Verdict with Ted Cruz - June 28, 2022


Out of Control Gun Control


Episode Stats

Length

26 minutes

Words per Minute

168.03929

Word Count

4,414

Sentence Count

305

Misogynist Sentences

2

Hate Speech Sentences

3


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:00:02.560 Guaranteed human.
00:00:04.320 Last Thursday night, in this incredible term for the Supreme Court,
00:00:09.260 we had just gotten a major ruling on the Second Amendment.
00:00:11.780 So Senator Cruz and I sat down, middle of the night,
00:00:14.460 he had just come from the Senate, from the Capitol,
00:00:18.000 and we were discussing this issue from the court,
00:00:22.480 what's going on with the legislators trying to pass gun control.
00:00:25.580 And the very next morning, we got the ruling in Dobbs,
00:00:28.900 the most important Supreme Court decision, certainly of my lifetime,
00:00:31.440 one of the most important ever in the history of the United States.
00:00:34.600 And so we came out, emergency episode, breaking news, verdict episode,
00:00:38.600 but we still want to bring this to you.
00:00:40.420 This is still incredible news.
00:00:42.200 While Dobbs is the big headline,
00:00:43.900 there are so many other great things that have come out of this court term.
00:00:47.080 So without further ado, here is our discussion of the Second Amendment.
00:00:51.720 A major loss for Second Amendment rights
00:00:54.760 and a major win for Second Amendment rights,
00:00:57.600 all in the same day and in true verdict style,
00:01:02.300 it is the middle of the night.
00:01:04.460 Senator Cruz is coming straight off the Senate floor.
00:01:06.840 This is Verdict with Ted Cruz.
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00:03:41.780 Welcome back to Verdict with Ted Cruz.
00:03:44.160 I'm Michael Knowles,
00:03:45.400 and I am totally cheating this time
00:03:47.640 because it is Thursday evening right now
00:03:50.960 when we are filming this,
00:03:52.200 and it is a lovely 9.30 p.m.
00:03:54.860 where I am here in California.
00:03:57.300 Senator, for you,
00:03:58.540 it is after midnight.
00:04:00.080 You've just come off the Senate floor,
00:04:01.640 and we're about to start a show.
00:04:04.100 You know, it really feels like
00:04:05.980 we're reliving our past,
00:04:07.460 our origin story.
00:04:09.000 I think all verdicts
00:04:10.460 ought to be filmed after midnight,
00:04:12.140 and the show would get much better
00:04:14.600 if we did a tequila shot
00:04:16.880 after every topic.
00:04:18.600 Well, I did want to take
00:04:20.420 some tequila shots
00:04:21.260 after I saw the machinations
00:04:23.300 in the Senate today
00:04:24.360 and the Democrats
00:04:25.460 and the squishes pushing gun control.
00:04:27.780 You saw it a lot closer than I did.
00:04:30.480 What happened?
00:04:31.640 You know, today was
00:04:32.800 a really frustrating day.
00:04:34.460 Today, the United States Senate
00:04:36.600 passed the most significant
00:04:38.440 gun control bill since 1994,
00:04:40.760 and it's even more frustrating.
00:04:42.780 So in the last podcast,
00:04:43.640 we talked about the broader issues,
00:04:45.700 but I told you then
00:04:47.720 that I would have more to say
00:04:50.460 in the hours and days coming forward.
00:04:52.840 Well, earlier this week,
00:04:56.200 in fact, right after the last podcast,
00:04:58.320 I introduced my own legislation,
00:05:00.120 and my own legislation,
00:05:02.200 I teamed up with John Barrasso,
00:05:04.320 who is the number three Republican
00:05:07.240 in the conference leadership.
00:05:09.140 He is the senator from Wyoming,
00:05:11.700 great guy, great friend,
00:05:12.940 great conservative.
00:05:14.020 Actually, we've had John Barrasso
00:05:15.260 on the show.
00:05:16.680 That's right.
00:05:17.220 A former guest on verdict.
00:05:18.420 Yes.
00:05:19.280 So we teamed up
00:05:20.860 and introduced legislation
00:05:22.040 that was called Cruz Barrasso.
00:05:23.660 By any measure,
00:05:26.020 the legislation I introduced
00:05:28.340 and I fought for
00:05:29.380 would do much, much more,
00:05:32.280 would be much more effective,
00:05:33.500 was much more serious
00:05:34.620 in stopping mass murders
00:05:36.660 and stopping mass shootings
00:05:38.000 and keeping our kids safe.
00:05:39.620 And yet every single Democrat
00:05:41.960 lined up against it.
