- Welcome to "The 700 Club."
Kidnapped at gunpoint.
17 US and Canadianmissionaries were ambushed
by a criminal gang outsidethe capital of Haiti.
The motive?
Well, apparently all they want is money.
- Well, kidnapped for ransomhas become a lucrative business
in the poverty-stricken nation,
which has been hit hardby natural disasters
and political unrest.
So what's being doneto rescue the captives,
which include five children?
Dale Hurd explains.
(screen whooshing)
- Witnesses said the missionaries
were forced out of a bus at gunpoint
after visiting an orphanageSaturday outside Port-au-Prince.
The group includes five men, seven women
and five children, theyoungest just two years old.
Authorities suspect they were snatched
by the notorious 400 Mawozo gang
whose name roughly translatesto 400 Inexperienced Men,
and has a reputation fortaking hostages for ransom.
The gang was responsible
for the kidnappings offive Catholic priests
and two nuns earlier this year.
One expert told The New York Times,
the kidnappers could demand
as much as $1 million per hostage
for each of the 17.
But he also said thekidnappers are not terrorists
and he's confident the hostageswould be freed unharmed
if the ransom is paid.
The US State Department is in contact
with Haitian officials,
and the Ministry told CNN the kidnappers
have made contact with them.
The Ministry said in a statement,
"We are seeking God'sdirection for a resolution,
and authorities are seeking ways to help.
- US officials now are working, I'm sure,
around the clock tofree these missionaries.
- [Dale] Since the assassination
of its president earlier this year,
criminal gangs now rulethe streets in Haiti
and kidnapping is one ofthe only growth industries.
This year, more than 360 peoplehave been reported kidnapped
with ransoms fundingthe gang's activities.
- Their intent is to make money.
They are doing these kidnappingsfor ransom, for money.
No politics are involved.
It's not terrorism.
Their goal is to make asmuch money as they can
from the hostage taking.
- [Dale] Unfortunately,missionaries are often the target
of these crimes.
It happened earlier this year
with the shooting ofan American missionary,
and in 2019 when an armed mobattacked a missions group.
- Came around the corner,
and all of a sudden, herethe road's blocked off,
there's burning tires, there's debris,
there's a mass crowd of100, 120 people there.
- The window blew out behind my head,
and a couple seconds after that,
I heard Doug yell, "I'mdying, I've been hit."
- [Dale] A doctor seriously wounded
in that attack nearly died.
Doctors called it a miracle he survived.
Christian Aid offers Bible classes,
runs a medical clinic, helps orphans
and distributes seeds to farmers in Haiti.
It's considered one of the bestfunded mission organizations
on the island.
Christian Aid is asking believers
to join us in praying for those
who are being held hostage,
the kidnappers and the families, friends
and churches of those affected.
Dale Hurd, CBN News.
- Well, we certainly joinin prayer for Christian Aid
for those wonderful missionaries
who have their lives on the line.
And their children.
One of the captives is just two years old.
You look at the situation
and you just shake your head and go
how could it get so lawless
that this kind of activity
is not just seemingly allowed,
but it seems to berampant throughout Haiti?
It just is absolutelyincredible to imagine.
Well, in other news,
will the IRS soon be snooping
into your financial transactions?
Well, don't think it's not a possibility.
Efrem Graham has more onthat from the CBN news room.
Efrem.
- Gordon, the Biden administration wants
to give the IRS financial income data
on millions of Americans and businesses.
Under the plan, bankswill provide information
on accounts that withdrawa deposit more than $600.
It's supposed to help payfor new spending programs
and crack down on tax cheats.
But critics argue it's invasive,
and an invasion of privacy.
CBN News Capitol Hill correspondent
Abigail Robertson reports.
(screen whooshing)
- Republicans arecalling this new proposal
from the Biden administration bizarre,
and claim it will flag all kinds
of ordinary transactionsAmericans make all the time.
- In effect, Democrats wanna let
the IRS systematically snoop
through normal family checking accounts
as though they were allpotential financial criminals
until proven otherwise.
- [Abigail] The governmentalready has special authority
to demand information ontransactions over $10,000
but this would drasticallydecrease that number.
- If American families aresending or receiving $600
from their checking account,
Democrats want the IRSto snoop through it.
- [Abigail] Treasurysecretary Janet Yellen argues
the proposal has been mischaracterized.
- The proposal involves no reporting
of individual transactionsof any individual.
- [Abigail] Yellen told CBS,
the goal is to holdbillionaires accountable.
