(upbeat music)
- Presidential hopefuls take the stage.
Who stood out on night oneof the Democratic Debate
and what to expect asfront runners Joe Biden
and Bernie Sanders get to the platform.
Plus, citizenship and the census,
more on today's SupremeCourt ruling on a question
the Trump administration wantedto add to the 2020 Census.
And faith and politics,we'll bring you the latest
from the Faith & Freedom Coalition's
Road to Majority Conference.
All this and more tonight on Faith Nation.
(mid tempo music)
The 2020 Democratic front runners
get their turn on thedebate stage tonight.
Welcome to Faith Nation, I'm John Jessup.
- And I'm Jenna Browder.
It's round two, tonight JoeBiden and Bernie Sanders
will square off in Miami.- That is right.
It is a crowded field of Democratsvying for the White House
with eight othersalongside them and 10 more
who took the stage last night.
All of them hoping to set themselves apart
and win over voters.- Amber Strong kicks off
our 2020 coverage tonight.
- 10 candidates took to thestage for 2020's first round.
Up until now they've workedhard to stay above the fray.
But last night the gloves were off.
- There are a lot of politicians who say
"Oh it's just not possible."
What they're really telling you
is they just won't fight for it.
- [Amber] NBC News moderatorshitting on the top issues
like health care, but it was division
over Medicare For Allthat gave the viewers
the first spark of the evening.
- It's not working!(coughing)
How can you defend asystem that's not working?
That's right, so for thosefor whom it's not working,
they can choose Medicare.- Congressman...
- For the culinary workersin Nevada who I listen to--
- You gotta start by acknowledgingthat this is not working
for people.- Negotiated for this plan.
- I think we should be theparty that keeps what's working
and fixes what's broken.(applauding)
- [Amber] It took nearly 15 minutes
before any mention ofthe name Donald Trump.
But the administration's currentpolicies took center stage.
On Iran...- This president
and his chickenhawk cabinet have led us
to the brink of war with Iran.
I served in the war in Iraq
at the height of the war in 2005.
The American people need to understand
that this war with Iran wouldbe far more devastating--
- [Amber] The candidates also taking shots
at each other on immigration
and recent calls to decriminalizeillegal border crossing.
- The reason that they'reseparating these little children
from their families is that they're using
section 1325 of thatact which criminalizes
coming across the borderto incarcerate the parents
and then separate them.
Some of us on this stage havecalled to end that section,
to terminate it, some, likeCongressman O'Rourke have not.
- You're looking at justone small part of this.
I'm talking about a comprehensive rewrite
of our immigration laws.
Supporting criminal prosecution.
- If you did your homework on this issue--
- [Amber] When it comes to abortion
and keeping Roe V Wade in place
presidential contenders standing firm.
- I would make certainthat every woman has access
to the full range ofreproductive healthcare services
and that includes birthcontrol, it includes abortion,
it includes everything for a woman.
- I wold appoint judgesto the federal bench
that understand theprecedent of Roe V Wade
and will respect it.(cheering)
- [Amber] Lesser known candidates
Such as Ohio Representative Tim Ryan
were working hard to appeal to moderates.
- We could talk about climate,we could talk about guns,
we could talk about all of these issues
that we all care about.
We have a perception problemwith the Democratic Party.
We are not connecting tothe working-class people.
If you wanna beat Mitch McConnell,
this better be a working-class party!
- [Amber] The only biblicalreference of the night
came from senator Cory Bookerin his rebuke on gun violence.
- I'm tired of hearingpeople, all they have to offer
is thoughts and prayers.(applauding)
In my faith, people sayfaith without works is dead.
- The surprise winners, atleast according to the polls
and Google search trends, Tulsi Gabbard
and Julian Castro, nowit's time to break out
another score card as theremaining 10 candidates
including Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders
take to the stage tonight.
Amber Strong CBN News, Washington.
