- [Announcer] This is CBN Newswwatch.
- And thanks for joiningus for CBN Newswatch.
I'm Heather Sells.
Freedom of speech is under firenow possibly more than ever
on college campuses with thisfundamental American freedom
being stripped fromstudents and professors.
CBN's George Thomas joins usnow with the latest examples
of threats to free speech,especially for Christians
and conservatives andtheir Biblical stance
on the issues, George.
- That is correct.
And Heather, first examplecomes from the state of Texas.
Baylor University, a Christian institution
is trying to stop Matt Walsh,
a Christian author and bloggerfrom speaking on campus
next week.
Walsh was invited by Baylor'sYoung Americans for Freedom
Chapter to give a speech titled,
The War on Reality, Whythe Left Has Set Out to
Redefine Life, Gender, and Marriage.
Well, it did not sitwell for some students
and so they circulated apetition that you see here
to stop him from speaking on the topic
from a Biblical perspective.
The petition accusesMr. Walsh of spreading
harmful hate speech.
Some students even vandalizedposters advertising the event.
Walsh took to Twitter, sayinghe simply wants to express
a point of view.
He is trying to have a goodsense of humor about the protest
and is asking students to try to have
a rational dialog with him.
By the way, organizerssay the event scheduled
for April ninth is now sold out.
The second case we go toinvolves Yale Law School students
saying students who workfor Christian groups
supporting Biblical teaching on marriage
being between one man and one woman
will now no longer receiveschool financial support.
The controversy eruptedwhen an attorney with
Alliance Defending Freedomwas invited to speak on campus
about a baker, who for religious reasons
refused to make a weddingcake for a gay couple.
A number of Yale's liberal groups,
including the LGBTQadvocacy group, Outlaws
protested the speech andthe school's financial help
to conservative students.
Yale responded by pullingthe funding for them only.
Texas Senator Ted Cruzis also now involved.
He sent a letter to thedean of the law school
saying its new policy is quote,
"Transparently discriminatory and intended
"to blacklist Christian organizations."
And he has threatenedlegal action against them.
And finally, to New Yorkwhere Jannique Stewart,
an African-American pro-lifespeaker was recently
dis-invited from giving anaddress at Cornell University.
Stewart was scheduled tospeak on her views on abortion
and sexuality.
She said Cornell canceledher appearance because
she believed in the Biblicaldefinition of marriage
and that sex
should be reserved forthe marriage covenant.
She wrote on Facebook,
"It was explained to me thathaving someone on campus
"who believed the way I did was tantamount
"to allowing a racist tospeak who held pro-slavery
"and pro-Holocaust views."
Heather, those are justsome of the latest examples
of American universities and colleges
trying to silence free speech.
- Yeah, a lotta concern anda lot happening right now.
- Exactly.
- Thanks, George.- You're welcome.
- Well, Christian conservativewriter, Matt Walsh
joins us now with more on the controversy
over his invitation to speak at Baylor.
Thanks for joining us, Matt.
- Thanks for having me.
- Well first of all, were you surprised
that students at aChristian college petitioned
against your visit?
- I wish I can say I'm surprised, but
we know that there are somevery good Christian schools
out there but there are also alot of Christian universities
that just use that titleand some of the benefits
that go along with it butdon't seem to really emphasize
the gospel or Christiantruth to any degree at all.
So no, I wish I could say it surprised me
but it's kinda what you expect from
Christian universities now.
- Tell us about yourspeech and why you think
it has become offensive,even to young Christians
on college campuses?
- Well the speech is totalk about the efforts
in our culture to redefine
these three pillars of human civilization,
which would be life, marriage, and gender.
Which I realize are three ofthe hottest topics, right?
And three controversial topics.
That's not why I chose it.
I chose it becausethese are controversial,
these are hot topics becausethey are so important
and because I don'tthink we can get to any--
we can't get to anywhereelse in our dialogue
on any other issue untilwe first established
what is the truth on these subjects?
And as far as why it's controversial on a
Christian campus, I thinkit's just because although,
you know, these are basic
Christian teachings,
I think that a lot ofChristians simply aren't raised
in households or inchurches that emphasize
even the basic Christian teachings.
- Well I'm interested inyour strategy going forward.
You have a sold out crowdat your Baylor event.
Do you think it will be a difficult crowd?
How are you preparing for this?
