Verdict with Ted Cruz - Biden's Immigration Dumpster Fire exit, the Timing of the Israel Ceasefire & Can College Campuses Reverse Course on Antisemitism Week In Review

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.

00:00:02.620 Guaranteed human.

00:00:05.340 Welcome.

00:00:06.040 It is Verdict with Ted Cruz and our week in review.

00:00:09.720 Ben Ferguson with you and we had some major stories this week.

00:00:12.740 You may have missed them and I want to get you up to date.

00:00:15.300 First up, Biden wants more illegals to come in to this country by loosening policies before 0.99

00:00:22.560 Donald Trump is inaugurated on January the 20th.

00:00:25.720 Why is he doing it?

00:00:26.680 Clearly trying to create an immigration dumpster fire. 1.00

00:00:30.000 For Donald Trump and the administration, obviously not listening to the American people.

00:00:36.040 Also, Joe Biden is celebrating the Rose Garden, the Israel ceasefire.

00:00:42.520 Well, why did it actually happen?

00:00:44.180 Well, it was because he abandoned our ally and refused to send the weapons that Israel needed.

00:00:50.700 And finally, anti-Semitism out of control on college campuses for the last year.

00:00:55.840 So now, will things change and will they reverse course because Trump has become president?

00:01:02.560 We're going to talk about all of it.

00:01:04.200 It's the week in review and it starts right now.

00:01:07.220 There is like two dumpster fires that seem to be happening simultaneously with the Biden

00:01:13.320 administration, his team around him.

00:01:15.360 And I think Americans should be incredibly angry over this for the fact that they're clearly

00:01:19.980 saying, we know we lost the election.

00:01:21.680 We know you chose a different path, but we're going to stick it to the American people and 1.00

00:01:26.220 also stick it to the Trump administration.

00:01:28.660 Biden has decided at the very end of his administration, not respecting the voters when one of their top

00:01:34.700 issues was border security to loosen key migrant policies, quote unquote, right before you go

00:01:44.000 into December, January and until January 20th, when obviously Donald Trump would undo all of

00:01:49.360 this.

00:01:50.440 I think it is absolutely clear that both Biden and Harris want Trump to fail.

00:01:55.520 They want the problems in this country to get worse. 1.00

00:01:58.860 And they want to make sure that that Donald Trump inherits the worst stinking pile of crap 1.00

00:02:06.060 possible. 0.99

00:02:07.420 So you look at challenges at home and abroad at home.

00:02:12.260 The greatest domestic challenge we have is the open borders that Joe Biden, Kamala Harris

00:02:16.160 put in place abroad.

00:02:17.820 The greatest challenge we have are the wars that are unfolding because of Joe Biden and

00:02:21.740 Kamala Harris's weakness domestically.

00:02:25.100 What are they doing?

00:02:25.720 Well, apparently, neither Biden nor Harris learned a damn thing from the election.

00:02:29.580 They didn't hear from the voters that they don't want an open border.

00:02:32.720 They don't want this invasion.

00:02:34.120 So instead, they're doubling down and they're trying to make it harder for Trump to come in

00:02:40.780 with the new administration, secure the border and remove dangerous criminal illegal aliens.

00:02:46.280 Take a listen to this reporting on Fox about what specifically the Biden administration is doing.

00:02:51.520 Well, Sandra, the Biden administration is quietly loosening immigration policies before Trump

00:02:57.580 takes office.

00:02:58.360 This according to The New York Post, it reports the administration is testing a new app that

00:03:04.480 will allow illegal migrants to bypass in-person check ins at their local ICE office.

00:03:11.700 Jeff Paul is live with more.

00:03:13.520 It sounds like they're just giving Donald Trump one more thing to undo.

00:03:17.220 Well, John, we do know the Biden administration has been testing this new immigration and customs

00:03:23.120 app, and the idea is to streamline the check-in process for migrants, allow them to use their

00:03:28.920 phones or computers to touch base with immigration officials while they wait for their date in court

00:03:33.200 instead of appearing for those check-ins in person.

00:03:37.320 Now, a source tells Fox News ICE has been using the app already in a couple of cities, but according

00:03:41.920 to The New York Post, it's going to be launched officially next month in New York City.

00:03:47.240 The field office there reportedly has been overwhelmed, fully booked with appointments for a year.

00:03:51.720 Our sources tell us that's really the push to get this backlog moved through.

00:03:56.800 The concerns regarding this app, obviously, it's a new app, so there's going to be some glitches.

00:04:01.460 The other wider concern is could it cause even more migrants to go under the radar?

00:04:06.440 We'll have to see what happens.

00:04:07.360 There's also some major issues in the reporting with this app.

00:04:12.020 For example, the app reportedly has severe glitches and issues and does not track a migrant's

00:04:19.140 location if he or she is using an Android phone or laptop.

00:04:22.660 So, hey, if you're an illegal immigrant, just don't use an iPhone and they won't be able 1.00

00:04:26.220 to track you.

00:04:26.900 The app also does not check migrants for past arrests or outstanding warrants, which is what

00:04:32.480 they do now currently.

