(upbeat music)

- The woman accusing JudgeBrett Kavanaugh of assault

is now saying she's preparedto testify next week.

Welcome to Faith Nation, I'm John Jessup.

- And I'm Amber Strong.

The New York Times isreporting Christine Blasey Ford

says she'll speak to theSenate Judiciary committee

if the terms are fair andher safety is ensured.

- Capitol Hill correspondent,Abigail Robertson

has been on top of this story.

She joins us now for more.

Abigail, can you tell us whatyou're hearing on the Hill

about this latest development

in Judge Kavanaugh's nomination process?

- Well according to the New York Times,

the email says that Dr. Ford has,

is agreeing to negotiate withthe judiciary committee staff

about potentially appearingin Washington next week

and while earlier this weekshe said that she did not

wanna come forth withoutan FBI investigation first,

apparently this email says thatshe has a strong preference

that a full investigationoccur before she testifies.

But it stops short of sayingthat she won't testify

without that FBI investigation.

So we will see, it is likelylooking like that hearing

will not take place on Monday,

but they're going to negotiate

and hopefully get her here next week.

- Abby, why was ChairmanGrassley hoping to have

the hearing wrapped up on Monday?

- Well Monday was a pretty critical date

for the judiciary committee

because if they want Judge Kavanaugh,

if they have any hopeof having him confirmed

by that October 1st start date

of the next Supreme Court session,

they needed to have the hearing on Monday

and then proceed quicklyto a vote in the committee

before moving that on to the full Senate.

So if this hearing doesnot happen on Monday,

that throws off that timeline.

So if we do see JudgeKavanaugh confirmed eventually,

it likely will not be at thestart of the Supreme Court,

so he will not be able to,if he does make it there,

he will have to sit outon voting on the cases

that they proceed with hearingwhen they start October 1st.

- Now Abby, this announcement comes after

a good amount of pressurefor Ford to testify.

What have lawmakers been saying

to encourage her to come before them?

- Well, a lot of democrats,well all democrats really,

were very supportive of not proceeding

until we heard from Dr. Ford,

and they also were encouragingthat FBI investigation.

But even republicans were saying

that they wanted to hear her out

before they proceeded with the process

and with the nomination,

but then when Dr. Fordsaid she wasn't thinking,

she wasn't going to come speak,

or was hesitant about coming to speak,

that's when republicans started to say

that that was unfortunateif she wasn't going to come,

and felt like ChairmanGrassley had done what he could

to get her here, so theywould be fine with proceeding

with the vote if she didnot come before them.

But now that that is back in play,

and we might hear from her next week,

that could once again changethe game for Judge Kavanaugh

as far as having 100% republican support.

- Abby, earlier in theweek we talked about

key senators to watch, any changes?

Where do they stand right now?

- Well, yes, there actuallyhas been one change there,

democratic senator Claire McCaskill

is the first one of thosered state democratic senators

that's up for reelectionin just a few weeks now

in a state that President Trump won,

and she has said that she officially

will not support Judge Kavanaugh.

This is not a huge surprise,

because she did not supportJustice Gorsuch either,

but we have not heard backfrom those other three

democrats who are in a similar situation.

Senators Joe Manchin, JoeDonnelly, or Heidi Heitkamp,

and I think it's likely thatthey won't announce anything

until there's more developmentsin this potential hearing.

- Abby Robertson stayingon top of it, thanks Abby.

- Thank you.

- Some national newsoutlets are being questioned

for their coverage ofthe Kavanaugh hearings.

Reporters use social media to reach out

to former Georgetown Prepand Holton-Arms students

hoping to get the truth aboutthe Supreme Court nominee.

Holton-Arms is the school Ford attended

at the time of alleged attack.

Now some alumnus took to Facebook

on behalf of journalistsencouraging friends

to do everything you can to"ensure justice is done."

- Well for more now, we'rejoined by Kyle Drennen.

He is a Senior News Analystfor the Media Research Center.

Kyle, in this day andage, it's pretty common

for journalists to usesocial media as a tool

to reach out to perspective interviewees,

but do you think thingslike posting on Facebook

and asking women to come forward

to speak out against JudgeKavanaugh is an appropriate way

of going about reporting on this story?

