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- [Announcer] This is "CBN NewsWatch."
- It is Tuesday, February 16th.
Thank you so much forjoining us, I'm Efrem Graham.
Ahead today, New York GovernorAndrew Cuomo under fire
from Republicans andDemocrats over his handling
of the COVID crisis in nursing homes
in his state withcritics claiming coverup.
Remaking the Supreme Court.
President Joe Bidenappointing a commission
to examine judicial reformwith some groups pushing
for expanding the number of justices.
Troubles between the Bidenadministration and Israel.
The new president has yet to reach
out to the Israeli leadership,
the first president inseveral decades not to do so.
And we're going to hearfrom a former porn star
and her husband, apastor, on the importance
of living a pure life.
All those stories and more are ahead
in today's edition of "CBN NewsWatch."
I want to begin this half hour in New York
where governor Andrew Cuomounder mounting pressure
to answer questions abouthis administration's handling
of COVID-19 in nursing homes.
But his explanation inyesterday's news conference
only outrage state officials and families
who lost loved ones.
The governor saying hisadministration was honest
in reporting of COVID numbers
at nursing homes, but conceding.
- I understand the public hadmany questions and concerns
and the press had many questions
about nursing homes primarily.
And I understand that they werenot answered quickly enough.
- [Efrem] The actual numberof long-term patients who died
of the virus in New York turned
out to be much higher thanthe state's official tally.
In a phone call with NewYork state Democrats,
Cuomo's secretary admitted hisoffice withheld information
on the number of COVID-19nursing home deaths
because they were afraid it would be used
against them in a JusticeDepartment investigation.
Last March, Cuomo issueda mandate allowing some
9,000 COVID positivepatients into nursing homes.
Families want to know
if their loved ones could have been saved.
Fox News' Janice Deanlost both of her in-laws
and has been speaking outabout Cuomo for months.
She's calling for an independentbipartisan investigation
into the Cuomo administration's handling.
- [Janice] He is a liar.
He just continues to lie and deflect
and blame everyone else.
I am calling on everysingle lawmaker in Albany
and also on the federal level.
Do you not see what ishappening right now?
Do you not care about all of the people
in New York state that want to find out
why their loved onesdied in nursing homes?
He didn't follow the science.
You don't put infectedpatients into nursing homes.
That is the bottom line, Governor.
- Democratic assemblywomanAllesandra Biaggi tweeted,
"To New Yorkers watchingCuomo's news conference,
ut is riddled with lies,theater, and deflection."
Calls for the governorto resign are growing
and lawmakers on both sides
of the aisle are demandingaction against him.
The head of the WorldHealth Organization says
all theories are still openabout the origins of COVID-19
which could include the possibility
that it emerged froma lab in Wuhan, China.
A World Health Organizationfact finding team
in China said last week
that the possibilitywas extremely unlikely.
But the head of the WHO said
at the end of the week all hypothesis
on the origin of the virus remain open.
Back here at home, extremecold is posing a new threat
to people across the South as millions
of Americans are without power.
And the region's powergrid is at risk of failing.
Those who haven't lostpower are being asked
to conserve their energy.
And power officials inTexas in 14 other states
using controlled rolling blackouts
in an effort to save the grid.
Something that's never happened before.
- It's cold kids.
Kids around trying tostay warm, fireplace.
There's no firewoodanywhere, no stores open.
- Administrators say newgeneration power sources
like wind turbines have completely frozen
over and been taken offline.
And even more traditional power generation
methods have started to failin the ultra cold temperatures.
Travel conditions also remain a problem
as many areas have solidlayers of ice coating roadways.
In Tennessee, a pickup truckpulls out of a driveway
and then slides sideways down the street.
In Mississippi, at least five
eight-wheelers involved in this pileup.
And in Texas, a man standingby an SUV barely escapes
after a second car cameflying down an embankment.
