Speaker 1: Welcome in his verdict with Senator Ted Cruz Ben Ferguson
Speaker 1: with you as always, Senator. It was election day in
Speaker 1: some parts of America, but they were very significant, especially
Speaker 1: when it comes to control in the House and giving
Speaker 1: Trump a little bit of breathing room.
Speaker 2: Well, we had election day in Florida and Wisconsin. A
Speaker 2: ton of money was spent on it, and the end
Speaker 2: of the day, the results were three wins and a loss.
Speaker 3: We'll break it down.
Speaker 2: We'll talk about exactly what happened, the money that was spent,
Speaker 2: and what the consequences are. Secondly, we have now seen,
Speaker 2: as of yesterday, the longest filibuster in Senate history, and
Speaker 2: it was done by Corey Booker, Democrat from New Jersey,
Speaker 2: who spoke for twenty five hours and frustratingly, infuriatingly beat
Speaker 2: the record of yours truly at over twenty one hours.
Speaker 2: So we're going to break that down as well, and
Speaker 2: we're going to compare what core Booker was filibustering over
Speaker 2: to what I filibustered over in twenty thirteen.
Speaker 3: We'll discuss that as well.
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Speaker 1: before we start with all the politics. I got a
Speaker 1: great text message from someone today and it said, what
Speaker 1: the hell did Ted Cruz do to his beard? They
Speaker 1: didn't remember that it was April Fool's Day and you
Speaker 1: had a brilliant tweet that you put out with some
Speaker 1: nice chops like you sawed off a lot of your beard.
Speaker 3: Well I did.
Speaker 2: I had had some fun with with with April Fools,
Speaker 2: and so I tweeted today a very simple tweet that
Speaker 2: said Washington, DC can be a hairy place. But this
Speaker 2: morning's committee hearing reminded me just how important it is
Speaker 2: to cut waste, shave down our debt and trim down
Speaker 2: the size of our government. And then it was a
Speaker 2: picture of my face photoshopped. So the beard was magically gone,
Speaker 2: and instead I had a big ol' honk and el
Speaker 2: Chapo mustache, and I got to say, look, look, look
Speaker 2: as a Cuban American, I was pretty proud of the
Speaker 2: l Chappa mustache.
Speaker 3: I mean it kind of.
Speaker 1: It was believable. It was believable because my phone blew up,
Speaker 1: people saying did he do this? When did he do this?
Speaker 1: Why did he lose a beat? What happened? He lose
Speaker 1: his bracket?
Speaker 3: And I just.
Speaker 1: Kept responding with April one, April one, like get there faster, guys.
Speaker 1: Everybody apparently thought your bracket is a basketball guy sucked
Speaker 1: and it costs to your beard.
Speaker 2: It was, you know, I don't know. I just might
Speaker 2: do it tomorrow though, you never know. But it reminds
Speaker 2: me of when I first grew the beard, which was
Speaker 2: which was back I think twenty eighteen. You know, I
Speaker 2: grew the beard actually just for the hell of it.
Speaker 2: It was over Thanksgiving and on the holidays. I would
Speaker 2: never shave. That's something for years, would ever do. And
Speaker 2: I just came back from Thanksgiving and Monday morning, came
Speaker 2: into work in the Senate and just hadn't shaved and
Speaker 2: actually by my top political guy who you know very well,
Speaker 2: sent me this email that said worst decision ever.
Speaker 3: And that really pissed me off.
Speaker 2: I'm like, all right, screw you, I'm going to keep
Speaker 2: it and uh and I have, although I will say
Speaker 2: it was you're and my friend Betty Johnson came and
Speaker 2: wanted to record a video.
Speaker 3: Asked if I would do an instructional video.
Speaker 2: On how to grow I remember this, yeah, and I
Speaker 2: said sure, I said, come on in coming into my office,
Speaker 2: I sat at my desk. I said, all right, start
Speaker 2: start recording. And I said, everyone, this is an instructional
Speaker 2: video on how to grow a beard. And I reached
Speaker 2: in a drawer of my desk and I pulled out
Speaker 2: a razor and I said, this is a razor.
Speaker 3: Don't use it. And that was the end of the video.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was that simple. Well, I got in on
Speaker 1: the action because people laugh. They were like, how often
Speaker 1: do you and Cinder Cruz talk? And I'm like, during
Speaker 1: the day, he's pretty busy. We'll exchange of text here
Speaker 1: and there. But there's a there's a long delay when
Speaker 1: you're working. And so someone sent me, you know, your tweet.
