Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news, and.
Speaker 2: Let's go now to Capitol Hill. Republican Senator Ted Cruz
Speaker 2: of Texas joins US Live. He's chair of the Senate
Speaker 2: Commerce and Transportation Committee, and he also serves on both
Speaker 2: the Senate Forum Relations and Senate Judiciary Committees. Thanks so
Speaker 2: much for being with us, Senator.
Speaker 3: Julie Joe, good to be with you.
Speaker 2: I want to begin with an interview that President Trump
Speaker 2: just had an NBC News regarding ice enforcement. He said,
Speaker 2: when it comes to Minneapolis, maybe a softer touch is needed,
Speaker 2: although he says you still need to be tough. What
Speaker 2: do you think is the right approach right now?
Speaker 1: Well, listen, what we're saying in Minneapolis is tragic. We're
Speaker 1: seeing angry left wing protesters who are deliberately confronting law enforcement,
Speaker 1: are getting violent with law enforcement, are obstructing the efforts
Speaker 1: of law enforcement to arrest violent, criminal, illegal aliens. And unfortunately,
Speaker 1: we're also seeing the consequences of the overheated rhetoric that
Speaker 1: we've seen from so many Democrats. As you know, two
Speaker 1: Americans were shot in interactions with law enforcement. Anytime an
Speaker 1: American has shot an interaction with a law enforcement. It's tragedy,
Speaker 1: but it is a tragedy that is being compounded and
Speaker 1: being encouraged by Democrats who are using language referring to
Speaker 1: ICE agents as Nazis, referring to them as murderers, in
Speaker 1: a way that is wildly irresponsible, wildly reckless. They are
Speaker 1: encouraging violence against law enforcement, and I wish everyone would
Speaker 1: just ratchet down the rhetoric and focus on Look, it
Speaker 1: was not very long ago that there was enormous common
Speaker 1: ground that violent criminals should be arrested and taken off
Speaker 1: the street, and sadly, Minneapolis is now a clash over
Speaker 1: that basic proposition.
Speaker 2: Senator though, do you think it's time for ICE to
Speaker 2: make some changes after what we have seen?
Speaker 1: Listen, I think ICE is doing a heroic job. I
Speaker 1: think they're doing an incredibly difficult job. And I think
Speaker 1: the confrontations are being egged on by left wing protesters
Speaker 1: who are engaging in violence. They're following strategies of how
Speaker 1: to deliberately obstruct ICE when they're coming into arrest a murderer,
Speaker 1: when they're coming into arrest a child molester or a rapist.
Speaker 1: These left wing agitators, it's not an accident that This
Speaker 1: is happening in Minneapolis, the same place that we saw
Speaker 1: several years ago the Black Lives Matter and Antifa riots
Speaker 1: begin where we saw the looting and the burning that happen.
Speaker 1: There is serious money from the extreme left that is
Speaker 1: funding these radicals, and this violence is unacceptable. In my view,
Speaker 1: violence is always, always, always wrong, and I think this
Speaker 1: confrontation it reflects just how extreme today's Democrat party has gotten.
Speaker 1: I think the American people, I think people in Texas
Speaker 1: want to see violent criminals arrested, and yet over and
Speaker 1: over again Democrats are siding with the criminals over law
Speaker 1: abiding citizens.
Speaker 4: Well, I just want to ask you about the debate
Speaker 4: that's underway with regard to homeland security, then, Senator, and
Speaker 4: I hear the position you're coming from. So I'm guessing
Speaker 4: that a lot of these are non starters for you.
Speaker 4: We talked to your colleague John Cornyn yesterday. He said
Speaker 4: the request to d mask ICE agents was insulting to
Speaker 4: their professionalism. Is that something that you would consider if
Speaker 4: it meant FUNDA and security and bringing down the temperature?
Speaker 1: No, because the reason that ICE agents are having to
Speaker 1: wear masks is because the Left is deliberately dosing them.
