Speaker 1: Welcome.
Speaker 2: It is verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you, Senator,
Speaker 2: you had one heck of a day and anybody that
Speaker 2: was watching the SpaceX launch, so you standing right next
Speaker 2: to President Trump and Elon Musk, this had to be
Speaker 2: a very interesting day of conversations as you spent eleven
Speaker 2: twelve hours with him.
Speaker 3: Well, I did, and I'll tell you last night, I
Speaker 3: was on the Senate floor till nearly midnight because Chuck
Speaker 3: Schumer is ramming through a whole bunch of judges and
Speaker 3: we were fighting him until midnight, kept the Democrats on
Speaker 3: the Senate floor until midnight. And then this morning, I
Speaker 3: woke up early, I got on a plane and I
Speaker 3: flew from DC down to Palm Beach, and then I
Speaker 3: flew with President Trump from Palm Beach to Brownsville, Texas
Speaker 3: for the launch the SpaceX launch today, and spent the
Speaker 3: afternoon with President Trump and Elon Musk, and then flew
Speaker 3: back with President Trump to Palm Beach where I'm overnighting
Speaker 3: and I'll be back in DC to So it was
Speaker 3: a full day. It was a fascinating day, a lot
Speaker 3: to talk about. We also are going to talk about
Speaker 3: today Alvin Bragg's attempt to extend lawfair, to extend this
Speaker 3: criminal trial for five years, to punt it down the road,
Speaker 3: and to hold it as a sort of damocles over
Speaker 3: President Trump. This is going to fail, is my prediction.
Speaker 3: But we're going to talk about that as well.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we're going I got a lot of questions to
Speaker 2: ask you about that plane ride and what I was
Speaker 2: talked about, because it's the first time you guys have
Speaker 2: spent some real quality time together since election Day, and
Speaker 2: I know everybody listening has got a million questions in
Speaker 2: their head, just like I do. I'm going to get
Speaker 2: as many of those out as I can. Let me
Speaker 2: tell you real quick about an incredible organization called USCCA.
Speaker 2: And if you are like me, and you carry a
Speaker 2: firearm to protect and defend yourself and your family, then
Speaker 2: you need to make sure that you are a member
Speaker 2: of the USCA. In fact, they're over eight hundred thousand
Speaker 2: Americans that are members right now.
Speaker 1: And when you become a member or not only.
Speaker 2: Will you get access to their protector Academy to learn
Speaker 2: vital skills like precision shooting and how to fortify your
Speaker 2: home against criminals, but you also get access to the
Speaker 2: twenty four to seven Critical Response Team and the included
Speaker 2: benefit of self Defense Liability insurance. Now, that is the
Speaker 2: most important thing for me. I had to use my
Speaker 2: firearm to save my life. I had to pull the trigger,
Speaker 2: and I wish I would have had USCCA backing me
Speaker 2: up with that self defense Liability insurance to make sure
Speaker 2: that I and you, if you remember, and your family
Speaker 2: are prepared for anything. There's a lot of activist das
Speaker 2: out there right now that love going after law abiding
Speaker 2: citizens and people that exercise their Second Amendment right. That
Speaker 2: is another reason why you need to join. And for
Speaker 2: a limited time, you can text the word America to
Speaker 2: eight seven two two two to get the uscca's free
Speaker 2: Life Saving Concealed Carry and Family Defense Guide and also
Speaker 2: a bonus, a chance to win in seventeen hundred dollars
Speaker 2: to buy any self defense gear you need before it's
Speaker 2: too late. So text the word right now America to
Speaker 2: eight seven two two two, right now.
Speaker 1: That's the word.
Speaker 2: Text the word America to eight seven two to two
Speaker 2: right now, all right center, We're going to do rapid
Speaker 2: fire here because there's a million people that are thinking
Speaker 2: what I'm thinking and that is how does it work.
Speaker 2: You go down to Florida, you meet at the tarmac,
Speaker 2: and then you get on Trump Force one.
Speaker 1: What is the process of that? Even?
Speaker 3: Like so, that's exactly right, and the way it worked
Speaker 3: is I got to call yesterday from Trump's team saying, hey,
Speaker 3: you want to fly fly with the President down to
Speaker 3: Texas and go to the launch.
Speaker 4: And I said sure, And so I had to get
Speaker 4: myself down here.
Speaker 3: Uh, And so I flew in commercial down to Palm
Speaker 3: Beach and then went over to the to the FBO
Speaker 3: and met the President on Trump Force one. I have
Speaker 3: to say, it's the first time I've been on Trump
Speaker 3: Force one. I've been on Air Force one with him
Speaker 3: a lot of times, but it's the first time I've
Speaker 3: been on his campaign plane.
Speaker 4: You know. It made me.
Speaker 3: It reminded me of the first time I joined him
Speaker 3: on Air Force one. And this was just, I don't know,
Speaker 3: a couple of months after he became president in twenty seventeen,
Speaker 3: and when I came on Air Force one, I said,
Speaker 3: mister President, nice plane. And he looked at me and
Speaker 3: laughed and said, yeah, my other one was nicer, And
Speaker 3: I said, true, but that one didn't have missiles, which
Speaker 3: he laughed as well. And I have to say his
Speaker 3: having been on both Trump Force one is really nice.
Speaker 3: It's a very well decked out. It's a beautiful plane
Speaker 3: inside a lot of space. And so we sat sad
Speaker 3: had about a two and a half three hour flight
Speaker 3: to Texas and about the same back and so spent
Speaker 3: a lot of time sitting in the plane talking. It
Speaker 3: was beautiful. We were there also with a number of folks.
Speaker 3: Don Junior came, Don Junior's eldest.
Speaker 4: Or Kai came.
Speaker 3: Uh. We we had Actually, you are going to be
Speaker 3: very impressed.
Speaker 4: By who came. Do you know who was there?
Speaker 1: Who else?
Speaker 4: Bryson Deschambeau.
Speaker 1: Well, see that now I'm now I'm having fomo right now.
Speaker 1: That's that.
Speaker 2: And for people that don't know who Bryson is, Bryson
Speaker 2: is a is a world class golfer. He has won majors,
Speaker 2: uh and is and has been a huge Trump supporter
Speaker 2: and loves hanging out with him.
Speaker 1: They play golf together quite often.
