Verdict with Ted Cruz - Texas Border WIN at SCOTUS, Talking with Coach Nick Saban re College Sports & Media Hypocrisy on Trump

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.

00:00:02.580 Guaranteed human.

00:00:05.320 Welcome. It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz.

00:00:07.940 Ben Ferguson with you.

00:00:09.560 Senator, we have got a lot to talk about tonight,

00:00:12.480 including a massive victory for the state of Texas

00:00:15.760 when it comes to dealing with illegal immigrants at the southern border.

00:00:20.880 Well, that's right.

00:00:21.520 This week, Texas won a huge victory at the Supreme Court by a 6-3 vote.

00:00:25.460 The Supreme Court is allowing Texas to enforce its immigration law 0.83

00:00:30.340 to arrest and deport illegal aliens. 0.59

00:00:33.440 Now, the victory is temporary.

00:00:35.300 Litigation is still ongoing.

00:00:37.320 Nonetheless, it is a major, major step forward.

00:00:40.980 Number two, this is a great week.

00:00:43.300 This is a great week for sports fans, and it's March Madness.

00:00:46.260 March Madness is always a lot of fun.

00:00:48.220 Everyone who loves college basketball, it is a blast to see what's happening.

00:00:51.980 I've got to say there are a bunch of Texas teams that are in the mix,

00:00:54.300 and we also have a moment in college athletics that is really remarkable.

00:00:59.840 I think there's a crisis in college athletics with name, image, and likeness,

00:01:03.800 with the transfer portal.

00:01:05.180 We're seeing chaos in the Wild West in college athletics.

00:01:09.440 Well, last week I sat down with former Alabama head coach Nick Saban

00:01:13.580 and several others at a roundtable discussing how to fix college athletics.

00:01:17.420 We're going to get into that in depth.

00:01:18.740 And finally, the media this past week suffered an utter bloodbath of hypocrisy

00:01:26.760 when it came to attacking Donald Trump.

00:01:29.940 We're going to expose it all.

00:01:31.760 Absolutely.

00:01:32.300 That may be one of the most fun stories of the show today.

00:01:34.900 I want to talk to you real quick about your retirement.

00:01:37.420 Is the money you've been saving for retirement going to be enough?

00:01:40.740 With inflation still well above the Fed's target rate

00:01:44.240 and consumer prices much higher than they were three years ago,

00:01:48.900 you need a financial plan that ensures the money you save today

00:01:52.680 will be enough for you tomorrow.

00:01:55.160 That's where gold and silver come in.

00:01:58.040 Gold and silver have historically been good hedges against inflation

00:02:01.320 and a great way to protect your hard-earned retirement funds.

00:02:05.420 And when it comes to buying gold and silver,

00:02:07.980 you need a trusted partner.

00:02:09.540 You need to reach out to Freedom Gold USA.

00:02:13.680 Freedom Gold USA is all about educating their clients

00:02:16.740 on how to invest in precious metals.

00:02:19.340 They preach protection and diversifying your assets

00:02:22.480 and on average charge 25% to 30% less

00:02:26.760 than most major gold and silver firms out there.

00:02:30.800 So take control of your financial future right now.

00:02:34.600 Visit freedomgoldusa.com slash verdict.

00:02:38.720 That's freedomgoldusa.com slash verdict.

00:02:42.780 Or you can call them 1-800-655-8843.

00:02:48.220 That's 1-800-655-8843.

00:02:52.920 That's freedomgoldusa.com slash verdict.

00:02:55.860 Or 1-800-655-8843.

00:02:59.060 And when you call them, make sure you ask them about getting free silver

00:03:04.280 in your account today.

00:03:06.460 1-800-655-8843.

00:03:09.760 Senator, this may be one of the weirdest 24-hour news stories

00:03:14.160 I've seen in a long time that deals with the rights of the state of Texas

00:03:18.880 and this story that initially came out that the Supreme Court said,

00:03:24.940 no, you cannot arrest people coming across the southern border who are here illegally.

00:03:29.280 That's the job of the federal government.

00:03:30.780 But then within 24 hours, it flipped.

00:03:33.940 Please explain to everyone that's confused

00:03:36.440 how this went from a massive, you know, victory and celebration by the left

00:03:41.360 to all of a sudden, just kidding, now Texas has the ability to protect its border

00:03:45.540 from illegal immigrants that are invading. 1.00

00:03:47.580 Well, it's a big victory, but it may be a temporary victory.

00:03:50.860 So what's happened?

00:03:52.280 Well, we all know that we've got an historic crisis of illegal immigration,

00:03:56.000 levels that have never been seen in the history of our country.

00:03:59.080 Millions and millions, over 10.4 million illegal immigrants crossing into this country,

00:04:03.500 the vast majority crossing into Texas.

00:04:05.720 We also know that Joe Biden is refusing to enforce federal immigration laws,

00:04:09.660 is releasing millions and millions of illegal immigrants, is causing this crisis.

00:04:14.520 My home state of Texas has said enough is enough,

00:04:17.200 and Texas is taking extraordinary steps trying to address that crisis.

00:04:22.660 One of those steps is Texas passed a bill, Senate Bill 4,

00:04:28.200 that was designed to give the state of Texas the authority to handle directly this crisis,

00:04:33.440 and in particular, to arrest people who've crossed illegally into this country

00:04:37.320 and to send them back.

00:04:38.320 Now, when Texas passed that legislation, the governor justified it,

00:04:42.620 the legislature justified it, under the constitutional provisions,

00:04:46.280 giving the state the authority to defend itself in the case of invasion.