- Thanks Amber, and joiningus now is Julia Manchester
who covers the race and all ofthe candidates for The Hill.
Julia it's always a pleasure to have you.
- Thank you for having me.
- It seems like a lot ofpeople are talking about
Julian Castro today, who in your mind
stood out from last night's performance?
- So Julian Castro absolutely stood out.
But I think Elizabeth Warrenwas the real front runner
from last night, she wasable to so succinctly
continue to lay out her policieswhen it was on health care
and the economy, she got thefirst question of the night.
The moderators were asking her questions
and asking the othercandidates on stage to respond.
So clearly she was at thecenter of that attention.
But yes, Julian Castro reallygot quite a bit of attention
when he was really able to tell his story
and how immigration on theborder in Texas impacts him
as a Latino-American.
He talked about thedeceased father and child
that tragically drowned earlier this week.
And I think he was able to dothat in a very authentic way.
Another thing he did that was, I think,
a lot more authentic thanmaybe Beto or Cory Booker
is speak Spanish!
I think we saw so many candidatesspeaking Spanish tonight
but it was a little ironic hearing it
from two men who aren't Latino.
So I thought
Julian Castro really hada moment in that regard.
- He kind of got into it
with Beto O'Rourke over immigration.
Some are saying that heactually knocked Beto O'Rourke
out of this race, do you agree with that?
- I think it's very possible.
Beto O'Rourke had a very rough start.
You'll remember the Vanity Fair cover
and he got a lot of backlash for doing
some weird social media things like
Instagram Live-ing his tripto the dentist at one point.
He got a lot of backlash forthat, a very awkward start.
But I think a lot of candidatesgoing into this saw Beto,
he has that name recognition,he's probably below Warren,
the second-tier candidate on that stage.
So I think Beto was the candidatethat the other candidates
were looking to really punch out.
And I think Julian Castrodid that, being from Texas.
So I think he saw that opening there.
- Last night none of the candidates we saw
mentioned Joe Biden, doyou think other candidates
right there along stage withwill attack him tonight?
- I think it's very possible,
and I think you'll seeBernie Sanders most likely
attack Joe Biden becauseright here on stage tonight,
looking at the preview ofthis you're seeing two sides
of the Democratic Party being represented.
You had Joe Biden the establishment,
I guess you could say more moderate side
of the Democratic Party,but you have Bernie Sanders
calling himself a Democratic Socialist,
so very more so far leftprogressive policies
and I think Bernie Sanders hasmaybe been struggling so far
because Elizabeth Warrenhas similar policies to him
but she labels herself differently.
She calls herself a capitalist.
Bernie Sanders does notcall himself a capitalist.
So she's more well-rounded,but Bernie Sanders
has kind of been paintedas this far left figure
which he doesn't mind butit'll be interesting to see
if he's able to appeal to voters
outside of that progressive voting bloc.
- All right, JuliaManchester with The Hill.
- Thank you.- Thank you so much.
We'll all be watching tonight.
Well tonight John and I
and the rest of the Faith Nation team
will be live texting during the debate,
and you can join us and askus all of your questions
by texting that number on your screen.
Text CBN to 22415 and you can also
follow along online at cbnnews.com.
- Well the Supreme Courtissued verdicts today
in a pair of high-profile cases.
The justices blockedthe Trump administration
from adding a citizenshipquestion on the 2020 Census.
They also decided federalcourts have no role
in policing partisan redistricting.
CBN's White HouseCorrespondent Ben Kennedy
reports on the high court'sfinal rulings of the year.
- No doubt the Supreme Court dealt a blow
to the Trump administration
but it could be a temporary setback
given the five/four ruling.
It is true, the citizenshipquestion will not appear
in the 2020 Census but itcould next time around in 2030.
- I think when you have a census
and you're not allowed to talk about
whether or not somebody'sa citizen or not,
that doesn't sound so good to me.
- [Ben] President Trumpargued they needed the data
to improve enforcementof the Voting Rights Act.
