Verdict with Ted Cruz - January 25, 2020


From ‘Roe’ To Impeachment


Episode Stats


Length

27 minutes

Words per minute

176.97957

Word count

4,868

Sentence count

378

Harmful content

Misogyny

2

sentences flagged

Hate speech

2

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Ted Cruz reacts to the Democratic case against President Trump and the massive march for life that took place in honor of Roe v. Wade and the 47th anniversary of Roe V. Wade. He also talks about what he thinks of the Democrats' closing arguments.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:00:02.520 Guaranteed human.
00:00:04.300 House Democrats wrap up their case against the president.
00:00:07.580 The president's arguments will begin tomorrow.
00:00:10.620 And we all march for life on the 47th anniversary of Roe v. Wade.
00:00:15.400 And that sounds like it's two very different stories.
00:00:18.100 Actually, there's a key connection between the two.
00:00:20.920 We will get into all of that.
00:00:22.360 This is Verdict with Ted Cruz.
00:00:30.000 Welcome back.
00:00:32.700 I'm Michael Knowles.
00:00:33.600 And I actually should have been more specific.
00:00:35.900 What I meant to say was this is Verdict with Ted Cruz, the third biggest podcast on the charts right now.
00:00:43.420 Congratulations, Senator.
00:00:44.720 Well, back at you.
00:00:45.920 We are number three on the charts of all podcasts and number one in news.
00:00:51.100 We are beating the New York Times.
00:00:54.040 I'm sorry.
00:00:54.680 Could you say that again?
00:00:55.420 Oh, did you?
00:00:56.000 Maybe perhaps you couldn't couldn't hear me.
00:00:57.960 I just wanted to say we're beating the New York Times.
00:01:00.260 Well, that is a wonderful thing and a testament to all the good people who are listening.
00:01:05.260 And it sounds like birds chirping sort of in the studio.
00:01:07.480 But we have a lot to get to today.
00:01:08.980 Indeed.
00:01:09.240 We have the Democrats wrapping up their arguments.
00:01:12.900 We've got the Trump team is going to begin tomorrow.
00:01:15.400 And in the 15 minutes that you got free today, you ended up marching for life out on the National Mall.
00:01:21.540 All true.
00:01:24.220 And it's 1045.
00:01:26.020 So we're getting started tonight earlier than we have any day this week.
00:01:29.560 This is a very early night.
00:01:31.040 So let's not squander the time.
00:01:33.380 How do you think the Democrats did in their closing arguments?
00:01:37.080 Well, I think all 100 senators are grateful that the 24 hour marathon is over.
00:01:42.640 I think it's an interesting decision of the House managers to consume practically every minute of those 24 hours.
00:01:51.940 Listen, Adam Schiff gave the close and there were moments of it that were powerful.
00:01:56.980 I mean, he is an effective trial lawyer.
00:01:58.780 He's a talented trial lawyer.
00:02:00.520 He can be an effective orator.
00:02:02.940 I think we saw throughout the opening arguments the House managers use multimedia quite effectively.
00:02:08.540 So there were moments that they drove in with different video clips that worked.
00:02:14.160 And it broke up the kind of long arguments and it did manage to pull people's attention.
00:02:18.860 Well, and that's something you're seeing, by the way, in trial courts much more often now.
00:02:22.060 Videos.
00:02:22.620 I mean, it's effective trial lawyers know how to do that.
00:02:26.220 And we saw that on display.
00:02:28.280 I also think Schiff did a good job.
00:02:31.080 He had a big chunk of his closing that was trying to preempt the president's arguments.
00:02:36.380 And it's because of the structure of it.
00:02:38.880 House managers have 24 hours and the president has 24 hours and there's not a rebuttal.
00:02:43.100 Right.
00:02:43.280 So he knew they're getting ready to start.
00:02:45.040 And so he went through dozens of potential arguments that they will almost surely make.
00:02:50.760 And he tried to give responses to it.
00:02:52.580 What was he preempting?
00:02:53.660 I mean, what were the big arguments that he expects from Trump?
00:02:55.840 I mean, he went through whether they're process arguments, whether they're I mean, he went through a whole host.
00:03:00.260 But you actually put your finger on a major failing.
00:03:03.680 I think he had, which is he didn't shine a lantern on his biggest problem.
00:03:08.500 So so he he briefly noted, well, the House managers might might suggest Joe Biden's corrupt, but there's no evidence of that.
00:03:17.480 And that's all he said.
