- [Narrator] This is CBN NewsWatch.

- Hello everyone.

Thank you so much forjoining us for CBN NewsWatch,

I'm George Thomas.

Today at the Senate impeachment trial,

House Impeachment Managerstried to make the case

that president Trump's ownwords led to the violence

at the Capitol.

My colleague Dale Hood joins us with more.

Dale.

- That's right, George,

the House ImpeachmentManagers used security video

in an attempt to establisha pattern of behavior

on the part of DonaldTrump in inciting violence.

Democrats did not showpresident Trump urging

his supporters to,"Peacefully and patriotically

make your voices heard."

But piece together Trump's statements

with violent soundingsocial media snippets

by the crowd on the Capitol mall.

- We know who lit the fuse.

Donald Trump told these insurrectionists

to come to the Capitol and stop the steal.

And they did come to the Capitol,

and they tried to stop the certification.

They came because he told them to.

- [Dale] But Congressman TedBudd told Fox all the drama

on display at the impeachment trial

the last couple of days tells him

the Democrats know they don't

have a strong case.

- They do not have a strong argument.

They're just relying on emotion.

They realized that this is another swing

and a miss for them.

This is the second failed impeachment,

and they're just trying tocover it up with emotion.

Yes, it was an emotional day,

I was on the house floorwhen this happened,

but the facts are not with them

in regards to impeachment.

- Trump's team is consideringchanging its planned lineup

when it begins its defense Friday,

giving lawyer David Shaw a larger role

after Republican senatorscriticized lead attorney,

Bruce Caster as rambling, underwhelming

and ineffective in hisarguments Tuesday, George.

- Thank you, Dale.

Hacker's ability

to infiltrate a watertreatment computer system

in Florida is raising alarmnationally regarding cyber war.

The person attempted to raise the amount

of light to dangerous proportions

before a plant supervisorcaught the move and stopped it.

Eric Philips has that story.

- US lawmakers want tomake sure Americans win

this cyber war.

It's why they called a group

of experts to CapitolHill Wednesday, to try

and figure out the beststrategies to implement next.

In the days following the breach

of the water system in Oldsmar, Florida,

investigators say they haveleads, but no suspects.

- We don't know right now,whether the breach originated

from within the United Statesor outside the country.

We also do not know why theOldsmar system was targeted.

- There is no technology magic bullet.

- [Eric] In the wakeof this latest breach,

law makers questionedcybersecurity experts

about how to plot the nextmoves in this cyber war.

What experts suggested thebattleground is enormous.

- People have thought

about the power gridor the financial system

but it's almost anysystem that is connected

to the internet

which is essentially almostanything today can be a target.

And so we need to be thinking very broadly

in terms of our cyber defenses.

- We need to go on offense.

We need to make it harder

for the adversaries toconduct these operations.

- [Eric] The panel alsoprovided Congress a to do list.

First, get a leader such as empowering

the head of a government agency.

This person would thenoversee cyber security

in the civilian world.

- We need a comprehensivefederal civilian agency

cybersecurity strategy.

- [Eric] Also experts say,

the relationship between the public

and private sectors in thisarena needs to be seamless.

- We need to move beyondjust sharing information back

and forth between the governmentand the private sector

but actually enable multipleelements of the government.

Law enforcement, intelligence,cesar, diplomatic, economic,

to be lined up and synchronized in time

with actions that theprivate sector can take.

- [Eric] Last year,

hackers breached informationtechnology contractor,

Solar Winds, gaining accessto government agencies

including the treasuryand commerce departments.

- It may cost literally billions

of dollars to secure our cyberspace.

- [Eric] President Biden followed up

by earmarking $10 billion

in his COVID-19 reliefplan for cybersecurity.

- We do not have a cyber problem,

we have a China, Russia,Iran and North Korea problem.

- [Eric] And while they're all dangerous,

retired Colonel John Millstells me China is chief.

- We can't have untrustedChinese componentry

in these environments.

And the reality is we're not good at that

and not good at identifying.

- [Eric] Sadly though,

this war must be wagedinside our borders as well,

where experts say disinformation

has become a main cyber threat.

- I think that our domesticextremists and terrorists

got a pretty good look at the playbook.

Number one is disinformationis incredibly powerful.

The ability to overwhelm airwaves

with any sort of messaging.

- By the way, thoseHomeland security experts

say it is absolutely essential

that the US strike back when attacked,

they add, however, leadersmust strongly consider

whether such retaliationtakes a cyber route

or a physical one.