Speaker 1: I'm laughing, I'm looking at it. And then I said,
Speaker 1: all right, I got a photoshop this. So we took
Speaker 1: your beard, threw it on my new headshot, and then
Speaker 1: I put out a tweet so I'll keep the salt
Speaker 1: and pepper alive for you. That also went viral. It
Speaker 1: was a fun day to mess with people, all right.
Speaker 2: But let's be clear. You did not take my beard
Speaker 2: and put it on you. You used a I to put
Speaker 2: a salt and pepper beard on you. Because the beard
Speaker 2: you put had way more salt than pepper. No, no, no,
Speaker 2: way more salt than pepper.
Speaker 1: You notice that, Because that was my little dig I
Speaker 1: was like, is he going to write back? That's too
Speaker 1: much gray. I was kind of wondering what I could
Speaker 1: get away with there. So I was told, and I'm
Speaker 1: quoting now Ferguson, if this is real, shave it off.
Speaker 1: Shave it off right now. You cannot handle the beard.
Speaker 1: So the people have spoken. I don't think I'm growing
Speaker 1: a beard anytime soon, that I can promise you.
Speaker 2: All right, So let's you know what you could carry
Speaker 2: off those asult patch I'm for a little soul patch on,
Speaker 2: Ben Ferguson.
Speaker 1: Can you imagine that in a rattail? Yeah, that's the
Speaker 1: end of my TV career, that's for sure. I did.
Speaker 1: By the way, you remember No Shave November? Do you
Speaker 1: remember that? I do? Yeah. So when that gosh it
Speaker 1: was I mean years ago, right when that thing happened
Speaker 1: and everybody was doing and I was like, I'll do it. Fine.
Speaker 1: So I at the time, I was fighting the comedies
Speaker 1: at CNN, and towards the end of November, I got
Speaker 1: a text I think it was from Aaron Burnett's executive producer,
Speaker 1: and I was supposed to be on her show and
Speaker 1: they said, we also are inquiring is the beard gone yet?
Speaker 1: Question Mark? So it it. It was pretty patchy. I
Speaker 1: couldn't sell it. It just didn't work. I'll have to
Speaker 1: I'll have to unearth that picture and I'll throw it
Speaker 1: up on X for people to see. But it was
Speaker 1: pretty real.
Speaker 2: Look but Ben, once you hit puberty, you'll do just
Speaker 2: fight on that front.
Speaker 1: Next time. I'm going all white Santa Beard when I
Speaker 1: copy years. That's gonna be my revenge here.
Speaker 3: All right. Sorry, let's talk elections.
Speaker 1: Election. We had election Day in America. And there's there's
Speaker 1: two headlines here. If you watched CNN tonight and I
Speaker 1: was watching the reaction, they're saying it's a total disaster
Speaker 1: for Republicans. They spent all this money on the Supreme
Speaker 1: Court election in Wisconsin. Trump was involved, Musk was involved,
Speaker 1: and this is just a referendum on Donald Trump after
Speaker 1: he's been in office for ninety days. That that is
Speaker 1: their narrative.
Speaker 3: So CNN doesn't like Trump.
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, that's exactly I.
Speaker 3: Really I had not picked up on that.
Speaker 2: So that's that that you're really good at reading between
Speaker 2: the lines, and and you know, both of their viewers
Speaker 2: I think probably picked up on that as well. Look,
Speaker 2: no doubt the results tonight were mixed. You and I
Speaker 2: are recording this at is twelve fifteen in the morning,
Speaker 2: so so the results are still coming in and right now.
Speaker 2: There were two congressional seats on the ballot in Florida,
Speaker 2: and one was Mike Waltz's seat, who is now the
Speaker 2: National Secure the advisor for President Trump. The other is
Speaker 2: Matt Matt Gates's seat, who stepped down when Trump named
Speaker 2: him as Attorney General and then ultimately withdrew the nomination
Speaker 2: and both of them were incredibly tightly contested, and and
Speaker 2: in fact, the Democrats spent like crazy, and the result
Speaker 2: the Republicans won both of them. Now, they were pretty
Speaker 2: solidly Republican seats. But at the end of the day,
Speaker 2: Jimmy Patronis the Republican won with fifty six point nine
Speaker 2: percent to forty two point three percent, So that was
Speaker 2: a fifteen point victory. And Randy Fine, the Republican won
Speaker 2: with fifty six point seven percent to forty two point
Speaker 2: seven percent. And and so both of those we were
Speaker 2: sizeable victories. If you look at Randy Fine, he was
Speaker 2: literally outspent ten to one.
Speaker 3: I mean it was massive.
Speaker 2: I've been in races where I've been out spent three
Speaker 2: to one, but ten to one is a massive funding disadvantage.