Speaker 1: They are targeting them if they find out their identities.
Speaker 1: They are sending violent protesters to their homes. They are
Speaker 1: threatening their families. And by the way, you have Democrat
Speaker 1: politicians calling on these law enforcement officers to be docs
Speaker 1: to keen. Jeffries, the leader of Democrats in the House,
Speaker 1: stood up and said, go and unmask them and identify
Speaker 1: them and go after them.
Speaker 3: That is wildly reckless.
Speaker 1: You know, I was in Dallas several months ago when
Speaker 1: one deranged leftist opened fire trying to kill ICE agents
Speaker 1: with a rifle because he had listened to the anti
Speaker 1: ICE rhetoric from the radical left. This is dangerous, and
Speaker 1: this is this is violence, and listen, these law enforcement
Speaker 1: officers are just trying to protect their families and protect
Speaker 1: their kids from the violence being fomented by the extreme left.
Speaker 4: Well, I just wonder what you think of the president's comment, then, Senator,
Speaker 4: what does he mean by softer touch?
Speaker 1: Well, I think it's exactly what I just said, which
Speaker 1: is ratcheting down the rhetoric. I think that's an important
Speaker 1: for us to try to take some of the anger.
Speaker 1: You know, it is an unhealthy dynamic in our country
Speaker 1: that the two sides are filled with so much rage
Speaker 1: and just yell at each other. We need to be
Speaker 1: able to talk to each other and try to find
Speaker 1: some modicum of common ground that that hadn't happened in
Speaker 1: a long time unfortunately.
Speaker 2: Senator, Though, when you say ratcheting down the rhetoric, are
Speaker 2: you saying that you believe it's all Democrats that have
Speaker 2: brought on this problem? I mean, are both sides somewhat
Speaker 2: to blame?
Speaker 5: Do you think?
Speaker 1: Look, I've encouraged everyone to ratchet down the rhetoric, and
Speaker 1: for example, the two shootings that happen. Anytime you have
Speaker 1: an officer involves shooting, there's an investigation that standard practice,
Speaker 1: that is a natural step to occur. That should occur here,
Speaker 1: and I think anyone who jumped to conclusions about what happened,
Speaker 1: we should wait and see the evidence. You saw democrats
Speaker 1: go on TV and scream that ICE agents are murderers
Speaker 1: and they're just shooting people for no reason. That is
Speaker 1: wildly reckless, and there should be an investigation.
Speaker 3: That happens that that happens.
Speaker 1: As a matter of course, I'll also note one thing
Speaker 1: that the DHS Secretary of Christy Nome did that I
Speaker 1: very much agree with, is she announced that they're going
Speaker 1: to be putting body cameras on ice agents. I think
Speaker 1: that is a very positive development. I don't think body
Speaker 1: can cameras are the friends of the extreme left Democrats
Speaker 1: and the irresponsible claims they're making, and I think the
Speaker 1: body cameras a they protect citizens when you're interacting with
Speaker 1: law enforcement, but they protect law enforcement, and so I
Speaker 1: think that's a very positive development.
Speaker 4: Senator, I'd like to ask you about an important hearing
Speaker 4: that you held today with regard to autonomous driving and
Speaker 4: a piece of legislation that you're pursuing to do away
Speaker 4: with the patchwork of rules on the state level and
Speaker 4: actually come up with a national framework. We heard from
Speaker 4: Mauricio Opinya, an executive at Weimo, the Alphabet owned autonomous
Speaker 4: driving company.
Speaker 3: Here's what we heard.
Speaker 5: You over one hundred million miles, our data shows that
Speaker 5: we are ten times less likely to be involved in
Speaker 5: a serious injury collision as compared to human drivers in
Speaker 5: the cities where we operate. And data also shows that
Speaker 5: we're both times less likely to be involved in a
Speaker 5: pedestrian injury collision in the cities where we operate. So
Speaker 5: I think we're making a difference a ready.