- Well, I
guess I don't know exactlywhat to expect in terms of--
I'm hoping that
people that come, ifthey actually are coming
to the event itself--
if they wanna stand outsideand hold posters and signs,
they're welcome to do that--
but if they're gonna comeinside, I hope that they will
at least be there to listento what I have to say
and then we can have thediscussion afterwards
in the Q and A.
So that's what I'm hopingfor and you know what?
I'll say that I even,
I would expect that.
I think that that will happenthat at the end of the day,
people will come and they'll listen and
it will go off, you know, withouta hitch for the most part.
That's what I'm expecting.
- Matt, I'm curious as towhere you see all this going?
We see more and more cases of colleges
seeming to be anti-free speech.
Do you see restrictionscontinuing to grow?
Or do you perhaps see thependulum swinging back?
- I would hope that thependulum is swinging back,
but I don't think that...
I don't know if I actuallysee that happening.
I think that,
you know, critical thinking,critical thinking skill,
this is, it's reallyimportant that people have
critical thinking skills andpart of the problem is that
that ability to thinkcritically, to actually engage
with an opposing point ofview, try to understand it,
and then express your ownview, that simple process
has not been, is notbeing taught in schools.
In the public school system,in the education system,
and so there are a lot ofkids ending up in college
and they don't really havethose skill and so when they,
when they're confrontedwith a point of view
they disagree with, the onlything they know how to do
is just to try to shut it down.
So I think unfortunately, we're just gonna
see more and more of that.
Although I do wanna sayone other thing quickly
that I do appreciate thatthe University of Baylor,
the administration, I mean, they have
stood by this event and it's,
the event's gonna happen,they haven't backed down so
I do really appreciate that.
- Well I know we're allhoping for a civil dialogue.
Matt Walsh with the DailyWire, thanks for your time.
- Thank you.
- A republican Senatorwants the IRS to review
the Southern Poverty Law Centerand its tax-exempt status.
Senator Tom Cotton says the organization
has become a tool of the leftto investigate and condemn
conservative organizations
and he also has huge concerns about
their financial dealings.
- They've really become kindof a hate group themselves.
They have this so-called hate map
and they use it to stigmatizetheir political opponents.
You know, respectable,center-right organizations.
So the Souther PovertyLaw Center has over half
a billion dollars, abouta quarter of that, Tucker,
is parked in overseasaccounts as best we can tell.
I don't know manycharitable advisors that say
it's best practice to send your endowment
to overseas accounts in the Caribbean.
That's one reason whyCharity Watch gives them
an F rating.
- The Senator originatedas a Civil Rights group.
Tonight on Faith Nation, somebelieve the American dream
is dying out.
Learn about somethingcalled alienated America
and what makes communities thrive or die.
You can watch Faith Nationhere on the CBN News channel.
Well thousands gathered atthe Virginia State Capital
on Wednesday to take astand for the unborn.
Nearly 65,000 peopleattended the state's first
March for Life rally.
It comes months afterGovernor Ralph Northam
and other state democratspushed for extreme
abortion legislation.
Although it was vetoed, politiciansand survivors shared why
all deserve a chance at life.
A 2018 Gallup poll foundonly 13% of Americans
support third trimester abortions.
And Victoria Cobb is the President of
the Family Foundation of Virginia.
She spoke at yesterday'srally and she joins us now
to share more.
Victoria, thank you for being with us.
- Thanks for having me.
- You just defeated anabortion bill that gained
national attention, howdifficult was it to do that?
- Well, it's unfortunate,you know, we saw it pass
in New York and thankfully,that was a wake up call
for Virginians, which set ourGeneral Assembly in motion.
Really, it was an abortionon demand up until
the point of birth for any reason.
Thankfully, our General Assembly's divided
very narrowly betweenpro-choice and pro-life ideology
so we were able to defeat that.
But unfortunately, we cansee by comments even made
by our Governor about post-birth
infanticide that thereare so many that still
in our leadership that holdjust absolutely abhorrent
views that are way outsidethe mainstream of Virginians.
- Yeah, and I wanna correctsomething we just said.
Apparently, it was 65hundred at the really,
not 65,000.
But talk a little about therally and why did you decide
to hold the first Marchfor Life rally in Virginia
at this point in time?
- Well, we were thrilled to partner with
National March for Lifeand bring that event
to Virginia because astatement needs to be made
in our state capital and in state capitals
all around the country so that we realize
abortion law is not justmade at the federal level,
it's made here at thestates and so we want to
make a statement.
So many people came outyesterday, just families,
and churches, and schools.