Speaker 3: And and and so that victory is really significant.
Speaker 1: So you look at this, and let's talk about how
Speaker 1: important this was for Donald Trump's America's First agenda. There
Speaker 1: was a a razor thin majority in the House, and
Speaker 1: this gives a little bit of breathing room now for
Speaker 1: Donald Trump's agenda to have a chance to make it through.
Speaker 1: It's also gonna help Mike Johnson, I think significantly, not
Speaker 1: have to capitulate and pander to any Yahoo that wakes
Speaker 1: up and decides either A want to be famous or
Speaker 1: B want to throw something in with pork, or c
Speaker 1: just want to be a pain in his able ass.
Speaker 1: Now it's it gives him the ability, I think to
Speaker 1: actually be a better speaker. Is that you agree with that?
Speaker 3: Yeah? No, I think that's right.
Speaker 2: Look what we have had an excruciatingly small majority UH
Speaker 2: in the House. And and to be clear that that
Speaker 2: that is why President Trump withdrew the nomination of at
Speaker 2: least Stephonic to be h u N Ambassador because she
Speaker 2: had been nominated to be UN ambassador. But UH, if
Speaker 2: she was confirmed and she resigned, there'd be a vacancy
Speaker 2: in the New York Governor Kathy Hokeel was was threatening
Speaker 2: to basically play games and keep the seat vacant for
Speaker 2: the rest of the year, which would which which would
Speaker 2: have shrunk the majority by one uh. And and listen,
Speaker 2: special elections are always dangerous and always risky, Strange outcomes
Speaker 2: can occur. And and so the President at the end
Speaker 2: of the day, I think quite rightly decided that that
Speaker 2: risking the very narrow House majority was was was dangerous
Speaker 2: and and to a Lease's credit, I think at least
Speaker 2: would have done a terrific job as you had, ambassador.
Speaker 2: But but but I appreciate her her putting, putting the
Speaker 2: interest of the country ahead, and and and saying she
Speaker 2: was not going to risk the House majority. But the
Speaker 2: result as of as of today is the Republican majority
Speaker 2: has two more Republicans.
Speaker 1: In the House.
Speaker 2: And that will help, That will give the speed or
Speaker 2: some breathing room that that will that will help us
Speaker 2: extend the the Trump tax cuts, that will help us
Speaker 2: secure the border, that will help us win on victory
Speaker 2: after victory. So that was a very good result. And Florida,
Speaker 2: had those been losses, had even one of those been losses,
Speaker 2: it would have been it would have been a serious,
Speaker 2: uh serious setback.
Speaker 3: And and the media would have gone crazy.
Speaker 1: Well, and that goes back to the money game what
Speaker 1: you mentioned earlier. Democrats just decided we're going to just
Speaker 1: spend virtually every dollar we can get our hands on
Speaker 1: down there, throw jell at a wall, hope that something sticks,
Speaker 1: and maybe we flip with these seats, because like you said,
Speaker 1: if that happened, it could have been catastrophic for Donald
Speaker 1: Trump's agenda.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And look, that can make special elections very dangerous
Speaker 2: because often the party out of power is particularly energized.
Speaker 2: They're angry, their their their base is agitated, and and
Speaker 2: and so that they can be willing to pour a
Speaker 2: whole bunch of money into it. And and that is
Speaker 2: certainly happening now Wisconsin. Look, Wisconsin is a much more
Speaker 2: purple to blue state than Florida. Florida's gotten quite read Wisconsin,
Speaker 2: there were there were two major elections on the ballot,
Speaker 2: and and and we split. We won one and we
Speaker 2: lost one. So the one we won was was a
Speaker 2: constitutional amendment to put into the Wisconsin state constitution a
Speaker 2: voter ID requirement, requirement that you show photo ID to vote. Now,
Speaker 2: that is existing Wisconsin law, but that but that's just
Speaker 2: a statute. In other words, the next legislature could change
Speaker 2: that could get rid of voter ID. And that remains
Speaker 2: a major priority for Democrats across the country. In fact,
Speaker 2: in California, they've gone so far as to make it
Speaker 2: illegal to ask for Photo I D for voting, So
Speaker 2: they're they're actively and openly encouraging voter fraud in California
Speaker 2: by doing so. Well Wisconsin, the voters had on the ballot,
Speaker 2: should photo I D for voting be in the Wisconsin Constitution,
Speaker 2: and that one overwhelmingly. The vote was sixty three point
Speaker 2: two percent to thirty six point eight percent. So it
Speaker 2: was a massive, almost a thirty point victory. That's great.
