- Well, welcome to the show.
Thanks for joining us.
Outrageous and pure anti-Semitism.
Well, that's what Israel'sPrime Minister is calling
a decision made against the Jewish state
by the International Criminal Court.
The ruling is part of a probeagainst Israel and Hamas
for alleged war crimes.
- Well, the court has noenforcement authority,
regardless of its decision.
So what's this action really all about?
Chris Mitchell explains from Jerusalem.
(whooshing)
- [Chris] Several years ago,Palestinians asked the ICC
to investigate Israel for war crimes.
Last month, judges decidedthey had jurisdiction
over the area known asthe West Bank and Gaza.
Fatou Bensouda, the prosecutordriving this investigation,
focuses on the 2014 Gaza War.
While she calls out Hamas for crimes,
such as attacking Israelicivilians and using its own people
as human shields, Bensouda also charges,
Israel responded too strongly,
leaving dead and woundedPalestinians in its wake.
Israeli Prime Minister,Benjamin Netanyahu,
slammed the prosecutor's decision.
- I think this is an outrageous decision
that goes against the onedemocracy in the Middle East,
Israel, whose soldiershonorably and scrupulously
do everything to avoidcivilian casualties,
as they're fighting theworst terrorists on earth.
This is pure anti-Semitism.
- [Chris] The prosecutoralso expands her charges
to the so-called occupied territories,
which refers to Israeli communities
in Judea and Samariaand Eastern Jerusalem.
- I'm in Jerusalem, notvery far from the Old City
of Jerusalem, which has been our capital
since the time of KingDavid for 3000 years.
They say that if we builda house in Jerusalem,
that's a war crime!
The ICC, the InternationalCourt, was built to prevent
the kind of horrors that werecommitted on the Jewish people
by the Nazis and nowthey're turning their guns
on the one and only stateof the Jewish people.
- [Chris] Hamas welcomed the decision
as a step forward to implement justice.
(foreign language)
- [Interpreter] Hamas stressesclearly and decisively
that the resistance byour Palestinian people
and all the resistanceby the national factions
in Palestine are a legitimate resistance.
And its natural role isto resist the occupation
and restore the land and the holy places,
according to all international laws.
- [Chris] Defense Minister, Benny Gantz,
who could also be a targetof the investigations,
says the ICC probe "rewards terrorism
"and terror organizations."
- Israel is the only
situation where the court is investigating
a non-member state atthe behest of a member,
the Palestinian Authority,which is not a state.
- [Chris] International lawexpert, Eugene Kontorovich,
says regardless of anydecision against Israelis,
the court has no enforcement authority.
He adds, however, the impactwould be on the world stage.
- What this really is aboutis the Palestinians seeking
to establish the fact of their statehood
and their maximalist bordersoutside of negotiations.
So to the Palestinians, theydon't need anything else
to happen for them to have already won.
- [Chris] Kontorovich says, bottom line,
Israel should not evenaddress the charges,
since the court has nojurisdiction over it.
- But Israel should definitely ignore it.
It should treat it as ahostile political entity.
- [Chris] Chris Mitchell,CBN News, Jerusalem.
- Well, let's go back intohistory as to how did this
International Criminal Court start?
Well, it started back in2002 and its prime purpose
was to investigate genocidescoming out of Africa,
and in that, chargepeople with war crimes;
whether it was the use of child soldiers
or massacring people ina genocide just because
they were of a different tribe,a different ethnic group.
Well, it's now evolvedand let's take a look
at who is this chief prosecutor?
And her name, Fatou Bensouda.
She is from Gambia.
Gambia is over 90% Muslim.
So she is Muslim.
She's very prominent thatshe's a Muslim believer.
So, would you expect a Muslim believer
to give Israel justice in theInternational Criminal Court?
And the answer I thinkis quite clearly no.
To give you more background,
she has been bannedfrom the United States.
Her visa was revoked two years ago.
