- [Announcer] This is "CBN Newswatch."
- And it is Wednesday, June 16, 2021.
Thank you so much for joining us.
I'm Efrem Graham.
Ahead today, President Joe Biden
meeting with Russianleader Vladimir Putin.
We're gonna tell you what's on the table
and how analysts believe theUS should deal with Russia.
Israel taking action against Hamas
after the terrorist grouplaunches arson balloons
during an annual national celebration.
We're gonna bring youthe story from Jerusalem.
Is there a new censorship
against conservatives and Christians?
One leading liberal scholar says yes.
We're gonna hear why hebelieves that to be the case
and how he says people can fight it.
And she won a scholarship to college,
but instead of accepting it,
she surprised theaudience at her graduation
with an unexpected request.
We'll tell you whatshe asked for and more.
That is ahead on thisedition of "CBN Newswatch."
Want to begin this half hour
with the much anticipated meeting
between President Biden and Putin.
The two are meeting in Switzerland
and it comes on the heels
of several ransomwareattacks in the United States,
some of them tracked backto hackers in Russia.
CBN White House CorrespondentEric Philips has the story.
- Officials say thepresident prepared intensely
for his meeting with Putin,not at all underestimating
his political foe, as heheaded into the summit,
which is expected to lastsome four to five hours.
- He's bright.
He's tough.
- [Eric] In the hours leading up
to his meeting with Vladimir Putin,
President Biden calledon the Russian president
a worthy adversary, one with whom he hoped
to find some common ground.
But he also said he'sclear-eyed in his expectations.
- I'd verify first and then trust.
It's not about, you know, trusting.
It's about agreeing.
- [Eric] During his week overseas,
the president has metwith a number of leaders
at the G7, NATO, and withthose in the European Union.
But his last scheduled meeting
was the most anticipated, that with Putin.
- Every world leaderhere as a member of NATO
that spoke today, andmost of 'em mentioned it,
thanked me for meeting with Putin now.
- [Eric] In fact, leaders atNATO put up a united front
against autocratic leaders
ahead of Biden's face-to-facemeeting with Putin.
For his part, Biden has a fullagenda going into the summit,
including Russianmeddling in US elections,
human rights concerns, themilitary threat to Ukraine,
and cyberattacks from Russia-based gangs
against American businessesand government entities.
Michael O'Hanlon withthe Brookings Institution
says Biden must take a hardline on the ransomware attacks.
- He should be tough, and ifthe Russians won't take action,
then we need to have somekind of proportionate response
in the economic or cyber realm ourselves.
- I'm not looking forconflict with Russia,
but that we will respondif Russia continues
its harmful activities.
- Officials say the meetingbegan with the two presidents
and their secretaries ofstate, but as it progresses,
other senior aides areexpected to be brought in.
A senior White House official says
the administration is not expecting
any major announcements from the summit.
Both presidents will holdseparate press conferences
after the meetings to givetheir impressions of the summit.
Eric Philips, CBN News.
- Alabama Pastor Ed Littonis the new president
of the Southern Baptist Convention,
the largest Protestantdenomination in America.
Litton prevailed againstGeorgia Pastor Mike Stone,
winning about 52% of the votes.
He's known for promotingracial reconciliation
and dealing compassionatelywith sexual abuse victims.
Described as a man ofcharacter and integrity,
many say he is a bridgebuilder and would be pivotal
in working to fix racialdivides in the church.
15,000 delegates were in attendance
at this year's SouthernBaptist Convention,
the largest in at least 25 years.
Turning overseas now to Israel,
where Israeli fighterjets struck Hamas targets
inside Gaza Tuesday after the terror group
launched dozens of incendiaryweapons into southern Israel.
As Chris Mitchell nowreports from Jerusalem,
the strikes are the first since the end
of last month's warbetween Hamas and Israel.
- [Chris] This videoshows Hamas terrorists
arming arson balloonsaimed at southern Israel
and designed to create havoc
and destroy crops inside Israel.
The balloons ignited over 25 fires,
and this map shows thenumber of fires set in 2021.
Israel reportedly warned Hamasthe situation will escalate
if the balloon attacks do not stop.
Hamas launched the balloons to protest
the annual flag parade in Jerusalem
that retraces the stepsIsraeli paratroopers took
to liberate the city inthe 1967 Six Day War.
Before the march, Hamascalled for a day of rage
and warned Israel to stop theevent or risk another war.
Despite Hamas' threats,the march proceeded,
but officials did alter the route
so it wouldn't go into theMuslim Quarter of the Old City.
