WEBVTT - Ask Us Anything 0:00:00.360 --> 0:00:03.400 The Senator has been back in DC all week. There 0:00:03.480 --> 0:00:05.960 is some bombshell news that's just come out about Mike 0:00:06.000 --> 0:00:09.640 Flynn and the Russia investigation. But best of all, we're 0:00:09.640 --> 0:00:13.040 going to be taking your questions live on this special 0:00:13.160 --> 0:00:16.720 Ask Us Anything episode a Verdict, So send your questions 0:00:16.760 --> 0:00:18.960 in now. We're gonna be taking them from Twitter using 0:00:19.040 --> 0:00:29.640 the hashtag verdict. This is Verdict with Ted Cruz. Welcome 0:00:29.640 --> 0:00:31.520 back to Verdict. How many times can I say verdict 0:00:31.520 --> 0:00:33.760 in one minute? I guess we'll find out. I'm Michael Knowles. 0:00:33.840 --> 0:00:37.320 I'm joined as ever by the Senator. Senator. Before we begin, 0:00:37.320 --> 0:00:42.000 I gotta tell you your hair today looks excellent. Have 0:00:42.080 --> 0:00:45.239 you have you done something new with it? Well? As 0:00:45.240 --> 0:00:47.960 it so happens, I got a haircut this morning. I 0:00:48.080 --> 0:00:51.159 got on a plane first thing this morning, and it 0:00:51.280 --> 0:00:54.960 flew to Dallas and went to Shelley Luther, who, as 0:00:55.000 --> 0:00:58.000 you know, she has a hair salon, and she was 0:00:58.160 --> 0:01:03.640 sentenced insanely to seven days in jail for daring to 0:01:03.720 --> 0:01:07.679 open a hair salon during the coronavirus crisis, and she 0:01:07.840 --> 0:01:11.800 spent two nights in jail and then yesterday, thankfully, the 0:01:11.840 --> 0:01:16.200 Texas Supreme Court unanimously ruled that she'd be released, and 0:01:16.280 --> 0:01:17.880 so I got on a plane and flew up there 0:01:17.920 --> 0:01:20.400 today to get a haircut. Well, she obviously did a 0:01:20.480 --> 0:01:23.120 very good job. The hair looks good, and more importantly, 0:01:23.360 --> 0:01:26.360 I think it's good to send that message out. There 0:01:26.400 --> 0:01:28.839 have been a lot of oversteps during this whole lockdown, 0:01:29.160 --> 0:01:32.039 pastors getting arrested and things like that. But I think 0:01:32.080 --> 0:01:34.800 Shelley Luther she might take the cake. You know, she's 0:01:34.840 --> 0:01:37.319 just dares to try to put some food on the 0:01:37.360 --> 0:01:41.040 table for her kids, and some judge in Dallas decides 0:01:41.080 --> 0:01:44.920 she's got to go to the slammer for seven days. Well, 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:47.639 you know, it really was outrageous, and if you haven't 0:01:47.640 --> 0:01:51.080 seen it, i'd encourage folks watch the video of her sentencing. 0:01:51.760 --> 0:01:54.760 I watched that when it came down, and the judge, 0:01:54.800 --> 0:01:58.840 who was an elected Democrat in Dallas, he demands of her. 0:01:59.440 --> 0:02:04.560 He says, apologize to the elected officials who issued these edicts, 0:02:04.560 --> 0:02:07.160 and if you apologize to them, I won't send you 0:02:07.240 --> 0:02:11.399 to jail. And to her credit, she says, I can't apologize. 0:02:11.440 --> 0:02:14.880 I can't apologize for wanting people, wanting the people who 0:02:14.880 --> 0:02:16.480 worked for me to be able to feed their kids. 0:02:16.680 --> 0:02:19.960 I can't apologize for that. And you know, it was impressive. 0:02:20.880 --> 0:02:24.640 She was not angry, she wasn't disrespectful, she was just 0:02:24.800 --> 0:02:28.320 very matter of fact saying, look, these folks, they need 0:02:28.320 --> 0:02:32.800 to feed their kids. They're hurting. And I gotta say 0:02:32.919 --> 0:02:37.560 it is ridiculous. Elected officials don't have the right to 0:02:37.639 --> 0:02:41.120 demand to the people apologize to me, that's not the 0:02:41.160 --> 0:02:44.400 way it works in the United States. We work for 0:02:44.440 --> 0:02:47.280 the people, not the other way around. And the arrogance 0:02:48.280 --> 0:02:52.720 of our benevolent overlords demanding an apology from the citizenry, 0:02:53.520 --> 0:02:56.040 it was ridiculous. I tweeted that out a couple of 0:02:56.120 --> 0:02:59.119 days ago, how absurd it was. And I was really 0:02:59.160 --> 0:03:01.880 glad to get a chance to meet her in person. 