00:05:43.700 And they said,
00:05:44.700 we don't want to double
00:05:45.460 the number of cops in schools.
00:05:47.160 We don't want to prosecute
00:05:48.400 gun criminals.
00:05:49.380 Instead, our objective is
00:05:52.100 to meet our political priorities
00:05:54.440 of restricting
00:05:56.300 the Second Amendment rights
00:05:57.420 of law-abiding citizens.
00:05:58.340 It's really frustrating
00:05:59.740 and it's maddening.
00:06:02.160 So you come up
00:06:04.140 with this legislation
00:06:05.060 with John Barrasso
00:06:06.320 and you bring it in,
00:06:08.280 you introduce it into the Senate,
00:06:09.940 and then while you're waiting
00:06:11.240 for Chuck Schumer
00:06:12.060 to come sign on
00:06:13.240 as a co-sponsor,
00:06:14.640 because this is basic stuff,
00:06:16.460 if Democrats really wanted
00:06:17.600 to solve this,
00:06:18.220 then they would do it.
00:06:19.440 Meanwhile,
00:06:20.300 the Democrats are picking off
00:06:21.640 14 Republicans
00:06:22.640 to support their legislation,
00:06:24.740 which whatever you think
00:06:26.080 about gun control
00:06:26.960 is just far less relevant
00:06:29.040 to these actual shootings
00:06:30.420 than legislation like yours would be.
00:06:33.420 And then the legislation
00:06:35.520 that the Democrats proposed
00:06:37.080 passes the Senate.
00:06:38.340 So it's done, right?
00:06:39.540 It's over.
00:06:40.200 It's going to go to Biden's desk
00:06:41.700 and then it's going to become law?
00:06:42.560 No, it has to go to the House next,
00:06:44.320 but the House is expected
00:06:45.400 to take it up
00:06:46.060 and the House will pass it.
00:06:47.500 So it will go to Biden's desk,
00:06:49.660 but the House has to pass it first.
00:06:51.860 And the Democrats there
00:06:53.140 are going to support it.
00:06:53.980 And look,
00:06:54.320 the Democrats understand
00:06:55.600 this is the camel's nose
00:06:56.640 under the tent.
00:06:58.140 The provision in this bill
00:06:59.980 that is the most problematic
00:07:01.100 is the red flag provision.
00:07:03.200 So this bill provides
00:07:04.720 significant federal funding
00:07:06.060 for states to pass
00:07:08.020 so-called red flag laws.
00:07:09.580 And the problem is
00:07:10.500 red flag laws
00:07:12.220 really can invite abuse
00:07:14.140 because they're a mechanism
00:07:15.600 to take away the guns
00:07:18.080 from law-abiding citizens.
00:07:19.820 And it varies state by state,
00:07:21.980 but we've seen some blue states
00:07:23.340 enact red flag laws
00:07:24.700 where they can take away your guns
00:07:26.760 with little to no due process,
00:07:29.480 with little to no judicial protection.
00:07:31.700 Now, the Second Amendment
00:07:32.900 is not just some sort of privilege
00:07:34.920 that various political communities
00:07:37.900 have decided to pass.
00:07:40.360 The Second Amendment
00:07:41.280 is a constitutional right.
00:07:43.780 The right to keep and bear arms,
00:07:45.100 no matter what you think of it,
00:07:46.680 is a basic civil right.
00:07:48.860 So my question is,
00:07:50.180 how can the Democrats
00:07:51.920 and these 14 Republicans
00:07:53.140 lower the threshold so much
00:07:56.280 to deprive someone
00:07:57.200 of their basic civil rights?
00:07:58.700 And will this,
00:07:59.840 if it's challenged in court,
00:08:01.400 would this kind of legislation
00:08:03.160 be overruled?
00:08:04.280 So it depends.
00:08:05.500 The Democrats, by and large,
00:08:07.100 don't care.
00:08:08.300 And more and more
00:08:09.620 congressional Democrats
00:08:10.660 are becoming quite candid
00:08:11.960 that their objective
00:08:12.900 is gun confiscation,
00:08:14.600 that they want to take guns
00:08:15.820 away from the American people.
00:08:17.180 They used to hide that.
00:08:18.940 More and more Democrats
00:08:19.940 are being very open.
00:08:21.060 Beto O'Rourke famously said,
00:08:22.840 hell yes,
00:08:23.360 we're going to take your AR-15.
00:08:24.880 I mean, they're embracing it.
00:08:27.560 Justice John Paul Stevens,
00:08:28.980 the lion of the left,
00:08:30.440 wrote an op-ed saying
00:08:31.560 we should repeal
00:08:32.440 the Second Amendment.
00:08:33.380 That is more and more
00:08:34.380 becoming the position
00:08:35.420 of the hard left
00:08:36.760 is screw the Second Amendment,
00:08:38.040 we want your guns.