The largely peaceful march included shouts
of "The people of Israel live,"
but was also marred byshouts of "Death to Arabs."
New Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid
condemned those comments.
As a response to the arson balloons,
Israeli planes hit Hamas military targets
and said it held it responsible
for everything that happensinside the Gaza Strip.
Israel also deployed IronDome anti-missile batteries
in the south in case Hamasfired more rockets into Israel.
Hamas launched more than 4,000 rockets
into Israel last month.
Chris Mitchell, CBN News, Jerusalem.
- Here now is a look atsome of the other stories
we're following for you inthe CBN news room today.
Former President Donald Trump
will visit the US-Mexicoborder later this month
at the invitation of theTexas governor, Greg Abbott.
President Trump said in a statement
that the Biden administration inherited
the most secure border in US history
and turned it into the worstborder crisis in US history.
In Washington, Democraticleaders are preparing
to go it alone without Republicans
on the president's hugeinfrastructure bill.
A bipartisan group of 10senators came to a deal
on nearly $1 trillion ininfrastructure spending,
but some Democrats don'tbelieve it is enough.
And the Senate has passed a bill
that would make Juneteenth,June 19th, a federal holiday
commemorating the end ofslavery in the United States.
The bill is expected toeasily pass the House
and send it to thepresident for his signature.
More and more states are fully reopening,
and even as the nationpasses 600,000 American lives
lost to the virus, cases have plunged.
About 61% of Americans
have gotten at leastone COVID vaccine shot.
But the question of where COVIDbegan is still a hot topic.
Former Centers forDisease Control Director
Robert Redfield told Fox News
although many think thevirus came from nature,
he believes it camefrom a lab leak in China
where researchers worked on it.
- There's an alternativehypothesis, that it went from a,
a bat virus got into a laboratory
where, in the laboratory,it was taught, educated,
it evolved so that it became a virus
that could officiallytransmit human to human.
- [Efrem] Dr. Anthony Faucidisagreed with Redfield
and Redfield says he's disappointedthe scientific community
was reluctant to pursuea different hypothesis
on the origin of COVID-19.
- My professional opinion as a virologist
is that's the hypothesis that I support.
You know, other individuals,Tony Fauci for example,
would say that he prefers tosupport it evolved from nature.
I think those are the two hypotheses.
I guess if I'm disappointed about anything
about the early scientific community
is that there seem to be lack of openness
to pursue both hypotheses.
- Redfield also saysmistakes were made early on
in treating COVID.
A North Korean defector has a warning
for the United States.
She escaped from her countryat age 13, that was in 2007,
eventually coming to the United States
where she transferred to theprestigious Columbia University
in the Ivy League.
But what Yeonmi Park foundthere she says surprised her.
She told Fox News shesaw so many similarities
with North Korea, she started worrying,
including anti-Western sentiment
and suffocating political correctness.
She worries the future of the US
is as bleak as North Korea's.
She summed up her experiences saying,
"Even North Korea is not this nuts.
North Korea was prettycrazy, but not this crazy."
Coming up, is there anew censorship in America
targeting conservatives and Christians?
One prominent liberal scholarargues the answer is yes.
We're gonna hear what he hasto say when we come back.
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- In the 1950s, Senator Joseph McCarthy
held congressional hearingsexposing Communists in Hollywood
and the government.
Is a similar move nowunderway to silence Christian
and conservative speech, and if so,
who's behind this new censorship
and what can be done to stop it?
Gary Lane brings us a look
at what one expert is sayingabout those questions.
- From a sitting US president
to average Americansvoicing their opinions
about COVID-19 origins,masking, and vaccines.
It seems if you share an opinion
that doesn't support aprogressive narrative,
you'll be censored, maybe even banned,
from social media platforms.
The Nazis burned books.
Lenin, Stalin, and Mao silenced those
who expressed views inopposition to the government.
Is this new censorship reminiscent
of those one-party, totalitarian states?
Former Harvard law professor
and legal analyst AlanDershowitz is author of the book,
"The Case Against the New Censorship:
Protecting Free Speech from Big Tech,
Progressives and Universities."
- It has this in common.
The people who burned the books
in Nazi Germany were students.
The people who advocated communism
in Lenin's and Stalin'sRussia were students.
The millennials today are onthe forefront of censorship.
They think they have the truth
and they don't need dissent,they don't need due process.
Why bother with dissentingviews or free speech
if they know what the truth is?
We're not in Nazi Germany.
We're not in Stalin's Russia.
