- Welcome folks, to thisedition of the 700 Club.
Tropical storm Dorian,barrels toward Puerto Rico.
Will that poor island be once again
struck with a major storm?
They haven't recovered yet,
and we're also going totalk today about the fact
of the currency inversion,
the 30-year treasury has gone below 2%
for the first time in my recollection.
And the 10 years under 5% actually,
it's like one and a half percent now.
So what does this mean for you?
Is it the time to load up andsell some debt, or refinance?
We're gonna talk about allthose things on this program.
But, the...
storm chose the frightening path
of this storm coming.
Here's Charlene Aaron.
- Tropical storm Dorianwreaked havoc in parts
of the Caribbean, floodingstreets and downing power lines.
The storm is gaining strength,
and is now heading to Puerto Rico,
and could become a hurricanebefore it hits later today.
- The risks here will be quite high here,
and the Virgin Islesand eastern Puerto Rico
again, up to eight inches of rain,
a significant storm surgeand winds could gust
60 to 80 miles an hour.
- [Charlene] People on theisland making final preparations.
- Just to have enough waterand canned things, food.
- [Charlene] The islandnation is still recovering
from Hurricane Maria,nearly two years ago.
It is now bracing for another hit.
- FEMA took a veryaggressive stance for Dorian,
it is the first system of the year.
And we understand that theisland is still very fragile.
- [Charlene] A team offirefighters from Florida
dispatched to Puerto Rico ahead of Dorian,
to aid in rescue and recovery.
- We're gonna be herebefore the storm hits.
So we'll get a littlefamiliarized with the area
that we'll be responsible for.
We'll weather the stormwhere our base of operation
will be located.
- [Charlene] Heavy rainsand power outages expected
to be the worst, especiallyfor those still living
in damaged houses, asmany as 30,000 homes,
still with blue plastic tarps as roofs.
As CBN News saw first hand after Maria,
churches also play a big rolein aid and rebuilding efforts.
- The first responders were really not,
it was really not the government.
It was the churches, itwas the young pastors.
Young church planters, all over the place,
just working together.
- [Charlene] CBN's OperationBlessing was also on the ground
after Maria, distributing waterfilters in community centers
all over the island.
After it clears Puerto Rico,
Dorian heads for the Dominican Republic,
and is posing a threat to the US coast.
- Indications arethis'll turn to the west,
and this could be a significantthreat to the south-east
coast of the US and inparticular, Florida,
over the holiday weekend.
And you can see, there ispotential for strengthening.
- We're looking at the oppositetype of year this year,
even though overall activity,the total of what we call
ACE Index, may be down.
The impact from the storms
that get in close to the United States,
are still something this formidable.
- So far, it's been aslow hurricane season,
but as we enter the time of peak activity,
NOAA is upping its forecast,
predicting two to four major hurricanes.
Charlene Aaron, CBN News.
- Thanks, Charlene.
I want to point outthat Operation Blessing
has been on the scene in Puerto Rico,
helping people withtarps, and reconstruction,
and also supplies, waterand food, and so forth.
They're still down there, still working,
and they want to help people where needed.
And so, if you want tohelp Operation Blessing,
here's the address,it's Operation Blessing,
Disaster Relief, CBN, it's 1-800-700-7000,
and people really appreciate it.
As I mentioned, at the start of the show,
there's been a historic
move in the treasuries.
It usually presages arecession and an inverted yield
curve is when people pay moremoney for short-term debt,
than they do for long year.
But for 30 year treasury bonds,they hit an all-time low,
selling for under $2, 2%which is unprecedented.
And what does this mean for everybody?
Well, what can be done,John Jessup has more.
- Well Pat, Wall Streetis already reacting
after the 30 year bond yield dropped
to 1.907 early this morning,
hitting an all time low.
And the yield on tenure treasuries
stayed below the yieldon two year treasuries,
prolonging an inverted yield curve,
which is said to predicteconomic downturns.
An inverted yield curve has preceded
the last five recessions.
Some of Congress say there'sstill time to avert a crisis,
if the United States, Pat, and China,
can end their trade war.
- I don't know that that'sgonna have any effect on it,
but it's unbelievable thatthe experts who talked to us,
say that this is somethingthat is gonna last
for quite some time,and for you personally,
what a great time to borrow money.
What a great time to refinance your home.
What a great time for abusiness to take on some debt.
If you can get a long-term debt at 2%,
or 3%, it's a pretty good deal.
- Yeah.- And so, I think people
are scrambling to see canthey access the debt market.
I think this thing willstay long for a while,
but it does presage as I said,
a potential recession,but at the same time,
the price of gold hasgone up dramatically,
and I think that you alllook at the possibility
of refinancing your house,
if you can, take advantageof the lower rates.
Very, very important, John.
- Pat, the maker of the powerfulprescription painkiller,
Oxycontin, is looking tosettle thousands of lawsuits
related to the opioid epidemic.
Purdue Pharma and itsowners, the Sackler family,
reportedly are offering10 to 12 billion dollars
to settle more than 2000 suits with state
and local governments.
The suits argue PurduePharma's aggressive marketing
campaign help fuel an opioid crisis,
that kills tens of thousandsof Americans every year.
In a deposition recently made public,
former Purdue Pharma Chairman,
and President Dr Richard Sackler,
confirmed the power of Oxycontin,
but denied the misleading natureof the marketing campaign.