Bill Maher,

he is basically blaming Christians

and the religious right forthe riots at the US Capitol,

and for the conspiracytheory known as QAnon.

He called the events of January 6th,

"faith based initiative".

Maher, well known as a liberal

and atheist also attacked the Bible.

"Have you ever read book of revelations?

That's the Bible.

That's your Holy book, Christians."

Maher said to his audience,

although there is no connection

between scripture and the QAnon theory,

Maher said, "If you believein the conspiracy theory,

you are also a fundamentalist Christian."

You can find the full story cbsnews.com

with editorial analysis ofthe cancel culture trends

and how Christians should navigate them.

Another victim of the cancel culture

is actress Gina Carano.

She was fired from her rolein Disney's Mandalorian

for implying in a social post

that being a Republicantoday is like being a Jew

during the Holocaust.

A Lucas film spokesperson

called her actionsabhorrent and unacceptable.

Meanwhile, the star ofthe show, Pedro Pascal

who posted pictures ofchildren from the Holocaust

and pictures of children ofillegal immigrants detained

by the US government at the border

comparing them was not fired.

David Clawson, Director

of Christian Ethics and Biblical Worldview

at the family researchcouncil joins me now

for more on the doublestandard that is appearing more

and more within our culture wars.

David, thank you so muchfor coming on the broadcast.

First off, your reaction

to Mr. Maher's attack on Christianity.

- Well, thanks for havingme on the show, George,

and you know, it's interesting.

I don't know many Americans,

let alone evangelical Christians

that go to Bill Maher for their humor,

let alone their theology.

And when you listen to thecomic's remarks last Friday,

it just shows he doesn'treally understand even

the basic tenants of Christian belief

which isn't really that surprising.

He's an avowed atheist.

We've known this about himfor a very long time now,

but the remarks that he said conflating

what happened on January 6th

which was just horrible withbasic Christian theology

absolutely doesn't make any sense,

but it definitely showsus where the left is going

with this cancel culture

trying to silence any views that diverge

from the narrative that they want to tell.

- David, do you think Disneyand Lucas Films is aware

of the clear double standard

with Gina Carano and Pedro Pascal?

- It's a great question.

And you look aroundall sectors of society,

the entertainment industry, Hollywood,

it's really clear thatOrthodox Christian beliefs,

whether it's on sexuality and marriage

but even just beliefs on the person

and work of Christ areincreasingly not just seen

as a little weird or a littlebigoted, but as subversive.

And that's why what we do here

at FRC is trying to make sure

that Christians andespecially pastors are aware

of what's going on and are standing up.

This is not a time for us to back down,

we need to stand up forwhat our faith teaches us.

- Are we even seeing this in Congress

with the hearings right nowto impeach the president

and the emphasis on the Capitol Hill riots

yet not a similarresponse to all the riding

that happened back when black lives matter

protesters were basically hijacked

by riders like Antifa with another agenda.

- No, you're absolutely right, George,

and so I live here in WashingtonDC and over the summer

this was a reallyinteresting place to live.

Even the building that I work in

had to be boarded up because of the riots.

And so it is clear andI've written about this,

there is a double standard on the left,

and I think it's a-

they know what they're doing.

They're seeking to sideline Christians,

they're seeking to embarrass us

and belittle us for our beliefs,

which is why a scripture tells us

we need to speak the truth in love,

and so, although we needto be loving as Christians

we need to make sure thatwe are standing for truth,

and this is what Jesushas called us to do.

- Is it made more difficult to work the-

it seems like almost adaily assault against people

of faith or people whohave conservative views

on various issues, whetherit's life, or marriage.

And do you sense

that this is going toincrease in the future?

- I do think it's going to increase.

And you know, we've talked about

how elections have consequences.

Just in the first couple of weeks

of the Biden administration,

looking at all the executiveorders that have come out,

whether it's thetransgender military policy,

whether it's reinstating federal funding

for overseas abortion.

The beliefs thatevangelical Christians hold

are increasingly again,

not just being construedas out of the mainstream,

they're being construedas hateful, as bigoted.

And I think there reallyis a coordinated effort

to drive Christians outof the public square.

And so that's the impetusbehind cancel culture.

And it's important torealize what's going on

and to stand firm.

- And by extension, makingGod persona non grata also

within our culture.

David, thank you so muchfor coming on the broadcast,

David Clawson with Focus on the Family.

- [David] Thank you, George.

- You're welcome.

