Speaker 1: Welcome.
Speaker 2: It is verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with
Speaker 2: you and Senator there are a couple big issues we
Speaker 2: get to deal with today that are really important, including
Speaker 2: a shock that almost one hundred terror linked migrants were
Speaker 2: released into the United States of America in twenty twenty
Speaker 2: four a loan by the Biden administration.
Speaker 3: It really is a shocking story. Tulsea Gabbard revealed an
Speaker 3: eagle pass in Texas that the intelligence community had informed
Speaker 3: the Biden administration that of hundreds of terror linked illegal immigrants,
Speaker 3: that roughly one hundred of them were arrested in twenty
Speaker 3: twenty four, and that they released all but eight of
Speaker 3: them after they knew that they were linked to terrorist organizations.
Speaker 3: It's a shocking story. We're going to break it down
Speaker 3: and give you the details. We're also going to talk
Speaker 3: about the Take It Down Act. To Take It Down
Speaker 3: Act is my legislation protecting women, protecting teenage girls, teenage
Speaker 3: boys from revenge porn, from deep fakes online. And this
Speaker 3: week the First Lady of the United States, Millennia Trump,
Speaker 3: she came to the Capitol supporting my legislation. We did
Speaker 3: a roundtable together, so we're gonna bring you into what
Speaker 3: Milania had to say about to Take It Down Act,
Speaker 3: and also President Trump at the State of the Union
Speaker 3: praise the Senate for passing my Take It Down Act
Speaker 3: unanimously and call it on the House to pass it.
Speaker 3: We're going to bring you in that roundtable and you're
Speaker 3: gonna hear what the first lady had to say and
Speaker 3: what several of the victims had to say.
Speaker 2: All right, let me also remind you don't forget the
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Speaker 2: So let's go back center to this headline. Almost one
Speaker 2: hundred terrace linked migrants released in twenty twenty four. The
Speaker 2: part that I think we really should hone in on
Speaker 2: is this wasn't an accident. It wasn't like a misappropriation
Speaker 2: of paperwork. This was done on purpose.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they knew, they had full knowledge. And look, don't
Speaker 3: take my word for it. Listen to Tulsa Gabbard and
Speaker 3: what she said this week down in Texas at the
Speaker 3: Eagle Pass. Give a listen.
Speaker 4: Pump has been in office. Really what you're seeing here
Speaker 4: today and what you'll continue to see as a unified
Speaker 4: effort across President Trump's National security team, the Department of
Speaker 4: Homeland Security towards our mission, which is to ensure a safe, free,
Speaker 4: and prosperous society for Americans. As Director of National Intelligence,
Speaker 4: there are a number.
Speaker 5: Of areas where we are focused.
Speaker 4: The President talked about in his speech. Over twenty one
Speaker 4: million people have come across our borders illegally under Joe
Speaker 4: by administration. There are many of them that we don't
Speaker 4: know who they are. They have not been vetted, we
Speaker 4: don't know where they are. I'll give you one quick
Speaker 4: example of one of the problems that we are getting
Speaker 4: after from Central Asia. There were over four thousand people
Speaker 4: who came across our borders using an ISIS affiliated network,
Speaker 4: Our National counter Terrorism Center went through and identified those individuals.
Speaker 5: There were hundreds of them who.
Speaker 4: Were either known terrorists or associated with known terrorists. That
Speaker 4: information was provided to the Biden administration.
Speaker 5: You may remember in some of the news a little
Speaker 5: over one.
Speaker 4: Hundred of those people were arrested in twenty twenty four.
Speaker 5: Of those who were.
Speaker 4: Arrested, only eight were either deported or remained in custody
Speaker 4: only eight. The rest of them were released back into
Speaker 4: our country. Where are they, what are they doing? What
Speaker 4: may they be plotting? This is just the beginning. There
Speaker 4: are many many areas that we need to stay very
Speaker 4: focused on, working with Department of Homeland Secure already working
Speaker 4: with the FBI to ensure that we're keeping the American
Speaker 4: people safe. Our counter Terrorism Center is working on making
Speaker 4: sure that we have that single source for vetting so
Speaker 4: that we can figure out who is actually in our
Speaker 4: country and identify those who pose a threat and get
Speaker 4: them removed.
Speaker 5: The President's designation.
Speaker 4: Of the cartels as foreign terrorists organizations falls directly into this,
Speaker 4: especially as we're seeing some of the tactics that these
Speaker 4: cartels are using reflect some of the tactics that we've
Speaker 4: seen used by Islamus terris in countries that many of
Speaker 4: us have served in overseas.
Speaker 5: Our mission is very clear.
Speaker 4: Our objective is to keep the American people safe.
Speaker 5: I'm grateful to be.
Speaker 4: A part of this team that President Trump has assembled
Speaker 4: to accomplish that mission.
Speaker 5: Thank you.
Speaker 1: I love the focus.
