(upbeat music)

- [John] Tonight.

- Delighted you're all here.

- [John] The White Housewants an infrastructure deal.

- We're lookin' for a bipartisan effort.

- [John] But, can the Senate deliver?

- You know how the Senate works.

- [John] As Washingtoncloses out another week,

where things stand onthe negotiations, plus.

- This is the crescendo of a groundswell

of pro-life momentum that's been growing.

- [John] A new push to overturn

the Supreme Court decisionlegalizing abortion.

- It's in a direct contrastto the legacy of Roe.

- [John] Which stateis leading the charge?

And.

- [Narrator] China is about to launch

one of the most revolutionary

financial projects in the world.

- [John] How that could leadto tighter government control

over the Chinese people.

All this and more tonighton "Faith Nation."

(upbeat music)

- Negotiations over an infrastructure deal

won't take a break this weekend.

Good evening, andwelcome to "Faith Nation"

I'm Tara Mergener.

- And I'm John Jessup.

Senate lawmakers willwork around the clock

trying to complete thebipartisan infrastructure plan,

after the GOP blockeda test vote for debate

earlier this week.

- That's right, Republicanssaid it lacked crucial details

like how to pay for it.

CBN White Housecorrespondent, Eric Philips

joins us now with the latest, Eric.

- The devil's alwaysin the details, right?

Well today, one ofPresident Biden's key allies

in the Senate says he's willing to support

the bipartisan infrastructure package,

even if it means sacrificingthe Democratic priority

of increased funding topublic transportation.

Delaware Senator, Chris Coons told CNN

there would be a chance to add the money

back in down the roadduring reconciliation.

That comes after everyRepublican in the Senate

voted against starting debate

on the bipartisan infrastructure deal,

and while those on theInfrastructure Committee

seem optimistic abouthammering out the details,

frustration is still growingover the slow pace of progress.

- [Woman] Mr. Schumer, Mr. Schumer, no.

- [Eric] Senate MajorityLeader, Chuck Schumer,

was not surprised Wednesday'svote did not pass,

indicating on "The View"

the goal was to move the process along.

- You know how the Senate works.

Unless you get a deadline,nothing will happen.

- [Eric] The $1.2 trillion bipartisan deal

aims to fix and upgradetraditional infrastructure

like roads, bridges and broadband.

The rub comes with how to pay for it.

The President said, duringthis week's CNN town hall,

he believes this could beworked out as soon as Monday,

since they already have agreement

on the contents of the bill.

- You had up to 20Republicans sign a letter,

saying we think we need this deal.

I come from a tradition in the Senate,

you shake your hand, that's it.

You keep your word.

- Around here, wetypically write the bills

before we vote on 'em.

That's the custom.

- [Eric] Republicans scoffat the bipartisan plan

coupled with the Dem's$3 trillion budget bill,

saying, "irresponsible spending will only

drive up already rising inflation".

But a recent report fromMoody's Analytics indicates,

the pair of plans wouldactually stabilize prices

and decrease the risk of inflation.

- I have every intention of passing

both major infrastructure packages,

the bipartisan infrastructure framework

and a budget resolution withreconciliation instructions

before we leave for the August recess.

- It is yet to be seen whetherMonday's informal deadline

will be reached for the bipartisan plan.

In the meantime, tempersare starting to flare

on both sides.

Democrats accusing Republicansof slow-walking the process,

Republicans saying Democratsare being unreasonable

in their demands, Tara.

- All right, Eric, nevera dull moment, thank you.

Well, President Biden is backon the campaign trail tonight,

this time for the Democraticgubernatorial candidate

in Virginia, Terry McAuliffe.

McAuliffe served aprevious term as governor,

from 2014 through 2018.

This time around, the President says

he's all in to help McAuliffesecure a second term.

But I sat down with his Republicanopponent, Glenn Youngkin,

who says, Biden'scampaigning comes because

Democrats are worried abouthow close the race is,

and the show of supporthe had from Republicans

across the Commonwealth and the country.