Speaker 4: Well, and he just won the US Open.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And and it was I'll tell you a good
Speaker 3: chunk of the discussion. So so I was there were
Speaker 3: four of us seated together and I was across from
Speaker 3: Trump and Bryson was next to me.
Speaker 4: A good chunk of the conversation was about.
Speaker 3: Their golf game and and he he and Trump play
Speaker 3: a lot, and what do you think Bryson drives?
Speaker 2: So I'm gonna go three forty would probably be somewhere
Speaker 2: in that area. I mean, the guy just hammers the ball,
Speaker 2: and he had he's had some that have been three
Speaker 2: seventy five, three eighty as well.
Speaker 3: He said he drives pretty consistently three fifty to three sixty.
Speaker 1: There you go.
Speaker 2: And that yeah, with technology now, he's getting better every year.
Speaker 2: That makes sense, and that is insane. If you've ever
Speaker 2: played golf, you know, I mean I hit the ball
Speaker 2: pretty decent and my average drive is like.
Speaker 1: Two sixty five. So he's got a hundred yards on that.
Speaker 4: Trump was saying, you play a part four and he's
Speaker 4: on the green and one.
Speaker 2: It's unbelievable. So he just went to go watch the
Speaker 2: launch as well. That's so much fun.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: No, he's he is, and he's a he's a Texan
Speaker 3: and he went to SMU. He's from California originally, so
Speaker 3: I didn't know him, but I hung out with him.
Speaker 4: He was a great guy.
Speaker 3: I really enjoyed hanging out with him. Linda McMahon was
Speaker 3: on the plane. Now, Linda McMahon was just announced as
Speaker 3: as the new Secretary of Education. I know lynd under
Speaker 3: the first administration, she was the administrator of the Small
Speaker 3: Business Administration. And actually Trump told us on the plane,
Speaker 3: he said, well, what do you think Linda's going to
Speaker 3: be our new Secretary of Education? What do you think
Speaker 3: of that? And we were like great. In fact, he
Speaker 3: was talking with Linda. Do we put this out today?
Speaker 3: We put it out tomorrow, And they ended up putting
Speaker 3: it out today, so the news broke. She's going to
Speaker 3: be terrific at that, and so that was a good discussion,
Speaker 3: and so I had a good chance. I know Linda
Speaker 3: well and she's she's been sharing the board of the
Speaker 3: American First Policy Institute, so she's been very engaged with
Speaker 3: the president. She's helped leading she's helping lead the transition
Speaker 3: team for President Trump. And Linda and I talked quite
Speaker 3: a bit about the legislation that I authored during the
Speaker 3: first Trump administration that that would be the most far
Speaker 3: reaching federal school choice legislation that's ever passed, and it
Speaker 3: was legislation that I announced with Betsy de vas Trump's
Speaker 3: first Secretary of Education at the Department of Education, and
Speaker 3: it became the Trump administration's lead school choice proposal was
Speaker 3: my legislation, and in fact, he talked about it in
Speaker 3: one of the State of the Union addresses, and so
Speaker 3: Lenna and I talked about that and working to push
Speaker 3: for school choice, to expand the options for students and
Speaker 3: working together on that.
Speaker 2: And she's an advocate for her school choice from what
Speaker 2: I've read, is that correct? I mean, that's something that
Speaker 2: certainly she is saying, yes, I like this idea.
Speaker 3: Yeah, she is certainly an advocate for school choice. And
Speaker 3: she also has been an advocate for workforce training and education.
Speaker 3: That's something she's done a lot of at America First
Speaker 3: Policy Institute. And the proposal that I authored, what it
Speaker 3: consists of is federal tax credits dollar for dollar tax
Speaker 3: credits ten billion dollars a year, so one hundred billion
Speaker 3: dollars over ten years. Five billion of it is focused
Speaker 3: on K through twelve education, and five billion of it
Speaker 3: is focused on workforce development education. And the way the
Speaker 3: legislation is structured, each state can choose whether to opt
Speaker 3: in or not, so it's not forced on the states,
Speaker 3: and the states can opt into the K through twelve
Speaker 3: part or the Workforce Development part, or both. And the
Speaker 3: way it operates is once the state opts in, any
Speaker 3: individual or corporation that makes a contribution to a scholarship
Speaker 3: granting organization in that state gets a dollar for dollar
Speaker 3: tax credit on their federal taxes. And so what it
Speaker 3: results in is ten billion dollars in additional resources going
Speaker 3: to education and school choice. The way it is drafted, however,
Speaker 3: the federal government stays out of the business of curriculum.
Speaker 3: The federal government has no control, no strings over what's taught.
Speaker 3: The only requirement is that for the states to participate,
Speaker 3: they cannot discriminate against private schools.
Speaker 4: Or religious schools. They have to let parents and students decide.
Speaker 3: And if they do that, the money flows, and it
Speaker 3: would be transformational. To give you a sense of what
Speaker 3: it means means for a state the size of Texas.
Speaker 3: Texas is about ten percent of the national population. The
Speaker 3: money is allocated pro rata, so that would mean about
Speaker 3: a billion dollars a year in additional scholarships going to
Speaker 3: young people and adults in.
Speaker 4: The state of Texas, which would be really, really potent.
Speaker 2: So let's talk about that reform since you mentioned her name.
Speaker 2: And this is the best part about this show is
Speaker 2: we get to, you know, go down these rabbit holes.
Speaker 2: There has been such just fervor from the left to
Speaker 2: not move towards school choice because it's all about the teachers' unions.
Speaker 2: It's all about putting the unions first instead of the kids.
Speaker 2: There's a lot of kids in failing schools. There's a
Speaker 2: lot of African American kids, minority kids. The stand of
Speaker 2: kids that are in failing schools as well. Is there
Speaker 2: the political will power this go around to actually do it,
Speaker 2: because look, I've seen a lot of concerns say, oh,
Speaker 2: they like the idea a keyword idea of school choice,
Speaker 2: but when it comes down to it, they're afraid their Gunshi.
Speaker 2: Do you feel like we're seeing a turn now, especially
Speaker 2: if you have a Secretary of Education that's on board
Speaker 2: with it as well.
