Verdict with Ted Cruz - Poll Numbers a BIG WIN for Trump, Where did $4.7TRILL GO & AG Pam Bondi on 'Getting Along' in the Trump Admin Week In Review

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.

00:00:02.620 Guaranteed human.

00:00:05.600 Welcome.

00:00:06.240 It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz.

00:00:07.940 The Week in Review.

00:00:09.200 Ben Ferguson with you.

00:00:10.260 We had some big stories that you may have missed that we talked about this week.

00:00:13.680 First up, poll numbers helping Donald Trump get his agenda done.

00:00:18.120 Just how big are the poll numbers for the president?

00:00:20.660 And what does it mean about the media who's still coming after him?

00:00:23.500 We'll break that down for you.

00:00:24.860 Also, Doge has come out and found $4.7 trillion in untraceable spending.

00:00:33.540 Was it done deliberately by the government?

00:00:35.680 So no one would know where your tax dollars are going.

00:00:38.600 We'll break that down for you as well.

00:00:41.120 And finally, Pam Bondi, the Attorney General of the United States of America,

00:00:44.600 joins us talking about the relationship she has with other people in the administration

00:00:49.640 and just how important it is that they are friends and working together.

00:00:53.780 It's the Week in Review, and it starts right now.

00:00:57.280 When I was at the Bush administration, we were on the campaign.

00:01:00.940 If you had a poll on something we wanted that was above 53%, that was like a home run.

00:01:07.220 If you were at 55% or above, it was like a mandate.

00:01:11.340 I have not seen 60% polls like these in decades.

00:01:16.280 Have you on these types of issues?

00:01:18.600 And to see ABC reporting on it, and you're right,

00:01:21.200 Jonathan Karl is very dismayed to be reporting on it.

00:01:23.780 He's shaking his head.

00:01:25.820 But Akeem Jeffries looks like he's filming a hostage video.

00:01:28.380 He's just terrified.

00:01:29.820 Why are you asking me this?

00:01:31.600 Because he doesn't want to say, no, I don't agree with Trump on anything,

00:01:35.380 because when you're on the wrong side of a bunch of 60-40 issues,

00:01:38.600 that's a recipe to lose elections. 0.92

00:01:40.720 But he doesn't want to say, yes, I agree with Trump on anything, 0.56

00:01:43.920 because his base hates Trump so much they'll lose their mind and go nuts.

00:01:49.060 So all he can say is, well, it's just the beginning.

00:01:51.980 I hope things will go wrong.

00:01:53.520 And then we can celebrate that things are going wrong.

00:01:56.220 It is astonishing, I should say, that this is now where we are.

00:02:01.460 But this turns into what I call a mandate, a super mandate.

00:02:05.620 And it just means keep going, Trump.

00:02:08.060 Keep going, Republicans.

00:02:09.740 What does this do to some of your colleagues who maybe didn't want to go along

00:02:13.780 with some of these types of things when they see these poll numbers?

00:02:16.880 Is this going to make it easier to get things done in Congress as well?

00:02:19.580 I would hope so.

00:02:21.140 Well, it certainly should.

00:02:22.500 And by the way, I'll tell you, historically, for the last four years,

00:02:26.760 every Democrat voted on the wrong side of these issues.

00:02:29.540 On the question of are there two sexes, male and female,

00:02:32.880 every single Democrat in the Senate voted no over and over and over again.

00:02:36.880 On the question of deporting illegals, every Democrat in the Senate voted no

00:02:40.960 over and over and over again.

00:02:42.560 On the question of more oil and gas exploration, virtually every Democrat.

00:02:47.140 Actually, Joe Manchin would vote yes.

00:02:49.360 Occasionally, Joe Manchin isn't there anymore.

00:02:51.140 So every Democrat that remains in the Senate has voted no over and over and over again.

00:02:56.960 On the question of declaring an emergency on the southern border, again,

00:03:00.120 every Democrat voted no.

00:03:02.180 And so the Democrat Party, listen, they're in a crisis.

00:03:04.980 If you're on the wrong side of 60-40 issues across the board,

00:03:09.820 well, that's how you get the kind of election we had in November.

00:03:12.380 That's how you get a president elected with more than 300 electoral votes.

00:03:16.500 That's how you get a president who, of the seven swing states, wins all seven.

00:03:20.200 That's how you get a Republican Senate and a Republican House,

00:03:23.620 because the Democrats on the issues, they're not listening to the American people.

00:03:28.620 They're listening to the crazy fringe.

00:03:30.840 And I don't see a whole lot of indication that they're moving.

00:03:35.100 You know, it's a fascinating question is, are there Democrats in the party who say,

00:03:41.440 gosh, we've gotten so far out of the mainstream, we're really listening to just a fringe.

00:03:48.360 Let's get back to the middle.

00:03:49.980 There are one or two people saying that.

00:03:51.680 But I got to say, all right, I want you to listen to James Carville.

00:03:56.800 James Carville is a Democrat through and through.

00:03:59.980 Listen to what James Carville had to say about his party just completely getting so extreme

00:04:06.780 that they leave the American people behind.

