(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] This is CBN NewsWatch.

- It is Friday January 3,

welcome to CBS NewsWatch,I'm Efrem Graham.

We wanna begin this halfhour with the US Air Strike

that killed an Iranian general.

CBN Dale Hurd reports hewas a key leader in Iran

who wanted to reshape theMiddle East in Iran's favor.

And now the world waits tosee what's next from Iran.

- [Dale] The airport strikekilled a total of eight people

including Iranian General Qasem Soleimani,

the head of Iran's elite Quds Force.

Soleimani was identified by his hand

and the ring he was shown in these photos.

The Pentagon said in a statement,

General Soleimani wasactively developing plans

to attack American diplomatsand service members

in Iraq and throughout the region.

General Soleimani and his Quds Force

were responsible for thedeaths of hundreds of American

and coalition service members

and the wounding of thousands more.

After the successful attack,

President Trump tweeted the American flag.

The State Departmenturged American citizens

to leave Iraq immediately.

(crowd shouting)

The news cause spontaneouscelebrations in Iraq,

with some Iraqis dancing in the streets.

This Iraqi said the USattack will eliminate

the corrupt parties whichare destroying Iraq.

Soleimani was called the single

most powerful operativein the Middle East.

He was so famous in Iran,

his image greeted passengersat Tehran airport.

(shouting)

At Friday prayers in Iran,

worshipers chanted death to America.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini

warned a harsh retaliationis waiting for the US,

as did this spokesman forIran's Revolutionary Guard

who cried during theinterview with state TV.

Around 5000 Americantroops are based in Iraq

where they mainly train Iraqi forces,

and help to combat the Islamic State.

Soleimani's death is being called

a significant blow to Iran.

The US knew that Soleimani was behind

this week's attack on the US embassy

and Defense Secretary Mark Esper

had issued this warning on Thursday.

- You know, enough is enough.

We have all the capabilities

inherent in the United States military

to either respond to further attacks

or to take preemptive action

if additional attacks are being prepared.

- [Dale] US officials have made it clear

they're prepared to meetany response from Iran.

Deal Hurd, CBN News.

- Thousands of tourists fled Australia

as wildfire ravaged eastern coast

as wildfire conditions thereshow no sign of letting up.

Emergency leaders say atleast eight people have died

and flames have destroyed some 381 homes.

Scripture Union Missionteam is among 4000 people

who found refuge on a beachafter being evacuated.

They actually sang worshipsongs in the midst of it all

and called for the world topray with them for the victims

and for the wildfires to end.

Many of those stranded sharedimages of the glowing red sky

that has been described as the apocalypse.

A bride and her bridal party were murdered

on the way to their wedding

in Nigeria by Boko Haram terrorist.

Father Francis Lawrenceconfirmed the deaths

and told the Catholic News Service

there had been a number of abductions

recently in the Borno state of Nigeria.

He's calling on the Nigerian government

to strengthen its securityforces in the area

to prevent more abductionsand to stop the killing.

A memorial service will be held tomorrow

to celebrate the life and the legacy

of Reverend Evangelist Reinhard Bonnke,

founder of Christ for all Nations.

Bonnke died on December 7surrounded by his family.

The renowned German born evangelist

crisscrossed the Africancontinent for decades

telling people about thelove of Jesus Christ.

Affectionately known as God's General,

Bonnke spent a remarkable60 of his 79 years

preaching the gospel.

He was well known for hismassive crusades in Africa

where an estimated 77 million people

gave their lives to Christ.

The daughter of a church deacon

who was gunned down this weekend

has chosen to forgive her father's killer.

Anthony Tony Wallace, a64 your registered nurse

was shot dead at West FreewayChurch of Christ Sunday

after an armed man enter the church

and opened fire on parishioners.

Wallace's life was cruellytaken as he served communion

to his fellow brothersand sisters in Christ.

Tiffany Wallace said that her father

was always prepared for heaven,

but never thought anythinglike this would ever happen.

The gunman was shot dead by a member

of the West Freeway Churchof Christ armed security team

and Tiffany says despitehis heinous crime,

she's chosen to forgive him.

She says quote "I forgive him,

"and it is the hardest thing to say

"because it's likesomebody killed your dad,

"but I forgive him.

"I'll never forget what hedid, but I do forgive him."

