(dramatic music)

- [Jenna] Tonight.

- Just the facts, ma'am, that'swhat we're interested in.

- [Jenna] Congress is preparing

for a full House vote asDemocrats lay out their case

for impeachment and thePresident blasts back

highlighting the latest on the truths

in the U.S./China trade war.

- [Eric] And the Trumpadministration's plan

to withdraw thousands of American soldiers

from Afghanistan.

- [Jenna] Plus.

- It was an infinite costand he was willing to pay it.

- [Jenna] A new booktakes us beyond the manger

in Hidden Christmas.

- [Eric] All this and moretonight on Faith Nation.

(upbeat music)

- A major vote on impeachmenthappening this week

in Washington.

Welcome to Faith Nation,I'm Jenna Browder.

- And I'm Eric Philips,in for John Jessup.

Tonight it is a big week on Capitol Hill

as the House of Representatives prepares

to impeach PresidentDonald Trump on Wednesday.

- It looks like Democratswith the majority

have the votes, the question then becomes

what will the Senate do.

(dramatic music)

- Here with us now is CBN NewsWhite House Correspondent,

Ben Kennedy from the White House,

veteran journalist, Ray Suarez

and CBN News Capitol HillCorrespondent, Abigail Robertson

reporting from Congress.

We begin with Abby on Capitol Hill

and what are you hearingahead of this week's vote?

(dramatic music)

- Well, Eric, it lookslike President Trump

will become the thirdpresident in American history

to be impeached by the House.

Now in the Senate it lookslike he might be acquitted

in the inevitable Senate trialat the beginning of next year

but the battle is alreadyon over how that process

is gonna play out.

- I'm not trying to hidethe fact that I have disdain

for the accusations in the process,

so I don't need any witnesses.

- [Abigail] Many Republicans Senators say

they've already heard enough to push

for a short Senate trial with no witnesses

but add they will take theircue from the White House.

- To me, if he wouldwant witnesses called,

I think that that delays it,there might be some pitfalls

associated with it because I'm guessing

we probably have to lettheir witnesses in as well.

If they don't give us any newinformation, what's the point?

So, I think largely, though the Senate

ought to be listening to whatthe President wants to do

through his team to finallylitigate the defense.

- [Abigail] Senate MinorityLeader, Chuck Schumer

definitely wants witnesses,specifically Mick Mulvaney,

Robert Blair, JohnBolton and Michael Duffy,

witnesses the White House blocked

from testifying in the House.

- I don't know what they'll say,

maybe they'll be exculpatoryto President Trump

but to not have them isto engage in a cover up,

is to say we're afraid.

- [Abigail] Adding these voiceswould make the House case

even stronger.

- We want the facts of fourwitnesses we've asked for,

the documents we've askedfor are directly dispositive

on what the actual facts were.

Now the House came up with a whole lot

but there is some of myRepublican colleagues

who say look, these charges are serious

but I'm not sure there's enough evidence.

That's why these people should come.

- [Abigail] The spotlightwill on key GOP Senators

like Susan Collins and Mick Romney

as 51 votes are requiredto either call witnesses

in a longer trial ordirectly move to a vote

on the two articles of impeachment.

- Without objection thisgentlemen is recognized--

- Ahead of the House vote,

the pressure is so high,New Jersey Democrat,

Jeff Van Drew who alreadyplans to vote no on impeachment

is reportedly preparing toswitch to the Republican party,

news that triggered a mass resignation

amongst his Hill staff.

Now on top of theimpeachment vote this week,

the House and Senate also have

to pass identical spending bills in order

to avert a government shutdown by Friday.

Back to you, Eric and Jenna.

- All right, Abby, thankyou, meanwhile the U.S./China

trade war is one step closer to a truce.

Both countries reachinga phase one agreement.

- Under the deal, PresidentTrump has called off

new tariffs on China goods.

CBN News White HouseCorrespondent, Ben Kennedy

joins us to explain.

Ben, good evening.