The free speech platform Parler,
which was forced offline lastmonth saying it's relaunching.
The Twitter alternative hasbeen struggling to return
since Amazon took offits web hosting services.
Google and Apple also removedParler app from their stores.
They all claim parlor allowedposts inciting violence.
Parler says it will remove threatening
or inciting and content.
The service is supposed to be back
for current users this week
and new users can sign up next week.
Parler also says it willnot be reliant on big tech.
One prediction that
as president Joe Bidenwould move to possibly
change the US Supreme Courtis possibly coming true.
He has named a commissionto study judicial reform.
A number of groups aretaking that much further.
One effort called Urging the Courts seeks
to both increase the number of justices
and impose term limits on them as well.
Paul Strand talked with legal scholars
who see a big problem with this direction.
- [Paul] Democrats complained
throughout Donald Trump's presidency
that the Supreme Court had been stolen
as he added one, two, then three justices
during his time in office.
Now many of these Democratsfeel they have the power
to seat at least sixnew permanent justices.
That could result intwo for each Trump pick.
- If it's one stolen seat froma progressive point of view,
packing the Court by two seats might feel
like the only thing that's
somehow adequate to remedy the injury.
- [Paul] A majority of theDemocrats presidential candidates
campaigned to pack the Court.
Constitutional expert andauthor of "Supreme Disorder"
Ilya Shapiro labels their real motive
as taking control of the Court.
- Court packing has cometo mean adding seats
to the Supreme Court for partisan reasons,
for ideological gains.
- To issue opinions that are pleasing
to the policy and political agendas
of the people who willhave packed the Court.
- [Paul] The HeritageFoundation's John Malcolm says
that would lead to real damage.
- Once you start down that road,
you have completelyeviscerated the independence
of the judiciary and that isa very dangerous development.
- [Paul] Professor Braveralso sees the potential harm.
- It's distinct dangeris that unleashes a tit
for tat downward spiral of packing.
I pack, you pack, I pack, you pack,
ballooning the Court's size so large
that it's legitimacy pops.
- Judicial independencedoes get destroyed.
This may be welcomed by some people
on both right and left who think,
"Well, the real problemwith the judiciary,
they strike down too manywise and regulations.
So if we intimidate thejudiciary into submission,
then the world will be a better place."
- But all this could turn themuch respected Supreme Court
into just another bunch of politicians.
- Which is not much more than a lapdog
of whichever partycontrols the White House
and the two houses of Congress.
- It's not that Congress
or the presidency had this great respect
and they want to pull theCourt up to their level.
In fact, this would indeed drag the Court
further down into themuck, into the toxic cloud.
that's enveloped all of ourdiscourse in Washington.
- [Paul] Joe Biden is following through
on a campaign promise regarding courts
by setting up a commissionto study judicial reform.
Why?
- President Biden said at one point
that he's not a fan of court packing
but that the courts aresomehow out of whack.
- One of the moreaccepted reforms might be
imposing 18 year termlimits on the justices.
- That would get rid of, for example,
these morbid health watchesover octogenarian justices
or politically timed retirements,
arbitrary vacancies, as they arise.
- I'm less bothered by itbecause that would be more
ideologically neutral, if you will.
- There would be a vacancy
on the Supreme Court every two years.
And does, it wouldeliminate these vagaries
where vacancies depend on chance
like whether a particularjustice gets sick
and passes away or retires.
- [Paul] But whateverreforms Biden's commission
proposes may come to nothing.
- These commissions arewhat politicians use
to kick the can down the road.
So hopefully six months from now,
it won't be such a burning issue
and they can safely ignorewhatever report comes out.
- [Paul] Paul Strand,CBN News, Washington.
- The president and CEO ofthe Hallmark Channel says
that he wants to show its support
for the LGBT community and promise to make
that clearer in the upcoming season.
Deadline reports Wonya Lucas,the head of Crown Media
said the cable channelwill expand its storylines
to feature more LGBTQ characters.
