- Welcome to "The 700 Club."
It's the latest deadly threat from China,
a hypersonic missile that flies five times
the speed of sound andgives the Chinese the power
to make a nuclear strike anywhere
in the world without warning.
- Guess what?
The United States hasabsolutely no defense
against this nuclear missile,and it's just one weapon
in the Chinese arsenal of military might.
So can America playcatch-up in this arms race?
Brody Carter brings us the details.
- China denied they testlaunched a hypersonic missile
into space this summer aftera "Financial Times" report
that it circled theentire earth and landed
within 25 miles of its target.
(rocket soaring)
- The US does notcurrently have the ability
to even track this weapon,much less defeat it.
It will give the Chinese the ability
to conduct a nuclear strike
anywhere in the world without warning.
- [Brody] The missile, capable of carrying
a nuclear warhead, reportedlycircled the entire globe
at five times the speed of sound.
This comes as China worksto build up its strategic
and nuclear weapons systems.
Both China and Russiahave tested hypersonics.
The US has not.
- We have made clear our concerned
about the military capabilities
that the PRC continues to pursue.
(rocket blasting)
- [Brody] Other feats ofmilitary strength include
more than 250 missile silosbuilt for nuclear warheads
in China's western desert,seen in this satellite photo
near the city of Yumen.
They've also deployednuclear ballistic missiles
launched from submarines.
China's military expansiongoes beyond missiles
and other weapons intocutting-edge technology.
The Pentagon's Chief SoftwareOfficer recently resigned
because he thinks China willdominate important areas
like artificial intelligencein the years ahead.
He told the "Financial Times,"
"We have no competing fighting chance
"against China in 15 to 20 years.
"Right now, it's already a done deal;
"it is already over in my opinion."
- I think we're having, as a country,
a very hard time gettingour hands around exactly how
to deal with this kindof high tech challenge
from a non-Democratic competitor.
- (speaking foreign language)
- [Brody] China's Ministryof Foreign Affairs said
the missile was a routinetest of a spacecraft
to verify reusability of the technology,
but went on to warn the US and Canada
to avoid provoking war.
- That suggests thatChina is either preparing
to be able to fight a nuclear conflict
or is trying to deterescalation to the nuclear level
if there's a conventional conflict.
Either way, that's aconcerning pattern of behavior.
- But this is the decadeof concern, as they say,
so our weapons development should be put
on an accelerated basis.
- [Brody] And if wedon't, what would happen?
- We could lose the war.
- The intelligence communityhas warned that China is
rapidly expanding itsmilitary capabilities.
The question now is howwill the US respond.
Brody Carter, CBN News.
- Well, the real key to the danger
of this nuclear missile is not the speed,
although the speed isabsolutely incredible,
five times the speed of sound.
The key to it is the pathit took, that it went
through the south pole asopposed to the north pole.
All of our missile defensesare aimed at the north pole
thinking that that's theshortest route for an ICBM
to cross from Russia to the United States.
And so if you come in from the south,
we literally don't have anydefense against it at all.
And what's going to happen now?
Well, absolutely what's goingto happen now is an arms race.
North Korea has already announced
they have one of these weapons.
Here, China has one.
We're sitting on the sidelines,
we haven't developed itbecause we don't wanna get
into a new arms race, butwe're going to be forced to.
Either you adopt to these kinds of weapons
or you're left on the sidelines
and now you're a nuclear hostage
and you can't defendyourself, and you can't defend
your strategic interests.
But pay attention to somethingthat was in that report
that isn't being talkedabout and needs to be talked
about at the highestlevels of our government:
the race to AI.
Artificial intelligence will dominate
the battlefield of the future.
Whoever develops thattechnology first is going
to be the first to win.
That's something we're not engaged in.
There's a lot of warnings coming
from the scientificcommunity, in particular,
from some tech CEOsthat say we have no idea
what we're getting into.
And if we develop AI withoutsome pretty rigid standards,
AI has the potential to do some things
that we won't like as human beings.
So where are we in that race?
The Chinese clearly want to develop it
and clearly want to develop it first.