- Well, good evening Eric and Jenna.

This agreement will likelyhelp smooth a global economy

that's been shaken for almost two years

but back closer to home, itappears one of the big winners

is the American farmer.

- Let me make no mistake about it,

the deal is done, the deal is completed.

- [Ben] President Trump'seconomic advisor, Larry Kudlow

touting a phase one deal with China.

- Just how growthy, howgrowthy this deal is,

and it covers IP and itcovers tech transfers

and it covers financial services

and it covers currencies and so forth.

(boat horn blows)

- [Ben] It also suspendstariffs on $160 billion

worth of Chinese goods,including clothing, footwear

and smartphones.

In return, China hasagreed to buy billions

of agricultural products,nearly doubling U.S. exports

over the next two years.

- And I say affectionately the farmers

are gonna have to go outand buy much larger tractors

because it means a lot of business,

a tremendous amount of business.

- [Ben] This is the secondtrade victory for Trump

in a week after the House announced

it will approve the USMCA tradedeal with Canada and Mexico.

- If we're gonna be competingwe need to be stronger.

We would get a better agreement with China

if we had USMCA done we wouldbe in a stronger position.

- [Ben] Critics on thisphase one deal, however claim

it doesn't commit China toserious structural reforms.

In a tweet directed at the President,

Senate Minority LeaderChuck Schumer wrote,

he has sold out for a temporaryand unreliable promise

from China to purchase some soybeans.

- Ultimately whether thiswhole agreement works,

is gonna be determined bywho's making the decisions

in China, not in the United States.

If the hardliners aremaking the decisions,

we're gonna get oneoutcome, if the reformers

are making the decisions,which is what we hope,

then we're gonna get another outcome.

- Now signing of the agreement is expected

during the first week of January

then President Trump saysWashington and Beijing

will begin negotiating a second phase

and details of that aremore to come, Jenna, Eric.

- All right, Ben thankyou well joining us now

is veteran journalist, Ray Suarez,

host of the nationally syndicatedradio shows New York Now

and World Affairs.

Ray good to have you,thanks for being here.

- Great to be back.

- Definitely good to have you here.

Well, talk to us about howfar you think the President

will take these tradenegotiations with China.

I mean, how much of apolitical gamble is it for him?

- Not doing anything is a gamble too

as American shoppers headinto big box retail stores

and find the many thingsthat come from China

are more money,

especially the sensitiveholiday shopping time.

He wants these things off the table

and you know the House of Representatives

led by Democrats wantsthem off the table too

because they don't want tobe open to the accusation

that they're holding upthe operation of government

in order to put forward the impeachment.

So USMCA off the table, tradewith China off the table,

you can't accuse us of not doing our work.

- Well, we wanna talk about theUSMCA but first impeachment.

So AXIOS, they did this focus group study

and it was interesting,they talked to swing voters

in Michigan and these voters, they said,

essentially that they aresticking with President Trump.

Ray this is, it's a smallstudy, it's not a poll

but this does seem significant.

- Just released, an NPR/PBS Marist Poll

that shows that eventhough President Trump

has about a 42, 43%approval rating overall,

his approval amongRepublicans is north of 91%,

so they are solid, they'resticking with the President

and interestingly the pollsters asked

both people who disapprove andapproved of President Trump

is there anything that could come out

that could dissuade youfrom your disapproved

or approved positionand two-thirds of them,

Republican and Democratssaid, nothing could come out

that could make me change my mind.

- Both sides have dug in.

- Yeah, well, on that fact alone,

let's talk about Congressman Jeff Van Drew

who is now saying he's gonna switch

to the Republican party overthis issue of impeachment.

It appeared he changed his mind

and how concerning is this for Democrats?

- In the 1990's severalDemocrats became Republicans,

around the time of the Gingrich revolution

both in the House and the Senate.

They had good careers becausemost of them were in states

that were starting to trend red.

