- [Jenna] Tonight from social distancing

to sheltering in place.

- We have not providedadditional instructions

to encourage states tohave statewide shutdowns.

- [Jenna] The latest from the White House

as the country wrestles withhow to respond to COVID-19.

Plus the Senate looks tostimulate the economy.

- That starts with helpingindividual Americans.

- What that could meanfor your bank account.

And how churches are getting creative

and serving their communitiesduring this crisis.

All this and more tonight on Faith Nation.

(upbeat music)

America on pause as wewait out the coronavirus.

Welcome to Faith Nation,I'm Jenna Browder.

Tonight the state ofCalifornia on virtual lockdown.

The first and likely not the last.

New York also takingextreme measures tonight.

Worldwide, COVID-19 deaths top 10,000

with more than a quarter ofa million reported cases.

CBN White House Correspondent Ben Kennedy

begins our coverage tonightfrom the north lawn.

- Today President Trump announced a ban

on non-essential travelwith Mexico and Canada.

Health experts say travelbans have been effective

in delaying the spread of the virus.

- Providing an update on what we are doing

to minimize the impacton the Chinese virus.

- [Ben] President Trump's latest effort

to contain the outbreak includesrestricting border travel.

- To prevent the transmission of the virus

coming through both the northernand the southern border.

So we're treating the borders equally.

- [Ben] This as theentire state of California

ordered to stay home.

New York is doing something similar

with non-essential workers.

- I watched what's beenhappening in California

with Governor Newsom and thismorning with Governor Cuomo

and I applaud them, they'retaking very strong, bold steps.

- New Yorkers shouldhave total confidence.

- [Ben] Governor AndrewCuomo also canceled

all statewide non-criticalelective surgeries

in an effort to free upbeds for COVID-19 patients.

Officials anticipate closeto 30% of state residents

will have the virus inthe next eight weeks.

That's more than 10 million people.

To prepare for demandand likely shortages,

Cuomo is asking retired doctors and nurses

to come back to work.

- PPE, gloves, gown, mask suppliers,

I am now asking all product providers,

all companies who are in this business,

we will pay a premium for these products.

- [Ben] Trump says he will invoke

the Defense Production Actto direct private companies

to speed up medical equipment production.

- [Woman] Thank you,you can just leave it.

- [Ben] As a result ofthe stay home orders,

more people are gettingdelivery and take out,

but amid worldwide callsto social distance,

not everyone is listening.

- I don't think that the young people,

they're taking serious the virus

because normally, I mean,they have less risk than us,

you know what I mean, I'm 64 and my wife,

she's in her 50s.

- [Ben] Popular beachesin Florida are now closed

after crowds were seengathering during spring break.

- I realize that all theseorders can overwhelm people,

but they are necessary.

- Now President Trumpsaid he doesn't think

he will find it necessary tohave a nationwide lockdown.

The White House also announcedtax day is pushed back

from April 15th to July 15th.

People expecting a refund can file now.

Lawmakers plan to workthroughout the weekend

on phase three reliefpackage, and we are hearing

it could include an optionfor people to withdraw

10% of their 401k withoutpenalties in an effort

to help people during the outbreak.

Ben Kennedy, CBN News, the White House.

- All right, thank you Ben.

And to Capitol Hill whereSenate Majority Leader

Mitch McConnell is pushingan ambitious timeline

for his economic stimulus plan.

He wants Republicansand Democrats to reach

an agreement tonight.

Capitol Hill CorrespondentAbigail Robertson

joins us with more on that, Abigail.

- That's right, Jenna.

The usually slow moving Senate is working

at warp speed to get thisphase three $1 trillion

economic stimulus packagepassed through the Senate,

and we might see that happen tonight.

They've been negotiating allday, but it's still unclear.

And the reason for thisexpediency in getting this bill,

this bill includes thosechecks to the American people

that the White House is saying this week

that they wanna get to Americansin the next three weeks

to get cash now.

And that's a part of this bill.

So there's definitely alot of urgency to get it

through the Senate, but procedurally,

there's still a lot ofhoops to go through.

