- [Announcer] This is "CBS Newswatch."

- It is Monday, March 15th, 2021.

Thank you so much forjoining us. I'm Efrem Graham.

Ahead today, the growingnumber of migrants

overwhelming the southern border.

Democrats still not calling it a crisis,

but Republicans blamingPresident Joe Biden.

Israel heading to its fourth election

in less than two years next week.

The big question, willBenjamin Netanyahu remain

the prime minister or willsomeone else be taking his place?

China cracking down hard

on both Christians and Uighur Muslims.

We're gonna hear just whatthe Chinese government

has been doing.

And Christian artist, ZachWilliams, up for a Grammy award

for his song, "There Was Jesus,"

a duet with Dolly Parton.

We'll let you know if he won

and why the song is so special to him.

All those stories and more are ahead

in today's edition of "CBN Newswatch."

Want to begin this half hourwith the exploding number

of migrants on the southern border.

Democrats and the WhiteHouse still refusing

to call it a crisis.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosisays the flood of migrants

at the southern border isa humanitarian challenge.

The surge of migrants, including children,

is overwhelming resources.

So much so President Joe Biden dispatched

the Federal Emergency Management Agency

to help to care for them.

What are congressionalRepublican doing about it?

Our Dale Hurd takes a look.

- [Dale] Drone video shows asylum seekers

waiting to enter the United States

at a makeshift processing center in Texas.

Unaccompanied minors aresupposed to be transferred

to the Department ofHealth and Human Services,

but the surge at the borderhas exceeded shelter capacity.

More than 4,200 children arein Border Patrol custody.

Another 9,000 are in shelters.

Officials are so overwhelmed

that the Biden administrationhas ordered FEMA,

which usually only helpswith natural disasters,

to help care for thegrowing number of minors.

- The children held right now

in the Customs and BorderProtection facilities,

they don't belong there.

That is not a place for holding children.

That is a place for adult men.

- [Dale] The surge of childrenand teens at the border

comes after the Bidenadministration reversed

some of the policies ofthe Trump administration.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosicalls it a humanitarian crisis,

but blames President Trump for it.

- This is a humanitarianchallenge to all of us.

What the administration hasinherited is a broken system

at the border, and theyare working to correct that

in the children's interests

- [Dale] Texas Governor Greg Abbott says

the Biden administration'sopen border policies

are not only creating moreillegal immigration to the U.S.

but have enriched Mexican drug cartels

that profit from smugglingmigrants across the border.

- The border patrol themselves,and really everybody here

in Texas, has known that this is coming.

They're finally stepping upand providing the resources

they need, but it's a day late.

I mean, it's really far short.

- [Dale] Republican leaders are heading

to the border today tosee the crisis firsthand.

- We'll be traveling to the border myself

with 12 other members to see firsthand,

to come back with solutions,

to make sure our border is secure,

and to make sure we can end this crisis

that Biden has created.

- [Dale] Meanwhile, House Democrats

will put forward two billsthis week to give legal status

for millions of so-called dreamers,

undocumented immigrants whoenter the country as children.

Dale Hurd, CBN News.

- President Joe Biden is not joining

the growing list of Democrats calling

for New York GovernorAndrew Cuomo to resign

amid the growing number ofallegations of sexual harassment.

- Mr. President, do youthink Governor Andrew Cuomo

should resign?

- I think the investigation is underway,

and we should see what it brings us.

- New York Attorney General Letitia James

is leading the investigationinto the allegations.

The New York Post reported many staffers

in the Cuomo administrationare no longer even showing up

for work as the scandals have grown.

For the fourth time inless than two years,

Israelis are getting ready tohead to the polls yet again

in their elections a week from tomorrow.

The big question, will Benjamin Netanyahu

remain the prime minister?

Israel has 39 politicalparties, and that makes

forming a governmentcoalition extremely difficult.

As Chris Mitchell nowreports from Jerusalem,

this election could have a profound impact

on Israel and the entire Middle East.

- [Chris] Two majorforces currently define

Israel's political landscape.

One is the left versus the right.

The other is those parties

against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

and those for him.

Given that situation,some political observers

say Israel may faceanother election result

like the last three.

- The dynamics, in manyways, is still the same.

Benjamin Netanyahu ispretty much the favorite

to be prime minister again.

He's got plenty of challengers,very few of them like him,

and the electorate is deeply divided.

- [Chris] At the moment,Netanyahu and his allies

may hold a slim advantage.