0:03:01.919 --> 0:03:05.400 I'd never met her um and uh now now, my 0:03:05.560 --> 0:03:07.960 dad and my cousin they had spoken to her boyfriend 0:03:07.960 --> 0:03:10.200 on the phone when she was in jail. They had 0:03:10.240 --> 0:03:13.480 actually prayed with with him on the phone, and my 0:03:13.520 --> 0:03:16.200 cousin talked with Shelley just right when she got out 0:03:16.200 --> 0:03:20.399 of jail. But I wanted to be there just to say, look, 0:03:20.400 --> 0:03:23.440 we stand with you, and and and it is wrong 0:03:24.880 --> 0:03:28.400 particularly you know what, you've got local officials that are 0:03:28.440 --> 0:03:31.959 releasing violent criminals from jail because they say coronavirus, we 0:03:32.000 --> 0:03:34.720 don't want it to spread. So they're releasing murderers, they're 0:03:34.920 --> 0:03:38.480 they're releasing rapists and child molesters. But god forbid, you 0:03:38.520 --> 0:03:41.160 have a hairdresser, Well, we need to lock her up 0:03:41.240 --> 0:03:45.280 because she's not properly kissing the asses of the politicians 0:03:45.320 --> 0:03:49.880 that that that that are issuing decrees. I was a 0:03:49.920 --> 0:03:52.000 little pissed off. You can tell fair enough. I think 0:03:52.040 --> 0:03:53.920 you should be. And I think it sends a great statement. 0:03:53.920 --> 0:03:56.040 If we had a whole country full of Shelley Luther's, 0:03:56.080 --> 0:03:58.280 I think probably the culture would be a whole lot healthier. 0:03:58.480 --> 0:04:02.920 Speaking of unfair sentencing, there's another. And actually, hold on, 0:04:02.960 --> 0:04:04.800 before we shifted that, I want to make one other 0:04:04.840 --> 0:04:09.280 point that I made. We did a press conference afterwards, 0:04:09.320 --> 0:04:11.040 and it's a point I made, but I haven't seen 0:04:11.120 --> 0:04:14.280 in any of the coverage and it doesn't strike me 0:04:14.320 --> 0:04:19.520 as entirely accidental. Which is listen, I hadn't had a haircut, 0:04:19.520 --> 0:04:20.720 as you know we've been doing this. I'd had a 0:04:20.760 --> 0:04:22.400 haircut in three months. Yeah, I was getting to be 0:04:22.440 --> 0:04:27.279 that Smalls kind of tiger king. It was, Heidi said, 0:04:27.320 --> 0:04:30.320 I was bringing mullets back, and you know, look, I 0:04:30.680 --> 0:04:33.320 was going more for a BG's thing, but but Joe 0:04:33.360 --> 0:04:37.440 dirt is an underappreciated look, so I'll go either way 0:04:37.480 --> 0:04:40.599 on that. But you know, it was interesting this week 0:04:40.680 --> 0:04:44.640 we were back in DC in the Senate, and I 0:04:44.680 --> 0:04:48.320 couldn't help but look around at my colleagues, and it 0:04:48.480 --> 0:04:51.839 sure looked like most of them had gotten a haircut. 0:04:54.320 --> 0:04:57.840 And it's just kind of interesting for those who are 0:04:57.920 --> 0:05:03.560 defending people's freedom. Fine, but we're seeing some politicians posture 0:05:03.640 --> 0:05:06.240 how to how terrible it is, and and and and 0:05:06.240 --> 0:05:07.919 and and it was a good thing that she should 0:05:07.960 --> 0:05:11.920 be locked up. Well, it's just an interesting question who's 0:05:12.000 --> 0:05:16.359 gotten a haircut? And how right haircuts? For me? But 0:05:16.440 --> 0:05:19.800 not for thee as the prevailing wisdom, I think, Well, 0:05:19.800 --> 0:05:21.720 what was it Bill de Blasio said when he went 0:05:21.760 --> 0:05:23.840 to the gym after shutting down the gyms, Well, I've 0:05:23.880 --> 0:05:28.080 got to stay healthy, like like, oh okay, not not 0:05:28.160 --> 0:05:32.120 the people and and and look, it's also easy to 0:05:32.160 --> 0:05:36.200 mischaracterize this. Nobody is saying that that that that that 0:05:36.400 --> 0:05:40.800 everyone should just behave business as usual and ignore ignore 0:05:40.839 --> 0:05:44.320 the epidemic, ignore the crisis. You know, Shelley at her 0:05:44.320 --> 0:05:46.279 hair salon when when I got my hair cut, I 0:05:46.320 --> 0:05:48.440 was wearing a mask. I was wearing gloves. She was 0:05:48.480 --> 0:05:51.320 wearing a mask. All of the