00:04:34.600 And so that's another problem.

00:04:35.900 And they say the app allows them to opt out of the contest government orders to undergo

00:04:40.580 electronic tracking.

00:04:41.660 So you can just say, no, I don't want to be tracked.

00:04:43.540 There's no way to find you.

00:04:44.760 And they know all of these glitches are in here.

00:04:47.140 And yet they're going, yes, we should move forward with this, knowing that Donald Trump's

00:04:50.500 going to undo it.

00:04:51.800 Well, understand the problem is not just that Donald Trump's going to undo it, but the Biden

00:04:56.120 administration is trying to make it harder to find these illegal immigrants.

00:05:00.100 Why would you say, hey, you don't have to check in in person?

00:05:02.680 Hey, you can check in on an app that doesn't track your location if you're on an Android

00:05:06.640 phone.

00:05:07.340 Hey, you can check in in a way that we're not going to find out if you've been arrested,

00:05:10.640 if you have a warrant.

00:05:12.060 This is all designed to help illegal immigrants go underground because Joe Biden, Kamala Harris,

00:05:17.960 and let's be clear, every Democrat in the House and Senate, you don't hear any of the

00:05:21.240 Democrats speaking out against this.

00:05:22.920 None of them are saying this is wrong.

00:05:25.360 Don't do this.

00:05:26.580 This is designed to make it more difficult for the incoming administration to find illegal

00:05:31.260 immigrants and to arrest illegal immigrants and to deport illegal immigrants. 0.55

00:05:35.920 That includes the convicted murderers that have been released by this administration, 0.95

00:05:40.700 the convicted rapists, the convicted child molesters.

00:05:43.500 You look at 2023, set the record for the highest number of illegal immigrants entering the country

00:05:50.620 in a single year, 3.2 million.

00:05:53.720 And Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, they don't want those illegal immigrants removed from this

00:05:59.420 country.

00:05:59.880 They see them as future Democrat voters.

00:06:01.740 This is all about power.

00:06:03.400 And I got to say, it is stunning.

00:06:07.600 Well, here, I want you to take a look at this tweet from Bill Malugian that lays out some

00:06:12.880 of the numbers.

00:06:13.500 And for those of y'all that are listening, I'm going to read it to you.

00:06:15.660 This is what Bill Malugian tweeted.

00:06:17.600 New, per U.S. official to Fox News, there are currently 1.4 million illegal immigrants

00:06:23.180 in the U.S. who have been ordered deported by a DOJ immigration judge, but haven't been

00:06:28.740 removed yet.

00:06:29.640 So that's, by the way, if people want to know where Trump's going to start, I think Bill

00:06:33.300 Malugian's tweet is a great reminder. 0.99

00:06:35.380 There are 1.4 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. who have been ordered to be deported.

00:06:39.980 So if you want to know where they're going to start, this is where they would start.

00:06:42.880 Yeah, I'm told approximately 13,000 of them are being held in ICE custody.

00:06:47.140 So out of 1.4 million, only 13,000 are in custody.

00:06:50.580 The population of 1.4 million illegal immigrants have final orders of removal, meaning they

00:06:56.940 have had their immigration cases heard, received their due process, and have been ordered removed

00:07:02.540 from the U.S. by a DOJ federal immigration judge.

00:07:06.020 A fraction of them may still have appeal options available to them and may not yet be removable.

00:07:11.380 With only 13,000 in federalized custody, we are potentially looking at a lot of people

00:07:17.220 roaming around the country who are in the U.S. illegally and who have been ordered removed.

00:07:22.340 It is impossible to know how many of them may be in state or local custody.

00:07:27.440 That 1.4 million, you're right, is exactly where I expect the Trump administration to start.

00:07:33.280 I also expect them to start with the 500,000 convicted criminals, those with other criminal

00:07:39.280 convictions, murder, rape, child molestation, who are illegal immigrants who are released, 0.97

00:07:43.940 to go and apprehend the criminals, go after the murderers, the rapists, the child molesters, 0.95

00:07:48.580 go after the Venezuelan gang members. 0.95

00:07:50.740 If you're a Venezuelan gang member, my advice is pack up and move out right now because we're 1.00

00:07:55.780 coming for you. 0.98

00:07:57.460 This administration is going to arrest you.

00:07:59.680 They're going to remove you.

00:08:00.620 They're going to deport you.

00:08:01.700 And if you've committed criminal offenses, they're going to put you in jail.

00:08:05.440 Let's talk about the tone death aspect of this.

00:08:08.120 And I say tone death.

00:08:09.160 Some people would care.

00:08:10.860 They don't seem to care.

00:08:11.960 Referring to the Biden administration.

00:08:13.080 You just had a trial that was watched in Georgia of an incredible young lady who fought for

00:08:20.780 her life for 18 minutes, 18 minutes.

00:08:23.900 She was fighting to save her own life.

00:08:25.980 She was ultimately killed by an illegal immigrant that we were paying for the hotel rooms. 1.00

00:08:30.160 We were flying him from New York to Georgia and allowing him to be able to kill this incredible

00:08:35.900 student in nursing school.