Speaker 2: The Vice President was down there as well the team,
Speaker 2: and you compare that to the borders. Are who never
Speaker 2: decided to go to egle Pass didn't want anything to
Speaker 2: do with it. And now we understand again more why
Speaker 2: because they knew they were doing all of the things
Speaker 2: that they were doing to put America's national security at risk.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and it's worth really focusing on the facts that
Speaker 3: Tulsi Gabbert, who is now the Director of National Intelligence,
Speaker 3: what she said. She said from Central Asia there were
Speaker 3: more than four thousand people who came across our borders
Speaker 3: using an ISIS affiliated network. So isis you know, kind
Speaker 3: of bad guys, terrorists who've killed lots and lots of Americans.
Speaker 3: They're smuggling over four thousand people illegally into this country
Speaker 3: from Central Asia. By the way, Central Asia includes multiple
Speaker 3: Islamic countries like Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, where radical Islamic terrorism
Speaker 3: is a real threat, and Tulsi said, the National counter
Speaker 3: Terrorism Center went through and identified those over four thousand individuals,
Speaker 3: and there were hundreds of them, hundreds of the word
Speaker 3: she used, who were either known terrorists or associated with
Speaker 3: known terrorists. And then she says, quote that in nation
Speaker 3: was provided to the Biden administration, So the Biden administration
Speaker 3: knew hundreds of either known terrorists or people associated with
Speaker 3: known terrorists were smuggled into America illegally by an ISIS
Speaker 3: affiliated network. And then she goes on to say, in
Speaker 3: twenty twenty four, a little over one hundred of those
Speaker 3: terror leaked people were rested. And then the shocking thing
Speaker 3: of the little more than one hundred, only eight were
Speaker 3: either deported or remained in custody. Only eight quote the
Speaker 3: rest of them were released back into our country. So
Speaker 3: this is not illegal aliens crossing the border that get
Speaker 3: apprehended at they let them go, but they don't know
Speaker 3: their terrorists. These are people they know are either themselves
Speaker 3: known terrorists or associated with known terrorists. They also know
Speaker 3: that they were smuggled into this country by an ISIS
Speaker 3: affiliated network, and they were arrested again. And yet over
Speaker 3: ninety of them, nearly one hundred the Biden administration released
Speaker 3: into America into your community, into my community in a
Speaker 3: single year. This isn't twenty twenty four. That is stunning.
Speaker 3: And I got to tell you, bet, I've never heard
Speaker 3: a single Democrat give any justification for what is just idiocy.
Speaker 3: Let's release terror linked illegal immigrants into America. What possibly
Speaker 3: could go wrong with that?
Speaker 2: When you look at the and you sometimes it's just
Speaker 2: people are stupid, is it?
Speaker 1: But it also could be more I could be more
Speaker 1: sinister than that.
Speaker 2: I guess I look at this, I'm like they knew it,
Speaker 2: did They just not want to admit that the open
Speaker 2: border would allow for so many bad actors to come across,
Speaker 2: with many that may just be coming across right for
Speaker 2: a better life, a job if you put it in
Speaker 2: the best like possible center. And so they knew that
Speaker 2: if they admitted they caught these people and then they
Speaker 2: didn't release them, and they actually prosecuted them or sent
Speaker 2: them back to their country, there's a lot of options
Speaker 2: here that was going to sign a huge light on
Speaker 2: the problem. So therefore, hey, we can't admit it's happening.
Speaker 2: So we're just gonna go with this anarchy and in
Speaker 2: Sandy till the end.
Speaker 3: Look, Bet, I really don't know. You know, I had
Speaker 3: my very first boss at a phrase he used to say.
Speaker 3: He said, never attribute to incompetence and never attribute to malice.
Speaker 3: What can be explained with incompetence? And look, I think
Speaker 3: there's a lot of wisdom to that that A lot
Speaker 3: of times people are just they just do dumb things.
Speaker 3: That being said, Listen, I do I believe the Biden
Speaker 3: administration wants terrorists to attack America. No, but then why
Speaker 3: the hell would you release these people? And I guess
Speaker 3: the only plausible explanation I can come up with is
Speaker 3: there're such radicals on open borders. They're so committed to
Speaker 3: their open borders because they want millions and millions of
Speaker 3: illegal immigrants, because they they view them as future Democrat
Speaker 3: voters that they're just deportation was off the table. They're
Speaker 3: not in that business. They don't do it. I don't know. Listen,
Speaker 3: this is related to a story we covered in a
Speaker 3: pod a couple weeks ago. We're in Massachusetts right now.
Speaker 3: They're taking violent child abusers, child molesters, people who are
Speaker 3: raping children, who are illegal aliens, and even with violent
Speaker 3: child rapists, the Massachusetts authorities are releasing them rather than
Speaker 3: give them over to Ice to be deported. Now, look,
Speaker 3: reasonable people, you could have an argument about what should
Speaker 3: be the level of illegal immigration. You could. There are
Speaker 3: all sorts of things you'd have reasonable disagreements on. But
Speaker 3: I mean, Ben explained to me why someone says, you
Speaker 3: know what we need more of, We need more child
Speaker 3: rapists in our community. Let's let these go. Like I
Speaker 3: my brain cannot wrap itself around those repeated actions. And
Speaker 3: yet that's what's happening. This is the same sort of thing.