New Jersey is blue, blue, blue

but Congressman Van Drew'sdistrict, more rural,

more farm centered, more purple,

he may be looking at theway the tide is turning

where he lives and realizingthat his congressional career

could be on the line if the Democrats

move ahead aggressively with impeachment.

- Senate Minority Leader, Chuck Schumer,

he wants to call four witnessesif the impeachment trial

does go to the Senate.

These are witnesses, HouseDemocrats could have called

if they weren't soconcerned with the speed,

if they weren't concerned aboutgetting this done quicker.

Did Democrats miss their chance, I mean,

was the House trial their opportunity

to make their case for impeachment?

- They want the impeachmenttrial to be long

in the rear view mirror by thetime election day 2020 comes.

But trying to tell thestory of what happened,

with the United States, Ukraine and Russia

without calling John Boltonis nearly an impossibility

and Mick Mulvaney whoinadvertently or advertently

said yeah, yeah, there wasa kind of a quid pro quo

and it happens all thetime in foreign affairs.

You can bet they wannahear from them both.

Will there be stomach fora constitutional battle

over whether executive branchmen can be forced to testify,

that's the interesting part.

- Just about 20 seconds left,

it's a big week for the President,

he's hoping to get theUSMCA trade deal done

but it looks like therecould be a snag with Mexico,

not wanting checks onlabor conditions there.

Could this upend the deal orat the very least, delay it?

- Surprisingly the Mexicansare blocking a little bit

and saying this isn'texactly what we had in mind

but Nancy Pelosi and theDemocrats are behind the President

on USMCA, so we'll see what happens.

I mean, they decided toside with American labor

over Mexican interests but a rich Mexico

is in the interest ofthe United States too.

- All right.- All right.

Ray Suarez thank you so much

great to have you.- Great to be here.

- Well to Afghanistan this week

we are expecting the White House

to announce a significanttroop draw down there.

According to mediareports, President Trump

will announce plans towithdraw 4,000 U.S. troops

from Afghanistan.

Right now there are about13,000 troops there.

This comes after lengthy peace talks

between the U.S. and Taliban

which controls nearly half of the country.

Although some fear withdrawing forces

will embolden insurgents, Trumphas long expressed interest

in removing American fighters

from foreign wars like this one.

The announcement will comejust days after the release

of hundreds of documents inindicating U.S. officials

lied to the Americanpeople about the progress

of the war.

(dramatic music)

- And here with us nowis Michael O'Hanlon,

Senior Fellow and Directorof Research in Foreign Policy

at the Brookings Institution.

Michael, good to see youthanks for joining us.

- Nice to be with you, thank you.

- So, although the moveis intended for peace

what about the concern thatwithdrawing U.S. troops

might have the opposite affect

of getting insurgents a shot in the arm?

- I think there are two different ways

to think about thewhole withdraw question,

it applies to other countries too

but specifically for Afghanistan.

If we're debatingwhether to go up or down,

a few thousand troops butwe're planning to stay

with some substantialcombat capability regardless

then I don't think youhave to worry too much.

Sometimes we make a bigger deal of this

and we got used to making a big deal of it

in the second term of President Obama

and in the early years of President Trump

where every time we debatea few thousand troops,

we turn it into some hugenational security decision

and it really doesn't rankthat high in importance

in my opinion.

The important debates arebetween a substantial presence

and nothing at all.

So it's when you'redebating departure or not

that things get difficultand very delicate

and I think that Trump administration

has been confusing,perhaps somewhat on purpose

about whether it wants tohave that debate just now

with the Taliban.

- Rick, these 4,000troops being pulled out,

there's still that 9,000troops in Afghanistan,

do you foresee the countrypulling out all together,

those 9,000 troops?

- My best guess is no butobviously there's a lot of power

in our country in themind and in the hands

of the Commander-in-Chief.

So, President Obama until three years ago

and now President Trump

and we all have heardPresident Trump on the news

about these sorts of thingsand rhetoric and his tweets

we know that he almostpulled out of Syria twice

in the last year and that both times

simply scaled back the presence.