00:08:38.800 With Republicans,
00:08:42.260 it's more complicated.
00:08:43.300 A number of Republicans,
00:08:44.420 so we had at lunch today
00:08:46.580 with the Senate Republicans,
00:08:47.720 we had a hot lunch.
00:08:50.380 It's as hot
00:08:51.220 as any I can remember
00:08:53.200 in years.
00:08:54.060 People were angry
00:08:54.980 and yelling at each other.
00:08:56.360 This is, look,
00:08:57.120 it's an emotional issue.
00:08:58.380 It's a divisive issue.
00:09:01.020 On the question
00:09:02.060 of red flag laws,
00:09:03.200 what the defenders
00:09:03.820 of this bill were saying
00:09:05.220 is, well, gosh,
00:09:06.020 no courts
00:09:07.800 have struck down
00:09:09.480 the state laws
00:09:10.320 as being unconstitutional.
00:09:11.540 No courts have concluded
00:09:12.900 that they don't
00:09:14.100 adequately protect
00:09:15.300 due process.
00:09:16.320 Well, look,
00:09:17.400 there are lots of things
00:09:18.200 that are unconstitutional
00:09:19.140 that have yet to be adjudicated.
00:09:20.640 And if your standard is
00:09:21.780 whatever New York
00:09:22.980 or Connecticut does
00:09:23.940 is just
00:09:24.500 okie-dokie by me
00:09:26.640 unless and until
00:09:27.820 a court strikes it down,
00:09:30.860 you're on pretty
00:09:31.720 dangerous territory.
00:09:32.660 So I found that argument
00:09:34.380 particularly unpersuasive.
00:09:36.900 We have heard
00:09:37.780 in the Judiciary Committee
00:09:38.860 significant testimony
00:09:40.900 about how these laws
00:09:42.220 have been abused.
00:09:43.020 And one of the things
00:09:43.520 I said on the Senate floor
00:09:44.600 is as a consequence
00:09:46.560 of this bill tonight,
00:09:48.480 we will see people
00:09:49.740 assaulted and lose their life.
00:09:51.300 So we had a big argument
00:09:52.460 today at lunch
00:09:53.280 over my amendment.
00:09:55.980 So we started the day
00:09:57.280 with me being told
00:09:59.080 by multiple senators,
00:10:00.480 oh, Chuck Schumer
00:10:01.620 is going to schedule
00:10:03.840 a vote on your amendment.
00:10:05.440 He's agreed
00:10:05.940 we're going to have
00:10:06.360 one amendment.
00:10:07.400 It's your amendment.
00:10:08.580 It's the Cruz Barrasso amendment.
00:10:09.760 We're going to vote on that
00:10:10.680 and then we'll be done.
00:10:12.660 And at lunch,
00:10:14.040 several of my colleagues asked,
00:10:16.460 okay, is your amendment,
00:10:18.180 is it simply
00:10:19.520 an addition to this bill
00:10:20.980 adding new provisions
00:10:22.020 or is it a substitute?
00:10:24.840 A substitute is
00:10:25.960 delete what you got
00:10:26.940 and replace it with this.
00:10:28.000 And I said,
00:10:29.980 guys, it's a substitute.
00:10:31.480 I don't like what you're doing.
00:10:32.780 What you're doing is bad.
00:10:34.000 It's a bad bill.
00:10:35.180 It undermines
00:10:36.280 the second amendment.
00:10:37.800 So I don't want to add
00:10:39.180 my bill to yours
00:10:40.120 and undermine the second amendment
00:10:41.420 and do something good.
00:10:42.600 I'd just like to do something good.
00:10:44.680 I'd like us actually
00:10:45.800 to pass a straight up bill
00:10:47.780 going after criminals
00:10:48.760 and keeping people safe.
00:10:51.580 I will tell you
00:10:52.560 my Republican colleagues
00:10:53.620 who are in support
00:10:54.580 of this bill
00:10:55.100 were furious.
00:10:55.920 That was the cause
00:10:57.540 of much of the fireworks
00:10:58.620 at lunch
00:10:59.120 is they're like,
00:10:59.880 we don't want to substitute.
00:11:01.340 We want you just to,
00:11:02.420 just add our bill,
00:11:03.740 add your bill to ours
00:11:04.700 and we'll be fine with it.
00:11:06.080 In your estimation,
00:11:07.380 Senator,
00:11:07.700 I don't want to make you
00:11:09.340 play psychobabble
00:11:10.260 or anything like that,
00:11:11.380 but is your read
00:11:12.620 from your squishier colleagues
00:11:14.620 who backed
00:11:15.200 the Dems gun control bill,
00:11:17.080 is your read
00:11:17.840 that they did it
00:11:18.660 for political reasons
00:11:20.300 to appease
00:11:21.140 their purple
00:11:21.800 or blue constituencies
00:11:22.900 or did they do it
00:11:24.700 because of conviction
00:11:26.400 because they think
00:11:27.020 it's actually good
00:11:27.660 to take away guns
00:11:28.720 from more Americans.
00:11:29.900 Now look,