00:08:37.580 And yet the response from this administration is, yeah, we're going to keep facilitating

00:08:42.920 that and do it on an app and make sure we can't track people for the next 70 days because,

00:08:48.320 well, we're sorry that you guys picked Donald Trump and you wanted security.

00:08:51.360 We're not going to give that to you.

00:08:53.000 Well, it's even worse than that.

00:08:55.420 The attitude of a great many Democrats is massive resistance.

00:08:59.300 It is reminiscent of Bull Connor during the civil rights battles.

00:09:04.180 Bull Connor was an elected Democrat who did not want to follow the law and was defying

00:09:10.160 the law and he was bitterly angry.

00:09:12.720 I want you to give a listen to a modern day Bull Connor, which is the Democrat mayor of

00:09:17.700 the city of Denver.

00:09:18.500 Give a listen to what he has to say about civil disobedience.

00:09:21.060 You've mentioned that a couple of times now.

00:09:23.020 Would you be willing to participate in those as the mayor of Denver?

00:09:26.180 Would you be willing to go out and protest these things?

00:09:28.280 I would if I believe that our residents are having their rights violated.

00:09:32.080 If I think things are happening that are illegal or immoral or un-American in our city, I would 0.98

00:09:36.780 certainly protest it.

00:09:38.380 And I would expect other residents would do the same.

00:09:40.360 Trump's new borders are Tom Homan has said that he is willing to arrest leaders like yourself

00:09:46.680 for standing in the way of these policies that they want to enact.

00:09:51.740 Would you be willing to go to jail for these things?

00:09:53.980 Yeah, I'm not afraid of that.

00:09:55.160 And I'm also not seeking that.

00:09:56.940 I think the goal is we want to be able to negotiate with reasonable people how to solve hard

00:10:01.580 problems.

00:10:02.800 Republican and Democratic presidents in the past have all tried to find solutions to

00:10:06.060 these problems.

00:10:06.580 President Reagan helped people get access to work so they could stay and support themselves.

00:10:09.980 Biden and Harris worked on restricting entry at the border to close down.

00:10:12.460 There are a lot of ways to approach this problem.

00:10:14.300 We don't think it has to come to this.

00:10:16.600 But yeah, I think when you look at, you know, Ralph Carr has always been one of my heroes.

00:10:19.700 He was the governor who, in the middle of the internment of Japanese-Americans, said this

00:10:22.920 was the wrong thing to do.

00:10:24.140 And he stood up.

00:10:24.800 It was unpopular.

00:10:25.780 People were mad at him about it.

00:10:26.740 That was in the middle of wartime.

00:10:27.720 If the president or any of his actors are going to do things that we think are illegal

00:10:31.840 or immoral or un-American, we'll stand up against those.

00:10:34.660 It's amazing how the law doesn't matter.

00:10:36.480 He just said, well, if it's something I think is immoral, then I'm going to just say I'm

00:10:40.120 not going to follow the law.

00:10:41.180 That's clearly, and they want to become martyrs.

00:10:44.220 They want to become famous.

00:10:45.360 He's enjoying this moment.

00:10:46.540 Please put me in handcuffs. 0.99

00:10:48.260 Make me a martyr.

00:10:49.200 And I'm saying that we are still a sanctuary city.

00:10:51.740 So understand, the mayor of Denver is the modern-day Bull Connor.

00:10:57.580 He is standing at the courthouse saying, I will block federal law.

00:11:03.220 I will not follow federal law because my politics, my prejudices, it's interesting, he referenced

00:11:09.300 Japanese internment camps.

00:11:10.780 Who was it that ordered Japanese internment camps?

00:11:12.760 That was a Democrat president, FDR.

00:11:15.140 You want to talk about patterns of lawlessness.

00:11:17.100 The Democrat Party has over a century of history of lawlessness.

00:11:22.440 And I'm going to call for something right now.

00:11:24.520 So the mayor of Denver has said, we want illegal immigrants in our city. 0.99

00:11:28.380 We will fight to keep illegal immigrants in our city. 1.00

00:11:30.980 I don't care that the voters don't want it.

00:11:32.980 I don't care what federal law says. 0.80

00:11:34.640 I don't care about the women being murdered, the women being raped, the children being assaulted.

00:11:39.080 I'm going to call right now for Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, for Ron DeSantis,

00:11:43.820 the governor of Florida, for any other red governor, to start sending buses to Denver, Colorado.

00:11:51.260 Mayor of Denver wants illegal immigrants. 1.00

00:11:53.200 Well, you know what?

00:11:54.180 Joe Biden, one of the lies that mayor just said is, well, Biden and Harris tightened the

00:11:58.400 standards at the border.

00:11:59.600 That is called a lie.

00:12:01.280 They didn't tighten the standard.

00:12:02.460 They open up the border.

00:12:03.480 Texas is being invaded right now.

00:12:06.560 And I'm going to urge the state government of Texas, send every one of the illegals who comes 1.00

00:12:10.880 into the state to Denver, Colorado, drop them off in front of the mayor's residence.