- Well, I mean, it's really,it's very questionable

because you're sort of just,

you're just putting out a call

on social media, on Facebook,

and you really don't knowwhat kind of response

you're gonna get to something like that.

Anybody can sort of replywith a comment and...

How do you ascertainwhether that's true or not?

I guess you could set upsome sort of interview

after the fact, but thatsort of is a strategy that

would just invite a lot of people to just

throw in potentially false claims and

you'd wind up having to sort through

how many false claims beforeyou got to something that

might be credible.

Yeah, that doesn't really seem like

a very good journalistic process.

- Well we live under a legal system

where you're innocent until proven guilty.

Do you think the big networks though,

and the cable news outletshave been following

that rule for Judge Kavanaugh?

- No, not at all.

The assumption in all of the coverage has

definitely been that he is,

as Joy Behar said on The View yesterday,

I think she sums it upbest, the media coverage,

he's probably guilty.

I think that's definitely beenthe attitude in the press.

They just been running withthem democratic talking points

on this from the beginning andthere's really not a lot of

interests in sort of gettingKavanaugh's side of the story

or bringing on people whowould defend Kavanaugh,

I mean yesterday, ABC'sGood Morning America

brought on Anita Hillto give her perspective,

but sort of CBS immediately brought on

Kamala Harris the other day.

So where's the other perspective?

They just don't seem to bevery interested in that.

- Kyle, I think it's importantto do the flip side of that.

Do you think that conservative media

is doing a fair job notquestioning or impugning

Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's perspective,

and that's a part of coursefrom the democratic strategy

which many suggest is to delay,

are they giving her a fairshot too, to tell her story?

- I think by and largefrom what I've seen,

yes, I think they are.

Watching Fox News and various other

news sources where you haveconservatives with shows

and they definitely seem to,

everybody seems to befollowing the same formula of

she should come forward, wewanna hear what she has to say.

Republicans are offering her a forum

and trying to accommodateher, and she absolutely should

get her side of the story out there,

but at the same time, sheshould be asked questions,

tough questions, about her allegations.

And Kavanaugh should havethe right to defend himself.

But I do think conservativemedia is saying,

no one's saying,

oh she should not beable to tell her story,

it's just that, but it should be fair and

Kavanaugh should have thepresumption of innocence

before people try to convict him.

- Kyle, this entire confirmation process

for Judge Kavanaugh has been so partisan.

How much of a role does themedia play in all of this?

- Well, I mean the mediaas in with most stories,

they come at things from the liberal side,

and they like to puttheir thumb on the scale.

As the democrats are sort of saying,

well we need to havethe FBI investigation,

we need to do this, that,and the other thing,

we can't just have a hearing.

The media advances thatside, that narrative,

with all of their reporting.

That is sort of exclusivelywhat they're focused on.

That is the perspectivethat they want to make the

primary focus of all of their coverage.

And so when they're putting

their thumb on the scale like that,

and sort of every time thedemocrats make an argument,

that immediately gets, theygive them a megaphone for that

but when republicans are saying,

wait a minute, we're tryingto set up this hearing,

and we're trying to be fair here,

that's the media, justthey sort of give that

very short shrift and move on back to

the democratic talking points.

- Kyle Drennen with Media Research Center,

thanks for joining us today.

- Okay, thank you for having me.

- While public pollingshows democrats in the lead

on the generic ballot inthe midterm elections,

republicans have a clearfinancial advantage.

Republican nationalcommittee raised nearly

16 and a half million dollars in August,

the largest monthly haul of the cycle.

Bringing its fundraisingtotal to $252 million

to fend off a blue wave.

The Hill reports democratshave raised $116 million

from January of 2017 to July of 2018.

November's midterm elections are on pace

to be the most expensive in history.

- And CBN News, Chief Political Analyst,

David Brody, joins us now for more.

David, yesterday, MarkLauder was here on set

saying that even though polls are showing

record enthusiasm for democrats,

he says that enthusiasm among republicans

is just as, if not evenmore so, than democrats.

What's your sense?

