(soft tense music)

- [John] Tonight...

(bomb explodes)

Race towards a ceasefire.

(bomb explodes)

The conflict in Israelat a breaking point.

And...

(protesters shouting)

The commission to investigatethe January 6th violence

breaching the halls ofCongress heads to the Senate.

- What about all the riots

that have led up throughout the summer,

the unrest from BLM, Antifa, and others?

- [John] Plus, new joblessnumbers hit a pandemic low again.

What that means for the economy.

And...

♪ And I choose joy ♪

A national backyard concert to honor God

for the whole family.

All this and more tonighton "Faith Nation."

(uptempo music)

- A pause in fighting in the Middle East.

Welcome to "Faith Nation."I'm Tara Mergener.

- Good evening. I'm John Jessup.

Tonight, a unilateralceasefire in the Middle East.

Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu's security cabinet

approving the halt in fighting.

- The truce comes 11 days afterairstrikes, rocket attacks,

and escalating violencebetween Israel and Palestinians

in Gaza, as PresidentBiden walks a tightrope

and hit with criticism from both sides.

- CBN News White HouseCorrespondent Eric Philips has more.

Eric.

- John and Tara, word of a ceasefire

coming just one day afterPresident Biden spoke

with Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu,

expressing his expectation

of a significant deescalation in violence.

It's a sentiment that was criticized

both from those who thoughtthat the United States

should stand with itslongtime ally no matter what

and from those who thought theUnited States should do more

to bring about a ceasefire.

Deadly rockets continue tofly between Israel and Gaza

despite a presidentialplea toward deescalation.

Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu saying

he's, quote, "determinedto continue this operation

until its objective is achieved."

The issue prompting strongwords on Capitol Hill.

- The deescalation inthis conflict should begin

and end with Hamas.

They must stop their terrorist attacks

on Israeli citizens immediately.

And until they do,

Israel has every rightto defend themselves,

and the United States ofAmerica should have their back.

(protesters shouting)

- [Eric] But as pro-Palestinian protests

grow outside the Israeliembassy in Washington,

so are calls from progressive lawmakers.

- As long as the message from Washington

is that our military supportfor Israel is unconditional,

Netanyahu's extremism,right-wing government

will continue to expand settlements,

continue to demolish homes,

and continue to make theprospects for peace impossible.

- [Eric] We spoke with Leah Goldin

from her home near Tel Aviv.

Her son was an Israeli soldier killed

fighting Hamas seven years ago.

- We have to defend ourselves

because every day in every community,

they insist and shout it loud and clear

that they want to destroy us.

Going to sleep, I mean,ready to jump from bed,

you know, to a safe place,

it's very difficult.

- [Eric] Some 250 Palestinians

have been killed in the strikes

compared to about a dozen in Israel.

Hamas highlighting those numbers

while declining to highlightthey started this conflict.

- Their rhetoric onsocial media never stops.

It's a 24/7 and has terribleinfluences on young people

around the world and inour own neighborhoods.

This is really, I think, where parents,

and even and especiallyfaith leaders of all faiths,

need to speak directly to this issue.

- According to reports,

Senator Bernie Sanders is working

to introduce a resolutiondisapproving the US sale

of hundreds of millions ofdollars in arms to Israel,

a major move by progressivesthat is sure to divide

an already divided Congress even more.

John and Tara.

- Well, here with this now

is North Carolina Congressman Ted Budd.

Congressman Budd, thankyou so much for joining us.

I know you've called on the US

to stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel,

and particularly, your Housecolleagues to have its back.

Congressman Budd, what prompted that call?

- Well, you know, you lookat the tension right now

between Hamas and Israel and you just want

to compare the two for a moment.

And when you look at Hamas,

you've got a terrorist organization,

you've got thousands of rocketsbeing fired at civilians.

Hamas says in their founding documents

that they want to destroy Israel.

But on the other hand, you've got Israel

and they're the onlydemocracy in the Middle East,

they're our longtime friend and ally,

and they're a force forstability in the region.

This really isn't hard.

And I just know that the United States

needs to stand shoulderto shoulder with Israel.