00:12:16.640 He wants them there.

00:12:17.660 He's willing to go to jail to fight for them to be there.

00:12:20.480 Fine.

00:12:21.100 We will send you the Venezuelan gang members to your city. 1.00

00:12:25.260 And let's see.

00:12:26.220 You know, I'm going to predict right now the residents of Denver aren't going to like this.

00:12:29.620 I'm going to predict right now.

00:12:31.000 When's the tipping point?

00:12:31.940 That was the question I was going to ask you, because it is in Colorado where we've seen

00:12:35.460 these gangs from Venezuela take over apartment complexes.

00:12:39.680 Aurora, Colorado.

00:12:40.380 And by the way, ABC, the corporate media just said, well, it was only a handful of apartment

00:12:44.420 complexes.

00:12:44.840 Just three, four, five of them.

00:12:46.040 You know what?

00:12:46.640 We'll send a few more.

00:12:48.200 And let us know when you would like us to stop, because you're so proud.

00:12:53.080 See, today's Democrat, they don't fight for American citizens.

00:12:57.000 They fight for illegal immigrants. 0.99

00:12:58.400 They fight for Venezuelan gang members.

00:13:00.280 They want more of them there.

00:13:02.440 Well, I'm happy to remove them from the state of Texas, to remove them from Florida, to remove

00:13:06.300 them from other red states.

00:13:07.780 And guess what?

00:13:08.960 They can all learn to be ski pros.

00:13:11.540 Now, if you want to hear the rest of this conversation, you can go back and listen to the full podcast

00:13:17.120 from earlier this week.

00:13:18.540 Canadian women are looking for more. 1.00

00:13:21.000 More out of themselves, their businesses, their elected leaders, and the world around them.

00:13:25.460 And that's why we're thrilled to introduce the Honest Talk podcast.

00:13:29.160 I'm Jennifer Stewart.

00:13:30.360 And I'm Catherine Clark.

00:13:31.600 And in this podcast, we interview Canada's most inspiring women.

00:13:35.200 Entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, politicians, and newsmakers, all at different stages of their journey.

00:13:40.760 So, if you're looking to connect, then we hope you'll join us.

00:13:44.300 Listen to the Honest Talk podcast on iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

00:13:50.240 Now, on to story number two.

00:13:52.840 Senator, let me ask you another question about the, also, when it comes to the timing of this.

00:13:58.540 There was, Israel wanted to make it clear.

00:14:00.980 They feel like the Biden administration completely abandoned them and their leadership, which was to force them into a ceasefire.

00:14:13.040 Israeli government spokesman went on MSNBC, and this is what he said.

00:14:18.320 On that potential ceasefire deal, joining us now, Israeli government spokesman in the office of the Prime Minister, David Menser.

00:14:23.880 Really good to have you.

00:14:24.640 Thank you for being with us.

00:14:26.040 Is this a permanent deal or a temporary deal?

00:14:28.320 Look, the length of the ceasefire depends on what happens inside Lebanon.

00:14:33.580 We will certainly, from Israel's point of view, adhere to the agreement, but we will also insist on the agreement being enforced.

00:14:41.780 We will respond forcefully to any violations.

00:14:45.500 So, with the U.S.'s understanding, we will maintain the full freedom of military action.

00:14:51.320 Yes, of course, we want our people to go home to their homes in sovereign Israeli territory. 0.98

00:14:57.080 But if Hezbollah violates the agreement and tries to rearm, we will attack. 0.99

00:15:03.460 If it tries to rebuild its terrorist infrastructure near the border, we will attack.

00:15:08.800 And the Prime Minister has made crystal clear.

00:15:10.800 If it launches rockets, if it digs tunnels, if it brings in truckloads of rockets, we will attack.

00:15:19.520 We all want peace in this region, no one more than Israel, but we will respond forcibly to any violation of this agreement.

00:15:27.840 Does that go for the other side as well?

00:15:29.980 If Israel comes back and rearms itself and resets for a possible future escalation in Lebanon, is that a violation of the agreement?

00:15:40.460 I just got to stop and get your reaction to that.

00:15:43.320 It's amazing how the media here is acting like Israel is a terrorist organization.

00:15:48.060 They should be held to the same standards as a terrorist organization.

00:15:51.160 Like, well, hold on a second.

00:15:52.380 If you're going to hold terrorists as standards, Israel, are you guys going to not, you know, arm yourself?

00:15:58.680 Again, Israel is doing this in a defensive manner because they've been attacked from all sides.

00:16:03.940 And yet NBC is asking a question like they're a terrorist group.

00:16:07.000 That may be the most astonishing question I've ever heard a reporter say in my life.

00:16:11.900 I want you to play that.

00:16:13.420 Play just the final question again.

00:16:14.860 I want you to hear it because this is staggering.

00:16:18.780 This is do you have the name of this reporter?

00:16:21.720 Yeah, this is on Katie Torr's show, NBC slash MSNBC.

00:16:26.820 And again, here's that question as she acts like Israel is a terrorist organization.

00:16:32.180 Does that go for the other side as well?

