WEBVTT - A Senator, a Catholic, and a Cactus Walk Onto a Campus 0:00:07.280 --> 0:00:13.800 Now thank you. We have now been to two schools. 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:17.079 This is the third stop on the Full Verdict Live 0:00:17.120 --> 0:00:20.960 tour in partnership with Young America's Foundation, special thanks to 0:00:21.000 --> 0:00:24.840 the Logan family. We started out on Governor Walker's home 0:00:24.880 --> 0:00:28.560 turf of Wisconsin. We moved on Well, we were supposed 0:00:28.560 --> 0:00:31.120 to be out of college campus. That didn't quite work out. 0:00:31.160 --> 0:00:34.000 They don't like us up there, but we still made 0:00:34.120 --> 0:00:37.080 that podcast work. We then moved on Senator to your 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:41.240 home turf of Texas. We are now on my home turf, 0:00:41.320 --> 0:00:45.839 this very popish place. Here, a Southern Baptist and a 0:00:45.920 --> 0:00:50.680 Catholic and a cactus walk onto a university campus. This 0:00:50.720 --> 0:00:59.600 is Verdict with Ted Cruz. It is really terrific to 0:00:59.640 --> 0:01:02.840 be here, a Catholic University of America. You know, we 0:01:02.960 --> 0:01:05.960 just came from the Land of Freedom in Texas and 0:01:06.000 --> 0:01:07.399 I landed here, and I got to tell you, I 0:01:07.440 --> 0:01:10.760 was I was pretty shocked because there's this mask mandate 0:01:10.800 --> 0:01:15.040 in place. Every single person in Washington, DC needs to 0:01:15.080 --> 0:01:18.640 wear a mask except the President of the United States. 0:01:18.680 --> 0:01:22.119 Do I have that right? Look, only if he's out 0:01:22.160 --> 0:01:25.520 at a restaurant powering around with rich people. That then 0:01:25.560 --> 0:01:29.760 the mask mandate doesn't work it And to be fair, 0:01:30.720 --> 0:01:35.080 he didn't know there was a camera. Most importantly, you 0:01:35.120 --> 0:01:38.040 didn't know about it. Yeah, this is a very tricky virus. 0:01:38.120 --> 0:01:40.640 You put a camera on you, my god, you need 0:01:40.720 --> 0:01:45.280 sixteen masks. You take the camera off, no problem at all. 0:01:46.160 --> 0:01:48.960 I have to say it is pretty audacious. Right now. 0:01:48.960 --> 0:01:52.360 We've been talking about this vaccine mandate, the mask mandates 0:01:52.520 --> 0:01:56.120 that is actually shutting down segments of our economy, and 0:01:56.360 --> 0:01:59.600 amid all of this, with such hubris, with no shame 0:01:59.640 --> 0:02:03.520 at all, the President and his wife walk into this restaurant. 0:02:03.760 --> 0:02:06.280 The security detail is masked. Everyone else there is mask 0:02:06.440 --> 0:02:08.280 but the rules don't apply to him. By the way, 0:02:08.280 --> 0:02:10.440 you know that is the same restaurant are actually the 0:02:10.520 --> 0:02:13.200 sister restaurant of If you remember a couple of years 0:02:13.200 --> 0:02:15.680 ago when Heidi and I were going out to dinner 0:02:15.720 --> 0:02:20.040 in DC and this group of Antifa protesters surrounded us, 0:02:20.560 --> 0:02:23.720 yelled at us, ended up following us out of the restaurant, 0:02:24.280 --> 0:02:26.680 exact same restaurant that Joe Biden is walking around in 0:02:26.680 --> 0:02:30.200 without masks, you know. To Biden's credit, though, I think 0:02:30.200 --> 0:02:34.799 we need to give him credit. He, unlike the Transportation Secretary, 0:02:35.000 --> 0:02:37.400 has ostensively been showing up for work over the past 0:02:37.440 --> 0:02:42.040 two months. But the Transportation Secretary, amid the worst supply 0:02:42.120 --> 0:02:46.800 chain crisis certainly of my lifetime, he's on two months, 0:02:46.880 --> 0:02:51.799 going on three months of paternity leave. You know, I 0:02:52.320 --> 0:02:57.760 gotta say this story actually pisses me off. Look. Number one, 0:02:58.240 --> 0:03:02.120 people are walking on eggshells around this story. Yeah, they're 0:03:02.160 --> 0:03:05.920 like nervous about Oh well, it's paternity leave. You're not 0:03:05.960 --> 0:03:09.440 supposed to say anything bad about that. You know, we're 0:03:09.480 --> 0:03:14.280 really we're we're woke, we're