stylists that worked for 0:05:51.480 --> 0:05:54.640 were wearing masks. They use disinfectant. They wipe down the 0:05:54.680 --> 0:05:58.800 seat before I sat down. The stylists used disinfectant on 0:05:58.800 --> 0:06:00.680 her hand. They're trying to be sad if they're trying 0:06:00.720 --> 0:06:04.919 to use common sense measures to mitigate the spread of 0:06:04.920 --> 0:06:07.880 the virus, but they're also trying to trying to let 0:06:08.520 --> 0:06:11.360 these stylists be able to feed their kids, right right, Yeah, 0:06:11.520 --> 0:06:14.000 you know, being able to feed your family is important 0:06:14.000 --> 0:06:17.120 to public health as well. And you know, you have 0:06:17.160 --> 0:06:20.560 the Shelley Luther case that was obviously this gross miscarriage 0:06:20.560 --> 0:06:23.280 of justice and then luckily got overturned yet another one 0:06:23.320 --> 0:06:26.080 on the national level, which just came out yesterday. This 0:06:26.160 --> 0:06:28.840 was the case of Michael Flynn. He was selected by 0:06:28.880 --> 0:06:32.160 President Trump to become the National Security Advisor. He was 0:06:32.240 --> 0:06:35.120 then we were told, a traitor to his country, he 0:06:35.240 --> 0:06:37.480 colluded with Russia. He was going to go to jail, 0:06:37.640 --> 0:06:41.239 people told us. And then the dj dropped the case 0:06:41.400 --> 0:06:45.720 yesterday and Michael Flynn, from what we can tell totally exonerated. Well, 0:06:46.160 --> 0:06:49.280 obviously don't have a law degree. What was going on here? 0:06:49.320 --> 0:06:52.479 What does this mean for the DOJ, for the Obama administration, 0:06:52.560 --> 0:06:55.880 for politics? Look that there are a couple of things 0:06:55.920 --> 0:06:58.960 at play here. One, Michael Flynn is a decorated general 0:06:59.000 --> 0:07:03.200 and he as a leader until he was fired by 0:07:03.200 --> 0:07:07.760 the Obama administration because he had the courage to resist 0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:12.600 some of their willingness to just whitewash and and and 0:07:12.880 --> 0:07:19.120 cover up radical Islamic terrorists and be apologists for Islamism. 0:07:19.160 --> 0:07:21.720 He lost his job for that. But but it's interesting 0:07:21.760 --> 0:07:24.720 that you know, there's been a lot said about the 0:07:24.720 --> 0:07:28.880 deep state. The deep state despises him for that, and 0:07:29.960 --> 0:07:34.400 what has come out recently about the prosecution has really 0:07:34.440 --> 0:07:38.480 been disgraceful. How the Department of Justice, the FBI. I mean, 0:07:38.520 --> 0:07:42.000 they were politicized at a level under Barack Obama that's 0:07:42.000 --> 0:07:46.360 never happened before. They were turned into political weapons. And 0:07:46.760 --> 0:07:49.080 I got to say the notes that have been released 0:07:49.120 --> 0:07:53.160 of the senior folks going after Flynn, where they say 0:07:52.920 --> 0:07:57.440 say the objective was to get him to lie h 0:07:58.760 --> 0:08:01.120 that so that we can either convict him for lying 0:08:01.680 --> 0:08:05.440 or get him fired. Right, get him fired. I mean 0:08:05.520 --> 0:08:09.480 it was I gotta say, I commend Bill Barr. What 0:08:09.600 --> 0:08:13.680 Bill Barr has done, frankly takes backbone because the media 0:08:13.800 --> 0:08:18.320 is savaging because he came in as Attorney General and 0:08:18.480 --> 0:08:20.920 said he was going to follow the law and there 0:08:21.000 --> 0:08:23.840 was going to be accountability, and he directed a US 0:08:23.880 --> 0:08:27.200 attorney to review this case, and all of these records 0:08:27.240 --> 0:08:30.440 that had been hidden were suddenly made public, and and 0:08:30.440 --> 0:08:33.760 and and Barr made the determination, DIOJ made the determination 0:08:34.040 --> 0:08:37.640 that there was not sufficient evidence. What this was was 0:08:37.679 --> 0:08:41.319 a phishing expedition. Yeah, where they wanted to get rid 0:08:41.360 --> 0:08:44.400 of Flynn. And you know, they were getting ready to 0:08:44.440 --> 0:08:48.440 close the case until Peter Struck, this hard partisan dam 0:08:48.760 --> 0:08:52.319 who as