00:03:19.020 He's setting himself up.
00:03:20.720 It's it's the biggest weakness of their entire case is it is that they have built their case on the proposition.
00:03:28.180 There is zero evidence, none whatsoever of any corruption concerning Joe Biden, concerning his son, Hunter Biden, concerning Burisma, the Ukrainian natural gas company.
00:03:40.620 It was paying Hunter Biden a million bucks a year.
00:03:42.980 That's a straw man, because yesterday that the House Democrats in making their case, they kept saying there's nothing wrong with Burisma.
00:03:51.160 There's nothing wrong with the Bidens.
00:03:52.640 There's nothing, nothing to see here, folks.
00:03:54.980 And because they kept talking about it, it actually brings that to the forefront.
00:03:59.940 Right. And then today in their closing arguments, they failed to address it.
00:04:04.440 They just dismissed it.
00:04:06.120 And it's it's it's like leading with your jaw that they're setting up to just get get get it knocked right, knocked crazy.
00:04:14.400 Look, I'll say.
00:04:18.440 Schiff had some very good moments, but he also tends to get self-righteous and pontificate statement of the year.
00:04:25.820 And so he'll be he'll be making an argument that's effective, that's real.
00:04:29.960 Well, and then he suddenly starts lecturing you.
00:04:32.420 And I think the moment where that was most acute is when he cited the CBS story and said Trump was threatening if any Republican voted against him to have their head on a pike.
00:04:42.640 And I got to tell you, that pissed Republican senators off. 0.97
00:04:46.580 I heard probably a half dozen senators surround me like openly, like gasp and like express anger.
00:04:54.600 And that's a great argument if you're talking to a, you know, a bunch of, you know, left wing activists at a California rally and shifts base.
00:05:04.420 But it ain't a good argument if you're trying to get some Republican votes.
00:05:07.700 Right. If you're actually trying to persuade the few Republicans who maybe you could persuade, not a good way to do it.
00:05:13.320 You bring up the reaction among the Republican senators today.
00:05:16.620 Have you, you know, wandering around the halls of the Senate, heard any gossip from the Democratic side?
00:05:22.740 I mean, is what is the the reaction, if anything at all, to how they're doing?
00:05:27.760 Well, it was interesting. One of the Democratic senators was talking to a reporter walking out and the reporter asked, what do you think of the closing?
00:05:34.860 And the head on the pike line and the comment from the Democratic senator is, look, every argument has a discordant note or two.
00:05:43.380 I mean, it may not have come across on TV, but he was almost booed for saying that.
00:05:51.260 I mean, Republican senators were offended by it.
00:05:54.840 But in many ways, his audience for that was not the hundred people in the room.
00:06:00.320 It was TV that have to render a verdict. It was TV.
00:06:02.760 And I'll tell you a very interesting observation.
00:06:05.020 So why did they fill 24 hours? Why did they repeat the same arguments over and over and over again?
00:06:09.760 Because for most of the argument, they weren't talking to the hundred senators that will vote on impeachment.
00:06:15.640 They were talking to 330 million Americans.
00:06:18.600 And, you know, one of the fascinating things that several senators noticed, if you look at their order of speaking, it followed prime time, depending on where the house manager was from.
00:06:29.700 In other words, they started off with the East Coast House managers.
00:06:33.840 They then moved to the central. So you looked at, you know, the congressman from Colorado.
00:06:37.520 They put them on in prime time in Colorado and it would always close with the West Coast.
00:06:42.360 And they were they were very deliberately more than a couple of people observed that this this was at least more than a little bit about about Adam Schiff launching either his governor candidacy or his Senate candidacy.
00:06:56.980 And look, this stuff, I'm sure, plays very well in a California Democratic primary.
00:07:00.560 So that, to me, raises the question, have the House Democrats given up on actually persuading the senators?
00:07:06.820 I mean, are they are they now tuning out the senators and just playing this to TV to launch their own political careers?
00:07:12.400 So, yes and no, 90 percent plus was launching their political careers, was energizing their base, was speaking to the angry mob.