The State Departmentrevoked it because she was
trying to charge U.S.soldiers with war crimes,
U.S. generals with war crimesfor activity in Afghanistan.
And so she has beenplaced on a no-entry list,
as well as her assets andanyone that does business
with her is also subject to sanctions
by the U.S. State Department.
So that's who we're dealing with.
And that's the headlinebeneath this headline.
There is no actual jurisdiction.
There is no actual enforcement power
by this International Criminal Court,
but they do get a headline.
And in that headline,they try to smear Israel.
Here's a question for you.
If you were living ina city that was subject
to rocket attacks from another location,
would you ever expect tobe charged with war crimes
for trying to stop those rocket attacks?
Well, that's exactlywhat's happening here.
In other news, President Bidenis under increasing pressure
over his immigration policy.
Republicans say there's acrisis on the southern border.
John Jessup has that story
from our CBN News Bureau in Washington.
John?
- Thanks, Gordon.
But the Biden Administration doesn't agree
with that characterization,
instead calling what's happeningat the border, a challenge.
But Republicans aredemanding hearings on how
the White House is handling the situation.
CBN's Dale Hurd has the story.
(whooshing)
- [Dale] The BidenAdministration refuses to call
the growing number of unaccompanied minors
on the southern border a crisis;
although documents uncovered by Axios
indicate the White House already knows
border resources are overwhelmed.
Internal documents fromthe Department of Health
and Human Services show thenumber of child migrants
crossing the border lastweek surged to an average
of 321 children per day,compared to just 47 per day
during the last days ofthe Trump Administration.
Texas Congressman,Michael McCaul, told Fox
that the White House hassent the wrong signal
to child traffickers.
- I'm just telling you,the green light is on now.
We're open for business,and it's the worst message
to be sending to thetraffickers who are smuggling
these kids across the border.
To see a 45% spike will take us back
to the Obama Administrationall over again.
- [Dale] CBN contributor,Chuck Holton, is in Columbia,
where migrants are liningup for the dangerous journey
through several nations toget to the United States.
- So the question is, why don't they stop
in Chile or Ecuador or Brazil or Columbia
or any of the othercountries in Central America
that they cross before theyget to the United States?
And there's two reasons for that.
One is that opportunities are better
in the United States for them.
And number two, they saynow is the time to go,
because Joe Biden is the President.
- [Dale] Texas Governor, Greg Abbott,
is also accusing the White Houseof creating a health crisis
in his state by allowingmigrants with COVID-19
into the country withoutproper testing and quarantines.
- The Biden Administrationwas spreading COVID
in South Texas yesterday,because of their lack
of constraint of testing and quarantining
people who come acrossthe border illegally.
- The Washington Post saysthe Biden Administration
is planning to createquick processing centers
that would release adultmigrants and children
into the U.S. within 72 hours.
Meanwhile, White Houseofficials are reportedly
planning a trip to theborder this weekend.
Dale Hurd, CBN News.
- Thanks, Dale.
President Biden calledoff a second airstrike
in Syria last week.
The United Stateslaunched an earlier strike
against militias backedby Iran on February 25th,
in retaliation for a rocketattack against a base
housing U.S. soldiers in Iraq.
News reports say theU.S. had planned to hit
another target in Syria.
Then, with planes in the air,
intelligence reportedthat women and children
had been spotted at the second location.
The President was informedand called off that attack.
Well, here at home, another problem
for New York Governor, Andrew Cuomo.
Some of his top aides changeda State Health Department
report last year to hidethe true number of people
who were killed by COVID-19in the state's nursing homes.
The Wall Street Journal andthe New York Times stories
are the latest to show howthe Cuomo Administration
hid the true number of deaths.
The original HealthDepartment report indicated
more than 9,000 people died,
but Cuomo aides changedthat to just over 6,400.
State officials say theedits were only made
because of concerns about accuracy,
not to protect Cuomo's reputation.
The stories come as the Governoris also facing allegations
of sexual harassment.