00:04:09.860 He's really upset about it.

00:04:11.240 Here are the words Carville is quoted online as saying.

00:04:14.560 We don't have the audio, but we have the words.

00:04:16.400 And look, I'll give a warning.

00:04:18.620 Carville's language is always colorful, and it is here.

00:04:20.900 But here's how he's quoted.

00:04:22.700 Quote, I dedicated the best years of my effing life to this party, 1.00

00:04:26.760 only to see it taken over by a bunch of stupid MFers. 1.00

00:04:32.120 Everything's gone to S. 0.99

00:04:33.940 By the way, he did not abbreviate any of those.

00:04:36.540 And if you look at the tweet that is particularly circulating online,

00:04:41.680 it says Carville is especially livid following the DNC leadership election,

00:04:45.840 reportedly saying, quote, who are these people?

00:04:49.100 This David Hogg guy and that other sissy referring to Malcolm Kenyatta come out of the GD left field.

00:04:56.140 Well, there goes the mail vote forever.

00:04:58.160 Thanks, guys.

00:04:59.400 We're effed and we deserve it.

00:05:02.000 That's James Carville's assessment of where the Democrat Party is right now.

00:05:06.020 Based on the poll numbers that we're seeing, he's not far off, by the way, from reality.

00:05:11.180 I mean, he's an honest broker.

00:05:13.020 I have known, James, for years.

00:05:14.560 You have as well.

00:05:16.020 Like, this is the assessment.

00:05:18.860 I think he's spot on with where the Democratic Party is.

00:05:22.120 And they still don't seem to understand that this is how far they are away from the American people.

00:05:27.740 Well, that's a blessing in disguise for us.

00:05:30.740 Yeah, they are not listening to reality.

00:05:34.080 But look, let's look at the facts.

00:05:36.020 Let's take the facts.

00:05:37.880 All right.

00:05:38.080 Here's a headline from the New York Post just a couple of days ago.

00:05:40.700 Quote, illegal border crossings hit record low after Trump's swift crackdown

00:05:47.280 and could be on track for levels not seen in 60 years.

00:05:54.020 Wow.

00:05:54.600 The numbers are stunning.

00:05:56.560 So far in February, about 359 illegal migrants per day have been caught across the entire southern border.

00:06:04.300 Down more than 90 percent, 9-0, from February 2024, according to leaked Customs and Border Protection data.

00:06:13.500 That puts the U.S. on track to have the lowest monthly border crossings in at least 25 years.

00:06:20.520 If the trend continues, the number of illegal migrants coming into the U.S. could hit a level not seen since 1968, nearly 60 years ago.

00:06:32.120 Here's a quote from Mark Krikorian, who runs the Center for Immigration Studies.

00:06:36.040 It's the lowest the U.S. has seen, quote, in almost a lifetime.

00:06:40.700 Quote, if you kind of break down the numbers, divide them by 365, we hadn't had numbers this low since the 1960s.

00:06:47.660 So we're talking 60-year lows if it's sustained, obviously.

00:06:52.440 The CPP data shows that just 3,953 illegal migrants have been caught this month through February 11th.

00:06:59.700 If that trend continues through the month, that would put the February boarding crossings at roughly 10,000, which is a number that hasn't been seen since CPP began tracking month-to-month data in 1999.

00:07:14.920 10,000, under Biden, we were getting 10,000 a day.

00:07:20.580 We're on track for that to be the total monthly traffic, and that's just in the very first month.

00:07:26.340 It's a momentum thing now, right?

00:07:29.240 I mean, you've got to feel it, I'm sure, on Capitol Hill, which is we've just gotten started.

00:07:34.060 The American people are behind us, and we're recruiting a bigger audience that's cheering this on each and every day.

00:07:40.740 Well, look, this election, President Trump and Republicans in the Senate and the House promised the American people real results.

00:07:49.340 And you look at what was promised.

00:07:50.520 Number one, we promised we are going to secure the border.

00:07:53.860 And remember, repeatedly, Joe Biden said, first of all, he said the border is secure.

00:08:00.140 He said it over and over and over again.

00:08:01.640 People knew that was a lie.

00:08:03.620 And then he said, well, it's impossible to fix it.

00:08:08.080 Look, it's up to Congress.

00:08:11.280 I want you to listen to this clip from the National Border Patrol Council vice president talking about Biden lying to the American people on this topic.

00:08:20.760 Give a listen.

00:08:21.140 You know, it's interesting because down on the southern border, there has also been a dramatic reduction in the number of people who are coming across the border.

00:08:28.920 I want to put a call for number four here.

00:08:30.300 This is a senior DHS official talking about that.

00:08:33.400 Chris, delivering consequences has results.

00:08:36.140 Illegal crossings are down.

00:08:37.760 Gotaways are down.

00:08:38.880 Criminal prosecutions are on the rise.

00:08:41.220 Daily reports of large groups in Mexico, Guatemala, turning back south and surrendering to authorities, requesting to go home.

00:08:48.000 And we have only just begun policy matters.