Speaker 2: That is a terrific victory for election integrity. Wisconsin is
Speaker 2: a swing state and so voter fraud is is particularly
Speaker 2: dangerous in a swing state like Wisconsin.
Speaker 3: And so that's a great victory.
Speaker 1: So those are three big victories, extremely important, especially like
Speaker 1: you said, on the voter id that's going to give
Speaker 1: a signal to other states move forward on this. The
Speaker 1: American people want it, and we'll probably see a trend
Speaker 1: come out of that. That's good news obviously. So let's
Speaker 1: talk about the loss and the headline and all the
Speaker 1: media is liberal judge wins in Wisconsin. That's what they
Speaker 1: want you to know. They don't want you to know
Speaker 1: the GOP swept Florida. They don't want you to know
Speaker 1: that voter ideal law became a thing in a swing state.
Speaker 1: They're all obsessed now with quote liberal judge winning a
Speaker 1: lot of money in this race. President was involved, Musk
Speaker 1: was involved, so they're saying this is a referendum on
Speaker 1: Donald Trump. I think that's obviously going way too far.
Speaker 1: This is special election time. Everybody dialed down the crazy yet.
Speaker 2: Now, to be clear, on the photo ID law in Wisconsin,
Speaker 2: it wasn't that it became the law, because it is
Speaker 2: current law right now. What happened is it got added
Speaker 2: to the constitution. So now it is much much harder
Speaker 2: for Democrats to take it away. It's enshrined in the
Speaker 2: state constitution and so it would take a constitutional amendment
Speaker 2: to get rid of it. And so that's that's a
Speaker 2: major victory. But the loss, the loss was a real one,
Speaker 2: and it was an election for the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Speaker 2: It was election between Susan Crawford, who is a liberal Democrat,
Speaker 2: and Brad Schimmel, who is a conservative. And the result
Speaker 2: at the end of the day was that was that
Speaker 2: the liberal won fifty four point four percent to forty
Speaker 2: five point six percent. So that was a nine point victory.
Speaker 2: That was a sizeable victory and the result of it
Speaker 2: is control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. So the court
Speaker 2: was in the ballance. This was the swing seat. And
Speaker 2: I got to tell you, the money that was spent
Speaker 2: in this race. How much do you think was spent
Speaker 2: in Wisconsin.
Speaker 1: I'm going to guess tens of millions of dollars, knowing
Speaker 1: how important this was, at minimum.
Speaker 2: Ninety eight million dollars ninety eight million dollars on a
Speaker 2: judicial race in Wisconsin. Yahoo News is reporting that, according
Speaker 2: to the Brennan Center for Justice, more than fifty three
Speaker 2: point three million dollars was spent by Shimmel and his backers,
Speaker 2: including twelve point two million from Elon Musk's America Pack
Speaker 2: and Crawford's campaign and those backing her have spent an
Speaker 2: estimated forty five point one million dollars, so all told,
Speaker 2: ninety eight million dollars. That is, to the best of
Speaker 2: my knowledge. In fact, I was going to say that
Speaker 2: that's the most it's ever been spent on a judicial race,
Speaker 2: but if I read the next sentence on the article,
Speaker 2: it would say the spending has made the Wisconsin race
Speaker 2: the most expensive US judicial in US judicial history, which
Speaker 2: it clearly is. I don't know what's second, but it
Speaker 2: ain't even close. That's a massive amount of money. And listen,
Speaker 2: this is an unfortunate loss. There's going to be some
Speaker 2: bad rulings in Wisconsin, including potentially redistricting rulings that have
Speaker 2: political consequences in Wisconsin, and so it is unfortunate. I'm
Speaker 2: grateful Elon leaned in hard on this, but it's worth
Speaker 2: remembering Wisconsin is a purple state, and on election day
Speaker 2: in twenty four we had mixed outcomes in Wisconsin. Donald
Speaker 2: Trump won Wisconsin barely, but he won, but we lost
Speaker 2: the Senate seat. Tammy Baldwin, the incumbent Democrat Eric Hovedy,
Speaker 2: was challenging and he lost. Unfortunately, we didn't up the
Speaker 2: Senate seat. And right now, Wisconsin is one of the
Speaker 2: relatively few states that has a Republican senator and a
Speaker 2: Democrat senator.
Speaker 3: So it's split.
Speaker 2: You've got Ron Johnson, a Republican, a conservative, a good
Speaker 2: friend of mine, and you've got Tammy Baldwin, who is
Speaker 2: a liberal Democrat. And so in a purple state and
Speaker 2: a state that is evenly divided, you would expect that
Speaker 2: we win some races and we lose some races, and
Speaker 2: so all told, I'm really happy about the three victories,
Speaker 2: but I would have been happier with four victories.