We know that he's wantedto get out of Afghanistan

at an emotional level.

In that sense, he's probably very similar

to a lot of Americans

but when you're the Commander-in-Chief

you have evaluate thatconcern against the need

to keep battling globalterror and President Trump

has to choose between what he might view

as two competing campaign promises,

getting out of Afghanistanor weakening our protection

against al-Qaeda and ISIS.

It's a pretty tough call.

And I think what he should probably do

is keep this gradual downsizing going

but keep enough of a residual presence

that we don't becomevulnerable and Afghanistan

doesn't become vulnerableto a major al-Qaeda or ISIS

take over in large chunks of the country

that could then ripple into the West

and leave us vulnerable to attacks.

- Let's talk about the timing

of the troop draw down announcement

we're expecting this week.

How much do you think it wasinfluenced by the release

of those Afghan papers we were just

talking about a short time ago?

- I think not at all to be honest with.

The Washington Post did some good things

with it's journalism.

I think it made somemistakes in suggesting

there was a pattern ofduplicity in American leaders.

I think that does a disserviceinto our public debate.

But irrespective of that weknow that President Trump

has been trying to graduallyreduce our exposure

in Afghanistan for the whole three years

he's been in office,just as President Obama

was trying to do thatprobably for his last seven

even after the firstyear where he built up.

So, both these presidents eventhough they're so different

from each other have hada similar kind of saga

in dealing with Afghanistan.

They so wanted initiallyto boost up our capability

but neither one ever hadhis heart in it very long

and always wanted to be showing proof

of gradually reducing orideally ending the mission.

But again ending the mission

is a dramatic and big decision,

neither one has had the gumption

or maybe the lack of wisdom to do that.

I'm glad they both had heldon to some residual capability

and my guess is thatPresident Trump ultimately

will not wanna leave himself vulnerable

to the political charge orof the country vulnerable

to the kind of threat that could emerge

if ISIS or al-Qaeda reasserts itself

in that very land in which the 911 attacks

were initially planned.

- I wanna ask you aboutthe PR aspects of all this.

If we withdraw troops at this point

can we really say that we've won

and if we can't whatabout all the lives lost

and the money spent?

- Well, first of all Idon't think we can say

we've won under anycircumstances that I can foresee

and I acknowledge thatas a person who's tenant

is support the mission.

If we pull out we'veprobably basically lost

because I would not expectthe Afghan government

to hold onto thepreponderance of the country.

It still controls 60 somepercent of the population,

areas in which that fractionof the country lives.

That's probably not gonnahold up if we pull out

so I think you would have to acknowledge

a substantial failure.

Now we've already failed againstour most ambitious goals.

The country has not been attacked again

from Afghanistan by anybodylike al-Qaeda or ISIS

since 911 and the Afghangovernment's still holding on

to much of the country.

So by those measures I thinkwe are sort of struggling by

with the bare minimumsuccess and I believe

we should emphasis thatmessage in trying to sustain

that accomplishment.

- All right Michael O'Hanlon

with the Brookings Institution,

thank you.- Thank you very much.

(dramatic music)

- [Jenna] Coming up sevenyears since Sandy Hook.

We remember the elementary school shooting

and lives lost that tragic day.

(dramatic music)

(water running)

(yawning)

(sighs)

- [Narrator] Life is betterwith a good night's sleep.

Get your free DVD or bookletof Protect Your Sleep.

- [Narrator] As the worldwatches from the outside.

- It's a big, diplomatic tugof war here in the Middle East.

- [Narrator] Go inside thestory with Jerusalem Dateline.

- Israeli archeologists aretalking about a discovery

that could change the thinkingabout the Temple Mount.

- [Narrator] Join CBN JerusalemBureau Chief, Chris Mitchell

and get the biblicalperspective on the events

shaping the world.

- What starts in Israel then ends up going

to other places.

- [Narrator] Watch Jerusalem Dateline,

Friday night at 9:30on the CBN Newschannel.