00:08:51.520 President Biden told us repeatedly, Chris, that he had basically done all he could and that it was up to Congress to do more.

00:08:59.280 What's happened in the last two and a half weeks would seem to suggest that Biden was just gaslighting everybody.

00:09:04.560 Yeah, you know, it's unfortunate.

00:09:05.820 I think I don't know.

00:09:08.560 I don't know who he thought he was fooling.

00:09:10.020 And I mean, it darn sure wasn't us.

00:09:11.820 We knew what was going on the whole time.

00:09:13.680 And you're right.

00:09:14.600 The apprehension numbers have have slown to a crawl.

00:09:17.400 Last night, I was actually working the river and you have the Mexican military patrolling their northern border.

00:09:22.580 So that that slows down a lot of traffic coming our way.

00:09:25.160 So things have changed a great deal.

00:09:27.080 And this president has proven that he's a man of his word and and can get it done.

00:09:32.060 He actually gave President Biden, then President Biden, the road map to do it.

00:09:37.380 He just failed to fail to do it.

00:09:38.800 There it is.

00:09:40.020 Failed to do it.

00:09:40.780 Right.

00:09:41.140 That's what it boils down to.

00:09:42.640 Well, and it was deliberate.

00:09:43.820 It was a decision.

00:09:46.140 And listen, Biden knew he was lying to the American people.

00:09:49.960 Kamala Harris knew she was lying to the American people.

00:09:52.320 Kareem Jean-Pierre knew she was lying to the American people.

00:09:55.360 Chuck Schumer knew he was lying to the American people.

00:09:57.880 Every Democrat in the Senate and the House, they knew they were lying to the American people.

00:10:01.500 And it's because they elevated politics above their basic job of representing their constituents and protecting them.

00:10:08.600 And listen, reasonable people can disagree, say, on the right level of legal immigration.

00:10:15.040 Some people might say we should allow more legal immigration.

00:10:18.760 Other people might say we should allow less.

00:10:21.100 That's a discussion reasonable and rational people can have.

00:10:24.660 Let me ask you something seriously, Ben.

00:10:27.260 Imagine for a second you're a Democrat strategist. 1.00

00:10:31.520 So imagine you're a transgender witch and you are a complete lunatic and you have no reason. 1.00

00:10:38.500 Even so, you presumably want your team to win. 1.00

00:10:41.980 I mean, one would think that would be sort of the basics if you're running a campaign.

00:10:45.420 Explain to me how a political party gets so far away from common sense in the American people that they decide, let's release multiple child rapists. 0.93

00:11:01.780 That raping kids, you know, apparently our constituents want child rapists in our community. 0.93

00:11:08.020 And if you think, OK, come on, Ted, that's a little extreme. 0.98

00:11:11.600 The Democrats are not doing this.

00:11:13.520 I want you to listen to Bill Malugian.

00:11:15.440 Bill Malugian is the best immigration reporter in the country with Fox News.

00:11:19.720 I want you to listen to this clip because this is exactly what the Democrat Party has been doing.

00:11:23.940 Give a listen.

00:11:24.900 Well, Dana, it's hard to believe there are any jurisdictions out there that wouldn't cooperate with ICE when it comes to illegal aliens charged with forcibly raping children.

00:11:33.200 But in Massachusetts, it's just routine.

00:11:35.540 Take a look at this case.

00:11:36.360 ICE Boston just announcing they arrested this Guatemalan illegal alien charged in Massachusetts with three counts of aggravated child rape and three counts of forcible rape of a child.

00:11:47.000 So the question is, why was he on the streets, right?

00:11:49.260 Well, ICE says their detainer request on him was ignored by the Essex County Superior Court due to sanctuary policy.

00:11:56.160 The locals released him into the community on bail without any notice to ICE.

00:12:00.980 In a statement, the director of ICE Boston says in part, quote,

00:12:03.880 Jose Fernando Perez has been charged with some horrific crimes against a minor in our commonwealth.

00:12:09.000 He is exactly the type of alien we are targeting with our worst first policy. 1.00

00:12:13.420 He posed a significant danger to the children of Massachusetts, and we will not tolerate such a threat to our community.

00:12:19.440 ICE Boston also announcing the arrest of this Turkish illegal alien charged in Massachusetts with assault and battery against an intellectually disabled person and witness intimidation.

00:12:29.840 But ICE says their detainer on him was also ignored by the sanctuary city of Somerville.

00:12:36.020 He had also been released into the public.

00:12:38.300 Elsewhere around the U.S., ICE Seattle arrested this Salvadoran illegal alien wanted in his home country for aggravated homicide.

00:12:45.800 Here in Los Angeles, ICE arrested this Guatemalan illegal alien charged with sexual assault and rape with a gun.

00:12:52.720 And in Colorado, the DEA announced their top 10 arrests of illegal immigrants in recent days, including several affiliated with Trendy Aragua and others with egregious crimes like kidnapping, child sexual assault and fentanyl trafficking.

00:13:07.100 And Dana, I was talking to a law enforcement source in Massachusetts about the child rape case that I referenced.