Speaker 3: So at the state level, definitely, at the federal level,
Speaker 3: it's still going to be a challenge. Let's talk about
Speaker 3: the state level for a minute. I think next year
Speaker 3: Texas is going to pass landmark school choice legislation and
Speaker 3: that's something I've been incredibly active in and so going
Speaker 3: down this rabbit hole, as you mentioned in the state legislature.
Speaker 3: So out of one hundred senators, to the best of
Speaker 3: my knowledge, ninety nine of them avoid making endorsements and
Speaker 3: primaries in their states and state legislative races.
Speaker 4: And there's a reason for that. Bennett.
Speaker 3: You're a US senator and you make endorsements and primaries
Speaker 3: in your state.
Speaker 4: It is a political loser for you.
Speaker 3: The rule of thumb is when you make an endorsement,
Speaker 3: you get half their friends and all their enemies. And
Speaker 3: so most people don't do that, they stay out of primaries.
Speaker 3: I am the only exception of which I'm aware, and
Speaker 3: I regularly I make many, many endorsements in primaries in
Speaker 3: the state House and the state Senate. And I make
Speaker 3: those endorsements based on a single criteria, which is school choice.
Speaker 3: I think school choice is the civil rights issue of
Speaker 3: the twenty first century, and I am absolutely committed to
Speaker 3: fighting for school choice. I think every child should have
Speaker 3: the right to have access to an excellent education, regardless
Speaker 3: of their raiths, their ethnicity, their wealth, their zip code.
Speaker 3: And so the way I do it in Texas, it
Speaker 3: is every two years. Every election cycle, I have my
Speaker 3: team prepare an Excel spreadsheet of every vote that every
Speaker 3: state legislator and every state senator is cast on school choice.
Speaker 3: And if you've voted in favor of school choice, and
Speaker 3: you're otherwise relatively conservative, you are very likely to get
Speaker 3: my support. If, on the other hand, you voted against
Speaker 3: school choice, the chances of your getting my support are zero.
Speaker 3: And if you have anything resembling a credible primary challenger,
Speaker 3: I am quite likely to support that primary challenger. And
Speaker 3: when I do so, I don't do so gently.
Speaker 4: I come in.
Speaker 3: I'll often cut radio ads or TV ads. I'll come
Speaker 3: in and actively campaign. And I'll tell you, over the
Speaker 3: last two cycles, we have repeatedly beaten incumbent state legislators
Speaker 3: who opposed school choice. Two years ago, we almost passed
Speaker 3: school choice in Texas, but it failed because a bunch
Speaker 3: of Republicans voted against it. And this cycle I endorsed
Speaker 3: against those Republicans, so did Greg Abbott, the governor. He
Speaker 3: jumped in this time and we beat almost every one
Speaker 3: of them. And I actually think the opponents of school
Speaker 3: choice are going to regret killing it two years ago,
Speaker 3: because I think what passes in Texas this spring is
Speaker 3: going to be much bigger and bolder, and I'm hopeful
Speaker 3: will be the biggest and boldest school choice program in America.
Speaker 1: So stay does that become the blueprint then?
Speaker 2: And part of the reason why you've taken these political
Speaker 2: risks and hit and doing what you decided to do
Speaker 2: with in these primaries, I'm guessing is because you want
Speaker 2: Texas to be the beacon for the blueprint for the
Speaker 2: way to get this done state by stake.
Speaker 4: Correct, Yes, Texas should be leading.
Speaker 3: And one of the things to remember, Texas has about
Speaker 3: ten percent of the school kids in the entire country.
Speaker 4: So when Texas leads, when we pass.
Speaker 3: The biggest and boldest school choice program, that is going
Speaker 3: to impact the whole country profoundly. Now, at the federal level,
Speaker 3: at the federal level, the pass legislation, you've got to
Speaker 3: get it through the Senate, which means you've got to
Speaker 3: overcome a fellibuster, which means you've got to get some Democrats.
Speaker 3: Right now, we do not have any Democrats, not even
Speaker 3: one in the Senate.
Speaker 4: Who supports school choice.
Speaker 3: Part of the reason my legislation combines K through twelve
Speaker 3: education with workforce development is with the workflow development. I'm
Speaker 3: trying to broaden the coalition. The Democrats are perfectly happy
Speaker 3: to tell African American kids and Hispanic kids and their
Speaker 3: parents go jump in the lake. We're not going to
Speaker 3: do anything for you, because we're bought and paid for
Speaker 3: by the teacher junions, and so we get no Democrats
Speaker 3: because of that. I'm trying to expand it so we
Speaker 3: get the trade unions and construction unions. All of them
Speaker 3: care a lot about workforce development, and they are historically
Speaker 3: significant constituents of Democrats. I'm trying to expand the political coalition.
Speaker 3: That being said, we still have a significant journey to go,
Speaker 3: so I think I'm much more optimistic at the state
Speaker 3: level than the federal level. Now let's talk more about
Speaker 3: the plane trip with President Trump. I'll tell you just
Speaker 3: mood wise, the President was in a great mood. He
Speaker 3: was laughing, he was as happy and relaxed as I've
Speaker 3: ever seen him.
Speaker 4: As I said, we were talking about golf quite a bit.
Speaker 3: It we were hanging out. He was he was glowing
Speaker 3: in the election results.
Speaker 4: I saw him.
Speaker 3: I think two weeks before the election was the last
Speaker 3: time i'd seen him, So I hadn't seen him since
Speaker 3: the election. I've talked to him since the election, but
Speaker 3: this is the first time I saw him in person.
Speaker 3: And he was he was just he was justifiably really
Speaker 3: happy about the election results.
Speaker 4: And and and we.
Speaker 3: Were talking about how it's a mandate, about about how
Speaker 3: his election results, how winning the Senate, the House, and
Speaker 3: how he's winning the popular vote, how he's winning all.
Speaker 4: Seven of the swing states.
Speaker 3: Really is a mandate to deliver on our promises and
Speaker 3: and and that was a big part of what we
Speaker 3: talked about on the plane.
Speaker 2: Well, let's talk about also policies and cabinet. You mentioned
Speaker 2: he you know, you guys are on the plane he
Speaker 2: named one. Does he does he talk policy with you.
Speaker 1: And with everybody around?
