for even a moment
and is able to look at that testimony,
those interviews andhow compelling they were
would agree that when those women say
something terrible happened to us
and we deserve a hearing infront of the legislature,
before all of Virginia,so that all of Virginia
can judge for themselves whether
their lieutenant governorcommitted these horrible acts,
I think everybody should agree that
that is something that weshould afford these women.
- Now, it is important to note that
the Republicans do holda majority in Virginia.
However, in that the alleged victims
have said they will not move forward
without the consent of the Democrats,
Republicans actually needthe Democrats in this case,
so unless something drastically changes
very soon, it appears that this
public hearing will be a no-go.
What's interesting to note, though
is if it had in fact happened,
this would have been the first time
that the second ranking Democrat
in the state had such ahearing, John and Jenna.
- Alright, Eric Philips reporting
in Richmond, thanks somuch for that report, Eric.
- Well coming up, how anupcoming Supreme Court
decision on embryos couldhave a ripple effect
on abortion in America.
(upbeat music)
The Supreme Court has a chance to decide
a big question for the country.
Are fertilized embryos people or property?
- A decision could lead to a change
in the state of legalizedabortion in America.
Paul Strand reportsfrom the Supreme Court.
- Recent cases involving the fight
over the frozen fertilized embryos
show another exampleof our divided nation.
For instance, an Arizona court ruled
an ex-wife could give birth to her
frozen embryos, despiteher exes objections.
While a Colorado court decided in favor
of an ex-husband, stating embryos
could be treated likeproperty and thrown away.
The US Supreme Court has been asked
to take the Colorado case and rule
the frozen embryos arepersons with a right to life.
You may not think it matters whether
embryos are considered people,
but if the law here in America decides
that they are, or even ifit decides they aren't,
it has major implications.
Constitutional law attorney, Jenna Ellis
warns about a ruling thatembryos are mere property.
- I think we're gettinginto very dangerous
ethical and legal questions if the court
decides to go that way.
- We are commodifying human life.
We are commodifying whatit means to be human
and I think that hasdevastating consequences.
- [Paul] David Christensen of the
Family Research Councilpoints to the court's
1973 decision allowing abortion.
- Roe v. Wade and Doe v.Bolton legalized abortion
and now we have sixty million unborn
children that have been killed.
There's no question about the impact
on families and family dynamics
and the way we view each other
and the way we view unborn children.
- [Paul] Ellis says ruling embryos
as property could potentially expand
to other stages of life.
- At what point does that arbitrary line
go from fertilized embryos at merely
the conception stage, then all the way
to say someone who's in a coma at the end
of their life, are they then morphed into
property because they don't have
any decision making autonomy?
- Rather than looking at human embryos
as property, we shouldlook at them as they are.
A member of the species, homosapien,
and they should be protected.
- [Paul] Pro-choice advocates worry
declaring embryos persons with rights
could end up stripping adults
of their right not to be a parent.
Ellis believes the issueis more fundamental.
It's about life itself.
- This is a really great opportunity
for the Supreme Court to recognize
that human is human life, nomatter how tiny and small.
- [Paul] Could that,then, shape the so-called
right to abortion?
- We're seeing with advanced technology
that human beings are human beings
even in the womb, no matter how small
and I think that Roe's days are numbered
and we're gonna see a pro-life win
at the Supreme Court very very soon.
- [Paul] Paul Strand, CBNNews, the Supreme Court.
- The debate rages on.
Well that's gonna do itfor tonight's Faith Nation.
- Have a great night.
(upbeat music)