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Speaker 1: Call him today. All right, Senator, So let's move to
Speaker 1: another very interesting moment. One of your colleagues in the
Speaker 1: Senate decided he was going to take away your record
Speaker 1: on a filibuster. You guys were very different and why
Speaker 1: you were filibustering. But he did beat your record today
Speaker 1: and you even posted something that was hilarious online as well. Well.
Speaker 2: Corey Booker, Democrat from New Jersey, has now set the
Speaker 2: record for the longest speech in history on the Senate floor.
Speaker 2: And he spoke for twenty five hours and four minutes.
Speaker 2: And so it was, it was incredibly long. It it surpassed.
Speaker 2: The record had been held by by strom Thurman, who
Speaker 2: spoke for twenty four hours and eighteen minutes in nineteen
Speaker 2: fifty seven. And he was uh, he was filibustering strom
Speaker 2: Thurman was filibustering the nineteen fifty seven Civil Rights Act.
Speaker 2: And that that had been been the record until until
Speaker 2: last night, when when Corey Booker broke it.
Speaker 3: Now fourth all time, it is yours, truly.
Speaker 2: I used to be third all time, but but Corey
Speaker 2: knocked me down, and and so so my record in
Speaker 2: twenty thirteen, I spoke on the Senate floor for twenty
Speaker 2: one hours and nineteen minutes.
Speaker 3: Uh and and so Corey, Corey just beat me.
Speaker 2: I will I will say I tweeted out right before
Speaker 2: he broke my record, And so I took to Twitter
Speaker 2: and tweeted out, As Corey Booker approaches my twenty one
Speaker 2: hour filibuster record, I'm contemplating pulling the fire alarm hat
Speaker 2: tip Jamal Bowman, and I sent out a picture of
Speaker 2: Jamal and but Bowman, the Democrat congressman pulling the fire
Speaker 2: alarm in.
Speaker 3: The Capitol to avoid a vote.
Speaker 2: And I will say that that that that tweet went viral,
Speaker 2: and in fact, Corey ended up at the end of
Speaker 2: his his twenty five hour filibuster reading that tweet on
Speaker 2: the Senate floor, which which was.
Speaker 3: Which I enjoyed it.
Speaker 2: I actually like Corey and he and I are friends,
Speaker 2: and so I'm glad he read it. And I will
Speaker 2: say in my twenty thirteen filibuster, I read a number
Speaker 2: of tweets on the Senate floor, and I believe that
Speaker 2: was the first time in history a tweet had ever
Speaker 2: been read on the Senate floor, and I read a
Speaker 2: whole bunch of them. Now, there is a significant difference
Speaker 2: between what what what I was filibustering over and what
Speaker 2: Corey Booker was philibustering over. What I was philibustering over
Speaker 2: was Obamacare. And I was doing so because it was
Speaker 2: right when Obamacare was going into effect, and I was
Speaker 2: trying to stop it from going into effect because the
Speaker 2: American people it was having the effect of driving up
Speaker 2: premiums dramatically reducing choices. Barack Obama famously said, if you
Speaker 2: like your doctor, you can keep your doctor, and millions
Speaker 2: of Americans discovered that was not the case, that was
Speaker 2: a lie. In fact, PolitiFact named Barack Obama's if you
Speaker 2: like your doctor, you can keep your doctor, the lie
Speaker 2: of the year. And for them to admit a Democrat
Speaker 2: is lying is really quite remarkable, because PolitiFact lies for
Speaker 2: a living. And so that filibuster, when I did it
Speaker 2: in twenty thirteen, I was a brand new baby freshman,
Speaker 2: and it was the theme of the filibuster was make
Speaker 2: DC listen.
Speaker 3: And I will tell you it had.
Speaker 2: It had a significant effect, and in fact, it energized
Speaker 2: people across the country. And I'll point to what the
Speaker 2: effect was in twenty fourteen. The next year, we had
Speaker 2: an election and it was a tsunami election. Republicans ended
Speaker 2: up winning nine Senate seats, we retired Harry Reid as
Speaker 2: majority leader, and we ended up winning the biggest majority
Speaker 2: in the House of Representative since nineteen twenty eight. And
Speaker 2: if you look at exit polling in that twenty fourteen election,
Speaker 2: the number one issue in the country, according to the
Speaker 2: voters that were turning out in massive numbers, was Obamacare,
Speaker 2: and they were saying, finally, finally, you're fighting. Finally, Republicans
Speaker 2: are not rolling over and so that had I think
Speaker 2: a very significant effect on election day and helped win
Speaker 2: back both the Senate and House for Republicans. I don't
Speaker 2: think Corey Bookers is going to have that same effect.
