(air whooshing)

- [Reporter] Tonight.

- Hot temper, he had a hot temper.

- [Reporter] A clearerpicture comes into focus,

on the man behind America'slatest mass shooting,

and the fast thinkingthat spared more carnage.

- I believe that our people,

and the officers definitely saved lives.

- [Reporter] No doubt. Wow.

- [Announcer] Soaring rates of suicide,

even as a nation emergesfrom a pandemic economy.

- We're seeing the effect ofsociety having unmoored itself,

from the anchor of God.

- [Announcer] Three simplequestions to help save lives.

(upbeat music)

- The San Jose shootertargeting some of his victims.

I'm Jenna Browder.

Welcome to Faith Nation.

- Good evening, I'm John Jessup.

New details on the latest massshooting claiming nine lives.

The 57 year old gunmanhas been identified,

and those who knew him,

said he talked aboutkilling people at work,

more than a decade ago.

- Eye witnesses confirming that,

and saying you targeted certain coworkers.

George Thomas is on the story.

- The suspect 57 year old, Samuel Cassidy,

was a long time employee,

of the Santa Clara ValleyTransportation Authority.

His ex-wife said he wouldoften come home frustrated,

and angry with this work at the rail yard.

- [George] Cecelia Nelmstelling the associated press,

that Cassidy had discussed killing people,

at the VTA more than a decade ago.

- He would say thingsbut you don't believe it,

because I knew him.

- [George] Surveillancecamera capturing this image,

of Cassidy leaving his homeearly Wednesday morning.

Police say he was armedwith multiple weapons.

- Suspect had on him or atthe place where he died,

two semi-automatic handguns,and then 11 magazines,

that had ammunition in it.

- [George] The carnage starting shortly,

after 6:30 AM local time,when Cassidy opened fire,

in two buildings duringa morning shift change,

at the Light Rail Yard.

- [Woman] We have three code 3 ambulances.

This is an active shooter.

- [George] According to eyewitnesses,

the gunman appeared totarget certain people.

Among his victims, 36year old Tuptejdeep Singh,

a light rail operator for the VTA.

Singh's cousin strugglingto make sense of it all.

- We heard that he chosethe people to shot,

but I don't know why to him.

He has nothing to do with him.

- [George] Cassidy gundown nine people, all men,

before taking his own life.

- I do know that he had a specific agenda,

and was targeting certain people.

He walked by other people.

He let other people live ashe gunned down other people.

- [George] Explosivematerials were reportedly,

found at the government's locker at work,

and at his home.

Officials believe the suspectset fire to his house,

before leaving to carry out the attack.

No word yet on a possible motive.

The bloodshed comes as thenation has seen a sharp increase,

in mass killings, more than200 shootings so far this year.

- There's a numbness,

I imagine some of usare feeling about this,

because there's a samenessto this, any where USA.

- President Biden called theattack, "A horrific tragedy,"

and ordered flags tobe flown at half staff.

It took Wednesdays massshooting to once again,

urge Congress to takeaction on gun control.

George Thomas CBS News.

- Thank you George.

Capitol Hill correspondent,Abigail Robertson joins us now,

with reaction from lawmakers.

Abigail, last night, president Biden,

and California governor, Gavin Newsom,

renewed their calls for tighter gun laws.

What are lawmakers saying this evening?

- Well, once again,

we're hearing a lot of Democrat lawmakers,

calling for more tightergun reform as you said.

And we saw in the beginning of March,

the House passed a pair of bills,

that would expand background checks.

They actually had about eightRepublican House members,

supporting it with oneDemocrat opposing it.

But as those bills standnow, it's unlikely,

assuming all Democrats in theSenate vote in favor of them,

they would get the 10 GOPsenators needed to pass,

but even so Senator Schumer has vowed,

to bring those bills to theSenate floor for a vote,

and get every Senator onthe record on this issue.

- Abby, I know you just hinted at it.

It seems like it's the same cycle

with each new mass shootingwith Democrats and Republicans,

clashing over gun laws.

Are they any closer toany kind of agreement?

- Well, there is a littlehint of hope in the Senate.

There are Bipartisan negotiations,

being led by democraticSenator, Chris Murphy,

and Republican SenatorJohn Cornyn of Texas.

And they apparently areworking on something,

that would close a loophole incurrent background check laws

that both sides agree on.