sensitive, and you know he's gay, 0:03:14.360 --> 0:03:17.280 so that I really can't hit you can't talk about 0:03:17.320 --> 0:03:21.320 don't say it, senator, And like, Okay, our country, it 0:03:21.639 --> 0:03:26.480 is over two hundred years old. I am pretty sure 0:03:26.639 --> 0:03:31.840 Pete Bootage Edge is the first and only cabinet secretary 0:03:31.919 --> 0:03:36.520 in the history of our country to take a paternity early. Yes, yeah, 0:03:36.880 --> 0:03:42.080 that's fair, you know, not just okay, stay home, be 0:03:42.120 --> 0:03:44.000 a few days with the kid, be a week with 0:03:44.040 --> 0:03:46.760 the kid, but two damn months. Yeah, and and counting. 0:03:46.760 --> 0:03:48.840 And he said he won't he won't stop, he won't 0:03:48.840 --> 0:03:51.680 come back to work even with the supply chain crisis. 0:03:51.680 --> 0:03:54.040 I suppose the only thing you have to recommend it 0:03:54.080 --> 0:03:56.800 is that probably if Bootage Edge were doing his job, 0:03:57.160 --> 0:04:01.800 the crisis would be worse. I have to assume. Look, 0:04:01.920 --> 0:04:04.920 this story actually encapsulates a lot of the things that 0:04:05.000 --> 0:04:08.520 are infuriating. Number One, Buddha Jedge doesn't show up to 0:04:08.600 --> 0:04:11.760 work for two months. Ye. Number two, they keep it 0:04:11.800 --> 0:04:14.800 a secret. They don't tell anyone. There's no public announcement, 0:04:14.840 --> 0:04:18.039 there's no he's a cabinet member. If you're a cabinet member, 0:04:18.080 --> 0:04:21.960 you've got a responsibility to show up to work. Number Three, 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:24.719 it was fascinating none of the press reports on it. Ye. 0:04:25.640 --> 0:04:28.719 Is there any reporter at the Department of Transportation who 0:04:28.880 --> 0:04:31.719 sixty days in would say, you don't know, we haven't 0:04:31.760 --> 0:04:37.840 seen in sixty days. That's Secretary guy. Does he still 0:04:37.880 --> 0:04:43.120 work here? And it's okay? Look, you might say, the 0:04:43.200 --> 0:04:46.159 Secretary of Transportation doesn't show up to work, and it's 0:04:46.160 --> 0:04:49.200 like a tree falling in the woods. Who noticed? Who cares? Right? 0:04:49.240 --> 0:04:52.159 But it happens to be right in the middle of 0:04:52.200 --> 0:04:56.479 a transportation crisis that is impacting the whole country. Well, now, listen, 0:04:56.520 --> 0:04:59.040 I'm not an economist, so I would like to hear 0:04:59.120 --> 0:05:01.400 your thoughts as a as a lawmaker, someone who sees 0:05:01.400 --> 0:05:06.560 this up close. I have been reliably informed that historic 0:05:06.760 --> 0:05:11.640 inflation and an historic supply chain crisis is one a 0:05:11.720 --> 0:05:13.880 high class problem. That's what the White House Chief of 0:05:13.880 --> 0:05:17.760 Staff said. And two it's actually a good thing. That's 0:05:17.760 --> 0:05:20.400 what Jensaki at the White House and Pee Boodha judge 0:05:20.480 --> 0:05:23.440 have both said in the last two days. Look, there 0:05:23.520 --> 0:05:26.320 is an arrogance to this, and all of these themes 0:05:26.320 --> 0:05:32.599 are connected together. The arrogance is that this administration wants 0:05:32.640 --> 0:05:36.719 to implement policies on working people, on the little people 0:05:37.320 --> 0:05:41.400 that they themselves don't follow. Ye and when you look 0:05:41.400 --> 0:05:43.480 at something like inflation. So the White House Chief of 0:05:43.480 --> 0:05:46.800 Staff Ron Clane tweeted out that that it's it's a 0:05:46.880 --> 0:05:50.880 high class problem inflation. You know, last I checked, buying 0:05:51.000 --> 0:05:53.840 food is not a high class problem. Yea. The last 0:05:53.920 --> 0:05:57.839 I checked, rent isn't a high class problem. Gas isn't 0:05:57.839 --> 0:06:01.040 a high class problem. Diapers aren't a high class problem. 