(mid tempo music)

- [John] Tonight, back into the breach.

- This is not an evacuation.

- [Jenna] The US sendsthousands of troops into Kabul

as more Afghan cities fall to the Taliban.

(guns blasting)

- [John] This as COVID chaoscontinues across the country.

(beep)

- [Jenna] And Uyghurs rally.

- Act immediately to address this

humanitarian refugee crisis.

- [John] The work toexpand asylum protections

for refugees fleeing genocide in China.

- [Jenna] Plus nine long years.

- The last time I hugged him he was 30.

- [John] The hope forabducted journalists,

Austin Tice on his 40th birthday.

- All this and moretonight on "Faith Nation."

(mid tempo music)

Afghanistan, under siegeas the US moves out

and the Taliban accelerates its advance

towards the capital City of Kabul.

Good evening, I'm Jenna Browder.

- And hank you forjoining us on John Jessup.

3000 American troops are ontheir way to Afghanistan,

rushing in to help evacuateUS embassy personnel

and others in Kabul as thesituation there unravels.

- The Taliban has alreadytaken over most of the country,

including a dozen key citiesin just the last week.

CBN News senior WashingtonCorrespondent Tara Mergener

is here with the latest, Tara.

- Well, John and Jenna,

this is not where the Biden administration

wanted things to be.

Forced to heighten US military presence

in the midst of a planto withdraw all US troops

in less than three weeks.

(explosive blasting)(guns blasting)

As the team Taliban's gripquickly grows tighter,

Afghanistan is deteriorating.

Up to 3,500 US troops now standing by,

ready to remove staff fromthe US Embassy in Kabul.

- Our job here now withthis additional plus up

is to help facilitate the safe movement

of civilian personnel out of Afghanistan.

- [Tara] As Afghan forces surrender

the Taliban to seizing oneregional capital after another,

sharing videos along the way.

- Well, this was one of those few cases,

when I think the reality is probably worse

than what it looks like.

- [Tara] Overnight,violent clashes in Kandahar

with Taliban forces now taking over

Afghanistan's second largest city,

the Taliban now just 80 miles

away from the country's capital.

Paul Miller and Afghan war veteran

and former White House aide says,

the worst is yet to come.

- And they may indeed takeover the whole country here

in a matter of days or weeks.

- [Tara] Those who stand to lose the most,

the women of Afghanistan,

a generation of girls who grew up

with more access to education rights

are now fearful theTaliban will once again

take all of that away.

- They know that everything that they know

and they have and they have gained

is on the verge of shattering,

should the Taliban come back to power.

- [Tara] Here at home experts say

there will also be moredanger on American soil.

- It's bad for the United States

and our allies and partners as well

because as the Talibantakes over the country,

Al Qaeda and its copycats

will be able to regain safe haven there.

And I don't need to tellyou how bad that can be.

- [Tara] Still earlier this week,

President Biden said he does not regret

the decision to quicklywithdraw American troops

from Afghanistan by the 20th anniversary

of the September 11th attacks.

- They've gotta fight for themselves.

- [Tara] Which is the reasonthe US entered the country

in the first place.

- Who would have possiblythought that 20 years on

this is where we would be ending up.

- And while the Biden administration

is still not calling US troop deployment,

a combat mission or an evacuation

pundit say the emergencyevacuation of Americans

will be seen by many

as an admission offailure by the president.

In Washington I'm Tara Mergener, CBN News.

- All right, thank you Tara.

Well, to COVID 19 and thesurging Delta variant.

Churches across the countryhave their hands full

dealing with not only the pandemic,

but growing concerns ofhomelessness and hunger as well.

- CBN's Brody Carter,introduces us to one pastor,

who's not letting the fear of COVID

get in the way of helping others

while pleading for peopleto step up and help.

- Well COVID can cancel sportingevents, flights to Paris,

even weddings and funerals,

but one thing it can't stop

is the love one womanhas for her community

and a love for Jesus.

- If COVID doesn't killthem, hunger will kill them

- [Brody] Not even theresurgence of a global pandemic

can stop Pastor Shetigo Nakpodia

and Redeemer's PraiseChurch in San Antonio.

She and her team serve300 meals every Saturday

and not one of them has caught COVID.

- The Lord laid on my heart

to just keep going every day,

to just go and feed.