But the high court didn't buy it.
Chief Justice John Roberts sided
with the four liberal judgessaying "Altogether the evidence
"tells a story that doesnot match the explanation."
- We have to make surewhether that question
is on there or not, and Icertainly hope it is not.
But whether it's on there or not,
that the American peoplecome forward and be counted.
- [Ben] Democrats sayincluding the question
would likely cause an undercountin immigration populations.
- It would be a sad...
Occurrence if people said"Well since that's on there
"I'm not going to be counted."- The Supreme Court also ruled
federal courts have no rolein political gerrymandering.
Republicans in North Carolinaand Democrats in Maryland
are accused of redrawingpolitical districts
for partisan gain.
But Chief Justice Roberts wrote
that "Voters and electedofficials should decide
"this political dispute, not the courts."
- This is an issue that
both Republicans andDemocrats are guilty of.
- As for the citizenship question,
it now leaves here back tothe lower courts for review.
Ben Kennedy, CBN News, The Supreme Court.
- Thanks Ben.
President Trump responded
to the high court's decisiontoday on Twitter saying
"It seems totally ridiculousthat the government
"can't ask aboutcitizenship on the census."
And that he's askedlawyers if they can delay
the 2020 census quote"No matter how long."
- Well John Malcolm is the Vice President
for the Institute forConstitutional Government
at the Heritage Foundation.
And John joins us now formore, John good to see you.
- Good to be with you.- You know on the census case,
John do you think the court got it right?
- No I don't, I think theygot parts of it right.
I think that theydetermined that it would not
be a violation of theconstitution to include
a citizenship question on the census.
I think they also gotright that Secretary Ross
acted reasonably among the various options
he was presented by sayingthat the best way to get
that information is by adding
a citizenship question on the census.
But what I think the court got wrong
was the Chief Justice'sportion that was joined
by the four liberals bysaying that the explanation
that he offered was pretextual,
and that this was not aboutenforcing the Voting Rights Act,
but that there must have been some hidden
or unexpressed meaning.
They've now kicked thiscase back to the lower court
to the Department of Commerce,
can offer a more fulsome explanation,
but whether they'll be ableto do so in a timely manner
is very much I think in doubt.
- John we saw the presidentin his Tweet today
saying that he's willing todelay the census over this issue
is that something that's reasonable
given that this is a constitutionallymandated requirement?
- Yeah no I'm not so sure about that.
I mean the constitution does require
a census every 10 years.
Next year is 2020.
So I'm not sure how hewould be able to justify
delaying the census.
That would certainly besubject to a court challenge.
- John what about the othercase concerning redistricting
and the limiting ofjurisdiction for federal courts?
Was that the right move there you think?
- Yeah no I think so.
So that had to do with whether or not
partisan gerrymandering which goes back
to the founding of ourcountry is unconstitutional.
We have been living with partisangerrymandering as they say
back to the time of our founding.
No court has ever said thatthis is a justiciable issue
or there's any methodologyfor accurately and reliably
determining how muchpartisanship is permissible
and how much is impermissiblewhen it comes to line drawing.
And I think the justices,the five conservatives,
in another opinion byChief Justice Robert said
"This is really not a matter for judges.
"And if you think thatthere's too much politics
"and line drawing, go to congress
"or go to your state legislatures."
- All right John Malcolmof The Heritage Foundation,
thank you very much.
- Good to be with you.
- Well on the topic ofimmigration tonight,
giving into pressure toact, the House will take up
a bipartisan senate measure on border aid.
It comes as the deadlineto act quickly approaches.
Earlier this week theHouse passed their version
of the $4.6 billion package.
Yesterday the Senate rejectedit offering their own.
And while Democrats and Republicans
have been taking jabs ateach other over immigration
and border security,
the humanitarian crisisat the border continues.
- I think it's not a question of blame,
it's a question of being prayerful.
Understand the consequences of policy.