- One of the great things that happened

when I won the Republican convention

was that all Republicans came together,

all Republicans came together,

and said, we're for Glenn.

President Trump endorsed me the next day,

and I thanked him for it.

And then, I had endorsementsfrom lots of other people

and I thanked them for it.

And what this reflects

is the Republican Partycoming together in Virginia

and actually making a statement,

and the statement is that

Republicans actually recognize

that if we aren't together, we won't win,

and if we are together, we can win.

And that's been a fabulousdevelopment during this race.

- And Julia Manchester of "The Hill"

and Chief Political Analyst David Brody

are here now for more.

Julia, let's start with you.

President Biden has abouta 52% approval rating.

How much of that will carryover in his campaigning

for McAuliffe in Virginia?

- Well right now, wesee that President Biden

has a decent approval ratingnationwide, and in Virginia.

We know that Democrats in Virginia

have been doing well ever since 2009.

In fact, a Republican in Virginiahasn't won it since then,

so he has that advantage.

However, we are seeing

more Republican and Conservative messaging

nationwide and in Virginiaabout the state of the economy.

They're talking about rising prices,

they're talking about inflation.

So, there will be definitelybe a concerted effort

from the Youngkincampaign and Conservatives

to tie Biden, and byextension, McAuliffe to that.

You're also hearing a lot about crime

and increasing crime in citieslike Richmond, for example,

or outside of Washington, DC.

Critical race theory is another theory

that Conservatives are reallytalking up to attack Democrats

in order to get some moreleeway with the suburban voters

that have leanedDemocratic in recent years.

So, it's an uphill climb for Youngkin

against someone like McAuliffewho has Biden on his side.

However, you're going to seemore attacks from the right

to McAuliffe and Biden.

- Speaking of crime, asJulia just mentioned, David,

Glenn Youngkin did not getthe endorsement of the NRA.

Tell our voters why

and how much does thatpotentially hurt him?

- Well, you know, he's a businessman,

and he's not going to, he'strying to split the middle here

or the difference, if you will, and so,

I think with Glenn Youngkin,

it's gonna be interesting to watch him do,

not just the NRA tap dance, if you will,

but also the Trump tap dance, right,

to embrace Trump, but not embrace Trump.

And I think if he playsit too cute by half,

he's gonna be in trouble.

But what I'm watchingspecifically is what Julia said,

specifically in thesuburbs, Loudoun County,

Prince William County,

these are the suburbs of Washington, DC,

the burbs, the ex-burbs, andall of those type of burbs,

because what is bubblingup in Loudoun County

on critical race theoryand transgender bathrooms,

we're seeing parents, schoolkids even,

come to these school board meetings

and say, enough is enough.

I think Democrats may beoverplaying their hand nationally.

It could hurt TerryMcAuliffe, and let's remember,

Terry McAuliffe did notwin by a huge majority

last time he ran.

He beat Ken Cuccinelli,but it wasn't by much.

So, I think Youngkin's gotmore than a puncher's chance,

he's got a decent-sized chance.

- To the point that Juliamade earlier, David,

Virginia has been solidly bluestatewide in governor's races

since Bob McDonald's term expired in 2014.

What's it gonna take forthe GOP to flip that trend

and win back the governor's mansion?

- Well, I think it's gonna have to be,

it's gonna start in thesuburbs, and let's be honest,

so back to those suburbs inWashington DC, if you notice,

the state of Virginia does pretty well

in Republican territory,especially in the rural areas,

obviously, they have someissues in the Newport News area

down there, but

it's all about the Washington DC suburbs.

And so this is where Youngkin comes in.

This is where his business background

and his kind of that centerright tone, could help.

Remember Ken Cuccinelli back in the day,

he was kind of pigeon holed,if you will, as far right guy,

as a guy that was tough on immigration,

but it wasn't justimmigration, he was just,

you know, bare knuckles type guy.