(dramatic music)

(inspirational music)

- [Narrator] Life, it'smeant to be lived fully.

Jesus said it I came to giveyou life, life to the fullest,

life in your family,life in your finances,

life in your body, mind andspirit, life in your everyday.

At cbn.com, we're takingwhat Jesus said seriously.

We're here to help you discover life.

Life, live it fully, cbn.com.

(inspirational music)

- This weekend marks seven years

since the Newtown school massacre

in five minutes, 26 people were killed

when a gunmen opened fire atSandy Hook Elementary School.

20 of the victims werechildren, eight boys

and 12 girls between the agesof six and seven years old.

Six of them were adultswho worked at the school

who were slain before the 20year old killer shot himself

in the head.

Minutes before the massacre,the shooter murdered

his mother in their Connecticut home.

The slaughter remains thedeadliest elementary school

shooting in U.S. history.

- Well, from Newtown toVirginia Beach, in May 12 people

died in a mass shooting there

and after the city ofVirginia Beach came together

to raise money for thefamilies of the victims.

- CBN contributed to this fund,

thanks to the generousdonations from viewers like you

and Congress just passed legislation

to make sure those giftsare tax deductible.

Here again is Abigail Robertson.

- As many differentfamilies prepare to spend

their first Christmas missing loved ones

lost in Virginia Beach'stragic shooting last May,

Congress is giving them a gift

by passing a bill to helpprovide financial relief

to the victim's families.

- The incredible thing that happened

was the outpouring, notonly from Virginia Beach

but from across the commonwealth.

- [Abigail] About $4.5 billion was raised

in the aftermath of the shooting

to help fund funeral costsand other financial needs

but Senator Mark Warner tells CBN News

there was a small problem.

- The folks that originally set up

this very worthy foundation by the nature

of naming the actual beneficiaries

which would be the families of the folks

who were killed that itviolated certain IRS rules.

- [Abigail] The recentlypassed Virginia Strong Act

helps ease the tax burden onboth donors and recipients.

- The close to four anda half million dollars

will now get the fulltax deductibility status

that it deserves.

- [Abigail] Warner says in the future

he hopes there will bemore bipartisan legislation

to address gun violence.

- I do think that nomatter where people fall

on the political spectrum we oughta find

at least some commonareas to come together

so if we can even justprevent one of these tragedies

in the future I think we'llhave taken a small step forward.

- With the bill passed in theboth the House and Senate,

Warner says he's hopeful President Trump

will sign it into law by Christmas.

Reporting from Capitol Hill,Abigail Robertson CBN News.

- [Narrator] On October 1st, 1961,

history was made when a tiny station

began transmitting the first signals

of The Christian Broadcasting Network.

- [Host] CBN, The ChristianBroadcasting Network.

(dramatic music)

- [Narrator] And now a new era has begun

with the all new CBN Newschannel.

- Just moments ago theIron Dome intercepted

an incoming rocket righton the Gaza border.

- In ministering in thisarea, spiritual warfare

is definitely involved.

- [Narrator] A 24/7 news network

bringing you the news you want

from a source you can trust.

- In Kenya, 40% of the medical services

are actually provided bythese Christian hospitals.

- Let's talk about the economy.

- Believers here are joining together

to win people to Jesus Christ.

- [Narrator] All your favoriteshows now in one place.

Go to cbnnewschannel.com to find out

how to get the CBN Newschannel on your TV

all day everyday, CBN News.

(dramatic music)

(yawn)(cereal spilling)

(liquid pouring)

- [Narrator] Life is betterwith a good night's sleep.

Get your free DVD or bookletof Protect Your Sleep today.

(inspirational music)

- [Narrator] Life, it'smeant to be lived fully.

Jesus said it, I came to give you life,

life to the fullest, life in your family,

life in your finances, lifein your body, mind and spirit,

life in your everyday.

At cbn.com, we're takingwhat Jesus said seriously.

We're here to help you discover life.

Life, live it fully, cbn.com.