Speaker 3: You apprehend someone who's a known terrorist who was smuggled
Speaker 3: into America by ISIS, and you say, oh, let's let
Speaker 3: them go, Like like I, I don't know. You know.
Speaker 2: The poll numbers that came out from the present speech
Speaker 2: the other night were truly incredible. Seventy six percent approved
Speaker 2: of Trump's address to Congress. That is a massive win
Speaker 2: for the president. You look at some of the other
Speaker 2: ones and poll numbers. Not only that, ninety one percent
Speaker 2: said Trump spent time on issues they cared about.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that is a home run.
Speaker 2: Seventy one percent said the speech was quote inspiring, and
Speaker 2: sixty two percent said it was unifying. And they said
Speaker 2: that this speech sixty eight percent, so they felt hopeful,
Speaker 2: fifty four percent, so they felt proud of the country
Speaker 2: from the speech. And when you look at these numbers,
Speaker 2: even on the issue of inflation, where Democrats leaned in
Speaker 2: heavy over the last few weeks to try to say
Speaker 2: everything that's you know, eggs and everything else are the
Speaker 2: problem of Donald Trump, the American people aren't buying that either.
Speaker 2: When they were asked for the president a clear plan
Speaker 2: to battle inflation, sixty eight percent said yes to that
Speaker 2: as well. And then on the issue of immigration at
Speaker 2: the border, the people watched in seventy seven percent said
Speaker 2: they were in favor of Donald Trump's plan on immigration
Speaker 2: at the border. When you see this right and you
Speaker 2: look at what the President's saying, and then all those
Speaker 2: that are working towards this, you've got the Vice president,
Speaker 2: you've got Tolca, you've got the Secretary of State. Everyone
Speaker 2: seems to be in lockstep on this issue of the border.
Speaker 2: Is that the reason why you think the president's winning
Speaker 2: so much right now on securing this border, because he's
Speaker 2: explaining it the way we are right now as well.
Speaker 3: Because he is not absolutely frigging nuts. Yes, I think
Speaker 3: the Democrat Party has gone insane. Releasing murderers and rapists
Speaker 3: and child molesters into America is a really bad idea,
Speaker 3: and it turns out it's a really unpopular idea. Releasing
Speaker 3: terrorists into America is a really bad idea, and it
Speaker 3: turns out it's a really unpopular idea. Look, you and
Speaker 3: I the we covered did a pod the night of
Speaker 3: the State of the Union, uh, and we talked a
Speaker 3: lot about how the Democrats, for the first time ever,
Speaker 3: didn't applaud for the President of the United States, didn't
Speaker 3: stand for the president of the United States, didn't applaud
Speaker 3: and anything. I'll tell you. Actually, yesterday and the Senate
Speaker 3: Jim I had a conversation with a Senate Democrat. I'll
Speaker 3: keep him anonymous, but he was a Senate Democrat, one
Speaker 3: of my colleagues, and he made a comment. He said
Speaker 3: something about he thought we were just living in a
Speaker 3: surreal world. And I said, look, I got to say,
Speaker 3: I was shocked that you guys didn't applaud or stand
Speaker 3: for the president at all. And he and he was like, well,
Speaker 3: you got to understand. We just think he's destroying the constitution.
Speaker 3: And I said, look, I stood and applauded every year
Speaker 3: for Barack Obama, I stood and applauded every year for
Speaker 3: Joe Biden. And I disagreed with almost everything they were doing,
Speaker 3: but I respect the office and I respect the American people.
Speaker 3: And he just kind of shrugged and said, we're living
Speaker 3: in different universes and where our bases are fundamentally different.
Speaker 3: You look at Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Speaker 2: He also announced a policy to penalize foreign countries that
Speaker 2: allow the transit of illegal immigrants and is pressuring many
Speaker 2: countries that refuse to accept to the return of their
Speaker 2: migrants as well. This could also have a big impact
Speaker 2: on this country. I want to get your thoughts on that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, look, this administration is securing the border. They're doing
Speaker 3: it right now, and they are going to deport illegal aliens.
Speaker 3: They are going to send out of the country, especially
Speaker 3: the violet criminal illegal aliens, the murderers, the rapists, the
Speaker 3: child molesters, the gangbangers, and the countries that don't take it,
Speaker 3: they're they're going to make them take it. And that's
Speaker 3: what a strong president who's actually defending this country.
Speaker 2: Does all right, I want to move on to this
Speaker 2: other really important issue, and I want to say, sincerely, Senator,
Speaker 2: thank you for leading on the Take It Down Act.