00:07:22.020 There was a 10 percent in the closing where Schiff was trying to throw a Hail Mary.
00:07:27.540 Look, he knows that that they don't have the votes. He knows that they haven't proven their case.
00:07:31.640 But their hope now is they want more witnesses because they want to go on a fishing expedition.
00:07:37.060 Right. And so, you know, for example, he had some some actually pretty moving oratory about moral courage and standing up and how it's harder to stand against your party.
00:07:48.500 And he said, you risk being called, you risk people saying he's a Democrat in name only or she's a Republican in name only.
00:07:59.860 I don't think the choice of pronoun was accidental.
00:08:02.300 No, he might be referring specifically to some senators.
00:08:06.440 Well, and it was now I will confess, as I was walking out, there was a group of reporters and I said to him, I said, wow, Schiff's call to for moral courage to stand up against your party was powerful.
00:08:22.220 And I really wonder how many Democrats are going to do that and vote to acquit the president.
00:08:26.760 And of course, the reporters look at you like, no, no, no, no.
00:08:29.460 Moral courage is always Republicans abandoning.
00:08:32.420 Of course.
00:08:33.060 Their party, of course, never Democrats doing.
00:08:35.220 Now, before we we move on from their arguments, I do want to be clear.
00:08:40.080 They spent most of the time talking about the first article of impeachment, which was abuse of power.
00:08:45.140 And we've talked about that now on the last couple of episodes.
00:08:48.380 The argument that Trump engaged in a quid pro quo and he withheld the military aid from Ukraine in exchange for Ukraine investigating his political rival, Joe Biden, even though he didn't end up withholding the aid and they didn't end up investigating Joe Biden.
00:09:02.740 We talked about that on previous episodes.
00:09:04.360 The second article of impeachment is called obstruction of Congress.
00:09:10.100 Half the reason I voted for the president is so that he would obstruct Congress.
00:09:14.280 What what does that even mean?
00:09:15.680 How do you obstruct Congress?
00:09:17.220 Look, they're basing it on a refusal to to allow witnesses to testify, defying subpoenas and refusing to produce documents.
00:09:25.900 And, you know, look, I will say where the Democrats were effective in making this case is is the Trump administration didn't hand over documents from any of the cabinet agencies in response to subpoenas.
00:09:40.140 I got to say most of the Republican senators think that was pretty dumb, that the administration would have been better off complying, producing some documents in response and preserving the fights for the things that really matter.
00:09:56.300 And part of the obstruction charge that the Democrats wage against the president is that he wouldn't allow certain people who worked for him, such as John Bolton, the national security adviser to testify.
00:10:07.440 Are you saying should should they have testified?
00:10:10.300 Well, and that's where this argument collapses, and it's why the Democrats are not going to prevail on it, because, look, front and center.
00:10:18.260 John Bolton is the most notable example.
00:10:20.420 They're like, we need John Bolton's testimony.
00:10:22.360 Well, we talked about earlier this week in one of these podcasts how how John Bolton did something something very clever.
00:10:30.120 He went to a federal district court in D.C. and he filed.
00:10:33.700 He went before the court.
00:10:34.620 He said, look, I've got two conflicting demands on me.
00:10:37.380 The House is asking me to testify and the president is instructing me not to, citing executive privilege.
00:10:44.240 And he said, which one do I comply with?
00:10:46.800 And John Bolton said, judge, I'll do whatever you tell me.
00:10:49.440 Right.
00:10:50.700 The House Democrats response was fascinating.
00:10:53.980 They just said, never mind.
00:10:55.640 They actually informed the court.
00:10:57.740 We're not going to subpoena John Bolton and we don't need his testimony.
00:11:02.000 So the fact that John Bolton does not end up testifying during the House impeachment investigation is on the House Democrats.
00:11:11.260 And in fact, Bolton's lawyer said.
00:11:14.760 If they withdraw the subpoena, the choice for John Bolton not to testify is not John Bolton's.
00:11:20.800 It's the House Democrats.
00:11:22.360 Why is that?
00:11:22.940 I mean, why would the House withdraw their their pull to get him to testify?