(upbeat music)

Coming up, a look at an eliteteam of first responders

who move into the mostdangerous of situations

when disaster strikes, stay with us.

(upbeat music)

(machine whirring)

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

Get your free DVD or bookletof Protect your Sleep today.

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

Cruise with me as Idiscover the good things

happening in the world of music,

sports, television and movies.

- The fact that Ryan Coogler

was gonna be directing the film,

I knew that somethingspecial was gonna happen.

- [Efrem] We'll chat with artists

at the forefront of entertainment

and explore the connection

between popular culture and faith.

- I asked my pastor, well, does that mean

I'm supposed to be a preacher?

He says no, you already have a pulpit.

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

- [Narrator] Remember for a moment

what it was like to be a child.

You believed every 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 child

should 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 thatstory, will you join us?

(soft music)

- [Caitlin] The CBN NewsDaily Rundown podcast

each weekday with me Caitlin Burke.

Click on the Show tab at cbnnews.com

where you can listen and subscribe.

- And welcome back to CBN NewsWatch.

From terrorist attacksto natural disasters,

elite teams of first responders

stand ready to deploy in a split second,

boldly putting their lives on the line

to rescue and to treat victims.

CBS News reporter Caitlin Burke

joined one of these fearless crews

for this inside look atwhat sets them apart.

- [Caitlin] When major disaster strikes,

Miami firefighterCaptain Carlo Soldevilla.

becomes part of Florida Task Force 2,

an elite search and rescue team.

- We respond to some ofthe worst disasters, right?

The things that the smallerjurisdictions and municipalities

are unable to deal with on their own.

Our ultimate goal is to savelives that are in danger

immediately after an incident like that

and we move quickly andwe're very specialized team

where we have many disciplines,

and we're multifaceted essentially.

- We are one of 28 federaltask forces in the nation,

we can deploy locally, at a state level,

we can deploy nationally

or we can deploy internationally as well.

- The city of Miami isthe sponsoring agency

of this task force but it's made up

of 26 other firedepartments across Florida,

as well as some civilians like engineers,

canine handlers and doctors.

I got to witness this taskforce in action in 2018

when they responded to MexicoBeach after Hurricane Michael.

- We were the first task force to arrive

and put boots on theground in Mexico Beach.

They had just started clearingthe roads when we arrived.

I can't express to you thefeeling when you arrived there

and just see slabs on the ground.

We were there for about 12 days.

- When we met up with them,

they were setting up their base camp.

They found this door in a pile of debris

and put it under a tent,

put this map on it from CityHall, a map of Mexico Beach,

and started sending their guysout to do search and rescue.

- Our experiences withour fire departments

and the day to dayemergencies that we run on

help us to maintain our focus

and make sure that wecan get the job done.

At the end of the day,

there's people that needs to be rescued,

that's our primary goal.

- [Caitlin] When responding to disaster,

the teams must live in theconditions surrounding them.

After Hurricane Michael,that meant no electricity,

cell service, gasoline, food or water.

The task force had it covered,

arriving fully self sufficient.

- Operationally, we need all the tools

such as collapse shoring andwe need heavy rigging tools.

The logistics portion of it,

we need tents, sanitation, food, supplies,

everything that we needto perform and save lives.

- [Caitlin] Hurricanes areonly one type of disaster

for which the team is prepared to handle.

- We also respond to no notice events

such as terrorist threats,explosions or earthquakes

- [Caitlin] Each year, Musser and his team

determine how they can be more effective.

They recently added innew life saving tools

including this medcat builtfor emergency response

during the strongesthurricane force winds.

The task force has alsoincreased capabilities to deploy,

working with the Air Force

to ensure internationaltransport at a moment's notice.

- We're required to deploy by ground

within four hours of notice,and by air within six hours.

- Whatever you're doing, itstops right then and there.

So, you know when yourteam is up for the month

but at anytime you knowthat you can be called upon.

And if you're here working,

you're gonna stop doing thatand you're gonna go report,

if you're at home sleeping,if you're with your family

or grocery shopping, cooking dinner,

those things have to stop immediately

so that you can getyourself to the warehouse

and we can get to the people who need us.

- [Caitlin] This means apotentially grueling commitment.

The team faced back to back deployments

during the 2018 hurricane season.

- We responded to Florence,

Hurricane Florence in the Carolinas,

and that was a very longdeployment, 22 days.