0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:05.600 You know. It's easy to sit back and say, oh, 0:06:05.640 --> 0:06:09.560 what difference does it make as inflations going up and 0:06:09.640 --> 0:06:12.360 up and up. But listen, and I gotta say, we're 0:06:12.440 --> 0:06:15.599 with mostly college students. By the way, I loved the 0:06:15.600 --> 0:06:22.760 astros shirt. Awesome shirt, by the way. In nineteen when 0:06:22.800 --> 0:06:26.960 the Astros played the Nationals. I went to one of 0:06:26.960 --> 0:06:30.919 the games here in DC. Sat behind home plate was 0:06:30.960 --> 0:06:35.320 the lone orange shirt in a sea of red. And 0:06:35.400 --> 0:06:37.559 remember that was a weird series where the away team 0:06:37.600 --> 0:06:41.640 won every game. So I was literally surrounded by Nationals fans. 0:06:41.720 --> 0:06:44.159 I'm wearing Astros. It is a miracle I didn't get 0:06:44.200 --> 0:06:46.760 my ass kicked. I'm seeing a theme here that restaurant 0:06:46.800 --> 0:06:49.600 in DC with Antifa, and then you're the orange shirt 0:06:49.320 --> 0:06:51.680 at the game. It had nothing to do with politics. 0:06:51.680 --> 0:06:53.920 It was all baseball and we were winning, and so 0:06:54.000 --> 0:06:59.359 I was pretty loud and obnoxious about it. But look 0:07:00.320 --> 0:07:03.840 the double standard. You know, for all of y'all in college. 0:07:03.920 --> 0:07:06.200 The last twenty years, we've lived in this sort of 0:07:06.360 --> 0:07:12.239 weird holiday from history because inflation hasn't really exist. We've 0:07:12.280 --> 0:07:15.320 had inflation one and two percent for about twenty years now. 0:07:17.960 --> 0:07:20.200 I'll tell you, I remember the nineteen seventy So I 0:07:20.240 --> 0:07:23.440 was born in seventy. I was a kid in the seventies, 0:07:23.440 --> 0:07:26.280 and I mean, I remember when we had double digit inflation. 0:07:26.360 --> 0:07:29.920 I remember when you had home loans, home mortgage loans 0:07:29.960 --> 0:07:35.480 of twenty one and twenty two percent. That's massive. And 0:07:35.680 --> 0:07:38.000 the thing about inflation, we're up at about five or 0:07:38.040 --> 0:07:42.120 six percent now, so we're several times higher than what's 0:07:42.160 --> 0:07:45.200 historically been true. And I'll tell you really gets hit 0:07:45.280 --> 0:07:49.080 by that our seniors. If you're a senior year on 0:07:49.120 --> 0:07:56.720 a fixed income and suddenly all your expenses are going up, rent, food, gas, utilities, 0:07:56.760 --> 0:07:59.440 everything you're paying for and so the income doesn't move, 0:08:00.080 --> 0:08:02.440 the outflow goes up. You know, there's an irony where 0:08:02.480 --> 0:08:04.400 the White House Chief of Staff and the whole Biden 0:08:04.520 --> 0:08:07.640 apparatus now is trying to pretend that inflation and supply 0:08:07.680 --> 0:08:10.600 chain issues are a high class problem. Actually the opposite 0:08:10.680 --> 0:08:15.560 is true. These issues disproportionately affect poorer people. You know, 0:08:15.880 --> 0:08:19.160 historically speaking, wealthier people can just make they tend to 0:08:19.200 --> 0:08:21.920 make more money even as inflation goes up. But also 0:08:22.560 --> 0:08:25.440 basic goods gas, heating your home, food. I mean, that 0:08:25.480 --> 0:08:29.120 will disproportionately affect people on smaller incomes. But it's the 0:08:29.920 --> 0:08:32.640 speaking of gas. It's the it's the gas lighting that's 0:08:32.640 --> 0:08:35.080 going on. Now. We're being told that up is down 0:08:35.320 --> 0:08:38.200 and black is white and right is left. And meanwhile, 0:08:38.280 --> 0:08:41.360 by the way, while we're debating paternity leave for our 0:08:41.400 --> 0:08:44.960 transportation secretary. And let me be clear about something, because look, 0:08:44.960 --> 0:08:47.280 you and I are both fathers. In fact, you're you're 0:08:47.320 --> 0:08:53.920 a new father. I am, yeah, thank you. You know, 0:08:55.080 --> 0:08:58.920 babies always get applause, and a Catholic university, you can 0:08:58.960 --> 0:09:02.720 count on it. So you know, I remember when when 0:09:02.720 --> 0:09:05.600 our girls were born. So our girls are thirteen and ten. 0:09:05.720 --> 0:09:09.240 Katherine's about turn eleven, um and listen, I'm a maternity 0:09:09.320 --> 0:09:12.360 leave is awesome. Heidi took a full maternity leave. It 0:09:12.480 --> 0:09:16.040 was wonderful with a newborn. So our girls were born 0:09:16.080 --> 0:09:18.080 ten and thirteen years ago. I have to admit ten 0:09:18.120 --> 0:09:21.880 and thirteen years ago, i'd never heard a paternity leave. 