Speaker 2: And in fact, listen, I don't know how many people
Speaker 2: watched it. I suspect that CNN and MSNBC was probably
Speaker 2: gushing about it, but I'll confess I didn't turn on
Speaker 2: see at aner MSNBC, so I.
Speaker 3: Don't know one where or the other.
Speaker 2: I don't particularly care the the the seven Rabbid partisans
Speaker 2: who watched those networks.
Speaker 3: Uh, probably were quite happy with it.
Speaker 2: But at the end of the day, look, what was
Speaker 2: Corey Booker talking about? As best I can tell, it
Speaker 2: was I hate Donald Trump. I'm a Democrat. Trump bad,
Speaker 2: Orange Man bad. I'm mad at the voters. Why did
Speaker 2: the voters elect Trump? Whye did the voters elector Republican Senate?
Speaker 2: Why did the voters elected Republican House? Gosh, I'm mad
Speaker 2: at the voters. Gosh, I hate Trump. I'm not sure
Speaker 2: there's anything new there. I'm not sure was there a
Speaker 2: person in America who was confused yesterday and didn't know
Speaker 2: that that that that saidate Democrats hate Donald Trump, like like,
Speaker 2: was there any new information in it? And and and
Speaker 2: and so I've got to say I'm skeptical, uh, that
Speaker 2: that it's going to have a meaningful impact. And I'll
Speaker 2: point out it's not just me who says said that.
Speaker 2: Take a listen to what Joe Biden's communications director, uh
Speaker 2: Kate Bettingfield said about Corey booker speech.
Speaker 4: The Democratic base and Democratic donors are looking for signs
Speaker 4: of life, and so I think what Senator Booker is
Speaker 4: giving them, here are some signs of life. Is it
Speaker 4: going to have a tangible impact on business? And the
Speaker 4: have a tangible impact on Booker. But if he won't
Speaker 4: have a tangible impact on business in Washington.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's CNN saying it, Senator. And look it
Speaker 1: was they change.
Speaker 3: And that's Biden's communications director.
Speaker 2: It's Biden's communication director, amazingly enough. And so so look, Corey,
Speaker 2: that's that that That's fine.
Speaker 3: Now now I will tell you.
Speaker 2: So it was funny as Booker was giving his his filibuster,
Speaker 2: reporters were all rotting up to be and then they
Speaker 2: all knew that that that he was he was aiming
Speaker 2: to beat my record. So they were asking me about it,
Speaker 2: and they said, did you have any advice?
Speaker 3: And I will.
Speaker 2: I will admit Corey didn't ask me for any advice.
Speaker 2: So now I did not give him any advice on this,
Speaker 2: but I did share a story. So when I did
Speaker 2: the filibuster in twenty thirteen, I had gotten some advice
Speaker 2: from Rand Paul. So Rand Paul had done a thirteen
Speaker 2: hour filibuster and I was planning to do mine, and
Speaker 2: and Rand I asked him, Hey, Rand, you got any
Speaker 2: advice because he'd just done thirteen hours, and he said, yeah,
Speaker 2: two things. He said, Number one, wear comfortable shoes, because
Speaker 2: he said, your feet and your legs will be killing you.
Speaker 2: And I will confess I as you know, every day
Speaker 2: in the Senate, I wear black cowboy boots. The boots
Speaker 2: I wear alligator boots and they have the Senate seal
Speaker 2: on the front and on the back of it they
Speaker 2: have the come and Take It flag. And so that's
Speaker 2: that's my standard foot wear in the Senate. But for
Speaker 2: the filibuster, I went to the store and I bought
Speaker 2: some some black tennis shoes and in the middle of
Speaker 2: the filibuster, at like two or three in the morning,
Speaker 2: I confess to the people of Texas. I said, look,
Speaker 2: I have to I just have to apologize to the
Speaker 2: people of Texas. I'm sorry I didn't have the courage
Speaker 2: of my convictions to wear my boots. I weened out
Speaker 2: and got black tennis shoes. But but I was planning
Speaker 2: on standing here for a really long time, and so
Speaker 2: I will admit the tennis shoes are are are are
Speaker 2: more comfortable for the marathon time. The second bit of
Speaker 2: advice ran game.
Speaker 1: I got to ask you, Yeah, I got to ask
Speaker 1: you though, when you were picking out the tennis shoes.