00:13:11.700 And I asked, like, there's got to be some sort of a catch here, right?

00:13:14.620 Forget about cooperating with ICE.

00:13:16.620 How does somebody charged with so many counts of aggravated, forcible child rape even get released on bail in the first place?

00:13:23.040 The response I got was, quote, welcome to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

00:13:27.720 We'll send it back to you.

00:13:28.680 Well, they're finally on their way out.

00:13:30.960 Thanks, Bill.

00:13:32.000 Welcome to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

00:13:34.240 That's how much they hate Donald Trump. 0.99

00:13:36.000 They don't care about these rapists running around among us. 0.99

00:13:38.360 It really is shocking.

00:13:42.760 And understand what is being reported there, which is that in Massachusetts, but also you're seeing in Seattle, also you're seeing in Colorado and across the country. 0.98

00:13:54.920 You have Democrats who have people who are violent child rapists, who are violently, horribly raping little children. 0.99

00:14:04.520 And number one, these Democrats are releasing these child rapists. 1.00

00:14:08.100 Now, these child rapists are illegal immigrants. 1.00

00:14:10.560 They could be deported. 0.98

00:14:11.960 But their politics of we want as many illegal immigrants as possible is more important than any sort of common sense of let's stop. 0.99

00:14:25.300 Let's stop horrible crimes against vulnerable kids.

00:14:28.560 You know, there's a quote from Friedrich Nietzsche in Beyond Good and Evil, which I think is really on point here.

00:14:36.760 And it is, quote,

00:14:37.480 There is a point in the history of society when it becomes so pathologically soft and tender that, among other things, it sides even with those who harm it, criminals.

00:14:50.400 And it does this quite seriously and honestly.

00:14:54.040 Punishing somehow seems unfair to it.

00:14:56.820 And it is certain that imagining punishment and being supposed to punish hurts it, arouses fear in it.

00:15:06.740 Is it not enough to render him undangerous?

00:15:10.220 Why still punish?

00:15:12.200 Punishing itself is terrible.

00:15:15.140 With this question, herd morality, the morality of timidity, draws its ultimate consequence.

00:15:22.740 Now, if you want to hear the rest of this conversation, you can go back and listen to the full podcast from earlier this week.

00:15:30.360 Canadian women are looking for more. 1.00

00:15:32.520 More out of themselves, their businesses, their elected leaders, and the world around them.

00:15:36.680 And that's why we're thrilled to introduce the Honest Talk podcast.

00:15:40.440 I'm Jennifer Stewart.

00:15:41.620 And I'm Catherine Clark.

00:15:42.840 And in this podcast, we interview Canada's most inspiring women.

00:15:46.560 Entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, politicians, and newsmakers.

00:15:50.140 All at different stages of their journey.

00:15:52.020 So, if you're looking to connect, then we hope you'll join us.

00:15:55.540 Listen to the Honest Talk podcast on iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

00:16:01.420 Now on to story number two.

00:16:03.720 Senator, I want to move on to Doge.

00:16:05.840 And, I mean, it's just mind-blowing at this point.

00:16:10.540 How much money is being uncovered that is involved in waste, fraud, and abuse within our government?

00:16:16.420 And then there's this new headline that came out of the White House.

00:16:21.940 And that is a bombshell that there has been $4.7 trillion that has been spent that is untraceable in the way that the payments went out from the Treasury Department.

00:16:36.620 Explain that to America.

00:16:38.240 Well, let me read from our article in Fox News.

00:16:41.760 Doge says it found nearly untraceable budget line items responsible for $4.7 trillion in payments.

00:16:49.560 The Trump administration's Doge discovered an identification code linking U.S. Treasury payments to a budget line item, which accounts for nearly $4.7 trillion in payments, which was oftentimes left blank.

00:17:06.140 The Treasury Access symbol, TAS, is an identification code linking a Treasury payment to a budget line item, standard financial process, Doge wrote in Poston on X.

00:17:17.780 In the federal government, the TAS field was optional for $4.7 trillion in payments and was often left blank, making traceability almost impossible.

00:17:30.860 So, as of Saturday, this is now a required field, increasing insight into where money is actually going.

00:17:39.420 So, understand, $4.7 trillion.

00:17:42.460 Listen, a million dollars is a lot of money.

00:17:45.900 A billion dollars is a crap ton more.

00:17:48.520 It's actually a thousand times more.

00:17:50.440 A trillion dollars is a thousand, thousand times more than a million dollars.

00:17:56.500 And $4.7 trillion is, even in federal government spending, a massive amount.

00:18:03.320 The point here is the money that has been coming from the federal government has been massively wasted.

00:18:11.040 And there has been no accountability.

00:18:13.340 And the entire governmental system is reacting in pain and horror and agony that Donald Trump and Elon Musk are bringing, finally, accountability to it.

00:18:23.060 You look at the $4.7 trillion, is this done on purpose for this exact reason?

00:18:29.560 If you don't know where the money's going, you can't trace the money, then you can't ask questions.

00:18:34.840 Oh, look, yes and no.