00:16:34.060 If Israel comes back and rearms itself and resets for a possible future escalation, possible future escalation in Lebanon, is that a violation of the agreement?

00:16:45.340 I mean, people wonder why the media, no one has any faith in them anymore.

00:16:51.220 And understand, Katie Torr was a star reporter for NBC.

00:16:56.780 She was embedded with the Trump campaign in 2016.

00:17:00.400 She now has her own show on MSNBC.

00:17:03.780 And what an absurd question.

00:17:06.020 Is the agreement violated if Israel rearms itself? 0.90

00:17:10.420 Katie, Israel is a sovereign nation.

00:17:12.980 Israel is entitled to defend itself.

00:17:14.960 There's nothing in this agreement. 0.96

00:17:16.700 I mean, listen to the idiocy of, well, doesn't this agreement say that Israel cannot have an army, can't defend itself, has to be utterly defenseless? 0.99

00:17:25.220 Why? 0.99

00:17:26.020 Well, they committed the horrible crime of existing when Hamas came in and murdered 1,200 innocent civilians. 0.51

00:17:32.740 Like, there is a reason that we did an episode early on after October 7th.

00:17:38.620 It's actually one of my favorite episodes entitled, CNN is Hamas's Air Force. 0.93

00:17:44.560 So is MSNBC.

00:17:46.040 So is ABC.

00:17:46.900 By the way, you want to go back?

00:17:48.000 And that's one of the episodes we put on YouTube.

00:17:51.680 It's a video episode.

00:17:52.780 And you can watch it because we play about a dozen different clips where the corporate media is the PR arm of Hamas.

00:18:01.040 Well, there is MSNBC being the PR arm of Hezbollah saying, well, wouldn't it violate it if Israel rearms itself? 0.72

00:18:08.440 No.

00:18:08.760 Israel has a right to defend itself and to keep the people of Israel safe.

00:18:14.180 And they are not the equivalent, as apparently MSNBC seems to think, of the terrorist organizations Hamas and Hezbollah that target and murder civilians.

00:18:23.480 I wish, by the way, I could say that this was the worst for Katie in this interview.

00:18:26.840 Listen to the response from the Israeli government spokesman and then the follow-up to this about why the timing has happened now for this deal to be done.

00:18:36.700 And that's where Israel basically kind of says, like, yeah, it's it's the Biden administration's fault because they didn't give us what we need to defend ourselves.

00:18:44.580 Listen, of course not, Katie.

00:18:46.680 Israel is a sovereign country, not a terrorist organization.

00:18:50.000 We're talking about Hezbollah, a terrorist organization in my country.

00:18:53.840 But also last time I checked in your country to Katie, they're a terrorist organization. 0.70

00:18:58.340 They're our enemy.

00:18:59.380 But make no mistake, they're your enemy in the states as well.

00:19:02.340 So we, of course, Israel will defend ourselves.

00:19:04.820 That's our right, like any other country in the world, to defend ourselves.

00:19:09.420 But if this terrorist organization begins to prepare another attack against us, we will defend ourselves.

00:19:17.640 Israel reserves that right.

00:19:18.900 Is this contingent upon the U.S. on freezing weapons shipments, specifically those one-ton bombs that Israel had been using so effectively? 0.60

00:19:28.700 Well, look, the prime minister made clear just before, a couple of hours ago, that the reasons why this has happened now are three reasons.

00:19:37.420 It's because we want to focus now on the Iranian threat. 0.96

00:19:41.520 The prime minister didn't want to expand on that.

00:19:43.720 But we know that Iran is preparing to create a nuclear weapon.

00:19:47.860 We cannot let that happen.

00:19:49.540 We will always make that our number one priority because Iran say they wish to wipe this country off the face of the earth. 1.00

00:19:56.480 Katie, when they say it, we believe it.

00:19:59.060 And the second reason, of course, is to, yes, give our forces a breather and to replenish our stocks.

00:20:06.460 And there have been big delays.

00:20:07.860 The prime minister made that clear that, yes, the U.S. is our closest ally in the world.

00:20:12.080 There are no two closer countries anywhere in the world.

00:20:15.180 But there have been big delays in weapons and munitions deliveries.

00:20:18.880 The prime minister made that clear.

00:20:20.580 And these delays, we hope, will be resolved very, very soon.

00:20:25.600 But really, the third reason for this ceasefire now is to separate, as the prime minister said, the fronts and isolate Hamas.

00:20:34.320 From day two of this war, Hamas was counting on Hezbollah to fight by its side.

00:20:39.600 That was a massive miscalculation.

00:20:41.180 With Hezbollah now out of the picture, Hamas is left on its own and Israel can increase our pressure on Hamas.

00:20:48.940 Get our hostages home, which is our sacred mission.

00:20:51.860 It's our number one priority.

00:20:54.040 I mean, you hear it there.

00:20:56.120 They're still like, hey, you guys let us hang out to dry.

00:21:00.060 The Biden administration did this on purpose.

00:21:02.040 We need this.

00:21:02.700 We got to wait for Trump to come in.