In other news, do protestsat school board meetings
amount to domestic terrorism?
That's just one of the questions
from Congressional Republicans who grilled
the Attorney General,Merrick Garland, yesterday.
John Jessup has more on that story
from our CBN News Bureau in Washington.
John?
- And that, Gordon, wasjust one of the topics
when the attorney generalappeared before Congress.
Lawmakers also asked himabout election integrity
and the January 6th Capitol riot.
CBN's Jennifer Wishon has this look
at the contentious hearing.
- The attorney general detailed his vision
for the Justice Departmentbefore House Oversight Committee
and right off the bat, controversy.
- Raise your right hand.
- [Jennifer] Even beforethe attorney general's
swearing in, fireworks.
- Did we ever vote on that?
- That's a clever written statement,
but a protocol is not a rule.
- [Jennifer] Popping offover a failure to provide
proper notice to play a videoof a school board meeting.
- Obviously, you're gonnasensor us which is sort
of the conduct of theleft today, it seems.
- [Jennifer] This, aheadof Attorney General,
Merrick Garland'sopening statement, laying
out his vision for the DOJ.
- On my first day in office, I spoke
about three, co-equal priorities
that should guide the department's work:
upholding the rule of law,
keeping our country safe,
and protecting civil rights.
- [Jennifer] Those three priorities pitted
against claims of election fraud,
charges in the January 6th riot,
and a country grappling with the debate
over the public schoolsystem's role in social issues
and COVID mandates.
- Not in a million yearsdid we dream that one day
we'd see the Justice Departmenttreat American parents
as domestic terrorists.
- [Jennifer] The AG skeweredover a Justice Department memo
instructing the FBI to address threats
against school officials.
- Is there a legal precedencefor the Department of Justice
to investigate peaceful protests
or parental involvement atpublic schools meetings?
- We would never do that.
We are only concerned about violence,
threats of violence.
- [Crowd] No more masks!
No more masks!
- [Jennifer] After anational school board missive
to President Biden saidclashes and protests
by parents over public schools
may amount to domestic terrorism.
- Who at the White Housetold you to write the memo?
- No one in the White House spoke to me
about the memo at all.
- Are these parents in Loudon County
and all these other schoolboards across the country
domestic terrorists?
And I think that is kind ofthe whole big issue here,
and what's really gettin'Republicans in a lather.
- [Jennifer] Also atissue, the 2020 election.
- There's no evidencethat voter fraud impacted
the outcome of the 2020presidential election, true?
- [Garland] That's correct.
- [Jennifer] Garlandreiterating the findings
of multiple state auditsacross the country,
proving claims of widespreadvoter fraud to be false.
And in the midst of anongoing Capitol riot probe,
the AG outlining the DOJ'srole ahead of a House vote
on bringing Contempt of Congress charges
against Steve Bannon over theformer White House Counselor's
refusal to cooperate.
- We'll apply the facts andthe law and make a decision
consistent with theprinciples of prosecution.
- The AG also facingquestions over the Texas law
banning abortions in the state,
and the DOJ's repeatedattempts to block it
in federal appealscourts, the latest attempt
now heading to the Supreme Court.
Jennifer Wishon, CBN News.
- All right, thank you Jennifer.
Turning now to the fight against COVID-19,
millions more Americans arenow eligible for booster shots.
Federal officials saycertain high-risk people
who got Moderna andJohnson & Johnson vaccines
can now get that shot andthey can mix and match
with vaccines that differfrom their original shots.
Also in COVID news, theNational Institutes of Health
now say it's funded gainingof function research
at a lab in Wuhan, China,
something Dr. Anthony Faucihad previously denied.
The NIH made the admission in a letter
to Kentucky RepublicanCongressman, James Comer.
Well archeologists haveuncovered the foundation
of one of the country'soldest black churches
from colonial times.
The congregation of FirstBaptist of Williamsburg, Virginia
began meeting secretly outdoors in 1776.
But much of its history waslost when its building was
paved over by a parking lot.
Now, black and white are coming together
to tell the whole story.
Here's Wendy Griffith with more.