Another Hallmark executivesaid it's been quote,
"A big priority for the company to focus
on showing different kinds of diversity."
A former Planned Parenthoodemployee is speaking out
about the organization'stransgender activism.
The ex staffer recently spoke anonymously
with a "The Wall StreetJournal" contributor
and author Abigail Shire.
She said her job atPlanned Parenthood involved
providing hormone prescriptions
to teen girls who identify as boys.
She testified no doctors were present
to evaluate the girls atthe clinic where she worked
and they were not alwaysaccompanied by a parent.
The worker also said the clinic manager
who handled treatments of testosterone
and other hormones had noprior medical experience
and many children beingtreated had suffered
emotional and mental abuse.
As the transgender movement becomes
more publicly acceptable,one man is standing up
to say that Jesus can changeanyone and heal anyone.
Jeffrey McCall once livedas a transgender woman.
He told CBN's "The PrayerLink" young teens struggling
with their identity need to know the truth
of the gospel to be set free.
- I think that people that are hurt
and people that aredeceived are being used
by the enemy and thesein the LGBTQ community
and in Hollywood to pushthings that are anti-God.
I don't think it's the people
in those communities thatwe should be against.
I definitely think it'sthe spirit behind it.
And it's a spirit of anti-Christ.
It doesn't want to confess Jesus as Lord
and to be your own Godand do your own thing.
So I think we have totackle the spiritual aspect
to make any move in lowering all this
that has been pushed on our children.
- [Efrem] And to seemore from this interview,
you can catch "ThePrayer Link" this evening
at 6:30 Eastern standardtime on the CBN News Channel.
Coming up, problems ahead for relations
between the Bidenadministration and Israel.
We're going to bring youthe latest from Jerusalem
when we come back, stay with us.
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- President Biden has seta remarkable precedent.
He's the first president in40 years or more not to reach
out to Israel soon afterentering the White House.
"The Washington Free Beacon"reports that every president
since at least Ronald Reaganbegan in 1981 has made calls
or overtures to Israel intheir first days in office.
With us now from Jerusalem for more
on this is our Middle EastBureau Chief Chris Mitchell.
So Chris, the paper also reported
that Biden has hired several people
with what they call a backgroundin anti-Israel activism.
Is there concern in Israel
about the Biden administration'sattitude toward the country
and the relationshipof the next four years?
- Very much of a deepconcern right here, Efrem,
lest two of those anti-Israel advocates
right now that are part ofthe Biden administration.
The first one, Robert Malley,
he negotiated the Iranian nuclear deal
something over here in Israelthey don't like it at all.
Maher Bitar, he organizedboycotts of Israel in his youth
and now he's on the White HouseNational Security Council.
And even though he was against Israel,
that didn't disqualify him.
And in talking aboutthe phone calls, Efrem,
President Biden has already called
Vladimir Putin in Russia,the Chinese leader,
and going back to manyof these presidents,
even Barack Obama calledNetanyahu on his first day.
So obviously over here,they're interpreting
this cold shoulder by Bidenin a very alarming way.
On the other hand,
he's also taken stepstowards the Palestinians.
He plays the resume aid tothe Palestinian Authority.
He's already reopened thePalestinian authority,
that office in Washington DC,
something the Trumpadministration had already closed.
And yet, Netanyahu is stillwaiting for that call.
One columnist over here put it this way.
Israel will have tonavigate their ship of state
through what they call a Biden storm.
- White House Press SecretaryJen Psaki wouldn't say
if the administration considers Israel
and Saudi Arabia important allies.
How did that go over in Jerusalem?
- Stunning.
They really thought it was stunning
that the press secretary of the president
of the United States would not even admit
that Israel and Saudi Arabia were allies.
Israel and the United Stateshave been allies since 1948.
Somebody said to me, acolumnist commentator said
it really wasn't a rookiemistake by the press secretary.