00:04:51.520 Well, of course, plaintiffs immediately went to court and sued,

00:04:55.560 and a federal district court issued an injunction against Texas's law,

00:04:58.860 ordered Texas do not enforce the law.

00:05:01.040 That went up on appeal to the Fifth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals.

00:05:04.800 The Fifth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals vacated that injunction.

00:05:08.720 In other words, it said, Texas, you can enforce the law.

00:05:12.060 Now, understand, the Fifth Circuit has not answered the question whether it thinks Texas's law

00:05:17.440 is consistent with federal law of the Constitution.

00:05:20.020 It simply said, while this appeal is pending, Texas can enforce the law.

00:05:25.440 The Biden Department of Justice appealed that decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

00:05:31.200 The Supreme Court initially stayed the enforcement of the law while it considered what to do,

00:05:37.200 but that was a temporary administrative stay.

00:05:39.840 And then yesterday, the Supreme Court concluded it was not going to impose an administrative stay.

00:05:45.220 Now, that was a 6-3 decision.

00:05:48.220 The three liberal justices dissented.

00:05:50.500 Justice Sotomayor dissented along with Ketanji Brown-Jackson along with Elena Kagan.

00:05:54.960 Those three dissented.

00:05:57.180 Justice Barrett and Justice Kavanaugh wrote a brief concurring opinion.

00:06:01.600 Their concurring opinion, they said, listen, we're not resolving whether this law is constitutional.

00:06:06.940 We're not resolving whether this law is consistent with federal law.

00:06:09.700 We're simply saying that while the appeal is pending, it's up to the federal court of appeals

00:06:15.420 whether to stay the effect of the law or not.

00:06:18.160 The three dissenters said, that's terrible.

00:06:20.360 This is going to upend all of immigration law.

00:06:23.220 And what Justice Barrett and Kavanaugh said is, listen, the Fifth Circuit is going to resolve

00:06:29.660 this issue quickly.

00:06:30.660 If they don't resolve it quickly, the United States might come back to us.

00:06:35.080 What does all of this mean?

00:06:36.460 Well, the challenge to this law, the biggest challenge, is a decision from the Supreme Court

00:06:42.300 called Arizona v. United States.

00:06:44.220 Arizona v. United States is a 2012 decision of the Supreme Court.

00:06:48.740 You remembered back during Barack Obama when illegal immigration got bad under Obama, Arizona

00:06:53.840 passed a law that had some similarities to Texas' Senate Bill 4.

00:06:58.380 And the Obama DOJ took that to the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court struck it down.

00:07:03.280 And the Supreme Court concluded in Arizona v. United States, quote, the government of the

00:07:08.760 United States has broad, undoubted power over the subject of immigration and the status of

00:07:14.560 non-citizens.

00:07:16.080 And the court continued in that case, quote, it is fundamental that foreign countries concerned

00:07:21.020 about the status, safety, and security of their nationals in the United States must

00:07:25.060 be able to confer and communicate on the subject with one national sovereign, not 50 separate

00:07:30.540 states.

00:07:30.980 Texas, in bringing this case, is trying to challenge the case of Arizona v. the United States, and

00:07:40.000 it's trying to get the Supreme Court to overturn it.

00:07:42.360 The Supreme Court said that, quote, the removal process is entrusted to the discretion of the

00:07:48.920 federal government because removal decisions touch on foreign relations and must be made with

00:07:54.640 one voice.

00:07:55.280 And so what Texas is trying to do is get the court to overturn that decision.

00:08:01.160 I don't know if they will or not.

00:08:03.280 I can tell you a central argument in this case is the circumstances are different.

00:08:09.920 So there's a way for the Supreme Court to uphold the Texas law without overturning the earlier

00:08:14.820 Arizona case.

00:08:15.560 And what it could conclude is the Arizona case is usually the rule, which is that states cannot

00:08:21.660 deport people under normal times.

00:08:24.020 But the mass of the invasion is so great.

00:08:27.680 And the invasion clause of the Constitution gives states special powers that in an instance

00:08:32.620 where the federal government, where the executive is defying the federal immigration laws, refusing

00:08:38.780 to enforce it, when it is an order of magnitude worse than it's ever been, then a state has the

00:08:44.700 extraordinary powers to defend itself and defend its sovereignty.

00:08:47.580 Now, to be clear, that would be making new law.

00:08:51.200 That would be a landmark decision.

00:08:52.720 And so Texas is pushing the bounds of jurisprudence, but it's doing so because this crisis has never

00:09:00.460 happened before.

00:09:01.800 The long and short of it is this victory could go away.

00:09:05.740 It could go away in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

00:09:07.920 It could go away on a subsequent appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

00:09:11.660 But right now, the Supreme Court has concluded that Texas has the authority to arrest illegal

00:09:17.660 immigrants and to send them back. 1.00

00:09:19.520 And that is a big damn victory, not just for Texas, but for the whole country. 0.99

00:09:23.840 All right. 0.94

00:09:24.000 So let's talk about the timeline here.

00:09:25.840 And you said that this could be a short-lived victory.

00:09:29.040 So let's talk about the timeline.

00:09:31.380 When could this, in theory, be heard and possibly go in the other direction if that is the scenario

00:09:37.280 that plays out hypothetically?

00:09:39.700 Well, it could be very fast.

00:09:41.260 So the briefing on the motion to stay pending appeal has already been briefed in the Fifth

00:09:47.200 Circuit.