0:09:22.000 --> 0:09:25.000 Ten months ago, i'd never heard of. We didn't talk 0:09:25.080 --> 0:09:27.480 about it. It wasn't like we made a conscious decision 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:29.800 not to talk about it. It was okay. She was 0:09:30.240 --> 0:09:32.800 caring and I love my girls, but we just it 0:09:32.880 --> 0:09:34.480 wasn't a thing, all right. So now it's a thing, 0:09:34.480 --> 0:09:37.480 and that's fine. You know a lot of jobs that 0:09:38.760 --> 0:09:42.760 can be fine, but but being in the cabinet is different. Yeah, 0:09:42.800 --> 0:09:48.679 but like you have a responsibility not to disappear from 0:09:48.720 --> 0:09:51.560 the job for two months. Yeah, and you know, what 0:09:51.679 --> 0:09:53.760 it's not that damn hard to pick up a zoom 0:09:53.840 --> 0:09:55.280 in the in the in the middle of in the 0:09:55.320 --> 0:09:58.000 middle of a pandemic. You can zoom. You can be 0:09:58.080 --> 0:10:02.599 on the job at home, and it says something that 0:10:02.880 --> 0:10:06.520 that there's a view that this is not a problem. 0:10:06.600 --> 0:10:08.559 We can do what we want. And it's the same 0:10:09.160 --> 0:10:13.240 double standard that applies in a lot of contact. And meanwhile, 0:10:13.280 --> 0:10:15.200 if you zoom out and you look at the geo 0:10:15.320 --> 0:10:20.319 political picture, here we're sitting around debating whether cabinet secretary 0:10:20.400 --> 0:10:23.280 should just disappear for family time for more than two months, 0:10:23.480 --> 0:10:27.560 we're debating whether it woke. Generals in the military ought 0:10:27.559 --> 0:10:32.160 to be sending critical race theory texts to the troops. Me. Look, 0:10:32.200 --> 0:10:35.079 it's not like there's anything important to monitor. No, there's nothing. 0:10:35.200 --> 0:10:38.840 It's not like the Chinese or testing hypersonics or anything. Yeah, 0:10:38.920 --> 0:10:41.560 that's the thing I just read about. So our greatest 0:10:41.800 --> 0:10:45.760 geopolitical foe is testing out weapons that are blowing us 0:10:45.760 --> 0:10:48.360 away that we didn't know we're possible at the moment, 0:10:48.640 --> 0:10:52.679 And meanwhile we're twiddling our thumbs. So look a hypersonic 0:10:52.720 --> 0:10:56.080 You look at a ballistic missile that goes up in 0:10:56.080 --> 0:10:59.760 the air, goes up into the atmosphere, comes down, and 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:02.040 missile defense systems to take them out. I mean, you 0:11:02.080 --> 0:11:05.080 put a nuclear warhead on the top of an ICBM 0:11:05.160 --> 0:11:07.920 and you can Our missile defense systems are designed to 0:11:07.960 --> 0:11:12.400 try to take them out. A hypersonic is very dangerous 0:11:12.520 --> 0:11:14.839 because in what China tested is something that goes up 0:11:14.840 --> 0:11:18.400 on a rocket, but then very load of the atmosphere 0:11:18.440 --> 0:11:20.959 goes about five times the speed of sound and is 0:11:21.000 --> 0:11:23.839 able to orbit the Earth is able to steer. Suddenly 0:11:24.440 --> 0:11:27.160 missile defense doesn't work that well, and they were testing 0:11:27.200 --> 0:11:29.640 it with the ability to put a nuclear warhead on 0:11:29.679 --> 0:11:32.200 the front end of it. It also means one of 0:11:32.200 --> 0:11:35.600 the potentials. So our missile defense is all keyed on 0:11:35.679 --> 0:11:38.000 missiles coming over the North Pole. Look, a lot of 0:11:38.000 --> 0:11:40.280 it was developed with the Soviet Union, where naturally the 0:11:40.320 --> 0:11:45.079 North Pole is the shortest distance there. With China also 0:11:45.160 --> 0:11:47.319 the North Pole is the most natural, So you've got 0:11:47.440 --> 0:11:50.079 in Alaska big missile defense batteries. With a problem with 0:11:50.080 --> 0:11:52.839 a hypersonic is they can now come over the South Pole. 0:11:53.679 --> 0:11:56.920 They can come over the potentially the technology would let 0:11:56.960 --> 0:11:59.360 them come over the South Pole where we don't have 0:11:59.440 --> 0:12:03.520 the missile defense on our southern border, or for that matter, 0:12:03.600 --> 0:12:05.280 our southern border of the real Grand They could just 0:12:05.320 --> 0:12:08.600 give it to a drug cartel and carry an That's 0:12:08.640 --> 0:12:10.920 probably the easiest way. It's the most direct way, far 0:12:11.000 --> 0:12:16.520 closer than the South Pole. And listen, hypersonics technologies moving forward. 