00:11:30.220 there were a number
00:11:30.780 of them from pretty red states
00:11:32.780 that weren't from
00:11:33.800 blue or purple states.
00:11:35.700 I don't know.
00:11:36.660 I'm not an armchair shrink.
00:11:40.180 I think it is
00:11:41.440 consistently the case
00:11:42.800 that when a Republican
00:11:43.780 compromises with the Democrats
00:11:45.340 and does what
00:11:46.000 the Democrats want,
00:11:47.500 that the press
00:11:48.320 will praise them.
00:11:49.760 It's an easy path.
00:11:51.200 If you want the press
00:11:52.040 to call you a statesman,
00:11:53.620 just do what
00:11:54.120 the Democrats want.
00:11:55.200 And as a Republican,
00:11:56.620 it's simple.
00:11:57.440 100% of the time
00:11:58.660 you give in to the Democrats,
00:11:59.920 the press says,
00:12:00.800 oh, you're so wise,
00:12:01.900 you're so enlightened.
00:12:03.500 And it's a pattern
00:12:04.600 we see over and over again.
00:12:06.900 You know,
00:12:07.060 you think about this bill.
00:12:08.320 This is a bill
00:12:08.880 that united all the Democrats.
00:12:10.380 Every Democrat
00:12:11.200 voted for this bill.
00:12:12.620 The most left-wing Democrats
00:12:14.360 happily voted
00:12:15.020 for this bill.
00:12:17.280 And less than a third
00:12:19.600 of the Republicans
00:12:20.200 voted for this bill.
00:12:21.500 More than a few of us
00:12:22.760 were asking
00:12:23.460 of our leadership,
00:12:24.880 why are we teeing up
00:12:25.900 a bill that unites
00:12:27.160 all the Democrats
00:12:28.040 and divides the Republicans
00:12:29.320 and makes us fight
00:12:30.040 with each other?
00:12:31.060 I get why this makes sense
00:12:32.540 for Chuck Schumer.
00:12:33.320 Why does this make sense
00:12:34.160 for us?
00:12:35.560 But when I said
00:12:37.360 my amendment
00:12:37.940 is going to be a substitute,
00:12:39.240 I'm not willing
00:12:39.920 to just rubber stamp
00:12:40.820 what you're doing,
00:12:42.000 it made the proponents
00:12:43.340 of the bill pretty angry.
00:12:45.280 And Schumer ended up
00:12:46.700 saying no amendments at all.
00:12:47.900 And so he blocked amendments.
00:12:51.240 Now, the way you block amendments,
00:12:52.620 and let's get into
00:12:53.200 a little bit of
00:12:53.760 arcane Senate procedure.
00:12:56.080 When you have a bill
00:12:57.160 pending on the floor,
00:12:58.960 there is what's called
00:13:00.180 the amendment tree,
00:13:01.200 which is there are open slots
00:13:02.760 for amendments.
00:13:04.460 And what Schumer did
00:13:05.460 is what's called
00:13:06.120 filling the tree,
00:13:07.240 which is he brings up the bill,
00:13:08.640 then he files an amendment,
00:13:10.420 he files another amendment,
00:13:11.400 he fills the legs
00:13:12.460 on the tree.
00:13:13.980 And typically,
00:13:15.000 the blocking amendment
00:13:16.080 is something really minor
00:13:17.940 and inconsequential.
00:13:19.100 It's something like
00:13:19.800 changing a date
00:13:20.760 from September 1st
00:13:23.000 to September 2nd.
00:13:23.940 I mean, it doesn't matter
00:13:25.760 what it is.
00:13:26.360 It's just an amendment
00:13:27.580 to block that slot
00:13:28.860 so no one else
00:13:29.540 can file an amendment.
00:13:31.420 So because Schumer
00:13:32.860 refused to allow
00:13:34.400 any amendments,
00:13:35.920 what I did tonight
00:13:37.500 is I exercised
00:13:39.160 the prerogatives
00:13:39.900 of a senator
00:13:40.600 to move to table
00:13:44.020 a pending amendment.
00:13:45.980 And in particular,
00:13:46.560 I moved to table
00:13:47.700 Schumer's amendment
00:13:49.440 that was filling the tree,
00:13:50.860 that was blocking the tree.
00:13:52.640 And under Senate rules,
00:13:54.320 a motion to table
00:13:55.460 an amendment
00:13:56.020 is a privileged motion
00:13:58.220 with no debate
00:13:59.220 that forces a vote.
00:14:00.380 So it was a way
00:14:01.360 for me to force a vote.
00:14:02.460 And I stood up and said,
00:14:03.320 look,
00:14:03.620 I'm moving to table this
00:14:05.200 in order to force a vote
00:14:07.520 on Cruz Barraza.
00:14:08.800 And this is a chance
00:14:10.720 for everyone here
00:14:11.620 to decide which one you want.
00:14:13.980 Do you want to pass a bill
00:14:15.040 that is serious
00:14:16.060 about going after
00:14:17.320 violent criminals,
00:14:18.180 about locking up
00:14:18.940 gun criminals,
