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- [Jenna] Tonight.

- If we don't control COVID-19,

that gives the virus opportunities

for new mutations to arise.

- [Jenna] As vaccinations are on the rise,

so are infection rates.

The latest on the pandemic.

And while some businesses pull back,

threats to boycott those that don't.

- Georgians and all Americans should know

what this decision means.

Cancel culture and partisan activists

are coming for your business.

- Fallout from Georgia'snew elections law.

Plus, how somethingcalled qualified immunity

is used to protect police from prosecution

even if they violate civil rights laws.

All this and more tonighton "Faith Nation."

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Could vaccinations preventa third wave of COVID cases?

Hi, everyone. Welcome to "Faith Nation."

I'm Jenna Browder.

Well, there is a debate tonight

over whether the United States

will face another biginflux of coronavirus cases.

While some experts say it's on its way,

others think an uptick invaccinations will prevent a surge.

But that doesn't necessarily mean

the country is in the clear.

Paul Strand has our top story.

- [Paul] The good news, theWhite House COVID response team

says the pace of threemillion vaccinations a day

is picking up, and so as the percentage

of Americans vaccinated.

- Over the weekend,

there were more than fourmillion recorded vaccinations

in a single day for the first time.

As of today, nearly one in three Americans

and over 40% of adultshave at least one shot.

- [Paul] 18.5% of the populationis now fully vaccinated.

The death rate is slowly going down,

averaging around 800 a day.

Still, infections are upabout 7% the past week,

with hospitalizations increasing 3%.

CDC Director Dr. RochelleWalensky says more young adults

are getting the virus,mostly due to variants,

the latest being a double mutant variant

first found in the San Francisco Bay area,

possibly originating in India.

(plane roars)

With more than six million people flying

over the Easter holiday,could these mutations

and variants spread more widely?

Some flyers aren't scared.

- Wore my mask the entire trip.

Just followed all theguidelines they told me to do

and I feel pretty safe.

- But if flying does spread the virus,

things could get worse.

As one United pilot told me,

United Airlines is lettingall its pilots know

to expect nothing but jammedflights in the weeks ahead.

- If you have unvaccinatedpeople mingling,

I do worry about another surge.

That's what we've seenafter every holiday.

- [Paul] If you do flyand need a rental car,

you may find price gougingor nothing available.

- The car rental companiessold off their inventories

when, a year ago, no onewas leaving their homes.

And now that demand is coming back,

they simply just can'tget cars quick enough.

- [Paul] Leading to things like charges

of up to $1,000 a day in Hawaii.

But we won't call that a crisis

given we still are fighting a pandemic.

- The worst thing we could do right now

would be to mistake progress for victory.

If we let our guard downnow, we will see more

of our fellow Americans getsick and die unnecessarily.

- I understand that people aretired and that they are ready

for this pandemic to be over, as am I.

Please continue to hang in there

and to continue to do the things

that we know preventthe spread of the virus.

- [Paul] Paul Strand,CBN News, Washington.

- All right, thank you, Paul.

Meanwhile, the firestorm in Georgia

that has everyone talkingis heating up tonight.

On Capitol Hill, SenateMinority Leader Mitch McConnell

is striking back at organizations moving

or threatening to move out of Georgia

over the state's new election law.

Many Democrats call the legislation

discriminatory voter suppression.

President Biden says it'sworse than Jim Crow laws.

And now some are threateningto boycott businesses

based in Georgia, like Coke and Delta.

It's affecting the sports world too.

Major League Baseball announcing

it's relocating its All Star Game

and MLB draft out of the state.

Today, McConnell said thebacklash to the election law

is a result of, quote,"absurd disinformation

meant to bully and misleadthe American people."

- It is easier to vote inGeorgia after the new law

than it is in Delaware now,the president's home state.

And I found it completely discouraging

to find a bunch of corporate CEOs

getting in the middle of politics.

My advice to the corporate CEOs of America

is to stay out of politics.

Don't pick sides in these big fights.

And the other thing I think is important

is for the truth to be told.

- And joining us now is Tony Perkins,

president of the Family Research Council.

Tony, welcome.

So the "Washington Post"gave President Biden

four Pinocchios for some of his comments

about this new Georgia voting law.

Your thoughts on all of this?

- Well, I was surprised thatthe "Washington Post" did that,

but it was well-deserved.

The president has been misleading

the American public on this law.

Look, Jenna, one of twothings is happening here.

The left and their deceptiveand unhinged response,

A, is either willfullyignorant of the law,

refusing to read the billthat's less than 100 pages;

or they have bigger plans here

on corrupting America's election system,

and I'm concerned that it's the latter.

- You know, the situation in Georgia

stoking another conversation, Tony,

about the role of race in America.

