(invigorating music)

- [Announcer] Tonight, the Supreme Court

and its six-three conservative bend.

- We learned thatJustice Amy Coney Barrett

was not the judicial torpedo

that a lot of Democratsbelieved she was going to be.

- [Announcer] A lookback at its latest term

and surprising rulings.

Plus, compromise on Capitol Hill,

the bipartisan infrastructuredeal moving forward,

but could it still face roadblocks?

And the US economy showingrobust second quarter growth.

Will it continue?

And what about inflation

and the growing cost of everyday goods?

All this and more tonighton "Faith Nation."

(upbeat music)

- The Supreme Courtcompletes its first term

with all three of PresidentTrump's appointees on the bench.

Good evening. I'm Jenna Browder.

And that is where we begin tonight,

at the nation's highest court,

which leans heavily conservative.

But just how conservative?

There were definitely somebig surprises this term.

Senior Washingtoncorrespondent, Jennifer Wishon,

joins us with tonight's top story.

Jennifer.

- Well, Jenna, the Court'slatest term has taught us

that not all conservativesare created equally.

Instead of a six-threedivide between the justices,

the conservative and liberaljustices on the Court,

some of the Courts' major decisions

have shown more of athree-three-three divide.

- I think the most conservative members

are Justice Thomas andprobably next, Justice Gorsuch,

and close by is probablyJustice Samuel Alito.

- [Jennifer] In the middle,

making up a more centrist coalition,

Chief Justice JohnRoberts, Brett Kavanaugh,

and the newest justice, Amy Coney Barrett.

- We learned thatJustice Amy Coney Barrett

was not the judicial torpedo

that a lot of Democratsbelieved she was going to be

on things like Obamacare.

- [Jennifer] In that case,

led by the more centrist conservatives,

the Court chose consensus

over striking at the heart of the matter.

Likewise, in Fulton vsCity of Philadelphia,

the Court ruled unanimouslythat the city was discriminating

against a Catholic foster care agency,

but stopped short ofaddressing the larger issue

of religious liberty.

That led a frustratedJustice Alito to write,

"This decision might as well be written

on the dissolving papersold in magic shops."

- Their job is to decidewhatever case is before them,

and not create these cockamamie schemes

of what will happen in a decade.

I think that is a flawedunderstanding of judicial power.

- [Jennifer] A recent Galluppoll shows 49% of Americans

approve of the job theSupreme Court is doing.

Republicans and Democratsview it similarly,

revealing Americans are both pleased

and frustrated with its rulings.

Finding that equilibrium of public opinion

is what some observers saydrives the middle of the Court

to issue narrow opinions

and decline some controversial issues.

Roberts, Kavanaugh, and Barrett

joined the three liberal justices

to refuse hearing the caseof Barronelle Stutzman,

a Washington florist forced to use her art

to celebrate a same-sex marriage.

Meanwhile, Gorsuch joinedthe three centrists

to block hearing atransgender bathroom case

out of Virginia.

- The Court's conservatives,

at least three or four of them,

do not want to get boggeddown in the transgender issue.

I think they wanna stay away from it.

I think they're hoping it just goes away

and just disappears,

but you know and I know thesethings just don't vanish.

They just sort of brew up

and develop controversy year after year.

- [Jennifer] Still, next term,

the Court will tackleseveral hot button issues,

like New York's handgun law

and an abortion case out of Mississippi

that strikes at the heart of Roe v. Wade.

- The fact that they haverelegated this decision

to one question on whether or not

pre-viability restrictionsare constitutional

indicates to us thatthey are going directly

to the heart of the matter,

and will make a determination

as to whether or not Roe was good law.

- [Jennifer] So how will thisnew alignment on the Court

play out?

Blackman has a prediction.

- I don't think there are enough judges

with the backbone to do it.

- We will see, you know,this case out of Mississippi

is exactly what pro-life supporters

have been hoping to useas a vehicle to overturn

the constitutional right toabortion in this country,

something that many scholars agree

was just terrible case law to begin with.