Speaker 2: It is going to have a huge impact in this
Speaker 2: country at protecting people against deep fake porn and people
Speaker 2: that are trying to harm them, especially young girls. You've
Speaker 2: highlighted it and explained it, and the First Lady is
Speaker 2: now all in on this issue as well. And you
Speaker 2: guys had a round table on Capitol Hill talk a
Speaker 2: little bit about this.
Speaker 3: Well. Yeah, So the First Lady came this week to
Speaker 3: Capitol Hill and this is the first legislative issue she's
Speaker 3: gotten involved in this term, and she's leaned in hard
Speaker 3: in support of my Take It Down legislation. And so
Speaker 3: we did a roundtable that she came and participated in,
Speaker 3: and we had several of the victims who had been
Speaker 3: targeted share their stories and it was really powerful and
Speaker 3: her leadership will really have a powerful effect here. I
Speaker 3: want you to listen. These are my opening remarks at
Speaker 3: the roundtable. Give a listen. Start by thanking the First
Speaker 3: Lady for joining us today and thank you for your
Speaker 3: support of this incredibly important Legislation to Take It Down Act,
Speaker 3: which has already passed the Senate unanimously, and I am
Speaker 3: hopeful that the House will soon take it up and
Speaker 3: pass it and put it on the President's desk to
Speaker 3: be signed into law to protect young women and young
Speaker 3: boys and all of those who are being victimized across
Speaker 3: the country. I also want to thank our brave victims
Speaker 3: and victim advocates who are here. Alliston Barry, Francesca Mani,
Speaker 3: Brandon Guffey, and Breezeloo. Thank you for being here. Each
Speaker 3: of you have endured the unspeakable and your courage standing
Speaker 3: up and speaking for others is really remarkable. I also
Speaker 3: want to thank Stephan Turkheimer with Rain for your advocacy
Speaker 3: and support on this issue as well. Thank you for
Speaker 3: your leadership. And of course I want to thank Senator Klobuchar,
Speaker 3: who is the lead Democrat sponsor in the Senate, and
Speaker 3: Representative Salazar and Representative Dean who are the lead sponsors
Speaker 3: in the House, who've worked alongside in this important bipartisan legislation.
Speaker 3: If you're a victim of revenge porn or AI generated
Speaker 3: explicit imagery, your life changes forever. Most likely you've been
Speaker 3: targeted by someone you know, and you're likely struggling to
Speaker 3: have that material removed from the Internet. Disturbingly, many of
Speaker 3: these victims are teenagers at American high schools who are
Speaker 3: facing a surge in AI generated sexual images. Hundreds of teens,
Speaker 3: often targeted by their own classmates, are enduring senseless psychological
Speaker 3: harm knowing that these fake images exist and they're still
Speaker 3: out there, and in many case there's no recourse for
Speaker 3: these teenage victims. But this issue extends beyond high school.
Speaker 3: There are thousands of cases where predators have used non
Speaker 3: consensual intimate images to extort victims, both sexually and financially,
Speaker 3: and the results can be even more traumatic than financial loss,
Speaker 3: as we'll here today. In dozens of instances, parents and
Speaker 3: siblings have suffered unbearable pain, having lost their child, or
Speaker 3: their brother or their sister to suicide because the victim
Speaker 3: felt there was no way out from sextorship outside of
Speaker 3: high school. Many adults are also dealing with the very
Speaker 3: real and dire consequences of having their sexually explicit images
Speaker 3: shared online without their consent. I have heard from victims
Speaker 3: of sexual abuse, of rape, of human trafficking who strongly
Speaker 3: support the Take It Down Act because they desperately want
Speaker 3: some of the most traumatic moments of their lives taken
Speaker 3: off the Internet. The Take It Down Act empowers victims
Speaker 3: across the entire United States. It makes it a felony
Speaker 3: for these deviants to publish any non consensual intimate images,
Speaker 3: including fake lifelike pornographic images of real people. Just as
Speaker 3: importantly are by partisan bill requires big tech to have
Speaker 3: a notice and takedown process so that every victimized American,
Speaker 3: not just the rich and famous, but everyone, has a
Speaker 3: right to get these disturbing images taken offline immediately. We
Speaker 3: are today one step closer to making this dream of reality.
Speaker 3: Just three weeks ago, the Senate unanimously passed to Take
Speaker 3: It Down Act. Now it goes to my House, colleagues,
Speaker 3: and I have every assurance and confidence that the House
Speaker 3: will take it, take this up, pass it, and put
Speaker 3: it on the President's desk so that we can protect
Speaker 3: the victims of these predators. And we're very excited to
Speaker 3: be joined today by the First Lady of the United States,
Speaker 3: Milania Trump. Missus Trump has long been a champion for
Speaker 3: protecting our nation's children with her be best initiative and
Speaker 3: I can think of no more important issue for our
Speaker 3: First Lady to lie than protecting children online. Your success
Speaker 3: will mean our children's success and healing for thousands of victims.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's incredible this legislation, and it's also awesome
Speaker 2: to see the First Lady coming to the forefront on
Speaker 2: this issue and saying I want to champion this as well.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Look, it was tremendously important. She reached out, she wanted
Speaker 3: to do this, She actively participated in the roundtable. And
Speaker 3: here I want to play a moment of what she
Speaker 3: had to say at the round table. Here's the First Lady,
Speaker 3: Milania Trump.