So either McConnell wantsthe text of the legislation

to be finished tonight,there are a lot of committees

today working and drafting andmaking different amendments.

He wants this to be started on the Senate,

moving through the Senate floor tomorrow

so that the Senate can pass it on Monday

and then we come to the issueof having it pass the House.

Now, with two Housemembers testing positive

for coronavirus, thereare more calls for them

to go to remote voting, and we're seeing

some serious discussionsgoing on about that

instead of bringing allof those House lawmakers

back to Washington,D.C., where many of them

would be traveling, they'retrying to find a way

to be able to get House membersto vote on this remotely

so that it can go to the president's desk

and the top priorities in this legislation

are getting those small businesses loans

so that they can stay openduring these tumultuous times

when they have to close.

They're hoping that this will help them

not have to lay off their employees,

they wanna get aid to the airline,

aid to the hospitality industry,

and aid to the American workers.

So we'll see what happens and we'll see

if they can get this donesooner rather than later.

- Yeah, Abigail, are Democrats on board

with McConnell's proposal?

- Well, immediately when thetext was released last night

Speaker Pelosi and MinorityLeader Chuck Schumer

were quick to criticize itsaying that it doesn't do

as much for the American workers

as it does for big corporations,

but Democrats and Republicanshave been negotiating

on this all day, they'retrying to finalize details.

Minority Leader Chuck Schumerdid call the bill inadequate

today, so it's unclear if anydeal will be reached tonight

in order to start moving thebill forward in the Senate

by tomorrow so we cansee that Monday vote.

But we know that talks aregoing on right now as we speak,

and hopefully they will cometo some kind of agreement

because McConnell is notletting the Senate go anywhere

until this bill is done andcleared through the Senate.

- All right, Abigail Robertson,Capitol Hill correspondent,

thank you very much.

Meanwhile PresidentTrump's approval rating

and his handling of this crisis

appears to be on the upswing.

A new ABC News IPSOS pollfinds 55% of Americans

now approve of his response to the crisis,

just one week ago thatsame poll found only 43%

felt that way.

The new number comesafter increased action

on the part of theadministration, including

the president's coronavirus guidelines

to slow the spread of the disease

and his national emergency declaration.

And here now to discuss,

CBN's Chief Political Analyst David Brody.

David what do you thinkof about the president's

new poll numbers and hishandling of this crisis?

- You know Jenna, it reallyisn't much of a surprise.

I mean, 43% at the beginning,it got of to a rocky start

and you know why?

Because we've neverseen anything like this

in the history of theworld, or at least in terms

of the way we're living,what we're living through

in our lifetime specifically.

And so obviously it's gonnabe a bit of a rocky start,

but then we see thenumbers tick up and why,

because it seems, slowly but surely,

not only is the president andhis team getting their act

together, but I thinkAmericans are realizing

this is a huge deal.

It's impacting all oftheir lives and therefore

we're all trying to somehow,some way come together

and I think that's showing

a little bit in those poll numbers.

- Yeah, what did you make ofthe president's tone today

at the White House news conference?

- Well you know, the onething he doesn't wanna do

is get to be rollicking and a frenzy

and it was a bit rollickingand frenzy-like today

with Peter Alexander fromNBC News and quite frankly,

a few other journalistspiling on after that.

The president getting intoit with Peter Alexander

from NBC News specificallybecause what the president

doesn't like from that reporterand many other reporters

is this figment of negativity.

That everything is doom and gloom.

And you know, the presidentand his team are working hard

and tireless hours, hourafter hour on this crisis

and he doesn't wanna hearall of the skeptical,

negative criticism whenright now is a time

to pull together.

And you know, I think thatresonates with a lot of folks.

I think right now, you know,let's save the Monday morning

quarterbacking foranother month, two months,

six months down the road, but right now

let's get the information out

to the people that need it most.

- The president's takinga lot of criticism

for calling it the Chinesevirus from journalists

and from a lot of people.

David, what are theimplications of him doing that?

- Well let's just start with the facts.

The virus came from China, that's right,

I've read about it on Google, it's true.