(tools striking)
- [Wendy] After a yearof digging, archeologist
Jack Gary says they foundwhat they were looking for.
- We've uncovered two foundations
of two differentbuildings, one of the being
what we believe is to bethe first permanent building
that the congregation began to worship in
in the early 1800s.
And then the second foundationis for their second church
which replaced the firstchurch, which actually was
demolished by a tornado.
We've also discovered 28burials that we believe are
members of the historic congregation.
- [Wendy] First Baptist dates back to 1776
when free and enslaved blacks would meet
in secret outdoor gatherings,despite laws that forbade it.
Years later, a whitecolonist named Jesse Cole
was so moved by their worship,
he offered them his carriage house
and that became theirfirst church building.
The second church whichwas much bigger was built
in 1856 and stood until 1956when Colonial Williamsburg
bought the property, paidfor a new church building
a few blocks away, andturned the old church
into a parking lot.
- It was hurtful.
Colonial Williamsburg knew this.
They accepted it and they acknowledged it.
And right now, we've moved from the hurt
over to the healing and it'sa pretty powerful feeling now.
For those descendants that are still here,
they actually get to seeit all being uncovered.
- Imagine the prayers that were prayed,
the songs that were sung, and the sermons
that were preached,right here, on the site
of one of the oldest blackcongregations in America.
Now, the First Baptist Churchhopes that uncovering the past
will bring the healingthat America needs now.
- I want people to feelthat healing can happen,
that togetherness, it can happen.
All of the things that wethought could not happen,
all we have to do is cometogether and recognize
each others' humanity and thatwe all serve the same God.
- Reverend Dr. Reginald Davisis Pastor of First Baptist
in Williamsburg, whichhas thrived since 1776,
despite slavery, racism, and its history
almost being covered up.
- We're gonna have tomake sure that we tell
the whole story, not half of the story.
- Harshaw says first and foremost,
this is a story of faith.
- Look at God, He is reallyin the midst of all of this
because everything has lined up perfectly.
The nation is struggling right now,
with the conversation on race,
we're all struggling withthe conversation on faith,
so we now know that this is the time.
There is no other time.
So I just think thatit's one of the things
that will bring the country together.
- [Wendy] Some of theexciting findings so far?
A one-cent coin dated1817 and some copper pins
that were common on women's clothing.
They plan to keep digging for another year
then they hope to reconstructthe original church
by 2026, just in time for the celebration
of America's independence in 1776.
Wendy Griffith, CBN News, Williamsburg.
(colonial marching music)
- Great story, Wendy.
Gordon, uncovering ourrich story and sometimes
complicated history to usher in healing,
and in this case, through faith.
- It's a wonderful storyand congratulations
to the church for lasting this long
and lasting through allkinds of persecution
and then to come through onthe other side to healing.
What a wonderful story.
It's also a story ofthe Virginia baptists.
In the early days of Virginia, it was
actually illegal to be a baptist.
You had to be part ofthe Church of England.
And so when they were doingthese congregational churches
where they would elect theirown pastor and they would do
their own thing, thatwasn't considered proper
by the Anglicans and so theyactually put them in prison.
The church, the Baptist Churchin Culpepper, Virginia is
actually founded on the samelocation the prison site
where their first pastor was imprisoned.
In Crozet, Virginia, they hadone of the largest libraries
outside of Monticello,so they were rivaling
Thomas Jefferson with the size
of their library in the 1820s.
They had one of the largest Sunday schools
in the state and themajority of the people
they were teaching, they were all slaves.
And again, all of that was illegal.
You couldn't teach a slave to read.
So here, you have achurch in Williamsburg,
growing up in the middle ofthat kind of persecution,
the congregation being forbiddento read their own bible
and forbidden to even learn how to read.
It's a great, wonderfulhistory and that is why
the Danbury Baptists ofVirginia wrote Thomas Jefferson
a letter asking are ourreligious freedoms going
to be protected under this Constitution,
and that's when he referredto our great first amendment.
"Congress shall pass no law respecting
the establishment of religion."
We don't have an established church
but we do have religious freedom.