Speaker 7: I was hard to learn that Senator CRUs and Senator
Speaker 7: Toobchi united to prioritize these famenta.
Speaker 5: There I must the lead.
Speaker 8: However, I expected to see more de mocrats leaders.
Speaker 7: In US to add any serious issue. Surely, as adult,
Speaker 7: you are a THI American's children are head of farms
Speaker 7: and policies.
Speaker 3: I urge Congress to.
Speaker 8: To prioritize the passage of the taking Down EQUIL. This
Speaker 8: limization essential for addressing the growing concerns related to online safety,
Speaker 8: protecting individual rounds, and promoting a healthier digital environment by
Speaker 8: advocating you bi, Congress.
Speaker 7: Can take an important step towards ensuring accountability and postling
Speaker 7: responsibly online aviation to take it down, and he represents
Speaker 7: power from step to justice.
Speaker 8: Healing and unity.
Speaker 2: The first Lady there, and I do love that she
Speaker 2: was honest. She's like, how are there not more Democrats
Speaker 2: with this?
Speaker 3: Well, and look it's the answer is the anger and
Speaker 3: rage we saw at the State of the Union. They're
Speaker 3: just filled with anger and rage. But I will say
Speaker 3: the fact that the first Lady got involved. So last
Speaker 3: year we passed the Take It Down Act out of
Speaker 3: the Senate. We got it passed out of the Senate
Speaker 3: and went to the House and unfortunately the House did
Speaker 3: not take it up and pass it. Now, the House
Speaker 3: tried to, and they actually had it attached to the
Speaker 3: continuing Resolution at the end of the year, and then
Speaker 3: it dropped out at the end of the day. And
Speaker 3: so here's how this happens. When the First Lady wanted
Speaker 3: to come, she came, and we invited multiple victims to
Speaker 3: tell their stories and it was very powerful. But we
Speaker 3: also invited the Speaker of the House and the majority
Speaker 3: leader in the House, and so both Speaker Johnson and
Speaker 3: leader Scalise came and then both Mike and Steve are
Speaker 3: good friends. But look, what are the challenges of getting
Speaker 3: any legislation to move in either body is getting leadership
Speaker 3: to prioritize it. There are lots of priorities, There are
Speaker 3: lots of people pulling it all to different directions, and
Speaker 3: so you're always battling to say, Okay, this should be
Speaker 3: high enough up on the priority list to move And
Speaker 3: the fact that the first lady leaned in now makes
Speaker 3: it a certainty. Both the Speaker and the majority leader committed.
Speaker 3: The House will take it up and they will pass it,
Speaker 3: and I think they're going to do so quickly. And
Speaker 3: Elliston Berry. So Elliston was there, and she is she's
Speaker 3: from Texas. She is a fifteen year old girl. And
Speaker 3: what happened to her She's from Aledo, Texas, up in
Speaker 3: North Texas. And what happened to her is is is
Speaker 3: she woke up one morning and she was in ninth
Speaker 3: grade and she was getting all these texts and calls
Speaker 3: from her friends. And it turns out a classmate of hers,
Speaker 3: a boy in her class, took a perfectly innocent picture
Speaker 3: of her from social media and used an app an
Speaker 3: ai app to create a deep fake that turned her
Speaker 3: picture into naked pictures. Now it wasn't real, but anyone
Speaker 3: looking at it with think it was real. It appeared
Speaker 3: to be real. And then this, this, this, this ninth
Speaker 3: grader emailed it, or not emailed it, but sent it
Speaker 3: on snapchat to to all of her classmates. And and
Speaker 3: so she woke up, you know, just in tears because
Speaker 3: all of her classmates. I mean, look, remember how hard
Speaker 3: freshman year is. It's hard to be a teenager. And
Speaker 3: and the nightmare. You're a teenage girl and suddenly all
Speaker 3: your friends think they're looking at naked pictures of you,
Speaker 3: and and and there was nothing she could do about it.
Speaker 3: The boy they found out who did it, and and
Speaker 3: and he did he did not get in significant trouble
Speaker 3: and and and and she was frustrated out of her mind.
Speaker 3: That now it's it's kind of a cool story. Uh,
Speaker 3: how the take it down legislation happened? Which is she
Speaker 3: she's a textan, she's a constituent. And so her mother
Speaker 3: called my office and and described what had happened to
Speaker 3: her to her daughter and said, look, can y'all help
Speaker 3: help us with this? And and my team brought it
Speaker 3: to my attention and I said, look, this is horrible.