Speaker 2: Is he talking about cabinet positions that are still left
Speaker 2: and open and need to be filled? Or is he
Speaker 2: talking about confirmations and and how that's going to I mean,
Speaker 2: I mean, how how organized is it when it comes
Speaker 2: to just or is he just picking your brain saying
Speaker 2: all right, what are we up against?
Speaker 1: What do we need to do next?
Speaker 4: So look, we're just sitting there.
Speaker 3: It's, you know, a three hour plane ride, so you're
Speaker 3: just talking back and forth.
Speaker 4: You're you're you're hanging out and and talking.
Speaker 3: He mentioned at the beginning of the plane ride, he said,
Speaker 3: RFK really wants doctor oz uh To to to be
Speaker 3: his right hand and and and so he asked what
Speaker 3: we thought of that. I said, I I don't know
Speaker 3: Oz personally, but he seems like an impressive guy, seems
Speaker 3: like a good communicator.
Speaker 4: I was obviously a medical.
Speaker 3: Doctor who who knows how to communicate issues of healthcare effectively,
Speaker 3: which is.
Speaker 4: Something that that I think is very valuable.
Speaker 3: And so he showed us, for example, a statement that
Speaker 3: that they were going to put out that he was
Speaker 3: like writing right there on the plane and he he
Speaker 3: would be with his comm.
Speaker 4: Staff and they'd come up with a statement they put
Speaker 4: it out.
Speaker 3: And I mean, it's a wild thing where where where
Speaker 3: he composes a statement or a tweet that goes out
Speaker 3: and like five minutes later, you know, the TV on
Speaker 3: the plane is on and there's there's the news with
Speaker 3: his statement boom right on the TV. And so the
Speaker 3: news broke that doctor oz was what was was gonna
Speaker 3: be Rfk's right hand at Health and Human Services and.
Speaker 2: That and I know you guys, you had it on
Speaker 2: CNN and MSNBC. Right, No Fox on the plane right.
Speaker 3: All Fox, thankfully, Although we did talk some about Joff
Speaker 3: Scarborough and Mika going down to to mar A Lago
Speaker 3: and we were kind of laughing about that.
Speaker 2: And what did he say about it? Because it was
Speaker 2: and we know what they said on TV about it.
Speaker 2: What did he say about it? Why was there why
Speaker 2: what was the logic behind having that meeting?
Speaker 4: Look, he didn't say a lot.
Speaker 3: He was pretty gracious about it. It was I will say,
Speaker 3: you know, Don Junior was was was less. You know,
Speaker 3: he made a comment something to the effect of my
Speaker 3: dad's a lot nicer than that I would be. Yeah,
Speaker 3: but you know he he met with them and and
Speaker 3: sort of look that MSNBC is is in crisis because
Speaker 3: they've lost their viewers. I will say we watched as
Speaker 3: we were flying back on Fox to Night Rosie O'Donnell,
Speaker 3: who had this like blistering statement blasting Joe and Nika,
Speaker 3: how dare you go talk to Trump?
Speaker 4: You'll never be forgiven for this?
Speaker 3: And I will say we all got a pretty hearty
Speaker 3: laugh at that watching the intense hatred from Rosy O'Donnell
Speaker 3: on the left, who are angry they're angry at the voters,
Speaker 3: they're angry at America, they're angry.
Speaker 4: At the world right now for where we are.
Speaker 3: And I think in mind you, Joe and Nika, we're
Speaker 3: desperate to try to respond to change circumstances. But apparently
Speaker 3: when they spent two years or four years or ten
Speaker 3: years saying he's Hitler, He's Hitlary's Hitler, apparently they want
Speaker 3: to sit down and palla around with Hitler.
Speaker 2: Yeah, hang out with Hitler and come back and say
Speaker 2: we had a really nice meeting with Hitler. Said no
Speaker 2: one ever. But that is exactly what they did on TV.
Speaker 2: And I think that's part of the reason why there
Speaker 2: were such a strong reaction from both sides. It was
Speaker 2: pandering in its worst form. I actually think it was
Speaker 2: a brilliant move by Trump. And this goes back to
Speaker 2: that I call it the Trump Doctor. And he's willing
Speaker 2: to meet with anybody pretty much at any time, even
Speaker 2: the people that hate him. He's willing to have conversations
Speaker 2: with Kim Dongong, or with Mika and Joe Scarborough, or
Speaker 2: with Vladimir Putin. I like that, and I think that's
Speaker 2: one of the things that the American people like, and
Speaker 2: I want to get your take on that as well.
Speaker 2: But first let me tell you about Patriot Mobile. If
Speaker 2: you have a cell phone and your cell phone is
Speaker 2: with Big Mobile, you got to know where your money's
Speaker 2: been going. Big Mobile has been giving massive donations to
Speaker 2: democratic causes, candidates and organizations, radical organizations that pay for abortions,
Speaker 2: for example. And if you don't want your money going
Speaker 2: to help support Democrats getting elected, then you need to
Speaker 2: switch to Patriot Mobile. They were started more than a
Speaker 2: decade ago, and right now it's never been easier to
Speaker 2: make the switch because guess what, All these cell phone
Speaker 2: companies are using the same networks in the same towers
Speaker 2: now with technology in twenty twenty four, So you get
Speaker 2: to keep the exact same coverage you love without the
Speaker 2: woke radical agenda of the left. Now switching is also
Speaker 2: the easiest it's ever been. You do it over the phone.
Speaker 2: You can keep your same cell phone you have right now,
Speaker 2: keep your same cell phone number, and you can even
Speaker 2: upgrade your phone if you want to. But when you
Speaker 2: pay your bill to Patriot Mobile, this is where the
Speaker 2: magic is for me. They take about five percent of
Speaker 2: your bill every month at no extra cost to you,
Speaker 2: and they give it back to conservative causes that are
Speaker 2: fighting the fight. They're fighting for our Christian values, they're
Speaker 2: fighting for religious freedom, they're fighting for our First and
Speaker 2: Second Amendment rights, and they spend a lot of money
Speaker 2: fighting to protect unborn children. That is why I love
Speaker 2: being a member of Patriot Mobile, and I want you
Speaker 2: to check them out today. Go to Patriot Mobile dot
Speaker 2: com slash verdict. That's Patriot Mobile dot com slash verdict,
Speaker 2: or you can call them right now and you're gonna
Speaker 2: get a free month when you use the offer code verdict,
Speaker 2: the number nine to seven Patriot. It's nine to seven
Speaker 2: two Patriot get a free month of service when you
Speaker 2: used to offer code verdict or Patriot moble dot com
Speaker 2: slash verdict. So let's talk about this. It's not just
Speaker 2: domestic policy, it's foreign policy. Trump is clearly saying I'll
Speaker 2: talk to anybody anywhere if it's for the good of
Speaker 2: the country and for the good of the people, and
Speaker 2: whether it's on the media peep side or with these
Speaker 2: leaders around the world. And that is something I think
Speaker 2: is contagious that also threatens Washington.