And you know, I talked to Kevin McCarthy,

the house minority leaderabout a week ago or so,

he also called it the Chinese virus

and they said that was abunch of racial overtones

that he was emanating from his office

and he said to me, hegoes, "You know what,

"you know where Lyme disease came from?

"Lyme, Connecticut.

"You know where the Zika virus came from,

"from the Zika River in the Zika Forest."

So look, the point simply is is that

he's being factually accurateand it's just interesting

to watch a lot of folks inthe media and quite frankly

a lot of liberals gettingon president's case

when you know, they justcan't let politics go

and they just can't let their frustration

with this president go evenin a time of huge, huge crisis

in this country.

- Well David, we have to leave it there,

but it's good to see you.

Stay healthy and thankyou for your analysis.

- Jenna, hold down thefort back there, thanks.

- Doing my best.

All right, well turningoverseas, today Italy

saw it's biggest day to dayjump in coronavirus related

deaths since the outbreak began there.

The Italian governmentreporting 627 new deaths today,

driving the country's total death count

to more than 4000.

The total number of COVID-19cases tops 47,000 in Italy.

Well Samaritan's Purse hasdispatched a mobile hospital

to northern Italy.

Edward Graham joins usnow to discuss their work.

Edward, good to have you,

thank you for joining us this evening.

Italy, now the epicenter of the outbreak.

Describe to us the situationthere and the needs.

- Italy's in dire needs rightnow and just unbelievable

decimated by this virus.

This is a world epidemic, but right now,

it hit northern Italy hard,

especially around the Milan area.

And just the medical systemsthere are overwhelmed

with the needs for respiratoryand ICU capabilities.

So that's why Samaritan'sPurse has responded

with our field hospital.

- [Jenna] And tell us aboutthe work Samaritan's Purse

is doing there and the team you've sent.

- Yeah, the team we've sentis what we call the Dart

here at Samaritan's Purse,but it's a group of volunteers

and staff that are highlytrained and we can tailor

these field hospitals specificfor the challenge they have.

And this one is tailored for respiratory

and infectious diseaseissues and ICU capability.

So again, this is a welltrained team that has gone over

and setup this fieldhospital and it's changed

a little bit of the dynamiconce we got on the ground.

They've asked us toincrease the ICU capability.

No one that has entered this hospital that

we're partnering withhas gone into the ICU

with the virus and survived.

And again, like I said,they're just on fire right now

with this virus, they'restruggling to make ends meet

right there medically and thestaff has been overwhelmed.

So they asked for help,when we reached out

and so that's why we're setting up.

And it's just an unbelievable capability

that the Lord's entrusted us with.

And we're just there, fortunateto be serving in Jesus name.

- Edward, how did theItalian government respond

when Samaritan's Purse offered to help?

- Yeah, just over a weekago we floated this idea

amongst our staff whenwe're looking at the numbers

and where Italy was headed.

So we reached out totheir minister of health

and some other officials and it came back

pretty quickly yes, we need help, send it.

And since we've beenthere the hospital staff,

the community, the governmentleaders, they have just been

so welcoming and so loving.

I mean, Italian people are always loving,

but they have just been so hospitable,

making us having the military there,

the Italian military and a volunteer force

have come out to help us, receive us,

to setup our hospital quickly.

They are energized, theywanna defeat this virus

and they're just gladto have a partner there

to share in this burden with them.

- Yeah, and Edward, while so many people,

Americans and people across the world

are really turning inand avoiding the rest

of the world, talk about why this team,

Samaritan's Purse team, is choosing to run

to the center of thisoutbreak, to this hotspot.

- That's a great point, Jenna.

The world, this is aworld epidemic so everyone

is kind of hunkering downand going to defense mode

and we understand that,but at Samaritan's Purse

we're called to be the good Samaritan's

to go out and help thosethat don't have help

or that other people are walking past.

And my father's alwayssaid, this is what we do.

In a time of crisis we run to the fire.

Now we're gonna be careful,we exercise caution,

we have a well trainedteam, they've done this

with Ebola and other veryhighly infectious diseases.

They have the experience,and we will follow

the guidance of theWorld Health Organization

and the CDC here in the US for quarantines

and with our staff,but this is what we do.