- Congressman Budd, the White House,

like you and your fellow Republicans,

has said Israel has aright to defend itself.

Why does that seem to be in question

among some of thepresident's own in his party?

- Yeah, there's a lot,

when you look at the squad in the House

and how much power and influence they have

over the Democratic Party right now.

It just seems that, otherwise,

the Democrats of old thatmay have supported Israel,

it seems they're really kowtowing

to the radical progressive left,

who is at least standing byfor the destruction of Israel

and we cannot have that.

And we have to stand by our ally.

They're our great friend in the region.

And again, they're a force for stability.

What we need Biden to do,

we need him to stop pressuring Israel

and leaking Biden-Netanyahu phone calls.

And they need to also stop the narrative

that leads to an equivalencebetween Hamas and Israel.

They're not equivalent.

One's a terroristorganization; one's a country.

And we realize that the situation will end

when Hamas stops firingrockets at civilians.

- Congressman, you alluded to this

after releasing a prettyeven-handed statement

earlier this week detailingPresident Biden's phone call

with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Reports indicated the two actually had

a much tougher conversationthan that readout portrayed.

I'd like to get you toweigh in on your thoughts

about this intentionalleak by the White House.

- Yeah, it's very upsetting.

Between leaders, they needto keep that confidential.

There needs to be anestablishment of trust.

And it also telegraphs how arewe gonna handle relationships

with other countries.

And it just shows that weneed some real leadership

in this country.

We seem to have lostit several months ago.

And it's just amazinghow fast the Democrats,

under Joe Biden's leadership,

can allow things tounravel in this country,

whether it's dealing with the Middle East.

I mean, we were celebratingthe Abraham Accords

just a few short months ago,and now things are unraveling.

It doesn't matter whetherit's more domestically

dealing with our border orchaos in the Middle East,

We don't have a partyof leadership right now.

- I know you can't getinside the head of Joe Biden,

but why the leak?

What benefit does it give?

- I think he's saying to, he'strying to telegraph to Hamas

that there's some sort of moralequivalence between the two.

And I also think that

those who might be theold blue dog Democrats,

you know, Joe Biden's been around,

has spent 50 years in Washington DC,

and, you know, he's notthe Democrat of old.

And so on that, I thinkhe's leaning towards

placating the radical left,the squad, if you will,

which seems to be veryfavorable towards Hamas.

It's a very uncomfortableposition to be in.

It's not where the UnitedStates needs to be right now.

- Congressman Budd, we onlyhave about 30 seconds left

and if I can just squeezein this last question.

Even as the conflict moves towards

potentially a diplomaticceasefire, the violence continues.

Is there an end in sight?

- You know, I think there is.

I mean, Israel has a very strong military

and a great intelligence operation.

I know they...

We want to also be on their side.

We want them to know,unequivocally, we will be with them.

So I think we need to makesure that we're clear,

don't leak phone calls,make sure there's a trust

between Netanyahu and Biden.

So Biden needs to really step up his game

and make sure that hisadministration is trustworthy.

I think there will be an end in sight,

but they need to make surethat the US has Israel's back.

- All right, Congressman Ted Budd,

Republican from North Carolina.

Congressman Budd, thank youso much for your time today.

- Thank you.

- All eyes on the Senateafter 35 Republicans

joined with every House Democrat

to establish bipartisan commission

to investigate the January6th Capitol attack.

- That's right, Tara.

The question now is: Will10 GOP Senators follow suit

to make the commission movefrom an issue to reality?

- CBN Capitol Hill CorrespondentAbigail Robertson now.

Abigail.

- Well Tara, just a few months ago,

we saw both sides join togetherto condemn the Capitol riot.

Now the Democrats want toinvestigate what happened further.

Many Republicans say they preferto move on to other things.

- You'll have to ask themwhat they're afraid of.

- [Abigail] The currentlegislation would create

an evenly split 9/11 style commission

to look into what happenedand make recommendations

on Capitol security.

- I ask my colleagues to consider the fact

that this commission is built to work.

And it will be depoliticized

and it will get the results we need.