I can't even tell you thenumbers that were here that were
simply making sure thattheir voices were heard
for the unborn and we were thrilled
in the middle of this event,the entire Republican House
and Senate Caucus bothwalked out separately
out of their Caucus meetingsto come of see this rally
because they even understood it to be...
We had one reporter describe it as
the largest non-inauguralcrowd they had seen
at the Capitol.
That's the level ofenthusiasm that was there
and that's the statementthat was being made.
And thankfully, thelegislators took notice
and our goal is that they take that vision
of all those pro-lifers into
their policy-making.
That they understandwhen these bills come up,
these are all the peoplethat are going to be
behind them as they makepro-life policies in the future.
- Well, it sounds reallylike quite a moment and
I know Virginia is beingcalled a test state
on how abortion will impactthe upcoming elections.
What are your thoughts onhow this rally's turnout
and just the whole mood there shows about
late-term abortion sentiment in the state?
- We do think the mood is shifting,
we do think people arebeginning to wake up and realize
that abortion is somethingthat we cannot tolerate
at any stage, let aloneat these late stages
and we do, our messageyesterday was very much about
carrying this pro-lifemessage into the election.
We are going to have all 140 of our State
House of Delegates andSenate seats up for election
this November so peoplewill get that first look
as it always, as themomentum starts to shift,
eyes are always on Virginia because of our
off-year elections.
So we told these folksthat their voice matters
but their vote is their voice.
And so they need to be outwith friends, neighbors,
in their churches runningvoter registration drives,
putting out informationso that everyone knows
where every candidate standson these critical issues.
- Yeah, well the timingof Virginia's elections
being this year reallygives it a spotlight
in terms of the country.
Victoria Cobb, thanks for your time.
- Thanks for having me.
- [Heather] Coming up, tacklingone of the toughest problems
facing men and womenwhen they leave prison
in need of second chance.
(news music)
- [Announcer] CBN presentsthe I Wills of God,
your path to overcoming fear and anxiety.
- We are going to talk aboutsome of the incredible promises
God has made to his children.
- [Announcer] In PatRobertson's newest teaching,
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be with him in trouble,deliver him, honor him,
satisfy him with long life,show him my salvation.
And see amazing stories ofGod's promises in action.
- What I felt was loved and treasured.
- God spared my life twice in three days.
- The good Lord hadgiven me a second chance.
- [Announcer] Break freefrom stress and despair.
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- [Announcer] Call 1-800-700-7000
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The I Wills of God, yourpath to overcoming fear
and anxiety.
(dramatic music)
- Hello, I'm Terry Meeuwsen.
Did you know there are morethan 148 million orphans
in the world today?
148 million.
But it was three littlegirls that taught me
about the plight of orphans.
My husband and I spentnearly a month immersed
in the daily activitiesof the Ukrainian orphanage
as we waited to adopt three sisters.
I saw firsthand the utterloneliness, the pain of rejection,
and the overwhelming desire to be loved.
That experience changedme forever and out of it
grew a ministry from my heartcalled Orphan's Promise.
Today, we're helping orphansand vulnerable children
in more than 50 countries worldwide.
Thousands of childrenare now in safe homes,
they're being educated, andthey're learning life skills.
I'm asking you to joinwith me and become family
to these children.
Will you call the numberon your screen right now?
Because every child deservesa chance to be happy.
- The President is movingforward with a second bill
focused on criminal justice reform.
This week he announced plans to support
the Second Step Act, which will help
ex-cons find employment.
It is a follow-up to the First Step Act,
which gave prisoners a second chance
through rehabilitativeprograms and sentencing reform.
Brett Tolman joins us nowwith more on this legislation.
He's the former U.S. Attorney for Utah
and council to the SenateJudiciary Committee
under Senator Orrin Hatch.
Thanks so much for joining us.
- Thanks for having me.
- So it's interesting,you have had a career
fighting for tougher sentencesand now you are supporting
criminal justice reform.
What has motivated you?
- You know, it's interesting, I got into
being a prosecutor because I wanted to be
tough on crime and put bad guys in jail.
We all have experiences that shape our
path forward.
Our family was the victimof a horrible crime
when I was 12 years oldand thought that was
you know, the way that my career would go.
Halfway through, I think, mytime as a federal prosecutor
I started to realize that
there are better andsmarter ways to reduce
recidivism and punishmentis not the one way
that's gonna get us to reduced crime.
- So interesting.