00:14:19.760 and that provides
00:14:20.960 much, much more funds
00:14:22.760 and resources
00:14:23.400 to make schools safe,
00:14:24.900 to double the number
00:14:25.960 of cops in schools
00:14:27.020 to protect our kids?
00:14:29.120 Or do you want to pass
00:14:30.440 a political bill
00:14:31.300 that satisfies
00:14:32.180 the partisan urges
00:14:33.580 of the Democrats?
00:14:34.280 That's your choice.
00:14:35.840 That's what we voted on tonight.
00:14:37.620 And unfortunately,
00:14:39.580 that vote failed.
00:14:40.800 We got a total of 39 votes
00:14:42.400 to table the amendment,
00:14:44.640 which meant all the Democrats
00:14:46.840 and eight Republicans
00:14:50.100 voted to block
00:14:53.180 any more amendments
00:14:54.200 to prevent consideration
00:14:55.600 of the serious legislation
00:14:58.260 that actually would put
00:15:00.260 real resources on the table
00:15:02.000 to stop violent crime.
00:15:03.400 So that means
00:15:04.780 that six Republicans
00:15:05.920 backed the Democrats
00:15:07.780 gun control bill,
00:15:09.060 but also didn't
00:15:10.720 didn't try to shoot down
00:15:12.200 your amendment.
00:15:13.280 Correct.
00:15:14.860 So a way to sort of
00:15:16.020 split the baby there,
00:15:16.820 but I guess we'll take
00:15:17.420 what we can get.
00:15:17.860 Yeah, we picked off
00:15:19.020 about half the Republicans
00:15:20.160 who were supporting this,
00:15:21.260 and so that was
00:15:22.020 that was an incremental benefit.
00:15:25.740 And by the way,
00:15:26.960 look, I'll also say
00:15:28.140 we were working with
00:15:30.080 gun rights groups
00:15:32.160 so that the NRA
00:15:33.400 actively supported
00:15:35.640 my amendment
00:15:36.180 and publicly urged senators
00:15:38.280 to vote for it.
00:15:39.280 Why?
00:15:40.160 Because it targets
00:15:40.940 the bad guys.
00:15:41.520 It targets criminals.
00:15:42.580 It actually focuses
00:15:43.660 on how you stop
00:15:44.760 gun crimes
00:15:46.100 rather than
00:15:47.880 disarming law-abiding citizens.
00:15:49.760 But unfortunately,
00:15:50.980 a majority of the Senate
00:15:55.680 wanted to
00:15:56.760 go down a political
00:15:58.020 road instead.
00:15:59.260 So the Democrats
00:15:59.900 run the Senate,
00:16:00.780 so the Democrats
00:16:01.380 get their way
00:16:02.120 on their gun bill.
00:16:03.880 The Democrats
00:16:05.080 generally do not run
00:16:06.900 the Supreme Court.
00:16:08.020 We have a
00:16:09.100 vaguely conservative,
00:16:11.300 vague majority
00:16:12.240 on the court,
00:16:12.880 and the court
00:16:13.560 handed down
00:16:14.300 a major victory
00:16:15.580 for the Second Amendment
00:16:16.780 today.
00:16:17.140 That was the
00:16:17.580 New York Rifle
00:16:18.920 and Pistol Association
00:16:20.020 versus Bruin.
00:16:21.920 And it was
00:16:22.820 a case
00:16:23.940 that decided
00:16:26.380 whether and how
00:16:28.520 New Yorkers
00:16:29.360 are allowed
00:16:29.940 to keep
00:16:30.460 and bear arms.
00:16:31.800 Could you
00:16:32.240 describe a little bit
00:16:33.420 about the case?
00:16:34.300 Sure.
00:16:34.500 It's a big case.
00:16:35.860 It is a big victory
00:16:37.000 and it is cause
00:16:37.780 for celebration.
00:16:39.140 So New York
00:16:39.860 has in place
00:16:40.560 a law
00:16:40.960 that severely
00:16:42.020 restricts
00:16:42.800 the ability
00:16:43.440 of New Yorkers
00:16:45.040 to carry a firearm
00:16:45.900 outside the home.
00:16:46.960 So if you want
00:16:47.780 to conceal,
00:16:48.400 carry a handgun,
00:16:49.240 New York
00:16:50.320 had a handful
00:16:51.080 of very narrow
00:16:52.140 circumstances
00:16:52.860 in which you
00:16:53.400 were allowed
00:16:53.760 to do it.
00:16:54.600 But as a practical
00:16:55.700 matter,
00:16:56.160 you couldn't.
00:16:56.680 It was illegal
00:16:57.460 to carry a firearm
00:16:59.300 outside your home.
00:17:01.440 So if you're
00:17:02.360 on the subway,
00:17:03.040 if you want
00:17:03.380 to protect yourself,
00:17:04.980 New York
00:17:05.340 made it illegal
00:17:06.000 to do that.
00:17:07.200 This was a lawsuit
00:17:08.220 saying,
00:17:08.900 look,
00:17:09.140 making it illegal
00:17:09.840 to protect yourself
00:17:10.760 is contrary
00:17:11.420 to the Second Amendment
00:17:12.600 which says
00:17:13.660 the right to keep
00:17:14.360 and bear arms