She's been there a long time.
She's been doing that for a long time.
So the question is what lies behind this?
And it seems to besending a signal to Israel
and Netanyahu as well to SaudiArabia that the Middle East,
in terms of the UnitedStates, is tilting back
to pre-Trump days towardsIran and away from Israel.
So traditional allies like Saudi Arabia
and the Gulf States aregoing to have to be very wary
of what's happening right nowwith the Biden administration.
- Chris, what about Iran?
How does Israel feelabout Biden's attempts
to reenter the Iran nuclear deal?
- Well, of all theissues right now, Efrem,
whether it's the Palestinians
or these appointees bythe Biden administration,
the Iranian nuclear deal istheir number one concern.
They see the 2015 JCOPA, thenuclear deal, was a disaster
that gave billions of dollars to Iran
and fed their Middle East terror network.
It allowed them to remain a nuclear power.
Before that deal, the UN said
that Iran shouldn'teven be a nuclear power.
And so this provides anexistential threat to Israel
and even, some would say,Western civilization.
You can go back to Iran's rhetoric.
They call Israel the little Satan.
They call America the big Satan.
So over here the Iranian nuclear
deal is a number one concern.
- Biden has said positive things
about the Abraham Accordspeace agreements between Israel
and Muslim countries brokeredby the Trump administration.
But will he allow them to stay
in place or try to add to them?
What are your thoughts?
- Well, that's a greatquestion right now, Efrem.
A lot of people here in Israel
and the whole MiddleEast are wondering that.
Anthony Blinken, thenew secretary of state,
he has praised them.
But the question right nowa lot of people are asking,
will they advance them?
Will they take on what theTrump administration has built
and keep going and have more countries?
Based on what we've just discussed,
it really does seem unlikely right now.
- All right, Chris Mitchell,Middle East Bureau Chief,
thank you so much for your time,
as always much appreciate it.
Still ahead, a look atsome ancient remedies
for modern ailments.
Some come from Asia or the Middle East
and they can be traced all theway back to Father Abraham.
We'll explain what they are
and how they work right after this.
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- Ancient remedies for modern ailments.
It's a growing trend in medicine today.
Herb supplements, essentialoils, and foods are used
to treat around 75 conditions.
Some of these naturaltreatments can be traced
all the way back to Father Abraham.
So exactly what are they?
Medical reporter Lorie Johnson explains.
- [Lorie] Since itsinception, many have called
modern medicine a gift from God.
Sometimes, however, we look back
to the treatments of our ancestors.
- Up until 150 years ago,
when somebody used the word medicine,
it typically didn't meana synthetic medicine.
It typically meant anherbal spice like ginger
or frankincense and all of these things
that are referenced in the Bible today,
that's what we meant by medicine.
- [Lorie] In his newbook "Ancient remedies,"
Dr. Josh Axe recommends herbssupplements, essential oils,
and foods to treat about75 different conditions.
- For instance, if somebody is struggling
with hypothyroidism,
I go through those top five herbs
so people know exactly what to do.
If somebody has Alzheimer's,I go through what to do.
If somebody has inflammation,heart disease, diabetes,
chronic pain, hormone imbalance,
I go through all of those things in there.
- [Lorie] Some date back tothe dawn of civilization.
- But actually it's believed
that Abraham actually taught a lot
of these natural ways ofhealing using different herbs
and foods to support healingand that actually is the basis
of Chinese or differenttypes of Asian medicine.
- Many of us are okay withmedicines that are made in a lab.
But if given the choice,
might prefer somethinga little more natural.
Man-made drugs often began as imitations
of their natural counterparts.
- For instance, take white willow bark.
That's where they got the idea for asprin.
White willow bark helpsnaturally thin the blood,
reduces pain naturallyas anti-inflammatory.
Well, aspirin is actually taken from that
but these pharmaceuticalcompanies wanted to save money
so they started making itthemselves that are synthetic.