00:11:27.860 Because I think they were in a hurry.
00:11:29.960 They did this whole thing.
00:11:31.460 They just wanted to vote 40 some odd days.
00:11:34.620 They were moving rocket fast.
00:11:37.780 You know, part of it, I think there are a number of us.
00:11:40.060 I mean, we were speculating the other night.
00:11:42.420 Why did they not drag this out and delay it more?
00:11:46.020 I think part of it is that Nancy Pelosi at least thinks this is a political loser. 0.96
00:11:49.920 She knows it's not going to work.
00:11:51.540 It is is hurting the Democrats chances in 2020.
00:11:56.620 So I think she wanted to get this over with.
00:11:58.740 Now, House managers have different interests.
00:12:01.620 I think they they're enjoying the national TV attention.
00:12:06.380 Adam Schiff has his eyes on other offices.
00:12:08.900 You know, I will confess I did ask in the Republican cloakroom.
00:12:12.080 I said, hey, what do you all think of us having a motion to give him another 24 hours to keep talking?
00:12:15.840 Just let everyone else's numbers go up.
00:12:18.620 So, all right.
00:12:19.160 The arguments are over.
00:12:20.040 I do want to move on to to the March for Life.
00:12:23.680 Yeah.
00:12:23.880 Before we do that, though, if you had to give the Democrats a grade, they've made their arguments.
00:12:29.560 You've argued many high profile cases.
00:12:31.560 How did they do on presentation and style?
00:12:39.660 I'd say an A minus that they actually did.
00:12:42.200 This was a talented group presenting.
00:12:44.800 OK.
00:12:45.780 On substance.
00:12:48.500 A D.
00:12:49.440 Yeah.
00:12:49.580 They sounded good and they have little snippets, but but they also were very selective in terms of what they cited.
00:12:56.840 I expect to see I expect to see the president's lawyers come back hard.
00:13:02.180 I expect to see the president's lawyers in particular to to make a powerful case about the evidence of corruption that justified an investigation into Burisma and whether Vice President Joe Biden was part of that corruption.
00:13:20.740 And the House managers have now built their whole case on the proposition.
00:13:24.020 There's zero evidence that proposition is going to be blown out of the water.
00:13:27.380 So we I guess we'll see tomorrow.
00:13:29.340 Tomorrow is going to be a really big day because finally the Trump team gets to make their arguments.
00:13:33.080 I have to tell you, after going through all these hours and hours of the Democrat case, I'm glad you gave me this recommendation to have a nice, delicious glass of milk because it's really fortified.
00:13:43.300 Well, there's nothing like a cool glass of milk.
00:13:46.240 There is a strange rule in the Senate that goes around impeachment trials.
00:13:51.260 You are not allowed as a senator to bring in a cup of coffee or a bottle of whiskey or a soft drink.
00:13:57.380 You are only allowed to drink two things in the Senate during the impeachment trial, water and milk.
00:14:04.480 You you have availed yourself of this.
00:14:06.720 I noticed I have.
00:14:08.120 And look, the Senate is a strange place.
00:14:10.020 It is a place in many respects.
00:14:12.060 It is governed by tradition.
00:14:13.760 But the reason you can drink milk all stems back to January 24th, 1966.
00:14:19.580 So before you and I were born, OK, Senator Everett Dirksen is on the Senate floor and he raises a question with the presiding officer.
00:14:30.720 He asks, he says, is it in violation of the Senate rules if the senator from Illinois asked one of the page boys to go to the restaurant and bring him a glass of milk?
00:14:42.700 If it is in violation of the rules, I will forget it.
00:14:45.760 And the presiding officer answered, there is nothing in the rules to prohibit the senator from requesting a glass of milk.
00:14:52.580 When that exchange happened, that formed a precedent.
00:14:56.660 This is actually a governing precedent.
00:14:59.020 So when you're a newly elected senator, you get in your desk, in the drawer of your desk, you get something called Riddick's precedence.
00:15:05.640 And it is printed that Riddick's precedence, stating going back to January 24th, 1966.
00:15:11.220 Riddick's precedence, just to clarify, this is like the rules of the.
00:15:15.220 It is, but it's just rulings from the chair that become binding precedent because Everett Dirksen wanted a glass of milk and the presiding officer said, said yes.
00:15:24.480 Now the two things you can drink are water and milk.