Speaker 3: Let's do something about it. And so Elliston was was
Speaker 3: actually the inspiration for this legislation because I heard what
Speaker 3: happened to her and I said, this isn't right. And
Speaker 3: so we drafted the bill, and we invited Elliston and
Speaker 3: her mom Anna to come up to DC and they
Speaker 3: were at the press conference where we introduced the bill,
Speaker 3: and Bennett was striking. We were meeting in my office
Speaker 3: before the press conference and I was talking. This the
Speaker 3: first time i'd met them in person, and I was
Speaker 3: talking and I asked in the middle of the conversation,
Speaker 3: I said, okay, so what happened to the pictures? And
Speaker 3: they both looked at me in enormous frustration, and they
Speaker 3: said they're still up. It had been nine months since
Speaker 3: this had happened. And Elliston's mom said she had called
Speaker 3: Snapchat repeatedly, she'd emailed them, and she just got the
Speaker 3: stiff arm. She said it was they were just stonewalling.
Speaker 3: They would get no response whatsoever. And so I turned
Speaker 3: to my staff and I said, I want you to
Speaker 3: get the CEO of Snapchat on the phone today and
Speaker 3: I said I want this garbage down today. Within two
Speaker 3: hours they'd pulled them down.
Speaker 1: Incredible.
Speaker 3: Now, look, it's maddening, but it shouldn't take a sitting
Speaker 3: US senator making a phone call to the CEO to
Speaker 3: get it down. The victims ought to have the right
Speaker 3: to get it down. So what we wrote into the
Speaker 3: Take It Down Act is Number One, we make it
Speaker 3: a felony to post non consensual intimate images, either real pictures.
Speaker 3: Let's say you have and real pictures can come from
Speaker 3: a number of places. They can come from Number one,
Speaker 3: people who are in a romantic relationship and they take
Speaker 3: a picture, they take a video, and then they have
Speaker 3: a breakup, and somebody's pissed and decide to post it
Speaker 3: to the world. And that's a grotesque violation of privacy.
Speaker 3: You don't have a right to do that to somebody else.
Speaker 3: Or they can come from deep fakes, and we're seeing
Speaker 3: the numbers. The numbers have increased three thousand percent of
Speaker 3: deep fakes that are being put out the pictures but
Speaker 3: they're real people, but fake either explicit pictures or in
Speaker 3: some cases explicit videos that appear to be sexual videos
Speaker 3: and they're generated by AI but nobody watching can tell.
Speaker 3: And this is exploding. And one of the reasons you
Speaker 3: need the legislation is a number of states of past
Speaker 3: laws criminalizing revenge porn, but the laws often don't cover
Speaker 3: deep fakes, that they only cover real pictures, and so
Speaker 3: deep fakes fall into a hole in the law. And
Speaker 3: I'll tell you, Ben, there's another instance where this happens,
Speaker 3: which is kids are subject to human trafficking and are
Speaker 3: sexually abused and violated, and you have the predators will
Speaker 3: put those images out online. And the second component of
Speaker 3: this bill is a requirement that any tech platform take
Speaker 3: down these images or these videos once they're notified by
Speaker 3: the victim, a legal requirement that once you're notified, you
Speaker 3: got five forty eight hours to take it down or
Speaker 3: else they face serious penalties. And that the number of
Speaker 3: victims I've heard who have been so frustrated getting big
Speaker 3: tech to act. In many ways, that's the most important
Speaker 3: part of this bill is getting this garbage taking down
Speaker 3: and creating a legal right for any victim to remove
Speaker 3: the content.
Speaker 2: One of the things that I also love seeing now,
Speaker 2: and I want you to expand on this just for
Speaker 2: a moment, was the fact that when you guys had
Speaker 2: this roundtable you mentioned Speaker Johnson was there. How important
Speaker 2: is it to get legislation done that Republicans and the
Speaker 2: senat are working with the Republicans in the House, because
Speaker 2: this is that type of I call it harmony that
Speaker 2: I know makes a huge difference in getting an idea
Speaker 2: to become a reality.
Speaker 3: Oh look, it's very important. And personal relationships make a difference.
Speaker 3: I mean, I had dinner with Steve Scalise last week.
Speaker 3: Steve is a good friend. Mike Johnson is a good friend.
Speaker 3: Mike and I had dinner multiple times. We spent a
Speaker 3: lot of time together. And and that's how you move
Speaker 3: legislation is through personal relationships, through strategizing, through working together.
Speaker 3: And so when when the first lady said she was coming,
Speaker 3: I reached out and invited both of them, and invited
Speaker 3: Brett Guthrie, who is the committee chairman of the Energy
Speaker 3: and Commerce Committee, which is the committee that has jurisdiction
Speaker 3: over this. It's it's the equivalent of the Senate Commerce
Speaker 3: Committee that I'm the chairman of. And and Brett's a
Speaker 3: friend as well. He and I have had dinner. I
Speaker 3: mean a lot of what if you want to actually
Speaker 3: move things through Congress, the personal relationships really matter. And
Speaker 3: I got to say I was really excited because at
Speaker 3: the State of the Union address, Elliston Barry was sitting
Speaker 3: right next to Milania Trump. She was her guest, was
Speaker 3: right there in the in the box. And actually President
Speaker 3: Trump explicitly called on Congress to pass the Take It
Speaker 3: Down Act. I want you to listen. This is the
Speaker 3: President at the State of the Union calling on Congress act.
