- Welcome folks to this edition
of "The 700 Club."
I hope you all had awonderful and holiday.
And Terry's with us.
Did you have a wonderful holiday?
- I did.
It was a beautiful day here.
I don't know about what it was like
in your part of the country,
but here it was perfect.
- It was beautiful.
Well I'm pleased to reporton Friday I finally,
I waited for the J&J-
- You did.
- Vaccine.
One shot, not any reaction whatsoever.
- Good for you.
- Not any pain, nothing.
- That's great.
That's great.
- And it was a model ofefficiency the way they did it.
They had the NationalGuard working with them.
They processed thousands of people
in this one site.
It was remarkable.
- There were thousands there?
- Standing in line and everything.
- Wow.
- Anyhow I was very happy.
And now I'm, I'm supposedto wait two weeks.
- And then you're good to go.
(laughing)
- I'm good to go.
Wherever it is, I'm ready.
Well folks, if you wanna get impressed,
a staggering two trillion dollars
for a massive infrastructure bill.
Well, we would all likea good infrastructure.
Nobody wants potholes, nobodywants bridges falling down.
What what is the White House touting?
And why is only $615 billion
actually going to go for infrastructure?
Where's the rest of thattrillion dollars going?
Plus, what's the whopping tax increase
that's going to pay for it all?
Dale Hurd has more.
- The White House may callit an infrastructure bill,
but to Republicans it's a goodie bag
of left wing spending,
and Republican Senator Roy Blunt
says only about 615 billion
of Biden's two trillion dollar plan
actually goes forinfrastructure improvements.
- There's more in the package, George,
for charging stationsfor electric vehicles,
174 billion, than there is for roads,
bridges and airports.
- [Dale] The bill includes $213 billion
for so called sustainable
and affordable housing,400 billion to expand home
or community based care for seniors
and people with disabilities.
And $174 billion for programs
to build a national network
for 500,000 electricvehicle chargers by 2030.
- We're gonna have auto workers,
union auto workers I hope,
making cars one way or the other,
why not have them leading the revolution
into electric vehicles,
which by the way, there isa very hot competition for.
- [Dale] Blunt said if the administration
could have kept the billfocused on infrastructure needs
it would have sailed through Congress
with bipartisan approval,
but energy secretary Jennifer Granholm
indicated to CNN the White House
is willing to pass the bill
without Republican support,
raising the possibility ofusing a budgetary maneuver
that limits the amountof votes needed to pass.
Meaning Vice President Kamala Harris
might once again cast the tiebreaking vote in the Senate.
In addition to the wasteful spending
is the means to pay for it.
A hike in the corporateincome tax from 21% to 28%,
and an increase in taxes oncompanies' foreign earnings.
- Corporations, we all know,
have not been paying their fair share.
- [Dale] But after Donald Trump
pushed American companies
to return their factories to the U.S.,
Republicans are worried the tax hikes
will encourage corporationsto leave again,
taking jobs with them.
- If we go back to the second,
first or second highestcorporate tax in the world,
which works to our disadvantage.
- And some Democratsdon't like the bill either
because it will hurt business,
or doesn't or doesn't spend enough
on their favorite left wing causes.
Bernie Sanders wants moremoney for climate change
and student debt.
Senate minority leaderMitch McConnell says
the last thing the economy needs right now
is a big whopping tax increase
on all of the productive sectors
of the U.S. economy.
Dale Hurd, CBN News.
- Isn't it amazing?
You know, they can saila bill through the Senate
and through the House
that would call for true infrastructure.
I think we all realize thatour roads have gotta be fixed,
our bridges can't fall down,
and we've got to do something.
And that puts peopleto work in honest jobs.
But, for example, in charging stations,
in Europe, Volkswagen isbuilding the charging stations
all over Europe,
and they will own the charging stations.
And you look at gasoline pumps,
they aren't put in bythe federal government.
They're put in by Texaco or Exon or Shell,
or all those otherstations, those companies.
There's no reason in the world
the United States government
and the taxpayers of America
have to build electric charging stations.
I'm all for electric vehicles,
but it can be done in the private sector.
Why I the world would becripple our corporations
to make them unefficient
in competition against other nations
and other corporations
and put a burden of taxlike of this magnitude,
it just boggles the imagination
of how dumb the peopleare who run our country.
And one wishes for something better.
Well in other news, socalled cancel culture
has struck Georgia.
Major League Baseball is pullingout of its All Star game.
What does the presidenthave to do with it?
Efrem Graham has more.
- Pat, blow back afterMajor League Baseball
pulled its All Star game out of Atlanta
over Georgia's new election law.
Democrats charge it'srestriction against minorities.
Supporters charge Democratsare playing politics,
pointing out the lawexpands early voting access
in most counties, expands weekend voting
to two Saturdays andpotentially two Sundays,
permanently adds drop off balloting
which was a temporary measurefor the 2020 elections.
It also prohibits outsidegroups from handing out food
and water to voters within 150feet of a polling location,
but allows water stations wherevoters can serve themselves.
The law also requires a valid photo ID
to request an absentee ballot.
President Joe Biden jumping into the fray
called the Georgie lawJim Crow on steroids,
but so badly misrepresentingpart of the law.
The Washington Post fact checkergave him its worst rating,
four Pinocchio, forfalsely claiming the bill
ends early voting soworking people can't vote.
On ABC's "This Week,"
former New Jerseygovernor, Chris Christie,
accused the president of breaking his word
to unite the country.