- Well, I know Mark, nice guy.

- Would you say he's fudging?

- He might need to tapit down a little bit.

(chuckling)

- Why do you say that?

- Well slow it down, welllook at the polls, alright.

Arizona, the democrat is, in the Senate,

I'm talking about the Senate race,

Martha McSally, who'sthe republican is losing

to the democrat, that is Arizona.

Republican territory,that's Jeff Flake's seat,

and then you have Tennessee,

Marsha Blackburn, the republican,

losing to the democrat right now.

So you've got those states,and then in Indiana,

where we've talked alot about Joe Donelly..

Lot of folks thought, oh, Joe Donelly,

he's not gonna be ableto make it this time,

in Trump red countrythere, well here he is!

He's up six, seven pointsor so and winning there.

So, right now the map looks very good,

at least in the Senate for the democrats,

which we weren't, we weretalking a lot about the House,

not so much about the Senate.

- [John] Interesting.

- Let's talk about Kavanaugh.

Do you think this controversy will have

an impact on the midtermelections, left or right,

it can have an impact either way, right?

- Yeah, absolutely, Amber.

So here's my answer, Ihave three answers for you.

Yes, no, and maybe.

I mean, I don't know and here's why.

Because we don't know howthe trickle, trickle, trickle

part of this is gonnaplay out with Kavanaugh.

I mean, look, this is theway I see it for republicans.

If they see, are seen as rushing this,

which I know the democrats wanna paint

the republicans as rushing it,

if they paint them as rushing it

and it's a bunch of, let's be honest, men

grilling this woman in frontof the judiciary committee,

bad optics, horrible optics, right.

And so you have that, and then of course,

can you imagine thedemocrats 30 second spot

in the midterm elections, right.

Hatch and Cornyn andGrassley, and all these,

and this woman's sitting there like this,

and all of these questions,so it's a fine balance

that republicans are gonna have to do

in this hearing next week,if it actually happens,

which it sounds like it probably will.

And so that's the one side.

But the other part of it is democrats,

playing nasty politics, they're not first,

but they are playing nasty politics,

and so republicans maybe able to turn it around

and mobilize theevangelical base, we'll see.

- David, the New York Timeshas an interesting article

that they just put out saying that

even evangelicals areangry and frustrated with

republicans in the Senatebecause this is their chance

to finally cement a conservative,

solidly consistent Supreme Court,

and rather than backingKavanaugh, in their words,

it seems as though they'rekinda punting to allow

Christine Blasey Fordto give her testimony.

What's your sense, what are you hearing?

- I think that they're jumpingthe gun a little bit on this.

I've actually been surprised

at the republican back bone so far.

Normally, what we see,the playbook has been

democrats push and push and push

and republicans relent, relent, relent.

And that's what we've seen.

This time, not so much.

Grassley's been pretty strong on this,

and with a Trump administration,

I think they're gonnapretty much back Kavanaugh

all the way through and Idon't think they're gonna

give in to the democrats this time.

Which would be a firstin republican politics,

at least in modern dayrepublican politics.

- Do you think there'sa strategy here, right?

It's not just them giving into the whim of the democrats,

there's a strategy behindwhat republicans are doing.

- Oh I think there's no doubt about it

and I think that they want, look,

they want her to testify in public.

And they believe thatthey'll have the upper hand

because remember, she did testify before,

you know who she testifiedfor, in front of?

The Washington Post reporter,and that was her story,

and it was national.

So she's already out with her story.

And so, I think how it plays in Peoria,

I think most voter say,hey look, you know what,

she's already out with her story,

just go ahead and say it infront of a judiciary committee.

- So bottom line it, 30seconds, elevator pitch.

No, I'm just kidding.- That's your word.

- Do you think republicanswill hold on to,

republicans will hold ontothe Senate and the House

at the end of everything?

- I think it's gonna be difficult for them

to hold onto the House, Ithink they probably will

end up keeping the Senate, I see it split.

I've been talking a lotabout that blue blip,

which means you have to be,

if you get 24 you're at a blue wave,

in other words, democratshave to get 24 seats.

I thought it was gonna be 15, 20.