And they believe that if they did this,

they actually can pointto some mass shootings,

that we've seen where those gunmen,

would not have been ableto purchase their weapons,

if they address this problem.

And while they agree on this issue,

where we're sort of thehope subsides a bit,

is there many, many parts of this,

that they strongly disagree on.

So the question is, wouldthey be able to come up,

with a bi-partisan broader legislation,

that could pass both the House and Senate.

And that's where thereare small parts of this,

that both sides wanna see,

but it's unclear if we will ever see that,

that broader bill actually makeit to the president's desk.

- Abigail, where does thisfall on the priority list?

You know, the white househas said police reform,

is a priority, infrastructure a priority,

voting right's a priority.

How will we see thingsplay out on Capitol Hill?

- Well, if something, youknow, president Biden,

in his joint address, he namedthis as one of his priorities

and he implored Congress and the Senate,

to put forth some of the oldlaws that used to be in place,

that have expired that were putforth when he was a Senator.

But what we've seen a lotof democratic lawmakers,

in their statements in the past 24 hours,

and president Biden, hisstatement just said "Enough."

And, you know, I think in prior shootings,

we've seen some hope fromsome democratic lawmakers,

that maybe some Republicanswould take action.

But now it's really unclear if they still,

sort of have that hope thatthey will get that support.

John and Jenna.

- All right.

CBN Capitol Hill correspondent,Abigail Robertson.

Thank you so much, Abby.

- Well, 1.5 million.

That's how many Americans,

will try to kill themselves this year.

So how can three simple questions,

put an end to the soaring alarming rate?

Paul strand brings us the answers.

(computer keyboard clacking)

- [Paul] The suicide rate is now as bad,

as the other worst time in America,

for people killing themselves,

The Great Depression,but it'd be much higher,

than the present 14 out of 100,000 people,

if medical advances weren't thwarting,

so many of today's suicide attempts.

- Our suicide rate would beanywhere from 100 per 100,000,

to 300 per 100,000,

meaning the highest it's ever been,

anywhere in history,any country, anything.

- [Paul] In "Hope Always" howyou can be a force for life,

in a culture of suicide.

Former emergency department,Dr. Matthew Sleeth,

sees much hopelessness in an America,

leaving the spiritual behind.

- We're seeing the effect of society,

having unmoored itselffrom the anchor of God.

- [Paul] Which phrasewould held us together,

like family and faith.

(lightening striking)

but leaves room for the devil,

who's been encouragingsuicide since Adam and Eve.

- They were told that,

if they did this particularthing, they would die,

they would surely die, and they did it,

and someone was pushingthem, and that was Satan.

Every time Satan shows up in scripture,

there's a trail of dead bodies.

- [Paul] Faith got Jobthrough Satan's many efforts,

to get him to kill himself.

And Jesus countered thedevil with scripture.

Those two, faith and scriptureare available to everyone,

and they do actually shield people.

In "Hope Always" Sleeth writes,"For well over a century,

it has been known bythe medical community,

that a belief in Godhas a protective effect,

when it comes to suicide."

But more than justresting that protection,

Sleeth advocates that Christians,

learn how to see thewarning signs of suicide,

and learn how to protectpeople, contemplating it,

how to ask them if they are.

- A lot of people are hesitant to do that,

because they think theymight put the idea,

in someone's mind.

- [Paul] But studies show.

- Asking someone actuallydecreases the chances,

that they will, because it says I care.

And I care enough to ask you,

about this very difficult thing.

- [Paul] Here are the essentialthings to ask someone.

- [Mathew] "Are you thinkingabout harming yourself?"

If the answer's, yes,

you have to ask, "Do you have a plan?"

If they're thinkingabout harming themselves,

and they have a plan, then youask, do they have the means?

If all of those three things are positive,

you got an emergency

- [Paul] Sleeth writes,

"If someone's plan is to shoot themselves,

get the firearms out of their house.

If they planned to overdose,get rid of the pills."

- [Mathew] And you need to dial 911.

- [Paul] There're goodactions for us to take,

even if we aren't face to face,

with someone actively thinkingof killing themselves.

- Putting 1-800-273- TALK,

that's the national suicidehotline in your phone,

so that you can haveit to give to somebody,

just says, "I care and I'mprepared and I wanna help you."

- [Paul] Here's the wayback off from the edge,

if you or someone youknow is feeling desperate.