00:09:47.580 It was fully briefed by March 5th.

00:09:50.240 It is set to be argued on April 3rd, so just in a couple of weeks.

00:09:54.520 The Fifth Circuit could issue an opinion on that motion to stay very soon thereafter.

00:10:00.300 There's also briefing on the underlying merits of the appeal, whether or not the law is constitutional

00:10:06.880 and consistent with federal law.

00:10:08.780 That will take longer.

00:10:09.980 But what the Supreme Court said, what Justice Barrett and Justice Kavanaugh said, is if the

00:10:15.300 Fifth Circuit does not issue a decision on the stay pending appeal soon, the Biden administration

00:10:22.560 could go back to the Supreme Court.

00:10:25.000 So I would expect to see a decision from the Fifth Circuit within 60 days and potentially

00:10:32.140 shorter than that, potentially a couple of weeks to a month.

00:10:36.600 And depending on what the Fifth Circuit concludes, it could go back to the Supreme Court, all of

00:10:41.200 which is to say this issue is not over.

00:10:43.820 There's a whole lot more litigation to come.

00:10:46.680 Nonetheless, this victory yesterday was significant, and I'm glad for it.

00:10:52.000 Final question on this for you, and I want people to understand what this allows Texas

00:10:56.940 to do.

00:10:57.340 The Supreme Court is saying, we're going to allow the law, right, that would allow the

00:11:02.960 Texas National Guard to arrest and deport illegal aliens within the state of Texas.

00:11:07.460 Texas, how would that work and play out?

00:11:10.340 And would that be something that they can basically jump on and start enforcing right

00:11:15.480 away?

00:11:15.820 Or could that take weeks or months?

00:11:17.880 Yeah, look, they could jump on it right away.

00:11:20.580 So Senate Bill 4 makes it a crime for a non-citizen to enter or attempt to enter Texas directly from

00:11:26.460 a foreign nation or any location other than a lawful port of entry.

00:11:29.940 It also makes it a crime for a non-citizen to enter, attempt to enter, or be found in

00:11:35.500 Texas after having previously been denied admission to or excluded, deported, or removed

00:11:40.620 from the United States.

00:11:42.140 These crimes are punishable by thousands of dollars in fines and up to one year in prison.

00:11:47.160 Once Texas charges a non-citizen under Senate Bill 4, a state judge may, with the consent

00:11:53.300 of the non-citizen, enter an order that, quote, requires the person to return to the foreign

00:11:58.480 nation from which the person entered or attempted to enter before any conviction.

00:12:03.360 Once the non-citizen is convicted, the judge, quote, shall enter an order requiring the person 0.83

00:12:11.920 to return to the foreign nation from which the person entered or attempted to enter.

00:12:15.660 So it gives the state of Texas the authority to arrest illegal aliens and to send them back 0.97

00:12:22.780 to where they came from.

00:12:24.440 Historically, that has always been the federal government's province.

00:12:27.400 And so this litigation is going to turn on whether the circumstances are so extraordinary

00:12:32.600 that Texas is justified legally at acting here.

00:12:37.000 And it's also ultimately going to turn on whether the Arizona decision should be overturned.

00:12:43.000 Of course, the Court of Appeals can't overturn a Supreme Court decision, so that would have

00:12:46.460 to be the Supreme Court of the United States that would overturn that.

00:12:50.780 You just think about the visual of this.

00:12:52.760 We've seen so many illegals. 0.99

00:12:53.960 As you've watched them, when you've been at the border, come across the border, they run

00:12:57.060 and turn themselves into Border Patrol.

00:12:59.080 That could all change in Texas, where all of a sudden these individuals aren't turning

00:13:03.820 themselves in.

00:13:04.480 They're being arrested.

00:13:05.460 We haven't seen this in the last three years.

00:13:07.960 Yeah.

00:13:08.160 And what it may well do is accelerate what we're seeing already, which is illegal aliens and

00:13:13.600 cartels moving to California or Arizona or New Mexico and avoiding Texas.

00:13:18.060 And I'll tell you, that's not great for the country's perspective, but from Texas, I'm 0.97

00:13:22.000 glad if we secure our damn border and let California worry about their open borders. 1.00

00:13:26.880 Yeah. 0.99

00:13:27.060 Puts pressure on other states to realize they've got to do something to fight this problem

00:13:30.680 and start standing up to the president and the Department of Homeland Security.

00:13:34.560 No doubt about that.

00:13:35.800 I want to talk to you real quick about your cell phone service.

00:13:38.700 For 10 years, Patriot Mobile has been America's only Christian conservative wireless provider.

00:13:44.800 And when I say only, I mean the only one.

00:13:48.800 And Patriot Mobile is incredible because they actually take your money when you pay your bill

00:13:54.880 and they fight for conservative causes.

00:13:57.620 That's right.

00:13:58.380 When you switch to Patriot Mobile, you're sending a clear message to Big Mobile that you are standing

00:14:04.320 behind free speech, religious freedom, standing up and fighting for sanctity of life, as well

00:14:10.940 as our Second Amendment.

00:14:11.820 And when you support the military, our veterans, our first responder heroes, as well as our wounded

00:14:17.580 warriors, because 5% of your bill every month when you're with Patriot Mobile goes back to

00:14:22.000 support conservative causes.

00:14:23.600 You may not realize that Big Mobile is in bed big time with the left.

00:14:28.520 They give massive donations to Democratic causes, candidates, including Planned Parenthood.