Well you are backing the Second Step Act,
which aims to help prisonersre-enter society and find work.
This of course, is anincredible challenge.
How is this piece oflegislation going to try and
meet that challenge?
- You know, I think it'sreally more than just
one more piece oflegislation, it's gonna be
a combination of legislation as well as
efforts to bring corporateAmerica, the business community
around to start to givea chance or a shot at
those coming out of prison getting work,
getting education.
Recidivism is reduceddrastically if they have a job.
And so, this Second Step that was
referenced by the President,
I think is gonna have,you know, several facets
but it's gonna focus on theirre-entry into the community.
- Will this legislationgive business owners
who fear giving ex-cons a job for a
number of reasons an incentive to do so?
- Yeah, I think it's possibleyou can incentivize 'em
but there's a lot of, youknow, thoughtful people
and brighter than myselfworking on these issues
and they've come up with, for example,
a balanced approach where
you allow somebody tofill out an application
without indicating their criminal history,
you get an interview,
then the employer can askabout criminal history.
It just gives them achance before, you know,
the file--
their application is thrownaway before they even
get an interview.
- What are you seeing politically on this?
How difficult might it be to find support
for this legislation?
- Well what we're seeing isconservatives, like myself,
Senator Lee, and otherslike to repeat the phrase
that we're involved incriminal justice reform
not despite us beingconservatives but because
we are conservatives.
We care about the cost ofour criminal justice system
on our budget as well as the human cost
and we care about reducing crime.
And if that's true, thenwe'll figure out a way to just
to do those things.
- Alright, well BrettTolman thank you so much
for your time.
- Thank you.
- [Heather] Still ahead, theArgentinian born Evangelist
who preaches to packedout crowds in major cities
now has his story toldin a major motion film.
We'll take a look at the brand new biopic
on Luis Palau.
(news music)
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- [Announcer] Life.
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fully.
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Jesus said it,
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CBN.com.
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- [Announcer] Discover the I Wills of God.
I will rescue him,protect him, answer him,
be with him in trouble,deliver him, honor him,
satisfy him with long life,show him my salvation.
- What I felt was loved and treasured.
- God spared my life twice in three days.
- The good Lord hadgiven me a second chance.
- [Announcer] Call 1-800-700-7000
or visit CBN.com.
The I Wills of God, the latestteaching from Pat Robertson.
(dramatic music)
- [Caitlin] Check out the CBNNews Daily Rundown podcast
each weekday with me, Caitlin Burke.
Click on the Show tab at CBNNews.com
where you can listen and subscribe.
(news music)
- He's been called the BillyGraham of Latin America
and now, a new movie capturingthe life and the legacy
of Evangelist, Luis Palau hitstheaters across the country
this Thursday.
The film is called Palau.
And Jenna Browder has asneak peek with the actor
who plays Palau.
(soft music)
- [Jenna] It's a movie sure to inspire.
The life story of Evangelist, Luis Palau.
From humble beginnings in Argentina...
(speaking in foreign language)
- To the world stage where he'sreached millions for Christ.
We sat down with the actor who plays Luis,
Gaston Paul, to find outwhat the experience was like.
We'll get to that but first,
here's how the two menmet and came together
to work on this project.
- I met him
a long, long time ago in Buenos Aires.
- It was at one ofLuis's famous festivals.
Gaston, a well-knownactor and TV personality
in Latin America was thereto make a documentary.
- So I went there, not to talk with Luis
but to talk with theaudience because I was really
curious about this man.
How can he bring
a lot of people, maybe millions of people
just to hear what he has to say?
So, I went there, I madea TV show documentary,
and after that, he calledme on the phone just to say,
"Thank you for that documentary
"that you did about me and maybe
"God one day will bring us
"together again."
Two years ago, I receive a phone call
just to say that they were thinking--
I mean, the Palau Association--
they were thinking about
doing a movie about his life and
they were consideringme for the main role.
- [Jenna] The movie beginswhen Luis is just a boy.
- [Billy Graham On Radio]When the spirit of God
calls you to the cross,
don't you hesitate!
- [Jenna] As a young man,he started by sharing
God's word on the radio.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Jenna] And preaching on the streets.
- The life I now live inthe flesh, I give by faith.
- [Jenna] Gaston plays him as an adult,
beginning at seminary in Oregon.
- Always a real challenge tocreate a character, you know?
But when you have to create a real man
who's still living,
it's more difficult and you have to be
very respectful.