- [Brody] Serving the homeless from inside

the dilapidated walls ofthis 1869 historical church,

which has a history deeper than the smoke

you can still smell trapped in the wood

from two separate fires,

but now it's setting heartson fire for Jesus Christ

in the heart of Texas.

- So every morning, go love on the people

go to work, take care of your family,

don't quit trusting and believing God.

Together standing inFaith we will overcome.

- [Brody] The pastor now raising money

to build a community center

where the homeless can washtheir clothes, get their GED,

and also grab a hot meal.

(crowd chattering)

(beep)

This is COVID chaoscontinues across the country

with mandatory mask andvaccines heating up.

The Delta virus is not slowing down,

with a daily caseloadtenfolds since late June.

This week's top COVID headlines,

hospitals in Oklahoma andMississippi running out of space.

The FDA authorized booster shots,

for the at-risk population,

vaccines are now deemedsafe for pregnant women

and Virginia the lateststate to issue a mask mandate

for all K-12 students,

despite all of this, aword of encouragement.

- Don't quit stay in the word,stay in faith, stay in prayer

and let's just keep going everyday,

trusting God to take care of us.

- Pastor Nakpodia is still raising money

for Redeemer's PraiseChurch and community center,

thanking anyone who feelsconviction to help her

end hunger in San Antonio.

This as the fight againstCOVID-19 continues,

Brody Carter, CBN News.

- All right, thank you, Brody.

And here now to discuss Clarence Page

syndicated columnist andPulitzer prize winning journalist

with the "Chicago Tribune."

All right, Clarence, greatto see you this Friday.

Thank you so much

for coming on.- You too.

- So high-risk Americans, theycan now get a booster shot.

And at the same time,

we still have about 50% ofAmericans who are not vaccinated.

Clarence, what do youmake of this discrepancy?

- Well, it's a combination of things.

So some people just don't wanna get a shot

for reasons of their own,

some people haven't had access,

and also it's quite a bitof confusion around still

because the variousstandards that have changed.

I'm still wondering, shouldI get a booster or not?

But at my age, I betterget everything I can get.

- Clarence to Afghanistan.

How surprising did you find

the speed at which theTaliban has made its advance?

- I was surprised and disappointed

'cause I expected it to be a fast advance.

I was quite amazed, I haven'tseen an event like this...

I guess you can call it a route.

Since the fall of Saigon.

And we watched thatlargely on television too.

You young folks,

probably got some oldpictures around or whatever,

but that was a similar situation,

after we'd been there for so long,

had some 58,000 American lives,

not to mention all theVietnamese lives and all.

All that commitment,

we just had to hightail it out of there,

and that's what we'redoing in Afghanistan now.

But there's no otherway that I can see it,

we've been through what?

20 years and severalpresidential administrations,

nobody's found on the answer over there,

and it's just a shame ithad to happen like this.

- You were talking about Saigon

and the New York Posttoday had the headline,

called "Biden's Saigon."

The article essentially blames Biden,

for the way this is all unfolding.

Do you think that's a fair claim to make?

- I expect that claimfrom the New York Post,

that's their job

to constantly criticizedDemocratic presidents.

No, if they got a betterplan, I'd love to hear it,

and I'm sure Biden would love to hear it.

The fact is you saw President Trump

was devoted to getting out of Afghanistan

and got us partly out, not all the way.

President Obama, President Bush,

they've all had challenges with that,

and for a lot of differentreasons, very difficult.

I just hope they can have this peaceful

or bloodless of a transition as possible,

that's what's inevitable over there.

- Clarence, no doubt,it's been a tough week

for the administration.

There's also the Southernborder and that leaked audio

of Homeland security,secretary Alejandro Majorca's

calling the situation unsustainable

adding also that we're going to lose.

Clarence, do the secretary's comments

reveal a more serious situation

than the administration has let on.

- I don't know if it's moreserious than they've let on.

Every administration now try to play down

the seriousness there,

but it's still a dilemma for this country,

how to handle the border and try to do it

as humanely as possible.

And I think if it really is unsustainable,

Congress will send more money.

Washington is right now...

President Biden has got DemocraticCongress to help them out

if they need more funding

and if we need more border security.

But frankly, I don't knowwhere the end is going to be

because we don't have a neat solution

for that dilemma either.