Come home, 22 days later,

I think we're home formaybe five or seven days,

and it was right backto Hurricane Michael.

- [Caitlin] For thesefirst responders however,

this task force is more thana career, it's a calling,

and it's one their familiescommitted to as well.

- You know, my children want me home,

my wife wants me home,

but they know that what we'redoing is really important

and that if ever it wasus who had to endure

a tragedy like that or a natural disaster,

we know that there are otherrescuers in this country

that will come to the same thing for us

and we're here for them andmy family has that support

and we're dedicated to providingthat as a family as well.

- [Caitlin] Until thenext disaster strikes,

the men and women of these elite teams

serve their home communities,

responding daily to whatever needs arise.

Caitlin Burke, CBN News, Miami.

- [Efrem] Still ahead, NFLplayoff's college championships

and all the talk about Clemson's

Trevor Lawrence's postgame interview last week

as he puts his faith frontand center, stay with us.

(upbeat music)

- If you're tired and exhausted all day,

you can't think clearly andyou really just need a cup

or even a pot of coffeeto get through your day,

then join me Dr. JoshAxe for this new series

and where I'm gonna teach youhow to transform your diet

and use essential oils and supplements

to get a better night's sleep.

- [Narrator] Wake up to your best life,

call 1-800-700-7000 to get your free DVD

or booklet of Protect your Sleep today.

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] It's about the competition.

- I kind of put that pressure on myself

and I think People had expectations.

- [Narrator] It's about overcoming.

- We use this phrase all the time,

keep chopping, keep practicing hard.

- [Narrator] It's aboutgoing the distance.

- You know, I think as afather, it's my job to lead,

just be the best husbandand father I can be.

- [Narrator] Watch Going theDistance with Shawn Brown

Saturday night at 7:30on the CBN News Channel.

- Orphan's Promise is committed to loving

and serving at risk children,

to helping keep families together

and to creating opportunities for strong

and sustainable communitiesaround the world.

We're working in over 60countries around the world

and with your help, we can do even more.

There's an old Africanproverb I love that says,

if you wanna run fast, run alone,

but if you wanna run far, run together.

At Orphan's Promise, we want to run far

so we can touch thelives of as many orphaned

and vulnerable children as possible,

but we don't want to go alone.

We're out to change the world,

one child, one family,one community at a time.

Will you join us?

(upbeat music)

(tense music)

- [Narrator] Prophecythousands of years old.

- [Narrator] We were calledto be a light to the world.

- [Narrator] Being fulfilled today.

Discover how, get ToLife, call 1-800-700-7000.

- [Narrator] We considerit our duty to reach out

and help others around the world.

- [Narrator] For a gift of $10 or more,

you can own the acclaimedCBN documentary, To Life,

just call 1-800-700-7000or log on to cbn.com.

- To treat a human, no matter what he is,

which religious hehave, which color he is,

this is what I'm doing.

- [Narrator] See how the people of Israel

are fulfilling prophecy.

- History is being writtenand I wanna be a part of it.

- [Narrator] By sharing their knowledge.

- In Africa, in Asia, inSouth America, in East Europe.

- [Narrator] And their love.

- This is how we work, this is us.

- [Narrator] Get ToLife, call 1-800-700-7000

or logo into cbn.com.

- [Narrator] Get the top political news

and analysis fromWashington on Faith Nation,

tonight at 6 Eastern, onlyon the CBN News Channel.

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] Young people, millennials

are flocking to church.

- [Narrator] Its not an exaggeration

to say that we love to meet them

and that we love to know their stories.

- And welcome back to CBN NewsWatch,

Shawn Brown is here to talk some football.

So between the NFL playoffsand college championship,

football fans certainly havea lot to look forward to.

Tell us how things are stackingup for the NFL playoffs.

- The NFL playoffs, man, first of all,

Happy New Year to you brother.

- [Efrem] Happy New Year to you as well.

- Happy New Year, hopefullyyour holiday was great,

had a great time,- Excellent.

and it is good to be back

and what an exciting time it is man.

Of course the collegechampionships coming up

and now we're heading into thewildcard weekend for the NFL

to see which teams are gonna progress.

But here we have, we'vegot 12 teams in the AFC,

of course the RavensChiefs one in two seed,

Bills, Texans, Patriots, Titans.

And then in the NFC, 49ers, Packers,

Seahawks, Eagles, Saints and Vikings.