Speaker 3: Well, yeah, and we spent a good chunk of the
Speaker 3: plane ride, also talking about number one, how to resolve
Speaker 3: the war in Ukraine and Trump's concern and my concern
Speaker 3: that Joe Biden is escalating the war and it really
Speaker 3: is getting dangerous where we are in these next two months.
Speaker 3: But also talking about how to end the war in Israel,
Speaker 3: how to defeat himas and get the hostages back. And
Speaker 3: so we had a really robust conversation on both of
Speaker 3: those fronts, and those are major foreign policy challenges that
Speaker 3: Trump was inheriting, and I have predicted for a long
Speaker 3: time that both of those wars will come to an
Speaker 3: end in the next year and maybe even sooner than that,
Speaker 3: because they were both caused I think fundamentally by the
Speaker 3: weakness of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, the.
Speaker 4: Weakness of our commander in chief.
Speaker 3: And I think having a strong commander in chief is
Speaker 3: going to dramatically alter how our enemies behave and bring
Speaker 3: those conflicts to an end.
Speaker 4: So we talked about that at considerable length.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and you can see people taking his lead at Germany,
Speaker 2: even talking with Russia saying maybe it's time to wind
Speaker 2: this thing down. That's not something they'd said before. So
Speaker 2: let's talk about confirmations. For a second, what does the
Speaker 2: schedule look like right now? And I'm sure this had
Speaker 2: to be part of the conversation because he names people.
Speaker 2: And then what you do next is you go meet
Speaker 2: with members of Congress to try to gain support. I'm
Speaker 2: assuming that's full speed ahead right now. Those meetings are already
Speaker 2: taking place.
Speaker 3: Sure that is moving forward. And what's going to happen
Speaker 3: is at the beginning of January, the new Congress will
Speaker 3: be sworn in, So the new Congress will be sworn
Speaker 3: in before Trump is, and so we will begin in
Speaker 3: the Senate hearings on the people he's name to the
Speaker 3: cabinet even before he's president. Now, we can't confirm anyone
Speaker 3: before he's president because he can't nominate anyone until he
Speaker 3: is president. But we can do the hearings the first
Speaker 3: couple of weeks of January, and I fully anticipate that's
Speaker 3: what the Senate will do, so that we can move
Speaker 3: expeditiously with confirmations, in particular of the top cabinet appointments.
Speaker 3: And so we talked about that at considerable length as well.
Speaker 3: And then I got to tell you when we landed
Speaker 3: in Texas, and we landed in Brownsville. Brownsville, as you know,
Speaker 3: is the southern tip of Texas, and it's where SpaceX
Speaker 3: at Boca Chica has built their launch site and has
Speaker 3: built a factory.
Speaker 4: And the factory is where they build.
Speaker 3: Starships, which are massive that that they're the largest rockets
Speaker 3: in the world.
Speaker 4: They're absolutely massive. Uh.
Speaker 3: They build them there, and it's where the launch was
Speaker 3: and and and the size of it just the rocket
Speaker 3: booster has thirty three Raptor engines in it.
Speaker 4: Wow.
Speaker 3: And each of those Raptor engines produces twice as much
Speaker 3: thrust as all four engines on a seven forty seven. So,
Speaker 3: I mean, it is incredible the power that comes out
Speaker 3: of the engines. And by the way, SpaceX makes those engines,
Speaker 3: they make the boosters, they make, they make the starship.
Speaker 3: And so we were gathered at the observation deck to
Speaker 3: watch the launch. And the observation deck is a couple
Speaker 3: of miles away from the launch because you can't be
Speaker 3: too close the noise it is too great. And so
Speaker 3: we you know, saw the launch control room and and
Speaker 3: and then stood there with it with Elon and he
Speaker 3: was telling us about all the challenges and listen, they're
Speaker 3: still in the in the testing mode.
Speaker 4: I mean, this is this is.
Speaker 3: A star ship that that that Elon hopes and intends
Speaker 3: to take to Mars. And so they are testing that
Speaker 3: that they're improving, for example, the the the ceramic heat
Speaker 3: shield tiles that are on the starship. They're improving their thrusters,
Speaker 3: and then they're experimenting and learning what works, and so
Speaker 3: we you know, look, Elon was was very honest. He said,
Speaker 3: look at a test like this, we don't know what happens.
Speaker 3: And sometimes when you're testing rockets, you know, rockets can
Speaker 3: blow up.
Speaker 4: It's why you test them to.
Speaker 3: Make sure that that that that if they do have
Speaker 3: a problem, that they have a problem before you have
Speaker 3: a man's crew on it. And there was no man
Speaker 3: crew on this launch. But you're testing different different technology
Speaker 3: to see how it operates. And so we stood there
Speaker 3: and watched the launch, and people all around the world
Speaker 3: watch the launch. The launch was successful. It was amazing
Speaker 3: to watch. We saw it. What was really striking is
Speaker 3: you see it and then then it takes several seconds
Speaker 3: for the sound to travel that distance. So it's already
Speaker 3: and I mean you're literally even at a cut several
Speaker 3: miles away, like like the ground is shaking from the
Speaker 3: force of the rocket launch.
Speaker 4: And Elon is someone whom I know.
Speaker 3: Well, I've spent a lot of time with Elon, but
Speaker 3: every time I'm with him, the guy is just so
Speaker 3: friggin smart. I mean, it's look, Ben, I've been blessed
Speaker 3: to get to know a lot of really scary smart people,
Speaker 3: and I got to say, Elon is just in a
Speaker 3: class all by himself. I mean, it's the guy just
Speaker 3: thinks it's not even outside the box. He doesn't know
Speaker 3: there's a box.