- It looks like Benjamin Netanyahu

and his preferred coalitionpartners are hovering

right around the 61 magic number

out of 120 Knesset members,which is what he needs

in order to form a majority coalition.

But the math is very tenuous.

- [Chris] Math is the keyto Israel's elections.

And the goal is to get those 61 seats

in the Israeli parliamentto gain a majority

and form a coalition.

Given the electorallandscape, Naftali Bennett,

a former senior memberof Netanyahu's cabinet

and now head of theright wing Yamina party,

may become a kingmaker.

- He is not committed tositting with Netanyahu.

However, unlike the other parties,

he is not ruled outsitting with Netanyahu.

- [Chris] Some even think Bennett

could become prime minister himself.

He told CBN News he's up to the challenge.

- Well, I'm running to becomeprime of the State of Israel.

It's a huge responsibility whenthe country is 72 years old.

We continue to be threatened by, you know,

some of the worst countries in the world.

Let's cut taxes, cut bureaucracy,

speed up the economy in a Reaganesque way.

- [Chris] Yet the majority of Israelis

still prefer Netanyahu.

Two issues dominate the minds of Israelis

as they go to the polls,

restarting the economyand the threat of Iran.

The impact of a new U.S. administration

is another major factor.

- If the United States embarks

on a "Back to the Future" policy

of going back five or sixyears to putting more pressure

on Israel and easing the breakup on Iran,

I think that that's a voting issue

that Israelis really haveto be concerned about.

- [Chris] What Israelis decidewill make a huge difference,

not only for Israel, but for the region.

- Stability for Israel is key

to stability in the Middle East.

And if Israel continues to be in chaos

and Washington continues to be in chaos,

there are gonna be a lotof powers around the world

tempted to exert theirinfluence and make their mark

in the Middle East.

And that's probablydangerous for all of us.

So it's a good thing tobe praying for stability

in both capitals

- [Chris] Chris Mitchell,CBN News, Jerusalem.

- Back here at home, California'sDepartment of Education

is set to vote on a proposedethnic studies curriculum

that would include a chant

to the Aztec god of human sacrifice.

One writer has claimed whiteChristians committed theocide

against America's nativetribes, killing their gods

and replacing them with Christianity.

In response, to the newCalifornia woke curriculum

recommends the chant to the Aztec gods.

City Journal reports thecurriculum recommends

teachers lead students ina series of songs, chants,

and affirmations, andthe students would appeal

to Aztec gods, includingtheir god of human sacrifice

and the god of war, whoalso inspired hundreds

of thousands of human sacrifices.

You can read more about the details

of this proposedcurriculum at cbnnews.com.

Coming up, a church inCanada being taken to court

for holding worshipservices with more people

than allowed by COVID regulationsand the pastor in jail.

We're gonna bring youdetails on this story

when we come back, stay with us.

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- The Royal Canadian MountedPolice have announced charges

against Grace Life Churchin Edmonton, Alberta

for violating COVID-19restrictions put in place

by the Alberta Health Services Department.

The Edmonton Journal reportsthe agency ordered the church

to restrict occupancy ofits sanctuary to 15% or less

than the building's operational capacity.

The mounted police saythe church has continued

to hold services withoutlimiting its occupancy.

And the pastor is paying aprice for the church's actions.

With us now for more is DanAndros of faithwire.com.

So, Dan, what's happened to the pastor?

- Yeah, well this has beenquite the saga, Efrem.

And Pastor James Coateshas been behind bars

since February 14th, afterhis church was found quote,

"guilty of an offense," bypolice and the health department.

And Coates was eventually servedwith a summon on March 4th

to appear in court.

Police say the was holdingchurch services that exceeded

that 15% capacity numberthat you mentioned there.

And on February 21st and February 28th,

officials were attending theseservices and monitoring them

for public safety andinvestigating the situation

and then ended up serving thepastor with the arrest there

after the Valentine service

and continue to finethe church now as well

adding additional chargessince they continue

to hold services.

Back in December, Coatesand Grace Life were ordered

to follow those restrictionsfor the first time.

And then police filed this application

and the Health and Servicefiled this application

that allowed them to have thepower to jail James Coates

and enforce these orders.

And he is now scheduled to appear in court

between May 3rd and May 5th.

- What's happened to his wife and family?

- Yeah, well, we spokeactually to his wife, Erin,

the pastor's wife, andshe said that her husband

was initially quarantined for two weeks

and had only two 15 minuteblocks outside of his jail cell.

She said that he initiallyshared a cell with another man,

but then, due to the highprofile nature of the case,

he was moved and spent,quote, "the majority

"of two weeks alone,"according to his wife, Erin.