- Popular New York City pastor, Tim Keller

goes way beyond the manger

in his new book, Hidden Christmas.

- As Paul Strand reports,Keller puts the Christmas story

into the widest possiblecontext, God's courageous,

infinite sacrifice to savehumans' darkened souls.

(dramatic music)

- The world is a dark place, spiritually

and there needed to be some kind of light

that came into the world.

Jesus is the light of the world.

- [Paul] Pastor Keller scoffs at those who

in the Christmas glow contendhumans can all get together

and save this fallen world.

That mankind can be the light.

Well, that's not what the Bible says.

- It doesn't say that a lighthas sprung from the earth

'cause we're not capable ofdealing with our darkness.

We need to have lightfrom outside that comes

and dispels the darkness.

- [Paul] Keller points out how a teenager

in her obeying andsubmitting to carrying Jesus

became a model to allwho wanna bring Christ

into themselves and see him do wonders.

- We're all like Mary inthat if we say to God,

I'm the handmaiden of the Lord

let it be unto me according to thy will,

God's gonna do great thingsin the world through us.

- The New York City pastorquotes from the carol

"Oh Little Town of Bethlehem."

- Cast out our sin and enterin, be born in us today.

There is a sense in whichChrist is formed in us

when we submit ourselves infaith and repentance to God.

- [Paul] In HiddenChristmas, Keller explained,

"Christmas and theincarnation mean that God

went to infinite lengthsto make himself one

whom we can know personally."

- [Tim] He became subjectto hunger, to weariness,

he became subject, obviouslyto torture and to death

and there is no otherreligion that says that,

there is no other religionthat says the creator God

of the universe became a human being

and went through all thesame things we go through.

- [Paul] Keller alsowrites "No other religion

has a God who needed courage.

Jesus could save us only byfacing an agonizing death.

He became mortal and vulnerable

so that he could suffer,be betrayed and killed.

He faced all these things for you

and he thought it worth it."

- [Tim] We have a God who loved us so much

that he was willing to need courage,

and to face suffering and death for us.

It was an infinite cost andhe was willing to pay it.

- And he loves you so muchhe'd do it all just for you.

Paul Strand, CBN News bythe Capitol Christmas tree.

(yawns)

(electronic beeping)

(paper ripping)

- [Narrator] Life is betterwith a good night's sleep.

Get your free DVD or bookletof Protect Your Sleep today.

(upbeat music)

- [Efrem] I'm Efrem Grahamand this is Studio 5.

Cruise with me as Idiscover the good things

happening in the world ofmusic, sports television,

and movies.

- The fact that Ryan Cooglerwas gonna be directing the film

I knew that somethingspecial was gonna happen.

- [Efrem] We'll chatwith artists at forefront

of entertainment andexplore the connection

between popular culture and faith.

- I asked my pastor, Isaid, well does that mean

I'm supposed to be preacher,

he said, no, no, youalready have a pulpit.

- [Efrem] Watch Studio 5,Wednesday night at 9:30.

- [Terry] Remember for amoment what it was like

to be a child, you believedevery story you were told.

You saw a world full ofendless possibilities.

What stories will the world's orphaned

and at risk children believe?

We believe the Bible tells the only story

truly worth believing.

We believe that every childshould have the opportunity

to dream, the chance to take challenges

and turn them into possibilities.

The chance to stand onthe promises of God,

to recognize their place inthe greatest story ever told.

They have their whole lives ahead of them.

There's is a world ofendless possibilities.

They are looking for a story to believe.

We will tell them that story.

Will you join us?

(inspirational music)

(children laughs)

- 75 years ago today over400,000 German troops

marched into Belgium.

- And this Battle of the Bulge

was one of the bloodiestbattles in World War 2.

Veterans and world leadersgathered in Bastogne Belgium

to honor those killed inthe desperate conflict.

More than 10,000 U.S troops

and more than 60,000 German soldiers

lost their lives fighting.

- That'll do it for us tonight.

We'll see you back here tomorrow night.