Speaker 4: Were you compelled by the presentations today from Waimo and
Speaker 4: from Tesla Senator and would you get into a self
Speaker 4: driving car tonight?
Speaker 1: I absolutely would get it a self driving car. And
Speaker 1: I got to say, there are very few policy areas
Speaker 1: where we could have as dramatic and direct and impacts
Speaker 1: saving lives as dealing with autonomous vehicles. You know, you know,
Speaker 1: every year about forty thousand Americans are killed in car crashes,
Speaker 1: and ninety four percent of those come from human error.
Speaker 1: They come from drunk drivers or distracted drivers. You get
Speaker 1: people texting and driving, yet people their kids are yelling
Speaker 1: them in the back and all sorts of things, people
Speaker 1: falling asleep because they're really tired. And autonomous vehicles, we
Speaker 1: are seeing that they are dramatically improving safety. On top
Speaker 1: of that, there's a whole other element of keeping our
Speaker 1: kids safe. Look, unfortunately, you know all of us who
Speaker 1: are parents who have teenagers or young adults. You know,
Speaker 1: sometimes kids go out and do something stupid, but sometimes
Speaker 1: they have a few too many drinks, and sometimes kids
Speaker 1: foolishly get behind the wheel and it can be the
Speaker 1: last decision they ever make. I think avs provide a
Speaker 1: real source of safety, to keep our kids safe, to
Speaker 1: keep our grandkids safe. And I got to say one
Speaker 1: of the things I talked about also at the hearing today,
Speaker 1: I'm a father and Julia, as you know, of two
Speaker 1: teenage girls, I'm not Heidi, and I will not let
Speaker 1: our girls come home in an Uber because I don't
Speaker 1: trust a strange man alone in a car with our
Speaker 1: teenage girls. In my city of Houston, four Uber drivers
Speaker 1: were just indicted for sexually assaulting teenage girls in their cars.
Speaker 1: I got to say, as a dad, I would really
Speaker 1: be grateful to be able to have an autonomous vehicle
Speaker 1: take my girls home when they need a ride without
Speaker 1: any danger of an assault.
Speaker 3: So there are lots of steps.
Speaker 1: And by the way, on top of that, we heard
Speaker 1: a lot of testimony of the benefits of avs for
Speaker 1: people with disability, whether the visually impaired, or people with
Speaker 1: paralysis or using wheelchairs, or or people who are elderly
Speaker 1: and lack the ability to drive anymore, to drive safely.
Speaker 1: Autonomous vehicles has the potential for a whole wide category
Speaker 1: of Americans to really substantially improve their lives.
Speaker 4: Senator, I just ask you quickly, I'm getting the hook here,
Speaker 4: But can you tell us about the Rotor Acts following
Speaker 4: the collision outside of DCA. We understand that you've received
Speaker 4: a promise to get a vote on the House floor
Speaker 4: before we say goodnight.
Speaker 3: Is that going to happen. I believe it's going to happen.
Speaker 1: House leadership has been unequivocal in committing to putting the
Speaker 1: Rotor Act on the floor.
Speaker 3: I think the House is going to pass it.
Speaker 1: This is bipartisan legislation I authored to improve safety for
Speaker 1: the flying public. The NTSB just put out their report
Speaker 1: about the horrific crash that happened over DCA Airport last year,
Speaker 1: and they concluded if the Rotor Act had been the law,
Speaker 1: that crash would have been avoided and those sixty seven
Speaker 1: souls would still be with us. We can do this.
Speaker 1: This would make the flying public much safer. It's already
Speaker 1: passed the Senate unanimously, and I believe the House will
Speaker 1: take it up and President Trump will sign it.
Speaker 4: Let us know when you get a timeline on that, Senator,
Speaker 4: thank you for joining us. Ted Cruz, the Republican from Texas,
Speaker 4: live on Bloomberg