all of these you know, nasty partisan text 0:08:52.400 --> 0:08:54.400 back and forth with with a woman with whom he 0:08:54.440 --> 0:09:00.040 was having an affair. Peter Struck said, keep keep the 0:09:00.080 --> 0:09:03.440 case open. And what's interesting about it when they went 0:09:03.520 --> 0:09:07.560 to interview Michael Flynn. You know, Komey has been bragging 0:09:07.600 --> 0:09:09.679 about how he convinced them. I don't know, you don't 0:09:09.720 --> 0:09:11.160 need a lawyer, You don't need a lawyer, you don't 0:09:11.160 --> 0:09:14.760 need to tell the White House counts. No, we're just chatting. No, big, 0:09:15.400 --> 0:09:19.800 you know, just hanging out and it was an old 0:09:19.880 --> 0:09:24.239 fashioned game of entrapment. And by the way, the alleged 0:09:24.320 --> 0:09:29.120 predicate for this is the Logan Act. Now look, most 0:09:29.120 --> 0:09:31.320 people don't know what the Logan Act is. I'll tell you. 0:09:31.360 --> 0:09:34.760 The Logan Act is uttering complete garbage. It is a 0:09:34.760 --> 0:09:37.640 bill that is ostensibly in the US Code that that 0:09:38.200 --> 0:09:41.439 makes it a crime for a private citizen to interact 0:09:41.440 --> 0:09:46.480 and conduct foreign policy with with with foreign leaders. Here's 0:09:46.480 --> 0:09:52.320 the problem. In two centuries, it has been enforced zero times, 0:09:53.679 --> 0:09:56.640 and there's a reason for it. There's no constitutional basis 0:09:56.679 --> 0:10:00.760 for it, and it is something that that is routine. 0:10:01.000 --> 0:10:05.640 I guarantee you today, Michael, I guarantee you John Kerry 0:10:05.720 --> 0:10:08.720 violated the Logan Gact. Certainly he did by the Logan 0:10:08.760 --> 0:10:13.400 Act as a crime. Because John Kerry runs around bragging 0:10:13.440 --> 0:10:16.880 about how he's telling the Iranians, don't worry, we'll come 0:10:16.920 --> 0:10:21.559 back to the deal. Ignore. Ignore President Trump's foreign policy. 0:10:22.160 --> 0:10:24.959 You have Democrats all the time who run around and 0:10:25.320 --> 0:10:27.880 engage in foreign policy in folks out of office. And 0:10:28.240 --> 0:10:32.560 let's be clear. So the alleged violation for Flynn, it's 0:10:32.600 --> 0:10:37.199 important to understand this. He's a retired general. He's just 0:10:37.320 --> 0:10:41.840 been named the incoming national security advisor for the new president. 0:10:41.880 --> 0:10:44.760 This is after the presidential election, so the incoming national 0:10:44.760 --> 0:10:47.240 security advisor is putting his team together to come in 0:10:47.559 --> 0:10:53.040 and lead the president's national security team. And what they 0:10:53.040 --> 0:10:55.439 were allegedly investigating him is that he talked to the 0:10:55.520 --> 0:10:59.960 Russian ambassador. I guarantee you every single national security advice 0:11:00.559 --> 0:11:05.280 going back to the staff of George Washington, was talking 0:11:06.360 --> 0:11:09.520 to our allies and our enemies that that's actually what 0:11:09.640 --> 0:11:13.839 you want leaders in government to do. And so it 0:11:14.559 --> 0:11:20.960 was an assinine phishing expedition based on a laughable claim, 0:11:22.080 --> 0:11:26.000 and it was all the entire game was, well, let's 0:11:26.040 --> 0:11:29.400 get him on tape and then let's interview him and 0:11:29.440 --> 0:11:31.480 see if he says something that contradicts what he says 0:11:31.480 --> 0:11:34.280 on tape. And and I got to say, look, prosecutors 0:11:34.320 --> 0:11:36.559 have played that game all the time. There's a reason 0:11:36.600 --> 0:11:39.720 in trapment is not allowed because because you're just trying 0:11:39.720 --> 0:11:42.120 to you're trying to set up what's called a perjury trap. 0:11:42.720 --> 0:11:48.320 And it was obvious that that these partisan, these partisans 0:11:48.320 --> 0:11:51.800 who who were at the helm of DJ and FBI, 0:11:52.040 --> 0:11:54.280 that that was the game they were playing. And it 0:11:54.320 --> 0:11:58.000 wasn't law enforcement. And I think Bill Barr showed a 0:11:58.000 --> 0:12:00.439 lot of courage for saying we're going to follow the 0:12:00.520 --> 0:12:03.959 law and not let this be just just a a 0:12:04.360 --> 0:12:07.640 partisan hammer. Right the way you can tell in the 0:12:07.720 --> 0:12:10.320 notes that were released from the FBI, the way you 0:12:10.320 --> 0:12:13.840 can tell that this wasn't even just a regular you know, 0:12:14.040 --> 0:12:18.680 investigation or entrapment is that phrase, or get him fired. 