00:14:35.280 So don't give your money to companies that hate your values.

00:14:39.260 Make the switch to Patriot Mobile.

00:14:41.900 Their 100% U.S.-based customer service team makes switching easy.

00:14:45.840 When you look down at your phone, you're going to see Patriot in the upper left-hand corner

00:14:49.640 and you know you're making a difference.

00:14:51.600 You need to keep your same cell phone number you have now.

00:14:53.760 You can keep your same phone or upgrade to a new one.

00:14:56.460 And their team will help you save money and get the best plan for you, your family, or your

00:15:01.460 business needs.

00:15:02.900 Just go to PatriotMobile.com slash verdict.

00:15:06.540 That's PatriotMobile.com slash verdict or call them 972-PATRIOT.

00:15:11.860 It's 972-PATRIOT.

00:15:14.680 You'll get free activation when you use the offer code VERDICT as well.

00:15:18.500 So join me.

00:15:19.300 Make the switch today.

00:15:20.600 Get rid of the woke phone companies. 1.00

00:15:23.500 PatriotMobile.com slash verdict or 972-PATRIOT.

00:15:27.240 Senator, this is a fun time of year when it comes to the issue of sports.

00:15:32.900 And you're a big basketball fan.

00:15:35.060 I know that you have actually filled out your bracket.

00:15:37.580 People can go check that out on social media.

00:15:39.660 They can follow you on social media and check that out there.

00:15:41.600 In fact, one of you can even get a chance to play basketball with you if you pick the

00:15:46.360 winning team.

00:15:46.980 So you can find all that on social media.

00:15:48.700 It's really cool.

00:15:49.400 But you also had a very serious conversation addressing what's happening now with student

00:15:58.260 athletes' rights, specifically with their name, image, and likeness.

00:16:02.960 And you had a very interesting conversation with a legendary football coach in Washington.

00:16:08.280 Tell us a little bit about this.

00:16:10.240 Well, sure.

00:16:10.660 I'll say, first of all, I filled out my bracket this week.

00:16:13.400 I have to admit it's a bit of a homer bracket.

00:16:15.840 We've got some great Texas team playing.

00:16:17.520 So my final four is UConn against Baylor and Houston against University of Texas in the

00:16:24.160 finals.

00:16:25.040 I have Baylor against Houston, and I'm predicting U of H to win the whole thing.

00:16:29.400 So I will readily confess to being a Texan and biased for my home state teams.

00:16:37.040 But I got to say, I think they've got the game to potentially deliver.

00:16:40.300 And it's always fun.

00:16:41.420 I mean, the joys of March Madness cheering on your teams is always fun.

00:16:45.380 I will say this is a particularly unusual time because although college athletics bring

00:16:53.920 people together from all sorts of different walks of life, I think they've never been under

00:16:59.460 greater threat than they are right now.

00:17:02.020 And we've got the current state of affairs with name, image, and likeness is that athletes

00:17:07.000 are being paid by schools vast sums of money, sometimes millions of dollars.

00:17:12.340 You combine that with the transfer portal, and you have right now the Wild West.

00:17:17.660 And it threatens, I think, to really jeopardize the competitiveness of college athletics, to

00:17:23.280 jeopardize the loyalty that fans have to their teams, that players have to their teams.

00:17:28.760 If it becomes just a mad bidding war, that there's a real threat of a handful of super schools

00:17:37.060 and a bunch of other schools that are also runs that can't afford to compete financially.

00:17:42.360 And so I think there's a real need to assess what do we do to ensure that college athletics

00:17:48.680 continues for a long time.

00:17:50.360 Last week, I hosted a roundtable in the Senate.

00:17:53.280 I'm the ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, and the Commerce Committee has

00:17:57.080 jurisdiction, among other things, over athletics.

00:17:59.840 And so it is squarely within our committee's jurisdiction.

00:18:02.800 In the roundtable, I was joined by Coach Nick Saban, the former coach of Alabama, legendary

00:18:08.200 college coach, was also joined by the ACC commissioner, was joined by the athletic director of Alabama,

00:18:15.680 was joined by the Cavender twins, two star women basketball players who both participated, 0.97

00:18:21.500 and then by an NIL attorney, and by the collective association president.

00:18:26.960 And we spent a couple of hours talking about these issues.

00:18:30.860 I got to tell you, Ben, I think it is really critical that Congress acts, that if we don't

00:18:35.000 act, we're risking seeing enormous damage done to college athletics.

00:18:40.280 And that would be a tragedy, number one, for all the fans who love cheering on their teams.

00:18:45.200 But number two, for all the young men and women for whom college athletics gives them a path

00:18:51.000 to get an education, if we let this get screwed up, it would be tragic.

00:18:56.460 I don't want to see that happen.

00:18:57.900 Canadian women are looking for more. 1.00

00:19:00.060 More out of themselves, their businesses, their elected leaders, and the world around them.

00:19:04.260 And that's why we're thrilled to introduce the Honest Talk podcast.

00:19:07.940 I'm Jennifer Stewart.

00:19:09.100 And I'm Catherine Clark.

00:19:10.120 And in this podcast, we interview Canada's most inspiring women, entrepreneurs, artists,

00:19:15.500 athletes, politicians, and newsmakers, all at different stages of their journey.

00:19:19.880 So if you're looking to connect, then we hope you'll join us.

00:19:23.120 Listen to the Honest Talk podcast on iHeartRadio or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

00:19:28.860 Senator, you mentioned this roundtable, and I want to play some of your opening remarks.