But we are getting close to situations
where non-government officials,
and that's what so dangerous,
non-government officials,Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube,
are determining what wecan hear, what we can say.
You know, the FirstAmendment has two aspects,
the right of the speaker to speak,
but the right of the audience to listen.
- [Gary] Dershowitz, aconstitutional law expert, says
the American audience is being deprived
of listening to divergent views.
Case in point, says Dershowitz,
a debate between him andCongressman Bobby Kennedy, Jr.
about COVID-19 vaccinations.
Kennedy is opposed toCOVID-19 vaccinations.
Dershowitz supports them.
Their video debate wascensored by YouTube.
Most likely, YouTube took the action
because of the anti-vaccination views
of Congressman Kennedy.
YouTube says it, quote,"doesn't allow content
that spreads medical misinformation
that contradicts local health authorities'
or the World HealthOrganization's medical information
about COVID-19."
- They said vaccinationis not a debatable issue.
We don't want to hear two sides of it
and we don't want our audienceto hear two sides of it.
So hundreds of thousands ofpeople were denied the right
to hear me and BobbyKennedy debate this issue.
I won the debate by default.
I don't want to win the debate by default.
I want to win the debate on the merits
and the marketplace of ideas.
- And this new censorshipmay even influence elections.
Last fall, just prior tothe presidential vote,
the "New York Post" storyabout Hunter Biden's laptop
and money transfers from China and Ukraine
was banned on social media.
It was ignored or played down
by some members of the mainstream media.
So how worrisome isthat type of censorship,
influencing election outcomes,
by factual informationfrom being made public?
- It's very dangerous
'cause it not only prevents that
or has an interference with that,
but on so many other aspects of life,
on whether to take the vaccination or not,
on other issues.
The head of the littletown of Brooklyn Center
said that he thought thatthe woman police officer
who pulled out her guninstead of her Taser
and thought she was firing the Taser,
yelling, "Taser, Taser, Taser,"
when she was indicted for manslaughter,
the town guy said sheoughta be given due process
and he was immediately fired
for calling for a constitutional right,
due process for every citizen,
you get fired and there were threats,
and if they didn't fire him,
there would be all kinds of repercussions.
That's the problem that'sgoing on in America today.
- [Gary] And it's not only big tech.
Colleges and universitiesare also censoring speech.
Dershowitz says he was dismayed
when Harvard University firedone of his former colleagues.
Professor Ron Sullivan wasthe first African American
to ever be made a deanof a Harvard college.
- He was a great dean
and then he made the, quote, mistake
of defending HarveyWeinstein for about a month
on constitutional issues.
And the students in hiscollege said they felt unsafe.
They didn't feel unsafewhen, a year earlier,
he defended somebodyaccused of a double murder,
but they felt unsafe becausehe was representing somebody
who they didn't likeand who had been accused
of sexual misconduct.
So he got fired by Harvard University
for who he represented.
If John Adams had beena professor at Harvard
back in 1771, he'd have been fired I guess
for representing theBoston Massacre soldiers
and Abraham Lincoln would've been fired
'cause he represented somedisreputable characters.
And great people in America
have represented awful people.
- [Gary] So what can bedone to reverse this trend?
Is it too late?
- It's not too late.
We write books as I do,
we have talk shows like you do,
and we try to appeal directlyto the American public.
Then we go to the Supreme Court.
We have legislation whichcould restrict the ability
of social media to takeadvantage of Section 230,
which exempts them from lawsuits
if they continue to censor speech.
So a lot of things we can do.
We haven't lost this battle
and it's part of a bigger war.
And look, I lived through McCarthyism
as a student in college.
We overcame that.
I think we'll overcome this.
- [Gary] Gary Lane, CBN News.
- [Efrem] Still ahead,he's a worship leader
most famous for his anthems
and he's got a new project to share.
We're sitting down with Todd Dulaney.
He's coming up next righthere on "CBN Newswatch."
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- Todd Dulaney is a dynamicworship leader, husband, father,
and prolific songwriter, andhe has an all new project
inspired spontaneously bythe written Word of God.
Here's a sample as we beginour chat with Todd Dulaney.
- Let's go for it. Come on!
(uptempo music)
- How long has this projectbeen in the works for you?
- Too long, Efrem.
Too long. (chuckles)
We summon you, Holy Spirit!
♪ Tell Him come a little ♪
♪ Closer ♪♪ Come a little closer ♪
What happened was werecorded this project,
"Anthems & Glory," in2019, the end of 2019,
and I'm thinking thatwe were gonna release it
at the top of 2020 and thensomething called a pandemic hit
and ruined it for me.