00:21:04.140 Well, and that's why this ceasefire happened now, as the Biden White House put enormous pressure on Israel to accept this deal.

00:21:11.640 Israel did, and it is rational for Israel to make the decision, focusing on Hamas, cutting Hamas off from Hezbollah. 0.91

00:21:17.580 That is a major strategic step forward.

00:21:20.280 And so I understand why the deal was attractive, but the deal is also this White House is, A, it was prompted by this White House for extended periods of time cutting off weapons to Israel.

00:21:31.620 But, B, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and the Democrats are trying to tie Israel's hands, and they're trying to do it before the Trump administration comes into office.

00:21:41.420 And so what I'm trying to make clear is nothing in this deal ties Israel's hands to protect itself, to defeat and kill terrorists.

00:21:49.620 Understand, literally, on the day of October 7th, the Biden administration was saying publicly, do not retaliate militarily.

00:21:58.160 They have been saying every day since October 7th happened, stop killing terrorists.

00:22:03.680 And Israel, to its credit, and I've got to say, the prime minister's spokesman there, I think, did a fantastic job of articulating that Israel is going to defend itself, whether or not Democrats in Washington are willing to support it.

00:22:17.240 As before, if you want to hear the rest of this conversation on this topic, you can go back and download the podcast from early this week to hear the entire thing.

00:22:26.380 Canadian women are looking for more, more out of themselves, their businesses, their elected leaders, and the world around them. 0.98

00:22:32.560 And that's why we're thrilled to introduce the Honest Talk podcast.

00:22:36.580 I'm Jennifer Stewart.

00:22:37.680 And I'm Catherine Clark.

00:22:38.900 And in this podcast, we interview Canada's most inspiring women.

00:22:42.660 Entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, politicians, and newsmakers, all at different stages of their journey.

00:22:48.400 So if you're looking to connect, then we hope you'll join us.

00:22:51.640 Listen to the Honest Talk podcast on iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

00:22:57.340 I want to get back to the big story number three of the week you may have missed.

00:23:01.400 Let me ask you a question about college campuses.

00:23:04.500 And we talked a moment ago, you mentioned, and the senator and I talked about this a lot on the show, those presidents that came before Congress, and it was shocking that they would not stop the just abuse of the Jewish students and not protect them.

00:23:21.560 Do you feel like the pendulum will swing back, watching what happened to some of those presidents and just seeing how extreme these college campuses have gotten?

00:23:31.920 Or do you think they're just so indoctrinated to hate Israel now that this is just the policy of almost all of these Ivy League schools?

00:23:38.660 Well, the good news fan is, as a sort of broken-down academic myself, I can tell you one thing, which is the one thing they care more about than their parking spaces is their funding.

00:23:54.120 And so if you hold their funding at risk, they will stop this behavior.

00:24:01.280 And so I was at Penn last April to give remarks on why I think it's a bad idea to hate Jews, and I required three layers of armed guards. 0.94

00:24:13.040 I had Philadelphia city cops, I had Penn cops, and Heritage was not satisfied with that, and they sent an additional armed guard with me, because it was such a radical thing for me to go on campus and make these remarks.

00:24:29.540 And actually, that speech isn't free.

00:24:32.560 A lot of people had to pay for that, including the taxpayers of Pennsylvania, amongst others.

00:24:38.720 And it was a really enlightening moment that we have to hold this funding at risk.

00:24:46.140 And I've heard President Trump talk about this, I think, very forcefully, that no university should get federal funding.

00:24:55.720 And I think we can also look at this from the state perspective and hold that funding at risk.

00:25:02.140 And that will actually change this behavior.

00:25:04.800 Well, and I've got to say, Victoria has a lot of courage going on to college campuses and facing the crazy left, the angry left, the Israel-hating and America-hating left.

00:25:15.940 And we need to see more of that courage, more of that courage among academics, more of that courage among students.

00:25:22.740 And, you know, I think back, you know, I mentioned, Ben, at the outset that Victoria was my first national security advisor.

00:25:28.880 And I think it's worth recounting a little bit of that story when we first started working together.

00:25:34.220 So I was elected to the Senate 12 years ago.

00:25:37.740 I show up in December of 2012, sworn in in January of 2013.

00:25:42.800 And when you're a brand-new senator, when you're a baby senator, they put you down in these little bitty basement offices.

00:25:49.980 And it's basically freshman hazing.

00:25:51.840 I mean, there are 100 Senate offices that are full offices.

00:25:55.520 But they keep the new senators down in the basement for three, four, five months, just basically as an initiation.

00:26:02.340 And so Victoria was part of our very first team that came together right when I was newly elected.

00:26:07.740 And she came and joined us initially for what was going to be two weeks, and just to help us get started, help us hire some staff, and then she was going to move on.

00:26:17.500 And when we got there, one of the very first things we had is we had a vote on John Kerry, who had been nominated as secretary of state.

00:26:25.200 And John Kerry, at the time I was elected, he was a senator, so he was a colleague of mine for like four minutes.

00:26:30.380 And then Obama, at the beginning of the second term, nominated Kerry as secretary of state.