It will be open season for vaccinations

by April, that's accordingto Dr. Anthony Fowchee

with the White House COVID response team.

Mr. Fowchee says the rate ofvaccinations will accelerate

in the coming monthsbased on more deliveries

of two approved vaccinationsand a possible third.

However, he says itwill take several months

to deliver the doses to many Americans,

but predicted herd immunity could be here

by the summer.

Tele evangelist, Frederick Casey Price,

the founder of Los Angelesbased Crenshaw Christian Center

is fighting against a battle of COVID-19

affecting his heart, lungs and kidneys.

Minister, Baltimore Scott,

from Price's church wrote a letter posted

on Facebook recentlycalling for worldwide prayer

for Price's complete restoration.

Last month Price's son,Pastor Frederick Price Jr,

wished his father a happy 89th birthday

on social media and stated,

"As many of you know myparents both tested positive

for COVID-19, once a frustrationand annoyance passed,

I reminded myself of theirfaith and the many challenges

they overcome."

Coming up.

Afghanistan, the Taliban and Al-Qaeda,

a dangerous history and what it could mean

for the United States and for the nation

of Afghanistan.

That story In a moment.

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- Welcome back to the broadcast.

The Biden administrationis deciding whether

or not to withdraw ustroops from Afghanistan.

US troops are scheduled to leave

on May 1st under an agreement signed

between the Trumpadministration and the Taliban,

but a recent spike inbombings, targeted killings

and violence on the battlefield

are prompting White House officials

to reconsider the withdrawal.

Several bomb explosions

in the Capital this weekkilled a district police chief

and his body guard.

Islamic state insurgents

and Taliban soldiers have carried

out numerous attacks in recent months.

Joining me is CBN Newscontributor, Chuck Holton,

who has been to Afghanistan several times.

Chuck, great to have youback on the broadcast.

As you know, as part of the agreement

that Taliban promised not

to allow terror groupsto use Afghan territory

to attack the US or its allies.

The question to you, sir,

can the Taliban be trusted tokeep their end of the bargain?

- George, they've always said

that the United States has all the clocks

but the Taliban has the time.

What they meant by thatwas that they're going

to wait out the United States,

and then do everything theycan to reassert their power

once the US is gone.

As we have pulled back in Afghanistan,

we still have 2,500 troops there now

which is the lowest level in a long time.

We've left a vacuum of power,

and that vacuum is beingfilled by the Taliban

and by ISIS K, which is theKhorasan on a variant of ISIS.

Now, you could say

that they are living up to their word

in that they're nottargeting American troops

because we just passedthis week one full year

without losing a singleUS troop in Afghanistan.

That's a big milestone

because we've never hadthat since the war began.

However, they have ramped up violence,

they have broken their word repeatedly

by attacking Afghan civilians.

And I think what we'regoing to see is an increase

in violence as the United States attempts

to pull out of the country.

- Okay. And so to that point, Chuck,

should the Biden administrationsuspend the US exit

in light of the spike in violence

you just mentioned?

- You know the United Stateshas not been doing a whole lot

in Afghanistan for the last several years.

We've had troops there,

because we've had a lot of generals there

and you have to have troopsthere to protect the generals.

But the troops themselveshave not been doing much.

This is one of the reasons whywe haven't lost any people.

So we've been in this advise

and assist role wherewe're there to offer advice

to the Afghan militarytraining, that sort of thing,

but we're really not doing that.

So if we're not doing anything

then they ought to come home.

And I think that presidentBiden has voiced support

for keeping some troops in Afghanistan,

special operations troopsto conduct surgical strikes

on targets that are deemedto be a threat to us.

But that's breaking the contract

that we made with theTaliban in Qatar last year

where we promised to take alltroops out of Afghanistan.

So we'll see what happens.

- Yeah. In fact, the Afghan forces just

in the last week killedabout 50 Taliban fighters

up in the Northern part of the country.

Chuck, October will mark 20 years

since the US invaded Afghanistan.

Is Afghanistan better or worse today?

- Well, when you look atmetrics like life expectancy,

like the number of kids inschool and things like that,

yes, it is better.

The plight of women is better

in Afghanistan than itwas at the beginning.

The real question is,

will it remain there once we take off?

Once we leave and theTaliban comes back in

and takes advantage of-

that's why you're seeingthat violence now,

they're attacking eachother, they're jockeying

for position for whenthe United States leaves.

And when that happens

I think a lot of the steps that we've made

to improve Afghanistan willdefinitely be rolled back.