We all want to have border security
and do what we need to doto protect our borders,
north, south, east, west,Gulf Coast, whatever.
We have to do that, butwe don't have to undermine
who we are as a country.
- And House Speaker Nancy Pelosiis facing mounting pressure
from moderate members of her party
to act on humanitarian aid.
Well coming up, Road to Majority,
the latest from theconference bringing together
faith and politics herein the nation's capitol.
(upbeat music)
Evangelical political leadersare in Washington this week
for this year's Roadto Majority Conference.
President Trump kickedoff the event yesterday.
And today capitalism versussocialism was a hot topic
as lawmakers from CapitolHill addressed the crowd.
- This is a time
of consequence.
This is a time
where the fate of the nation
is being debated.
Again in 2020,
our country is gonna face an assault,
we are going to see thebiggest turnout on the far left
this country's ever seen.
That means we need to awaken the church.
- But we have to wake up to this.
I never thought in mylifetime I'd be standing here
having to defend capitalism.
But I have to tell you this,our way of life is in jeopardy.
I never thought I'd besitting here talking about
capitalism versus socialism.
I didn't ask for this fight,but like you I'm up for it.
Democrats want to convertAmerica to a socialist state!
- If 2020 goes in the wrong direction,
frankly the president's not reelected
and we lose the Senate majorityand they keep the House,
all these things that we've just achieved
over the last three and a half years
won't just be gone, they'll be reversed.
And that cannot be allowed to happen.
- And Abigail Robertson andDavid Brody are with us now
to talk more about the RoadTo Majority Conference.
Both of you thank you for being with us.
Abigail you were out there today.
And we just saw those soundbites with Senators Perdue
Rubio and Cruz talking about socialism
which was a big theme.
But what were some of theother topics they talked about?
- It was really interestingbeing there today.
It's more apparent than everthat 2020 is in full swing.
It was very interesting to me that
there were a lot of senators we heard from
who ran against Trump in2016 in the GOP Primary
that were basically giving President Trump
stump speeches for 2020.
And they weren't just touting
President Trump's accomplishments,
but they were specificallysaying how they believe
he's kept his promises tothe Evangelical community.
They were talking a lot about Israel.
That was a big issue that came up.
Conservative judgesdefending religious freedom.
So they pretty much weregiving full endorsements
for the president, and I alsospoke with Senator Marco Rubio
as he came off the stagebecause there's been a lot
going on in the Senate withthis humanitarian aid crisis.
And these agencies are runningout of funding next week
if the House and Senate don't pass a bill
and send it to the president's desk.
So I asked does he thinkthey're gonna get that done,
take a look at what he said.
- I hope something gets passed,something should get passed.
Really there's onlyone ticket out of here,
only one bill that canpass and that's the one
that the president supported,Senate passed with 80 votes
including Democrats, andI think it's hypocritical
for some members of theHouse to be criticizing
how migrant children are being treated
but refuse to provide the funds
to improve their condition.
Look there's a lot to be done.
This doesn't solve theproblem of the migration.
But it most certainly provides funds
to be able to do what's already come.
- Both sides are acknowledging
there is a humanitariancrisis at the border.
So hopefully we will see that bill pass
before the money runs out.
- David I know you had a greatsense of Evangelical voters.
What's your sense ofbeing at this conference?
- Well they had 1000 or so there.
It was not that big of a ballroom.
They tried to get the largerballroom, they couldn't.
Anyhow they had 1000 there,but here's the thing.
They had 1000 that could not get in.
Ralph Reed telling methat he was frustrated.
They had to turn away 1000 people.
That was for Wednesday'sevent with President Trump.
But today Abby and I werethere and I gotta tell you
it was a very big crowd there as well.
Look, bottom line on Evangelicals
and overall on the electorate,
in 2016, 138 millionAmericans voted in 2016.
They expect in 2020 for that number to be
about 165 million.
What is that, that's about 30million more voters in 2020.