Slow down and do what Sleethcalls, the halt check, H-A-L-T.

- [Mathew] We are hungry,angry, lonely, or tired,

it's not the time to make any decisions.

Do that systems analysis, are you hungry?

Are you angry?

Are you lonely?

Are you tired?

- It's especially importantto teach this to young folks,

in your life because without cooling off,

and taking time to do a halt check,

young people in particular are vulnerable,

to doing something rash.

- [Mathew] We know that manyyoung people in particular,

that the time between when they think,

they're going to commit suicideand when they act on that,

is the shortest 45 minutes.

- [Paul] Sleeth's final words,

and the message of hisnew book, "Hope Always"

is that you actually can save the lives,

of those thinking of taking theirs.

You can move them backfrom that deadly cliff.

The author writes, "At some level,

every person knows thatcommitting suicide is wrong.

I think that most want to be asked,

whether they are thinking about it.

They wanna share the burden.

Most want to be stopped."

- You really can make a difference.

If you get them over that suicide crisis,

most people will go on tolive a normal lifespan.

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

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- Welcome back.

By many measures, the USeconomy is rebounding,

from the grips of a devastating pandemic.

New unemployment claims aredown, consumer spending up,

and COVID-19 cases aresteadily decreasing.

- It's on top of all of thisprogress, that president Biden,

plans to submit his firstbudget proposal tomorrow.

CBN White House correspondent,

Eric Phillips joins us now with more.

Eric, what do we know so far?

- Well, John and Jenna,according to reports,

president Biden's budget request,

is supposed to be a whopping $6 trillion,

for fiscal year 2022,a large part of that,

going towards his twopart infrastructure plan.

The first part facing major opposition,

right now on CapitolHill from GOP leaders.

- [Eric] The presidentoptimistic about a 38,000 drop,

in unemployment claim since last week.

And a commerce department report,

that indicates a robustgross domestic product,

for the first quarter of the year,

with consumer spending strongerthan experts estimated.

- Before I took office theaverage initial claims,

for unemployment insurance,were over 830,000.

This morning we learned,

that number is falling below 460,000.

- [Eric] The president hopingthat momentum will bode well,

as he unveiled his budgetrequest Friday, he may need it,

if his request excludes theHyde amendment as anticipated.

That is the provision thatbans federal abortion funding.

- Before I took office, independentexperts were projecting,

that our economy would grow atthree to 4% in the year 2021,

but are now projectingthat growth will be 6%,

or higher in 2021,

the fastest growth ofthis country in 40 years.

- [Eric] But the pictureis not all positive.

US employment overall is downmore than 8 million jobs,

compared to pre pandemic levels.

There are still 16 million Americans,

receiving unemployment benefits,

yet businesses are diggingdeep to recruit workers.

A major concern is that $300 a week,

Federal unemployment benefits,

are giving people a reason to not work.

- I have employers that I workwith that are wanting to see,

three, four, five six candidates,

before they make a decision.

And unfortunately there aren't,

three, four, five six quality candidates.

- [Eric] It's forcingemployers to get creative.

For example, new hires at Amazon,

are now getting a $1,000 signing bonus.

McDonald's, Target and Costcohave also agreed to bonuses,

or higher wages,

and Chipotle will offerfree college tuition.

- And we are gonna be shortof workers for a while,

and people are doing everycreative thing they can,

to get people back.

- [Eric] Economists say,increased vaccinations,

decreased COVID cases and schoolsand daycare was reopening,

will all encouragepeople to return to work.

Economists believe thetrend of GDP growth,

could give the country thestrongest economic growth,

since 1984 when the countrywas also recovering,

from a deep recession.

John and Jenna.

- All right, thank you Eric.

Well, joining us now, MarkHamrick, Washington Bureau Chief,

and senior economic analyst at Bankrate.

Mark, welcome back.

We got positive numbersagain on the economy,

and job was claims movingin the right direction.

Mark, how much closer doesthis bring us out of the woods?

- Well, it gives us strong tailwinds,

moving into the second half of the year.

John and Jenna, good to see you.

And as we just heard in the package there,

prospect is quite broadfor one of the gears,

for annual growth in decades.

And in fact, here in the current quarter,

we're expected to exceed thatalready strong growth rate,

in the first three months of the year.