0:12:18.840 --> 0:12:20.400 It wasn't just we're gonna see if we catch him 0:12:20.400 --> 0:12:21.960 in a lie, or we'll get him to admit it 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:24.160 was that, or get him fired. They had a political 0:12:24.200 --> 0:12:28.320 interest in getting this appointee removed. So it's great that 0:12:28.360 --> 0:12:30.280 this is coming to light, I know that. And there's 0:12:30.280 --> 0:12:32.360 an old crudge, there's I mean, remember he had been 0:12:32.360 --> 0:12:35.959 fired from the Obama administration. They didn't like that he 0:12:36.040 --> 0:12:39.440 was outing what the administration was doing, and they were 0:12:39.600 --> 0:12:41.679 they were mad at him, and and and that that 0:12:41.800 --> 0:12:45.040 was evidenced by by the partisan attack. That's right. So 0:12:45.160 --> 0:12:48.520 we're and of course the irony of all of this 0:12:50.280 --> 0:12:53.440 is that the media and the Democrats are savaging bar 0:12:53.840 --> 0:12:56.959 yeah for being partisan. I mean, I mean, it is 0:12:57.000 --> 0:13:00.440 the biggest case of projection because he says that Apartment 0:13:00.440 --> 0:13:03.120 of Justice is not going to be a partisan cudgel. 0:13:03.800 --> 0:13:07.000 They accuse him of being partisan, and it's it's it's 0:13:07.040 --> 0:13:09.280 a game, and I think a lot of people are 0:13:09.320 --> 0:13:11.599 sick of that game. Absolutely. So we've got about a 0:13:11.640 --> 0:13:14.880 million questions here from the viewers. Obviously this is live, 0:13:15.160 --> 0:13:17.880 so send your questions in now on Twitter with the 0:13:17.920 --> 0:13:21.480 hashtag verdict. First one is from Rhino Dino. I don't 0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:23.720 think that's his name at birth. I think that's the 0:13:23.720 --> 0:13:27.480 Twitter name. When does an executive's emergency power? Yeah, there's 0:13:27.480 --> 0:13:29.880 some colleagues of mine that go by that. From Rhino 0:13:29.960 --> 0:13:33.400 Dinah's that is true. It's a little long in the 0:13:33.400 --> 0:13:37.080 tooth in that institution. When does an executive's emergency power 0:13:37.240 --> 0:13:41.320 overstep the constitution? Are there any rights that are absolute 0:13:41.440 --> 0:13:44.680 regardless of circumstance. Should there be a way for the 0:13:44.800 --> 0:13:48.360 legislature of the state or federal government to end a 0:13:48.400 --> 0:13:53.480 state of emergency or a lockdown? I suppose. So. Look, 0:13:53.480 --> 0:13:56.120 that's a that's a complicated question, and even the question 0:13:56.160 --> 0:14:00.480 an executive there's a difference between the president, a governor, 0:14:00.920 --> 0:14:09.280 a mayor in times of emergency. The constitutional law has 0:14:09.320 --> 0:14:13.120 always given some degree of discretion and some degree of 0:14:13.280 --> 0:14:17.640 deference to emergency powers that are short term, that are temporary, 0:14:17.840 --> 0:14:20.960 that are designed to address the emergency. Now you can 0:14:21.040 --> 0:14:24.280 go too far. So for example, there's the famous steel 0:14:24.320 --> 0:14:29.320 seizure cases where the federal government tried to seize steel mills. 