00:18:36.580 I had an old boss of mine, my very first boss, who said, and this was actually quite profound,

00:18:43.620 he said, never blame on malice, what can be explained with incompetence.

00:18:50.100 Look, that explains a lot of government.

00:18:52.080 There is massive waste.

00:18:55.060 There is massive politicization and weaponization.

00:18:58.040 If you're spending your own money, you care about it.

00:19:01.280 Ben, you care about your own money.

00:19:03.020 If you're spending someone else's money, you don't care about it.

00:19:07.100 And that problem in government is there's a culture of endemic waste that is enormously problematic.

00:19:15.500 And you combine that with the politicization that there's a it doesn't matter.

00:19:21.700 I'm spending someone else's money.

00:19:23.480 I don't care. 0.98

00:19:24.460 And I'm going to spend it to promote transgender witches in some far off country. 1.00

00:19:31.680 That's what we've seen.

00:19:33.600 And that's what Trump and Elon are exposing.

00:19:37.140 You talk about what all they're exposing outside the four point seven trillion in payments that we can't trace.

00:19:45.020 Let's talk about illegal immigrants receiving benefits. 0.98

00:19:47.880 And the media, by the way, they're going to defend everything they can, even if it's indefensible.

00:19:54.660 A great example of that.

00:19:56.060 Ben, let me ask you this.

00:19:57.280 Is there one Democrat, you know, who has criticized one single example of massive waste, abuse and fraud?

00:20:06.600 And by the way, by one Democrat, I don't mean James Carver.

00:20:09.220 We talked about that two days ago.

00:20:10.860 I don't mean a consultant.

00:20:11.860 I mean, one elected Democrat.

00:20:13.480 I can tell you, in the U.S. Senate, I don't know of a single one.

00:20:16.180 Do you?

00:20:16.900 No, not a single one.

00:20:18.400 And you would think at some point they would come out and go, yeah, this is good for Americans.

00:20:22.740 It's good for my district.

00:20:23.560 It's good for the taxpayers I represent that we're not going to spend money on X, Y, or Z.

00:20:27.880 None of these egregious items that we've listed on the show.

00:20:31.940 And we've done a really good job of keeping people up to date.

00:20:35.080 We're where the money's going.

00:20:36.520 None of them have been criticized by the Democrats.

00:20:38.740 And the media, again, they are just hell-bent on saying Donald Trump bad, Elon Musk bad, Doge bad.

00:20:45.960 Here's a great example.

00:20:47.620 Listen to this exchange with Stephen Miller.

00:20:49.700 Yeah, it's incredible.

00:20:50.880 Because it is hysterical.

00:20:52.420 By the way, tonight I saw Stephen.

00:20:54.260 I was at a party.

00:20:55.760 So Howard Lutnick was just confirmed as Commerce Secretary.

00:20:58.700 He had a party at his house.

00:20:59.860 I saw Stephen this evening, and I told him, great job on CNN.

00:21:03.320 Listen to this exchange, because she really is, it's nutty. 0.98

00:21:07.600 And I've got to say, CNN has become a clown show. 0.97

00:21:10.000 It's not even real journalism. 1.00

00:21:12.460 It's just silly. 0.65

00:21:12.980 But listen to this back and forth.

00:21:14.300 You mentioned yesterday, and you mentioned again here, illegal immigrants who are getting child tax credits.

00:21:23.400 Are you looking for that information in the IRS data?

00:21:29.020 Anytime a crime is committed, of course there should be an investigation.

00:21:34.760 Is it your position that if somebody who is here criminally is stealing taxpayer dollars?

00:21:40.080 The federal government will find every illegal alien who is stealing American taxpayer dollars. 1.00

00:21:46.300 And that is what Americans expect to happen.

00:21:47.940 Will you find that in the IRS data and share that with law enforcement?

00:21:50.480 I don't even fathom the premise of your question.

00:21:51.240 It's a simple question.

00:21:52.320 Will you find that information in the IRS data and share that with law enforcement?

00:21:55.920 If IRS investigators find illegal aliens stealing taxpayer money, of course it will be referred to ICE.

00:22:01.520 Of course it will be referred to Homeland Security investigations.

00:22:05.080 Of course it will be.

00:22:06.500 Surely your position is not that we should let illegal aliens steal taxpayer dollars. 0.98

00:22:11.420 Again, you want to talk about something to be upset about?

00:22:13.300 That's it.

00:22:14.360 What do you think?

00:22:14.960 The millions of illegal aliens who have also stolen Social Security. 0.96

00:22:18.620 Illegal aliens, en masse, have fake Social Security numbers. 1.00

00:22:21.860 They have fake identities. 0.89

00:22:23.240 Those are felonies.

00:22:23.920 Felonies.

00:22:24.880 Why should there be an entire class in this country that is immunized from criminal prosecution and arrest for committing felonies?

00:22:32.760 Felony theft of taxpayer information?

00:22:35.240 Felony theft of Social Security?

00:22:37.680 Felony theft of identity?

00:22:38.840 These are all crimes.