Youngkin trying to positionhimself differently,

that could be the difference in 2021.

We here in the beltway have the benefit

of seeing some of thosecampaign advertisements,

Glenn Youngkin's campaign messaging so far

has been pretty universalto your point, David.

Julia turning to infrastructure.

One of the key stickingpoints beyond the pay fors,

seems to be transit funding and broadband.

Julia, Republicans have beenvocal all this time about

what they see as too many noninfrastructure related items.

Do you see an argument to be made

that those are both key tonationwide infrastructure?

- Well, we see that Democratsare making the argument,

especially with broadband saying, look,

in order to connect the entire country,

you need to reach out notonly to rural communities

that might not have asmuch broadband access,

but to urban communities

that don't have the samekind of broadband connections

that other parts of aparticular city might.

So they're saying it's allabout connectivity and they say

the country is moving in a direction where

internet is involved with everything,

including transportation,

so you're going to see that argument.

But I think the universalpushback from Republicans,

not only on this, but on other issues

like the American RescuePlan, for example,

has been that it's too big of a package,

that we are spending too much,

and they're tying all ofthis spending to inflation

and the rising cost of living.

Now Democrats brushingthat off saying, look,

inflation is going to be temporary,

we're going to get over this.

But other economists,

and I think an increasingnumber of economists

are essentially saying look,

this could be longer thanwe initially thought.

- David the last 30 seconds or so to you,

will there be a deal that's made?

- I think there probably will be actually,

and normally you know me well,I am a glass half full guy,

but in the case of Congress,

I always go with the pessimistic glass.

I do think that Portman and Romney

and all these center, moderate,

some would call them RINOs obviously,

will most likely figure out a way

to figure out the pay fors.

Obviously, that's the big sticking point.

So I think ultimately, they'll get there.

But obviously, the big concern,

the controversy will be the next stage,

the $3.5 trillion social infrastructure,

yeah, infrastructure, give me a break.

- All right, David,Julia, thank you so much.

Hope you guys have a greatweekend and see you next time.

- You too John, thanks.

- All right, the pro lifefight to end abortion,

how Mississippi is making thecase to throw out Roe v. Wade,

next.

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- [Narrator] It's about the competition.

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- [Narrator] It's about overcoming.

- We use this phrase all the time,

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- [Narrator] It's aboutgoing the distance.

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- [Narrator] Watch "Going theDistance" with Shawn Brown

Saturday night at 7:30on the CBN News Channel.

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- [Narrator] Life, it'smeant to be lived fully.

Jesus said, I came to give you life.

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- A new push to end abortion now,

the Supreme Court shouldoverturn Roe vs. Wade,

the 1973 landmark rulelegalizing the procedure.

Mississippi's republican Attorney General

is making that argument andnew court papers saying,

nothing in constitutional text,

structure history or traditionsupports a right to abortion.

That new paperwork was filedas the state's AG Lynn Fitch

prepares her case thatwill go before the court

later this year.

That case is over a state banon abortion after 15 weeks.

- Well Ken Blackwell is the Senior Fellow

for human rights andconstitutional governance

at the Family ResearchCouncil, Ken Great to see you.

According to a Pew survey in Maine,

nearly 60% of Americans, 59%think abortion should be legal.

Still, pro life advocates say

now is the time to challenge Roe v. Wade.

Ken, what makes this moment ripe

from a legal and cultural standpoint

to challenge Roe versus Wade?

- Well, first, let me just applaud

the Mississippi Attorney General

for making a compellingcase that we should end

this barbaric practice that has cost us

millions of American lives.

And let me also say that

we're right in the middle ofa constitutional struggle.

There are those forces in the country

that want to destroy ourconstitutional governance,

that puts a restraint on government

and leaves decisions toindividuals and states,

where states and individualsare closest to the challenge

or impacted by the decision.

And so not only a scienceon the side of this effort

to stop this barbaric practice.