But I'm glad that we get a chance now
to be encouragement inone of the craziest times
in the history of the world.
So I think it's right on time,
even though I felt like it was too long.
♪ Shout your praises ♪
♪ And nothing matters aslong as you fill the room ♪
- Tell me about the process.
There's a lot to happen tomake that spontaneity happen,
so tell me about the process.
- That's right.
So we produce the songs, right,
and then we look for the moments.
That's what I tell my team,
and so we don't want to miss moments
or even try to bypass 'em,go quickly through 'em.
And so we become really, really strong
at maximizing moments on stage.
- I think one of your signatures
has been over the years for you
rendering anthems that churches sing
over and over and over again.
Is that intentional?- Yeah.
- [Efrem] How does that happen?
- Absolutely.
That's something that when I was...
I used to play baseball.
I used to go to nightclubs or the beach
where they would be singing these songs
and everybody would besinging on one accord.
And so I said if we could get
that kind of unity in thechurch, it's a beautiful thing.
And so I fell in love with it there,
brought that model over here,
and when I start writing songs,
I said I want to write songs
that are contagious and that people
can't stop singing.♪ Come a little closer ♪
♪ So we can be where you are ♪I feel good about it.
Let me, let me see you clap now.
- What's this last year or so
been like for you personally?
I know it's been rough for our world
to watch things unfold,racially, politically, health.
What's it been like for you?- It's been a pretty
amazing year for me
because it challenged me to become better.
It challenged me to become more.
I'm a better man thanI've ever been right now.
Like, I'm the best versionof myself right now.
And the pandemic brought that out of me.
Racial tension brought that out of me.
You know, like, because it forced me
to have to deal withdifferent things in myself
that I probably would've never dealt with
had it not been for theadversity that we faced
as a world.♪ Be where you are ♪
♪ I said power flowing so we only wanna ♪
♪ Be where you are ♪
♪ Breakthrough flowing so we only wanna ♪
♪ Be where you are ♪
- In case you don't know his story,
Todd Dulaney walked away
from a professional career in baseball
to become a recording artistlifting up praises to God.
His new project iscalled "Anthems & Glory."
It's available right now.
And for more uplifting entertainment news,
be sure to check out"Studio 5" this evening.
You can catch it on the CBN News Channel
at 8:30 Eastern Standard Time.
Coming up, she won ascholarship to college,
but then at her graduation,
this Christian studentshocked the audience
with a surprise request.
We'll tell you what sheasked for when we come back.
Stay with us.
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- [Announcer] As the worldwatches from the outside.
- It's a big diplomatic tug-of-warhere in the Middle East.
- [Announcer] Go inside thestory with "Jerusalem Dateline."
- Israeli archaeologists aretalking about a discovery
that could change the thinkingabout the Temple Mount.
- [Announcer] Join CBN JerusalemBureau Chief Chris Mitchell
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on the events shaping the world.
- What starts in Israel thenends up going to other places.
- [Announcer] Watch "Jerusalem Dateline"
Friday night at 8:30 onthe CBN News Channel.
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- [Announcer] Life.
It's meant to be lived fully.
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- And finally this half hour,
a heartwarming story youmay have missed in the news.
In Fitchburg, Massachusetts,
a graduating high schoolsenior wowed the crowd
by asking school officialsto give her scholarship
to another student.
Verda Tetteh won the $40,000General Excellence scholarship.
She said her Christianfaith and her mother,
who graduated from acommunity college as an adult,
are inspirations leading tothe surprise announcement.
- I would be so very grateful
if administration would consider
giving the General Excellence scholarship
to someone who's goingto community college.
- Tetteh came to the USfrom Ghana as a child.
Now she is headed to Harvard
and says she is confidentother scholarships
will cover her expenseswhen she gets there.
Time now for your Wednesday Word,
and today's word is patience.
Know this: Patience is agift that brings you peace
in moments of waiting.
Whether you're waiting onGod or waiting on people,
patience makes waiting easier.
It's a great day toextend patience to others,
and in doing so, youopen the door of grace
to have that patienceextended right back to you.
Please be patient with me.
God is not through with me yet.
That is gonna do it for thisedition of "CBN Newswatch."
You can always find more of our programs
on the CBN News Channel.
You can find them there at any time,
as well as online at CBNNews.com.
We'd love to know what you think
about the stories you've seen here today.
You can email us.
The address right there onyour screen, newswatch@cbn.com.
And of course you canreach out and touch us
on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
We'll see you back here tomorrow.
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