- Well welcome folks to thisedition of The 700 Club.

Well, it seems to be a never-ending story.

The terror group knownas Hamas talks peace

to the whole world while itcontinues to wage war on Israel.

More than 150 rocketssoared across the border

just on Wednesday, sendingIsraelis to the hospital,

and thousands more into bomb shelters.

- Israel is striking back, taking out more

than 100 Hamas strongholds in Gaza.

As John Waage explains,this all comes after weeks

of negotiations for a long-term ceasefire.

(screaming)

(explosion booms)

- In the streets ofSderot panic once again

as the sirens signalincoming rockets from Gaza.

Hamas says the barrage is retaliation

for Israel's earlierkilling of two Hamas snipers

who were said to be in training

and not firing at Israeli troops.

The terror group's response sent

stressed-out Israelisheading for shelters,

and Israel's militarypounded Hamas targets

in the Gaza strip withstrike after strike.

This wave of bombardmentcomes after days of debate

here in Jerusalem aboutwhether Israel should agree

to a five-year Egyptian-brokeredceasefire with Hamas.

Now with roads, and beaches,and summer camps closing

in Southern Israel, and wearyresidents sick of sirens,

the talk has turned to military strategy.

At least one Knessetmember, a retired colonel,

is calling for the headsof the Hamas leadership.

And U.S. Middle East negotiatorJason Greenblatt tweeted,

another night of terror,and families huddling

in fear as Israel defends itself.

This is the Hamas regime's choice.

Hamas is subjecting its people

to the terrifying conditions of war again.

Meanwhile, UN leaders warnthat Gaza residents face

impending disaster, withsevere fuel shortages

already plaguing the city, but with more

than 100,000 Israelis underfire, the fuel problem may not

be Gaza's greatestworry in the days ahead.

John Waage, CBN news Jerusalem.

- Well, it was anamazing when the Israelis

who had control of theGaza strip pulled out

of it in supposedly a peace effort.

It was ill-considered, andit looks like every time

they make an overture of peace, Hamas,

or one of those radical groups,

comes in to steal the peace away.

Well, that's what's happening,

and they control that partof the Palestinian Authority,

and the Palestinian Authority really

has no control over Gaza.

It's a shame, it really is a shame,

but that's what's going on.

Well, in other news, we'vetold you how cyber attacks

could leave millionsscrambling in the dark.

Energy Secretary Rick Perry tells CBN news

his number one priority isprotecting the power grid.

Efrem Graham has morefrom our CBN newsroom.

Here's Efrem.

Well, Pat, from banking to transportation

to communications, major industries

are connected by the Internet.

That technology can pose a grave threat

to our national security.

In an exclusive interviewwith the Energy Secretary,

he tells CBN's Jenna Browder some of

the best minds in America are working

to protect America against cyber attacks.

- There's perhaps no more serious threat

to the United States thana crippling cyber attack

on the country's power grid.

Just ask Secretary of Energy Rick Perry.

It's what he says he and his department

are largely focused on.

How vulnerable is theUnited States' power grid

from a major cyber attack?

- It's of great concern because

we're not where we were 10 years ago.

This is a completelydifferent world we live in

from the standpoint ofhow it's interconnected.

- [Jenna] Perry says one factor

is old infrastructure, andit's not actually all bad.

- So in one way that kind of protects it,

because you've got some old technology

in there, some old analog equipment.

On the other hand, all the digital,

the new types of technology that's there

is vulnerable to a cyber attack.

- [Jenna] Another factor.

- The Russians havesome thuggish behavior.

There's not any doubt about that.

- [Jenna] Russia, and other countries

like Iran, and North Korea, and China,

looking to infiltrate everything from

our power plants to elections.

In the case of Russia.

- So I think we're findingthe right balance between

if you cannot be a citizen of the world,

and act in an appropriate way,

there's gonna be some real punishments.

But if you do, then we can find some ways

to work together, to tradetogether, to help each other.

- When it comes to NorthKorea, how much of a role

is the department of energy playing

in talks with Kim Jong-un,and in denuclearization?

- I think the president is spot on.

I think he's verycourageous to step forward,

and carry on these conversationsand carry on this dialogue.

- [Jenna] And if the administration

can achieve that goal, Perry says

the department of energywill play a key role

because of its technical expertise.

- If the President andSecretary Pompeo and others

are successful in gettingNorth Korea to agree

to denuclearize, the Department of Energy

will play a substantial rolein the verification side of it,

of the deconstructingof any of the weapons,

and then the decommissioning,and the disposal of, as well.