0:12:16.600 --> 0:12:20.040 We're developing them, our enemies are developing them. But I 0:12:20.120 --> 0:12:25.480 gotta say, reading the stories, the Biden administration repeatedly said 0:12:25.520 --> 0:12:28.960 we were shocked, we were astonished, we had no idea 0:12:29.160 --> 0:12:31.920 they had this technology. And it reminded me of the 0:12:32.000 --> 0:12:34.640 disaster and Afghanistan, where they said we were shocked, we 0:12:34.640 --> 0:12:37.480 were astonished, we had the no idea. The Taliban were 0:12:37.520 --> 0:12:41.880 bad guys. Yeah, if only someone had told us, and 0:12:42.320 --> 0:12:45.080 maybe they should be shocked a little less. Look like 0:12:45.120 --> 0:12:52.160 if they weren't concentrating on putting out cartoon recruiting ads. Yeah, yeah, 0:12:52.520 --> 0:12:55.719 maybe we could be focused on our enemies who want 0:12:55.720 --> 0:12:57.840 to kill us. Right. You know, when you look at 0:12:57.840 --> 0:13:00.760 the current crop of leadership, whether it's in agencies, or 0:13:00.800 --> 0:13:03.160 it's in the White House or wherever, or it's the 0:13:03.679 --> 0:13:07.080 Joint chiefs of Staff, it's pretty depressing when you look 0:13:07.120 --> 0:13:08.840 at the future of America. Though, when you look at 0:13:08.880 --> 0:13:11.240 the young people, especially the ones assembled here. It gives 0:13:11.240 --> 0:13:13.080 you a little more hope. Should should we get to 0:13:13.120 --> 0:13:15.640 their questions? That's what I'm here for. Should we bring 0:13:15.640 --> 0:13:18.840 out our friend Liz Wheeler to moderate an open discussion. 0:13:18.840 --> 0:13:21.520 We're gonna be taking all of your questions, so make 0:13:21.559 --> 0:13:24.480 sure that you line up. If you disagree with us, 0:13:24.760 --> 0:13:27.680 all of them, not not all. If they're tough, please, 0:13:27.800 --> 0:13:29.400 we don't want it. We don't need to hear that. Okay, 0:13:29.440 --> 0:13:32.960 And just for the role, if you if you start 0:13:32.960 --> 0:13:36.360 with with lnear algebra, I'm gonna make the Yale graduate 0:13:36.400 --> 0:13:39.080 answer that one. That's great. Yeah, you know I mostly 0:13:39.080 --> 0:13:43.120 studied lesbian dance theory, underwater basket weaving, you know, all 0:13:43.120 --> 0:13:48.320 the top majors at Yale. So but you know what 0:13:48.360 --> 0:13:50.400 we can do. We'll kick it to Liz. She can 0:13:50.400 --> 0:13:52.400 answer those questions. You know. If you make that promise, 0:13:52.440 --> 0:13:57.600 we may demand performance. Good to see you would just 0:13:57.640 --> 0:14:00.880 see you good to see a senator. Whinney said that 0:14:01.600 --> 0:14:05.240 a Catholic, a senator, and a cactus. We're coming to 0:14:05.240 --> 0:14:07.360 a campus that I hope you weren't talking about me 0:14:07.400 --> 0:14:09.080 when you say you are not the cactus. You are 0:14:09.080 --> 0:14:12.839 the second Catholic. Actually we brought reinforcements. Should we take 0:14:12.880 --> 0:14:15.200 some questions? Good? Yes. Do we know the rules of 0:14:15.200 --> 0:14:18.199 the questions. We know the rules of the questions. Ask 0:14:18.440 --> 0:14:21.880 one question, not two, not three, not two, part not three, 0:14:21.920 --> 0:14:24.200 part one question. Make it succinct so that we can 0:14:24.200 --> 0:14:27.520 get to as many questions as possible. If you disagree 0:14:27.560 --> 0:14:30.280 with the senator, if you disagree with Michael, our producers 0:14:30.280 --> 0:14:31.680 will bring you to the front of the line, because 0:14:31.720 --> 0:14:34.600 that's why we're here. We're also going to while everyone 0:14:34.640 --> 0:14:36.840 gets lined up, I want to talk to you for 