00:22:40.080 And yes, they will be investigated.

00:22:41.720 Yes, they will be prosecuted.

00:22:43.000 And yes, illegal aliens will be deported.

00:22:44.860 And you know what happens when those deportations occur?

00:22:46.900 Just very quickly, Stephen.

00:22:48.060 Is that Americans will get jobs.

00:22:49.460 Americans will get benefits. 0.94

00:22:50.840 Americans will get houses. 0.98

00:22:51.760 Stephen, if they got a child, if they got a credit, a child tax credit, and they will be referred, you're saying, to ICE for that, and you would expect deported for that?

00:23:02.320 Is that the position of the administration?

00:23:04.880 If it is found that a crime has been committed, they will be referred.

00:23:08.880 If it justifies the prosecution, they'll be prosecuted.

00:23:12.340 If it justifies the deportation, they will be deported.

00:23:14.880 This will be based on existing IRS protocols and procedures for criminal investigation and fraud.

00:23:23.020 The difference is that no one is given immunity anymore.

00:23:26.260 No one is given permission to break the law anymore.

00:23:29.260 Because this is not a country, this is not a sovereign territory, if illegal aliens can freely steal billions, with a B, billions of taxpayer dollars.

00:23:38.480 And I would have to imagine that CNN, which is endlessly talking about the importance of democracy and the rule of law, would say that no class in this country should be above the law.

00:23:49.120 Least of all, illegal aliens who have trespassed on our territory.

00:23:52.280 Stephen, I'm just asking, I wanted to get your position on some things.

00:23:55.760 We're not taking a position here.

00:23:57.100 We wanted to get some answers to some questions.

00:23:59.220 There are so many questions that need to be answered.

00:24:01.280 It doesn't sound to me like you are, in fact, indifferent or unbiased on these questions, but thank you.

00:24:05.920 Stephen Miller, thank you so much for your time.

00:24:08.440 Really appreciate it, and we'll be right back.

00:24:09.720 Thank you.

00:24:10.000 It's amazing, isn't it?

00:24:11.160 It's just like, oh, we don't take positions here.

00:24:12.880 And I love how he grins.

00:24:14.040 He grins and laughs in her face, like, are you kidding me?

00:24:16.460 Everybody watching right now knows exactly what you're doing, and you're trying to act like we're doing something wrong when, in fact, we're saving taxpayers' dollars.

00:24:24.000 What Miller is saying is exactly right.

00:24:26.380 The federal government should enforce the law.

00:24:28.960 If you have illegal aliens who are stealing from the taxpayers, they should be prosecuted. 1.00

00:24:34.700 And the bizarre position CNN is taking is, well, if the IRS knows that you're illegally stealing from the taxpayers, the IRS shouldn't tell that to the rest of the federal government.

00:24:46.460 You should protect the illegal aliens who are stealing from the taxpayers. 1.00

00:24:50.680 That's a weird proposition.

00:24:53.360 Why is the IRS separate from DOJ, separate from DHS, separate from ICE, separate from all of the different federal agencies?

00:24:59.720 And CNN is so vested in saying we want millions of illegal aliens here, and we want there to be no consequences to their continuing to engage in fraud, to work illegally, to draw Social Security payments, to draw government payments fraudulently. 0.92

00:25:18.480 That is CNN's position, and I've got to say, I'm going to credit Stephen Miller for calling out CNN for they're not engaged in news.

00:25:27.800 They have a position on this.

00:25:29.940 They don't want the law enforced, and I've got to say, I think the American people do.

00:25:33.760 As before, if you want to hear the rest of this conversation on this topic, you can go back and download the podcast from earlier this week to hear the entire thing.

00:25:42.460 Canadian women are looking for more, more out of themselves, their businesses, their elected leaders, and the world around them. 0.98

00:25:49.660 And that's why we're thrilled to introduce the Honest Talk podcast.

00:25:53.400 I'm Jennifer Stewart.

00:25:54.560 And I'm Catherine Clark.

00:25:55.780 And in this podcast, we interview Canada's most inspiring women.

00:25:59.560 Entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, politicians, and newsmakers, all at different stages of their journey.

00:26:05.280 So if you're looking to connect, then we hope you'll join us.

00:26:08.260 Listen to the Honest Talk podcast on iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

00:26:14.360 I want to get back to the big story, number three of the week you may have missed.

00:26:18.780 How important are those relationships that you say, hey, I trust, excuse me, I trust you.

00:26:23.480 I trust you.

00:26:24.560 I trust you.

00:26:25.380 I got your back.

00:26:26.200 Let's go to work.

00:26:26.940 Vital and crucial.

00:26:28.520 And Mike Watts and Christy, we're on the phone with each other all the time.

00:26:32.740 And to change the topic just a little bit, just to give you an example, Lee Zeldin, a dear friend of mine.

00:26:37.700 Great guy.

00:26:38.040 On President's Day.

00:26:38.920 Running the EPA now.

00:26:40.460 Yeah, EPA, Lee Zeldin, great administrator of EPA.