Right now unpopular opinion is in fact,

is pushing towards doing awaywith what I consider to be

an unconstitutional Roe v. Wade policy

that's in play rightnow, that has in fact,

pushed states like Mississippiout of the decision process,

when they in fact are,

their actions are more reflective of,

I think the will of people

and a rapidly growing,growing growing number.

- Ken, if Roe is overturnedby the Supreme Court,

what does that reallylook like practically?

- Practically it willkick it back to the states

and state legislatures could in fact,

make decisions that govern their state.

Look, whether its elections,or protecting innocent life,

there is a struggle now to federalize

or move towards a statusform of government.

And what has made us, you know,

a robust, successful, exceptionalconstitutional republic

in the 245 years that we have been around

is the fact that we've put a harness

on the reach and the muscularity

of the central or federal government.

This is part of that struggle,

where states are basically saying,

we can't have, you know,the central government

telling us, the federalgovernment telling us

that we must embracethis barbaric practice

of taking innocent lives.

That second paragraph or theDeclaration of Independence,

says that we hold theseshoes to be self evident

that these lives, our rightsare not grants from government,

but they're gifts from God.

And it talks about life,

liberty and the pursuit of happiness,

and we know that you cannotpursue liberty, if you're dead,

and we have over 60 millionbabies that have been taken,

innocent lives thathave been taken from us,

so much human potential thathas been wasted and taken

through this barbaric act.

- All right, Ken weappreciate your thoughts,

thanks for being here on this Friday.

- Thank you, Ken.

- Good to be with you.

- Well, the country's biggest wildfire

continues to burn in Southern Oregon.

The Bootleg fire sparked by lightning

has destroyed an area halfthe size of Rhode Island

after burning around 70 homes.

Fire officials say it was 40% contained.

In California, the Tamarackfire, south of Lake Tahoe

burned more than 78 square miles,

lightning also starting that fire.

- I was worried about my house because

there's a mountain right behind my house

and the fire was coming right down and so,

I don't know if my house is there or not.

- Another huge fire is the Dixie fire

in Plumas County, California.

It burned more than 223 squaremiles as of Friday morning,

destroying at least eight structures

and threatened at least 1500 more.

- All right, a cashless currency

controlled by its Communist Party,

the latest move of the Chinese government

and what it could mean for Americans.

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- [Narrator] Too often wecarry baggage from our past.

You know what it's like.

It affects everything andevery one in our lives.

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Cruise with me as I discover

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- [Narrator] Wednesday night at 8:30

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- [Narrator] Tikkun olam.

- This is our nature as a country.

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- All right, China wantsto go cashless now,

the communist regime iscreating a new digital currency

to replace traditional money.

- That's right Tara.

For some though, it'ssparking growing alarm

over unprecedented government control.

CBN's George Thomas reports.

(singing in a foreign language)

- [George] The Chinesewere the first in the world

to invent paper money backin the seventh century.

Now more than 1400 years later,

China is again on the cusp of creating

a new form of government currency

that some say could posea serious economic threat

to America and the West.

- [Narrator] China is about to launch

one of the most revolutionaryfinancial projects

in the world.

- They're not cryptocurrencies,

they're not so called stable coins,

in effect, they are thenational physical currency

of a country just representedin a digital form.

- [George] Erik Bethel is the former

US Executive Director of the World Bank.

- Bitcoin near recordhighs crossing 23,000.

- [George] He says while the world fixates

on private cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin.

- The digital yuan isn't a payment system,

it's actual money.

- [George] Beijing is busy building

a digital version of itsown currency, the yuan,

also known as the renminbi,

to control its citizens and eventually,

threaten the dominance of the US dollar.

- They pretty much createdall of the building blocks

that will allow a central bankdigital currency to flourish.

- [George] And Yaya Fanusie

a former economic andcounterterrorism analyst in the CIA

says China's goal is to replacecash with a digital currency

that's controlled by thecommunist government's

central bank.