Well, a late night forsenators here in Washington,
as Democrats work topush through their nearly
$2 trillion COVID Relief Package.
That as the number of peoplegetting vaccinated accelerates
and more states lift restrictions.
Jennifer Wishon has that story.
(whooshing)
- President Biden saysvaccines should be available
to every American adult by Memorial Day.
And across the country,
people are lining up to get their shots.
- When I leave heretoday I'm gonna be like,
"Yes!
"I made it!"
- [Jennifer] A thankfulGrace Barry is one of the
54 million Americans who'vereceived at least one dose
of the vaccine, as massvaccination sites like this
open across the country.
- We expect that we're gonna come close,
if not exhaust our 3000vaccine allotment for the day.
- [Jennifer] And a number of states
are lifting restrictions.
- This is our plan,starting on March 19th.
- [Jennifer] Governor Ned Lamont,
of the blue state of Connecticut,
announcing he's lifting nearlyall limits on businesses,
returning to full capacity at restaurants,
hair salons and gyms.
Five states have lifted maskmandates, including Texas.
- Texans have masteredthe safe strategies.
They don't need anorder from Austin, Texas
telling them what to do.
- [Jennifer] In Washington,Senate Democrats scrambled
to make last minute changes tothe President's $1.9 trillion
COVID Relief Bill, to guaranteeunanimous Democrat support.
The measure attempts to nurse the economy,
by providing directpayments of up to $1,400
to most Americans.
And it aims to tackle the virus with money
for vaccines, tests and help for schools.
Majority leader, Chuck Schumer,says the bill is needed
to combat the deadly COVID crisis.
But Republicans argue itdisregards improving conditions
on the ground and is loaded full of pork.
To prove the point, WisconsinSenator, Ron Johnson,
pulled a procedural movethat forced Senate clerks.
- [Senator] The Tableof Contents for this act
is as follows:
- [Jennifer] To read theentire 628-page bill aloud.
Republicans point tonon-partisan Congressional Budget
Office estimates that economicgrowth will exceed a strong
4% this year, even without thePresident's stimulus package.
- This is not a COVID bill.
9% of this bill focuseson COVID health spending.
91% is a partisan wishlist,
paying off the Democraticspecial interests
that got them elected.
- Conservatives alsoworry the bill will add
to the already exploding national debt.
The CBO projects thedebt is to almost double
over the next 30 years, to twice the size
of the entire economy.
And that estimate doesn'ttake into account this latest
nearly $2 trillionproposal by the President.
Jennifer Wishon, CBN News.
- Thanks, Jennifer.
Gordon?
- Well, we keep spendingmoney at an unbelievable pace.
And two trillion is a lot of money.
And you better have avery good reason for it,
'cause at the end of thisroad of all this spending,
you literally put our currency at risk.
The reason we're able to dothis, the reason we're able to
literally print the moneyto pass the bill to say,
we're gonna send $2 trillion out,
is that we're the reservecurrency of the world.
The dollar is the benchmark against which
all other currencies are pegged.
When we lose that, well watch out below.
And China is already making plans
to change things andthey're already moving
into digital currencyand they certainly aim
at becoming the reserve currencyof a digital marketplace.
So that's what they're planning to do.
When that happens, what's going to happen
with 30 trillion in debt,40 trillion in debt?
Our economy won't be able to sustain it.
The dollar willdramatically lose its value.
And that's a price that you and I will pay
with massive inflation.
You can go back in history.
There are a lot of different examples,
whether it was Brazil acouple of decades ago,
or Germany in the 1920s.
What happens to a country where inflation
gets out of control.
And that is a situationnone of us wants to face.
How can we solve this?
Well I think one way is, well please,
can we stop overspending?
Number two is for the existing debt,
and this is debt that is largely owned
by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
So that means we own the debt
and we're obligated under the debt.
And can we have some kindof bill that reconciles that
and say, well let's have a Jubilee;
let's forgive ourselvesfor this overspending.
And then can we please resolve
that we won't ever do it again?