00:26:43.000 I'm on the phone hours with Scott Besson, our Secretary of Treasury, and Lee Zeldin.

00:26:48.720 And, you know, we've seen, thanks to Elon Musk, my buddy's great work.

00:26:52.760 Yep.

00:26:53.260 And it's been reported.

00:26:54.660 Look what they're doing at EPA.

00:26:56.000 I'm changing the subject a little bit.

00:26:57.380 But they're giving out billions of dollars after Joe Biden lost the election, trying to push this money out the door.

00:27:07.480 Virtually shoveling cash out the windows.

00:27:10.340 As I said, gold bars.

00:27:11.660 Yeah.

00:27:12.000 Let's throw all the gold bars off the ship.

00:27:14.280 Yep.

00:27:14.420 And we're stopping them.

00:27:15.760 We're stopping them in real time.

00:27:17.560 We're going after them.

00:27:19.220 But it's because we all pick up the phone and we talk directly to each other.

00:27:23.680 So we're able to work together, you know, talk to Marco Rubio, and look at the men like Steve Whitcoff out there, Rick Grinnell, what they're doing working with Marco and Mike Walton, all the great, the people that they're saving around the world.

00:27:37.860 And that's thanks to one man, Donald Trump.

00:27:40.280 He put all of us in these positions because he believes in us.

00:27:43.660 The consistent thread of the cabinet nominees is that you're all change agents.

00:27:50.780 You all came in with a mission and it is.

00:27:54.160 Listen, there has never been a first month of any presidency in the history of the United States of America like the last 30 days.

00:28:02.040 That's right.

00:28:04.880 Amen.

00:28:05.440 And I'll tell you, I have had great joy turning to my Democrat colleagues in the Senate and just deadpanning, well, three years and 11 months to go.

00:28:16.920 And they literally start twitching like they have facial tics that they cannot suppress.

00:28:26.300 But Pam, one of the things that that people like about this podcast that we try to do is we try to bring people behind the scenes to actually understand what's going on behind closed doors.

00:28:38.960 So tell us about your first day as attorney general.

00:28:43.760 You're confirmed.

00:28:45.100 And like day one, when you get sworn in, just just walk everyone through what day one of being attorney general of the United States is like.

00:28:52.700 You go nonstop.

00:28:55.780 And I jokingly said it felt like 15 years because you're working seven days a week nonstop.

00:29:01.340 And we're all working with each other.

00:29:03.540 Everything we do, it overlaps.

00:29:06.300 And especially with Department of Justice, especially, too, with all this money going out, the USAID, all of these agencies.

00:29:11.500 And we're going to be helping all these agencies.

00:29:13.540 But you just hit the ground running literally.

00:29:18.620 And don't look back.

00:29:20.820 I don't look at what time of day it is.

00:29:22.940 I don't think I've slept in 15 days.

00:29:25.380 But you don't want to.

00:29:26.640 And then when you find out about this human trafficking ring that was just broken up, it's just that's why we're all doing what we're doing.

00:29:34.980 And you just keep going forward.

00:29:38.060 And our directive, our directive from our boss is so easy, especially on my end, make America safe.

00:29:46.540 And so you just don't, Senator, you don't even, my hardest thing now is I forget to eat.

00:29:52.860 You forget what time it is.

00:29:54.220 And it's 6 o'clock at night.

00:29:55.560 And I'm, why do I have a headache?

00:29:56.500 Because I haven't eaten today.

00:29:57.600 But you're going nonstop.

00:29:59.180 And it's not me.

00:30:00.620 It's an entire team.

00:30:02.060 I've got Chad Mizell, I've got Emil, I've got Todd Blanche, thank goodness, coming in.

00:30:05.860 And we've got Kash Patel now.

00:30:07.500 So they better look out.

00:30:10.500 How nice is it to have a boss by the guy, a guy by the name of Donald J. Trump, who just lets you do your job?

00:30:18.600 Exactly.

00:30:19.300 I mean, there's a lot of presidents in the past that have really tried to keep their thumb on people.

00:30:24.080 It seems like he's saying, go.

00:30:26.360 Go.

00:30:26.900 And go get it done and call me when you need me.

00:30:29.300 He has trusted all of us in all of our various capacities and all the different roles we have, whether it's education or agriculture, you know, all the cabinet labor, all of the different cabinet secretaries, just to go out and do the best we can.

00:30:46.320 And, you know, we want to make all of you proud.

00:30:50.360 And we want to fulfill his directive to make our country great.

00:30:54.080 That man sure didn't need that job.

00:30:56.140 He's a good friend of mine.

00:30:57.360 And I love during my confirmation hearing when they try, they get on me because they say I'm friends with Donald Trump.

00:31:03.080 Yes, I'm very, no, I'm not friends with him.

00:31:05.380 I'm good friends with him.

00:31:06.520 And I'm very proud to work for him.

00:31:13.300 You know, when you look at weaponization and politicization, part of it is using it to attack your political opponents.

00:31:20.160 And we've seen four years of that under Joe Biden.

00:31:23.560 Another part of it is turning the other way at your political allies and refusing to enforce the law against them.