- I sat here and listened to
the president's inaugural address,
and I just wanna, a quick couplereal quick points from it.
Politics need not be a raging fire
that destroys everything in its path.
Every disagreement doesn'thave to be cause for total war.
And we must reject a culturein which facts themselves
are manipulated or made up.
And Joe Biden's broken his own rule.
84 days.
And now he's lying to theAmerican people, George.
He's lying about this bill.
He's lying to the American people about it
to cause the raging fire hesaid he was gonna put out.
I'm very disappointed.
- The criticism of divisive politics
is growing beyond Sundaymorning news programs.
During this weekend's coverage
of the NCAA final four,
sports analyst Charles Barkley spoke out,
saying politics in Americais about divide and conquer.
He says, quote, "I think most white people
"and black people are great people.
"I really believe that in my heart.
However, he continued,"the system is set up
"where our politicians,whether they're Republicans
"or Democrats are designed tomake us not like each other
"so they can keep theirgrasp of money and power."
Pat.
- Well, you know, folks, Ithink we better recognize
the greatest opportunity forfraud is in mail-in ballots.
And what the law thatthey're now trying to propose
and jam through Congress
would make this fraudulent activity
a permanent fixture of our election.
The Constitution gavethe state legislatures
the ability to govern theelections in their states.
This would be a national law
that they wanna put through.
And what Georgia is doing
is a mere thing we've all got to do.
In order to get an absentee ballot
you've gotta show a license to show
that you're the personthat's gonna get the ballot.
There isn't anything Jim Crow about that.
So these companies like Coca Cola
and others that start screaming
and canceling Major League Baseball
and that kind of thing,it's just outrageous.
I mean it's simply outrageous.
People ought to read the dumb bill
and see what they're talking about,
and they don't do that.
Efrem.
- Pat, a major foreignpolicy challenge for Biden.
The Pentagon is on alert
as Russia steps up provocations in Europe
and other parts of the world.
Russia is building a military forces
on its border with Ukraine.
This comes as fighting betweenMoscow supported separatists
and Ukrainian forces is increasing,
with about 20 Ukrainiandefenders killed so far in 2021.
Russia conducted militarydrills in the Arctic recently,
and is increasing military flights
near Alaska's air space.
And near NATO airspace,
as well as its submarine activity
in the Atlantic Ocean.
Analysts say this is all a test
of the Biden administration's resolve
to stand up to aggression.
One foreign policy writer says
this could be Biden's firstserious test with Russia.
Turning now to the Middle East,
a major U.S. ally facingan internal threat.
King Abdullah of Jordanput down a possible coup
against his rule.
As Chris Mitchell nowreports from Jerusalem,
the potential overthrow
of the king represents a threatto the entire Middle East.
- [Chris] On Sunday,Jordan's foreign minister
accused the country's former crown prince,
Prince Hamzah, of conspiringwith foreign elements
in a nefarious plot.
- [Translator] Investigations,monitored interventions
and communications that include
communications with foreign parties
about the best time to start steps
to destabilize Jordan.
- Jordanian security forceshave arrested more than a dozen
they say were involved in the plot,
and placed Prince Hamzahunder house arrest.
He released a videoclaiming his innocence.
- The attempt to claim conspiracies
and foreign backing,
and so on and so forth
have been seen in this region,
and in this country,unfortunately recently,
over and over and over again.
And they are a tool of tyranny.
- [Chris] Faced with competing narratives,
the U.S., Israel and many Gulf Arab states
stood behind Jordan's King Abdullah.
The state department said
"King Abdullah is a key partner
"of the United States,
"and he has our full support."
Israel's defense minister Benny Gantz said
"A strong, thriving Jordan is an Israeli
"security and economic interest.
"And we need to do everythingwe can to assist them."
The U.S., Israel and Western Powers
consider Jordan's King Abdullah
a major strategic ally.
The U.S. has provided
substantial militaryassistance to the king,
and about 3,000 American troops are based
in the Hashemite kingdom.
If the king fell, it wouldbe a blow to stability
in the region.
For now the situation is stable,
but some say it's a wake up call
that the monarchy of Jordan
may be at risk in the future.
Chris Mitchell, CBN News, Jerusalem.
- The U.S. and Iran aretaking initial steps
to reengage with indirect negations
as the remaining members
of the JCPOA agreementmeet in Vienna this week.
The goal is to try and getIran back into compliance
after it violated restrictions
on enriching uranium in advance of
the U.S. rejoining the deal.
This is a priority ofthe Biden administration.
In 2018, the U.S. backed out of the deal
when President Trumpaccused Iran of cheating.
Stat Department spokesmen Ed Price says
he doesn't expect there willbe an immediate breakthrough
as difficult decisions are still ahead.
Pat.
- Well we're going tobe challenged by Iran,
don't think they're not.
And the Iranians have that concept
that before the Mahdi comes,
before the 12th Imam comes,
there has to be chaos.
And so there are fanatics in Iran
who are dedicated people
of the Islamic faith
who feel that there will be a chaos
and they do not mind a nuclear war.
And they've talked openly
about using a nuclear bomb against Israel.
So we cannot go along with any program
that allows them tocontinue enriching Uranium
and building up nuclear weapons.
It's just that simple.
The last deal was a giveaway to them
large amounts of money
and other things that would enable them
if they didn't build up nuclear forces
of having the Quds force
and their other behind the scenes
terrorist groups operating.
We should not go for that again.
It's just that simple.
But we're going headlong right down the road
that was traveled before,
and it was a folly then, it's a folly now.