Speaker 4: He just you look at.
Speaker 3: Something like rocket ships. Everyone fired rockets in the air
Speaker 3: and then the boosters fell and you just discarded them
Speaker 3: and you did it again, and so every rocket was
Speaker 3: a single use rocket, and and Elon revolutionized said well,
Speaker 3: wait a second, why do we have to have single
Speaker 3: use rockets? Why not fire rocket in the air and
Speaker 3: then have it come down, and why not catch it
Speaker 3: out of the air with giant robot arms which he
Speaker 3: calls chopsticks. And everyone said, Okay, that's absurd, that's insane.
Speaker 3: Nobody can do that. That doesn't make any sense. And
Speaker 3: of course that's exactly what Elon built, and it's it
Speaker 3: has so changed it was kind of funny. Elon referred
Speaker 3: several times, uh to the to this as alien technology
Speaker 3: and and and you know it, I don't think that's
Speaker 3: too much of an exaggeration watching it, so we all
Speaker 3: watched an amazement as.
Speaker 2: As as we were watching it, or I was watching
Speaker 2: on TV, and many others were. I do have to
Speaker 2: say one of the most fun parts for me of
Speaker 2: watching you know, Trump and you and everybody there is
Speaker 2: just the boy boyhood excitement is and I say that
Speaker 2: in the in the in the the most sincere and
Speaker 2: authentic way ever on the faces of everyone that was.
Speaker 1: Able to watch this.
Speaker 2: I don't care who you are, just getting to watch
Speaker 2: it and to see Elon's face and in your face
Speaker 2: and President Trump's face and others that were around you guys.
Speaker 2: I saw Haggarty there for example. It was just the
Speaker 2: moment of like, this is unbelievable.
Speaker 3: Well, and it was traveling, so the starship itself traveled
Speaker 3: halfway around the world.
Speaker 4: The booster separated.
Speaker 3: We saw the booster separate, and initially the plan was
Speaker 3: that it was going to go down and be caught
Speaker 3: by the robot arms where it had been launched, and
Speaker 3: in fact it separates. So the booster was attached to
Speaker 3: the starship for a minute and a half and then
Speaker 3: it separated, and we initially got the call catches a go,
Speaker 3: which we were excited about because they only tried to
Speaker 3: catch it if all the conditions are right. And so
Speaker 3: they were going to catch the booster, and then they
Speaker 3: ended up altering the plan and not doing the catch,
Speaker 3: but having it instead landed the Gulf of Mexico, and
Speaker 3: so the conditions were slightly.
Speaker 4: Off, and so they had it landed the gulf.
Speaker 3: But Elon was really happy because it landed in the gulf,
Speaker 3: but it did not explode, and last time when it
Speaker 3: landed the golf, it did explode. And so look, they're
Speaker 3: testing different things to see what happens. And it was interesting.
Speaker 3: It floats in the water, and I was asking Elon
Speaker 3: why does it float? He says, well, look, once once
Speaker 3: the liquid methane and liquid oxygen is out, he said,
Speaker 3: it has the density essentially of an empty beer can.
Speaker 3: And so just like you throw an empty beer can
Speaker 3: on the water and it floats, that's the same thing
Speaker 3: as the booster. And so they're going and salvaging the
Speaker 3: booster and discovering Okay, what happened? What's going on there?
Speaker 3: So that landed pretty quickly. The starship traveled for about
Speaker 3: an hour and it landed.
Speaker 2: I think about go inside after how long were you outside?
Speaker 1: And then where did you get to watch the second part?
Speaker 4: So we were outside.
Speaker 3: We arrived probably an hour before the launch, and so
Speaker 3: we were talking with Elon and we were in the
Speaker 3: control room and just having conversations, and we watched lunch,
Speaker 3: and we watched the booster separate, and.
Speaker 4: Then we watched the booster come down, although.
Speaker 3: We couldn't see the booster landed far enough out in
Speaker 3: the gulf that we couldn't see with our naked eye
Speaker 3: the booster landing in the water, but we had the
Speaker 3: video on a.
Speaker 4: Big screen, so we were watching it there.
Speaker 3: And then what we did, because you had about an
Speaker 3: hour while the starship was traveling in space and it
Speaker 3: was going about twenty six thousand kilometers an hour. It
Speaker 3: was about one hundred and sixty kilometers above planet Earth.
Speaker 3: One of the things Elon said is that the starship
Speaker 3: was traveling about ten times the speed of a bullet
Speaker 3: out of an assault rifle, which there's an analogy you
Speaker 3: can understand. Ben and as find out. Junior was laughing, going,
Speaker 3: all right, that makes sense to me too.
Speaker 4: But that's fast.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's fast on a whole nother level. And so
Speaker 2: you got to watch all of this take place. How
Speaker 2: important is this just this technology and the fact that
Speaker 2: it's being done in Texas, because that is the reason
Speaker 2: why you were on that plane. That's why they asked
Speaker 2: you to go down there, because this is in Texas.
Speaker 2: I don't think people realize what this is doing for
Speaker 2: the Texas economy as well.
Speaker 4: So it is incredible.
Speaker 3: And while the starship was flying halfway around the world,
Speaker 3: left the launch observation site, we went to the factory,
Speaker 3: which is right at the launch site now the factory,
Speaker 3: so five years ago this was essentially an empty beach,
Speaker 3: like just sand and nothing was on it. And in
Speaker 3: five years Elon has built this incredible and I've been
Speaker 3: to it before, I've toured it before, but it is
Speaker 3: it takes your breath away. They are manufacturing about one
Speaker 3: rocket ship a month, and then these things are massive.
Speaker 3: So you go into the factory and there I think
Speaker 3: it was twenty two stories high. As how tall the
Speaker 3: booster is, I mean it just goes up and up
Speaker 3: and up and up, and it's huge. And you know,
Speaker 3: we went in and saw and they are manufacturing them
Speaker 3: to a level of precision down to the tenth of
Speaker 3: a millimeter. I mean, you think about this, it's not
Speaker 3: like it's not like SpaceX is making just widgets. I mean,
Speaker 3: if a screw is wrong, the damn think can blow up.
Speaker 3: There's so many ways for something to go wrong. And
Speaker 3: and they have a level of precision that is just astonishing.