00:19:32.840 You were sitting there next to Nick Saban, which is, by the way, if you're a sports fan,

00:19:36.760 it's just cool.

00:19:37.400 He's a legendary coach.

00:19:39.740 I'm so glad he retired so I don't have to deal with him, playing him every year because

00:19:44.280 he's a brilliant mind in football.

00:19:45.940 But here's part of what you had to say.

00:19:48.040 Fear, and many others' fear, threatens to jeopardize all that is working so well with

00:19:54.220 college athletics.

00:19:55.740 More and more, there is agreement that Congress needs to act to ensure that we have a level

00:20:00.620 playing field, that we have real competition, that college sports can continue to thrive

00:20:06.420 in the decades going forward.

00:20:09.340 And this roundtable is designed to be a discussion with numerous stakeholders who are engaged in

00:20:14.940 the process to get perspectives on what is needed and what is not.

00:20:18.760 Right now, we have the brave new world of NIL and college athletes now, many of them earning

00:20:27.300 very significant sums of money.

00:20:29.940 I, for one, think that's a good thing.

00:20:31.780 I think it is good that young men and young women have worked incredibly hard to develop

00:20:35.700 fantastic skills that, in turn, can generate enormous economic activity, should be entitled

00:20:43.280 to enjoy the fruits of their labor, should be entitled to benefit.

00:20:47.420 But we also need a system where we have real competition and fair competition and not just

00:20:54.100 one or two monster schools and everyone else as a hanger-on, but real competition throughout

00:21:00.540 the league to make for good games.

00:21:03.160 We also need to make sure the rules that are in place don't just focus on Power Five conferences,

00:21:11.020 don't just focus on football and basketball, which generate most of the revenue, but we

00:21:16.960 need to keep in mind and keep our focus on smaller schools, Division II schools, Division

00:21:22.400 III schools, and we need to focus on the many other sports that are not going to be playing

00:21:28.360 on ESPN, but nonetheless provide an avenue for young women and young men to go to school

00:21:34.580 and to get an education.

00:21:35.560 We now have a patchwork of NIL laws state by state that makes it difficult to navigate.

00:21:42.800 We have multiple active litigation going on that prevents the NCAA and conferences and

00:21:50.000 universities from enforcing rules or even knowing what the rules are.

00:21:55.140 And we have a lot of uncertainty for student-athletes and for agents and collectives who are trying

00:22:00.180 to navigate the evolving and unpredictable rules, but uncertain what they're going to be today

00:22:04.500 and even more so what they're going to be tomorrow.

00:22:07.920 The purpose of this discussion is to listen.

00:22:11.500 If we do it right, a number of senators are expected to join us.

00:22:15.340 We have with us today Senator Moran and Senator Tillis, and I think others will be coming in

00:22:19.740 and out throughout the day.

00:22:20.820 There are many members, both Republicans and Democrats, very interested in this topic.

00:22:25.720 And I will say, if we're going to go forward, and I very much want Congress to pass meaningful

00:22:31.640 legislation addressing NIL, but if we're going to go forward, it is going to take bipartisan

00:22:37.700 cooperation.

00:22:38.960 If this simply becomes a partisan exercise of shirts and skins, we know how that ends.

00:22:44.780 That ends with a vote that doesn't pass through Congress.

00:22:48.000 So we have, and I will say, many of us here at this table have had multiple good, productive

00:22:54.380 conversations with senators on the other side of the aisle, and I think we are coming towards

00:22:59.160 some outlines of consensus.

00:23:02.140 But we're not there yet, and I'm hopeful this conversation will help move the process forward.

00:23:08.200 You talked about this being bipartisan, Senator.

00:23:11.820 Rarely in Congress do you get something that I think everybody kind of agrees, hey, we need

00:23:16.460 to make sure this is done right, and you mentioned every different state's got different things,

00:23:21.160 and this has become the, NIL's kind of become the wild, wild west.

00:23:24.560 But having this discussion, does there seem to be a lot of consensus here on both sides

00:23:29.220 of the aisle, and pretty easy to get people at the table here to say, hey, let's do this

00:23:32.280 in a responsible manner?

00:23:33.900 Well, yes and no.

00:23:35.500 I would say there's bipartisan agreement that Congress needs to act, and I think senators on

00:23:40.660 both sides are realizing, hey, we've got a real problem here.

00:23:43.380 What is not clear is if we can reach consensus on what acting looks like.

00:23:49.080 I think there's a need for federal legislation.

00:23:50.980 We've got a bunch of states stepping in, passing their own NIL legislation, but you end up having

00:23:56.080 this conflicting patchwork.

00:23:57.660 So, for example, Texas has passed NIL legislation.

00:24:00.860 It did something I've never seen the state of Texas do before, or for that matter, any state

00:24:04.600 legislature.

00:24:05.820 In the Texas state bill, it explicitly calls on Congress to act.

00:24:09.240 It says, look, it's not great for each of the states to be doing this.

00:24:12.160 This ought to be a federal rule that applies to everyone.

00:24:15.080 And so I've drafted legislation.

00:24:17.260 I've circulated it.

00:24:18.200 I spent the better part of a year listening to stakeholders, listening to universities,

00:24:22.640 listening to athletic conferences, listening to players, listening to all sorts of players

00:24:27.460 across the world of college athletics and trying to capture their best practices.