Speaker 6: And Berry who became a victim of an illicit deep
Speaker 6: fake image produced by a peer with Elliston's help. The
Speaker 6: Senate just passed the Take It Down Act, and this
Speaker 6: is so important. Thank you very much, John, John Thune,
Speaker 6: thank you, stand up, John, Thank you John, Thank you
Speaker 6: all very much. Thank you, and thank you to John
Speaker 6: Thune and the Senate. Great job to criminalize the publication
Speaker 6: of such images online as a terrible, terrible thing. And
Speaker 6: once it passes the House, I look forward to signing
Speaker 6: that bill into law.
Speaker 4: Thank you.
Speaker 6: And I'm going to use that bill for myself too,
Speaker 6: if you don't mind, because nobody gets treated worse than
Speaker 6: I do online, nobody. That's great. Thank you very much
Speaker 6: to the Senate.
Speaker 4: Thank you.
Speaker 2: I mean, I love how they're just enthusiasm there's excitement, Yeah,
Speaker 2: there's momentum.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and it makes the chances. I think it's a certainty.
Speaker 3: Now the House will take it up. As I said,
Speaker 3: the Speaker and the Majority Leader both committed to doing
Speaker 3: that and doing so quickly. And the President and First
Speaker 3: Lady engaging just raises it on the priority list. So
Speaker 3: that's really good. Elliston was there another teenage girl, Francesca Mani,
Speaker 3: who's from New Jersey. She's the same age, fifteen. She
Speaker 3: had the same month. This happened to Elliston in Texas,
Speaker 3: the identical thing happened to Francesca in New Jersey. They
Speaker 3: had the exact same experience. And both Elliston and Francesca
Speaker 3: I've had testify at a field hearing I did on
Speaker 3: the Take It Down Act that I held in Dallas,
Speaker 3: and they both testified there. And these are two young
Speaker 3: ladies who were really, really effective. Francesca was featured in
Speaker 3: sixty Minutes. She's really powerful. Ellison and I did Good
Speaker 3: Morning America together and she told her story there, and
Speaker 3: I kind of tell you, she's so so articulate that
Speaker 3: the Good Morning America host were laughing and saying that
Speaker 3: Ellison was coming for their jobs and I think that's right.
Speaker 6: Here.
Speaker 3: Listen to listen to Ellison telling a little bit of
Speaker 3: her story in her own voice.
Speaker 9: I'm Ellison Barry. I'm fifteen years old. I'm from Fort Worth, Texas.
Speaker 9: I was a survivor of aid fakes. A classmate of
Speaker 9: mine targeted me and eight other of my friends and
Speaker 9: put an innocent picture of Instagram through an AI ending
Speaker 9: app that stripped our clothing off. And since you round
Speaker 9: my whole school, I was able to get in touch
Speaker 9: with Ted Cruz's office and we were able to write
Speaker 9: up the Take It Down Act, which protects America's children
Speaker 9: from these heinous acts. Thankfully, the First Lady's Office was
Speaker 9: able to reach out, and it's really just been such
Speaker 9: an amazing experience knowing that she has the heart for
Speaker 9: my situation and that she cares, and that the overall
Speaker 9: support behind this act in the situation is so amazing
Speaker 9: and we are protecting the future generation.
Speaker 2: It's sad that this story has to even be a story,
Speaker 2: but what an incredible young lady at fifteen to be
Speaker 2: this articulate and to be able to understand that she
Speaker 2: can help so many others and to contact your office
Speaker 2: and that you were able to help her and so
Speaker 2: many others.
Speaker 1: This way is just truly incredible.
Speaker 3: It is really powerful, and I'll tell you we had
Speaker 3: multiple victims testify and sometimes the consequences of this are
Speaker 3: even worse. And so I want you to give a
Speaker 3: listen to the testimony of Brandon Guffey at the roundtable
Speaker 3: to describing what happened with his son. Although the vast
Speaker 3: majority of the targets of this abuse are women and
Speaker 3: young girls, young boys can be targeted as well, and
Speaker 3: the FBI has warned that there's a growing threat of
Speaker 3: sextortion deliberately targeting minors online. Were evil people use either
Speaker 3: real or fake explicit images to extort their victims, both
Speaker 3: sexually and financially, and in some instances, the results can
Speaker 3: be even more devastating and catastrophic. And that was the
Speaker 3: tragic situation that that South Carolina State Representative Branded Guffey
Speaker 3: and his family experienced in twenty twenty two. Representative Guffey,
Speaker 3: would you please share what happened with your son?
Speaker 10: Thank you.
Speaker 3: Senator Cruz.