- The big picture isthat we have a tax gap
that over the next decadeis estimated at $7 trillion.
Namely, a shortfall in the amount
that IRS is collecting due to a failure
of individuals to report the income
that they've earned.
But Norbert Michel
from the Cato Institutetells CBN's Faith Nation,
this isn't necessary,
and that the IRS has known
about the massive tax gap for decades.
- Sure, I guarantee you
that if they audit abillionaire or anybody else,
and they have reasonable suspicion
that you are committingfraudulent tax returns,
submitting fraudulent tax returns,
they can get your bank information.
They can get everything.
They can seize your assets.
There's no need to do this.
- Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson
is leading the charge to block the effort.
- The government doesn't need to know
every time you're going to Costco
and stocking up on diapers and groceries.
And I just think it'san incredible invasion
of big government.
So our bill is designed tofight back against that.
- If approved, banks will be required
to provide the IRS with the total amount
of money flowing in and outof flagged accounts each year.
Financial institutions maintain
that all of this couldcause a big increase
in their costs,
which could eventually bepassed along to consumers.
Reporting from Virginia,Abigail Robertson, CBN News.
- Coming now to the battleover COVID vaccine mandates.
As COVID cases drop
and as more treatments become available,
resistance remains strong to government
and private mandates.
A court battle is under way
between the City of Chicagoand the police force.
About half of them have gotten vaccinated.
The city says thosewho do not get the shot
will not be paid.
- The only way that we cancreate a safe workplace,
and maximize that is bygetting people vaccinated.
- [Efrem] But the police union
is moving to dismiss the mayor's action,
and the Seattle PoliceDepartment faces a deadline today
for all officers to showthey've been vaccinated.
Hundreds of officers may leave
because they've decidednot to get the shot.
Also in Washington, about 200 employees
of Boeing protested thecompany's vaccine mandate,
which goes into effect December 8th.
The president's mandatehas already been challenged
by Republican governors.
Here in Virginia, thetightening governor's race
is getting closer attention
with a little more than two weeks to go.
The most recent Trafalgar poll
shows Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin
with a slight advantage
while a Fox News poll gives the nod
to Democrat Terry McAuliffe.
That uncertainly has McAuliffe trying
to rally his base by bringingin national party figures,
including former President Barack Obama.
Sunday, Georgia Democrats, Stacey Abrams
and Atlanta mayor KeishaLance Bottoms join him
in Norfolk for a Souls to the Polls event,
and between now and electionday on November 2nd,
some 300 churches will show a video
from Vice President KamalaHarris endorsing McAuliffe.
Education is seen as a growing factor
in the close race.
That Trafalgar poll shows 54% disagree
with McAuliffe's statements
he doesn't think parents shouldtell schools what to teach.
Fox News anchor Chris Wallace paid respect
to CBN founder and CEO Pat Robertson
and his retirement fromhosting "The 700 Club."
Wallace named Pat thePower Player of the Week
on his Fox News Sunday program,
citing his transformationof religious broadcasting
over more than six decades.
In noting Pat's runningfor president in 1988,
Wallace did ask aboutmobilizing Christians
to engage in the political arena.
- Were there any negatives totying Christian evangelicalism
to the Republican Party?
- Well, I came to realizewithout a question
that God is not a Republican.
That God loves everybody,
and the trouble with getting involved
in partisan politics
is that half of the electorateyou make mad at you,
and I should be dealingwith eternal matters
and not secular politics.
- Wallace also pointed out
that Pat took a stand against racism
by bringing on Black minister Ben Kinchlow
to co-host the program in the 1970s.
(screen whooshing)
And Gordon, Pat also told Chris
he might be stepping back
but he is not retiring,
and he looks forward todecades more ministry,
and to that we all say amen.
Gordon.
- Sorry, we had a technicalglitch on that clip
but dad recalled the racial segregation
that CBN literally wasbirthed in the 1960s.
And his response to that
was to bring on an AfricanAmerican co-host to be,
and in history, it's the firsttime you had a White man,
and an African American manhosting a television show,
a daily television show.
It was back in the early 1970s.
It's part of the history of CBN.
If you wanna see the full history,
I encourage you to watch The CBN Story.
It's available at cbnfamily.com
or on the CBN Family app.
And get the full story.
It's absolutely free.
But it's a wonderful story
of how God worked, howGod inspired my father
to start Christiantelevision here in America,
and how it's literallygone around the world.
It's a fascinating story.
I encourage you to watch it.
It's available at cbnfamily.com.