Jenna.

- Jennifer, what's the strategy

behind the more moderatewing of the Court?

- Yeah, well, observers say it looks like

they're taking an incrementalapproach, baby steps,

to get the law to wherethey think it ought to be.

So when they look at a caseabout religious liberty,

instead of tackling the big issue

of threats to religiousliberty in this country,

they narrow it and they look at something

that just affects that locality.

The problem is, in the meantime,

you have Americans likeBarronelle Stutzman,

like Jack Phillips, thecake maker in Colorado,

who are spending tens ofthousands, millions of dollars,

in some cases, on these court cases

that take years of their life,

and Josh Blackman, in our interview,

called that arrogant onbehalf of the justices.

- Yeah, it affects a lot of people.

Jennifer, is there any danger, as well,

in taking an incremental approach?

- Sure.

Well, I mean, look, there's no guarantee,

and in fact, we know it probably,

the court will not alwayshave a six member majority.

Justices die.

Justice Scalia diedrecently, Justice Ginsburg,

and so these are mortal people.

Also, there are a lot of people

who would like to pack the Court,

you know, pass legislation,change the Constitution,

so that there could bemore justices on the Court,

and also, the Constitution never changes.

And so some scholars say,

"Look, if you thinkthat one thing is right,

then you just need to get there

instead of taking these baby steps."

- All right, Jennifer Wishon,

senior Washington correspondent.

Great reporting. Thank you.

- Thank you.

- To the battle over abortion,the House voting today

to pass a bill that wouldallow US tax dollars

to pay for abortions worldwide.

Among other things, the bill repeals

what's known as the Helms Amendment.

This measure ensures that taxpayer dollars

are not used to fundabortions internationally.

Democrats in the House callthe Helms Amendment racist.

One congresswoman sayingit puts reproductive

and economic freedom out ofreach for women of color.

A Marist poll from Januaryshows 76% of Americans

oppose federal funding ofinternational abortion.

Lawmakers are alsodebating the major issue

of infrastructure.

Last night, the Senatevoting to move forward

with the bipartisan deal.

But some critics say ithas too many pay-fors

and budget gimmicks.

Maya McGinney, MacGuineas, excuse me,

with the Committee for aResponsible Federal Budget,

says she wants to see lawmakers agree

on a major bill like thisand be fiscally responsible.

She says she likes that ithas some sensible reforms

to lower prescription drug prices,

but it also hurts the price of gas

and what would be inflation help.

And another bill cleared the Senate today.

It's a $2.1 billionemergency spending package

that would prevent a fundingcrisis for Capitol Police.

It also funds the evacuationand resettlement of Afghans

who helped US forces

during the 20 year war in their homeland.

Meanwhile, President Bidenis calling on Congress

to extend the eviction moratorium,

which expires this weekend.

His press office saysdue to the recent spread

of the Delta variant, it's still needed

to protect those most vulnerable,

both in facing possible evictions,

and those who have not beenvaccinated for COVID-19.

To the economy, the number of Americans

collecting unemploymentbenefits is down again,

claims dropped by 24,000 last week.

That puts the number ofjobless claims at 400,000,

according to the Labor Department,

a good sign for the economy.

The peak was 900,000 in early January.

The department says the declines

have been steady since then,

but are still high comparedto historical standards.

Mark Hamrick is a senioreconomic analyst for Bankrate

and he joins us now for more.

Mark, welcome.

Good to see you on this Thursday.

Unemployment going down,

but are you surprised it'snot going down any faster

with all of these signsthat businesses are hiring?

- There's little that trulysurprises me these days,

Jenna, just becausewe're in uncharted waters

with respect to this pandemic

and the reopening of the economy,

the likes of which we'venever experienced before.

So I try to, let's say,

associate with myobservation of these things

some degree of humility,

and understand that theeconomy is going to unfold

at a pace of its own doing.