00:15:27.400 And so the first night of the impeachment trial, we went till two in the morning at midnight.
00:15:32.140 I decided, you know what, I'm going to try this out.
00:15:35.380 So I went to the cloakroom.
00:15:36.280 I said, hey, does anyone here actually have milk?
00:15:37.900 And they're like, no, no one.
00:15:38.920 No one ever orders it.
00:15:39.640 I'm like, can we track some down?
00:15:42.100 And one of the guys in the cloakroom said, I'll find you some and ran out.
00:15:45.540 So at midnight, I just sat there quietly sipping milk.
00:15:49.300 And it was, you can't have coffee.
00:15:51.180 You can't have Diet Dr. Pepper.
00:15:53.500 You can't have caffeine.
00:15:54.600 But you can enjoy a glass of milk.
00:15:56.520 Now, what I want to know, Senator, as a taxpayer myself, who paid for that glass of milk that you had in the Senate?
00:16:04.160 Well, I'll tell you, the cloakroom actually called our office and said, we need to charge the senator from the glass of milk.
00:16:09.240 We ain't paying for it.
00:16:10.340 And I laughed and said, look, I'm glad to hear some fiscally conservative policies being implemented.
00:16:16.560 And now, I can't necessarily promise.
00:16:20.780 So look, if milk is allowed, at the end of the day, all you see is it's a white liquid.
00:16:24.380 So I can't promise you that there aren't senators having white Russians on the Senate floor. 0.68
00:16:31.000 Especially the longer this drags on.
00:16:32.320 And you know what?
00:16:33.000 That would probably drive the conspiracy theorist crazy, particularly post-Muller.
00:16:38.620 That's true.
00:16:39.600 And, you know, we've been coming here in the middle of the night now all week.
00:16:42.360 So there's really nothing to say that we haven't had a couple white Russians on the very same drink. 0.58
00:16:47.440 Now, speaking of your health and refreshing yourself, today, when you had a little bit of a break, you decided to use that by going outside and actually marching in the March for Life.
00:17:01.520 This was 47 years after Roe vs. Wade.
00:17:04.900 The March for Life has gone on every single year since then.
00:17:07.640 And it's the largest pro-life gathering in the world.
00:17:10.080 And you participated in it today.
00:17:11.820 It's something I've done a number of years.
00:17:14.020 Today, it was going on right during the impeachment trial.
00:17:17.520 So when the march started, I couldn't participate.
00:17:19.420 But around 3 o'clock, we had a break that ended up being about a half hour.
00:17:24.480 And so I just went outside and joined the marchers.
00:17:27.420 It's a wonderful chance.
00:17:28.660 I spent a lot of the time there just thanking people and thanking them for coming out.
00:17:33.200 It's usually a cold day when the march happens.
00:17:36.460 And it's amazing to see people from all over the country coming together and standing up for life.
00:17:42.880 I've got to say, it is always wonderful to participate, but it was particularly affirming in the middle of all this craziness.
00:17:50.900 It was moving.
00:17:51.480 I was there myself today.
00:17:52.860 It was very moving.
00:17:53.960 And it actually got me thinking about the relation between Roe v. Wade and this impeachment trial.
00:18:00.080 Because Roe v. Wade is decided in 1973.
00:18:03.840 And it was when the Supreme Court discovered this previously undiscovered constitutional right to abortion.
00:18:10.920 As though the framers of our Constitution secretly, in invisible ink, wrote in a right to an abortion.
00:18:20.320 You know a lot more about the Constitution than I do.
00:18:23.100 It's a bogus argument, right?
00:18:24.420 It was the court created it in Roe v. Wade.
00:18:28.640 But the effect it had in our country is it took one of the most deeply personal, emotional public policy issues.
00:18:37.820 And the Supreme Court said, you idiot voters don't get to decide this.
00:18:43.660 We're deciding it for you.
00:18:45.780 And you have no say.
00:18:47.280 Look, prior to that, abortion had been a question for the states to consider.
00:18:51.320 And people could debate it at state issues.
00:18:53.920 You could get up and make arguments as to why.
00:18:57.220 Look, you and I both believe that life should be protected.
00:19:00.460 But as voters, we ought to be able to make those decisions.
00:19:06.000 And the Supreme Court said, no, we're seizing this.
00:19:09.380 And I think that decision has produced a lot of the bitterness, the rancor, the division.
00:19:15.800 People are frustrated on both sides of that aisle that they don't have a natural outlet to debate the issues.