00:17:15.080 shall not be
00:17:16.220 infringed.
00:17:17.440 The Supreme Court
00:17:18.340 agreed.
00:17:19.240 The decision
00:17:19.880 is 6-3.
00:17:20.820 So it was a big
00:17:21.600 majority decision.
00:17:23.760 Justice Clarence Thomas
00:17:24.800 wrote the majority.
00:17:25.800 It's a fantastic
00:17:26.580 majority opinion
00:17:27.500 and it vigorously
00:17:30.500 gave life
00:17:31.400 to the Second Amendment
00:17:32.320 and it said,
00:17:32.980 look,
00:17:33.180 you've got a right
00:17:33.960 to protect
00:17:34.880 your own life.
00:17:36.340 The Second Amendment
00:17:36.920 is not about hunting.
00:17:37.980 It's not about
00:17:38.400 skeet shooting.
00:17:39.280 It's not about
00:17:40.020 recreational use
00:17:41.680 of firearms.
00:17:42.420 The Second Amendment
00:17:43.120 is about
00:17:43.600 the fundamental right
00:17:44.660 you have,
00:17:45.980 you,
00:17:46.160 Michael Knowles
00:17:46.920 to defend
00:17:47.480 your life,
00:17:48.080 to protect
00:17:48.460 your life,
00:17:49.020 and to defend
00:17:49.540 your family.
00:17:51.120 And that right
00:17:53.340 of life
00:17:54.100 and self-defense,
00:17:55.720 the ability
00:17:56.980 to both keep
00:17:58.400 and to bear arms,
00:18:00.080 to carry them
00:18:00.960 with you
00:18:01.620 to protect yourself
00:18:03.160 is fundamental.
00:18:04.640 And the Supreme Court
00:18:05.400 said restrictions
00:18:06.880 that are not
00:18:07.760 in the tradition
00:18:08.580 of what has been
00:18:09.360 allowed
00:18:09.960 with the right
00:18:12.100 to keep
00:18:12.460 and bear arms
00:18:13.300 are beyond
00:18:14.960 what is allowed
00:18:16.880 under the Constitution.
00:18:18.280 It was a big,
00:18:19.660 big victory.
00:18:20.500 I remember
00:18:20.800 when I was living
00:18:21.420 in New York,
00:18:22.020 I did a little research
00:18:22.940 to see what it would take
00:18:24.380 to allow me
00:18:25.500 to carry a weapon.
00:18:27.340 Even just to have
00:18:28.100 a weapon
00:18:28.400 in my apartment
00:18:29.660 was difficult enough,
00:18:30.960 but to carry a weapon
00:18:32.240 outside of my apartment
00:18:33.020 and it was,
00:18:33.600 it was virtually impossible.
00:18:35.400 And in the law
00:18:36.440 at issue here,
00:18:37.800 New York decided
00:18:39.340 that you had to prove
00:18:40.720 that you had a cause
00:18:42.780 to have,
00:18:44.380 to keep and bear
00:18:45.000 this weapon.
00:18:46.100 And it would seem to me
00:18:47.700 that the cause
00:18:48.580 would be
00:18:49.160 the government's
00:18:50.620 trying to take away
00:18:51.300 my Second Amendment rights.
00:18:52.360 That would seem to be
00:18:53.240 a sufficient cause
00:18:54.280 to exercise
00:18:55.320 my Second Amendment rights.
00:18:56.900 Will this have ripple effects
00:18:58.140 around the rest of the country?
00:18:59.620 So it will.
00:19:00.260 I think you will see
00:19:01.060 litigation
00:19:01.660 against other
00:19:02.800 significant constraints
00:19:04.160 on the right
00:19:04.600 to keep and bear arms.
00:19:05.620 And I think you will see
00:19:06.720 gun-grabbing restrictions
00:19:09.020 struck down.
00:19:10.140 The left
00:19:11.120 wants to make it
00:19:12.800 hard,
00:19:13.600 if not impossible,
00:19:14.540 for you to protect yourself.
00:19:16.440 And I think
00:19:17.000 this decision,
00:19:18.000 this decision
00:19:18.640 is the biggest
00:19:19.300 Second Amendment decision
00:19:20.460 since Heller
00:19:21.880 versus District of Columbia,
00:19:23.340 which as you know,
00:19:24.940 I led a coalition
00:19:25.960 of states in Heller
00:19:27.180 defending the Second Amendment
00:19:28.380 right to keep and bear arms.
00:19:29.840 That was a landmark
00:19:30.940 5-4 decision.
00:19:32.960 Antonin Scalia
00:19:33.760 wrote the opinion.
00:19:34.660 It's probably
00:19:35.080 the finest majority opinion
00:19:37.160 Justice Scalia
00:19:37.860 ever wrote.
00:19:39.340 In this case,
00:19:40.640 I led an amicus brief
00:19:42.140 for 24 senators
00:19:45.540 defending the Second Amendment
00:19:47.620 right to keep and bear arms.
00:19:48.780 So we filed a brief
00:19:49.740 of the court
00:19:50.260 and the court
00:19:51.080 agreed with us.
00:19:51.720 The court agreed with us
00:19:52.660 down the line
00:19:53.680 that the right
00:19:54.940 to keep and bear arms
00:19:55.780 is real.