- Yeah. And in the last year,

the efforts by Afghan militaries

along with our coalition forces there

managed to push back ISKhorasan as you mentioned.

But it looks like fromintelligence sources

they are gaining the upper hand again.

Before for the last 20 years,

ISIS wasn't part of the equation,

and now they're involved throwing

Al-Qaeda throwing the Taliban.

Talk about the potential

for the future of thiscountry real quickly.

- Yeah, I mean there are still

at least a thousand ISISK fighters in Afghanistan.

And there are many cellsthat are considered

to be sleeper cellsthat aren't that active.

But ISIS is maintaining

a pretty consistent operational tempo

with attacks in the areasthat they once controlled.

And so there are moreof a (indistinct) now

against the Afghan militaryand even the Taliban.

Again, you're going tosee that violence increase

and that violence meansmore dead civilians

even though it's ISIS K

versus the Taliban or ISIS Kversus the Afghan government.

The civilians are theones who really suffer.

- Yeah. And the thoughtof having the Taliban

as part of the official Afghan government

is quite incredible.

Chuck, as always thanks forcoming on the broadcast,

CBN News contributor, Chuck Holton.

Folks, still ahead.

The history of one little rescue

after being abducted and theman who helped make it happen.

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- Welcome back to the CBN News channel.

A Louisiana sanitationwork worker is a hero

to a 10 year old girl who'd been abducted.

John Merrick spotted the car, the girl

and her captor while on his trash route

in St. Martin Parish.

He says, he's thankfulthat he saw the Amber alert

and was observant.

- I see that little girl live, man.

Little girl ten years old, man.

On my job, dog, on my job.

Amber alert this morning.

God, bruh. That's what I say, man.

That man is real, a lot ofpeople don't believe in him,

but they need to startbelieving in him, cuz.

- And that man is real,

he was pointing up to the sky,

referring to God I'm sure.

And what you just saw therewas part of Merrick's video,

he posted about the incident.

It has gone viral with almost2 million views so far.

Well done, sir.

A teenager is taking on Twitter

in federal court sayingthe tech giant refused

to take down pornographicimages of him extorted

by a trafficker.

The National Center on SexualExploitation Law Center,

and the Hubba law firm havefiled in the US District Court

in Northern California

on behalf of the plaintiff, John DOE.

- At 13 years old, he wassexually propositioned

on an app called Snapchat.

He was asked to sharenude pictures of himself,

and he did that thinking

that he was communicating with a peer.

He was not, he was communicatingwith sex traffickers

who plan to extort him.

They did extort him,

and then they eventuallyput his child abuse images

which are illegal underfederal law, on Twitter.

John DOE only found out

about this three years after it happened.

- The lawsuit contendsthat John DOE is not alone,

and that Twitter profits fromtheir sexual exploitation

of countless people because of its design.

Twitter did not respond toCBN for comment on the case.

Days after well-knownpastor Max Locato delivered

a virtual sermon at theWashington National Cathedral,

leaders of the historic church

now say it was a mistake toinvite the evangelical leader.

The cathedral's dean, RandyHollerith, issued an apology

to the LGBTQ community saying he failed

to appreciate the depth of their injury

and said it was wrong to invite Locato.

Members of the LGBT community

wanted Locato's invitation rescinded

because of his past statements

on homosexuality and same-sex marriage.

Despite the protest,Hollerith had initially

defended his decisionsaying it was essential

to "find common ground with each other."

Coming up next,

the second oldest livingperson in the world

isn't afraid of dying,but she beat COVID anyway.

That story in a moment.

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- Sister Andre is celebratingher 117th birthday today

after recovering from COVID last month.

The French nun tested positivefor the virus in January

but she recovered three weeks later.

The outbreak killed 10 people

in her care home in Southern France,

but Sister Andre said sheisn't afraid of dying.

The only thing sisterAndre seem to be concerned

about was if her meal andbedtime schedules would change.

Now, she's celebratinganother year of life

with a few of our favoritetreats and a mass in her honor.

And to imagine she probablysurvived the flu pandemic

and both World Wars.

That's incredible.

Well folks, that is it forthis edition of CBN NewsWatch.

on the CBN News channel anytimewe're online@cbsnews.com.

Also, tell us what you thinkabout the stories you've seen

by emailing us at newswatchatcbn.com

or you can reach out to us

on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

From all of us here,

from the headquarters of theChristian Broadcasting Network,

thank you so much for joining us.

Goodbye, and God bless.