Charles Barkley had this to say

about how politicians arecausing a racial divide.

Let's listen to that andthen we'll get your reaction.

- I think most white people

and black people are great people.

I really believe that in my heart.

But I think our system isset up where our politicians,

whether they're Republicans or Democrats,

are designed to makeus not like each other

so they can keep theirgrasp of money and power.

They divide and conquer.

Hey, let's make thesepeople not like each other.

We don't live in their neighborhoods.

We all got money.

Let's make the whites andblacks not like each other.

Let's make rich people and poorpeople not like each other.

Let's scramble the middle class.

- So, Tony, what do you think?

Are politicians to blame forthe division in our country?

- Well, I would say he'sactually on to something

because I do think what he just laid out

is the tactics of Marxistsand those on the left

who want to divide andcreate class warfare

and pit citizens against one another.

That is not necessarily happeningfrom the Republican Party,

which, by the way, ismaking great inroads,

as we saw in the last election,with minority communities.

I think it's more of theleft, the Democratic Party,

that is fearful they'lllose their core constituency

and so they have to pit themagainst the rest of society.

But these election lawsare absolutely critical

that we get this right,and what's happening now

is you have like 38 statesthat are moving forward

with reform measures as a result

of the constitutional irregularities

that took place in the November election.

This is how our system works,

and that's what has JoeBiden and the left fearful,

is that our system will, in fact,

correct what was done wrongin the November election,

and that would not be good for them

and their political future.

- So, in Arkansas, Governor Asa Hutchinson

has vetoed legislation thatwould've banned treatments

or surgery for transgender youth.

At the same time, Tony, healso recently signed a measure

allowing doctors torefuse treating someone

if they have moral obligations.

Your thoughts, and does this newest veto

come as a surprise to you at all?

- It doesn't necessarilycome as a surprise.

I spoke to the governor over the weekend,

talking with him about the legislation.

Again, we see corporate America, I think,

leaning in on this.

You know, Walmart is in Arkansas

and they've become very aggressive

in their political agenda for the left.

So not totally surprised.

Disappointed, but not totally surprised.

But here's the bottom line.

It's not over.

The legislature has more than enough votes

to override his veto.

And he is frequentlyoverwritten by the legislature.

So I am very optimistic thatthe citizens of Arkansas

will speak to their legislatorsin the next day or so

and encourage them to do the right thing

and override this veto.

- All right, Tony Perkins,

president of the Family Research Council,

good to have you with us this Monday.

Thanks, Tony.

- Thank you.

- [Jenna] Coming up, howthe Biden administration

is pushing its massiveinfrastructure plan.

You're watching CBN's "Faith Nation."

We'll be right back with thatstory and more after this.

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- Rebuilding Americaninfrastructure is a top priority

for the Biden administration.

The president's more than $2 trillion plan

was released last week, andnow the White House is out

trying to sell it to the American people

and lawmakers across the aisle.

- I'm having a lot ofconversations with Republicans

in the House and Senatewho have been wanting

to do something big oninfrastructure for years.

We may not agree about every piece of it,

but this is one areawhere the American people

absolutely want to see us get it done.

This is a once in a lifetime moment.

I don't think, in the next 50 years,

we're gonna see another timewhen we have this combination

of a demonstrated need,bipartisan interest,

widespread impatience, anda very supportive president.

- And although there isgeneral bipartisan support

for rebuilding infrastructure,many Republicans disagree

with the sweeping costof this particular plan

and how a lot of that moneywon't actually be spent

on the crumbling infrastructure.

- I've reached out to the WhiteHouse a couple of times now

and said, "You've got aneasy bipartisan win here

if you'll keep thispackage narrowly focused

on infrastructure and then the other

70 or so percent of the package

that doesn't have very muchto do with infrastructure,

if you want to forcethat in a partisan way,

you could still do that.

Why would you pass up the opportunity here

to focus on roads, bridges,what's happening underground

as well as above theground in infrastructure?"

- Yeah, that's a good question?

Here now to discuss,

CBN News Chief PoliticalAnalyst David Brody.

David, if some of this money

in the president's infrastructure plan

isn't going to infrastructure,where is it going?

- Well, let's start with $400 billion

that's going to take careof the elderly long-term.

And look, I don't think anybody's opposed

to having the elderly being taken care of

from a social safety net standpoint,

but $400 billion in additionto the social safety net?

And by the way, wait, let me think.

I'm not the brightest guy in the room,

but what does that haveto do with infrastructure?

And I think what we're seeing is,

if you go down the list in this bill,

it's $2.2 trillion orso, possibly even higher,

only about 150 to 200 billion of it

is actual infrastructure money

for highways and schools andtransportation and all of that.

So this is the problem.