0:14:29.320 --> 0:14:31.120 In the Supreme Court said, no, you can't do that. 0:14:31.120 --> 0:14:36.040 That's going too far. You know, when it comes to pandemics, 0:14:36.880 --> 0:14:39.880 there is the authority to quarantine people, and that's that's 0:14:39.880 --> 0:14:43.200 actually got a long history and pedigree. Now you think 0:14:43.200 --> 0:14:45.840 about it. In an ordinary case, the government can't come 0:14:45.880 --> 0:14:47.480 along and say, Michael, we're going to lock you in 0:14:47.520 --> 0:14:50.040 one place and not let you go for something that 0:14:50.080 --> 0:14:52.840 you didn't do. Like normally, to be locked up, you 0:14:52.920 --> 0:14:54.760 got to do something, You got to break the law 0:14:55.040 --> 0:15:00.200 to be locked up. Quarantines are an accepted exception into 0:15:00.320 --> 0:15:03.360 that if you have a contagious disease and or a 0:15:03.400 --> 0:15:06.960 threat to others. But you know what we're seeing where 0:15:06.960 --> 0:15:09.440 it crosses the line. We're seeing it every day in 0:15:09.480 --> 0:15:11.960 the course of this crisis. We're seeing it was Shelley 0:15:12.040 --> 0:15:15.760 Luthor locking someone up seven days in jail for cutting hair. 0:15:15.880 --> 0:15:20.640 That's ridiculous. We're seeing it in Colorado with the dad 0:15:20.720 --> 0:15:22.880 who was who was playing softball with a six year 0:15:22.920 --> 0:15:25.240 old daughter in a public park and they threatened to 0:15:25.280 --> 0:15:29.200 give him a ticket. There Pennsylvania, where they gave a 0:15:29.240 --> 0:15:32.680 woman a ticket for driving a car. She didn't violate 0:15:32.680 --> 0:15:34.680 any laws by the way, she was driving a car alone, 0:15:35.080 --> 0:15:37.360 She posed no public health threat to anyone, and yet 0:15:37.360 --> 0:15:39.920 she got a ticket. We saw the governor of New Jersey, 0:15:39.960 --> 0:15:46.600 a Democrat, who said, well, figuring out the constitution, that 0:15:46.600 --> 0:15:49.520 that's above my pay grade. Well, no, actually, as governor 0:15:49.520 --> 0:15:51.920 of New Jersey, the oath you take is an oath 0:15:51.960 --> 0:15:55.040 to uphold the Constitution. It's not above your pay grade. 0:15:55.360 --> 0:16:00.480 So are there are exceptions and for example, in times 0:16:00.520 --> 0:16:03.640 of war a president it can suspend habeas corpus, but 0:16:03.720 --> 0:16:07.280 in limited circumstances. And what the Supreme Court has said 0:16:08.200 --> 0:16:12.480 is that the power of the government is at its 0:16:12.520 --> 0:16:16.360 height when the executive and the legislature are joined together, 0:16:16.440 --> 0:16:18.720 because they're a check on each other, right, And so 0:16:18.800 --> 0:16:21.200 that doesn't mean it's unlimited, but it is at its 0:16:21.280 --> 0:16:24.480 highest point when they are working together, and you have 0:16:25.000 --> 0:16:28.480 multiple branches of government together. They are at the lowest 0:16:28.520 --> 0:16:30.600 point at the federal level, where the executive is on 0:16:30.480 --> 0:16:32.760 one side and the legislature is on the other because 0:16:32.800 --> 0:16:38.680 those two are in conflict. And what's interesting, Look, this 0:16:39.040 --> 0:16:44.760 crisis reveals character and they're just a lot of petty 0:16:44.800 --> 0:16:49.000 authoritarians running around, right. Many of them are Democrats, but 0:16:49.080 --> 0:16:56.440 not all. And they just like power. You know, California, 0:16:56.480 --> 0:16:57.960 I sent out a video of that. You know, they 0:16:58.000 --> 0:17:02.200 pulled out bulldozers and filled a skate park with sand 0:17:03.120 --> 0:17:06.200 to stop teenagers from skating. And I took the chance 0:17:06.200 --> 0:17:08.840 to tweet out and said, okay, skaters, this this is 0:17:08.880 --> 0:17:11.159 what big government lefties want to do. They want to 0:17:11.160 --> 0:17:13.879 take away your freedom and this is stupid. And by 0:17:13.920 --> 0:17:17.000 the way, it would have been perfectly fine for them 0:17:17.040 --> 0:17:19.879 to insist on social distancing. Say, listen, we're in the 0:17:19.920 --> 0:17:22.679 middle of a public health crisis. You need to spread 0:17:22.680 --> 0:17:25.840 out a little bit. But the idea that you can't 0:17:25.880 --> 0:17:28.040 go outside, that you can't go to the beach, that 0:17:28.119 --> 0:17:31.560 you can't paddleboard, that you can't go jogging, all of 0:17:31.600 --> 0:17:35.040 that is an overreach. And it's an overreach because people 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:39.560 are statists, are gonna status that's what they do, and 0:17:40.200 --> 0:17:42.280 that's not right. And there's I guess the question a 0:17:42.320 --> 0:17:44.359 lot of people are asking is is there some hard 0:17:44.359 --> 0:17:47.040 and fast rules. So you know, the government is allowed 0:17:47.080 --> 0:17:49.399 to fill the skate park with sand, but it's not 0:17:49.440 --> 0:17:51.720 allowed to stop the paddle boarder. I mean, obviously there's 0:17:51.760 --> 0:17:54.960 no way you could control for all of these details. 