- If there's a silver lining to the threat

our power grid faces,Secretary Perry says it's this.

- We're vulnerable, but every place

in the world is vulnerable.

The good news is that our national abs,

some of the smartest menand women in the world,

are working on ways todefend, working on ways

to both defensively andoffensively deal with

these individuals whowould attack our grid.

- [Jenna] In Washington,Jenna Browder, CBN News.

- And Pat, you've warned ofthis danger for quite some time.

- A whole lot about it.

You know, I appreciate whatSecretary Perry was saying,

but I sure wish he would said,

here's one, two, threefour, what we're gonna do,

not we've got good minds studying it.

We've studied it long enough.

The threat is absolutelyreal, and you've got, again,

a thermonuclear blastat about 1500, 2000 feet

in the heartland of Americawould cripple the grid

all across this nation, that's number one.

A solar flare, and they're not unheard of,

suddenly you've got a blast from the sun

of solar energy that comes out,

and that could knock our grid out.

And when that happens I'm talking about

it's tragedy, and millionsof people will die.

I don't want to havepeople studying it anymore.

I want them to fix it,and I think the thing

we need to do is a major,major governmental thrust

to make sure that thisgrid is safe and hardened,

and we've got to get allthose nodes taken care of.

I know that some of them are cyber,

and, I mean, are theold-fashioned, or less interesting,

and then some of them arenew and on the Internet,

and that's good, too, but we've got to

fix them so they all work together.

It is a crisis that'sgot to be dealt with,

and the money involvedis minuscule compared to

the damage that can be donewith one of these cyber attacks.

Well, Efrem, what you got?

- Pat, President Trump'sattorneys are saying no

to an interview with specialcounsel Robert Mueller.

Mueller wanted an in-personinterview covering

several topics, includingpossible obstruction of justice.

The President's team will notaccept those terms, saying

they'll take written questions,

but probably won't answer anyabout obstruction of justice.

Now Mueller can make a counter-offer,

or try to force the President to testify.

The President's attorney saysthat would be unprecedented.

- [Rudy] So long as he'smaking his decision voluntarily

and not submitting to a subpoena,

then that's not inconsistentwith what other presidents did.

There's no question thePresident would resist

any kind of an attemptto force him to testify.

- Rudy Giuliani also repeatedhis calls for Mueller

to wrap this Russia investigation,

saying there should be areport by September 1st, Pat.

- Well, Rudy's also said thatthe scandal is going to be

the special prosecutor and his team,

and the fact that they didn'tgo after Hillary Clinton.

There's one fact thatwe've learned just recently

is that the FBI notifiedSenator Feinstein that she

had a Chinese agent working in her staff,

and she immediatelydismissed this individual.

They should have done the samething for President Trump,

but they didn't, yet theyhave brought charges against

some of these people, butthey've said they didn't notify

the candidate that he hadsuspicious people working

with him, and if therewas anything it looks like

the only charge they've got is

this Christopher Steeledossier that was paid for

by the Democrats, andthe whole thing has been

a fraud from the beginning,and it's said that

the American people are gonna be

absolutely horrifiedwhen all this comes out.

But in the mean time Mueller keeps

dragging, dragging, dragging, dragging,

and I had Alan Dershowitzon the other day,

and we were talking aboutthe Whitey Bulger matter

when the so-called specialprosecutor was then

running the FBI office of Boston,

and Bulger was hiding out in plain sight,

and the FBI couldn't catch him.

It was just ridiculous,so these people are not

the sharp watchdogs of oursafety that they purport to be,

and the FBI has had a terriblestain on its reputation

because of the misconduct of people

like Peter Strzok, and LisaPage, and others like that.

It's just horrible to see it happening,

but the fact that he might try to...

I don't know if they want togo to war with the President

on this one, to force him to testify,

because what is obstruction of justice?

Leading legal experts say that a president

in a fulfillment of his Constitutional

mandated responsibilities cannot

be held guilty of quoteobstructing justice.

You just cannot obstruct justice

when you're following outyour Constitutional duties,

so in any event I hope this thing...

It's weighing on all of us,it needs to be wrapped up,

we've had enough of it,it's cost a lot of money,

and it's not doinganybody any good at all.

It really isn't, they aren't.

Alan Dershowitz said soclearly some years ago,

and he said it again, we should have had

a commission study this matter.

If there is Russianinfluence, then it ought to be

dealt with on a dispassionate level

by a blue-ribbon commission,not by some prosecutor.

All right, Efrem, what's next?