- [Lorie] As we've reported,that process can result
in side effects likenutritional deficiencies.
- Diabetes drugs actuallypull coenzyme Q10
from your body andcertain other B vitamins.
So if you're on a diabeticdrug, it increases your risk
of a heart attack and stroke.
If you have taken an antibiotic drug,
it kills the good bacteria in your body,
those probiotics, and it alsodepletes your body of zinc.
- [Lorie] Dr. Axe maintainsregardless of the disease,
the first step towards healing
involves building a better gut
since that's where most ofour immune system resides.
The foods that are mosthealing to the gut,
number one is bone broth.
Reason being, bone brothis made up of 90% collagen.
And your gut itself is madeup of around 70% collagen.
So you have to have collagenin order for it to heal.
- [Lorie] What to avoid?
- Pretty much gluten, dairy,and sugar are the things
that will most weaken our immune systems.
- [Lorie] We can alsoboost our body's defenses
by balancing hormones, lowering stress,
and getting a good night's sleep.
He says, believe it or not,
marijuana's sober cousin,CBD, can do all three.
- So there's two maincompounds found in hemp,
which are CBD and THC.
THC is that sort of, that'sthat compound that can cause
hallucinogenic effects wherepeople hear about getting high.
CBD is a completely different compound.
- [Lorie] So while drugcompanies churn out their pills,
Dr. Josh Axe points tonature and describes
how we like people centuries before
us can use the remediesthere to cure what ails us.
Lorie Johnson, CBN News.
- [Efrem] Coming up,she's a former porn star
who is married to a pastor.
And now they're encouraging Christians
to live a pure lifeGod's way by His grace.
We're going to hear what they have to say
when we come back, stay with us.
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- Having sex before you'remarried is a bad idea.
- [Man] Don't tell me there'sno such thing as gun violence.
- That just depends on yourdefinition of when life begins.
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♪ It's like a great attraction ♪
♪ That starts a chain reaction ♪
♪ But with a little more satisfaction ♪
♪ I love the way this joy makes me move ♪
♪ I got the joy ♪
♪ I dance around because I know it ♪
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♪ I move around because I got it ♪
♪ Joy ♪
♪ Joy ♪
♪ Joy ♪
♪ I dance around because I know it ♪
♪ Joy ♪
♪ I move around because I got it ♪
♪ Joy ♪
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♪ Joy ♪
♪ Joy ♪
- A former porn star and nowturned minister is encouraging
Christians to live a pure life.
Brittni De La Mora was in theporn industry for seven years.
She told CBN News afterbecoming a Christian,
she married a pastor andtoday they pastor XXX Church
ministering to people about the dangers
of pornography while encouragingthem to live a pure life.
Her husband Richard sayslust takes but love gives
and that purity is not justno sex before marriage.
It's a lifestyle of havinga pure heart and mind.
And Brittany acknowledgesit is hard and not easy.
But she says with God,all things are possible.
You can hear more oftheir advice for singles
and see their interview at CBNnews.com.
It is time now for your Tuesday tweetable.
This is a message I pray will inspire you
and move you to post,tag, tweet, and share
with those who followand are connected to you.
Keep your curiosity strongand dig deeper daily
to know more about your Creator.
God stands ready toreveal more of Himself.
The deeper you dive, themore revelation rises
to the surface.
With that word, I encourage you
to make today a terrific Tuesday.
That will do it for thisedition of "CBN NewsWatch."
Thank you so much for watching.
Want to remind you, youcan always find more
of our programs on the CBN News Channel.
You can find them there at any time.
You can also find themonline at CBNnews.com.
We love to know what you think
about the stories you've seen here today.
You can email us, theaddress is right there
on your screen, newswatch@cbn.com.
Thank you so much for watching.
We'll see you right backhere same time tomorrow.
Goodbye and God bless.
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David Brody.
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