- [Jenna] Before they started shooting,
he wanted to meet Luis face to face.
- So we met
two years ago in Portland and
I could see there
his eyes.
I mean, everything is there
in his humility, his humanity,
his way of talking,
and he was there.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Jenna] And that's whathe captures in these scenes
that follow the ups anddowns of Luis's story.
- Billy Graham.
- Pleasure to meet you.
- [Jenna] Luis wasinspired by Billy Graham,
who became his lifelong friend and mentor.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Jenna] And just likethe famous Evangelist,
God gave Luis the abilityto reach the masses
for the kingdom.
Gaston says picking up Luis's voice
proved to be one of thehardest parts of the role.
- He has a particular way of talking.
He talk like,
"Hello, Gaston, how are you?"
So I had to put my voice here.
- [Jenna] He remembers oneespecially challenging scene
when he could no longer speak.
- I started to think please,
this cannot,
I can't believe this.
I can't believe.
Everyone was...
Were there, looking at me, just thinking,
"Come on, man.
"Where's your voice?"
So I started to pray
in front of the extrasand they were starting to
pray with me
and maybe, I can't remember exactly,
but 20 minutes after that,my voice came back and
better, my voice was at I mean,
like never before, you know?
- [Jenna] Just like Luis's message,
Gaston says he hopes thismovie changes hearts.
- This movie can bring us, I hope,
the possibility of abetter world, you know?
A world with more light,
with more hope.
- [Jenna] He says it changed his.
- Maybe it's one of themost important projects
in my whole life.
- [Jenna] Jenna Browder, CBN News.
- The film will be intheaters for two days only,
today and Saturday.
You can find out where it isplaying by going to our website
at CBNNEws.com.
♪ Well the first sound I remember ♪
♪ As a little barefoot boy ♪
♪ Was my daddy's Martin guitar ♪
- [Heather] Coming up,the latest sounds from one
of Christian music's favorite artists.
♪ Climbing up on your mountain ♪
♪ And finding my way hometo the sound of the banjo ♪
- [Announcer] When you give,
smiles grow bigger.
When you care,
homes are happier.
When you comfort,
(upbeat orchestral music)
the hurt goes away.
When we all come together to love,
miracles happen.
- Hello, I'm Terry Meeuwsen.
Did you know there are morethan 148 million orphans
in the world today?
148 million.
But it was three littlegirls that taught me
about the plight of orphans.
My husband and I spentnearly a month immersed
in the daily activitiesof the Ukrainian orphanage
as we waited to adopt three sisters.
I saw firsthand the utterloneliness, the pain of rejection,
and the overwhelming desire to be loved.
That experience changed me forever
and out of it grew aministry from my heart
called Orphan's Promise.
Today, we're helping orphansand vulnerable children
in more than 50 countries worldwide.
Thousands of childrenare now in safe homes,
they're being educated, andthey're learning life skills.
I'm asking you to joinwith me and become family
to these children.
Will you call the numberon your screen right now?
Because every child deservesa chance to be happy.
- Hello?
Is this thing on?
Hey, kids,
do you love
games?
And do you love
discovering things?
Well do ya?
- [Announcer] Then you're gonna love this.
It's the new freeSuperbook Kid's Bible App.
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to your questions, and a whole lot more.
The new Superbook Kid's Bible App.
Free downloads available oniTunes and Google Play now.
- [Announcer] Come home tothe Southern Gospel station
from CBN Radio.
You'll enjoy a richsouthern blend of bluegrass,
classic gospel, andsouthern gospel favorites.
CBN's Southern Gospel, available now
at CBNRadio.com.
(banjo music)
♪ Well I come from a placewhere the blue grass grows ♪
♪ Where the rivers runand the music flows ♪
♪ And I carry it with me everywhere I go ♪
- And that is Grammy award-winning artist
Steven Curtis Chapman with his new album,
Deeper Roots: Where the Bluegrass Grows.
It also features Rascal Flattsand country music legend,
Ricky Skaggs.
Chapman says it is fullof theology-rich hymns
focusing on an immeasurable God
set to tunes from hisbluegrass roots, who knew?
And that is it for thisedition of Newswatch.
You can find more on theissues that you care about most
at CBNNews.com and you canwatch CBN News programs
any time on our CBN News channel.
Please, tell us what youthink about the stories
that you've seen here.
You can email us at Newswatc@CBN.com
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We hope that you will join us next time.
Have a great day.
(news music)