00:26:34.140 I remember John Kerry came by my basement office, Victoria was sitting in the office in the meeting, and Kerry was, let me speak nicely, incredibly confident in himself.

00:26:47.320 I'm trying to put that in a kind tone.

00:26:49.460 And he gave me this sort of long lecture, how I really needed to embrace the Law of the Sea Treaty, which the Law of the Sea Treaty, among other things, significantly undermines U.S. sovereignty and gives away the ability of we the people to make our own laws.

00:27:07.420 And I remember sitting there just kind of laughing and being like, okay, this guy has no idea who I am.

00:27:13.560 Like none whatsoever.

00:27:14.920 And we then came to the vote on the floor of the Senate, and it was one of the very first votes I ever took.

00:27:23.040 And I went down and voted no, and there was literally an audible gasp on the floor of the Senate when I voted no.

00:27:32.820 Because a freshman senator was certainly not supposed to do that.

00:27:36.440 The vote was 97 to 3.

00:27:38.600 So 97 senators voted yes, there were only three of us that voted no.

00:27:42.740 It was actually 94 to 3.

00:27:44.920 Oh, was it 94 to 3?

00:27:46.000 Okay, well then, I guess Kerry didn't vote for himself, and I remembered the three.

00:27:49.500 Exactly.

00:27:49.780 I don't remember that.

00:27:51.020 I don't know who skipped.

00:27:52.060 Whoever skipped, they did better than the 94.

00:27:55.860 And then immediately thereafter, about concurrently with it, was the confirmation of Chuck Hagel.

00:28:02.680 Now, Chuck Hagel is who Obama had nominated to be Secretary of Defense.

00:28:06.760 And Chuck Hagel had been a Republican senator.

00:28:08.880 I didn't know Hagel.

00:28:09.880 But as I looked at his record, his record was terrible.

00:28:14.100 And so I ended up leading what was the very first filibuster in American history against a defense secretary.

00:28:22.220 And it was successful.

00:28:23.400 It was before Harry Reid had used the nuclear option, before he'd blown up the filibuster.

00:28:27.540 So you can't filibuster now a cabinet nominee anymore, but you could then.

00:28:32.220 And we successfully held 41 Republicans.

00:28:35.680 We stopped his nomination.

00:28:36.860 And then, actually, Republicans being what they are, several other Republicans who joined us went wobbly and decided to confirm him anyway.

00:28:44.760 But that's another story.

00:28:46.560 But what I will say is I think it got Victoria's attention that this was not going to be just a quiet, go-along-to-get-along tenure in the Senate,

00:28:56.220 that we were there to fight battles and lead battles.

00:28:59.620 And she ended up staying in.

00:29:04.180 And I'll tell you something astonishing, Penn.

00:29:06.720 So if you rewind the clock 12 years ago.

00:29:09.360 12 years ago, I am elected to the Senate.

00:29:13.120 I'm elected to the Senate.

00:29:14.040 I'm 41 years old, brand new elected to the Senate.

00:29:17.120 And as I came into the Senate, I had areas that I knew a lot about.

00:29:20.040 If you were talking about legal issues, if you were talking about criminal justice, if you were talking about constitutional law,

00:29:25.840 I had a long background in all of those issues.

00:29:28.500 When it came to foreign policy, I had essentially zero background.

00:29:34.660 Just my professional career.

00:29:36.320 I'd never worked in foreign policy.

00:29:37.900 I'd never worked in the State Department or the Defense Department.

00:29:40.740 I'd never dealt with foreign policy.

00:29:42.680 My focus had always been domestic.

00:29:45.120 When I was on the George W. Bush campaign 24 years ago, I was the domestic policy advisor.

00:29:50.880 That was my specialty.

00:29:52.000 And so, look, economic matter, domestic matters, I had a lot of experience.

00:29:56.020 Foreign policy.

00:29:56.640 I had essentially none.

00:29:59.520 But I did have some strong beliefs.

00:30:02.620 I'm, you know, the son of a Cuban immigrant who had fought in the Cuban Revolution.

00:30:06.540 I believed profoundly in freedom.

00:30:09.360 I was inspired by Reagan.

00:30:12.300 Peace through strength is a principle and philosophy that I believed deeply in.

00:30:17.880 But I didn't have a terribly deep subject matter expertise.

00:30:23.860 And so one of the things I give that background, because one of the remarkable things Victoria did is basically convened a university in the United States Senate to train me up in foreign policy.

00:30:37.660 And I say so with complete humility.

00:30:39.900 And what proceeded for four years is we would do deep dives.

00:30:46.520 And when I'm in D.C., Heidi and the girls stay back in Houston.

00:30:50.100 So when I'm in D.C., I'm solo.

00:30:51.740 I don't have anybody at home.

00:30:54.080 And so my philosophy, if I get to my apartment at 7 or 8 or 9 o'clock at night, I'll be mad at my team.

00:31:00.460 I'll be like, wait, what am I doing sitting in an apartment staring at a wall?

00:31:03.480 There's work to be done.