These people need help, they need hope.

We have highly traineddoctors that wanna go out

and serve in the name of Jesus, to meet

their medical needs first,just like the good Samaritan,

to meet their immediateneeds but then to share

the hope of Jesus Christ with them.

That's why we go.

- Yeah, Samaritan's Purseis an amazing organization

and the work that yourfamily does, it's tremendous.

So Edward Graham, thankyou so much for joining us

and thank you for the workthat you're all doing.

- Well thank you Jenna,and please be praying

for the safety of our staff

and the team that's there working.

Just pray for the countryof Italy that needs it.

Thank you.

- Absolutely, all right Edward, thank you.

Coming up, a call to prayduring this time of crisis.

Details next.

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- Meet the pastors whoare preaching the gospel

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

- [Narrator] Being fulfilled today.

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Discover how, get To Life.

Call 1-800-700-7000.

- We consider it 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, now matter what he is,

which religious hehave, which color he is,

this is what I'm doing.

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are fulfilling prophecy.

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or log on to cbn.com.

- In the age of socialdistancing, many of us

are connecting with familyand friends on social media.

And now one group iscalling on Christians across

the country to usetheir platforms to share

their prayers with people in their lives.

Jason Yates, the CEO of My Faith Votes

is with us now to explain.

Jason, good to have you,thank you for being with us.

- Thanks Jenna, thanks for having me.

And prayer at this timeis so incredibly important

it's what this nation needs.

- So this call to share prayers

is part of a bigger movement of prayer.

Tell us about the 30 day call for prayer.

- Well, let's start withwhat the president did

and he called for a nationalday of prayer on March 15th.

It was a reminder that we, as a nation,

have continually in timesof crisis turned to God

for protection and for strength.

But it's not just about one day,

it needs to be about every day.

And we just want to encouragepeople and motivate them

to engage and engage withothers, not just individually

in prayer, but to share those prayers.

And so we're calling fora 30 day focus of prayer

in our nation, for ournation and for the citizens

and our fellow believersthroughout the nation.

And so we're encouragingpeople to use social media.

Now, technology, sometimeswe think that technology

and social media becomes inwardly focused

and drives some behaviorsmaybe we don't like,

but I would say to you,social media is agnostic

to our values and we want touse it for what it can do.

And so by encouraging peopleto write out some prayers,

share those with theirfollowers, encourage others

to do that, I think wecan create a movement

that replaces fear withfaith during this time.

- And My Faith Votes isoffering a place for people

to share their prayers.

Jason, can you tell us where people can go

for more information onthat if they're interested?

- Yeah, well a couple resources.

First I would encourage people,

just on our Facebookpage, just go to Facebook,

look up My Faith Votes, be able to share

your prayers that way.

But some people aren't on Facebook.

So do it via text message,do it via an email,

just to those in your networkto share those prayers

with others and read prayers from others

on social media, on Facebook.

But I would also say, go to our website,

myfaithvotes.org, we'veprovided some resources.

A prayer guide around this coronavirus.

We also have an e-bookthat we call America,

It's Time to Pray, and inthat e-book, we're sharing

some stories about howthe Bible has influenced

our nation in times of crisis.

I really encourage you,Pastor Robert Morgan wrote

that e-book, it's a fabulous resource.

And then, last weekendon Sunday, we shared

a national stream of something we called

America, It's Time to Praythrough World Outreach Church

with Pastor Allan Jackson.

And it's just an uplifting, great resource

for people to go and beencouraged by prayer.

- Well Jason, we appreciatewhat you're doing

and the power of prayer,

it is so needed in a time like this.

So thank you so much.

Jason Yates with My Faith Votes.

- Thanks, Jenna.

- Social distancing isn'tstopping the work of the church.

We'll explain on theother side of the break.

You're watching CBN's Faith Nation.

- [Narrator] Too often wecarry baggage from our past.

You know what it's like.

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It's always there, weighingus down and keeping us

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

Cruise with me as Idiscover the good things

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- The fact that Ryan Cooglerwas gonna be directing

the film, I knew that somethingspecial was gonna happen.