But to your point, we'dlove for the economy

to essentially restore itselfto its pre-pandemic condition.

And that is what we got in a sense

with the GDP reading today,

which we may talk about here in a moment,

but with respect to the job market,

this is gonna be a slower healing effort.

We have a record number ofjob openings in this country,

but many workers are either moving on

to other employmentopportunities over the past year,

may be more cautious about taking a job.

And of course, we know we still

have federal pandemic employment benefits

that will be around until September.

- There are a lot of mixed signs

for just the average American.

Unemployment improving,new second quarter numbers

show robust growth for the US economy.

But Mark, we're still seeing inflation,

and a lot of basic things,some of our most common goods,

are very expensive right now.

What are Americans supposedto think of this dichotomy?

- Well, again, to go back tothe unprecedented nature of it,

we shut the economy down,as we all know, Jenna,

and then we basically, inan almost explosive fashion,

are trying to reopen itand that's, you know,

very difficult to do,as we're finding out.

And so we've got cargoships off the West Coast.

We've got trains thatbasically have commitments

for cargo to move all across the country,

but simply can't get to all of that.

And then there are the factories

that are either beingbuffeted with problems

with COVID outbreaks all aroundthe world with, for example,

a backlog and demand for computer chips,

which we need to build automobiles,

and that's how you get to the shortages

of automobiles for sale.

So I think this is gonna callfor some patience and faith

to get through thisprocess, with the hope that,

as the Federal Reserveofficials are saying,

the bulk of the inflationought to be temporary,

but also with the understanding

that we haven't been through

these kinds of choppy waters before,

and we do need to be prepared,

as we like to say at Bankrate,

one way to do that is to make sure

we have sufficient emergency savings.

- Yeah.

- Just about 30 seconds left, Mark,

but many employers are finding it hard

to get people to work.

What's happening with that?What's the latest there?

- I would say that's oneof the number one stories

of the moment, and we had morethan 9 million job openings

as of last count.

It's most acute inleisure and hospitality,

bars and restaurants,

and it's gonna take sometime to work this out.

It is definitely one of the major strains

on the economy right now.

The good news for workers,they've got a lot to shop from

with respect to those openings,

and they may be able tocommand a higher wage.

- All right, Mark Hamrick with Bankrate.

It's always good to seeyou. Thank you, Mark.

- Thank you, Jenna.

- Meanwhile, the trialcontinues for Michigan farmers

who were banned from theirlocal farmer's market

because of their religious beliefs.

Steve and Bridget Tennes ownand operate Country Mill Farms

in Charlotte, Michigan.

In 2016, the couple was banned

from East Lansing Farmer's Market

after refusing to allow same-sexweddings at their orchard.

In a statement from Steve, quote,

"This isn't just about our ability

to sell at the farmer's market.

It's really about everyAmerican's right to make a living

and not have to worry about being punished

by the government."

Coming up, in the eyes of some Olympians,

it's more important than gold.

That story after this.

- [Narrator] Introducingthe CBN Bible from cbn.com.

Now an easier way to study theBible and grow in your faith.

Highlight your favorite verse,

read separate versions at a glance,

click and read a commentary,

or cross-reference your favorite verse

using the Strong's concordance.

All the right tools to studythe Bible all in one place.

The CBN Bible available at cbn.com/bible

for the iTunes app store.

- [Announcer] This is "CBN Newswatch."

- Thanks for joining us.

- [Announcer] Watch breaking news,

exclusive stories and programs,

credible news reporting.

- We show you what'shappening in the world

and how you can pray about it.

- [Announcer] This is "CBN Newswatch."

Because truth matters.

Weekdays at five on the CBN News Channel.

(exciting music)

- Woo-hoo!

Hi, Superbook fans.

Here's something else you'll love.

(excited laugh)

It's the new Superbook Bible app!

It's packed with games, activities,

and Superbook episodes thatyou can watch for free!

Oh no!