00:19:21.700 Because it all becomes the battle for the courts because it's now nine elected judges that decide everything.
00:19:28.660 Because this was, in 2016, probably the top issue, especially—
00:19:33.340 And by the way, I think I said nine elected judges.
00:19:35.100 Let me be very clear.
00:19:35.780 Nine unelected judges.
00:19:37.280 Right, unelected.
00:19:37.920 Because unelected is the whole problem.
00:19:40.780 No accountability whatsoever.
00:19:42.120 In 2016, the big issue was the judges, who's going to replace Justice Scalia, who—and you saw it on the left and the right.
00:19:49.740 And especially for the left, so much of that comes down to Roe v. Wade.
00:19:53.560 I mean, you see it in their campaign materials.
00:19:55.600 Let me make two observations from today.
00:19:58.000 One, when I went out to march in the protest, I encountered one anti-Trump protester, a woman who was angry.
00:20:06.320 And part of what she was screaming is, why aren't you in the trial?
00:20:08.980 She's like, well, we're on a break.
00:20:10.040 I just had my glass of milk, and I've got a lot of energy.
00:20:14.180 But it was a striking contrast.
00:20:15.980 One anti-Trump protesters, and then tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of protesters—or not protesters, but marchers standing for life.
00:20:27.820 And the contrast was interesting, and it actually made me think.
00:20:30.920 So a lot of us getting ready for the impeachment trial were anticipating bitter, nasty confrontations like we had during Brett Kavanaugh.
00:20:41.060 And Brett Kavanaugh, the left, had paid protesters who yelled, who stalked, who—you know, one of them went to Susan Collins' home.
00:20:48.580 And I mean, it was—
00:20:49.360 And nobody needs to be reminded because it was such a national story, but Brett Kavanaugh was the second Trump pick for the Supreme Court.
00:20:56.080 So it wasn't even the first one. It was the second one.
00:20:57.660 But it underscores just how bitter and divisive it is.
00:21:01.080 I've got to tell you, the Capitol Police were anticipating that we may see some of the same, you know, vigorously, you know, threatening, almost violent, some of those confrontations on—with Kavanaugh.
00:21:13.020 I mean, you had people getting in your face and screaming and bitter and angry.
00:21:16.920 And it's interesting that even though Trump inspires strong emotions, the impeachment trial has seemed to be a snoozer from that perspective.
00:21:26.980 Totally. I mean, frankly, that's why I think—I really think that's why this podcast is doing so well, is people are not going to watch 10 hours a day of impeachment.
00:21:35.700 They want—I think they want to come here. You've done an excellent job giving us a behind-the-scenes view.
00:21:39.580 Look, there were times when it felt like listening to a reading of Vogue on poetry, which for the handful of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy geeks who are listening to this, you'll get what I'm saying, and everyone else just write it off and don't worry about it.
00:21:56.780 I'll let it fly over, yeah.
00:21:57.980 That—I think you're right.
00:21:59.660 And I just wonder if a decision like Roe v. Wade had not stolen this very important question from the legislature, from the citizens to decide for themselves, and taken it into the arms of nine unelected lawyers wearing robes, if maybe we wouldn't even see an impeachment like this, if the presidential elections were not so incredibly tense and important.
00:22:25.240 Well, and it's much the same. You look at impeachment and the House Democrats' argument, their central argument is we can't trust the voters to make this decision.
00:22:35.420 Yes.
00:22:36.100 That they believe the voters got it wrong in 2016, and a lot of the Democrats, when they're being candid, they're worried if Trump is on the ballot in 2020, he'll win again.
00:22:45.400 And so they're trying to undo a Democratic election.
00:22:48.740 Right.
00:22:49.020 And that is a persistent problem of politicians wanting to force an agenda against the wishes of, look, democracy, let the people decide.
00:23:05.060 Well, fortunately, the Trump team is going to get the chance tomorrow to make their arguments.
00:23:09.260 I very much look forward to that.
00:23:10.800 We're going to be covering it again.
00:23:12.080 Please, thank you to everybody who has made this podcast the number three biggest podcast in the world.
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00:23:21.540 Before we go, lightning round on the mailbag.
