(upbeat music)

- [John] Tonight,

stepping down.

- The best way I can helpnow is if I step aside

and let the governmentget back to governing.

- [John] Embattled New Yorkgovernor, Andrew Cuomo,

accused of sexual harassmentby 11 women, resigns.

And, done deal.

- The bill, as amended, is passed.

- [John] The massivebipartisan infrastructure deal

passes the Senate,

setting up a new showdown

over more trillions ina democratic wishlist.

- They're projecting totake our federal debt

to $45 trillion.

- [John] Plus, preparationsfor a military vaccine mandate.

- It's your opportunity tocontribute to the health

and readiness of your teammates,

and thereby the nation.

- What happens if a service member

refuses to get the shot?

All this and more tonighton "Faith Nation."

(upbeat music)

The end of a political dynastyin New York state politics.

Welcome to "Faith Nation,"

I'm John Jessup.

- And I'm Jenna Browder.

Governor Andrew Cuomo

officially stepping down this afternoon.

This just one week afterthat blistering report

from the New York attorney general

that found Cuomo sexuallyharassed 11 women.

- The announcement reflectsa dramatic fall from grace.

CBN News Correspondent Brody Carter

has tonight's top story.

Brody, Brody today's resignation

is really only the beginningof Cuomo's legal battles.

- Well, John, Jenna,

Cuomo's announcement was unexpected.

That resignation comingafter he took responsibility

for many of the allegations against him,

but not all of them.

However, the DA's criminalinvestigation remains open.

So regardless of the remorse,

the apologies that we saw today,

these sexual harassment allegations

will not be taken lightly.

- I said on national TV

to a doctor wearing PPE

and giving me a COVID nasal swab,

"You make that gown look good."

I was joking.

- [Brody] A year after the first claims

of sexual assaultagainst New York Governor

Andrew Cuomo first surfaced,

a shocking investigation bythe state attorney general,

and numerous calls for him to step down.

- I take full responsibilityfor my actions.

I have been too familiar with people.

- [Brody] The third term governor

publicly apologizing to all 11 accusers,

then to the surprise of manyannounced his resignation.

- The best way I can help now

is if I step aside

and let government get back to governing.

- [Brody] His resignation, however,

didn't come without pushbackfrom the governor's attorney.

- He has called peopledarling and sweetheart.

He has had to change with the times.

Yes, he hugs and he kisses his staffers.

He has had to change with the times.

- When I walk past them,

I often will give them a grip of the arm,

a pat on the face, a touch on the stomach,

a slap on the back.

- [Brody] Cuomo and Glavin say

Mondays impeachment investigation

and the AG's reports are filled with lies,

misinformation and false evidence.

- I kissed a woman onthe cheek at a wedding,

and I thought I was being nice,

but she felt that it was too aggressive.

- [Brody] The governor also faced

a steady demise within his own cabinet,

including his top aid, Melissa Darosa.

Cuomo's public resignationended with an apology

to his own two daughters.

- Your dad made mistakes

and he apologized,

and he learned from it.

- Now the governor's resignation,

it takes effect in 14 days,

making Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul

New York's first female governor.

When asked about thegovernor's coming resignation,

President Biden said he quote,

respects the governor'sdecision to step down.

John, Jenna, back to you.

- All right, Brody, thank you very much.

And joining us now is legal analyst

and author John O'Connor.

He's also a former federal prosecutor.

John, welcome, thank you forcoming on the show with us.

So were you surprised

by the governor'sannouncement this afternoon?

For a minute there it did sound like

he might stay and keep fighting.

- Well, I did expect him to fight,

it's in his nature.

But also because he's afairly hard bitten politician,

and I respect him for hispolitical nose counting ability.

He obviously made the decision

that the noses were not on his side,

that he was gonna getimpeached and removed,

and I think he wanted to avoid that.

That's the only explanation,

because otherwise this isa guy that's very abrasive,

very confrontational,

and would take this on.

So he made the right decision.

My only thought is this,

I have two thoughts.

Number one, did the mediaknow anything about this

for the prior eight years?

Everyone acts like this is a big surprise.

Or, was he getting a pass from the media?