- [Interviewer] Do youknow whether Oxycontin
is more powerful or lesspowerful a drug than morphine?
- Depends what you mean by powerful.
If powerful means potency,
absolutely.
It is twice as potent as morphine.
There is no way that thisintended or had the effect
of causing physicians to overlook the fact
that it was twice as potent.
It was called out in virtually
every promotional piece of literature.
- And Pat, the settlementwould bankrupt Purdue Pharma,
and as part of the reorganization,
the Sackler family wouldgive up its ownership.
- That's just the part ofthe, tip of the iceberg.
I hope they've staged crackdown,
there was a big settlementagainst Johnson & Johnson.
They were just minor playersconsidering Purdue Pharma,
which is the height of it.
And the Sacklers soldthat stuff as aggressively
as you can imagine, and theyhave resulted in the deaths
of thousands of people,and there's some of the big
companies that have yetto be called to account
and the damages will be inthe billions of dollars,
and I hope the JusticeDepartment gets on board,
and that the policedepartments get on board,
and all the way across the line,
that whatever's needed, tocall these people into account,
because they floodedthese tiny little towns,
these places down in Florida for example,
tiny little communitieswith a few thousand people,
got tens of thousands ofthese oxycodone pills,
and they're terribly addictive,
and people are dying aroundthe country because of it.
And these people are clearly responsible
and if the Sacklers lose allof their money, good for them.
John.
- Pat, police areinvestigating possible drug use
in a high speed crashthat killed two children
in Dayton, Ohio.
This video captures the whole thing.
The suspects stealing a police cruiser,
and fling at high speeds in reverse.
Despite being tased by a police officer,
the suspect escaped,striking several cars,
his speeds reaching upto 100 miles an hour,
before crashing into a vanwith seven children inside.
Two of those kids died.
Officers were not pursuing the suspect
at the time of the crash.
Police say the incident startedwhen the suspect allegedly
stabbed his Father, afterlearning he was being taken
to a mental health facility.
Well, turning to the immigration crisis,
the Trump administration isworking with Central American
countries to stem the flow of migrants
heading to the United States.
Recently acting DHSSecretary, Kevin McAleenan
visited one country wherethe policy of intervention
seems to be paying off.
Chuck Holton reports from Panama.
- [Chuck] A photo op at the Panama canal,
as the acting Secretary of the Department
of Homeland Security,Kevin McAleenan visits
the Latin Americannation, hoping to increase
cooperation between the US andthe new Panamanian President,
Laurentino Cortizo.
McAleenan arrived inPanama with an agenda.
The US wanted Panama tobecome a safe third country,
and agree to take inthousands of immigrants
from around the world, whoare passing through here
en route to the the United States.
But that's a tough sell.
There're already hundredsof thousands of Venezuelans
and Columbians who camehere to take advantage
of the highest per capitaincome in Central America.
And Panama is struggling to cope.
They've seen more than 16,000migrants enter their country
through the Darién Gap this year alone.
But McAleenan made it clearthat wasn't the only reason
for his visit.
Combating drug and human smuggling
was also high on his list.
- This is a regional challenge.
The organizations and thecriminal activity we're trying
to confront, crosses borders.
It doesn't respect ournational sovereignty.
And the only way toaddress that effectively,
is by working together, notjust for information sharing
as ministers pointed out, but for concrete
operational actions,investigations and interdictions.
- [Chuck] During histhree days on the ground,
McAleenan also visited acamp in the Darien jungle,
called Las Peñitas, wherethe US border patrol
has agents registering viametric data, on each migrant.
Hundreds from around theworld are languishing
in legal limbo here, asPanama tries to determine
the best way to move themout of their country.
The daily bus service that wascarrying them to Costa Rica,
has been suspended, with noword yet on when it will resume.
This uncertainty has madesome migrants rethink
their plans to seek asylum in the US.
- Actually, my destination is not the US.
My destination is a safe haven,
where I can have peaceand I can do something
to help my family back home.
- Many of the migrantswho come through here
that need medical attentionend up at the hospital here
in Meteti, because it's the closest one
to the migrant camp.
But this place is already over stressed
and it doesn't haveenough medical supplies
even for the people who live here.
And so, the huge number of migrants
is causing some frictionbetween the residents
and these migrants comingthrough the jungle.
And the new government is working hard
to come up with an acceptable solution.
- This is about illegal trafficking,
and we have to put a stop to it.
Panama accepts its regional responsibility
but we have to stop it.
We do not want those peopleto come through here.
And it's not because wedon't want to address
the humanitarian crisis,it's because allowing these
people to come through hereis sponsoring criminals.
- [Chuck] With help from US intelligence,
Panama recently broke upa major smuggling ring,
based in Costa Rica, thatwas charging these migrants
up to $20,000 each totransport them from Africa
to the United States.
This proves they're seriousabout addressing the problem.
But with hundreds moremaking the dangerous trek
north through the jungle every week,
it's clear to everyone,there's much more work to do.
From Panama, I'm ChuckHolton, for CBN News.
- Pat, Chuck's story showsthe far-reaching impact
of the immigration crisis.
- Unbelievable when you'vegot people from Africa,
coming in through Panama.
Unreal.
But it is a crisis, andwe've got to deal with it.
