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Speaker 1: Well, I think you guess, prices as soon as that's.

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Speaker 2: Over going to come tumbling down along with everything else.

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Speaker 3: I think it's going to be here to see a

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Speaker 3: very big decrease in the price of gasoline, gas, anything

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Speaker 3: happy to do with energy as soon as this is ended.

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Speaker 3: But we had to end the nuclear threat in the

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Speaker 3: Middle East throughout the world, and we will have done that.

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Speaker 4: You're listening to the forty seven Morning Update with Ben ferguson.

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Speaker 2: Good Monday morning. Nice to have you with us on

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Speaker 2: the forty seven Morning Update, and we've got a major

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Speaker 2: update for you on the Save Act. There is real

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Speaker 2: movement in Washington, DC as conservatives are joining together to

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Speaker 2: do everything they can to get the Save Act into reality.

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Speaker 2: The President coming out talking about as well, and the

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Speaker 2: Senate majority leader. So who's holding it up and what's

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Speaker 2: going to happen this week? Will there be a vote

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Speaker 2: on it? I explain it all for you, But before

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Speaker 2: seven or nine seven to two Patriot and Switch. Today

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Speaker 2: it's the forty seven Morning Update and it starts right now.

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Speaker 4: Story number one center.

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Speaker 2: Mike Lee is saying now that there is a planned

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Speaker 2: vote on the Save America Act that will show who

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Speaker 2: is fighting for securing elections and also who fears them.

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Speaker 2: Mike Lee said, the plan vote on the Save Act

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Speaker 2: will reveal exactly who's on the side of America is

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Speaker 2: another way of putting it. Now, let me give you

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Speaker 2: a background on where how we got to this point.

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Speaker 2: This has been one of the biggest political fights happening

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Speaker 2: in Washington right now. And it is a fight in Washington,

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Speaker 2: but not actually among the American people. Because polling shows

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Speaker 2: that the majority of Americans are in favor of the

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Speaker 2: Save Act. That is not a controversy. So why is

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Speaker 2: Washington doing what they're doing Because Democrats want to cheat.

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Speaker 2: That's what this is all about. This would safeguard American

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Speaker 2: voter Eligibility Act. That's what the Save Act stands for.

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Speaker 2: The legislation has become a major priority for Donald Trump

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Speaker 2: and Republicans in Congress for one reason, because there shouldn't

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Speaker 2: be people that are voting illegally in our elections. Now,

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Speaker 2: what does the SAVE Act do? That is a big

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Speaker 2: question that so many have asked, and I think it's

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Speaker 2: important that we answer it. At its core, this bill

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Speaker 2: would require, and this is not crazy, the majority of

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Speaker 2: Americans are in favor it documenting proof of US cisenship

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Speaker 2: in order to register to vote in federal elections, along

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Speaker 2: with stronger voter ID requirements. Many supporters and other countries

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Speaker 2: around the world that do what we're trying to do

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Speaker 2: in the US have not only said that the goal

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Speaker 2: is simple. It is to ensure that only American citizens

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Speaker 2: are voting in American elections. This is why the majority

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Speaker 2: of Americans are overwhelmingly in favor of this. Now, the

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Speaker 2: House of Representatives has already passed their version of the

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Speaker 2: bill with strong Republican support. The focus has now shifted

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Speaker 2: to the US Senate, where the legislation faces a difficult

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Speaker 2: path because it would likely need sixty votes to overcome

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Speaker 2: a filibuster. And that's where the political fight is really

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Speaker 2: heating up. President Trump and GOP leaders and I'm talking

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Speaker 2: about real leaders, Okay, not Fune, I'm talking about the

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Speaker 2: other ones all right, are now pushing hard on this

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Speaker 2: because the American people are demanding it. President Trump promised it,

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Speaker 2: and that's why many people voted for Donald Trump. President

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Speaker 2: Trump has made the same Act a centerpiece issue of legislation.

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Speaker 2: He's been out there arguing that election integrity reforms are

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Speaker 2: essential ahead of the upcoming elections now. At a Republican

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Speaker 2: gathering earlier this month, President Trump said voter ID and

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Speaker 2: citizenship verification laws are overwhelmingly supported by the American public

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Speaker 2: and are necessary to protect elections. Trump has also taken

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Speaker 2: the extraordinary steps of pressuring Congress to act on this,

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Speaker 2: saying he does not want to sign other legislation until

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Speaker 2: the SAVE Act is pass, making it clearly his top priority.

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Speaker 2: That is exactly what the President had to do, spend

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Speaker 2: that political capital to get us where we are now.

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Speaker 2: That's also sad because the President shouldn't have had to

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Speaker 2: have done that. It should have been something that the

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Speaker 2: Democratic Party overwhelmingly support as well, because the majority of

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Speaker 2: Americans support it. This should have gotten to sixty votes easily.