- Well, speaking of Congress,

on infrastructure, nine moderate Democrats

are threatening to withhold their votes

from the $3.5 trillionhuman infrastructure bill.

Clarence, do you thinkspeaker Nancy Pelosi

will cave on this?

Or how do you see this playing out?

- I suspect that they'll come to a deal

in order to get as much of that

human infrastructurebill passed as possible.

The Republicans aren't big on that,

they prefer traditional infrastructure,

like bridges, roads, highways.

This larger package is almost

a Biden new deal, it seems to me

with some very humane issues there.

They're funding childcareand climate change,

variety issues to be funded in that bill.

And it's all polls testedand popular with the public.

It's just a question of getting over

the hump of politics on Capitol Hill.

- All right, columnistswith the Chicago Tribune

Clarence Page,

we always appreciate you being with us.

- Great to see you.- Thank you Clarence.

(effects whooshing)

- And coming up, protestsagainst the ongoing persecution

of the Uyghur people in China.

How a bipartisan bill couldhelp thousands of refugees.

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- Welcome back.

Well tonight, hundreds of Uyghur Muslims

and fellow protestersrallied near Washington DC

calling on the United States government

to expedite asylum cases and grant refuge

to Uyghurs, Khazaks andothers facing persecution.

- To act immediately

to address thishumanitarian refugee crisis,

that is being overlooked.

We ask them to help uplift the Uyghur

and other Turkic peoplethat have fled genocide-

- [John] Uyghurs andpeople in East Turkistan,

which China calls Xinjiang,

have sought independencefrom Beijing for years,

yet the Chinese state

has steadily persecuted,the Uyghur people,

sending millions to concentration camps

that China calls reeducation camps.

- Here with us now is Salih Hudayar,

Prime Minister of theEast Turkistan government.

Salih it's great to haveyou with us this evening.

Thank you so much.

So this spring,

Republican Senator Marco Rubio

and Democratic Senator Chris Coons

joined together on a bipartisan bill

to allow Uyghurs and thepeople of Eastern Turkistan

eligibility for priority refugee status

in the United States.

How important is this issue?

- This is very important,

given the situation ofthe ongoing genocide.

Many countries in the Middle East,

including Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia,

other countries in Central Asia,

like Kazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan,

and even south Asian countries

like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Cambodia

have been deporting Uyghurs

at the request of the Chinese government.

And they, Uyghurs are being sent

into the concentration camps and prisons.

- Can you describe thedire situation Uyghurs

and the people of EastTurkistan face today

under control the Chinese government?

- Yes, at he moment,

according to the US Department of Defense,

there's at least 3million Uyghurs, Kazakhs

and other Turkic peoplein concentration camps.

And we have millions more in prisons.

Outside of the camps,people are being subject

to forced labor in thehundreds of thousands.

We have over 850,000 children

who have been forciblyseparated from their families

and sent to state run boarding schools

to be educated as loyal Chinese citizens.

You have systematic rape of a Uyghur

and other Turkic women, forced marriages.

And you have the massorgan harvesting of Uyghurs

and other Turkic peoples

as a result of the mass DNA biometric

and a other collection bythe Chinese government.

- Uyghur people, fleeingChina have sought refugee

in other countries weknow outside of the US

and there's growing evidence that shows

China pushing those host countries

to round up and deportUyghur people back to China.

Can this be stopped?

- There is going to be a lot of pressure

that there needs to be a lot of pressure

by the United States andother democratic nations

in the internationalcommunity to stop this.

However, because of the economic

and political ties ofthese certain countries,

we don't think that wecan necessarily stop this,

and that is why we'recalling on the United States

and other governments in the free world

to grant priority refugeestatus to Uyghurs,

and to expedite the asylum applications

of those that are alreadyhere in the United States

and other countries.

- In addition to asylum, Salih,

what role does the InternationalCriminal Court play,

even though China hasrefused to join the ICC?

- Well, the International Criminal Court,

given the precedence with theRohingya and Myanmar issue,

they can establish a jurisdiction

to investigate Chinese officials

for genocide and othercrimes against humanity,

because the fact that part of the crime

is happening in other countries

that are member states of the ICC,

like Tajikistan, which hasdeported some 3000 Uyghurs

in recent years.