- [Abigail] Although RepublicanCongressman John Katko

negotiated concessions for hisparty, its future is unsure,

with both the House andSenate minority leaders

encouraging members to oppose it.

- It's not at all clear what new facts

or additional investigationyet another commission

could actually lay ontop of existing efforts

by law enforcement and Congress.

- [Abigail] Democratslike Congressman Tim Ryan

strongly disagree.

We need two politicalparties in this country

that are both living in reality,and you ain't one of 'em.

- [Abigail] Calling GOPopposition a slap in the face

to law enforcement across the country.

- We have people scaling the Capitol,

hitting the Capitol Police withlead pipes across the head,

and we can't get bipartisanship.

What else has to happen in this country?

- [Abigail] House MinorityLeader Kevin McCarthy argues

ongoing investigations are enough.

- You've got two committees in the Senate

already doing their investigation.

I believe in two weeks,

they'll already have the report back.

You've got the architect ofthe Capitol given $10 million

to study what we needdone here to protect it.

And then you've gotthe Justice Department,

rightfully, does a much betterjob than we could ever do.

I just think a Pelosicommission is a lot of politics.

- Now while the White Housesupports this commission,

right now, it's unlikely it'sgoing to pass the Senate.

And and in a separate vote today,

House Democrats narrowlypassed a $1.9 billion bill

that would go towardsincreasing Capitol security.

Tara, John.

- All right, Abigail, thank you.

Here with us now is CBN News

Chief Political Analyst David Brody.

David, Senate MinorityLeader Mitch McConnell

sent some really clearsignals about his feelings

about the House-passedJanuary 6th commission.

Is some iteration of this

going to be able to pass in the Senate?

- No, probably not.

And I say probably.

You never know exactly what's gonna happen

in totality at the end.

But look, I mean, whatwould have to happen, Tara?

You mentioned iteration.

I mean, the iteration would have to be,

they would have to blowthe whole thing up.

I probably shouldn't havesaid blow this whole thing up,

but you know what I'm trying to say.

I mean, look, the bottom line here

is that they've got allsorts of structural issues

in this commission.

In other words, Republicanswant it to be broader.

They want it to look at Antifaand then the trespassing

and the riots that took place

in Portland, Seattle, and all that.

You're not gonna getDemocrats to agree with that.

So this iteration that you mentioned

just doesn't seem likeit's gonna happen at all.

So I think this thing

is totally not gonna happen in the Senate.

- David, I've seen somedebate online today.

Are Republicans, perhaps, makinga mistake in the fact that,

if they don't participate inthis, Democrats are signaling

that they may go it alone, which means

that Republicans won't beable to give their input

on the narrative.

Does that potentially expose some problems

for Republicans down the road?

- Potentially, for sure.

Look, I think the bottom line in all this,

Republicans don't want to talk about this.

They want it to, theywant to move on from it.

They want to talk about the Biden agenda.

And of course, politics are at play,

not just on the Republican side,

but on the Democrat side too.

They want to talk about this.

They think this is awinning issue for them

in the 2022 midterms.

What do I mean by that?

It's not an issue, but itreminds people of Trump.

It reminds people thatthe Republicans here,

many of them siding with Trump.

And it paints theRepublicans in some sort of,

what the Democrats believe,is a negative brand.

And so that's the issue here.

Let's remember, this commissionwould go on all year long

and we wouldn't be able to,

or it would have a final deadline,

I think, at the end of theyear, and so this would drag out

for a very long time,which Democrats believe

would definitely play into their hands.

- David, speaking of Democrats,and as Abby just mentioned,

there was some last minutedrama on the Hill today

on that $1.9 billion security bill.

The squad nearly deraileda push by Democrats

to push a more fully funded Capitol Police

after the January 6thriots by voting present.

What does that mean forHouse Speaker Nancy Pelosi

and her control of the caucus?

- Well, she's always hada very dicey situation.

We talked about thisback in November of 2020,

when the House went to Democrats.

And of course at that point,

we talked about how herhaving a razor thin majority.

Well now, what we just sawtoday is a good example of that.