I feel like it's movingtowards more of a blue wave

at this point, check back withme in a month and we'll see.

I will say this, a GOPstrategist real quick,

love this analogy, he called it like a,

you know one of those hurricane cones

that you see out in the Atlantic.

You don't know if it'sgoing south or north,

or which way the path is coming.

There's a path coming, the question is,

what's the damage gonna belike for the republicans?

- David, thank you always

for you analysis on time.- You bet, thanks guys.

- A state of emergency remains in effect

for parts of the Carolinas,

nearly a week after HurricaneFlorence made landfall.

As flood waters and poweroutages still plague

the hardest hit areas,there's a new concern

for people living inparts of North Carolina.

Animal waste.

The North Carolina Departmentof Environmental Quality

says pig farms were hit hard by the storm.

21 have already overflowedin the wake of the storm,

releasing waste into floodwaters

that could cause severeenvironmental and health damages.

- Well Amber, today marksthe one year anniversary

since Hurricane Maria madelandfall in Puerto Rico.

The category four hurricanedevastated the island,

leaving in its wake$140 billion in damages.

And according to a recent report,

nearly a thousand UScitizens died in Puerto Rico

as a result of this storm

and poor living conditions afterwards.

That's a dramatic increase from

the original death toll of 64.

President Trump pushed back on the amount,

saying the change wasa ploy by the democrats

to make him look bad.

This week the PuertoRican governor petitioned

President Trump for statehood saying

Puerto Rico's current position is

"Discriminatory and allowsfor unequal treatment

"of natural born US citizens."

- Coming up on Faith Nation,

the latest steps theCatholic Church is taking

to fight sexual abuse by priests.

(investigational music)

A quick correction for youfor earlier in the story,

we read that 1000 peopledied in Puerto Rico

as a result of Hurricane Maria.

A correction, that was actually,according to the report,

3000 people died in theaftermath of the storm.

Well the State Department is challenging

an article that questionsSecretary of State, Mike Pompeo

and his decision to speak

at this week's Values Voter Summit.

Politicals suggested Pompeo's appearance

is "raising eyebrows,"sighting a precedent

followed by previous Secretaries

to avoid partisan events.

But the State Department shot back saying,

Secretary Pompeo was invited to discuss

international religious liberty,

saying "If speaking about protecting

"human rights and libertyis wrong or offensive,

"then we as a nationhave truly lost our way."

- The Values VotersSummit kicks off tonight,

here in Washington DC,it's touted as one of

the biggest conservativepolitical events of the year.

Put on by the Family Research Council,

Values Voters features speeches from

some of the leadingvoices of the movement.

Jenna Browder recentlyspoke with FRC President,

Tony Perkins, about what'son this year's agenda.

- It's gonna be a great event, Jenna.

We've got the VicePresident's going to be there,

we have Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo.

First time, actuallythe first time we've had

a sitting Vice President.

First time we've had asitting Secretary of State,

we'll have the Ambassador-at-Large

for Religious Freedom willbe there, Sam Brownback,

and a whole lot more.

Just a ton of activities.

This is a place conservatives need to be,

not only to know what's going on,

but how they can be engaged, equipped,

to really impact what wewere just talking about,

the midterm election.

So it's gonna be a great event,

starting Friday, Saturday, and Sunday

at the Omni Shorehamhere in Washington DC.

I don't recall in the Bush Administration,

that we actually hadadministration officials.

I think they really tookconservatives for granted,

this administration does not.

And as a result, they'renot only listening,

but they're acting upon their concerns.

Look, you can say, wellI don't agree with this,

I don't agree with that,it's not gonna be 100%.

But I can tell you after 15 years

of being here in Washington DC,

working with republican anddemocratic administrations,

majorities here, majorities there,

We have never had theopportunity we have now.

Not just for here in theUnited States domestically

to restore religious freedom,to advance family values,

but literally, to reach the world

with the idea that every humanbeing has a right to choose.

Freedom, religious freedom.

This administration, MikePompeo, Secretary of State,

that's what he's gonna be talking about.

He is focused on that humanright of religious freedom,

among all the other issues, butit's a top priority for him.