00:19:56.620 It's significant.
00:19:57.480 It's meaningful.
00:19:58.100 It needs to be protected.
00:19:59.400 And, you know,
00:19:59.780 the Bill of Rights
00:20:00.460 is not optional.
00:20:01.460 It's not a recommendation.
00:20:03.200 If you don't agree with it,
00:20:04.620 who cares?
00:20:05.460 It is in the Constitution.
00:20:07.180 If you don't agree with it,
00:20:08.560 try to amend the Constitution,
00:20:09.840 but you don't get to ignore it
00:20:11.420 just because you'd like to ignore it.
00:20:13.840 And so I think this was a big decision
00:20:15.980 and a really important
00:20:18.420 long-term victory
00:20:19.280 for the Second Amendment.
00:20:20.540 I will tell you something amazing.
00:20:22.760 So imagine for a second, Michael,
00:20:26.700 that you're the lawyer
00:20:27.700 who argues the New York case,
00:20:29.980 wins a 6-3 landmark case
00:20:33.000 defending a constitutional right.
00:20:37.080 Imagine you are also
00:20:38.540 a partner at a law firm
00:20:39.520 who's just won
00:20:40.400 a landmark victory
00:20:41.680 at the Supreme Court.
00:20:43.420 What do you think
00:20:44.680 the reward
00:20:45.600 and the response
00:20:47.180 from your law firm
00:20:48.220 would be and should be?
00:20:50.600 I would imagine
00:20:51.760 I should get a big,
00:20:53.360 fat, gigantic bonus.
00:20:55.720 I think I should get
00:20:56.620 an upgrade to my office
00:20:58.120 if I'm in some little kind of,
00:21:00.200 I'd like that corner office now,
00:21:02.160 maybe a nice leather chair
00:21:04.320 and a cocobolo desk.
00:21:05.720 That's what I would expect.
00:21:06.740 Look, all of that makes sense
00:21:08.180 and you got it
00:21:09.040 almost exactly right.
00:21:11.080 What happened in this case
00:21:12.920 is the lawyer
00:21:14.240 who argued the case
00:21:15.340 was Paul Clement.
00:21:16.620 He was the former
00:21:17.180 Solicitor General
00:21:17.940 of the United States.
00:21:18.760 Paul is someone
00:21:19.120 I know very well.
00:21:19.900 He's an incredibly
00:21:20.580 talented advocate.
00:21:22.500 He won 6-3.
00:21:23.740 He was a partner
00:21:24.300 at Kirkland and Ellis
00:21:25.180 and immediately
00:21:26.380 after the decision
00:21:27.220 came down,
00:21:28.000 Kirkland fired him.
00:21:29.060 Oh my God.
00:21:30.340 He was fired.
00:21:32.280 They fired him
00:21:33.360 and they fired Aaron Murphy
00:21:34.420 who was also his partner.
00:21:36.060 What the law firm said
00:21:37.800 is we have decided
00:21:40.200 we are no longer willing
00:21:41.360 to defend the Second Amendment.
00:21:43.500 So you, Paul,
00:21:44.640 and you, Aaron,
00:21:45.260 have a choice.
00:21:46.040 Fire your client
00:21:47.000 who is a longstanding client.
00:21:50.320 Tell them you will
00:21:50.840 no longer represent them
00:21:52.160 or get the hell
00:21:53.760 out of the firm.
00:21:55.340 And Paul and Aaron,
00:21:56.700 God bless them,
00:21:57.620 said,
00:21:58.480 nice knowing you guys.
00:21:59.920 See you later.
00:22:00.520 We won't let the door
00:22:02.060 hit us on the ass
00:22:02.840 on the way out.
00:22:03.980 And they left the firm
00:22:05.360 today.
00:22:07.440 Literally within hours
00:22:08.840 of winning
00:22:09.340 this landmark decision.
00:22:11.420 Do you want to know
00:22:12.240 something even more amazing?
00:22:14.700 I can't imagine
00:22:15.940 what would be more amazing
00:22:16.820 than that,
00:22:17.240 but sure.
00:22:17.960 This is not the first time
00:22:19.640 this has happened
00:22:20.220 to Paul Clement.
00:22:22.480 So more than a decade ago.
00:22:24.000 I thought you were going to say
00:22:24.240 this is not the first time
00:22:25.420 that this has happened
00:22:26.160 in the history of the court.
00:22:27.460 This poor man,
00:22:28.880 this has happened
00:22:29.320 to multiple times.
00:22:30.560 So over a decade ago,
00:22:32.280 Paul was a partner
00:22:33.080 at King and Spalding,
00:22:34.000 one of the top
00:22:34.560 Supreme Court litigators
00:22:35.620 on the planet.
00:22:37.080 And the U.S. House
00:22:38.520 of Representatives,
00:22:39.400 controlled by Republicans
00:22:40.260 at the time,
00:22:42.000 hired Paul to defend
00:22:43.460 the Defense of Marriage Act,
00:22:45.480 a law passed by Congress
00:22:47.540 that Barack Obama
00:22:49.420 refused to defend.
00:22:51.000 And so the Republican House