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Speaker 2: The only reason why it has is because of one reason.

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Speaker 2: Democrats love to cheat in elections, and they want to cheat.

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Speaker 2: That is the only reason why you wouldn't support the

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Speaker 2: SAVE app now, Republicans in Congress say the legislation is

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Speaker 2: about restoring confidence and elections after years of controversy and

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Speaker 2: distrust by the American people. Several GOP centers and candidates

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Speaker 2: have even suggested changing Senate rules, including bringing back a

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Speaker 2: talking filibuster, to force the build through if Democrats continue

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Speaker 2: to block it. Now, this is where the politics comes in,

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Speaker 2: and it's really interesting to see what the politics are

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Speaker 2: on this one. All Right, You've got Senator John Cornyn,

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Speaker 2: who is upside down, I mean in a big way.

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Speaker 2: All right, I want to be clear about that. He

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Speaker 2: is did not get fifty plus one percent in his

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Speaker 2: primary challenge by Ken Paxton. You also had Wesley Hunt.

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Speaker 2: He's out. It's now gone to a runoff. John Cornan

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Speaker 2: has now been forced to shift his stance on the

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Speaker 2: Senate rules as the pressure from conservative voters is growing

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Speaker 2: to get the bill across the finish line. If he doesn't,

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Speaker 2: he has definitely done in this primary runoff that they're

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Speaker 2: having in Texas right now. So that's one of the

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Speaker 2: reasons why we're seeing this movie, because let's be clear,

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Speaker 2: John Cornyn was holding this thing up. Now, not every

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Speaker 2: Republican agrees on the tactics that we're dealing with right now.

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Speaker 2: Senate leadership, for example, is acknowledged the math is difficult

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Speaker 2: right now, Republicans holding a narrow majority of the Senate,

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Speaker 2: the bill would still need Democratic votes to reach the

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Speaker 2: sixty vote threshold, which leadership says is unlikely at this moment.

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Speaker 2: Republican leaders say, the plan of force votes and put

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Speaker 2: Democrats on record opposing what they describe and what the

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Speaker 2: American people agree is a common sense election protections is

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Speaker 2: still worth it. So let's go to the polling here,

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Speaker 2: because that's something else that Americans need to understand. Republicans

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Speaker 2: are making it very clear that are behind this, in

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Speaker 2: quitting President Trump, that the numbers show that the American

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Speaker 2: people want this. Polling numbers frequently cited by supporters of

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Speaker 2: this legislation are showing that there is strong national support

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Speaker 2: for voter ID and proof of citizenship requirements.

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Speaker 5: Now.

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Speaker 2: According to recent polling cited by the White House, seventy

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Speaker 2: one percent of Americans support the Save America Act, eighty

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Speaker 2: one percent of Americans support voter ID requirements, seventy five

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Speaker 2: percent of voters support proof of citizenship to vote, and

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Speaker 2: sixty nine percent of Independents support the legislation. Now here's

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Speaker 2: the part that's really interesting. Even about half of Democrats

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Speaker 2: support the proposal as well, saying yes, only Americans should

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Speaker 2: vote in our elections. Now. Separate polling has also showed

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Speaker 2: I support for voter ID laws more broadly in general.

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Speaker 2: Let me give you those numbers so you understand this

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Speaker 2: is a bipartisan issue. Eighty four percent of Americans support

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Speaker 2: requiring photo ID to vote. That's more than eight out

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Speaker 2: of ten Americans. Eighty three percent support requiring proof of

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Speaker 2: citizenship when registering to vote, because it's insane that you

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Speaker 2: could be able to vote without showing that you're a citizen.

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Speaker 2: Supporters say, those numbers are showing one thing. This is

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Speaker 2: as bipartisan as it gets in twenty twenty six. It's

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Speaker 2: one of the most popular election reforms in decades in

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Speaker 2: this country, and there is a clear consensus. It goes

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Speaker 2: back to the question why are Democrats against it? Now?

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Speaker 2: Critics warn of major voting barriers, right, is what they say,

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Speaker 2: and I'm going to go through those in a moment.

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Speaker 2: But I also want you to hear the Senate Majority

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Speaker 2: Leader John Thune what he had to say about what

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Speaker 2: will happen this week.

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Speaker 5: Next week, I will be bringing the Save America Act

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Speaker 5: to the full and we will be having a full

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Speaker 5: and robust debate. So, mister President, what is the Save

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Speaker 5: America Act. It is a package of common sense policies,

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Speaker 5: the kind of common sense policies that should get an

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Speaker 5: automatic yes vote from literally every member of this body.