It passed by one vote andit wouldn't have passed

if some of those squad membersactually didn't vote present.

They could've voted no,so let's remember that.

So this has been Nancy Pelosi's,you know, concern all along

that she was gonna have to dealwith this wing of the party.

The good news for Democrats

is that Nancy Pelosi's askilled, not just negotiator,

but she's a skilled leader

when it comes to wrangling the caucus

and everybody marchingrelatively in lock step.

'Cause think about it, eventhough they were against it,

the squad was, they still votedpresent, which is a victory.

- Okay, David, PresidentBiden's commission

looking into Supreme Court reform.

Quickly, could Democratsignore the Biden commission

and go ahead and push forward a bill

to pack the Supreme Court?

- Sure, they could do that.

It's not gonna go anywhere.

They can do it.

They're gonna need 60 votes,

and they're not gonna get 60 votes

unless they change legislative filibuster,

and of course, if that's the case,

then the floodgates open for H.R. 1

and we can go down the list.

- All right, David, we are out of time.

CBN's David Brody, thanks so much.

- You bet.

- All right, coming up,

what the new joblessnumbers mean for the economy

as the US turns thecorner in the pandemic.

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- Tonight, another week,another pandemic low

on jobless claims fallingmore than expected.

The continued drop in unemployment claims

is a good sign the labormarket is still improving

as more Americans getvaccinated and return to work

amid the coronavirus pandemic.

First time jobless claimsfell to 444,000 last week

according to the Labor Department.

Below filings, analystsexpected to hit by some 450,000.

Even amid the hopefuleconomic growth though,

there are still 8.2 million fewer jobs

than there were before COVID-19hit in February of 2020.

All right, joining us down,

Mark Hamrick, Washington bureau chief

and senior economic analyst at Bankrate.

Mark, welcome back.

- Hello Tara and John.

(Tara chuckles)

- What is behind this new jobless low,

and how long do you see thisstrengthening the job market

staying on the upward swing?

- Sure, well, it's thereopening of the economy,

it's businesses openingto full indoor dining,

it's Americans getting on airplanes,

and all those other things.

And so as we see the maskmandates essentially going away...

I went to my gym this week.

Didn't have to wear a mask inside.

That was a strangefeeling, but a good one.

I think that we'regetting to a better place.

A year ago, we had morethan two million new claims.

And so now, we're inthe mid-400,000 range,

with 16 million Americans

on some form of unemployment benefit.

So we still need to get to a better place

and I think that we areabsolutely on that journey.

- Mark, I saw you tweetedabout being in the gym,

spending more time in the gym today,

which also meant thatyou had more chocolates.

Moving though, to the debate- That's right.

over inflation, Mark, alot of people pointing

to price increases ineverything from used cars

to lumber to to groceries.

Is what we're seeing short-termor transitory inflation,

is it long-term inflationor is it wait and see?

- Well, first of all, guiltyas charged on the chocolate.

Back to the gym soon.

But the trajectoryquestion, in other words,

whether inflation will be short-lived

and essentially, as expected,

is the question theFederal Reserve is debating

and wrestling with right now.

And the real answer is we don't know.

The Fed believes thatthis will be the case,

because if you thinkabout all the shortages

that we're having in the economy,

some we experienced a yearago, have resolved themselves.

But I do think that this is a top risk

for us to monitor in the economy.

And make no mistakeabout it right now, John,

inflation is here, butwhether it gets worse,

whether it sticks aroundand is sort of like

an unwanted guest that will not leave,

that's just something we'regonna have to monitor.

- Well, Mark, millionsof people were concerned

as they held their moneytight during the pandemic.

How much do you worry about the potential

for a recession withincreased consumer confidence

and greater purchasing power

as we start to reopen this economy?

- Well, been there donethat on the recession piece.

If anything, this year, growthis set to be the strongest

since the early 1980s.

And right now, the expectationis a we'll see growth

in the current quarter atan annualized pace of 8%.

That's four times the usual amount.