00:24:34.760 So the legislation that I've put forward, number one, number one, it protects the ability of

00:24:41.240 student athletes to earn from their name, image, and likeness.

00:24:44.780 And I think it's only fair if you've worked incredibly hard, you've developed fantastic

00:24:48.420 skills.

00:24:49.040 You should be able to reap the rewards, the fruits of your labor.

00:24:52.380 But number two, it empowers the NCAA to set rules and set standards.

00:24:58.240 Now, there have been some other senators that have introduced legislation that would put the

00:25:02.460 federal government in charge of setting the rules and standards, either the government

00:25:05.660 or a quasi-governmental organization.

00:25:08.100 I think that's a mistake.

00:25:09.480 I think if you have politicians or bureaucrats, I mean, can you imagine what a nightmare it

00:25:13.540 would be to have congressional hearings on what constitutes pass interference?

00:25:17.080 Yeah, it'd be bad.

00:25:18.140 That's bad.

00:25:19.440 It would never get agreed upon ever.

00:25:21.660 Are there problems with the NCAA?

00:25:24.600 Yes, but it's the least worst option out there.

00:25:28.220 And so my legislation protects the ability of the NCAA to set rules.

00:25:32.620 It also provides for things like the registration of agents.

00:25:36.240 Right now, you have 17-, 18-, 19-year-old students who are being represented by agents.

00:25:41.800 They don't know if these guys are honest.

00:25:43.460 They don't know their background.

00:25:44.480 There's no transparency.

00:25:46.020 And it's really setting kids up to be swindled by people taking advantage of them.

00:25:51.780 So it sets up a system of registration of agents.

00:25:54.560 It also sets up a system of transparency where you can see what the name, image, and likeness

00:26:00.080 market is.

00:26:01.080 You can see what other schools, what other positions are paying so that you're not operating in the

00:26:07.380 dark.

00:26:07.960 And I've introduced this legislation.

00:26:10.900 I put it out there.

00:26:11.740 And I have been in the process of negotiating with several Democrats to see if we can get

00:26:18.280 to common ground.

00:26:19.880 One of the important things my legislation also provides is that student athletes are

00:26:24.980 not employees.

00:26:26.780 This is a big question.

00:26:28.080 It's being litigated right now.

00:26:29.900 I think it'd be a disaster if student athletes were treated as employees. 0.94

00:26:33.300 I think if that happened, if student athletes were treated as employees, it would end up badly

00:26:39.820 damaging, particularly smaller schools, Division II schools, Division III schools, and it would

00:26:44.740 badly damage non-revenue sports.

00:26:47.080 So football and basketball would be fine.

00:26:51.120 But look, you played men's tennis, women's golf, volleyball, swimming, track and field.

00:26:57.780 You know, universities are saying across the board those sports would be obliterated by

00:27:03.700 treating student athletes as employees.

00:27:05.900 I'll say the historically black colleges and universities have come in and said, likewise,

00:27:10.400 please do not make student athletes employees.

00:27:12.760 It will decimate our athletic programs.

00:27:15.560 And so I'm in the process of negotiating and trying to find Democrats who are willing to

00:27:20.760 find common ground on this.

00:27:22.220 If we can't get common ground, the bill's not going to pass.

00:27:25.120 I think we're close, but we're not there yet.

00:27:27.700 But I will say, you know, sitting at the roundtable with Nick Saban, it was striking.

00:27:31.640 I asked Coach Saban, I mean, he just stepped down from being one of the most successful

00:27:36.460 college football coaches in all time.

00:27:39.980 And I asked him, I said, Coach, was the current chaos of NIL and the transfer portal and everything,

00:27:45.520 was that a factor in your stepping down?

00:27:48.840 And listen to what Nick Saban said in response to my question.

00:27:51.580 All the things that I believed in for all these years, 50 years of coaching, no longer exist

00:27:58.660 in college athletics.

00:28:00.300 So it's always about developing players.

00:28:02.900 It was always about helping people be more successful in life.

00:28:07.240 My wife even said to me, we'd have all the recruits over on Sunday with their parents for breakfast.

00:28:13.020 And she would always meet with the mothers and talk about how she was going to help and

00:28:19.320 impact their sons and how they would be well taken care of.

00:28:23.840 And she came to me, you know, like right before I retired and said, why are we doing this?

00:28:29.500 And I said, what do you mean?

00:28:30.820 She said, all they care about is how much you're going to pay them.

00:28:33.660 They don't care about how you're going to develop them, which is what we've always done.

00:28:37.080 So why are we doing this?

00:28:38.080 I mean, it drove him, I think, from the game.

00:28:41.660 Yeah, no, it's striking.

00:28:43.680 And listen, if Nick Saban can't stand it anymore, how the heck is anyone else supposed to?

00:28:49.560 And I got to say, the genuine concern I've heard from coach after coach after coach,

00:28:55.520 from athletic director after athletic director, from the heads of conferences, they are genuinely

00:29:01.240 afraid that we've got a short window of maybe a year or two to act to preserve college

00:29:08.000 sports or else we are risking major and permanent damage.

00:29:11.820 So I hope we see Congress act.

00:29:14.460 I'll tell you, I put the odds at about 50-50.

00:29:16.720 I think we're close to getting bipartisan agreement.

00:29:19.920 I'm spending a lot of time talking with several Democrats and we're close.

00:29:23.480 And it was good.

00:29:24.500 A number of Republicans and Democrats came to this roundtable, participated.

00:29:29.220 It was a good conversation.