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Speaker 5: At the core of the Save America Act is the

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Speaker 5: requirement that individuals provide proof of citizenship to register to

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Speaker 5: vote and then show an ID when they go to

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Speaker 5: the polls. In other words, it would require Americans to

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Speaker 5: demonstrate that they're eligible to vote and that they are

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Speaker 5: who they say they are when they go to do so.

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Speaker 5: Not to keep using the word common sense, but it's

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Speaker 5: pretty common sense, right. We require photo ID for a

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Speaker 5: whole lot of things in this country for obvious reasons.

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Speaker 5: Getting on a plane, show your official government issued photo ID.

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Speaker 5: Go to the doctor, same thing. Provide your government issued

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Speaker 5: photo ID plus your insurance card. Get hired for a

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Speaker 5: new job, provide your government issued photo ID. When you

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Speaker 5: start this, President, public libraries ask for a photo ID.

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Speaker 5: In New York City, you have to provide some type

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Speaker 5: of photo ID to get a library card. Baltimore, Maryland.

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Speaker 5: Same thing, Washington, d C. Again, photo ID.

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Speaker 2: President.

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Speaker 5: I'll stop with the list of libraries, but I think

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Speaker 5: we can all agree that if you have to show

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Speaker 5: photo ID improve where you live to get a library card,

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Speaker 5: it's not too much to ask for orders to show

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Speaker 5: ID to vote in federal elections.

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Speaker 2: Now, let me tell you what Democrats are saying. Democrats

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Speaker 2: in voting rights groups, those are hardcore radical liberals. Just

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Speaker 2: to you understand what those actually are. They're opposing the bill.

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Speaker 2: Why they say that the SAVAC could make it harder

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Speaker 2: for millions of eligible Americans to vote? They certainly go

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Speaker 2: straight to one core group, and that is Hispanics and

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Speaker 2: African Americans. Why do they say that it's pretty racist

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Speaker 2: to imply that if you are African American or Hispanic

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Speaker 2: you do not have an ID to vote. That is insane.

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Speaker 2: The left also says as many as twenty one million

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Speaker 2: eligible voters lack ready access to the required documents, which

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Speaker 2: they argue to lead a voter disenfranchisement. Again, another hardcore

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Speaker 2: racist statement. That is a racist statement by the Democratic Party.

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Speaker 2: They are saying that African Americans who are Democrats are

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Speaker 2: so behind the times. You can't expect them to actually

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Speaker 2: have an ID. So this is where we are with

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Speaker 2: the Democratic Party. The Democrats are going to do everything

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Speaker 2: they can to stop this because ultimately what they really

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Speaker 2: want is they want people to be able to vote

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Speaker 2: in American elections who are not American citizens. They want

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Speaker 2: illegal immigrants. So they flooded this country with to be

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Speaker 2: able to vote in our elections. They want to be

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Speaker 2: able to cheat in our elections. They want your vote

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Speaker 2: to be canceled out by someone who may even be dead.

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Speaker 2: That is their plan. So this week is a big

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Speaker 2: week and we're going to keep you up today the

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Speaker 2: entire time.

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Speaker 4: Next story number two.

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Speaker 2: I want to get you the latest on what's happening

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Speaker 2: in Cuba. There has been so much attention on what's

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Speaker 2: going on in Iran and also the terrorist tax, and

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Speaker 2: you ask that many are paying attention to what's going

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Speaker 2: on right now in Cuba. There are major protests and

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Speaker 2: unrest that are breaking out. Cuba is seeing what is

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Speaker 2: described in that country as a very rare anti government

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Speaker 2: protest as the economic and energy crisis is worsening by

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Speaker 2: the hour. Protesters attacked and even vandalized the Communist Party

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Speaker 2: office in one of the major cities there. During demonstrations

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Speaker 2: over the blackouts this weekend, demonstrators were chanting down with

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Speaker 2: communism while demanding food, water, and electricity. Authorities arrested several

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Speaker 2: people after the protests then turned violent. Across the island,

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Speaker 2: people have also been staging nighttime pot banging protests, yes,

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Speaker 2: actually banging pots outside of their doors and windows during

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Speaker 2: the long power outages. There is a massive energy crisis

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Speaker 2: and that's what's causing these blackouts. The biggest driver of

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Speaker 2: the unrest is the severe fuel and electric shortage. Cuba

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Speaker 2: has now gone months without major petroleum shipments, causing an

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Speaker 2: energy emergency. Power plants are shutting down and millions of

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Speaker 2: Cubans have lost electricity during the major outage, Hospitals, now, schools, transportation,

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Speaker 2: and food production are being disrupted all across Cuba. In

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Speaker 2: some areas, blackouts have now lasted between fifteen to thirty hours,