00:31:30.820 And I think one of the most egregious examples we've seen over the last two years is the rising anti-Semitism on college campuses.

00:31:38.940 Amen.

00:31:39.160 The violent protesters and rioters, many of whom are not students, are not affiliated with the universities, and they are threatening students.

00:31:48.720 You look at Columbia University.

00:31:50.360 The Orthodox rabbi there sent out an email to the Jewish students on campus and said, do not come to campus because the university cannot and will not keep you safe.

00:32:02.600 And the Biden Justice Department did nothing.

00:32:06.860 They investigated nobody.

00:32:08.860 They didn't follow the money.

00:32:10.300 They didn't indict anyone.

00:32:11.880 They didn't prosecute anyone.

00:32:13.380 And they did not enforce Title VI of the civil rights laws, which say that if you are tolerating harassment on the basis of ethnicity or religion, that you will have your federal funds cut off.

00:32:26.860 How is the Department of Justice different today, and what will your approach be to anti-Semitism and threats of violence directed against Jewish students on campus or any other students on campus?

00:32:41.680 We have an October 7th task force that we started, and we will protect you.

00:32:47.160 When I was just a citizen before I had this job, what you said, I'm watching these.

00:32:51.620 These aren't peaceful protests.

00:32:53.300 We all believe in peaceful protests.

00:32:55.040 Oh, I'm sorry, unless you're a liberal and you don't want a parent to quietly pray outside an abortion clinic, or you're a Catholic, or a parent at a school board.

00:33:07.340 They're going to call you a domestic terrorist.

00:33:10.200 I'm screaming at my TV watching these violent protests, you know, the last, since October 7th, you're watching this happen, and all of our students deserve to be safe.

00:33:20.320 And, first of all, these students who are here on visas, who are threatening our American students, need to be kicked out of this country. 1.00

00:33:29.360 Amen.

00:33:29.600 Amen.

00:33:29.720 It is refreshingly simple to have an attorney general who has the approach that you're going to follow the law and enforce the law.

00:33:52.360 And that, sadly, has been missing for the last four years.

00:33:56.960 It's pretty basic, isn't it?

00:33:59.940 It should not be complicated.

00:34:05.320 Let me ask you, what keeps you up at night?

00:34:08.460 What scares you in the first two weeks in this job?

00:34:13.180 Pretty much everything.

00:34:14.760 I don't sleep at night anymore.

00:34:16.900 Of course, everything we talked about, the drugs, the cartels, the great, maybe I'll get a little sleep tonight, based on the arrests that were just made, the children that are being trafficked, things that have been so personal to me since I was a state prosecutor and then since I was state attorney general.

00:34:32.840 Now you just get to help people on a bigger level, which is pretty cool to get to do that.

00:34:37.520 But most recently, it's really been what Elon has been uncovering.

00:34:45.080 And the USAID, the waste at EPA, this money, trillions of dollars, they believe, just being handed out, which is most likely making a round trip ticket and going to terrorist organizations.

00:35:00.860 And you are on the front line of defending the president and Elon Musk and Doge and all the effort they're doing.

00:35:07.640 And every day we are seeing Democrat attorneys general and Democrat interest groups suing the president, suing Elon Musk, suing the federal government and the Department of Justice is on the front lines.

00:35:19.420 And sadly, we're seeing left-wing activist judges, individual district court judges, issuing nationwide injunctions.

00:35:30.680 Tell us about what it's like defending against those lawsuits.

00:35:34.340 And give us your thoughts on the authority of one radical district judge to try to run the executive branch and issue a nationwide injunction.

00:35:43.460 Two words. We're winning.

00:35:46.040 But, yeah, so you've got one.

00:35:48.560 I like that answer.

00:35:49.660 One unelected district judge trying to tell President Trump, who was elected overwhelmingly by the American people, where federal funds can go.

00:36:02.220 We're winning.

00:36:03.180 Even in liberal courts, by the way, Senator, we're winning.

00:36:07.000 As always, thank you for listening to Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you.

00:36:12.340 Don't forget to download my podcast and you can listen to my podcast every other day.

00:36:15.940 You're not listening to Verdict or each day when you listen to Verdict afterwards.

00:36:19.380 I'd love to have you as a listener to, again, the Ben Ferguson podcast.

00:36:23.120 And we will see you back here on Monday morning.

00:36:26.720 This is an iHeart podcast.

00:36:29.360 Guaranteed human.

00:36:30.040 Guaranteed human.

00:36:42.140 You're welcome.

00:36:42.680 And we'll see you back.

00:36:42.920 Bye-bye.

00:36:46.860 Bye.

00:36:49.600 Bye.

00:36:51.760 Bye.

00:36:53.520 Bye.

00:36:53.780 Bye.

00:36:54.760 Bye.

00:36:54.880 Bye.

00:36:57.640 Bye.

Verdict with Ted Cruz - February 22, 2025

Poll Numbers a BIG WIN for Trump, Where did $4.7TRILL GO & AG Pam Bondi on 'Getting Along' in the Trump Admin Week In Review

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