It's a real easy win as Congressman,

or excuse me, Senator Roy Blunt just said.

It's an easy win for Biden

if he just fixed infrastructure,

but they're going much bigger than that

in what they're callingthe Infrastructure Bill.

- Yeah.

Secretary Buttigieg is right.

This does have a lotof bipartisan support,

or the issue does.

And most Americans agree too.

It's something that they can get behind,

rebuilding our country's infrastructure.

That said, do you think thepresident will push through

this massive plan withoutany Republican support?

Do you think he can?

- Well, let's be clear,the bipartisan support

that Pete Buttigieg is talking about

is for infrastructure only.

That's what Republicans are okay with.

Donald Trump was okay with that.

He wanted to do an infrastructure bill.

They never got there.

So, that's that $200 billion or so

that if it was a standalonebill would be fine.

The problem is that thebill's much larger than that.

And this is where it'sgonna get into complications

and it won't pass withany Republican support

so, therefore, thequestion, here we go again,

we did this with the stimulus bill,

we're about to do it again:Will Democrats go it alone?

Will they be able to justtake Democrats' votes,

use budget reconciliation,we're gonna find that out soon,

and see if they can justpass with Democrat votes?

If they can do that,

they're on their way passing another bill

without any Republican support.

- Yeah, you know, to do that,

they'll have to get peoplelike Senator Joe Manchin

of West Virginia,Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona

on board with them.

And Joe Manchin,

he said that he will notsupport part of the plan,

and that part's raising thecorporate tax rate to 28%.

David, how much powerdoes Senator Manchin hold

on this issue and on othersas things move forward?

- He's the power center.

He holds all the power, Jenna.

And so this idea of the28%, he's not fond of.

That means it'll go down to about 25, 24%.

It'll go up, the corporate interest rate,

but Manchin has a lot of powerto keep it down a little bit.

- You know, during this campaign, David,

now-President Biden vowedto work with Republicans,

saying he wanted to bring thecountry together and unify.

When the latest COVIDrelief package passed,

the president was ableto sidestep GOP support,

and that could be the caseagain with infrastructure.

Where does the, you know,work together attitude we saw

during, where is that attitude?

Just a few seconds.- Non-existent.

- Yeah, it's non-existent.

I will just say this,

that the way the WhiteHouse is gonna spin this

is that they're going to say, look,

public opinion pollsshow that the majority,

whether it be 51, 52%, arewith Democrats on these issues,

and that they consider bipartisan support,

they consider unity.

That's a very creative and unique way

of looking at bipartisan support.

It doesn't have any Republican support,

but if they're gonna go from the polls,

that's what they consider unity.

We'll see how that unitymessage plays out in 2022.

It might come back to burn Democrats.

- All right, we will see.

David Brody, thank you very much.

Good to have you with us.

- Thanks. Thanks, Jenna.

- [Jenna] Well, is police brutality

actually protected under the law?

The little known doctrinethat's shielded cops

from prosecution next on "Faith Nation."

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- The murder trial of formerMinneapolis police officer

Derek Chauvin continues this week.

Today, the emergency room doctor

who pronounced GeorgeFloyd dead took the stand.

He believes Floyd's heart stopped

due to a lack of oxygen to the brain.

- That was one of themore likely possibilities

I felt that, at the time,based on the information I had.

It was more likely thanthe other possibilities.

- [Attorney] And Doctor,is there another name

for death by oxygen deficiency?

- Asphyxia is thecommonly understood term.

- As to why Mr. Floyd'sheart may have stopped-

- And the prosecutionwas trying to establish

that it was likely Chauvin'sknee on Floyd's neck

that killed him, though duringdefense cross examination,

the doctor did testifythat the use of some drugs

could lead to hypoxia, whichcould also limit the oxygen

to the brain.

An unlawful shield for police.

That is what the doctrine

known as qualifiedimmunity is being called.

Why?

Qualified immunity makesit extremely difficult

to prosecute the policeand nearly impossible

to recover damages whencivil rights are violated.

"Faith Nation" anchorJohn Jessup explains.

- [John] Anger over the haunting images

of the death of George Floydsparked a worldwide movement.

- We got all four!

- We got all four!- But there's

another movement, though little known,

gaining traction, marked not by images,

but by two words many havenever heard, qualified immunity.

- If I understand correctly,

it effectively acts as a shield.

- That's exactly right,

and that's why we call qualifiedimmunity an unlawful shield

because it is a shieldfor public officials

who have committedconstitutional violations

to escape accountabilityfor their actions.

- [John] When police use excessive force

that may violate a person's rights,

that person can try to recover damages

by claiming a violation of civil rights.

But increasingly, those claims

are not even given their day in court

because of the doctrineof qualified immunity

and its widespread application

in civil cases seekingpolice accountability.