0:17:55.200 --> 0:17:57.800 So how do we know when the government's gone too far? 0:17:59.320 --> 0:18:02.560 It listened. There is no magic rule on it. You've 0:18:02.600 --> 0:18:06.040 got the Bill of Rights and so for example, all right, 0:18:06.119 --> 0:18:09.119 let's take religious liberty. Yeah, religious liberty is a hard 0:18:09.280 --> 0:18:15.879 question in this circumstance because, for example, churches, Um, Heidi 0:18:15.960 --> 0:18:18.320 and I go to First Baptist Church in Houston. It's 0:18:18.320 --> 0:18:22.120 a big church. My pastor is a good friend. Our 0:18:22.240 --> 0:18:24.920 church hasn't met in person for two months. Yeah, it's 0:18:24.920 --> 0:18:27.760 really strange. I mean, we do our family. We do 0:18:27.880 --> 0:18:30.480 church on Sunday mornings where we I log on on 0:18:30.600 --> 0:18:32.840 my phone and and and put it on the TV 0:18:33.000 --> 0:18:35.560 and we watch it in our living room. Hum. Now, 0:18:35.560 --> 0:18:37.520 the church is planning to start meeting at the end 0:18:37.560 --> 0:18:39.879 of the month, and I've talked with with our pastor 0:18:39.880 --> 0:18:42.439 about it. He doesn't want to spread the disease. He 0:18:42.480 --> 0:18:45.480 doesn't want to contribute to people getting sick or losing 0:18:45.480 --> 0:18:49.040 their lives. That's I think that's a reasonable common sense 0:18:49.640 --> 0:18:55.400 judgment for pastors to make. We've seen Bill de Blasio 0:18:56.240 --> 0:18:59.680 where he threatened if a church or synagogue dares meet, 0:19:00.800 --> 0:19:05.800 I will shut you down permanently. Yeah. Who the hell 0:19:05.840 --> 0:19:08.639 are you to shut a church or synagogue down permanently? 0:19:08.680 --> 0:19:11.840 And by the way, Nablasio also, you know he showed 0:19:11.920 --> 0:19:16.000 up at the funeral of a revered rabbi to personally 0:19:16.080 --> 0:19:19.919 disburse the crowd and then send out this tweet threatening 0:19:19.960 --> 0:19:23.639 the Jewish community. You know why exactly is he singling 0:19:23.680 --> 0:19:27.000 out the Jewish community again? I mean that you start 0:19:27.080 --> 0:19:32.400 to reveal the willingness to persecute people because of faith. Yes, 0:19:32.440 --> 0:19:37.320 you can, you can work to protect public safety. But 0:19:37.359 --> 0:19:42.240 when you start signaling it, singling out faith and religious 0:19:42.280 --> 0:19:45.760 exercise or speech and punishing what you don't like, that's 0:19:45.800 --> 0:19:48.359 when you clearly cross the line. Right now, speaking of 0:19:48.400 --> 0:19:51.000 some maybe clearer steps we could be taking, this comes 0:19:51.000 --> 0:19:53.960 in from Aunt Betty. What actions are being taken right 0:19:54.000 --> 0:19:58.520 now to remove Chinese Communist Party sponsored programs in higher 0:19:58.600 --> 0:20:02.640 education and public school rules, Confucius schools and jong Su. 0:20:02.720 --> 0:20:04.959 I don't even know what those are. I do know 0:20:05.000 --> 0:20:08.639 that the Chinese government has infiltrated some educational institutions. There 0:20:08.680 --> 0:20:12.280 are there steps to remove them. So there are so 0:20:12.359 --> 0:20:15.879 Confucius institutes have been established at universities all over the country, 0:20:15.920 --> 0:20:19.520 and they're typically funded by the Chinese government, and they 0:20:19.640 --> 0:20:23.840 serve as propaganda arms that they serve as efforts that 0:20:23.960 --> 0:20:30.000 they offer universities help on Chinese language instruction. Yeah. And 0:20:29.800 --> 0:20:34.879 and China's approach is they use their vast economic resources 0:20:35.040 --> 0:20:38.159 a little bit like a drug dealer going to a 0:20:38.240 --> 0:20:40.880 junior or high where they say, you know, hey, kid, 0:20:41.000 --> 0:20:44.400 let me give you a free sample. Yeah. So Chinese 0:20:44.440 --> 0:20:47.080 communists go to universities and say the same thing. Hey, 0:20:47.080 --> 0:20:50.720 we'll give you really cheap or even free Chinese language instruction. 