There's trivia, a fun daily devotional,

and answers to your Bible questions.

Plus an easy-to-understand Bible

the whole family will enjoy!

You can even create yourown Superbook character.

Ta-da!

(robot screams)

(reporter speaking)

Sorry, pardon me, sorry!

Excuse me.

Ouch!

- [Reporter] Are you getting this?

- Earn SuperPoints towin daily prizes too,

and so much more!

Time to get back to my adventures.

See you soon!

It's the new Superbook Bible app.

Free downloads on iTunes,Google Play, and Amazon.

- Welcome back.

It is growing in popularityaround the summer Olympics,

and it is something thatmany Olympians value

as much as winning a medal.

"Faith Nation" anchor John Jessup

talked with one ministryleader about the games

and something called"The Prayer Advantage."

- We really believe thatprayer is very, very important.

And "The Prayer Advantage"kind of came about as an idea

of how is it that we asindividual Christians

can be supportive of these athletes

who are on a world stage.

And so what we did is we setup a series of interviews to,

first of all, get to knowthem a little bit better,

hear some of theirstory, and hear some ways

that we could specifically pray for them.

And then we engaged with the athletes

as a part of their journey,and kind of track along, like,

when they're performing,when they're on that,

in a position of being ableto be part of the competition,

and then be able to offer upprayer as they're performing,

right beforehand, and kindof just tracking with them.

- I like that, engagement.

So can you describe what this looks like?

I believe you have a prayerover five athletes option,

and then you also havesomething that's real time?

- Yeah, the real-time prayeris what we started with,

and we did that primarilyduring the Olympic trials

here in the US,

and the way that it worked

is athletes were kindof in contact with us.

We did the interviews withthem, got that prayer request,

we tracked their schedule,

and then we had people thatwere praying for the athletes.

And we would send out via text message

the prayer requests from the athletes,

and then the participantswould have an opportunity

to reply back.

When they replied back, wecompiled those replies together.

Some of them were words of encouragement,

sometimes Scripture verses,

just things that some of theparticipants wanted to pass on

to the athlete.

We compile those and thensend it out to the athlete

prior to their competition,

and got some feedback from the athletes

that it meant a lot to them.

So that was how the prayer, kind of,

the real-time prayer worked.

And then the pray for five,we've got the database

of most of the Olympic athletes,

and if you go to the website,you can select 5, 10, 15,

however many you want, andyou can then have those,

you can kind of adopt those athletes.

And then over the courseof the remaining days

of the Olympics, you just pray for them.

Like, one of my people I'mpraying for is Lilly King.

She's from Bloomington here where I live,

where she went to school,

and she listed this as her address,

so I figured might as well picksomebody from the hometown.

And so I've been able to trackand pray kind of for her.

She was competing yesterdayand then today as well.

And so just tracking with her,

and that's part of the second aspect

of adopting the athletesand praying for them.

- I'm thinking about Simone Biles

and her stunning decision towithdraw from the competition.

Can you tell us what itmeans for the athletes

when they know that peopleare praying for them,

and in turn, what's the impact

for those covering them in prayer?

- Well, for the athletes, Iknow that there was a number of,

or not a number, but therewere some of the athletes

that were a part of the Olympic trials

who had, obviously, thedesire to make it to Tokyo,

but they did not.

And there was just atremendous sense of peace.

I remember Jenny Simpson,after her finish in,

I think she finished fifth,if I remember correctly,

in the 1500.

In her post interview,post race interview,

she even mentioned the factthat meant so much for her

to know that she had a group of people

that were praying for her.

And so I know for those athletes,

for whom we were engaged with,

it really meant a lot to them,

and I got that kind of feedback from them.

For the people who are participating,

I just found it to bea tremendous sense of,

just encouragement, to knowthat you could say something

and it had the potential ofbeing able to actually make it

to the athlete that they could read

prior to their performance.

- Paul, if people want moreinformation, where can they go?