Speaker 3: And so we went in and saw and toured. And
Speaker 3: one of the things Elon said is is, look, they're
Speaker 3: doing launch after launch after launch and everyone they're improving
Speaker 3: the technology and they're trying different things. So one of
Speaker 3: the things they did on this one is they're testing
Speaker 3: different angles of re entry to see, Okay, if you
Speaker 3: angle the starship at a slightly different angle, is there
Speaker 3: more heat, is there less heat? What what happens? You know,
Speaker 3: what what's the optimum angle? So they're trying all sorts
Speaker 3: of different things. So we we toured those facilities. By
Speaker 3: the way, they like basically built a whole town. They
Speaker 3: built housing for the employees. One of the things Elon
Speaker 3: said that that you know, is a challenge when you're
Speaker 3: recruiting the best engineers and rocket scientists, and they're literally
Speaker 3: rocket scientists.
Speaker 4: Is he said, you've got to.
Speaker 3: Find a place that that there significant others want to live.
Speaker 3: And so they basically built the whole community with like
Speaker 3: houses all around there and like, I didn't go this time,
Speaker 3: but I've been previously.
Speaker 4: They have like a little.
Speaker 3: Tiki bar that's sort of a club that that that
Speaker 3: the employees can go and hang out. And then you know,
Speaker 3: he said, look, you gotta you have to create an
Speaker 3: environment that that that that that both your your incredibly
Speaker 3: skilled employees and and their significant.
Speaker 4: Others want to be in.
Speaker 3: And and one thing you know, but not every every
Speaker 3: Verdict listener may know. Look, Brownsville has historically been faced
Speaker 3: very significant economic challenges and and so to have this
Speaker 3: incredible high tech billions and billions of dollars invested in
Speaker 3: Brownsville and in in deep South Texas in the Rio
Speaker 3: Grand Valley was really significant. By the way, when we
Speaker 3: took the motorcade from where Trump Force one landed to
Speaker 3: the launch site, the entire road side of driving along
Speaker 3: that there were thousands of people waiting, waving American flags, cheering,
Speaker 3: and one of the most significant aspects of this election
Speaker 3: in Texas is is that both Donald Trump and I,
Speaker 3: both of us won Hispanics in the state of Texas.
Speaker 3: I won Hispanics by six point statewide. That's unprecedented. And
Speaker 3: the Rio Grande Valley, South Texas has been bright blue
Speaker 3: for one hundred years. It has been just an absolute
Speaker 3: bastion of the Democrat Party. And this election, South Texas
Speaker 3: flipped red. I mean, the Star County had a fifty
Speaker 3: point move. It's the most Hispanic county in America and
Speaker 3: had it had a massive move, Trump won it. That
Speaker 3: the move in South Texas I think is generational and transformational.
Speaker 3: And you could just see it as people were cheering
Speaker 3: and thrilled the President was there.
Speaker 4: That was a very cool aspect of it as well.
Speaker 2: Every day I wake up early in the morning and
Speaker 2: I got to make sure I get a cup of coffee.
Speaker 2: And look, when you do radio, you got to keep
Speaker 2: your voice going and you need something hot to drink. Well,
Speaker 2: I'm not going to have an average cup of coffee.
Speaker 2: And that's exactly why I want you to know about
Speaker 2: Blackout Coffee and I want you to try it. There's
Speaker 2: a lot of woke coffee companies out there. You probably
Speaker 2: thought of a few names right away when I said that, Well,
Speaker 2: don't give your money those companies. So give it to
Speaker 2: a conservative company that gives you the best cup of
Speaker 2: coffee you're ever going to have. Blackout Coffee is one
Speaker 2: hundred percent America and zero percent woke, and they are
Speaker 2: committed to conservative values from the sourcing of the beans,
Speaker 2: the roasting process, customer support, and shipping. They embody and
Speaker 2: are proud to be a true American values company.
Speaker 1: The other thing is this they accept, as I.
Speaker 2: Mentioned a moment ago, no compromise on taste or quality.
Speaker 2: Now I get messages on x almost every day now
Speaker 2: from a different listener saying, hey, Ben, thanks for telling
Speaker 2: me about Blackout Coffee.
Speaker 1: Are joking.
Speaker 2: It is a phenomenal cup of coffee. Try it, go
Speaker 2: and see and do it for yourself, and you're gonna
Speaker 2: be hooked and I'm gonna save you money. Go to
Speaker 2: Blackoutcoffee dot com, slash verdict. That's Blackoutcoffee dot com. Slash verdict.
Speaker 2: Use the cube on code vertict for twenty percent off
Speaker 2: your first order. Blackout Coffee dot com slash verdict. Be
Speaker 2: Awake not Woke, that's Blackoutcoffee dot Com slash Verdict use
Speaker 2: a cube on code Vertict for twenty percent off your
Speaker 2: first order.
Speaker 1: All right, final question on this trip.
Speaker 2: So you get done with all this excitement and then
Speaker 2: this is still kind of awesome. You get back on
Speaker 2: Trump Force one and you fly back to Florida. What
Speaker 2: was the conversation like on the way home again?
Speaker 4: It was relaxed. We're having fun, We're talking.
Speaker 3: You know, we had had Fox on and so we're
Speaker 3: watching Jesse Waters, Lori Ingram and Hannity. We're talking about
Speaker 3: all that and just sort of rifting back and forth.
Speaker 3: You know. As we were landing, Trump began playing music.
Speaker 3: And so when he's standing at mar a Lago, Trump
Speaker 3: likes to basically be the DJ, and he has an
Speaker 3: iPad there that he controls the music at Marlago and
Speaker 3: they'll sit there at the table and just play the
Speaker 3: songs he wants to listen to. And so as we
Speaker 3: were landing in Palm Beach, he put on guns N' Roses,
Speaker 3: a music video that he loves from guns N' Roses,
Speaker 3: and then he put on another music video from Pabroti,
Speaker 3: which would you want to talk about some breadth in
Speaker 3: music Taste. That's what we were listening to as we
Speaker 3: went wheels down back in Florida.
Speaker 2: Now, did you eat any McDonald's, Because there's a lot
Speaker 2: of pictures that get taken on Trump forts one eat McDonald's.
Speaker 4: We did not. Our dinner instead was Waterburger because we
Speaker 4: were in Texas.