0:20:50.760 --> 0:20:53.080 Isn't this great? And all you have to do is 0:20:53.160 --> 0:20:56.159 let us conduct espionage on your campus and and let 0:20:56.280 --> 0:20:59.159 us let us push propaganda. So Tianamen Square, Nope, never 0:20:59.200 --> 0:21:02.080 heard of it. There is no Eneman Square. So the 0:21:02.160 --> 0:21:05.760 question is is there anything we can do? Yes. So 0:21:05.800 --> 0:21:09.600 several years ago I introduced and passed legislation on the 0:21:09.640 --> 0:21:13.199 Senate Armed Services Committee, got bipartisan support, and got it 0:21:13.240 --> 0:21:18.040 written into law, a restriction and a prohibition on Department 0:21:18.080 --> 0:21:22.480 of Defense funding if a university has a Confucius institute 0:21:23.200 --> 0:21:25.399 on campus, and it was like, look, we're not going 0:21:25.480 --> 0:21:28.520 to send your d D money if you've got an 0:21:28.520 --> 0:21:32.480 outlet for the Chinese government right there. And that legislation 0:21:32.520 --> 0:21:34.919 that I authored and passed into law has resulted in 0:21:34.960 --> 0:21:39.800 over a dozen of those confucious institutes shutting down. I'll 0:21:39.800 --> 0:21:42.920 give you another example is actually legislation I just introduced 0:21:42.960 --> 0:21:48.040 this week. Phoenix TV. It is a TV station owned 0:21:48.080 --> 0:21:51.040 by the Chinese government. Do you remember the exchange. It 0:21:51.119 --> 0:21:52.720 was a couple of weeks ago at a White House 0:21:52.720 --> 0:21:56.800 press conference. There was that report, this reporter and she 0:21:56.960 --> 0:22:00.439 was questioning the president and I got to give President 0:22:00.440 --> 0:22:02.000 Trump credit here. He said, you know who do you 0:22:02.040 --> 0:22:05.080 work for? China? She goes, no, no, no, Hong Kong. 0:22:05.640 --> 0:22:08.119 And I don't know if he had been brief beforehand 0:22:08.240 --> 0:22:11.480 or if he just had good instincts on the moment, 0:22:11.560 --> 0:22:14.879 But it turns out yes, in their name it's Hong Kong, 0:22:14.920 --> 0:22:17.679 but it's controlled by the Chinese government and it is 0:22:17.760 --> 0:22:25.960 a propaganda outlet. And in the US, so that same company, 0:22:26.000 --> 0:22:31.320 Phoenix TV, purchased a radio station in Mexico which has 0:22:31.359 --> 0:22:34.959 a huge transmitter pointed north, pointed at the United States, 0:22:35.440 --> 0:22:38.800 and they changed it from a Spanish language station to 0:22:38.880 --> 0:22:43.040 a Chinese language station, and they put in an application 0:22:43.119 --> 0:22:47.000 at the FCC to broadcast into the US. Now, two 0:22:47.119 --> 0:22:49.159 years ago, in twenty eighteen, I sent a letter to 0:22:49.160 --> 0:22:54.280 the FCC saying, don't let a propaganda station owned by 0:22:54.280 --> 0:22:57.480 the Chinese government broadcast propaganda into the US, and the 0:22:57.520 --> 0:23:02.159 FCC denied them their license. Now, unfortunately, the way it 0:23:02.200 --> 0:23:05.560 works under the FCC is they even though they'd been denied, 0:23:05.600 --> 0:23:08.480 they appealed and they got a provisional license while the 0:23:08.520 --> 0:23:13.560 appeals pending. So right now you're in California. This TV 0:23:13.760 --> 0:23:18.080 station is broadcasting, saturating southern California. At times it makes 0:23:18.080 --> 0:23:22.760 it all the way up to northern California Chinese language 0:23:22.800 --> 0:23:30.760 propaganda through the radio waves. And so I introduce legislation 0:23:31.480 --> 0:23:34.120 to eliminate the provisional appeal and say, look, if it's 0:23:34.160 --> 0:23:37.520 if it's controlled by a foreign government broadcasting in a 0:23:37.560 --> 0:23:40.159 foreign language, we're not going to be simple patsies and 0:23:40.280 --> 0:23:43.440 let them pump propaganda into our country. And so that's 0:23:43.560 --> 0:23:47.400