- The website is MYLC, standsfor "making your life count."

So the letters mylc.faith,and then /prayer.

And that'll be where youcan go to learn about that.

You can also text theword "PRAY," P-R-A-Y,

to 407-214-4900, 214-4900, 407.

- All right.

Paul Konstanski with Cru,

thank you again so much for being with us.

- [Jenna] Up next, what astandoff between two Asian nations

means for the US and world.

- 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.

You are equipped.

The focus of the faculty ison each individual student,

whether it's online or in-person,

you become a part of Regent's family.

You carry with you, not justthe content and the knowledge,

but the confidence to understand

that we can be significantin the the world.

- [Narrator] RegentUniversity, follow your path.

- [Reporter] Nigerian Christiansare being slaughtered.

- [Reporter] Christians inIran are routinely arrested.

- [Reporter] Christianscontinue to suffer.

- [Narrator] In timesof trial and affliction,

you need to know the truth.

- One of the fastest growingChristian populations

in the world.

- [Narrator] Join WendyGriffith and George Thomas

for "Christian World News."

- [Interviewee] Young people are the ones

who are open to the gospel.

- [Narrator] Powerfulstories of suffering and hope

that affect all Christians.

Saturday night at sixon the CBN News Channel.

Get "Protect Your Sleep!"

and discover how to improvethe quality of your life.

A free DVD or booklet

from the Christian Broadcasting Network.

- If you're not a great sleeper,

you can do things to makeyourself a great sleeper.

If you're already a pretty good sleeper,

you can enhance yoursleep and be even better.

- [Narrator] Five leadingexperts help remove the obstacles

between you and restorative sleep.

- When you don't get arestful night's sleep,

you wake up with anaccumulation of stress.

- [Narrator] Call1-800-700-7000 or go to cbn.com

to get your free DVD or booklet today.

- Everything you do, you do better

with a good night's sleep.

- [Narrator] You'll discoverhow food affects your sleep,

how to put insomnia to rest,

explore effectiveremedies for sleep apnea,

and much more in "Protect Your Sleep!"

Wake up to your best life

and get "Protect Your Sleep!" today.

Call 1-800-700-7000 or go to cbn.com

to get your free DVD or booklet.

- Two Asian giants arefacing off in the Himalayas,

both with nuclear powers.

George Thomas reports,

China and India arestaring each other down

at the border of their two countries

with thousands of troops.

- [George] Just one yearafter a bloody dispute

involving Indian and Chinese soldiers,

both sides are now deploying more troops

along the 2000 mile borderbetween the two countries.

- Now we're seeing on the Chinese side

roughly 200,000 troops,according to some estimates,

flow into areas around the border.

- [George] And what's beenseen as the biggest deployment

in India's history, some50,000 additional soldiers

are matching China's currenttroop strength in the area.

- Sources tell us the threathas been clear and present.

India's deployment is about preparedness

rather than triggering hostility.

- What's important is thesort of troops that they have.

They have some pretty serioushigh altitude fighters

embedded among them.

This is a serious deploymentdesigned to try to make the PLA

be very concerned aboutdoing a land offensive again.

- [George] Both sides aresaid to be building new roads,

bunkers, tunnels, runways,

and moving in advanced military hardware,

The Wall Street Journalreporting that China has deployed

surface-to-air missilesand anti-missile batteries,

while India has beefed up its air force.

- Both India and China arenuclear armed countries,

and so if a confrontation doestake place on that border,

it would be problematic for the world

and for the United States.

- Six decades after the Sino-Indian war,

the world's two most populated countries

are still going at it in the Himalayas.

The last clash coming in June 2020,

when Chinese soldierstook several square miles

of Indian territory in the Galwan Valley.

Indian soldiers fought back,losing 20 of their own.

China says four of its men died,

though that number isthought to be much higher.

It was the deadliest incident

between the Asian giants in 45 years.

Dozens of high-level talks since then

have failed to calm growing tensions

between Beijing and New Delhi.