00:29:30.880 What was nice about it is it wasn't a hearing where there was showboating and grandstanding.

00:29:35.340 It was a real conversation.

00:29:37.400 And I do think there's a desire to act to make sure we preserve something amazing, because

00:29:43.260 I got to say, when you're cheering for your school, it brings people together across party

00:29:48.460 lines, across races, across ethnicities, across everything when you're cheering together.

00:29:53.620 And that's something amazing and special.

00:29:55.860 And it's also such a powerful pipeline.

00:29:58.760 There's so many young men and women who are getting college educations who wouldn't get

00:30:03.520 without college athletics, that if we screw this up, it would be enormously damaging.

00:30:09.440 No doubt about it.

00:30:09.960 I want to get into this other big issue, and that is there has been a lot of oopses with

00:30:14.620 the media when it comes specifically to their obsession with the president of the United

00:30:21.060 States of America saying something that they took out of context and lied to the American

00:30:25.920 people about bloodbath.

00:30:27.360 I'm going to have more on that in just a moment.

00:30:28.860 Every morning, I wake up early, I go on the radio at seven o'clock, and I have to have

00:30:34.640 a great cup of coffee.

00:30:36.920 Not average, not below average, and I've had plenty of those in my life.

00:30:41.000 I want a premium cup of coffee.

00:30:42.900 The problem is, in the coffee industry, there's a whole lot of woke companies, a lot of liberal

00:30:47.660 companies that fight against my values.

00:30:50.000 Well, that's why I want you to know about an America first cup of coffee that I start my

00:30:55.040 day every day with, blackout coffee.

00:30:57.300 This coffee is 100% America, 0% woke.

00:31:03.180 Blackout coffee is committed to conservative values.

00:31:06.540 From sourcing the beans, the roasting process, customer support, and shipping, they embody

00:31:11.800 true American value and accept no compromise on taste or quality.

00:31:17.360 Now look, I'm going to have a good cup of coffee every morning.

00:31:21.200 Blackout coffee, next level.

00:31:23.280 And I want you to try it, all right?

00:31:24.940 You can go to blackoutcoffee.com slash verdict.

00:31:28.400 And when you use the promo code verdict, you're going to get 20% off your first order, and

00:31:33.500 you're going to be hooked because it is truly a premium cup of coffee.

00:31:38.180 Go to blackoutcoffee.com slash verdict.

00:31:41.200 Use promo code verdict, 20% off your first order.

00:31:44.680 Get away from those woke coffee companies.

00:31:47.260 Be awake.

00:31:48.000 Just not woke.

00:31:48.780 That's blackoutcoffee.com slash verdict.

00:31:51.760 Blackoutcoffee.com slash verdict.

00:31:53.920 Promo code verdict for 20% off your first order.

00:31:58.340 Senator, you and I mentioned this in a previous show.

00:32:02.020 There was a lot of lying about what Donald Trump actually said when he said the words

00:32:07.340 bloodbath.

00:32:08.700 We played that clip here for people then.

00:32:11.640 And I'll give a quick reminder.

00:32:13.760 He wasn't threatening civil war in this country if you don't vote for him, which is what the

00:32:17.980 media implied, and kept writing stories and losing their minds over it.

00:32:22.240 What he was saying was, hey, as president, we got to get our house in order, especially

00:32:28.720 on trade, automobile manufacturing.

00:32:30.760 If we don't, there's going to be a bloodbath for the American consumer.

00:32:34.120 Here's Trump in his own words.

00:32:36.340 Mexico has taken over a period of 30 years, 34% of the automobile manufacturing business

00:32:44.040 in our country.

00:32:44.840 Think of it.

00:32:45.640 Went to Mexico.

00:32:47.020 China now is building a couple of massive plants where they're going to build the cars

00:32:51.760 in Mexico and think, they think that they're going to sell those cars into the United States

00:32:56.960 with no tax at the border.

00:32:58.460 Let me tell you something to China.

00:33:00.280 China, if you're listening, President Xi, and you and I are friends, but he understands

00:33:04.520 the way I deal, those big monster car manufacturing plants that you're building in Mexico right

00:33:11.380 now, and you think you're going to get that, you're going to not hire Americans, and you're

00:33:16.220 going to sell the cars to us now, we're going to put a 100% tariff on every single car that

00:33:21.920 comes across the line, and you're not going to be able to sell those cars.

00:33:25.340 If I get elected, now if I don't get elected, it's going to be a bloodbath for the whole,

00:33:31.260 that's going to be the least of it, it's going to be a bloodbath for the country, that'll

00:33:34.660 be the least of it, but they're not going to sell those cars, they're building massive

00:33:38.600 factories.

00:33:39.460 Senator, there's the President's words, nothing close to what the media actually said, they

00:33:43.800 freaked out over the word bloodbath in general, but now we've, we kind of got them,

00:33:48.700 right?

00:33:49.000 Like, we have the media saying the word bloodbath, that's the best part of this show, we get

00:33:53.640 to play that for you.

00:33:55.260 Yeah, look, that's exactly right, and we talked about this in Monday's podcast, which

00:33:59.020 if you didn't listen to, you ought to go back and listen to, but the media went crazy attacking

00:34:04.160 Donald Trump because he used the word bloodbath, and they took it wildly out of context, and

00:34:09.340 they suggested, the headlines all suggested that Trump threatened a bloodbath, in other

00:34:13.960 words, violence in the streets if he didn't win.