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Speaker 2: leaving entire cities in total darkness, which is also affecting

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Speaker 2: the food and medicine shortages that have worsened. The energy

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Speaker 2: crisis is hitting the food system hard. The shortages are

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Speaker 2: preventing crops from being harvested. Some bakeries have switched to

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Speaker 2: wood or coal ovens because they lack fuel they need

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Speaker 2: to make basic bread. Garbage collection, transportation and supply chains

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Speaker 2: are breaking down. The result is inflation and shortages of

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Speaker 2: basic necessities, which brings us to US policy. We knew

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Speaker 2: taking out Maduro in Venezuela and making sure that Cuba

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Speaker 2: didn't get that oil was going to have a big

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Speaker 2: impact on Cuba and allow hopefully for the people there

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Speaker 2: to actually have a free and fair election. The crisis

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Speaker 2: has also intensified due to the pressure on the regime

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Speaker 2: from the Trump administration. The US has now blocked oil

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Speaker 2: shipments and tightened economic pressure as well. Now, the goal

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Speaker 2: from Donald Trump and from Washington is widely seen as

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Speaker 2: forcing political and economic reforms in Cuba. At the bare minimum,

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Speaker 2: regime change for the people in Cuba could be even bigger.

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Speaker 2: President Trump now said that negotiations with Cuba are actually underway,

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Speaker 2: but he warned the US could take stronger action if

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Speaker 2: the talks fail. Now, in a major development, Cuba's president

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Speaker 2: confirmed talks with the US government. He actually did that

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Speaker 2: on state National TV. There The discussions are focused, he said,

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Speaker 2: on the energy crisis as well as US sanctions Cuba

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Speaker 2: has also released dozens of prisoners, possibly is a goodwill gesture.

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Speaker 2: These are the first publicly confirmed talks between the US

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Speaker 2: and Cuba literally in years now. If you look at

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Speaker 2: the overall issue here, Cuba is facing three simultaneous crisises.

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Speaker 2: This is something that the Trump administration knew would happen

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Speaker 2: if they went after the oil supply to Cuba. One,

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Speaker 2: you've got the energy collapse, severe fuel shortages and nationwide blackouts.

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Speaker 2: That is then bringing us to number two. Economic, the

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Speaker 2: problems with the breakdown, the food shortages, inflation, and then

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Speaker 2: the supply chain failures. And then that brings part three,

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Speaker 2: and that may be the most important part. The political pressure,

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Speaker 2: the protests against the commiss regime, and the negotiations with

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Speaker 2: the US. We now have maximum leverage. You look at

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Speaker 2: all of this, and there's one great thing that has

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Speaker 2: come out of it. The President the United States of

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Speaker 2: America has said it's time for Cuba to move forward

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Speaker 2: and not be under such a repressive, repressive regime. It

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Speaker 2: also shows just how we China and other countries are.

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Speaker 2: For far too long, we were afraid of what other

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Speaker 2: countries would do if we did this to Cuba. Now

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Speaker 2: we don't have to worry about that. The President of

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Speaker 2: the United States of America even saying this about Cuba

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Speaker 2: over the weekend the Cuba. You said that Cuba wants

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Speaker 2: to make a deal. What would the United States get

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Speaker 2: in return for that? And why should Americans trust Marco

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Speaker 2: Rubio to negotiate it?

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Speaker 1: Well, Marco Rubio is doing a great job. I think

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Speaker 1: he's going to go down as the greatest Secretary of

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Speaker 1: State in history. Look at what we've done as a presidency,

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Speaker 1: look at what we've done as an administration. They trust Marco,

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Speaker 1: and so do the American people. Trust he's been successful

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Speaker 1: no matter where he's been. He also speaks to language,

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Speaker 1: which is always nice and always helpful. But he's dealing

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Speaker 1: and it may be a friendly takeover, it may not

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Speaker 1: be a friendly take It wouldn't matter because they're really

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Speaker 1: in They're down to as they say, fumes. They have

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Speaker 1: no energy, they have no money, They're in deep trouble

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Speaker 1: on a humanitarian basis, and we don't want to see that.

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Speaker 1: But they were very, very bad to a lot of people,

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Speaker 1: as you know, and a lot of people living. The

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Speaker 1: Cuban American vote, which I got at record levels.

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Speaker 2: You listen to DONC. Trump there. It's very clear he

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Speaker 2: has a plan and he understands exactly how he's going

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Speaker 2: to implement it, and that's probably why it's working.

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Speaker 4: Thank you for listening to the forty seven Morning Update

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Speaker 4: with Ben Ferguson. Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever

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Speaker 4: you're listening to this podcast right now and for more

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Speaker 4: in depth news, also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson podcast

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Speaker 4: and we will see you back here tomorrow