I don't think if therewere a more moderate

or conservative politician that he would,

he would have been treatedthe way Cuomo was treated

until this report camein, that's number one.

But more importantly,

I think what he did was he made enemies

on the progressive side.

He was jousting with AOCon a number of issues,

from raising the capitalgains tax in New York,

to Medicare for all, tothe landlord/tenant fund.

And you name it, the GreenNew Deal implementation.

So he ran a foul of the Progressive's.

And so my question is,

while this looks good,

and I, I applaud it by the way,

I applaud anything you can do,

that society can do to get rid of

this nonsense in theworkplace, I'm in favor of it,

what I'm saying is though

for a long time, Democratsespecially progresses,

have gotten a pass,

and he got knocked out asbeing a non progressive.

So my issue is-

- [John] John.

- Will a true progressive get kicked out?

- John, you had mentioned media treatment,

it's amazing to think just a year ago

he was highlighted for hisleadership battling COVID.

Of course we found out more Democrats,

including the president,

had been calling for Cuomo's resignation,

not withstanding impeachment,

which now appears to be off the table.

It's very likely he stillwill face prosecution.

John, on top of the sexualharassment allegations though,

was the governor's mishandling of

the nursing home deaths during COVID.

In terms of Cuomo's calculations,

what do you think was the death knell?

- Well, I think it wasthe sexual harassment.

He can get out of the COVID thing easily,

he's got all kinds ofgovernmental immunities.

It didn't look good,

but he could get out of that.

And that was gonna be a civil suit

brought against the state.

He was acting within the course

and scope of his duties.

It was stupid, negligent,but nothing criminal.

This latter thing withthe sexual harassment

is a little tougher.

And I suspect he made a deal

where the state will defendhim in these charges.

I wouldn't be surprised.

In fact, I would be surprised

if he had to bear theimpaired legal costs himself.

There are suits coming,

the question is will Letitia James

provide a defense for him?

And I suspect there was adeal made below the surface

that he'll get defended.

And so that's a big thing for him.

I don't think he's gonnaget criminally prosecuted,

I think it's too much,

hate to say it, normal sexual harassment,

which usually doesn't get prosecuted.

So I think that's the deal that was made,

and he's gonna go on his merry way,

and he'll be financiallytaken care of by the state.

- Okay.

Well, we are out of time.

John O'Connor, thank youso much for being with us

and for your insights.

- Great to talk to you.

- In other news tonight,

after months of negotiations,

the Senate has finally passed

a bipartisan infrastructure bill,

19 Republicans joining all 50 Democrats

in voting for the $1.2 trillion deal

that now heads to the house.

- The big question, Jenna,tonight is what happens next.

CBN Capitol Hill CorrespondentAbigail Robertson

has been following the story,

and joins us now withreaction from today's vote.

Abigail.

- Well, John, today President Joe Biden

and Vice President Kamala Harris

held a press conferencepraising the Senate's passage

of the bill that they say

is a once in a generation investment

that will transform our country.

- America has often hadthe greatest prosperity

and made the most progress

when we invest in America itself.

And that's what thisinfrastructure bill does.

- [Abigail] But not everyone in Washington

is celebrating the bill's passage.

- We were all told that thisthing was completely paid for.

Oops, not quite.

- [Abigail] 30 GOP Senators voted no,

citing concerns over thebill's quarter trillion dollar

increase to the national deficit.

And they're also sounding alarms

on the Democrats $3.5 trillionbudget reconciliation plan.

- They're projecting totake our federal debt

to $45 trillion.

- [John] Joel Griffith fromThe Heritage Foundation

tell CBN News American taxpayers

will soon feel the effects ofthis ballooning national debt.

- Whether you're paying for this

with a line item on your tax bill,

or whether you're payingfor it with slower growth,

or with higher prices,

we are going to pay for it.

- [Abigail] Griffith is also concerned

with where the money is going.

- There's just as much money in this bill

for things like Amtrak and public transit

as there is for freeways, highways,

even though most people,of course, travel by car.

- [Abigail] And sees thebill as a down payment

on progressive Democrats' green new deal.

- When state governments

derive resources fromthe federal government

to bolster their infrastructure,

they're gonna have to come upwith carbon reduction plans.

- Now the Senate is now

considering the budgetreconciliation plan,

which only needs asimple majority to pass.

Now that plan noticeably does not

include an increase to the debt limit,

which sets up a Septembershowdown in Washington,

when the senators will come back,

and the treasury department warns

that that is when we will begin to exceed

our current borrowing limit.

John, Jenna.

- [Jenna] All right,

Capitol Hill Correspondent,Abigail Robertson,

thank you very much.

Well get vaccinated now,

that is what the U.S. Militaryis telling service members.

Coming up, potential repercussionsfor those who refuse.

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- [Shawn] It's about the competition.

- I kind of put that pressure on myself,

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- We use this phrase all the time,

keep chopping, keep practicing hard.

- [Shawn] It's about going the distance.

- And I think as a father it's my job

to just be the best husbandand father I can be.

- [Shawn] Watch "Going TheDistance" with Shawn Brown

Saturday night at 7:30

on the CBN News Channel.

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- Welcome back,

Get vaccinated now.

That is the message fromthe Defense Department

to unvaccinated membersof the U.S. Armed Forces.

- For now they stillhave a choice, for now.

CBN National Security Correspondent,

Caitlin Burke, joins us with more.

Caitlin, it is only a matter of time

before vaccines will become mandatory,

what can you tell us about the timeline?

- Well, rising COVID infections

are behind this warning order.

The Pentagon has alerted the armed forces

mandatory vaccine vaccinations are coming

no later than mid September.

Still, DOD Press Secretary John Kirby says

there's no reason to wait.

- They're safe, they're effective,

they work, they makeus a more ready force,

a more lethal force,

and there's no reasonto wait for the mandate.

- [Caitlin] Military leadership

will spend the coming weekspreparing for the transition,

and creating implementation plans.

Mandatory vaccines are seen

as standard operatingprocedure in the armed forces.

- When you sign up for the military,

that there are requirements laid upon you,

and some of those requirements include

being healthy and fit,

and ready to serve.

- [Caitlin] Retired three-star general

Jerry Boykin disagrees.

- Yeah, there are certain vaccinations

that are required when you sign up.

That's when you sign up.

And if you don't want totake those vaccinations,

you have the option notto go in the military,

no harm, no foul.

But for us to have a policy that says

that everybody that isin the military today

is going to take a mandatory vaccination

that is in fact as controversialas this vaccine is,

I think is a very foolish decision

on the part of theleadership of our military.

- [Caitlin] Boykin says the mandate

robs the members of the military

of their individual Liberty of choice.

- You're gonna see a negative,

negative reaction frompeople in the military,

but also from recruits across America

that are gonna say nope, I'mnot going in the military

if that's what we're gonna have to do.

- [Caitlin] In terms of those vaccinated,

the military currently mirrorsthe rest of the country.

To date, 73% of our armed forces

have received at least one shot.

It's unclear what repercussionsa member might face

by refusing an order totake a mandatory vaccine,

but Boykin believes there willdefinitely be consequences.

- Letters of reprimand.

You're gonna see administrative action

being taken towards them.

And you could also see,

really the worst case is court marshals

against these people.

- Meanwhile, nationwidevaccination numbers

are actually on the rise.

The CDC saying first dosesare up 88% in the last month.

John and Jenna.

- All right, Caitlin, thank you very much.

And here with us now is Bradley Bowman,

senior director at The Foundation for

Defense of Democracies Center

on Military and Political Power.

Bradley, great to haveyou with us this evening,

thank you for coming on.

So is there anything toprevent the U.S. military

from going forward with a vaccine mandate?

And what happens if a service member

refuses to get the shot?

- No, thanks for theopportunity to join you,

and thanks for the question.

Once the president makes the decision,

this will go forward,

and I guess I would justrespectfully disagree

with the general on this one.

The vaccine is safe and effective,

and as I'm sure he remembersfrom his time of service,

and I certainly remember from my, my time,

vaccines, many, manyvaccines are mandatory.

I remember my first day at West Point

getting shots in botharms at the same time.