So yeah, at some point,

we're gonna have to worryabout the economy slowing down

or not being able tokeep this breakneck pace,

but we are just digging out of a hole

sort of like a rocket ship.

And, you know, we've hada lot of federal spending

to get us here, but alsoAmericans are behind this,

to the degree that, youknow, we all want to get back

to doing the kinds of thingswe previously took for granted

as long as it's safe, andthose are all judgements

that everyone is gonna have to make.

At Bankrate, we want people

to try to hold onto some of their money,

save it for a rainy day,because those rainy days

will, once again presentthemselves down the road.

- Hmm, no doubt about it.

Bankrate's Mark Hamrick,

thanks so much for being with us today.

- Thanks, Mark.- Thank you.

(logo whooshes)

- [John] Well, a pandemicwithin a pandemic.

The Biden administration's two-front war

aiming to eclipse thecoronavirus and stop the rise

in violence and hatecrimes at the same time.

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- [Wendy] Nigerian Christians

are being slaughtered- Christians in Iran

- every day.- are routinely arrested

because of their faith.- Catholic Christians

continue to suffer.

- [Announcer] In timesof trial and affliction,

you need to know the truth.

- One of the fastest growingChristian populations

in the world.

- [Announcer] Join WendyGriffith and George Thomas

for "Christian World News."

- [Woman] Young people are the ones

who are open to the gospel.

- [Announcer] Powerfulstories of suffering and hope

that affect all Christians.

Saturday night at 6:00on the CBN News Channel.

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- The COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act

that passed the House ofRepresentatives on Tuesday

was signed by President Biden today.

The bill addresses theincrease in violent crimes

against Asian Americans sincethe start of the pandemic.

- And I believe withevery fiber of my being

that there are simplecore values and beliefs

that should bring ustogether as Americans.

One of them is standingtogether against hate,

against racism.

- The legislation instructsthe Department of Justice

to expedite the review of hatecrimes related to COVID-19

and make reporting crimes more accessible.

President Biden pledged to signthe legislation last month,

saying it puts our nation one step closer

to achieving justice and equality.

- Well, on the other end of Washington,

House Democrats are consideringgun control measures

aimed at preventing mass shootings.

The legislation, unveiled Wednesday

by eight House Democrats,would close gun loopholes

by regulating concealable assault rifles

and requiring so-called ghost guns

to come with serial numbers.

Today in a hearing on gun violence,

Republicans targeted those measures.

- This hearing today

and the numerous bills introducedby our Democrat colleagues

make clear that they want to disarm

law abiding Americancitizens by depriving them

of their constitutional rights.

And none of these billswould've actually prevented

any recent mass shootings.

- [John] The new legislationcomes in the wake

of a string of mass shootings this year,

fueling calls for gun reform.

Eight people were killed in Atlanta

and 10 died about a weeklater in Boulder, Colorado.

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- [Tara] All right, when we come back,

fun and music and fellowshipfor the whole family,

all while honoring God,

and all this in the backyard this weekend.

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- [Announcer] Christians around the world

are standing with the Israelis, but why?

In CBN's free magazine, "Friendsof Israel," you'll discover

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- Heavenly Father, we do thank you

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- Lord, into public schools.

- [Announcer] Watch "The Prayer Link"

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♪ And where there's joy, there's action ♪

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♪ That starts a chain reaction ♪

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- All right, pitch a tent,

build a ford, light a fire

as you tune in to Trail Life USA's

National Backyard Concert.- Sounds like a lot of fun.

The concert will feature

double Grammy-award winningartists For King and Country

and other special guests allwhile encouraging young men

to live lives that honor God.

It's an event where you canget the whole family together

and enjoy an evening ofmusic, fun, teaching,

and nationwide fellowshipwith other believers

around the country.

You can watch Trail LifeUSA's Backyard Concert

this Friday, May 21st at 9:00 p.m. Eastern

on the CBN News Channel orany of our digital platforms.

I think we should build a tent

or pitch a, yeah, pitch atent in our backyard here.

- How about some s'mores?

- Oh, all for it.

- (laughs) All right.

That's gonna do it for"Faith Nation" today.

- Have a great night.

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