00:23:23.420 All right.
00:23:24.040 From Tom, will the whistleblower testify in the impeachment trial?
00:23:29.000 Probably not. I think it's more likely than not that next week we'll vote not to have additional witnesses.
00:23:35.400 So not only will we not get the so-called whistleblower, the guy who started this whole Ukraine business, really started the whole impeachment, but then we wouldn't get Hunter Biden.
00:23:44.760 So if I were to order likely outcomes, next week we'll vote on whether or not additional witnesses are needed beyond those who have already testified in the House.
00:23:53.220 51 senators will decide.
00:23:55.240 I think it is more likely than not 51 senators will say, we've heard enough, we're ready to decide, let's move to judgment, and the president gets acquitted.
00:24:03.600 That may not happen. All 47 Democrats will vote for more witnesses.
00:24:08.520 Maybe four Republicans join them.
00:24:10.740 If that happens, the second most likely outcome, I think, is 51 senators say, yes, we want more witnesses.
00:24:19.960 The Democrats call John Bolton.
00:24:22.520 The president calls Hunter Biden.
00:24:25.340 And I think.
00:24:26.420 And then it's a bloodbath.
00:24:27.260 But I think the second most likely outcome is those two additional witnesses come in, Bolton and Biden.
00:24:33.820 And only those two.
00:24:35.080 I would say that's the second most likely outcome.
00:24:37.680 The third most likely outcome is you end up having several witnesses.
00:24:42.400 And I do think, and this is something I've been pitching to other Republicans, is the principle of reciprocity, that we need to be fair.
00:24:49.600 We need to give both sides.
00:24:51.680 We can't be like the House and have it only on one side.
00:24:54.860 And so I think I feel quite confident that's where the Republican conference is, that there's consensus.
00:25:02.700 Right.
00:25:02.920 And I got to say, by the way, yesterday in the press, there were a bunch of stories that said Chuck Schumer has rejected the deal of Bolton for Biden.
00:25:11.040 And I actually had today spent a while like laughing with reporters going, well, that's all fine and good.
00:25:16.140 Of course, Chuck Schumer doesn't want Hunter Biden to testify because the Democrats are trying to cover that up.
00:25:21.320 Right.
00:25:22.300 But he doesn't have the votes.
00:25:23.560 If they go down the road to John Bolton, I guarantee you the other side.
00:25:28.140 Right.
00:25:28.920 We're going to have the votes among Republicans to ensure that both sides are treated fair.
00:25:32.980 And so that will come down to four Republicans.
00:25:36.140 Last question before we head out of here from Marty.
00:25:39.680 With very specific punctuation.
00:25:42.540 When is it our turn?
00:25:44.720 Can't watch these clowns.
00:25:47.080 Tomorrow morning, 10 a.m.
00:25:48.480 Tomorrow morning, 10 a.m.
00:25:49.400 And you will be right back here in this studio to break it down for us.
00:25:52.060 I will. Now, tomorrow is likely to be relatively short.
00:25:55.040 I think it'll probably go from about 10 to 1.
00:25:57.420 So we'll get, you know, about three hours of opening arguments from the president's team.
00:26:01.480 So we'll record this tomorrow afternoon and then we'll come back on Monday at 1 p.m.
00:26:07.280 And we'll get another probably extended stretch of argument from the president's team.
00:26:11.780 I'm looking forward to the first chance the president's legal team has had to present his defense and to present.
00:26:18.000 Look, what I've urged them to do is present the substantive evidence of innocence.
00:26:22.700 Don't just just talk about process the whole time, but lay out the facts, because on the facts, I think the president.
00:26:29.260 Well, I hope they take some some messaging from this podcast, because I think when you lay out the facts, the case is pretty clear.
00:26:35.320 And tomorrow we will see the president strike back and it should be a lot of fun.
00:26:38.640 Well, you know, the Burisma timeline that we tweeted out yesterday and talked about yesterday on the show, I Xerox that and put it in the box of every single Republican senator.
00:26:48.260 So every one of them has that.
00:26:49.480 I sure hope they read it and I hope they listen to the show and I hope you all will listen to the show.
00:26:53.700 We will be back here tomorrow.
00:26:54.860 I'm Michael Knowles.
00:26:55.820 This is Verdict with Ted Cruz.
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