- China has said for awhile that it expects to

pretty much be a cashlesssociety in the future.

So the idea is that cash notes, coins

will no longer be aroundand the people will be using

a digital currency that'sgonna be in their wallets.

- [George] That digital currency

will also be issued bythe government bank,

allowing what congressman Michael McCaul,

the top republican on theHouse Foreign Affairs Committee

says is unprecedented access

to people's financial transactions.

- This will give them data on behavior,

on people how they spend.

- [George] And giving Beijing the power

to track that spending in real time.

- There will be a point wherethe People's Bank of China

is gonna be able to look, peer inside of

every single transactioneveryone does 24 hours a day,

seven days a week.

- Which means if you area human rights activist

or a Christian,

authorities can now use thisnew technology to punish you

if you engage in activitiesthey consider anti-government.

- This technological ability

is something that thegovernment has never had before.

It always had to go tocompanies to say okay,

cut off this person.

Now, the Chinese government, I think,

with sort of the proverbialthe flip of a switch

can make people fall in line

by cutting off their access to money.

- [George] Eventually, USand other foreign companies

doing business in China will be required

to use the government's newdigital currency payment system.

- There's a competitive issue,

there, I'd say even cybersecurity issues, privacy issues,

you're handing over your datato the Chinese Communist Party

by participating in thisdigital currency system.

- [George] The US dollar

is the world's dominant reserve currency.

China's renminbi is number eight.

Beijing's ambition is to eventually

supplant the dollar's global dominance

with the digital yuan.

The big concern is internationally,especially for the US is

in the long term, thisis an important step.

This is what I would call a FinTech,

a financial technology development.

And the issue is that China isthinking decades in advance.

It's not thinking about thenext two to three years,

you know, per se.

- [George] In June, thecommunist government handed out

more than $6 million worthof its digital currency

to its citizens as partof a series of trials

around the country.

The first kicked off in Beijingallowing residents there

to use to government bankapps to test digital payments.

China then plans to make itsbig digital currency splash

at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

Now that the world'slargest authoritarian regime

has launched this first of a kind,

sovereign digital currency,

some in the US likeCongressman Mike Waltz,

worry Beijing will usethis form of payment

to also skirt economic sanctions.

- The Chinese governmentconvinces countries like Burma,

Iran, North Korea, andothers to do business

in that Chinese digitalcurrency, it will also allow

China and those countries to work around,

one of our most powerfultools, which is sanctions.

- [George] Based on history,waltz believes China

is only too happy to share the technology

with other rogue regimes

that seek to enhance theirown surveillance capabilities

over their citizens.

So that those other countries in Africa,

the Middle East and elsewherecan dominate their people

in line with the Chineseversion of government.

But that data then comes back to Beijing

so that they will literallythrough facial recognition,

be able to monitor the globe.

- [George] George Thomas, CBN News.

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- [Narrator] "On the Homefront".

- Thanks for joining us forCBN's "On the Homefront"

where we highlight what the men and women

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CBN honors the men andwomen in our military

with an initiative called"Helping the Home Front".

It partners with churchesacross the country

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- [Narrator] Wednesday at3:00 on the CBN News Channel.

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- Finally tonight Tara, are you excited?

The Tokyo Olympics are finally underway.

- I love the Olympics butdelayed a year due to COVID,

today opening ceremonies tookplace in Japan's capital city.

Due to pandemic precautions though,

no spectators were insidethe stadium for the event.

But outside the nightended with a light show

many around the city could see,

not only did it include fireworksbut also a drone display

1824 globes, that's a lot,

flew together to assemblea revolving globe

in the sky above the stadium.

In a Twitter post, the Olympics said

it represented themessage, stronger together.

- I know there's not gonna bea lot of fans in the stands

but I'm sure a lot ofpeople will be watching.

- Absolutely, good luck to everybody,

that's gonna do for "Faith Nation"

- Have a great weekend.

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