- Abby this group assembledtoday is very influential,
very active, is theresome sort of checklist
in terms of issues,
policies that are reallyimportant to them?
- Definitely, the life issueI would say is number one.
And I think more so thanwe've seen in previous years,
this pro-life pro-choiceissue is going to dive
so much deeper in 2020 because now we have
what both sides are sayingextreme laws being passed.
Whether it's verypro-life bills in Alabama
or what we've seen passed in New York
on the pro-choice side.
So that is going to playa huge role in both sides
getting their voters out for that issue.
Israel is incrediblyimportant to this crowd,
and religious freedom,today we heard a lot of talk
about not just confirmingconservative judges
on the Supreme Court, but the importance
of the lower courts as well
and what President Trump has done
with the Republican Senate to get I think
over 130 lower court judges on the bench.
Those are definitely the big things.
- David real quick we onlyhave half a minute left.
But I understand from your reporting
that the sponsor of theFaith & Freedom Coalition
is going to make aspecific push for Latino
and Hispanic voters, Evangelicals, how so?
- 15 seconds I'll tell you bottom line.
They have a $15 million budget.
They're gonna spend $4 of that
on Latino and Hispanic outreach.
And it's not just here,let's throw $4 million.
They're going to actually have it.
It's gonna be targeted with volunteers
and everybody on theground making a big push.
- All right.- All right.
David and Abigail thank you so much.
- Thanks.
- [John] Well the G20Summit is underway in Japan.
The latest on the meeting of world leaders
when we come back.(upbeat music)
- President Trump is in Japangearing up to meet leaders
from around the world.
The president arrived in Osaka
for the State of the G20 Summit today.
And one of his majorpriorities while there
is meeting with his Chinesecounterpart, President Xi.
The discussion set to include trade talks
in hopes of coming to an agreement,
and ease the trade warbetween the two countries.
Also on the agenda for thepresident during the G20,
a meeting with RussianPresident Vladimir Putin,
and discussing rising tensions with Iran
and other world leaders.- Well Christians in Turkey
face growing hardship when it comes
to living out their beliefs
without fear of government backlash.
The US Commission onInternational Religious Freedom
convened a congressionalhearing on the issue today
in which Pastor Andrew Brunson spoke.
He saw firsthand the currentstate of religious freedom
in Turkey after being falsely imprisoned
in the country for two yearsover his Christian faith.
- I want to underlinethat less than two months
after my release, theUnited Nations Working Group
on Arbitrary Detention which only takes
about 30 cases a year,I'm glad they took mine.
They concluded thatthe Turkish authorities
targeted and arrested me on the basis
of my nationality and my faith.
They confirmed that I was avictim of religious persecution.
The Erdogan regime hasstoked an already deep seated
suspicion and animus towards Christians.
And one of the ways theydid it was through my case.
There's still a high degreeof freedom for Christians
relative to other Muslimcountries in the region.
But I'm concerned that all the signs
point to this changing soon.- Pastor Brunson
is writing a book that will detail
his religious persecution in Turkey.
It's set to be published this fall.
- Still ahead on Faith Nation,
more good news for the US economy.
But could it be overshadowedby the country's rising debt?
Finally tonight some goodnews for the US economy.
The Commerce Department reporting today
healthy growth in thefirst quarter of the year.
The economy grew at3.1% during that period.
- But it's not all good news.
Debt in the country is also on the rise.
The national debt is projected to reach
unprecedented levels in the decades ahead
according to the non-partisanCongressional Budget Office.
The agency predicts the government's debt
will reach 144% of thetotal economy by 2049.
That would be the highest level ever.
But those estimates actually are lower
than they were last year.
Well that's going to do itfor tonight's Faith Nation.
- Have a great night.
Also don't forget to join us tonight
as we discuss the night of theDemocratic Debate night two.
You can join us once again by texting CBN
to 22415 and for instructionshow to participate.
See you tomorrow.(upbeat music)