This is an exciting time.

I don't know how long the window is here,

but I would encourage conservatives,

Christians across this country,

to be praying, to be voting,

and to be standing for truth in this time.

- CBN News will have special coverage

at the Values Voters Summit.

In the morning, we'll bring you coverage

of Mitch McConnel's speech

and David Brody will bring us a wrap up

of all the day's events on Faith Nation.

- As the fallout from thegrand jury investigation

into sex abuse within thePennsylvania Church continues,

one group of bishops isworking to make amends.

In a statement Wednesday,

the US Conference of Catholic Bishops

admitted failures whilealso announcing steps

to address sex abuse in the church.

Among them, implementinga third party system

for victims to report abusive acts

to church and civil authorities.

Developing a code of conduct for Bishops

regarding sexual abuse,harassment, or misconduct.

Supporting a full investigation

into former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick.

McCarrick, the formerArch Bishop of Washington,

is accused of assaultingminors and seminary students.

It's unclear who exactly willconduct the investigation.

This statement and action follow a meeting

this group had with PopeFrancis last week in Rome.

The Pontiff is facingquestions from various groups,

ranging from church officials,

to members of the entertainment industry.

- I talked about the Pope's...

Feelings about what hashappened in the church.

I explained how it looksto some people like

the abusers are being moreprotected than the victims.

And you can see the pain in his face.

- Pope Francis announced a global meeting

for next February toaddress the ongoing crisis.

- As North and South Korea move towards

restoring a peaceful peninsula,

Vice President Pence honors American lives

lost in the Korean War.

(investigative music)

Welcome back, North Koreanleader, Kim Jong-un,

says he wants a second summitwith President Donald Trump.

The President of SouthKorea made that announcement

when he returned from a threeday summit in Pyongyang.

The North also wants Secretary of State,

Mike Pompeo, to visit the region.

As of yesterday, Pompeo is"prepared to engage immediately,

"on dialogue to move forward

"with improving relationswith North Korea."

He also set a January 2021 deadline

for Kim Jong-un to get rid of

any nuclear weapons in his country.

- Vice President Mike Pence spent the day

honoring the lives of Americans who died

fighting on the Korean peninsula.

- He joined veterans in aflag presentation ceremony

at the Korean War Veterans memorial.

- CBN News White HouseCorrespondent, Ben Kennedy, reports.

- Well John and Amber,Vice President Pence

told war veterans theWhite House will never stop

trying to bring theirfallen comrades home.

Meanwhile, North and South Korea leaders

wrapped up a key meeting in Pyongyang.

("Taps," military trumpet plays)

The Vice Presidenthonored fallen US soldiers

by presenting a special American flag

to the Korean War Veterans memorial.

- This flag was among those flags

that graced the cases of some 55 remains

of fallen American heroes.

- [Ben] The return of thoseremains, missing since the war,

was secured during President Trump's

historic summit with NorthKorean Dictator, Kim Jong-un.

- Just recently, Kim Jong-un

announced his commitment toallow nuclear inspections.

Subject to final negotiations,

and offered to permanentlydismantle the test site,

and a launch pad in the presenceof international observers.

(cheering)

- [Ben] Kim also justfinished a three day summit

with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

The two signed a declaration agreeing to

turn the Korean peninsulainto a land of peace

without nuclear weaponsand nuclear threats.

Kim also committed to closing

a missile engine testsite and launch facility.

- We're making tremendous progress

with respect to North Korea.

Prior to becoming president,

it looked like we were goingto war with North Korea.

And now we have a lot of progress--

- Now North and South Korea also hope

to jointly host the 2032 Summer Olympics.

The US is ready to restarttalks with North Korea,

seeking denuclearization by 2021.

Ben Kennedy, CBN News, Washington.

- Thanks Ben.

- It's amazing to see, justa year ago right at the UN,

the tension between theUnited States and North Korea

for President Trump tosay "little rocket man"

and where we are now.

- I was just gonna say,to go back to those tweets

when people were completely worried about

where this would all end up,and see where we are now.

- That's right, well that's gonna do it

for today's Faith Nation.

- We'll see you all tomorrow.