0:14:36.880 --> 0:14:40.280 just a second about Verdict Plus. It's a portal for 0:14:40.360 --> 0:14:43.720 access to Senator Ted Cruise where not just tonight, but 0:14:43.800 --> 0:14:46.360 every night, or not every night, but frequently we will 0:14:46.360 --> 0:14:49.080 get together and do question an answer, So you can 0:14:49.080 --> 0:14:53.280 submit questions through that portal. It's Verdict with Ted Cruise 0:14:53.360 --> 0:14:56.000 dot Com slash plus. You probably have a little card 0:14:56.080 --> 0:14:58.080 that was on your seat when you sat down. There's 0:14:58.080 --> 0:15:01.040 a promo code on that car. I think the promo 0:15:01.080 --> 0:15:03.640 code says live you will get a month free trial 0:15:03.720 --> 0:15:06.080 to Verdict Plus if you use that promo code. So 0:15:06.120 --> 0:15:09.880 that's Verdict with Ted Cruz dot Com slash plus and 0:15:09.920 --> 0:15:13.520 the promo code is live, and while everyone is lining up, 0:15:13.520 --> 0:15:17.000 we're actually going to take our first question directly from Verdict. 0:15:17.040 --> 0:15:20.480 Plus there's some great questions that have already been already 0:15:20.480 --> 0:15:24.400 been submitted. So this first question, Senator, is directed obviously 0:15:24.480 --> 0:15:28.320 at you. It's from an Iraqi war veteran, and he says, 0:15:28.400 --> 0:15:30.680 as we all know, there have been over one hundred 0:15:30.680 --> 0:15:33.600 and sixty thousand quote unquote migrants released into the country 0:15:33.640 --> 0:15:36.520 since March. With that being said, why are we still 0:15:36.560 --> 0:15:40.480 not processing k one fiance visas? Why punish those who 0:15:40.520 --> 0:15:43.240 are trying to do immigration the legal way? Yeah, look, 0:15:43.240 --> 0:15:45.600 I think it's a very good question. You know, my 0:15:45.720 --> 0:15:49.720 view and immigration I've always summarized in four words legal, good, 0:15:49.760 --> 0:15:52.400 illegal bad. I think there's a right way to come 0:15:52.440 --> 0:15:54.640 to this country. The right way is to stand in line, 0:15:54.680 --> 0:15:58.320 to follow the rules and come here legally, and fiance 0:15:58.520 --> 0:16:00.920 visas have been one of the long and traditional ways 0:16:00.920 --> 0:16:03.520 of doing that. You know. One of the strange things 0:16:03.560 --> 0:16:07.920 about how the Biden administration has handled immigration is on 0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:11.280 the southern border. We have an open border. We've had 0:16:11.280 --> 0:16:14.520 over one point three million people cross illegally just since 0:16:14.560 --> 0:16:17.760 Biden has become president. But at the same time, they've 0:16:17.800 --> 0:16:20.360 shut the border down to legal commerce. It's it's a 0:16:20.480 --> 0:16:25.120 very strange combination where where they're not allowing So you 0:16:25.160 --> 0:16:28.640 have Mexican citizens, for example, who routinely would come up 0:16:28.640 --> 0:16:31.800 to Texas and they'd go shopping, they go out to dinner, 0:16:31.880 --> 0:16:34.440 they would come there. There's a heavy traffic back and forth. 0:16:34.480 --> 0:16:37.680 That is a legal commerce back and forth. The Biden 0:16:37.680 --> 0:16:40.560 administration shut that all down. So it is a bizarre. 0:16:41.040 --> 0:16:43.280 If you're coming with a cartel to break the law, 0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:46.720 they're fine with it. If you're actually coming legally to 0:16:46.880 --> 0:16:49.880 drive the economy, they're not. I think that's backwards and 0:16:49.960 --> 0:16:52.760 we ought to be prioritizing doing it the right way. 0:16:52.920 --> 0:16:56.280 But do you think, Senator, I mean to the viewer's question, 0:16:57.000 --> 0:17:00.880 is it incompetence from the Biden administration? Were to quote 0:17:00.920 --> 0:17:04.400 your colleague Marco Rubio from the campaign? You know, does 0:17:04.520 --> 0:17:07.080 Biden know exactly what he's doing. Let's dispel with the 0:17:07.160 --> 0:17:08.879 fiction that he doesn't know what he's doing. I mean, 0:17:09.000 --> 0:17:13.080 is is this intentional? So? I think the open