Speaker 1: Did you buy brand new or did you wear them
Speaker 1: a little bit beforehand?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 2: I didn't break them in and they were fine, and
Speaker 2: I don't think I've ever worn them since then. Like
Speaker 2: I literally they wore them for the filibuster and that
Speaker 2: was it. But but fortunately, even though they were new,
Speaker 2: they were they were pretty comfortable. They were not bad
Speaker 2: at all. The second bit of advice Rand gave me
Speaker 2: was was, if anything even more important. He said, drink
Speaker 2: very little water. And in fact, Rand said when he
Speaker 2: ended at thirteen hours, he said, my legs didn't take me.
Speaker 2: It didn't make me give in my bladder did And
Speaker 2: and the most common question that that that that I
Speaker 2: would get about the filibuster is, okay, what what do
Speaker 2: you do about going to the bathroom? And and the
Speaker 2: real simple answer is you don't. So the rules of
Speaker 2: a filibuster, uh, you have to stand, you cannot sit,
Speaker 2: and you have to stay on the Senate floor. If
Speaker 2: if you sit or if you leave the Senate floor,
Speaker 2: you relinquish the floor, and and and so, and that's
Speaker 2: why that's why comfortable shoes matter, because you're not allowed
Speaker 2: you're technically not even allowed to lean on the desk,
Speaker 2: although that that rule is not not heavily enforced.
Speaker 3: You you can lean a little bit, but you can't. Uh.
Speaker 3: But but you can't can't sit.
Speaker 2: And and legend has it that during strong thermons uh filibuster,
Speaker 2: that that that he had an aid hold a bucket
Speaker 2: in in in in the Senate cloak room, and and
Speaker 2: and and he he took a leak while filibustering while
Speaker 2: standing on the Senate floor. I figured, in the in
Speaker 2: the era of c Span that probably wasn't the best idea.
Speaker 3: So I was not going to do that.
Speaker 2: And so for the entire course of twenty one plus hours,
Speaker 2: I drank one tiny little glass of water and that's all.
Speaker 2: I basically would take a little sip just to just
Speaker 2: to moisten my throat. And I got to say, look,
Speaker 2: I've never gone twenty one hours without going to the bathroom.
Speaker 2: And and you know, I discovered a very simple principle,
Speaker 2: which is nothing in, nothing out. And so it was
Speaker 2: it was fine, But that was excellent advice.
Speaker 1: When does your mind start to wander? I mean, at
Speaker 1: what point do you feel like you're getting a little
Speaker 1: bit you know, delusion alway is the best word I
Speaker 1: can use. There's got to be a certain point where
Speaker 1: you're sitting there going you know, it's like when you
Speaker 1: do an all nighter in college, you kind of slap
Speaker 1: yourself on the face. You're like, Carl, I got to
Speaker 1: wake up, walk around the room, and sit back down.
Speaker 1: When does that fatigue hit?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it wasn't too bad. I mean it was Look,
Speaker 2: it was energized. And I was I was telling us
Speaker 2: a story. I was talking about the very real people
Speaker 2: being harmed by Obamacare, and I was telling people's stories,
Speaker 2: and I was laying out facts and figures and data
Speaker 2: and and and so I had a lot of material
Speaker 2: that I was presenting. As I mentioned, I read tweets
Speaker 2: about the harms from Obamacare, and we started the hashtag
Speaker 2: make DC Listen, which which went viral during the filibuster.
Speaker 3: And and and.
Speaker 2: So it really was I look just like we're doing
Speaker 2: in in this podcast. It was an effort to communicate
Speaker 2: with the American people. But it now we also had
Speaker 2: some fun. So the rules do allow you to yield
Speaker 2: to another senator for a question, and and and so
Speaker 2: you can yield for a question without yielding the floor.
Speaker 2: And so what happens during a long filibuster is that
Speaker 2: people will come and support you. And so I had
Speaker 2: multiple senators come and support me, and they would Mike
Speaker 2: Lee did did the most heroic. He was there for
Speaker 2: a great deal of the filibuster. And and what what
Speaker 2: you could do is he would stand as I'm up there,
Speaker 2: and he'd say, with the senator, yield for a question,
Speaker 2: and I'd respond, I'm happy to yield for a question
Speaker 2: without yielding the floor. And then Mike could ask a
Speaker 2: thirty or forty five minute question and and and you know,
Speaker 2: basically give a speech and then at the end of
Speaker 2: it say don't you agree, And so it would let
Speaker 2: you rest your voice, because if you speak, you know,
Speaker 2: I know you do radio for a living, but if
Speaker 2: you speak twenty one hours without pausing, your your vocal
Speaker 2: cords will be pretty ragged.