We saw that new joblessclaims did come in,

just above the 400,000 level.

And that's a level is typically seen,

as psychologically important.

So there's every reason tobelieve that in the coming weeks,

we may see it dip below that level.

And that shows us that we areabsolutely on a better path.

- Mark, do you agree with the concerns,

that unextended employment,

extended unemployment, excuse me,

benefits are encouraging peopleto not go out and find work?

- That's a common cited concern, Jenna

The reality is, I don't know.

But I do know that there area number of things out there,

that are let's saymaking it more difficult,

for employers to bring workers back.

Let's use the example of,

let's say the bar and restaurant trade.

Obviously, that waswhere the leading edge,

of job loss occurred overthe course of the past year.

And we've seen about 2/3of those jobs brought back.

But in the meantime,

we're talking about peoplewho typically would earn,

among the lowest wages.

We're talking aboutpeople who are earliest,

in their career paths, atleast for the most part,

and some of those people moved on.

It was a year ago when grocerystores, delivery services,

retailers, the likes of Amazon,all hiring aggressively,

and those were opportunitiespeople seized upon.

The reality is the one way or the other,

these heightened benefitswill go away come labor day.

And I think by then we'llsee more of a normalization,

of the job market as theeconomy continues to fare well.

- Those benefits givingsome people an opportunity,

to be choosier about whichjobs they wanna go back to.

Mark, talks over the infrastructurebill are still ongoing.

Republicans oppose thepresident's new taxes,

saying they'll slow economic growth.

Today, they pitched a counter-offer,

using repurposed COVID fundsin about 30 seconds or so.

What do you think of all of this?

- I think it's encouragingthat both sides are talking,

and finding what doesseem to be common ground.

And so I think that there'sreason to be hopeful,

that we will getinfrastructure package passed.

And I think that that's very important,

for the longer termprospects of the economy.

The near term is taken care of,but we still need to exceed,

the rather, I would say modestlong-term growth prospects,

that are baked intoforecast for the US economy.

- All right. Bankrate's MarkHemrick, thank you so much.

Good to have you on with us today, Mark.

- Thanks Mark.- Thanks so much.

- And we'll be right back.

- When I came to Regent University,

it's like the world opened up.

I felt like I needed to advance my career,

and go back to school.

Regent was a perfect fit for me.

The Regent professors are world-class.

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but the confidence to understand,

that we can be significant in the world.

- [Announcer] RegentUniversity, follow your path.

- [Woman] Nigerian Christians are being--

- [Man] Christians in Iranare routinely arrested--

- [Woman] DefinitelyChristians 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.

- Young people are the oneswho are open to the gospel.

- [Announcer] Powerfulstories of suffering and hope,

that affect all Christians.

Saturday night at 6 onthe CBN News Channel.

Get "Protect Your Sleep"

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- The Senate Republicans have unveiled,

their $928 billioninfrastructure proposal.

- It is a offer to president Biden's,

nearly $2 trillion plan.

The GOP wants to repurposeunspent COVID-19 relief funds,

to pay for infrastructure improvements,

including $506 billion for roads, bridges,

and other major projects,

48 billion for water infrastructure,

and $25 billion for airports.

The president plans to meetwith GOP leaders next week,

to discuss their counterproposal.

- The CBN News, chiefpolitical analyst, David Brody,

joins us now.

David, what do you think,

about this new infrastructure proposal?

Does it have any legs?

Will it go anywhere?

- Possibly.

Look, I'm still scratchingmy head in all of this.

I mean, the Republicanswere at 500 billion.

Now they're basically closeto a trillion dollars,

and the bide administration's at what?

1.7 trillion.

Look, this is there for the taking.

The Biden's administrationshould just cut this deal.

I mean, it's just very simple,

and here's the analysis behind it,

because once they cutthis deal, they can say,

"Hey, we did something froma Bipartisan standpoint."

They're going to look great, number one.

And number two, here'sthe devil in the details,

they're gonna then takeall of the other stuff,

that they wanted,

all of the social programs,the green energy stuff,

all of that, they're gonnatake that separately,

and put that throughbudget reconciliation.

That's not in this bill,

but they'll put it in a separate bill.

So you're gonna get all of it anyhow.

So why not claim Bipartisanship,

and then do the rest ofit in a separate bill,

which is what they're gonna do.

So to me, I think thereis gonna be a deal here.