- [Efrem] We'll chat withartists at the forefront

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- I asked my pastor, Isaid, "Does that mean

"I'm supposed to be a preacher?"

He says, "Well no, youalready have a pulpit."

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- [Woman] This is our nature as a country.

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- Well the need for social distancing

is forcing churches tothink outside their walls.

Here's Charlene Aaron.

- [Charlene] When healthofficials took actions

to further limiting publicgatherings down to 10 people,

Virginia Beach pastor Steve Swisher knew

that meant closing the doors.

- Initially it was a harddecision just to think about it.

And so we made the decision,like many churches have,

to suspend all publicgatherings as we join together

with social distancing.

- [Charlene] Also like manychurches, Swisher is streaming

his messages online.

- Our worship team has begun to do worship

in their living room to beable to send those feeds out,

we have video taped some devotional feeds,

and then, of course, we do online church.

- [Charlene] Wanting toserve even more people

in its community, Essential Church created

a COVID-19 need list on social media.

- We put out a Facebookthread that simply encouraged

our church to be thechurch during this season

and it just says if youhave a need, post a need.

If you can meet a need,then answer the need.

And this is in just two and a half days

this has had over 100 comments on it.

- [Charlene] Swisher saysmost requests came from people

outside his congregation.

- We had a lady who'sgot an autoimmune issue

and she can't go stock up on supplies

and so we brought her someover the counter medicine,

we brought her somefood, and somebody else

who is in a hotel so theyhad very limited ability

to store things and so we broughther some supplies as well.

- [Charlene] The helphasn't stopped there.

Given empty store shelves,the church came up

with a creative outreach, amuch needed toilet paper drive.

- We could begin to see the stock supply

at local grocery stores was going down,

toilet paper was alreadygone from the shelves.

- [Charlene] Many grateful for the help.

- This means so much,especially with what's going on

right now to have a resource.

Definitely shows the love of Jesus Christ.

- We're so blessed to beable to actually go through

the drive thru twice and be able to get

additional toilet paper to be able to help

some family members whoare having difficulty

locating toilet paper, even online.

- [Charlene] Meanwhile, Swisher believes

these uncertain times are an opportunity

for the church's light to shine bright.

- I really just have theopportunity for the church

to truly be the hands and feet of Christ

during this season.

- [Charlene] Charlene Aaron, CBN News.

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- [Narrator] From Washington,D.C., uncompromising stories,

interviews, and analysisfrom veteran journalists.

David Brody.

- Escalating fight.

- [Narrator] Jenna Browder.

- Chose his words carefully.

- [Narrator] Ben Kennedy.

- Plan to join him.

- [Narrator] And Amber Strong.

- For impeachment growsa little bit louder.

- [Narrator] Bringing you thepolitical news that matters.

- We get out and tellthe story of progress

that we're making in this country.

- [Narrator] Watch Faith Nation,

weeknights at six on the CBN News Channel.

- We will move the American embassy

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- [Narrator] As the nations rage.

You can stand with Israel.

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

- [Narrator] Call 1-800-700-7000

and get To Life.

- [Woman] This is our nature as a country.

- [Narrator] Discover theuntold story of how Israeli

volunteers are changing the world.

- [Man] We consider itour duty to reach out

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

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- [Woman] And I wish that otherpeople throughout the world

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- Finally tonight, withschools across the country

shut down, thousands ofstudents aren't receiving meals

they would normally get during the day.

So one school bus driver in Georgia

is taking matters into her own hands,

delivering food to kids in need.

- If you are 18 yearsand younger and you come

to the bus, you are given a meal.

When I pull up, they come out,

"Miss Charlene, Miss Charlene."

They're excited to see me, I'mexcited to see them as well.

And just knowing thatthey're getting a hot meal

that maybe otherwise theymay not, is very gratifying.

- And Charlene Stricklandsays it's important for kids

to stay nourished evenwhen classes are canceled

so she's driving her typicalroute dropping off food

to her usual passengers.

And that is going to do itfor Faith Nation tonight,

we'll leave it on that note.

Have a great weekend.

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