- All right, Salih Hudayar,

Prime Minister of the EastTurkistan government in exile.

Thank you so much for being with us today.

- Thank you for having me.

(effects whooshing)

- [John] Nine years in captivity,

why supporters aren't giving a hope

for captive journalists, Austin Tice.

More on the Marine Corpsveterans situation,

when "Faith Nation" returns.

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- Welcome back.

This weekend marks nine years

since American journalist andMarine veteran Austin Tice

was kidnapped in Damascus, Syria.

Tice, whose reporting helped McClatchy

win the George Polkaward for war reporting

on the Syrian civilwar, turns 40 this week.

The Georgetown law student's parents,

Mark and Debra Tice, continueto plead for his release.

We are really measuring more by action,

which is what we don't see.

And the only thing Lester

that we have asked since 2012,9 years, three administration

is direct diplomatic engagement

with the Syrian government.

- [Jenna] Tice has notbeen seen or heard from

since a proof of lifevideo released in 2012,

but as parents, theyhave not given up hope.

Secretary of State AntonyBlinken said in a statement

that it's within Basharal-Assad's power to free Austin.

- Well I can't Imagine how harrowing.

Well joining us now is Lisa Matthews.

She is an Associated Press journalist

and the 114th president ofthe National Press Club.

Lisa, welcome to "Faith Nation."

You know, as someone who's been following

Austin's case closely for years now,

can you help us read intosecretary Blinken statement?

What was he saying to you?

- Thank you so much forhaving me, first of all.

The situation with Austin Tice

has been very important forthe National Press Club,

and along with Mark and Debra Tice,

we have not given up hope

on getting Austin back home safely.

But I think what stands out most

in Secretary of State Blinken's statement

is what he didn't say.

For a while it's always thequestion of proof of life,

questioning whether Austinis still with us or not.

And I think that's somethingthat we take as a hopeful sign

that's not there anymore.

We know that Austin is still alive.

We've seen statementsfrom various senators,

including Virginia, Senator TimKaine and others on the Hill

who have expressed their sentiment,

that how important it is

that Austin be returned home safely.

So I think it's moreabout, what's not there.

- Interesting.

The Biden administration isreviewing its Syria policy.

Is it possible that a diplomatic channel

could open up between the US and Syria

in order to bring Austin home?

- Well, we certainly hope so.

Last year we did see...

President Trump did makethe statement last year

that he was going to do all he could do

to bring Austin Tice home.

At the time Secretary of State Pompeo

basically echoed whatthe president had to say.

So I believe, and we are very hopeful

that what we've seen

and even though it's justa statement at this point

is a signal that there havebeen discussions going on

behind the scenes thatwe're not seeing and-

- [John] A little bit of back-

- Yeah, go ahead.

- I'm so sorry, please continue Lisa,

I did not mean to interrupt.

- No, no, it's all good.

I was just going to saythat it just gives us

a very hopeful sense thatthere are discussions going on

behind the scenes

and that we will see some progress,

and we're very hopeful that he'll be free.

- What I was gonna add wasa little bit of background

for people who might not beas familiar with Austin Tice,

is that he hails from Texas.

He was raised Catholic homeschooled

and the eldest of seven kids.

I understand you spoke withhis 11 year old niece recently.

How did she describe Austin?

And we only have about a minute left.

- Well, I'll tell you,Maya is 11 years old.

She loves her uncle, seeingher she's very conversant.

Every year that she's grown up

has been a year without her uncle,

and she's very hopeful to have him return,

and the whole family is.

- Austin's captivity haslasted three administrations.

Is this a matter of the USnot prioritizing his freedom?

And what can people do athome to bring him home?

Just a few seconds left.

- Well, I would say, first of all,

that just like the Tices have said,

the Biden Administrationneeds to let those

who are making those diplomatic waves

know that Austin Tice is a priority.

Some things that people can do,

you can wear your Austin Tice band

in support of AustinTice, to free Austin Tice.

You can also sign apetition that we've launched

at change.org.

It's changed.org\freeaustintice.

- All right, Lisa Matthews,

we really appreciate you being with us.

Come back and we'll beback right after the break.

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- Finally, tonight,

we told you last night aboutmajor league baseball's

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- Well, it scored amajor home run with fans.

In a throwback to the 1980s film,

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Have a great night.

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