The question is, what's the final figure?

Right now like I said,Republican's at 1 trillion.

We'll see if it goes higher.

- I heard one of thesticking points, David,

might be where Republicansare trying to reconfigure,

some of the funding, the unspentfunding for COVID relief,

and channel it towards infrastructure.

But to the January 6 commission,

David, immediately after the riot,

some Republicans were on board,

with getting to the bottom of it.

Now it looks like plans fora 9/11 Style Commission,

are failing along party lines.

David, is there any way to getto this that isn't political?

- (laughing) No, it's Washington.

Washington equals politicaland it hasn't changed.

As a matter of fact, it's gotten worse.

So, no.

Look, clearly Republicans,

don't wanna talk about January 6th.

They believe this has beenpolitical from the get-go.

And part of the reasonthat they believe this.

and I talked to Mike Pence,

the vice president's formerchief of staff today, Marc Short

who told me, "Look, youdon't need a commission,

because you have allthese House committees,

investigating it anyhow.

So if you want this biginvestigation, guess what,

that's what House committees are for.

That is being done.

It can be done withoutany sort of commission.

So what's the point at this point?"

Anyhow, that's kind ofthe thinking politically.

- David, on the controversyover the Wuhan lab,

and the origins of COVID-19,

the president is calling onthe intelligence community,

to take a deeper look.

A year ago Senator Tom Cotton and others,

they raise concerns,

and they were dismissedas conspiracy theorists.

What has changed now, what's new?

And how much of an issueis trust for some people,

when it comes to these flip-flop stories?

Yeah. Well, first of all,Tom Cotton and Steve Bannon,

and the president of theUnited States at the time,

Donald Trump and manyothers were laughed at.

They thought it was pizzagate stuff, crazy stuff.

But indeed now we're finding out that,

that may not be the case at all.

And Dr. Fauci and othersmay have egg on their face,

through all of this.

Look, what has changed,Jenna is a couple of things.

One, we now know about theselab researchers in Wuhan,

that got sick at the timeback in November of 2019,

right at the time that COVIDstarted to explode there,

or at least the beginning part of it.

That's number one.

And number two, you have alot of virologists come out.

World Health Organizationkind of related virologists,

who have started to givecredence to this idea,

that it may have come from the lab.

So you have those two things.

Now, the former Secretaryof State, Mike Pompeo,

had been saying this forsix months to nine months,

before the Trump administration left.

The real question, Jenna andJohn is the timetable here.

What did the Biden administration know?

When did they know it?

In other words, the Bidenadministration is calling,

for this inquiry now,this investigation now,

but did they stop aprevious investigation,

by the Trump administrationinto the Wuhan lab theory?

That's the question.

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

but thank you so much.

It's great to get your insights.

- Thanks, David.

We'll be back after the break.

- [Announcer] Christians around the world,

are standing with the Israelis, but why?

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- Heavenly Father,

we do thank you for the workof your Spirit, Lord God,

with this move made of getting the Bible,

Lord into public schools.

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- [Announcer] Watch "The Prayer Link"

Tuesday morning at 7:30on the CBN News Channel.

(upbeat hip hop music continues)

(upbeat music)

♪ Boy, in way this joy, this action ♪

♪ Is like a great attraction ♪

♪ That starts a chain reaction ♪

♪ With a normal satisfaction ♪

♪ I love the way joy make me move ♪

♪ I got the joy ♪

♪ I dance around becausebecause I know it, joy ♪

♪ I move around because I got it, joy ♪

♪ Joy's in whole ♪

♪ Joy ♪

♪ I dance around becausebecause I know it, joy ♪

♪ I move around because I got it, joy ♪

♪ Joy's in whole ♪

♪ Joy ♪

♪ Joy's in whole ♪

♪ Joy ♪

- And finally tonight a glimmerof hope and reconciliation,

arising out of the ashesof the Middle East,

recently scarred by violence.

- The death of a Jewish mankilled by anti-Israel rioters,

opened the door for newlife for an Arab woman,

who received his kidney ina long waited transplant.

Randa Aweis said it had beenon the organ donor list,

for 10 years until shematched with Yigal Yehoshua,

a registered organdonor and perfect match.

While the two never met, Aweishopes to visit his family,

after she recovers.

Beautiful story.

- That's gonna do it fortonight's Faith Nation.

- Have a great evening.