And he was moved to generalpopulation last Thursday.

And she has been able to talkto him through video calls,

but she said now he getsabout three hours out

in one hour chunks, and he'sable to be with the inmates

during this time.

She says she still can't visit him

because of COVID restrictions.

- Any response orreaction from the church?

- Yeah, the church has stood firm here.

They said that they're gravelyconcerned that COVID-19

is being used tofundamentally alter a society

and strip us of individual liberties.

They added that, in their view,that love for our neighbor

demands that we exerciseour civil liberties.

So they have been doublingdown on this message

that this is a very important issue.

And this is certainly onethat we here in America

are watching closely.

- We will continue to follow it indeed.

What can we look forward tothis evening on Faithwire?

- Yeah, we're gonna betalking about when politics

bleeds into religion, bothsides are not immune to this.

We're gonna be breakingdown those details tonight.

- All right, Dan, thank you so much.

Want to remind you at homethat you can watch Faithwire

this evening at 8:30Eastern standard time.

And of course you can findthat on the CBN News channel.

Still ahead, the major crackdown in China

against Christians andgenocide against Muslims.

We're gonna hear just whatthe Chinese government

has been doing and why right after this.

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Life in your body, mind, and spirit.

Life in your everyday.

At cbn.com, we're takingwhat Jesus said seriously.

We're here to help you discover life.

Life, live it fully. Cbn.com.

- International pressure is mounting

against China's communist government.

Beijing received globalcriticism for its mishandling

of the COVID-19 crisis.

Now it is accused oflaunching a major crackdown

against Christians and committing genocide

against ethnic Muslims.

Gary Lane brings us this alarming report.

- [Gary] February 1st,2021, public security police

storm onto the property of agovernment sanctioned church

in China's Wenzhou City.

Their mission, topplinga cross from the roof

of a church building for a second time.

They'd removed the crossseven years earlier,

but church members replaced it.

Bob Fu is with ChinaAid,

a group that helps China'spersecuted Christians.

- That city alone, we havedocumented over 1,600 churches

where their crosses were being burned,

destroyed, and destructed.

And many pastors, you know,were even detained, imprisoned.

- [Gary] China's Christiansay it's the worst persecution

against them since Chairman Mao Zedong.

- To use ambassador Sam Brownback's words,

"It's a war against the faith."

I think it's a war againstthe independent faith.

- [Gary] And it's no longer limited

to certain regions of China.

VOM's Todd Nettletonsays this massive wave

of Christian persecution is widespread,

and it's coming fromthe national government.

- What we say in 2021 isthat everywhere in China,

there is intensepersecution of Christians.

There is intense effortsto control the church,

to bring the church underCommunist Party control.

- [Gary] "The crackdown is affecting

"every Christian inChina," says Nettleton,

Protestants, Catholics,government registered churches,

and unregistered house churches.

And the Chinese CommunistParty has a new excuse

for targeting Christians.

- Now, under this, the pretextof COVID-19 coronavirus,

the Chinese Communist Partyhas intensified its persecution

by banning all the church activities,

even those services ofworship or prayer meetings

in believers' own homes withtheir own family members.

(woman shouting in a foreign language)

- [Gary] July 22nd, 2020,a loud knock on the door

at the home of a womanin China's Xiamen city.

She tells the police outsidethey cannot enter her home

without a permit.

Moments later, they destroythe lock and enter anyway,

breaking up what the governmentsays is an illegal meeting.

Fu says it's all part ofPresident Xi Jinping's campaign

of sinicization, which meansChristians are only considered

to be good citizens if theyadhere to communist ideology.

- Ironically, Xi Jinping'sportrait was even put

on the church pulpitalong with Chairman Mao.

And the first line itemof worship, you know,

by the government sanctionedchurch before COVID-19

was to sing the CommunistParty's national anthem.

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- [Gary] And examples go beyond churches.

In Fuzhou City, a Catholicfamily was forced out

of their government subsidizedhousing after they refused

to remove religious icons from their home.

And China's ReligiousAffairs Bureau has banned

religious funeral ceremonies

and preaching in funeral places.

Meanwhile, Christians aren'tthe only ones suffering,

ethnic Uighurs fromEast Turkistan, a region

the Communist governmentcalls Xinjiang Province,

are under attack.

- China is home to one ofthe worst human rights crises

of our time.

It is truly the stain of the century.

- [Gary] One day before he left his post

as U.S. Secretary of State,Mike Pompeo officially announced

that China is committing genocide

against the Uighurs and Turkic people.