00:22:52.580 wanted somebody
00:22:53.320 to defend it
00:22:53.860 in the Supreme Court.
00:22:54.520 they hired Paul.
00:22:56.320 King and Spalding said
00:22:57.600 either refuse to represent
00:23:00.080 the United States
00:23:01.080 House of Representatives
00:23:02.280 or leave the firm.
00:23:04.940 And Paul left the firm.
00:23:06.840 He formed his own firm.
00:23:09.280 That particular case,
00:23:10.820 he lost 5-4.
00:23:12.060 So he didn't win it,
00:23:13.580 but he got four votes
00:23:14.520 at the court.
00:23:15.160 It was a very important case.
00:23:18.120 He went to a little litigation boutique,
00:23:20.460 practiced there for years,
00:23:21.660 and then 2016,
00:23:22.860 Kirkland and Ellis,
00:23:23.480 which is a big white shoe firm
00:23:26.700 based in Chicago,
00:23:27.980 one of the most profitable firms
00:23:30.700 in America,
00:23:31.840 brought him in
00:23:33.560 and brought his team in.
00:23:35.380 He was representing
00:23:36.740 the New York State Rifle Association.
00:23:38.700 He had these clients.
00:23:39.700 He was doing the Second Amendment
00:23:40.780 representation at the time.
00:23:43.060 And Kirkland agreed at the time,
00:23:44.800 you can keep these clients.
00:23:46.040 We know who your clients are.
00:23:47.080 You can keep your clients.
00:23:48.000 It's all good with us.
00:23:49.620 And the thing to understand
00:23:51.060 about this, Michael,
00:23:51.980 this is woke corporate America.
00:23:56.940 Law firms are the handmaidens
00:23:59.360 for the giant companies.
00:24:02.520 And this is woke general counsels
00:24:05.540 saying our politics matters
00:24:08.600 more to us than anything else.
00:24:10.280 And this is law firms
00:24:12.820 being cowards
00:24:14.040 and saying,
00:24:15.680 OK,
00:24:16.720 then we've decided
00:24:18.060 certain parts of the Bill of Rights
00:24:19.520 we don't care about.
00:24:20.580 If there are clients
00:24:21.320 that are unpopular,
00:24:22.200 we don't care about.
00:24:23.580 And they literally
00:24:24.580 are chasing away
00:24:25.820 their marquee.
00:24:27.660 Like,
00:24:28.160 like,
00:24:28.900 Paul is their top
00:24:30.220 Supreme Court litigator.
00:24:31.500 So by the way,
00:24:32.220 they're also telling
00:24:32.940 all their corporate clients,
00:24:33.860 if you have a Supreme Court case,
00:24:35.420 oh, well,
00:24:35.880 we can't do it anymore.
00:24:36.940 We don't have
00:24:38.060 the big dog anymore
00:24:39.580 because our politics
00:24:41.340 is more important
00:24:42.260 than actually representing
00:24:43.440 your interests.
00:24:44.420 It really is shameful
00:24:46.620 what's happened to law firms
00:24:48.700 and what has happened
00:24:49.440 to corporate America.
00:24:50.460 That is,
00:24:51.920 you know,
00:24:52.860 I guess it's a mark
00:24:54.000 of honor
00:24:55.060 for,
00:24:55.980 for Paul
00:24:56.900 in the sense that
00:24:58.320 the guy is obviously
00:24:59.680 very,
00:25:00.080 very effective,
00:25:00.640 very,
00:25:00.900 very successful.
00:25:02.140 And the soft power
00:25:04.100 that has a lot of power
00:25:05.160 around this country,
00:25:05.820 corporate power,
00:25:06.820 really doesn't like him
00:25:07.960 and is punishing him.
00:25:09.100 Good on him.
00:25:09.720 He should fire the pink slip
00:25:11.740 that he received.
00:25:12.760 All in all,
00:25:13.500 especially as we're looking
00:25:15.600 at these big wins
00:25:16.860 and big potential wins
00:25:17.780 from the Supreme Court,
00:25:18.960 you're seeing that rise
00:25:20.320 in vitriol from the left
00:25:22.200 and danger as well.
00:25:23.360 We will have to
00:25:24.080 leave it there
00:25:25.080 on that sort of
00:25:25.880 ominous cliffhanger
00:25:27.300 with lots of big decisions
00:25:29.160 awaiting
00:25:29.720 their final conclusion.
00:25:32.860 But that's it
00:25:33.540 for right now.
00:25:34.040 It's one o'clock.
00:25:34.820 I know that's an early night
00:25:35.820 for you, Senator,
00:25:37.100 but we will let you
00:25:38.140 get to sleep.
00:25:39.060 I'm Michael Knowles.
00:25:40.180 This is Verdict
00:25:40.740 with Ted Cruz.
00:25:49.320 This episode of Verdict
00:25:51.620 with Ted Cruz
00:25:52.440 is being brought to you
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00:25:54.540 and Security Pack,
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