Now these teams have beenscraping in the latter part

of the season to make sure thatthey can secure their spot.

- [Efrem] Yeah.

- And I've always, all season we've talked

about it's not about thestats all the time, man,

it's about who's going toshow up come game time.

Who's healthy, okay?

And who's jelling at the right time.

You got sleeper teams.

I think the sleeper team for me

would be the Texans with DeSean Jackson,

you've got J.J. Watt coming back,

they're peaking at the right time.

You can't sleep on the Titans.

And for the first time in a long time,

you've got the Patriots that aren't

a number one or number two seed,

they're a number three seed.- Yes, yes.

- And they haven'tlooked like the Patriots

of old that we're used to seeing.

And so right now, at least inthe AFC, it's anybody's game,

but again, you've got to contendwith the Ravens and Chiefs

but cutting into tomorrow,you've got the Bills,

Texans who are four or five seed

and you've got thePatriots and the Titans.

Now look here, just a few stats, okay?

Just a few stats.- Go ahead.

- Texans offense is rankedright now 13th in the league,

Bills defense is ranked 30th.

So you've got an offensethat's ranked 13th

facing a defense that 30th.

- Yeah.

- The Texans are supposed tobe able to score more points,

but then you've got penaltiesyou have to look at,

you've got interceptions, you've got...

If the Bills defense, eventhough they're ranked 30th,

can disrupt the play at anymoment and any given time

to create that one play thatcost the Texans the game,

then it could go the other way.

So that's what you're looking for

and that's what makesthe playoffs exciting.

Of course you got the Patriots, Titans,

you know a very very exciting of course,

Ryan Tannehill replacedMarcus Mariota in week six.

So that's exciting andhe's been lighting it up.

And so the Patriots haven't been the team

that we're used to seeingas I mentioned before,

so it could go to Titans way, man,

it could be very well the Titans advanced,

the Bills advance,

just depends on whoshows up come game time,

then you slide over to the NFC.

The 49ers have been lining it up.

I mean, they've been lighting it up.

If I had to call it right now I would say

either Ravens, 49ers or RavensSaints for the Super Bowl.

But again it all comes down towho shows up come game time.

Just for the NFC, alittle more stats here.

Seahawks Eagles, they play Sunday,

as well as the Saints Vikings

but the Seahawks actuallybeat the Eagles in week 12.

Offense was ranked eight,

the defense is ranked fourth I believe

and so, again, you'relooking at these match ups,

you got stats, that's whatpeople are looking for, okay?

This team is supposed to win.

I like to see, when I showup, you got all the stats,

but I like to see, okay,if you go into the game

knowing that your defensehasn't measured up

to an offense that'sranked one through five,

then what kind of scheme are you gonna run

- [Efrem] Yeah.

- to disrupt their play.

And that's what makes the game great,

and that's what builds the anticipation

and that's what's mostexciting about the NFL playoffs

and the championship for that matter.

I mean, LSU, Clemson, two tough teams,

but LSU have been killing it this season.

I mean, from going wherethey were last season

to this season,

I mean, it's like nine daysspecifically for Joe Burrell,

quarterback Heisman Trophy winner,

and so that's gonna be exciting.

So this time of year, it's exciting,

you come back from the holidays

and you've got some exciting football,

both on the college leveland also the NFL level, man,

so it's really exciting.

- We've heard lots about Clemson

but many are saying this is LSU's year,

what do you think?

- Honestly, as I just finished saying,

it could be anybody'sgame, but quite honestly,

LSU has been consistent the entire season.

I mean, Coach O, Joe Burrow,

just their whole theme that the year

is you can't stop us, man,

they're rolling on all cylinderson both sides of the ball.

And when you have a team that's like that,

that's that consistentgoing into the playoffs

and then to the national championship,

it's hard to rule against them.

It's hard to say, yeah,this team is going to,

although they've won,

you know, they're defending,- Yeah,

- and so you can't sleep on Clemson,

but it's hard to say thatClemson is gonna take out a team

that's as hot or hasbeen as hot as LSU is.

It's exciting, I can't waitto see all of these games.

The National Championships next week

so we got a wildcardweekend NFL this weekend,

so I'm looking forward to it, man,

it's gonna be great.- Nice.

- Its gonna be great.

- Well, speaking of Clemson,quarterback Trevor Lawrence

talked a lot about God doingmore than we can imagine

following Clemson's win overthe Ohio State University.