- Pat, despite high level negotiations

between Turkish and US officialsin Washington Wednesday,

American pastor Andrew Brunson

remains under house arrest in Turkey.

He faces another hearing

on espionage-related charges in October.

Many call the proceedingsa kangaroo court,

and until now Brunson's supporters

have had no idea what's happening.

CBN's Jennifer Wishon brings us

this first-hand accountfrom inside the courtroom.

- A courtroom designed to makePastor Brunson feel defeated.

Bogus witnesses bribed by the prosecution,

and the power of forgiveness.

An eyewitness takes usinside Pastor Brunson's

persecution in Turkey.

- The court used to belike a basketball court,

or some sort of sports court,that has been turning to

a courtroom right nextto a very large prison,

and a way up front there arethree judges in a raised dais,

and very low is Pastor Andrew Brunson,

witnesses for the prosecution,and Pastor Brunson's lawyer.

There over 500 chairsbetween him and the area

where observers like me andhis wife are allowed to seat.

- [Jennifer] KristinaArriaga of the US Commission

on InternationalReligious Liberty attended

Pastor Brunson's most recent hearing.

Seated beside his wife Norine,she watched in disbelief.

- Because Pastor Brunsoncannot see very well

from far away, any time helooks back towards his wife

she stands up and putsher hand over her heart

so he knows he's not alone.

Pastor Brunson sat there while he heard

former church members, peopleprobably that he baptized,

people that he had teawith testify against him,

and the judge at one pointturned to him around noontime,

and asked Andrew Brunson tospeak for himself, and he said,

"My faith teaches me to forgive,

"So I forgive those whojust testified against me."

There was a chill in the room.

I know his wife, who isgraceful and extremely strong,

probably found that tobe a natural answer,

but I was stunned and movedto tears when he said that.

- Why would his church members, people

that he was intimatewith testify against him?

- I imagine these people wereunder tremendous pressure

to keep their jobs or feed their families.

We don't know what kind ofthreats they were under.

- [Jennifer] Brunson has been transferred

from prison to house arrest,

but Arriaga fears that puts him at risk.

- But he's in a terriblydangerous situation

because the Brunsons areportrayed in the Turkish press

as people who are againstthe state of Turkey,

and I have great fears there's gonna be

an increase of incitementto violence against him,

and no one will be ableto stop someone, a mob,

that tries to go and kill him.

- [Jennifer] Armed withsanctions, and the power

to withhold F-35 fighter jetsTurkey wants to purchase,

U.S. officials from the WhiteHouse to Congress continue

to pressure Turkey's president,

Recep Erdogan, to release Brunson.

His next hearing is October 12th.

Jennifer Wishon, CBN News.

- An amazing account, Pat.

- Well, the Turks are strong allies.

They're members of NATO, but Erdogan

is clearly trying to move Turkey

into a Islamic dictatorship, a theocracy,

and this thing he talkedabout the clash between

the mosque and the church and so forth.

He really wants to fight with Christians.

Brunson had a little Church,I think in North Carolina,

a little evangelical church, like Baptist

or something like that.

He had a small little church,and that was in Izmir, Turkey,

and he wasn't doinganything to hurt anybody,

and to claim that he's somehow

an enemy of the state is just outrageous.

But in Turkey they supposedlyhave religious freedom,

and we've had a lot of people in Turkey,

we have a very robust program in Turkey,

and thousands of thosepeople have come to the Lord.

They're good people, but this Erdogan

is not one of the peoplewe want to support,

and we put sanctions already.

President Trump has sanctioned a couple

of his officials, and itlooks like more is coming.

Withholding, we certainly shouldn't

have them doing F-35 high-powered jets

to build up theirmilitary because they want

to use them against Israel, but again,

read the book of Ezekiel, chapter 38,

and you'll find somebodyin there called Gomer.

Well, what is Gomer?

Well, that is Turkey, andif you read Revelation,

the churches of Revelation, all the way

through Thyatira and Laodicea,

and all those churches in Revelation.

They're all in Turkey,every single one of them.

Turkey is, you know, theycall it the churches of Asia,

but the Asia Minor was Turkey,

and it's very prominent in the Bible,

and from what I readit's going to be part of

a coalition againstIsrael, so this time for us

to come to put the screwsto Turkey's right now,

but they have a major airbase, the Incirlik Air Base

in Turkey, and it's avery import transit point

for our troops when we're doing activities

in the Middle East, andTurkey can withhold permission

for us, our planes, to take off and land.

It's a bad situation thatwe're in with Turkey,

and we need a deal with Erdoganbecause he is a bad actor.