When you join the military,

you give up certain freedoms,

where to live, they can order you to war,

what or what to wear,how to cut your hair cut.

And this isn't just because

the administration feels like it,

there's good nationalsecurity reasons for this.

We wanna keep our forests healthy,

because if they're not healthy

they can't do their duties and defend us.

And by the way, we have alot of foreign adversaries

who have biological weapon programs.

So there's general health reasons do this,

there supports for protection

and national security reasons to this.

And I think this is really a moment

where we've had moreAmericans killed from COVID

than in all of world war II combined.

This is really a moment to setthe political nonsense aside

and look at the facts.

- Bradley, you had mentionedforeign adversaries,

so switching gears here.

The Biden administration isdispatching its top Envoy

in an attempt to halt theTaliban takeover in Afghanistan.

I know you recentlyco-authored an opinion piece

in the Wall Street Journal,

I'm curious what you think,

how effective is diplomacyat this point in Afghanistan?

- I think the Biden administration

is implementing a foolishtimeline-based conditions

ignoring withdrawal in Afghanistan,

apparently not having learned the lessons

from the 2011 Obamaministration withdrawal,

and they're repeating thesame mistake in Afghanistan.

As a result, what are we seeing?

We've seen the Taliban takeeight provincial capitals

in the last five days.

It's an absolute disaster,

and this has been catalyzedby the foolish decision

of the Biden administration.

And if we don't see some urgent steps,

things are only gonna get worse.

And that means more refugees.

That means the gains we've seenwith Afghan women and girls

being rolled back

and potentially ultimately a safe Haven,

that can be used to launch terror attacks

against us and our allies.

- Bradley, the Washington Post

published an excerpt from an upcoming book

based on the Afghanistan papers.

It reveals how both Republicans

and democratic presidents and the military

put a positive spin on the war,

when officials knew otherwise.

Does this add credibilityto the decision to leave?

- You know, I would say we should focus on

what our persistentinterests are in Afghanistan,

and what the threatsare to those interests.

This is where the 9/11attacks were planned

and launched from thatmurdered our citizens.

We have more than 20 designated

foreign terrorist organizations

that continue to reside in theAfghanistan//Pakistan region,

and the only reason they haven't been able

to launch another 9/11 attack on us

is because we kept pressure on them there

so they couldn't kill them here.

President Biden is nowreleasing that pressure,

we're gonna see a terrorist Bonanza

in terms of recruitmentand radicalization,

and I fear more terrorist attacks.

It really is a short-sighted decision.

Trump was wrong on this,

and so Biden.

- All right, Bradley Bowman with

The Foundation for Defense of Democracies,

thank you so much for being with us.

- Thank you.

- [John] When we come back,

a new report is setting off alarm bells

over religious freedom.

We'll show you where,

and how the United States is responding.

- Daddy?

- Yeah, buddy?

- How many nickels are in a dollar?

- There are 20 nickels in a dollar.

- Look, how do birds fly?

Does milk really make my bones stronger?

- Yeah, yeah.

- Daddy, when we die,will we go to heaven?

- [Narrator] Do you have the answer

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Call the 700 club,

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To watch the CBN NewsChannel, download the app,

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- Looking overseas tonight,

for Christians living in Iran,

religious freedom conditions

continue to deteriorate.

- New government reportdetails the grim reality.

CBN's Jennifer Wishon has more.

- This new report detailsthe grave situation

Iranian Christians andothers find themselves in

as they work to live outtheir faith in their country.

For more on this, I'mjoined by Scott Weiner,

who is a middle east expert

and policy analyst for the commission.

Scott, thanks for being with us.

What has Iran been up tothis first half of 2021?

- Unfortunately, we'veseen a marked increase

in religious persecution in Iran

that's been targeting Christians

who've been subject toarrest and detention.

We've seen a very concerning uptick

regarding not only thearrest of the Bahais,

which comes after decadesand decades of persecution,

but now has escalated to

the destruction of Bahai houses.

We've also seen two amendmentsto Iran's penal code,

which really look to be tailor made

for violating religious freedom.