That was a challenging game for the Tigers

and he gave all the glory to God

and it always a problem to see.

- When you have a program like Clemson,

like Clemson has been the lastfew years with a head coach

and Dabo Swinney who proclaims his faith,

you know that he literally will say,

hey, this is what our program's about,

this is how I do things,

it's hard for it not torub off on the players.

- [Efrem] Yeah.

- It's hard not to rub off of the players.

And so here you have aquarterback in Trevor Lawrence

that gets that, he comes into the program,

I'm sure that was partof his consideration

to bring him to the programand he guess he goes,

this young man's faith is solid,and we can work with that,

he's coachable and sowe're gonna bring him here.

And now he's using his platform to say,

hey man, I know you seewhat I'm doing on the field,

but here's the real deal ofwhat's going on with me, man.

- [Efrem] Yeah, we've gothis quote there, right there.

- [Shawn] Yeah, yeah.

- [Efrem] On the screen.- [Shawn] Yeah.

- [Efrem] Ephesians 3:20,

"God can do immeasurablymore than any of us can

"because of Him within us,and that's just so true.

"I mean, all of us, me.

"What we did tonight, it ain't us,

"it's about this program and who we are."

- And it's that level ofhumility that I love, man.

I mean, because these guys,again, these guys are,

they're giving their all on the field.

And sometimes when you'regiving your all in the field

and everybody's watching,

you can kind of get into allthe hype, you can get into it.

And what happens, what can happen

is that will start to define you.

And if your life isdefined in wins and losses,

what happens when you lose, man?

And so if you lose and that'sall of your chips are in that,

then you're not gonnafeel good about yourself.

But if your foundation is in Christ,

as you can see with this Clemson coach

and Clemson quarterback, Trevor Lawrence,

it's a great feeling, man

to know he's got his priorities in order.

- Indeed, indeed, and wegot lots to look forward too

from you on Going theDistance this weekend as well.

- Yes, we do, man, it's anew year, we're starting.

Hey man, I've got some great things coming

so just stay tuned Saturdays at 7:30

and Sundays at 6:30Eastern and so stay tuned,

I've got some great things coming up.

- Looking forward toit, thank you so much.

Coming up, actor and comedian Tim Allen

takes on the PC Police, staywith us, we'll be right back.

(upbeat music)

(upbeat music)

- Daddy?

- Yeah, buddy.

- How many nickels are in a dollar?

- There are 20 nickels in a dollar.

- Look, hugger birds fly.

- Does milk really make my bones stronger?

- Yeah, yeah.

- Daddy, when we die,will we go to heaven?

- [Narrator] Do you have the answer

to life's biggest question?

Call the 700 Club, we'llhelp you find answers

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The CBN News channel, aperspective you can trust.

To watch the CBN News Channel,

download the app orvisit cbnnewschannel.com

- Hello, I'm Dr. David Perlmutter,

board certified neurologist

and number one New YorkTimes bestselling author.

Wouldn't it be great to boost your energy,

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Get your free copy at cbn.comor call 1-800-700-7000.

- If you wanna improvethe quality of your life,

get the DVD Protect yourBrain and get it today.

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] Young people, millennials

are flocking to church.

- [Narrator] Its not an exaggeration

to say that we love to meet them

and that we love to know their stories.

- [Narrator] It has the powerto influence weight loss,

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- Actor and comedian Tim Allen

continues to blast political correctness,

he says that it singlehandedly ruining good comedy.

Appearing in an episodeof The View Monday,

the Conservative Home Improvement star

said it was utterly, utterly ridiculous

that he had to tailor his comedy routine

to fall in line with the various PC police

and woke mobs of the day.

(tense music)

- This is a thought policething and I do not like it.

But when I use these words,

this is my intent behind those words.

So as long as you understand my intent,

I still get people, but just don't say it.

And I said I'm not going to do that.

- Alan went on to say theitrining of political reckness

is an alarming thing for comedians

prompting even host Jay Bahar to agree.

She admitted PC culturemakes comedy really hard.

Time now for your Friday faith

and I'd like to leaveyou with this thought,

words have living power, theymove God to act or allow.

Speaking life and He is compelled to act.

With that word, Iencourage you to make today

a fabulous Friday andhave a wonderful weekend.

Bye Bye, everybody.