Speaker 10: July twenty seventh, twenty twenty two. I lost my oldest
Speaker 10: sign Gavin Guffy, to suicide. We quickly found out that
Speaker 10: he was being extorted online, that someone pretending to be
Speaker 10: a young female at another college requested images to be
Speaker 10: shared back and forth, and as soon as he shared
Speaker 10: those images, he took his life. It was an hour
Speaker 10: more than forty minutes from the time that he was
Speaker 10: contacted until the time that he took his life. At
Speaker 10: that time, I had never heard of the crime of sextortion.
Speaker 10: I was always a more liberty minded politician, even though
Speaker 10: I hate to say that word, and you know, I
Speaker 10: wanted freedom as much as possible. But as I started
Speaker 10: looking into this, I started to see that big tech operates,
Speaker 10: and they are the equivalent of big tobacco, of this
Speaker 10: of today's generation. The account that targeted my son, that
Speaker 10: caused him to take his life, was taken down online
Speaker 10: once Homeland Security reached out. However, they left the additional
Speaker 10: accounts up. If I send a friend request, I can
Speaker 10: choose remove this account and any other accounts associated.
Speaker 3: Yet they left these other.
Speaker 10: Accounts up, and those other accounts began to extort my
Speaker 10: fourteen year old cousin, my sixteen year old son who
Speaker 10: had just lost his brother, and myself as well, going
Speaker 10: as far as sending a message saying did I tell
Speaker 10: you that your son begged for his life. From that
Speaker 10: day forward, I have made it my life's mission. Politics
Speaker 10: are not to fight to protect children online. Since December
Speaker 10: of twenty twenty two, whenever I took office, within four months,
Speaker 10: we were able to pass Gavin's Law in South Carolina,
Speaker 10: which criminalized digital sextortion. And the first person that we
Speaker 10: were able to convict under Gavin's Law was actually under
Speaker 10: an AI photograph. I have helped thousands of children since then.
Speaker 10: Matter of fact, I've dealt with three within the past
Speaker 10: forty eight hours. The families that are reaching out that
Speaker 10: are being extorted in these situations. I've worked with groups
Speaker 10: such as in Cozy and Nick Mack Here on the Hill.
Speaker 10: I have showed up with parents and unfortunately, the amount
Speaker 10: of parents that are losing children are growing daily. Since
Speaker 10: my son took his life, there's been forty other teens
Speaker 10: that are public about this. I can tell you there's
Speaker 10: more than a dozen that I know of that just
Speaker 10: do not feel comfortable share in their stories. But I'm
Speaker 10: witnessing teens constantly take their life and as you said,
Speaker 10: Senator Cruz, trying to get an image down. Now. Granted,
Speaker 10: I'm just a state representative, but I have a little
Speaker 10: bit more pull than the average citizen, and I'm able
Speaker 10: to get some of these taken down occasionally, but that's
Speaker 10: generally not the case. And with something such as take
Speaker 10: it Down, it would allow families to be able to
Speaker 10: have those images taken down and to have the voice
Speaker 10: that my son did not have. There was no recourse
Speaker 10: of being able to know, to be able to get
Speaker 10: these images down, and in his mind one had his
Speaker 10: back and this wasn't talked about. So since then it's
Speaker 10: been my mission to speak up, scream it from the
Speaker 10: mountaintops on how we have to hold big tech accountable
Speaker 10: and take it down?
Speaker 5: Does that?
Speaker 10: So for everyone involved, I really thank you for your
Speaker 10: involvement and urge for passage within the house.
Speaker 7: Santa.
Speaker 1: You hear that part of the story, and it's heartbreaking.
Speaker 2: It's also incredible to listen to a father making his
Speaker 2: life's work to help others.
Speaker 3: Afterwards, you know what a friggin nightmare You and I
Speaker 3: are both dads. I mean, that's it's terrifying. And and
Speaker 3: you know young people will anyone, but especially teenagers are
Speaker 3: are targeted and victimized by this, and and and that's
Speaker 3: why the bill, bill is really important, and it's it's
Speaker 3: it's a huge problem. So listen, I'm grateful to the
Speaker 3: first Lady, and I'm grateful to the President for for
Speaker 3: for leading on this, and we're going to get it done.
Speaker 3: And I'll tell you I told I told Brandon, I
Speaker 3: told Elliston and Francisca and and all of the victim
Speaker 3: advocates there that they're going to be in the Oval
Speaker 3: Office for the bill signing. The President's going to sign
Speaker 3: the bill and each one of them is going to
Speaker 3: get a signing pen that they're going to get to
Speaker 3: take home. And then that's you know, that's really who
Speaker 3: we're fighting for, are the victims who are targeted here.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's incredible. Make sure you share this podcast with
Speaker 2: your family and friends. It is a really important one.
Speaker 2: We did this Monday, Wednesday and Friday. You can grab
Speaker 2: my podcast a Ben Ferguson's show on those in between
Speaker 2: days and we'll keep you up there in the latest
Speaker 2: breaking news and the center and I will see you
Speaker 2: back here for the week in review, the top stories
Speaker 2: of the week on Saturday morning as well