Speaker 3: So it was helpful to have folks go and spell
Speaker 3: you for a little while.
Speaker 2: And I will say, you know, at like three and
Speaker 2: four in the morning, Mike was there, and he gets
Speaker 2: really punch struck when he's tired, and so we were.
Speaker 2: He was reading like like bad jokes and seventies rock lyrics.
Speaker 2: And look, one of the things people remember from my
Speaker 2: filibuster it is that I read Green Eggs and Ham
Speaker 2: on the setate floor. Now what a lot of people
Speaker 2: don't know is is why I read green eggs and Ham.
Speaker 2: Do you know why your daughter's yes? So look at
Speaker 2: the time, my girls were worth three and five and
Speaker 2: and when I was home every night, I would read
Speaker 2: them a bedtime story, which which you know, I'm sure
Speaker 2: you you do with your kids too, but that that
Speaker 2: that was my practice when they were little, and and
Speaker 2: so it was their bedtime, and so we called home
Speaker 2: and told them turn on the TV. And so I
Speaker 2: read green Eggs and Ham and and there is a
Speaker 2: picture in my office which you've seen, and it's both girls.
Speaker 2: They're in matching pajamas. And Catherine was three years old
Speaker 2: and she has her little hand on the TV and
Speaker 2: and and she she's touching it and and and she's
Speaker 2: just sort of watching in wonderment. Her daddy read her
Speaker 2: Green Eggs and ham on TV. And and Caroline, who
Speaker 2: was five, is just crack king up, laughing. I love
Speaker 2: the picture because she's just like laughing hysterically. And look,
Speaker 2: Caroline can can be cynical with her dad. Not a
Speaker 2: whole lot I've done in the Senate as impressed her.
Speaker 2: And she she when I came home, she was five,
Speaker 2: and she had her arms crossed and she.
Speaker 3: Was like, okay, Dad, that was pretty cool.
Speaker 2: And I was like, all right, I was psyched that
Speaker 2: that that that the Bedtime Story had earned some brownie
Speaker 2: points with the girls at home.
Speaker 1: All right. So final question on this, and this is
Speaker 1: I'm sure something that was going through your mind, Corey
Speaker 1: Booker's mind. When did you know you were just gonna
Speaker 1: end it? How do you decide Are you looking at
Speaker 1: a certain time in your mind where you're like, I
Speaker 1: gotta make it to X and then as soon as
Speaker 1: it hits I'm done. What is the process of that
Speaker 1: as well?
Speaker 3: Well?
Speaker 2: Actually I could have gone longer. And the problem was,
Speaker 2: and in order to do the filibuster, A pure philibus
Speaker 2: is when the Senate floor is wide open and you
Speaker 2: take control of the filibuster, and it is the prerogative
Speaker 2: of every senator have unlimited debate, and so if you
Speaker 2: take control of the floor, you can hold it for
Speaker 2: as long as you are able to hold it. When
Speaker 2: I started the filibuster, unfortunately Harry Reid, then the majority
Speaker 2: leader the Democrats were in charge, had locked in a
Speaker 2: unanimous consent resolution that the next day there was a
Speaker 2: vote scheduled I think at noon, and it was locked in,
Speaker 2: which meant I had an endpoint. I had an endpoint
Speaker 2: that was a wall because that unanimous consent had been
Speaker 2: locked in, and so it trumps is it's.
Speaker 3: Effectively a Senate rule.
Speaker 2: And so when I was north of twenty one hours,
Speaker 2: I had plenty of strength. I could have kept going,
Speaker 2: and I really wanted to break strom Thurman's record, and
Speaker 2: I actually sent one of my staffers to ask Harry
Speaker 2: Reid if he would consent. I I could have asked
Speaker 2: unanimous consent, uh to be allowed to complete my speech
Speaker 2: and and and if read it aloud and I would
Speaker 2: have been able to So I asked my staffer, I'm like, look,
Speaker 2: do you really want the record for the longest filibuster
Speaker 2: to be to be held by by a segregationist who
Speaker 2: was who was filibustering against the civil rights laws?
Speaker 3: Like like, like, you.
Speaker 2: Know, I'd really love to break it. And and Harry Reid,
Speaker 2: bearing being Harry Reid, he just said no, and and
Speaker 2: so I was forced to end. When when when I did, Uh,
Speaker 2: Corey Booker that there was not a unanimous consent in place,
Speaker 2: locking up the time, and so Corey was able to
Speaker 2: go long enough as long as he wanted and and
Speaker 2: and then and he was able to break the record.
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