borders 0:17:13.119 --> 0:17:18.200 are intentional, and it's because it's two things. One, Biden 0:17:18.400 --> 0:17:24.399 and Harris essentially made promises to the radical left in 0:17:24.480 --> 0:17:26.720 the Democratic Party that they would have open borders, that 0:17:26.800 --> 0:17:31.840 they wouldn't enforce the law, and so far they haven't 0:17:31.880 --> 0:17:35.600 been willing to renege on those those promises. But secondly, 0:17:35.680 --> 0:17:39.760 I think more broadly, they view unlimited illegal immigration as 0:17:40.040 --> 0:17:42.960 as future Democratic voter. Yeah. I think this is a 0:17:43.640 --> 0:17:47.359 crass political decision, and I got to tell you it's horrific. 0:17:47.440 --> 0:17:50.760 I've spent a lot of time at the border. The 0:17:51.520 --> 0:17:54.359 kids who are coming in are being brought in by traffickers, 0:17:54.440 --> 0:18:00.200 They're being abused. It is. It takes your breath the 0:18:00.240 --> 0:18:03.679 way to see what's happening, you know, on the legal side, 0:18:03.800 --> 0:18:05.920 I don't have a good answer for it. So why, 0:18:06.080 --> 0:18:08.600 for example, they shut down legal commerce across the bridges. 0:18:08.960 --> 0:18:12.040 I don't know. It doesn't make any sense, you know. 0:18:12.160 --> 0:18:15.399 I actually I've called for them to open it up. 0:18:15.440 --> 0:18:17.119 Democrats have called for them to open it up, but 0:18:17.160 --> 0:18:19.240 they don't do it. I have never been able to 0:18:19.280 --> 0:18:22.359 get a good answer as to why. It's interesting too. 0:18:22.400 --> 0:18:24.639 I think to note that the Biden administration tried to 0:18:24.680 --> 0:18:27.640 prevent the media from covering this. They tried to prevent 0:18:27.720 --> 0:18:30.320 the drones that were showing footage in del Rio. I mean, 0:18:30.359 --> 0:18:31.960 you were actually the first one. You can talk your 0:18:32.000 --> 0:18:34.639 cell phone down there to show the American people what 0:18:34.840 --> 0:18:38.320 was happening. Because clearly the Biden administration knows that what's 0:18:38.359 --> 0:18:41.600 happening isn't just arbitrarily happening, that it's happening as a 0:18:41.680 --> 0:18:44.840 direct result of their political choices. So it does beg 0:18:44.920 --> 0:18:47.600 the question whether it's being done or for what intention 0:18:47.720 --> 0:18:49.679 it is being done, since they know that their choices 0:18:49.680 --> 0:18:53.240 are causing that problem. Yeah, all right, are you guys ready? 0:18:53.520 --> 0:18:56.320 So when you step up to the mic, introduce yourself first, 0:18:56.520 --> 0:18:58.800 and then you can address your question to the senator, 0:18:58.880 --> 0:19:02.840 to Michael or to me. What's your name? Hi, My 0:19:02.960 --> 0:19:05.679 name's Nick. I'm a senior history major here at CUA, 0:19:05.760 --> 0:19:08.919 and for the record, the history department rocks here. Great. 0:19:09.080 --> 0:19:16.440 I love to hear it. So, Senator Um, I want 0:19:16.440 --> 0:19:18.480 to ask you about freedom. You talk a lot about freedom, 0:19:18.560 --> 0:19:21.399 you talk a lot about liberty, but with all respect, 0:19:21.440 --> 0:19:24.720 I haven't heard you talk a lot about throughout your career. 0:19:25.000 --> 0:19:27.320 What is the purpose of human freedom? So I want 0:19:27.320 --> 0:19:30.040 to ask you tonight what is the purpose of human freedom? 0:19:30.359 --> 0:19:32.560 And is it the ultimate virtue as human beings that 0:19:32.640 --> 0:19:45.960 we should seek or is there something more. Wow. So Nick, 0:19:46.040 --> 0:19:48.439 let me say you have just demonstrated your first statement, 0:19:48.480 --> 0:19:52.960 which is the history department rocks here that that is 0:19:53.080 --> 0:19:57.560 a great and profound question, and we're starting with depth. 