The law's origin comes fromthe Enforcement Act of 1871,

designed to protect recently freed slaves

after the Civil War.

Over the years, a section of the law

protecting public officialsin the course of their work

evolved into today's versionof qualified immunity,

a doctrine created by the Supreme Court.

It essentially providesa shield of liability

against civil lawsuits

so long as the public official's conduct

does not violate clearly established law.

- The way it works in practiceis that courts will require

would-be civil rightsplaintiffs to find a prior case

already decided in their jurisdiction

where someone else's rights were violated

in essentially the same way.

- [John] And given no twocases are exactly the same...

- Qualified immunity routinelyenables public officials,

especially members of law enforcement,

to get away with egregious misconduct

just because they happento be the first ones

to commit that exact kind of misconduct.

- [John] For example, afterbeing cleared of any wrongdoing,

a Cleveland man filed a lawsuit

alleging he was punched in the neck

and jailed by police whonever identified themselves

but suspected he was breakinginto his own apartment.

A judge ruled, becauseof qualified immunity,

neither the police northe city could be sued.

And an appeals court in 2019

ruled two California policeofficers who allegedly stole

over $220,000 while executing a warrant,

also couldn't be sued simply because

there's no legal precedentin that part of California.

- What should happen

when a government-- Schweikert

isn't the only one drawingattention to the legal challenge.

Last year, a Reuters investigationreviewed some 500 cases

over 15 years and found a trend,

courts denying victims theright to challenge violations

of their constitutionalrights, making it harder

to win future cases against the police.

In speaking with law enforcement,I found a willingness

to reconsider the unintendedeffects of qualified immunity

followed by a hesitationto end the principle

seen as essential so police cancarry out their daily duties

without the constant fear of lawsuits.

Captain Sonia Pruitt hasserved nearly 30 years

with the Montgomery County,Maryland Police Department.

- Black officers play areally vital role in policing.

It is a noble profession.

- [John] As the head

of the National Black Police Association,

she says it's time tore-examine qualified immunity

for law enforcement.

- We would ask that any of the parameters

surrounding qualified immunity be examined

because it could be a way for officers

to feel like they will get more leniency

if they commit an act, aviolation, of misconduct

in the line of duty.

- [John] Schweikert believesit not only thwarts justice,

but works against the very men and women

it's designed to protect.

- I think that this doctrine

is doing a tremendous disservice

to members of law enforcement

because it is deprivingthem of the public trust

and credibility that they need

to do their job safely and effectively.

- [John] And momentumfor change is building

among protestors honoring George Floyd,

both liberal andconservative justices saying

it's time to review the court'sown solidified principle,

and lawmakers introducing legislation

to revoke the provisionfor gun-carrying officers

in an effort to combat excessiveforce and police brutality.

It's a rare issue of consensus

across ideological lines seen recently

on criminal justice reform.

Nicole Porter witnessed thepower of the faith community

when she worked to advancethe First Step Act.

- In my work at the statelevel, faith communities are key

in representing the base of constituents

who are supportive ofcriminal justice reform

and talking about restorative justice

and other alternatives of punishment.

- Many agree, among theways to honor George Floyd

is to fix the broken systembefore it gets worse.

- My hope is that if we areable to address that now

and make a simple but massive change

to eliminate this doctrine, you know,

I hope that that will offersome small measure of redemption

for the death of George Floyd

and so many other people like him.

- What's his name?- George Floyd!

- [John] John Jessup,CBN News, Washington.

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Cruise with me as I discoverthe good things happening

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I knew that somethingspecial was gonna happen.

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what it was like to be a child.

You believed every story you were told.

You saw a world full ofendless possibilities.

What stories will the world's orphaned

and at risk children believe?

We believe the Bible tells the only story

truly worth believing.

We believe that every child

should have the opportunity to dream,

the chance to take challenges

and turn them into possibilities,

the chance to stand onthe promises of God,

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They have their whole lives ahead of them.

Theirs is a world ofendless possibilities.

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- Finally tonight, this weekend,Christians around the globe

marked the death andresurrection of Christ.

Today at the White House,

President Biden spokeabout the Easter holiday

during the COVID pandemic.

- Easter is a day of joy

when we celebrateresurrection and renewal.

But this year, we know manyare still going without

the familiar comforts of the season.

The virus is not gone andthe second year in a row,

most will be apart from theirfamilies, their friends,

and the full congregationthat fill us with so much joy.

The scripture tells usjoy cometh in the morning.

- Indeed, it does, and asmore and more Americans

get vaccinated, the president said

that the, quote, "longed-fordawn is almost here."

And we will leave it onthat note this evening.

Have a great night, everybody.

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