00:34:16.500 Now, you just heard what he said, he was talking about auto imports and American jobs and

00:34:21.700 manufacturing jobs, and in context, it was a perfectly normal position for him to take

00:34:27.400 concerning protecting American jobs, and the media and the Democrats, they knew they

00:34:32.960 were taking him out of context, and they were just scaremongering, and so they were really 0.56

00:34:38.300 caught in a lie, but I've got to say it's not just a lie, it is brazen hypocrisy.

00:34:43.640 So, in the media's defense, I guess using the word bloodbath is some sort of mortal sin

00:34:50.040 that means you're really advocating violent revolution.

00:34:53.420 Well, if that's the case, listen to how many gazillion left-wing media talking heads have

00:34:59.740 used the exact same language talking about politics.

00:35:02.740 But as Politico.com reports tonight on the, quote, bloodbath at the RNC, headlines calling

00:35:09.780 it a, quote, bloodbath.

00:35:11.220 Yeah, bloodbath.

00:35:12.260 Not only is it going to be a bloodbath, but after they leave New Hampshire, it's a bloodbath

00:35:15.940 on her home turf.

00:35:17.360 That's really tough.

00:35:18.520 Trump has left a lot of corpses in his wake.

00:35:20.700 I mean, we can count the bodies.

00:35:22.020 As part of the, quote, MAGA drive to take over Maricopa County, and the headline refers

00:35:26.700 to it as an impending bloodbath.

00:35:28.580 Columnist Charles Blow has a new piece for the New York Times entitled, A Biden Bloodbath.

00:35:32.740 Bloodbath.

00:35:33.260 2018 midterms, you can bet that they 100% are fearing a slaughter.

00:35:37.700 In fact, the word bloodbath and massacre come up frequently.

00:35:41.360 The Republican Party will be destroyed.

00:35:43.180 It's going to be a bloodbath.

00:35:44.320 There's going to be a bloodbath one way or the other.

00:35:46.300 Bloodbath for Bernie Sanders.

00:35:47.980 It's been a bloodbath there.

00:35:49.400 Shaping up to be a bloodbath.

00:35:51.060 Head off a bloodbath in next year's crucial midterm.

00:35:53.820 Off-year elections are often a bloodbath.

00:35:56.560 This week's bloodbath for Democrats, a bloodbath at the ballot box. 0.87

00:36:00.120 There could be a Republican bloodbath.

00:36:01.780 They'll talk about a bloodbath.

00:36:03.120 There's a bloodbath.

00:36:04.120 I have to talk about you.

00:36:05.540 It's going to be a bloodbath all day long.

00:36:07.820 It's in for a bloodbath.

00:36:08.960 Hasn't been a bloodbath on the way down.

00:36:10.980 Donald Trump bloodbath. 0.90

00:36:13.040 Be a bloodbath. 0.97

00:36:14.280 Predicted to be a bloodbath.

00:36:16.060 May not be the bloodbath.

00:36:17.420 It would be a bloodbath.

00:36:18.260 More of a bloodbath.

00:36:19.140 It's going to be a bloodbath in November.

00:36:21.080 Possible Biden bloodbath this November.

00:36:24.780 A bloodbath on Wall Street.

00:36:26.520 There's going to be a bloodbath.

00:36:27.700 In Alabama into a bloodbath.

00:36:29.620 Obviously there was a bloodbath.

00:36:30.820 It was a bloodbath.

00:36:31.840 We're down 800 points.

00:36:33.040 This bloodbath at Department of Homeland Security.

00:36:35.260 And it's a bloodbath today.

00:36:36.400 There was going to be this bloodbath.

00:36:38.140 Election bloodbath.

00:36:39.600 It could be a bloodbath for them.

00:36:41.120 Bloodbath possibly.

00:36:42.460 Bloodbath it went through with the Attorney General.

00:36:44.040 Bloodbath 99 days out.

00:36:46.120 The bloodbath is going to look like.

00:36:47.680 Resided over a bloodbath in the diplomatic corps.

00:36:49.980 In my opinion, bloodbath.

00:36:51.580 Bloodbath the Democrats.

00:36:53.460 We're calling it a ticket sales.

00:36:54.680 Turn it into a bloodbath.

00:36:55.960 Ticket sales for seeing a Taylor Swift's latest tool.

00:36:58.900 It's safe to say the fans had a bloodbath for the company after the fiasco.

00:37:03.820 I hope everybody takes that, Senator, shares it on social media.

00:37:06.920 Because it's just such a perfect example of the scumbaggery of the media.

00:37:12.060 They freak out when Trump says it, but they'll use it every day.

00:37:15.380 That's absolutely right.

00:37:16.760 We've got the receipts.

00:37:18.320 We've got them. 0.88

00:37:19.300 And I've got to say, the media's hypocrisy, it's just an absolute bloodbath.

00:37:24.720 Don't forget, we do this show Monday, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

00:37:29.680 We promise it will never be a bloodbath.

00:37:31.880 Hit that subscribe or auto-download button.

00:37:34.440 And I'll keep you up to date on the breaking news on those in-between days.

00:37:37.640 So download the Ben Ferguson podcast as well.

00:37:39.900 And I'll keep you updated there in the Senate.

00:37:41.440 I will see you back here Friday morning.

00:37:43.180 This is an iHeart Podcast.

00:37:47.040 Guaranteed Human.

Verdict with Ted Cruz - March 20, 2024

Texas Border WIN at SCOTUS, Talking with Coach Nick Saban re College Sports & Media Hypocrisy on Trump

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript