Verdict with Ted Cruz - Iran： Why We're Fighting, How's it Going & What's the End Game

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.

00:00:02.660 Guaranteed human.

00:00:04.580 Welcome.

00:00:05.180 It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you.

00:00:08.040 It's so nice for you to join us today.

00:00:09.900 And we've got a lot to talk about.

00:00:11.340 The world's talking about Iran right now, Senator.

00:00:13.860 And we've got updates on where we are in this war with Iran.

00:00:17.300 Well, we're in week two of the war with Iran.

00:00:20.220 And I will say the successes continue to build up.

00:00:24.900 If you look at the first day of this conflict,

00:00:27.420 Iran launched 350 ballistic missiles by day eight that had dropped to 15. Yeah. The second

00:00:37.020 day of this conflict, Iran launched 541 drone attacks by day eight that had dropped to 12.

00:00:47.440 What we have done in less than two weeks now, we have taken out Iran's air defenses. We've taken 0.98

00:00:56.640 out their missile launching capacity. We have taken out their missiles. We have taken out their

00:01:03.980 missile manufacturing. We've taken out their drone launch capacity. We have taken out their drones.

00:01:10.620 We have taken out their drone manufacturing. If you look at their Navy, virtually every ship in

00:01:16.980 their Navy has been sunk to the bottom of the ocean. That effect in less than two weeks

00:01:23.280 is profound. And I want you to listen to the Secretary of War Pete Hegseth talking about

00:01:30.540 what's been accomplished and what to expect next. Give a listen. Before we get to that,

00:01:35.280 though, I want to tell you about our friends at Bitcoin IRA. Can you buy real Bitcoin in

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00:02:13.900 All right, Senator, so let's play for everybody.

00:02:17.800 Let me interrupt you right now, Ben.

00:02:19.900 So you're right now in Cabo.

00:02:21.820 I am.

00:02:22.460 That's true.

00:02:22.980 Yes, yes, that's true.

00:02:24.080 And I just want to thank you on behalf of every Verdict listener, but especially the Verdict viewers.

00:02:30.500 So there are a lot of Verdict viewers who watch on YouTube, who watch on Facebook.

00:02:36.300 And I just want to say I'm really glad that you are not Nespita right now.

00:02:40.880 I am not.

00:02:41.880 I am in a suit, a jacket.

00:02:44.620 Or even worse, a Borat.

00:02:46.680 A Borat, yes, yes.

00:02:47.780 That, like, covers the equipment and goes over your shoulders.

00:02:51.760 I'm just going to say, to be honest, we don't know if you're in a Speedo or Borat because the camera shot is only chest up.

00:03:00.520 Yeah, this is what you call hazing when Senator Cruz is in Washington.

00:03:05.360 One of us is at work.

00:03:06.460 And I'm in Cabo.

00:03:07.340 Like, I've spent the whole day in the Senate.

00:03:09.140 I'm working.

00:03:09.720 By the way, it's your spring break.

00:03:11.100 It's my spring break.

00:03:12.580 My girls were skiing on spring break.

00:03:16.000 I went for a day and a half and then got on a plane, and I flew back to Washington, D.C., because some of us have a job.

00:03:22.440 Yeah, I know.

00:03:23.280 And I'm proud of you.

00:03:25.000 I want you to know that I'm proud of you.

00:03:26.980 To be clear, Benjamin has had 19 daiquiris today.

00:03:32.160 And if I asked him to walk in a straight line and spell the alphabet backwards, he couldn't do so.

00:03:38.200 I did have two Miami Vices today, just in honor of you.

00:03:41.420 I knew you would appreciate it.

00:03:41.940 I don't even know what a Miami Vice is.

00:03:44.440 That's just sad.

00:03:45.420 I'll introduce you the next time we're hanging out in Cabo.

00:03:47.420 What is a Miami Vice?

00:03:49.260 It's a pina colada strawberry daiquiri together.

00:03:51.960 They call it a Miami Vice.

00:03:53.540 You've never had a Miami Vice in your entire life?

00:03:57.160 As I'm sitting here in Cabo, I will mean this sincerely, I just don't care.

00:04:01.040 That's how happy I am.

00:04:03.280 All right, so here we go.

00:04:04.380 Here's Pete Hedgeseth.

00:04:05.360 We're going to start with Pete Hedseth giving an update on the war.

00:04:08.860 I want you to take a listen to what he had to say about where we are now and what is happening.

00:04:14.100 Take a listen to this.

00:04:16.100 On day 10 of Operation Epic Fury, we are winning with an overwhelming and unrelenting focus on our objectives,

00:04:24.880 which are the same as the day I gave my first briefing here on Operation Epic Fury.

00:04:30.420 They're straightforward, and we are executing them with ruthless precision.

00:04:37.200 One, destroy their missile stockpiles, their missile launchers, and their defense industrial base.

00:04:44.200 Missiles and their ability to make them.

00:04:47.620 Two, destroy their navy.

00:04:51.020 And three, permanently deny Iran nuclear weapons forever.

00:04:57.020 It's a laser focused maximum authority mission delivered with overwhelming and unrelenting precision.

00:05:04.500 No hesitation. No half measures.

00:05:08.280 Well, let me ask you this, Senator, as you hear him lay that out, I want to know what the pulse is in D.C.

00:05:14.500 As you guys are there talking about this, I'm still trying to figure out what exactly the Democrat talking point is.

00:05:21.400 I've seen like four or five of them that they've been kind of throwing jello at a wall to see if anything will stick.

00:05:27.100 They're obviously wanting to hurt Donald Trump in this or trying to say he's going to get us into a forever war.

00:05:31.420 It's not really working.

00:05:32.860 So what are your colleagues saying in the Senate about this?

00:05:35.760 And also among Republicans as well.

00:05:38.500 There's even been there was an interesting moment, by the way, where they were trying to bait you into trashing Lindsey Graham and others or trying to turn Republicans against Republicans.

00:05:46.520 And as I was sitting here on the beach drinking my Miami Vice, I enjoyed watching you have to deal with that on TV because I just got to be a spectator.

00:05:55.680 It was great.

00:05:56.780 Yeah, look, last night I was on Laura Ingram, and Laura's a friend, and she's supporting President Trump in this military conflict.

00:06:05.180 But she asked a whole series of questions about, aren't you upset that it's been reported that Lindsey Graham was talking to Prime Minister Netanyahu?

00:06:13.340 And she basically said, isn't Lindsay acting as a lobbyist for Israel?

00:06:20.380 And I said, Laura, with all due respect, no, and that's really a silly question.

00:06:27.180 Listen, Lindsay, I agree with Lindsay on some issues.

00:06:30.800 I disagree with Lindsay on other issues.

00:06:32.980 You look at the Iraq War.

00:06:34.580 Lindsay was a big proponent of the Iraq War.

00:06:36.940 I think the Iraq War was a serious mistake. 0.98

00:06:39.120 I think it did harm to the United States.

00:06:41.700 And I've said that for a long, long time. So Lindsey and I are on totally different pages

00:06:46.340 when it comes to Iraq. When it comes to Iran, Lindsey and I agree. I think when the Ayatollah 0.93

00:06:52.880 says death to America, he means it. I think President Trump is right to act, to take out

00:06:59.320 the leadership in Iran because having radical Islamist leadership that wants to murder Americans 0.99

00:07:06.240 is bad for America. The regime in Iran has been the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism 0.59

00:07:12.340 for 47 years. They provide 90 percent of the funding for Hamas, for Hezbollah, and for the

00:07:19.160 Houthis. They've killed nearly 1,000 Americans in the last five decades. The Ayatollah, he leads 1.00

00:07:28.380 mobs chanting death to america and he hires two different crews of hitmen to try to murder 0.98

00:07:36.580 donald j trump yeah not by the way and can we pause on that for just one was just convicted

00:07:42.400 the last week of doing so yeah i was gonna say let's spend a moment on this because this is part

00:07:47.840 of the the democrats talking point and i i've been fighting this pretty hard on tv as well

00:07:52.260 and they're like well they weren't there was not a direct threat here this was not a direct threat

00:07:56.300 to america totally false this is you're now putting people in harm's way let let's make it

00:08:01.280 very clear on this show as you described it not one but two that we know about were sent to try

00:08:08.760 to take out and kill the president of america that came directly from iran and by the way the

00:08:13.800 hitman told the department of justice i was hired by iran i was trained by iran and my purpose was 0.98

00:08:19.780 to murder president trump there's no dispute that it was iran that was paying for this and i will

00:08:24.180 note if you remember last year when when i was interviewed by tucker carlson it was an unhinged

00:08:30.940 interview but but but he disputed me he said no no i i've never heard that iran's trying to murder

00:08:37.360 donald trump which was insane and totally counterfactual and and it's hard to actually

00:08:42.360 argue with someone for whom facts don't matter and they just make up facts but but then tucker 0.63

00:08:47.720 said bizarrely, well, and if Iran was trying to murder Trump, we should attack them now. We should 0.94

00:08:56.860 nuke them. Yeah. Which was insane. And by the way, I will say in Monday's podcast, we pointed out 1.00

00:09:03.980 Tucker has become such an Islamist shill, such an Israel hating zealot, such a, an advocate for 1.00

00:09:15.040 every Islamist enemy of America, that he has argued this week that President Trump's demand 0.97

00:09:23.340 for unconditional surrender of Iran means that Iran should expect American soldiers to rape 0.99

00:09:30.780 their wives and daughters. Yes. That is an absolute slander 0.99

00:09:36.100 of our American servicemen and women. It is totally false. It is ahistorical. We don't do

00:09:44.700 that. Other armies do that. America does not. And he also argued that he thinks America is going to

00:09:51.820 nuke Iran. To be clear, that's what Jihadist Tucker said in his interview. We should do 1.00

00:10:02.580 if Iran was trying to murder President Trump. We now have one of the hitmen convicted in a federal

00:10:11.580 jury for trying to murder Trump. So Tucker's bad faith, disingenuous position is we should nuke

00:10:19.880 them. Of course we should nuke them. We're not going to nuke Iran. That is bizarre. That is 0.99

00:10:26.020 wrong. We're also not, there is no circumstance in which American soldiers are going to rape

00:10:31.440 the women of Iran. But do you know who is broadcasting Tucker's broadcast right now?

00:10:37.760 Literally, Iran, state-sponsored media, is broadcasting it to their people.

00:10:42.920 The government of Iran is broadcasting Tucker to their people.

00:10:46.700 The Muslim Brotherhood has retweeted and put out Tucker's broadcast to the world. 0.89

00:10:51.580 RT, the press organization of Russia, Russia Today, is pushing out Tucker. 0.97

00:10:58.280 So you want to talk about a damn effective propagandist for people who hate America. 0.97

00:11:03.980 And this is the slippery slope of Jew hate and Israel hate. 0.99

00:11:08.740 You start with just hating Israel and Jews, 1.00

00:11:11.260 blaming everything bad in the world, it's the Jews. 1.00

00:11:14.140 And you very quickly get into the problem is capitalism.

00:11:18.020 By the way, Tucker is now attacking capitalism on a daily basis

00:11:21.020 and embracing, he's embraced Comrade Mondami as the mayor of New York.

00:11:26.620 He's defended him repeatedly.

00:11:27.900 He's embraced Nicolas Maduro,

00:11:30.120 the Marxist America-hating dictator of Venezuela 0.57

00:11:32.640 who Donald Trump went and rightly apprehended for being one of the biggest drug dealers in the world, killing Americans. 0.89

00:11:40.780 Tucker is defending him.

00:11:42.680 And that pattern is incredibly dangerous.

00:11:46.280 We're seeing it play out every day.

00:11:47.880 By the way, side note, this is going to be interesting.

00:11:50.620 I want you to guess in 2000, this would probably be 2009, 2008 or 2009.

00:11:57.840 My big, today, today, like to date, right now,

00:12:01.680 the biggest contract I've ever been offered in my entire life to do radio or TV,

00:12:06.860 do you know who it was from?

00:12:09.080 I'm guessing Tucker, and what I want to ask is,

00:12:11.540 did you have to buy a home and cut her like he has to? 0.93

00:12:13.680 No, no, that's a good guess, but no, it was not.

00:12:15.880 My biggest offer in the history of my career was RT.

00:12:20.640 They tried to hire, they were trying to hire conservatives.

00:12:23.880 And so in 2000, whatever year they came into America in the marketplace.

00:12:27.900 What?

00:12:28.280 How much did they offer you?

00:12:29.660 Oh, dude, it was seven figures.

00:12:31.520 I mean, it was, I don't remember.

00:12:32.600 Like, seriously?

00:12:33.900 Like, get rich, like, instant get rich money.

00:12:36.700 Like, they offered you over a million dollars?

00:12:39.220 Yes, over a million dollars. 0.97

00:12:40.280 To say Vladimir Putin is wise and a damn good-looking man. 0.98

00:12:45.640 So this is how they entrap people, as I describe it. 0.96

00:12:48.520 And in the Bush years, I get a phone call from a former worker slash TV executive from Fox News Channel.

00:12:57.560 And they said, hey, I've moved on to something else.

00:12:59.960 I'd love to meet with you.

00:13:00.760 I'm like, sure, more than happy to meet.

00:13:02.000 I'd worked with them before at Fox News Channel.

00:13:03.820 Like, okay, no big deal.

00:13:05.200 I go to lunch in D.C.

00:13:07.560 That's where I was living at the time.

00:13:09.180 And she hands me her card, and she's working for RT.

00:13:12.860 And I'm like, RT, like, rush you today?

00:13:14.960 And she's like, yes.

00:13:15.880 And she's like, we would love to have you come on and just give your viewpoint.

00:13:20.000 We would never tell you what to say.

00:13:21.960 We would never tell you what to like, you know, we want you to just be exactly who you are.

00:13:26.020 We want a fair and balanced conversation about the world.

00:13:28.500 We think you would be great.

00:13:29.900 I was like, I was like, I'm still in shock.

00:13:32.400 I'm like, this is, I'm like looking for cameras.

00:13:34.280 I'm waiting for like, you know, somebody to come out like from the side room, like we got him.

00:13:38.440 And I'm like, I literally looked at us like, there's no amount of money that is going to make me work for the Russian, for Vladimir Putin.

00:13:45.700 And they were like, well, here's the offer.

00:13:47.300 And they slid it across the table.

00:13:48.580 It was like a scene out of the movie, and I opened it, and it was seven figures.

00:13:51.640 And I literally called it John.

00:13:53.800 Tell me what seven figures means.

00:13:55.380 Do you remember?

00:13:55.800 It was well over a million per year, but it was a multi-year deal.

00:13:59.240 So it was like a million one, a million nine.

00:14:02.540 I can't remember if it was like a million two or three, and that was their first offer per year.

00:14:09.320 So I leave the meeting, and I'm like, look, I'm not going to do it, but thanks.

00:14:13.660 So I just think about it, and I'm like, I'm not going to do it, but thanks.

00:14:16.040 They're like, well, if you ever want to come on as a guest or if you ever change your mind.

00:14:19.100 So I leave, and I called John Ashcroft at the time, who was the former attorney general.

00:14:22.840 I was like, John, I just got offered money from Vladimir Putin.

00:14:26.120 He was like, started chuckling like Santa.

00:14:27.920 He was like, Russia Today?

00:14:29.200 I was like, yeah.

00:14:29.620 He's like, you're like the eighth person that's called me today to tell me in the last week they were getting an offer from Russia Today

00:14:34.200 because they're trying to legitimize themselves in America for their propaganda.

00:14:38.120 And then they were on TV until they invaded Ukraine.

00:14:42.540 And then RT, like, fired everybody in America.

00:14:44.900 But I knew people that took the money and got rich.

00:14:46.880 Like, I knew, like, legit people, like, yeah, I'll take the Russian cash.

00:14:49.520 Like, no problem.

00:14:50.660 That is, by the way, the reason why I bring that up is because with Tucker Carlson,

00:14:54.140 when everybody's like, well, is there really money to be made to be, like, anti-America, anti-Israel?

00:14:58.540 Yes.

00:14:59.160 There is lots of money that people are getting paid.

00:15:01.980 I don't know who's getting paid, but a lot of people are getting paid.

00:15:04.660 So just know that money is real.

00:15:05.960 By the way, we know that a foreign funder is for U.S. universities.

00:15:10.620 Yeah.

00:15:10.960 The number one country in the world, do you know what it is?

00:15:14.340 Is it China?

00:15:15.860 Nope.

00:15:17.000 Really?

00:15:17.600 Russia? 0.61

00:15:18.540 Nope.

00:15:19.300 Iran? 0.79

00:15:20.200 Nope.

00:15:21.120 All right.

00:15:21.340 Who is it?

00:15:22.540 Qatar.

00:15:23.440 Oh, okay.

00:15:24.100 There you go.

00:15:24.820 $6.6 billion, with a B.

00:15:29.420 $6.6 billion comes from Qatar to our universities.

00:15:31.840 To our universities, you want to know why our universities are so rabidly anti-American, so rabidly anti-Semitic, so rabidly anti-Israel, so rabidly anti-capitalism, so rabidly – look, you look at the anti-Semitic protests that we had on college campuses all across the country.

00:15:50.800 Yeah.

00:15:51.620 Did any of you notice that the tents all matched?

00:15:54.900 Yeah, there you go.

00:15:55.780 And to be clear, Qatar, by the way, it's been publicly reported, they hired spies to spy on me.

00:16:05.260 Yeah.

00:16:05.520 They view me as their biggest opponent in Washington.

00:16:10.020 And listen, it's very simple.

00:16:11.360 I don't have anything against the Qataris.

00:16:13.820 Other than that they welcome and host.

00:16:15.960 Hold on.

00:16:16.980 Let me finish this.

00:16:18.120 Let me finish this.

00:16:18.720 I don't have anything against the Qataris.

00:16:21.500 Other than that they welcome and host the senior leadership of Hamas. 0.97

00:16:25.780 they live like billionaires they live in lavish luxury they support Hamas they encourage Hamas 0.99

00:16:32.300 they fund Israel haters America haters communist people tearing America down they propagandize 0.64

00:16:40.300 our kids I'm perfectly happy to welcome the Qataris into the society of civilized nation

00:16:45.240 if they will stop funding people trying to destroy America and I don't take it kindly

00:16:50.740 when you write lots of checks to people who hate America and are trying to destroy our nation I

00:16:55.000 view that as less than friendly conduct having just come back from israel i want to paint you 0.77

00:17:00.940 a picture it's midnight sirens are blaring and you have only seconds to grab your child and run

00:17:08.640 now imagine you're elderly your legs don't work like they used to getting downstairs feels

00:17:13.960 impossible and after all of that you end up in a bomb shelter for hours even days because you can't

00:17:20.520 make the trek again. This is what's happening across

00:17:24.380 Israel as Operation Epic Fury continues. Children 0.55

00:17:28.320 are being traumatized, families are just exhausted, and homes

00:17:32.520 have been destroyed. And that's why the International Fellowship of Christians 0.99

00:17:36.680 and Jews is there. On the ground, bringing food,

00:17:40.420 emergency equipment, care for those children, and help for the elderly

00:17:44.720 and supplying the bomb shelters and medical centers for

00:17:48.440 critically needed essentials if you've ever wondered what it looks like to stand for israel

00:17:53.460 and stand for good against evil this is it and that's why i'm asking you to now please act give

00:17:59.540 45 right now to rush life-saving essentials to the vulnerables under fire you can also call

00:18:07.180 888-488-IFCJ

00:18:10.640 That's

00:18:11.400 888-488-IFCJ

00:18:14.940 Join me and give

00:18:16.340 and make a real difference

00:18:17.660 online at

00:18:18.980 ifcj.org

00:18:21.120 That's ifcj.org

00:18:23.140 By the way, to everyone in Qatar

00:18:25.300 that's a spy listening right now, I just want you to know

00:18:27.720 and this is a compliment, Ted's life

00:18:29.740 is very boring sometimes

00:18:31.720 It really is

00:18:32.900 It's not, there's nothing exciting

00:18:35.460 happening there, I just want to be clear

00:18:36.960 All right. Can I tell a story? And it's a story some of our podcast listeners will remember.

00:18:45.840 So back in 2016 when I'm running for president and it's getting down to the end of the race and it's me and Donald Trump and we're neck and neck.

00:18:55.800 And in that race, I won 12 states. Trump won 24. And no other Republican won more than a single state.

00:19:05.600 Kasich won Ohio, Rubio won Minnesota, and Trump and I won every other state in the country.

00:19:11.640 And in the course of that campaign, there was a story that broke in the National Enquirer

00:19:17.640 that said I was having five simultaneous affairs.

00:19:23.540 And this was front page, big story, Cruz caught.

00:19:27.140 Yes.

00:19:28.300 And look, Ben, you know my wife, Heidi.

00:19:31.520 I do.

00:19:31.920 i had to call heidi and for anyone married let me say to everyone listening and watching this spot

00:19:39.820 if you're married i gotta tell you it sucks to pick up the phone and call your spouse and say

00:19:47.000 sweetheart so there's a front page story that is in every checkout aisle of every supermarket in 0.67

00:19:55.540 america that said i'm having five simultaneous affairs and i adore heidi she's my best friend

00:20:04.320 in the world but i was nervous about this call that is not a fun if you had to call on and say

00:20:08.840 that that would be a call that sucked yeah that's that's so i i make the call do you know heidi's

00:20:15.860 reaction well i i know this story and i know exactly the reaction which is the best part

00:20:21.400 about the whole story heidi burst into uproarious laughter she's like doubled over laughing 1.00

00:20:28.880 and i actually got offended i'm like sweetheart it's not true but damn it i could i mean like

00:20:36.720 what are you saying like i like i didn't but but you're that undesirable that's what she's saying 0.96

00:20:42.840 right there there's no way and i gotta say for the qatari spies i think they were frustrated because

00:20:50.940 look i i have dinner many nights in dc at capitol grill you and i have had dinner many times there

00:20:56.200 yes we had my in fact in fact to be clear i don't think you and i have ever had dinner anywhere else

00:21:01.640 in dc but there that's how mundane it is okay there is that even exist in dc in your world

00:21:07.840 no okay just checking just i want to make sure look i'm if you're cheating on anybody it's

00:21:12.540 capitol grill that would be the story okay i'm a homebody listen when i was in law school i lived

00:21:18.580 in the dorms hemingway uh i lived in hastings hall which is a dorm i lived there three years

00:21:25.160 right next to it was hemingway gym and then right next to it was gannett house was the law review

00:21:30.060 that triangle was maybe 300 yards yeah i spent almost every waking moment of three years of law

00:21:37.580 school in that triangle between my dorm the gym and the law review that was basically i would go

00:21:41.720 to class occasionally but it was essentially that triangle dc i i rarely like like cap grill is six

00:21:48.900 blocks away from the capital i rarely go beyond that that that radius yeah but i will tell you

00:21:55.180 in 2016 my opponents and more than one of my opponents was like flashing major chunks of cash

00:22:01.680 trying to get cap grill waiters and waitresses to like rat on me like running around and and 0.97

00:22:10.240 getting busy with some Washington

00:22:12.300 lobbyists. People don't realize

00:22:14.220 this. This is real in politics.

00:22:16.200 They're dragging through trying to get

00:22:18.140 anything that's good. They hand out cash to anybody that will give them a

00:22:20.280 story so they can report it as someone who says

00:22:22.420 in this world.

00:22:24.340 And I've got to say

00:22:25.540 my life is just pretty damn boring on that.

00:22:28.800 And I will tell you,

00:22:29.840 actually, I want to take a minute. I want to speak to the men

00:22:32.340 listening to this podcast.

00:22:33.780 I want to share some wisdom.

00:22:36.440 So our pastor is Greg

00:22:38.240 Mott, and actually you now go to our church. You used to

00:22:40.200 go to second baptist you now go to first baptist greg mott is is a wonderful dear friend he's a

00:22:45.080 man of god uh before you move to first uh pastor greg did a a sermon series it was like i think

00:22:52.100 six weeks and it was on king david and i really enjoyed that sermon series king david was a

00:22:56.800 remarkable person in the bible and i remember he was covering the the chapter on bathsheba

00:23:02.800 and if you remember king david is standing on the roof of his palace and he looks down and he sees

00:23:07.520 Bathsheba the most beautiful woman in the land and he gazes upon her and he ultimately ends up

00:23:13.640 bringing her in and sending her husband Uriah to the front lines and killing him and and and 0.98

00:23:18.640 sleeping with her and then marrying her and and God extracts the price of killing her firstborn 0.99

00:23:23.740 son although her next son was King Solomon so he did continue the line but Pastor Greg is talking

00:23:32.200 about and he just stops he says all right I want to talk to all the men in the congregation

00:23:37.040 and he says you may by the way if you're listening to this podcast and you want to hear

00:23:42.580 greg mont's voice like go listen to one of his sermons and you'll understand how good he is at

00:23:47.240 delivering these types of lines continue it's and and by the way pastor greg started his ministry

00:23:53.900 he was a student at texas a&m and he started a little bible study in in his dorm room or his

00:24:00.100 apartment and it started with a few students it grew into what's called breakaway and he would

00:24:05.140 have 10,000 students a week meeting in the basketball gymnasium so where we go to church

00:24:12.160 first baptist church is an institution in houston i went there as a little kid dr john bassania was

00:24:18.260 the pastor 40 years ago and he was a houston institution by the way the church was founded

00:24:25.360 do you know the story do you know when the church was founded no so the church was founded i don't

00:24:32.240 know the exact year but texas was an independent nation between 1836 and 1845 and first baptist

00:24:39.220 church of houston was founded somewhere in that nine-year period i don't remember the year

00:24:42.420 and pastor greg said one time he said look this church was actually founded by american missionaries

00:24:50.520 who were coming to a foreign nation and the foreign nation was the republic of texas

00:24:55.080 so american nations went from america to the republic of texas and they founded the church

00:24:59.680 um anyway what he said to the men in the church and and by the way so so pastor greg built up

00:25:08.340 breakaway and it was getting 10 000 students a week to come to this bible study at a&m and then

00:25:16.020 when dr bassano retired first baptist did a search who's our new pastor and they actually found

00:25:21.920 pastor greg he was 33 years old and they brought him in he'd never pastored a church he just like

00:25:28.700 led this Bible study at A&M. They brought him in, and he's led—Pastor Greg and I are exactly the

00:25:33.660 same age. We're both 55. And they brought him in, and he's become our pastor. And he is—he's a

00:25:40.800 great pastor, but what I admire most about him is he's incredibly humble. Yes. Like, Heidi doesn't

00:25:47.040 like megachurches. She grew up in a very small church in the Central Coast of California. She

00:25:52.060 likes small, intimate churches where you have 40 people there on Sunday morning, like where

00:25:56.500 everyone knows everyone. And First Baptist is a huge church. The only reason we go there is

00:26:03.140 because she likes Pastor Greg so much that she's just like, all right, I will endure the larger

00:26:08.740 apparatus. But part of the reason she likes him and I like him is he is genuinely humble and he's

00:26:18.120 a godly man. A lot of pastors of megachurches are frankly arrogant. I mean, hubris. Look,

00:26:25.760 hubris is is they become rock stars in a bubble pride is a temptation in the ministry it's a

00:26:32.320 temptation in politics it's a temptation in the media like you like it's it's easy when you're

00:26:37.620 surrounded by adulation to believe it and it's hard to resist it um and i will say pastor greg

00:26:45.220 does an amazing job he he and i spend uh every month actually something we've started this year

00:26:51.360 which i'm really grateful for he's begun coming over to my house once a month uh sunday afternoons

00:26:58.980 and or evenings just to have a bible study and prayer session together which i'm i'm grateful for

00:27:04.100 but anyway his date his david sermon when he talks about basheba he says i want to talk to

00:27:09.880 the men in the congregation and he said you may think you're strong you may think you have

00:27:16.380 integrity you have resolve and he said i want to tell you when temptation presents itself

00:27:23.880 run run just get away he said the mistake david made is he's on the roof of his palace he's looking

00:27:31.560 down and he kept watching what david should have done is turn around and by the way the bible

00:27:37.220 describes david as a man after god's own heart and he said david should have turned around and

00:27:42.520 just gotten himself out of that.

00:28:12.520 listen to your podcasts so so before we wrap i want to get back to something else political world

00:28:18.560 that i do think is important for us to cover real quick and that is the one thing that the

00:28:23.200 democrats seem to be being able to grab on and something tangible here is gas prices i know

00:28:29.840 you've been around the president i know you're in dc the president's been pretty clear about this

00:28:34.160 this is going to be short-term increase democrats do seem to be latching onto this like remember

00:28:38.700 when egg prices was like a big thing in the in the political world yep this is the new egg price

00:28:43.260 thing right oh my gosh donald trump says a lower price of the pump for you look at it now look how

00:28:47.420 bad it is now it's going to be you know ten dollars a gallon in california it's going to be five six

00:28:51.760 hours a gallon everywhere else the president's come out and says it's going to be short term

00:28:54.900 i believe him i think also seeing how hard we're hitting iran right now is also showing the

00:29:01.300 timeline here that they are wanting to do everything as fast they can why drag this out

00:29:06.800 Go all in, do it quickly, get the pain over with,

00:29:10.560 and let those people hopefully rise up and take over Iran and actually move forward.

00:29:15.680 Are you that worried about the gas prices?

00:29:19.060 I'm not yet.

00:29:20.220 Like, if it's three months from now or two months from now, I'm going to be more worried.

00:29:23.240 But right now, I feel like this is exactly on schedule or ahead of schedule as the White House has described it.

00:29:28.700 Yeah.

00:29:29.160 So, look, there's been a short-term increase in gas prices.

00:29:32.340 And any time there's a military conflict in the Middle East, gas prices go up because a lot of oil comes from the Middle East, and so military conflict has an effect on supply and demand.

00:29:44.360 I think this will be short term.

00:29:46.320 One of the things to remember is so six months ago, gas prices were about – I don't have the exact number off the top of my head, but about $2.50 a gallon.

00:29:58.380 They've risen about a dollar.

00:30:00.040 They're about $3.50 a gallon.

00:30:01.820 This is national averages. And so it is true that over the last six months, gasoline prices have risen.

00:30:10.140 Where were they 18 months ago? Under Joe Biden, there were nearly six dollars a gallon.

00:30:15.540 So by any measure, there was massively cheaper than Joe Biden.

00:30:20.240 Yes, they've gone up from about 250 to about 350. But I think this is a short term increase.

00:30:26.620 And I got to say, if and when the Iranian regime collapses, and by the way, we've utterly degraded their military and we've taken out the Ayatollah and the senior military leadership.

00:30:36.780 If and when we have a government in Iran that is not a radical, theocratic, Islamist government who wants to murder America, who is funding terrorists all across the world, who is actively trying to murder Americans every single day. 0.67

00:30:51.200 If we have just a normal government, I don't really care who we have just as long as it's not a crazy person killing Americans.

00:30:58.660 The effect on global gas prices will be to lower them significantly.

00:31:03.020 So I actually think this conflict in the long term or even the medium term will have a substantial downward pressure on gasoline prices.

00:31:10.660 There's a short period where prices have spiked somewhat.

00:31:13.940 Although to be clear, they're much, much lower than under Biden, but they are higher than they were six months ago under Trump.

00:31:21.200 Look, I think the Democrats are attacking gas prices because they hate Trump, and they're just, everything Trump does is wrong.

00:31:29.920 This is an incredibly important decision that Trump has made for advancing U.S. national security.

00:31:37.840 And I will say, part of the reason why, when I was being questioned on Lindsey Graham, I like Lindsey, as I said, I agree with him sometimes, I disagree with him sometimes.

00:31:46.360 But what the questioning really was about is, isn't the Iran war about Israel?

00:31:52.080 Isn't this all about Israel?

00:31:53.720 And the suggestion was Israel as a puppet master controlling Donald Trump. 0.67

00:31:58.640 That's just a blatant lie.

00:32:01.220 This military conflict has very little to do with Israel.

00:32:05.420 The reason President Trump decided to attack Iran is because Iran has been waging war with

00:32:11.280 America for 47 years and they've killed nearly a thousand Americans. 0.91

00:32:14.440 and they're the leading state sponsor of terrorism in the world.

00:32:18.340 And so the people trying to say, I don't want another war for Israel.

00:32:23.760 I don't want my children to die for the Jews. 1.00

00:32:27.360 That is not honest because we're doing this because the regime in Iran is killing Americans. 0.98

00:32:37.420 And to be clear, if they had the capacity, if they had nuclear weapons, they would kill many, many more Americans. 0.98

00:32:45.520 If they could, they would kill you and me right now, Ben. 1.00

00:32:48.580 If they could, every listener of this podcast, they would kill. 0.99

00:32:51.860 If they had a nuclear weapon, I believe there is a real possibility they would detonate it in the skies of Tel Aviv or New York or Los Angeles. 0.85

00:32:59.540 And I'm not interested in seeing a day where hundreds of thousands of Americans are murdered by an Ayatollah chanting death to America. 0.98

00:33:08.900 That's why President Trump acted.

00:33:10.880 But it was not about Israel.

00:33:12.840 It was about America.

00:33:14.320 And I think we need to be very, very clear about that.

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00:33:38.280 By the third day, her body was shutting down.

00:33:41.300 She woke up and just long enough to tell her mom,

00:33:44.580 I can't take the pain anymore.

00:33:47.300 I can't keep going.

00:33:48.680 Her parents drove hours to find a doctor who tried everything,

00:33:53.200 but she needed a private hospital,

00:33:55.200 And that was impossible for her family to afford.

00:33:59.340 And that is when Compassion International stepped in.

00:34:03.080 Now, through Compassion, Alejandra was treated.

00:34:06.320 And against all odds, she survived.

00:34:09.220 She lived because someone just like you took action.

00:34:13.220 Right now, unfortunately, there are children just like Alejandra who won't survive unless someone like you steps in. 0.99

00:34:21.040 Compassion International partners with local churches, providing children with the support that they need.

00:34:27.780 Critical medical care, plus food, education, and the hope of the gospel.

00:34:33.780 All in Jesus' name.

00:34:35.900 So help a child just like Alejandra today. 0.94

00:34:39.580 You can visit Compassion.com.

00:34:42.120 That's Compassion.com.

00:34:44.940 I also think one of the other things that I think is really frustrating is just seeing how many people act as if somehow Donald Trump was hoodwinked by Israel for us to get involved in this war.

00:34:54.220 And you were asked about that.

00:34:56.020 I was asked about it as well on TV. 0.99

00:34:57.780 And I said that is the biggest load of crap I've heard in a long time. 0.99

00:35:01.380 President Trump isn't hoodwinked by anybody. 0.99

00:35:03.380 President Trump isn't walked around by anyone.

00:35:05.900 And if you've ever been around him, you know that.

00:35:08.060 I think it goes back to what you just said.

00:35:10.160 The president understood the national security risks, not to Israel.

00:35:14.400 This is America first. 0.74

00:35:16.600 Correct.

00:35:17.020 It's America and the national security threat to America, including the fact that they're trying to kill and have sent people and trained people and paid people to try to kill the president of the United States of America. 0.57

00:35:26.960 Also, people in the last administration, John Bolton, for example, was one of those.

00:35:30.560 There's several others on this list that have actually been they've had hits out on them.

00:35:35.360 Like Pompeo, Brian Hook.

00:35:36.380 Yes, exactly.

00:35:37.320 So you go with the list here.

00:35:39.120 the president was clear about this that this is about america and i think that's another example

00:35:45.760 when i said there's like four or five working theories democrats throwing jello to wall saying

00:35:49.540 does any of this fit with americans i also think it's very interesting and final thing to you

00:35:54.000 i don't think the american people are buying this and part of it's because i think democrats have

00:35:59.360 just said some of those orlandish and crazy things on every issue tried to hurt donald trump now it's

00:36:05.160 becoming a little bit more of white noise and that's that i'm thankful for that to be honest

00:36:09.020 with you yeah no i think that's right and and and look some of the reaction of the voters will

00:36:14.140 depend on on how this plays out if this military conflict lasts many months or years if we're

00:36:21.820 sitting here a year from now and still mired in a military conflict if we've got a massive

00:36:26.980 troop presence on the ground if we have hundreds of thousands of american soldiers being killed

00:36:31.720 this war will be very unpopular yeah i think the chances of that happening are very very close to

00:36:39.520 zero percent iran is not iraq we're not going to see a massive troop presence on the ground we're

00:36:48.500 not going to see an extended military occupation actually i want you to listen to pete hegseth

00:36:53.420 making this point and we're going to wrap up on this listen listen to the secretary of war

00:36:57.220 Pete Hegseth. You see, this is not 2003. This is not endless nation building under those types

00:37:07.300 of quagmires we saw under Bush or Obama. It's not even close. Our generation of soldier will

00:37:14.200 not let that happen again, and nor will this president, who very clearly ran against those

00:37:20.560 kinds of never-ending nebulously scoped missions those days are dead instead we're winning

00:37:29.320 decisively with brutal efficiency total air dominance and an unbreakable will to accomplish

00:37:35.580 the president's objectives on our timeline we stay locked on the target because here at the

00:37:43.140 department of war that's our job you listen to pete there this is one of the reasons why i

00:37:47.540 I actually think it was a blessing that he was named and made it through confirmation.

00:37:51.160 He's a guy who's a combat veteran who's been in harm's way.

00:37:55.240 Yeah, this is a guy that I think is genuinely in the room advocating to make sure that what happened to a lot of his colleagues

00:38:02.000 when he was serving in uniform and deployed, that doesn't happen to this group of soldiers now.

00:38:08.840 And it's clear that this is personal for him.

00:38:11.780 That's why I'm so thankful that he's there in this position, because he lived the other side of it that he was just describing.

00:38:18.220 Right. Look, avoiding endless wars does not mean embracing isolationism.

00:38:24.220 Yeah. Peace through strength is what Reagan called it.

00:38:27.860 Donald Trump just understands it as being a strong commander in chief that when people are killing Americans, he is going to respond vigorously to take them out.

00:38:36.560 And by the way, our enemies are terrified, as I've said before, at 3 a.m. on January 3rd, there was not a Latin American dictator who didn't have to change his shorts, because that's when President Trump seized Nicolas Maduro.

00:38:52.620 What is happening in Iran, the top leadership has been taken out.

00:38:56.720 Every bad guy, every person who hates America is really, really worried right now, because this is a nation that defends itself.

00:39:03.800 And by the way, that makes clear, if you kill Americans, there are going to be massive consequences to it.

00:39:10.980 Barack Obama and Joe Biden's weakness and appeasement that if you kill Americans, oh, well, we're not going to do anything about it. 0.98

00:39:17.220 That invites more people to target and kill Americans. 0.67

00:39:20.860 This is about avoiding war by being strong enough to take out the people that are killing Americans. 0.93

00:39:27.440 And that avoids protracted military conflict.

00:39:31.500 I think that's what we're seeing right now, and it makes America a whole lot safer.

00:39:35.720 Yeah, no doubt about it.

00:39:36.660 For everybody listening, thank you for joining us as we do a dual pod with the Ben Ferguson podcast and Verdict with Ted Cruz.

00:39:42.640 Don't forget, hit that subscribe or auto-download button wherever you're listening right now.

00:39:46.860 And if you want to watch the show, it's also on YouTube, Verdict with Ted Cruz there.

00:39:51.300 You can watch it on Facebook as well.

00:39:53.420 And we'll see you back here in a couple of days.

Verdict with Ted Cruz - March 11, 2026

Iran： Why We're Fighting, How's it Going & What's the End Game

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