Article 499, which has now been changed

to persecute anyone who insults Islam,

as well as article 500,

which goes after anyonefor deviant educational

or proselytizing activity.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,

or the IRGC, has been persecuting

religious minorities in Iran,

but has not actuallylimited its activities

to the borders of Iran.

We've received severalreports that the IRGC

has targeted religious minorities

who have fled Iran forcountries like Turkey

and many others,

and that those men and women

are continuing to be harassed

and threatened by the government of Iran,

even after they've left the country.

- What is life like in Iran

for Christians and otherreligious minorities

who are trying to liveand practice their faith?

- Christians can be persecuted

when they join a house church.

They can be persecuted on the basis of

teaching different ideasfrom those endorsed

by the government.

The Iranian government particularly likes

to go after Muslimconverts to Christianity,

and so we've seen that a number of people

have been arrested and thrown in jail,

including pastor Youcef Nadarkhani,

who You Serve advocates for

as part of our religiousprisoners of conscience program.

So he was arrested in amiddle of the night raid

a couple of years ago.

Plain clothes police,

they used a taser on his young son.

And he's been tucked awayin jail for years now.

We're very concerned that he may be

at increased risk forcontracting COVID-19,

because as you know,

in prisons in general,

but especially in Iran,

people are in close

and often very unsanitary conditions.

- Scott, how does the commission recommend

that the U.S. address these atrocities

that are occurring in Iran?

- First and foremost,

it's important to raisereligious freedom violations

directly with the government of Iran.

The U.S. and Iran areengaged in negotiations

about issues that don'trelate to religious freedom,

but nonetheless create points of contact.

Secondly, You Serverecommends targeted sanctions

on specific high level officials

who are directly involved inreligious freedom violations.

Finally, the United States Congress

has for years given by partisan support

to a piece of legislationcalled the Lautenberg Amendment.

And this allows Iranianreligious minorities

to come to Turkey,

or sorry, to Austria,

and to be vetted by usintelligence agencies

and security agencies,

and then to be resettledin the United States.

So currently there are roughly 80 refugees

who are in Austria,

they have been checked andvetted by the United States.

These include Christians,Mandaeans, (indistinct),

many, many different religious minorities.

They're ready to cometo the United States,

but they haven't been resettled.

And so this is a verysmall number of people,

and bringing these peopleinto the United States

as part of a broader refugee policy

would really signal theUnited States' credibility

on issues of religious freedom.

- Scott Wiener, weappreciate your expertise

and the important work you're doing.

Thank you.

- Thanks so much for having me.

- [Jenna] Coming up, asweet job opportunity.

How one Ohio dad

created a special jobfor his special kids.

(upbeat music)

- I am Regent's firstROTC graduate student.

(crowd cheering)

- [Efrem] I'm Efrem Graham,

and this is "Studio 5."

Cruise with me as I discover

the good things happeningin the world of music,

sports, television, and movies.

- The fact that Ryan Coogler

was gonna be directing the film,

I knew that somethingspecial was gonna happen.

- [Efrem] We'll chat with artists

at the forefront of entertainment,

and explore the connection

between popular culture and faith.

- I asked my pastor, I said

"Well, does that mean I'msupposed to be a preacher?"

He says "No, no, youalready have a pulpit."

- [Narrator] Wednesday night at 8:30

on the CBN News Channel.

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- Wegner had a simple desire for his kids,

to provide jobs for his two adult children

with Down syndrome.

- And so he put that dream into motion

and bought an ice cream truck.

It's called Special Neat Treats.

Josh and Mary Kate hit thestreets selling ice cream,

and it's a big hit in theirLoveland, Ohio community.

They plan to expand

the fleet of ice cream trucks next summer,

but Wagner says thebusiness is about much more

than just selling ice cream.

He wants to inspireothers with special needs.

- [John] I could get onboard with that, Jenna,

I think we need to tell himto come down to Washington DC.

- I know, bring their fleet down here,

it would be a big hit.

- [John] What a great dad,

and clearly a great and beautiful family.

- I was gonna say what a good man,

great father,

and just a wonderful family.

- Well, thank you so muchfor watching "Faith Nation."

- Have a great evening.

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