0:19:58.080 --> 0:20:01.240 Look at at the end of the day, I think 0:20:01.320 --> 0:20:07.639 every human yearns for meaning, yearns for a purpose larger 0:20:07.680 --> 0:20:13.399 than ourselves, a purpose larger than our lives. That is 0:20:13.440 --> 0:20:17.920 a purpose that that for billions for the time of 0:20:18.040 --> 0:20:23.200 humanity has been filled for many with faith. As for me, 0:20:23.280 --> 0:20:26.200 I'm a Christian and my faith is a very important 0:20:26.240 --> 0:20:29.920 part of who I am. But I think when it 0:20:30.040 --> 0:20:34.240 comes to freedom, there's a different role. If you're assessing 0:20:34.320 --> 0:20:36.320 how am I going to live my life, then there 0:20:36.480 --> 0:20:39.440 is a question of what are the governmental policies that 0:20:39.600 --> 0:20:42.359 should be in place. And and you know, if you 0:20:42.440 --> 0:20:45.400 look at the founding of our country, we were founded 0:20:45.480 --> 0:20:50.040 by people fleeing religious oppression and coming to a place 0:20:50.240 --> 0:20:53.639 where where we could live according to our faith and 0:20:54.280 --> 0:20:57.520 worship God and live live our lives according to our faith, 0:20:57.560 --> 0:21:03.000 according to our conscience. And from a governmental perspective, I 0:21:03.080 --> 0:21:06.520 think government should not have its finger on the scale 0:21:06.600 --> 0:21:09.200 one way or the other. We should protect rules that 0:21:09.280 --> 0:21:14.200 allow everyone to go and seek whatever faith questions, whatever 0:21:14.320 --> 0:21:17.439 faith journey. And by the way, look I'm a Christian now, 0:21:17.560 --> 0:21:19.639 but but all of us have had a faith journey. 0:21:19.680 --> 0:21:21.639 I was raised as a Christian. I had a period 0:21:22.440 --> 0:21:24.879 when I was in school where I was probably fairly 0:21:24.960 --> 0:21:28.840 described as an agnostic. I had doubts, which which a 0:21:28.920 --> 0:21:31.840 lot of young people certainly do. Actually, Heidi had a 0:21:31.880 --> 0:21:35.200 similar journey questioning her faith when she was in school. 0:21:35.240 --> 0:21:39.639 I think that's a very common part of life. I 0:21:39.720 --> 0:21:44.399 think we ought to have legal rules in place that 0:21:44.600 --> 0:21:47.760 protect the ability of each of us to try to 0:21:47.880 --> 0:21:51.119 answer the ultimate question, to try to answer what has 0:21:51.160 --> 0:21:53.000 our purpose. I can tell you one thing I point 0:21:53.040 --> 0:21:55.000 out a lot, particularly when I talk to young people, 0:21:55.040 --> 0:22:00.400 as I say, look, think about what people will say 0:22:00.480 --> 0:22:04.320 at your funeral, little macab But but when you're dead 0:22:04.320 --> 0:22:07.360 and buried, what are they going to say? And nobody 0:22:07.560 --> 0:22:09.440 is going to remember how big of a flat screen 0:22:09.480 --> 0:22:12.720 TV you had. Nobody is going to remember if you 0:22:12.800 --> 0:22:15.400 had a fancy car or not. I mean the material 0:22:15.560 --> 0:22:19.159 possessions in life. Look, you need enough money to have 0:22:19.359 --> 0:22:23.440 food and shelter and provide for your family. But the 0:22:23.560 --> 0:22:27.080 only thing anyone ever talks about at a funeral are 0:22:27.160 --> 0:22:29.960 the lives that you touched. Are the people whose lives 0:22:30.000 --> 0:22:33.480 were made better because you lived? Are the people you inspired? 0:22:33.520 --> 0:22:37.600 Are the people you helped, Are the people whose world 0:22:38.040 --> 0:22:43.320 was bettered because of your effort. And so I think 0:22:43.440 --> 0:22:45.800 that's a big part of having a higher purpose is 0:22:46.000 --> 0:22:50.920 making a positive difference in your home and your family, 0:22:51.000 --> 0:22:53.440 and your neighborhood and your community and your state in 0:22:53.520 --> 0:22:56.399 your country. And I think each of us is on 0:22:56.440 --> 0:22:59.720 a journey to figure that out. It's also worth remembering 0:23:00.280 --> 0:23:02.720 aligned from Saint Paul when we're trying to make sense 0:23:02.760 --> 0:23:05.440 of what do we really mean by freedom? Saint Paul says, 0:23:05.800 --> 0:23:07.760 the things that I want to do I don't do, 0:23:07.960 --> 0:23:09.720 and the things that I don't want to do I do. 0:23:10.359 --> 0:23:12.560 Now is that is he just speaking gibberish? Is what 0:23:12.560 --> 0:23:15.480 does that even mean? Well, what he's describing as the 0:23:15.520 --> 0:23:20.000