Speaker 1: Dammit, I love it. See I set you up perfect
Speaker 1: for that answer.
Speaker 4: So the answer to that, did you?
Speaker 1: I know?
Speaker 2: But I set you up there perfectly. So what did
Speaker 2: he say about Waburger compared to McDonald's. Was it a
Speaker 2: no brainer for him?
Speaker 4: He was like, this is a really good Hamburger. Wow,
Speaker 4: this is really great. I mean he was I would
Speaker 4: say he was a fan.
Speaker 1: I love it. All right.
Speaker 2: I want to ask you lastly about big news that happened,
Speaker 2: and this is much more of a serious topic. Trump
Speaker 2: team is declaring victory after the Manhattan prosecutors push for
Speaker 2: a four year freeze on sentencing Donald Trump in his
Speaker 2: business records case. I've never heard of this before in
Speaker 2: my life. Maybe this is something that's normal. And Alvin
Speaker 2: Bragg is upset. He's like, no, no, I still want to
Speaker 2: go after Donald Trump. You gonna delay it. We'll delay it.
Speaker 2: But I want him. I still want him. I still
Speaker 2: believe I'm right. I still want to put him in jail.
Speaker 3: Well, President Trump has filed emotion to dismiss his criminal conviction,
Speaker 3: and the Manhattan Prosecutor, instead of agreeing to that, has
Speaker 3: suggested to the judge, no, no, no, don't dismiss it. Just
Speaker 3: put it on hold for four years, just freeze it.
Speaker 3: Don't sentence him, just leave the conviction hanging out there.
Speaker 3: And I got to say, look, unprecedented doesn't begin to
Speaker 3: describe it.
Speaker 4: It is an absolute abuse of power.
Speaker 3: And look, you had to understand, Alvin Bragg is an
Speaker 3: elected Democrat in Manhattan. In Manhattan, you've still got an
Speaker 3: overwhelming majority of Democrats, many of whom hate Donald Trump's guts,
Speaker 3: and so for Alvin Bragg, even though politically nationally the
Speaker 3: persecution and lawfare of Donald Trump, I think actually played
Speaker 3: a significant factor in his winning.
Speaker 4: And that was the point I made to him on
Speaker 4: the play, is.
Speaker 3: That I said, we talked quite a bit about all
Speaker 3: the cases and everything he's endured, and I said, look, ironically,
Speaker 3: the more they went after you, the more I think
Speaker 3: it helped you.
Speaker 4: And if it had been just one indictment, it might
Speaker 4: have been more harmful, but.
Speaker 3: There were so many that it became obvious to anyone
Speaker 3: that this was just a persecution.
Speaker 4: This was a political witch hunt.
Speaker 3: This was a partisan effort to go after someone because
Speaker 3: they were terrified that what would happen.
Speaker 4: Is what, in fact did.
Speaker 3: Happen, that the American people would vote to re elect him,
Speaker 3: and and and I think, as I said, it ended
Speaker 3: up boosting him significantly in the polls well. Even though
Speaker 3: it it I think was harmful to Democrats nationally in Manhattan,
Speaker 3: I suspect it's quite helpful to Alvin Brad because there
Speaker 3: are a lot of partisans who hate Trump. And I
Speaker 3: got to say, I am very hopeful, you know that
Speaker 3: this will be thrown out. The judge, Juan Marchan has demonstrated,
Speaker 3: I think, a lot of bias he is. He is
Speaker 3: a partisan Democrat as well. It'll be interesting to see
Speaker 3: what he does, because I think if he agrees with
Speaker 3: the prosecutor, if he says, okay, we're going to just
Speaker 3: put this on ice for four years, I think that
Speaker 3: will prompt an appeal. It will probably prompt what's called
Speaker 3: a ridaman damus to an appellate court to order either
Speaker 3: the case dismissed or to order him to rule. Because
Speaker 3: what Alvin Bragg wants to do is he wants to
Speaker 3: run for reelection, saying I prosecuted Donald Trump, I got
Speaker 3: a conviction of Donald Trump, and to use it number.
Speaker 4: One, for his political advantage.
Speaker 3: Number two, he wants to avoid a depellate reversal, so
Speaker 3: he wants four years of the appellate courts not examining
Speaker 3: the many and the rampant legal errors in his rulings.
Speaker 3: But number three, he wants to use this to threaten
Speaker 3: the president to have it hang over. And this guy's
Speaker 3: enough of a zealoth that. I mean, he's literally talking
Speaker 3: about okay, four plus years from now, when he's done
Speaker 3: with being president's eighty two years old. Alvin Bragg wants
Speaker 3: to put him in jail like it just to be
Speaker 3: there to threaten the president every day. And by the way,
Speaker 3: number four, he wants CNN and MSNBC and all of
Speaker 3: the corporate media to refer to him as a convicted
Speaker 3: felon over and over and over again. And if the
Speaker 3: case is thrown out, that becomes a lot more problematic.
Speaker 3: I do not believe Album and Bragg will succeed in this.
Speaker 3: Either the trial judge will say, look, this is not tenable,
Speaker 3: you can't you can't have a jury verdict, and then
Speaker 3: just free sentencing for four years, or if not, I
Speaker 3: think we will see an appellate court step in and
Speaker 3: say that this is inconsistent with New York law and
Speaker 3: it's inconsistent with the Constitution.
Speaker 4: I'm very hopeful that's what will happen.
Speaker 2: Well, I think it's fair to say one heck of
Speaker 2: a day, Senator, and a great day for the citizens
Speaker 2: in Texas, for just everybody down there in Brownsville, and
Speaker 2: also to hear that things are full speed ahead on
Speaker 2: the Trump train after this mandate and a big victory.
Speaker 2: I also just love hearing the Donald Trump's and such
Speaker 2: good spirits. He's been through hell and back. He's literally
Speaker 2: been shot in the last six months. And to see
Speaker 2: him enjoying life the way that you described it with
Speaker 2: so many heavy things around him, I think that's just
Speaker 2: great for everybody to hear. Don't forget we do the
Speaker 2: show Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Make sure you hit that
Speaker 2: subscriber auto download button and write us a five star
Speaker 2: review if you would as well. And the Senate, and
Speaker 2: I will see you back here on Friday morning.