New Secretary of State Antony Blinken

supports the genocide designation.

For years, the Chinese governmenthas forced Uighur women

to undergo abortions andforced sterilizations.

Twitter recently locked the account

of the Chinese embassy in Washington

for tweeting that Uighurwomen had been emancipated

from being, quote, "baby-making machines."

The U.S. Defense Department says

as many as three million Uighursare being forcibly detained

in reeducation and forced labor camps.

The president of East TurkistanGovernment-in-Exile told me

on the "Global Lane" thatChina is using the camps

as a place to brainwash the Uighurs

and harvest their organs for profit.

And he says detainees arebeing used as slave labor.

- Millions are still, you know, working

in slave labor factories,producing products for companies

like Apple, Nike, Costco,and dozens of others.

- And Uighurs are reportedly being used

to manufacture solar panels for export

to the U.S. and elsewhere.

The Chinese government callsit a poverty reduction effort.

The U.S. State Departmentis alerting corporate CEOs

and others about China'suse of Uighur slave labor

so they won't become involved.

Meanwhile, despite the suffering,

Bob Fu is expressing optimism

about the country's spiritual future.

He says when the CommunistParty seized government control

in 1947, only about onemillion people in China

claimed to be Christian.

But today, after 70 yearsof unrelenting persecution,

their numbers have grownto as many as 130 million.

- So I think at the end of the day

maybe we should call President Xi Jinping

as God's faithful servantto revive His church.

- [Gary] Gary Lane, CBN News.

- [Efrem] And coming up,we're gonna switch gears

to a lighter note herein the United States.

Christian artist Zach Williams up

for his fifth Grammy nomination last night

for a Christian song heperformed with Dolly Parton.

We're gonna tell you how it ended up

when we come back, stay with us.

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This is our opportunity toshare extended conversations

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- Now you're a comedian and a Christian?

You know, why is that such a baffle?

- Being an artist who is a Christian,

an artist who's in hip hop culture,

I'm trying to find my own sound.

- [Efrem] "Studio 5 Uncut," next.

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What stories will the world's orphaned

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truly worth believing.

We believe that every childshould have the opportunity

to dream, the chance to take challenges

and turn them into possibilities,

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- [Announcer] Watch "FaithNation," weeknights at 6.

- Zach Williams told CBN's "Studio 5"

he was surprised to benominated for a Grammy this year

for best contemporaryChristian music performance

for a song, the song is "There Was Jesus."

It was a duet with Dolly Parton.

And last night at the 63rdannual Grammy ceremony,

William said he and hisfellow artists found out

they did indeed win.

- Without God, obviouslynone of this is possible.

This is Jonathan here.

And I think I can speakfor myself and Casey.

We are so grateful forjust this opportunity.

We want to think DollyParton for being a champion

from day one in the song.

Thank our families. Thank the Academy.

Hey, we love you guys. Thanks so much.

- Williams told "Studio 5"

why the song is so personal for him.

- It's a special song for me.

I mean, this is very much my story.

If I think back to the last20 years that it took me

to get to where I'm at in my life.

And even if I go backfurther than that, you know,

back to my childhood, andI think about, you know,

all these moments thatI missed in my life.

Now that I can look back andsee that God was in the middle

of every one of them, youknow, working out the details.

- Now the song alsomarked a special moment

for Dolly Parton, it washer 50th Grammy nomination.

You can see my fullinterview with Zach Williams

at cbnnews.com and ofcourse on "Studio 5."

You can find both on the CBN News app.

Time now for your Monday motivation.

Here's a familiar thoughtyou've heard before, I'm sure,

and probably have even said it.

Prayer changes things.

I'd like to offer a slightedit to that mantra.

Prayer moves God, andGod changes the situation

or He changes you, buteither way the change

is for your good.

So if it is not good,guess what? God's not done.

With that word, Iencourage you to make this

a marvelous Monday.

That is a wrap for thisedition of "CBN Newswatch."

Thank you so much for watching.

Want to remind you, youcan always find more

of our news programs onthe CBN News channel.

You can find them there at anytime.

You can also find themonline at cbnnews.com.

We'd love to know what youthink about any of the stories

you've seen here today.

You can email us, newswatch@cbn.com.

That's the address right thereat the bottom of the screen.

You can also reach out andtouch us on Facebook, Twitter,

and Instagram.

We certainly would love to hear from you.

Thank you so much forbeginning your week with us.

We'll see you right backhere same time tomorrow.

Goodbye everybody and God bless.

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