(speaking in foreign language)

- [Translator] "The wordsand deeds of major military

and political officialsshould help ease the situation

and increase mutual trustbetween the two sides."

- [George] But it hasn't,

leaving India increasingly mistrustful

of a powerful neighborthat's pursuing regional

and global ambitions.

- The overt goal of theChinese Communist Party

is global hegemony,

and that begins in the Indo-Pacific.

Within the Indo-Pacific region,

the biggest counter totheir narrative is India.

And the goal is basically to fragment

and render India inoperative,

because India is the best hope

for other democracies in the region

to try to withstand China'saggressive expansion.

(marching band music)

- [George] In the pastyear, Beijing has expanded

political and economicfights, spreading to Vietnam,

Philippines, Bhutan, Nepal,Australia, and Indonesia.

- This is not a one-off

that China is only threatening India.

This is part of Chineseaggressive behavior

against all its neighbors,

against any country it considers a rival.

- [George] Indo-China watchers say

it's all part of PresidentXi Jinping's goal

to also drive a wedge betweenWashington and New Delhi.

- What's very importantfrom an American perspective

is to understand that there is an active

political warfare campaign

designed to make usdistrust and dislike India

so that India and theUS can't come together

to fight what is an existentialthreat for both of us,

which is the Chinese Communist Party.

- [George] Meanwhile, topIndian military commanders

openly talk about their concerns

of a simultaneous conflictwith archrival Pakistan

on its western flankand China to the east.

Both countries continueto forge deep military

and strategic ties.

- You could end up in a two front war,

you could end up in awar in which, you know,

Pakistan engages in a conflict.

And then China opportunistically goes in

to try and seize a bit of territory.

So Indian forces aremuch more stressed now

than they were, I thinkeven a few years ago.

- [George] Experts now worry

that with these additionaltroop deployments

come possibilities of amiscalculation on either side

that could result in more deadly clashes.

George Thomas, CBN News.

- Still ahead, the presence of God,

felt by thousands at a major worship event

with some big names.

(peppy music)

- [Narrator] Christians around the world

are standing with the Israelis, but why?

In CBN's free magazine,"Friends of Israel,"

you'll discover why Christians

are supporting the Jewish state.

How Israel is fulfilling prophecyas a light to the nations,

and ways you can prayfor the people of Israel.

Israel needs the supportof friends like you.

Call now or go to cbn.com

to get your free copyof "Friends of Israel."

(upbeat music)

- Heavenly Father, we do thank you

for the work of your Spirit, Lord God,

with this movement of getting the Bible,

Lord, into public schools.

(upbeat music)

- [Narrator] Watch "The Prayer Link,"

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

(upbeat music)

(joyful music)

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

♪ It's like the great attraction ♪

♪ That starts a chain reaction ♪

♪ Moving on the satisfaction ♪

♪ I love the way that joy makes me move ♪

♪ I got that joy ♪

♪ I'll dance around because I know it ♪

♪ Joy ♪

♪ I'll move around because I got it ♪

♪ Joy ♪

♪ Joyful heart ♪

♪ Joy ♪

♪ I'll dance because I know it ♪

♪ Joy ♪

♪ I'll move around because I've got it ♪

♪ Joy ♪

♪ Joyful heart ♪

♪ Joy ♪

♪ Joyful heart ♪

♪ Joy ♪

- Finally tonight, the presence of God

coming on thick in Southern California.

This weekend, more than20,000 volunteers were invited

to the Freedom Experience.

And there were some big names.

Justin Bieber headlined the event

along with Kari Jobe and her husband.

They led thousands to lift their hands,

many for the first time.

♪ Amen ♪

♪ Amen ♪

Also there, Tori Kelly, JadenSmith, and Chance the Rapper.

Justin Bieber did remind the crowd

that they were experiencingthe presence of God.

It looks like it wason pretty thick there.

So good for them, looked like fun.