00:31:05.020 Like now, if Heidi and the girls were there, I'd want to be home with the kids.

00:31:07.800 But if they're not there, I want to work.

00:31:09.980 And so every night when I'm in D.C., I do a working dinner.

00:31:15.220 And what Victoria began convening is we do working dinners. 0.98

00:31:19.600 And many of them were with subject matter experts where we'd bring in, say, a Middle East policy expert or a couple.

00:31:25.340 We'd bring in an Israel expert or an Iran expert.

00:31:27.540 We'd bring in a Russia expert.

00:31:28.840 We'd bring in a China expert.

00:31:30.100 And we'd do a deep dive onto a subject matter and sit there and have a three-, four-hour dinner really asking, you know, 0.96

00:31:39.520 I'm a big believer that there are no stupid questions other than the question you don't ask because you're afraid to ask. 0.81

00:31:47.720 And so I was perfectly happy to ask question after question after question. 0.91

00:31:50.780 And I will just say now, 12 years later, where I have been in the middle of virtually every foreign policy battle in the Senate for a long time now,

00:32:01.620 it's worth looking back to 12 years ago, the incredible job Victoria did systematically giving me a knowledge set to go along with principles that I started with,

00:32:17.780 but I didn't have the subject matter expertise.

00:32:20.860 And there's literally no person on planet Earth more responsible for my being able to develop that subject matter expertise than Victoria.

00:32:30.420 Victoria, let me ask you a question following up on what he just stated there, and that is it's getting close to Christmas.

00:32:36.720 A lot of people buying gifts.

00:32:37.940 It's Black Friday right now as people are listening to this.

00:32:42.000 When you wrote this book, who did you envision reading it?

00:32:44.860 Is this one of those books that you should absolutely get for maybe your kids who are in high school or in college?

00:32:52.480 Is this, I mean, when you write it, when I wrote my book, I'm like, I was trying to envision, who do I want to read this book?

00:32:58.380 Who am I trying to give information to?

00:33:01.380 I'm trying to give information, Ben, to people who are interested in American national security.

00:33:07.900 And not to correct Senator Cruz, but not that I ever would.

00:33:10.600 But the only thing I would adjust to what he just said is it's not foreign policy.

00:33:15.920 This is national security.

00:33:17.820 This is what touches all Americans every day.

00:33:21.560 And so I would hope everyone from a high school senior to somebody who's just interested in the Middle East would be interested in this book

00:33:29.960 because they want to know why this is in the United States' best interests.

00:33:35.580 And I would boil this down to a single issue.

00:33:38.840 And I remember so clearly when we made the decision to do this, which was when Senator Heller's bill to move the Israeli embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem came up right away in January of 2013,

00:33:54.680 and it did not have a co-sponsor.

00:33:57.640 And I said to Senator Cruz, would you like to be co-sponsored?

00:34:00.280 And he said, yes, I would.

00:34:01.440 You know, this seems like a really good idea because this gives that kind of clarity that we were just talking about.

00:34:09.040 And that's when I knew we were off to the races.

00:34:11.500 Same thing with the vote on John Kerry.

00:34:13.980 Same thing with Chuck Hagel, that we are going to take a new approach to these issues.

00:34:22.640 And it's one of the reasons it was not easy for me to leave Senator Cruz's staff to go into the Trump administration,

00:34:30.280 but I had no conflict of interest because it was essentially the same policies.

00:34:35.820 These are the America First policies.

00:34:38.280 And one of those keystones of that is the relationship between the United States and Israel.

00:34:44.840 And so that's really the purpose behind the book, to explain to people why that is,

00:34:51.080 and then to give them ammunition to spread that information around,

00:34:57.180 because I think the disinformation about Israel, the very negative information about the Jewish people as well as Israel is so pervasive.

00:35:08.700 So that's why I wrote it.

00:35:10.100 I know it's going to be an important book, and a lot of people are going to want to try to grab this.

00:35:15.440 Where can they get it?

00:35:16.460 Where do you tell people to go?

00:35:19.320 Unfortunately, they can get it anywhere they would like.

00:35:21.700 They can get it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble.

00:35:24.260 They can go to the Encounter Press website.

00:35:28.080 But Amazon's probably the easiest, what we all have on our phones.

00:35:31.680 So really appreciate any kind of pre-orders.

00:35:34.940 And I hope it makes a great gift.

00:35:36.600 As always, thank you for listening to Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you.

00:35:42.160 Don't forget to download my podcast, and you can listen to my podcast every other day if you're not listening to Verdict,

00:35:46.780 or each day when you listen to Verdict afterwards.

00:35:49.180 I'd love to have you as a listener to, again, the Ben Ferguson podcast.

00:35:52.920 And we will see you back here on Monday morning.

00:35:56.500 This is an iHeart Podcast.

00:35:59.400 Guaranteed Human.

00:36:00.060 Guaranteed Human.

Verdict with Ted Cruz - November 30, 2024

Biden's Immigration Dumpster Fire exit, the Timing of the Israel Ceasefire & Can College Campuses Reverse Course on Antisemitism Week In Review

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript