1
00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:03,360
Speaker 1: Well come in his verdict with Ted Cruz Weekend Review.

2
00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:05,560
Speaker 1: Ben Ferguson with you, and these are the stories that

3
00:00:05,600 --> 00:00:08,039
Speaker 1: you may have missed that we talked about this week.

4
00:00:08,480 --> 00:00:12,160
Speaker 1: First up, TikTok went down in America, but then it

5
00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:15,640
Speaker 1: was saved at the last moment temporarily. So what is

6
00:00:15,680 --> 00:00:18,959
Speaker 1: going to happen moving forward and is it a national

7
00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:21,960
Speaker 1: security threat. We're going to dive into that coming up

8
00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:25,639
Speaker 1: in just a moment. Also, Joe Biden decided to pardon

9
00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:29,000
Speaker 1: a lot of his family members and their spouses. Well,

10
00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:32,680
Speaker 1: could it have opened up Pandora's box? Apparently many of

11
00:00:32,720 --> 00:00:35,400
Speaker 1: those people that got those pardons may have to come

12
00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:39,240
Speaker 1: and testify now before Congress and will not be able

13
00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:41,960
Speaker 1: to plead the fifth We'll explain exactly what we mean

14
00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:46,040
Speaker 1: in just a moment. And finally, the confirmation hearings on

15
00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:48,920
Speaker 1: Capitol Hill continue to roll on. We'll have some of

16
00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:51,800
Speaker 1: the highlights of this past week of Senator Cruz talking

17
00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:55,240
Speaker 1: with several of the nominees. It is the weekend Review

18
00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:59,000
Speaker 1: and it starts right now. Let's move to TikTok for

19
00:00:59,040 --> 00:01:01,920
Speaker 1: a second, because this has actually been a big conversation

20
00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:08,120
Speaker 1: around the inauguration elections having consequences, laws having consequences, Supreme

21
00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:11,200
Speaker 1: Court getting involved. So can we take it back to

22
00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:14,759
Speaker 1: square one so that people that maybe weren't paying attention

23
00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:17,720
Speaker 1: to TikTok maybe don't use it. They understand TikTok is

24
00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:22,560
Speaker 1: extremely important to a younger generation. And there are a

25
00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:25,160
Speaker 1: lot of Americans that make a living on TikTok. There

26
00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:27,680
Speaker 1: are a lot of people that supports their businesses. There

27
00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:29,679
Speaker 1: is a lot of things on TikTok that you can

28
00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:31,560
Speaker 1: say are very good. There are a lot of things

29
00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:35,560
Speaker 1: you can also say are very bad. But explain what

30
00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:39,720
Speaker 1: happened with TikTok and why it was shut down. Well.

31
00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:43,560
Speaker 2: Congress passed the law last year dealing with TikTok. TikTok

32
00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:47,080
Speaker 2: is owned and controlled by a company called byte Dance.

33
00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:50,200
Speaker 2: Byte Dance is a Chinese company, and it's a Chinese

34
00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:52,880
Speaker 2: company that is under the direct control of the Chinese

35
00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:57,880
Speaker 2: Communist government. The Chinese Communist government uses TikTok and uses

36
00:01:57,920 --> 00:01:59,800
Speaker 2: it in a way that I think poses a very

37
00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:05,240
Speaker 2: national security risk to the United States. There are some

38
00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:10,799
Speaker 2: one hundred and seventy million Americans that use TikTok, overwhelmingly

39
00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:15,880
Speaker 2: young people, teenagers, young adults, young professionals, and the Chinese

40
00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:19,800
Speaker 2: Communist government uses it number one to engage an espionage

41
00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:23,680
Speaker 2: to monitor what those Americans are doing, what they're saying,

42
00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:27,080
Speaker 2: potentially where they are, they have the potential to monitor

43
00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:31,840
Speaker 2: their locations. But number two, the Chinese Communist government uses

44
00:02:31,960 --> 00:02:37,920
Speaker 2: TikTok aggressively to push propaganda, to push propaganda that is

45
00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:42,360
Speaker 2: number one pro China, and they suppress content things like

46
00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:45,840
Speaker 2: like Tienaman Square. They suppress content about the one million

47
00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:50,120
Speaker 2: wigers that are in concentration camps in China. They suppress

48
00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:55,079
Speaker 2: content about Hong Kong or China or Taiwan. But they

49
00:02:55,120 --> 00:03:01,800
Speaker 2: also push anti American content. They push anti capitalist content,

50
00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:05,600
Speaker 2: they push communist content, they push socialist content. They also

51
00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:10,640
Speaker 2: pushed harmful content to young people. They push substance abuse,

52
00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:15,680
Speaker 2: they pushed self harm that they push suicidal ideation. I

53
00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:19,040
Speaker 2: gotta say that the same company that owns TikTok, they

54
00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:23,040
Speaker 2: have a TikTok version in China that's very different from

55
00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:25,960
Speaker 2: the TikTok in America. The Chinese kids that are on TikTok,

56
00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:29,840
Speaker 2: they're getting videos on math and calculus, and they're limited

57
00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:31,480
Speaker 2: in the number of hours they can do it, but

58
00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:33,519
Speaker 2: it's developing the kind of skills that are going to

59
00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:36,320
Speaker 2: make them really effective in life. You know, the Chinese

60
00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:39,000
Speaker 2: kids are getting calculus and our kids are getting chewing

61
00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:44,240
Speaker 2: tide pods. That ain't good. The Chinese Communist government is

62
00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:46,640
Speaker 2: not doing it because they love our kids and they

63
00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:50,960
Speaker 2: want to see a good outcome. We also see heavily

64
00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:56,760
Speaker 2: skewed political propaganda. So, for example, anti Semitism, anti Israel,

65
00:03:56,840 --> 00:04:02,480
Speaker 2: pro Hamas, pro Hesbola propaganda is rampant on TikTok and

66
00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:08,600
Speaker 2: at a complete differential, wildly different ratios than on other

67
00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:15,200
Speaker 2: social media platforms. And so given China's malevolent use of TikTok,

68
00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:21,120
Speaker 2: Congress passed a bipartisan bill designed to force China to

69
00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:25,240
Speaker 2: divest from TikTok, and the terms of the bill said

70
00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:31,360
Speaker 2: that TikTok had to shut down by January nineteenth unless

71
00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:35,240
Speaker 2: it had been sold and was no longer under the

72
00:04:35,279 --> 00:04:40,240
Speaker 2: ownership or control of the Chinese Communist government. Now, TikTok

73
00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:43,799
Speaker 2: has done next to nothing to comply with the efforts

74
00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:46,960
Speaker 2: to sell itself. In fact, they brazenly said we will

75
00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:50,200
Speaker 2: not sell. Instead, they've tried to do a couple of things.

76
00:04:50,279 --> 00:04:53,400
Speaker 2: Number one. They've tried to engage in litigation. They filed lawsuits,

77
00:04:54,120 --> 00:04:56,080
Speaker 2: they went all the way to the US Supreme Court.

78
00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:59,800
Speaker 2: They argued at the US Supreme Court, and TikTok lost unanimously.

79
00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:03,680
Speaker 2: Supreme Court said, no, your First Amendment argument is not valid.

80
00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:07,400
Speaker 2: So the First Amendment protects the free speech rights of Americans,

81
00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:11,080
Speaker 2: but it doesn't protect the Chinese Communist government. And the

82
00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:15,040
Speaker 2: Supreme Court unanimously concluded, this law is focused on national security.

83
00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:18,440
Speaker 2: It's not try to suppress any Americans free speech. It

84
00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:21,920
Speaker 2: is trying to prevent a hostile government from being able

85
00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:25,000
Speaker 2: to engage in espionage and propaganda in the United States.

86
00:05:25,800 --> 00:05:28,080
Speaker 2: So they devoted a lot of time to litigation, a

87
00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:30,359
Speaker 2: lot of time to lobbyists. They've had lobbyists descend on

88
00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:35,279
Speaker 2: Capitol Hill trying to lobby against the ban. Well, Saturday night,

89
00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:40,680
Speaker 2: at midnight, TikTok turned itself off. And I will tell

90
00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:43,599
Speaker 2: you there were teenagers and young people all across the

91
00:05:43,640 --> 00:05:47,440
Speaker 2: country that expressed enormous dismay when it shut down. But

92
00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:51,039
Speaker 2: they shut it down. And so TikTok for most of

93
00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:55,000
Speaker 2: Sunday was shut down, and then Sunday afternoon they turned

94
00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:56,880
Speaker 2: it back on, and they turned it back on because

95
00:05:56,920 --> 00:06:01,960
Speaker 2: Trump had indicated that he and ten to give TikTok

96
00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:05,000
Speaker 2: and other ninety days. The statute has a provision that

97
00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:08,760
Speaker 2: the president can extend the ban for ninety days in

98
00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:12,359
Speaker 2: order to help facilitate a sale of TikTok, and Trump

99
00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:15,400
Speaker 2: has said that's what he intends to do. Look my

100
00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:19,960
Speaker 2: view on this, if in the next ninety days TikTok

101
00:06:20,120 --> 00:06:26,520
Speaker 2: follows through and sells the company to a non Chinese buyer,

102
00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:30,839
Speaker 2: a non Chinese government controlled buyer, ideally to an American company,

103
00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:35,160
Speaker 2: that will be a very very good thing. The objective

104
00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:38,560
Speaker 2: of this law, it's important understand the objective of this

105
00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:43,080
Speaker 2: law was never to ban TikTok. The objective of this

106
00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:46,960
Speaker 2: law was to force the Chinese Communist government to end

107
00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:49,640
Speaker 2: its ownership and control of TikTok. I don't know if

108
00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:51,400
Speaker 2: that's going to happen. I hope it's going to happen.

109
00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:53,920
Speaker 2: I am not certain what Trump is going to end

110
00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:56,560
Speaker 2: up doing, but at least right now, he's indicating that

111
00:06:56,600 --> 00:07:01,080
Speaker 2: he intends to exercise the ninety day extension to give

112
00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:04,080
Speaker 2: TikTok time to consummate the sale. And so we'll see

113
00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:06,279
Speaker 2: what happens in the next ninety days.

114
00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:11,640
Speaker 1: One last thing about TikTok your opinion if it is

115
00:07:11,920 --> 00:07:15,280
Speaker 1: a threat to national security into our way of life,

116
00:07:15,320 --> 00:07:18,200
Speaker 1: and that's why you say it's so important for it

117
00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:21,720
Speaker 1: to be sold to a non Chinese control company.

118
00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:27,480
Speaker 2: Absolutely, that's why you had overwhelming bipartisan support for this

119
00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:31,320
Speaker 2: legislation because what China is doing with TikTok is is

120
00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:36,280
Speaker 2: really harmful, and it's a way to spy on Americans,

121
00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:40,800
Speaker 2: and it's also a way to really inject harmful content.

122
00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:43,960
Speaker 2: They're trying to drive our country in directions that tears

123
00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:47,520
Speaker 2: America down, and they're not doing it. You know, this

124
00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:50,720
Speaker 2: is not complaining about well, gosh, Hollywood producers are not

125
00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:55,040
Speaker 2: making wholesome movies anymore. This is an adversary that is

126
00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:59,840
Speaker 2: deliberately pumping propaganda to our children. And we would be

127
00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:02,680
Speaker 2: a foolish nation if we said, hey, we're great with

128
00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:05,800
Speaker 2: the Chinese communist having an open pipeline to our kids.

129
00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:09,240
Speaker 2: That's why Congress acted. And as I said, I don't

130
00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:12,440
Speaker 2: know what President Trump will do, but certainly my counsel

131
00:08:12,480 --> 00:08:16,200
Speaker 2: to him will be use this law as leverage and

132
00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:18,800
Speaker 2: let's force China to sell TikTok.

133
00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:21,920
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's going to be really interesting to see how

134
00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:24,720
Speaker 1: this happens. Let me ask you one final question on

135
00:08:24,760 --> 00:08:25,840
Speaker 1: this inauguration day.

136
00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:27,640
Speaker 2: Didn't you just have a final question?

137
00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:29,400
Speaker 1: I got No. This is overall though.

138
00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:32,319
Speaker 2: Are you like a used car salesman? One more thing?

139
00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:36,760
Speaker 2: One more thing? Would you? Would you like some undercover coverage?

140
00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:39,360
Speaker 1: Hey, I'm not there. I get my bonus question. That's

141
00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:42,480
Speaker 1: my story and I'm sticking with it. When you look

142
00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:47,880
Speaker 1: at where we are January twentieth, twenty twenty five, how

143
00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:51,240
Speaker 1: much how excited are you for what we're about to

144
00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:56,720
Speaker 1: witness compared to January twentieth of twenty seventeen, because of

145
00:08:56,800 --> 00:08:58,200
Speaker 1: how prepared we are this.

146
00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:01,920
Speaker 2: Time much more excited, because I think we're much more prepared.

147
00:09:01,960 --> 00:09:04,520
Speaker 2: We're hitting the ground running. As I said, the initial

148
00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:07,080
Speaker 2: Trump team they'd never done this before. The initial Trump

149
00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:09,720
Speaker 2: White House had never worked in the federal government. I

150
00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:13,160
Speaker 2: think there's just a much greater level of experience and

151
00:09:13,280 --> 00:09:16,440
Speaker 2: also awareness of the deep state, awareness of the career

152
00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:22,920
Speaker 2: bureaucrats who who who fight against a common sense, free market,

153
00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:26,600
Speaker 2: freedom oriented agenda. And look as I look at this

154
00:09:26,760 --> 00:09:29,520
Speaker 2: array of cabinet nominees, I'm really excited, and I think

155
00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:36,400
Speaker 2: the most consistent characterization of these are characteristic of these

156
00:09:36,440 --> 00:09:39,800
Speaker 2: nominees is that they're change agents. They're disruptors, and they're

157
00:09:39,920 --> 00:09:42,880
Speaker 2: they're going into these agencies to change and disrupt how

158
00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:46,040
Speaker 2: they operate. I think that's a very good thing. Now, listen,

159
00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:48,360
Speaker 2: there are gonna be moments of chaos. They're gonna be

160
00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:51,920
Speaker 2: mistakes that are made. The old Silicon Valley phrase of

161
00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:55,040
Speaker 2: of of you know, move fast and break things. I

162
00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:56,520
Speaker 2: think that's what we're going to see. They're going to

163
00:09:56,600 --> 00:10:00,360
Speaker 2: move fast and some things, some things won't work. But

164
00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:04,199
Speaker 2: I'm excited because I think the overwhelming majority of what's

165
00:10:04,200 --> 00:10:06,440
Speaker 2: accomplished will be very, very good for the country.

166
00:10:06,800 --> 00:10:09,199
Speaker 1: Now, if you want to hear the rest of this conversation,

167
00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:11,800
Speaker 1: you can go back and listen to the full podcast

168
00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:16,199
Speaker 1: from earlier this week. Now onto story number two, No

169
00:10:16,240 --> 00:10:18,480
Speaker 1: doubt about It. Lastly, I want to get your thoughts

170
00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:21,200
Speaker 1: on something that was said in Trump's first sit down

171
00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:25,600
Speaker 1: interview that he did in the Oval office. He did

172
00:10:25,600 --> 00:10:29,080
Speaker 1: it with our good friend Seohn Hannity, and he was

173
00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:32,920
Speaker 1: asked about the pardons that Joe Biden gave out, and

174
00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:34,800
Speaker 1: he made a comment, and I want to get your

175
00:10:34,840 --> 00:10:37,920
Speaker 1: reaction to it about, Hey, he may have messed up

176
00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:40,319
Speaker 1: because he didn't pardon himself. Take a listen.

177
00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:42,280
Speaker 3: He heard that I was going to do I didn't

178
00:10:42,320 --> 00:10:45,800
Speaker 3: want to do it. I was given the option. They said, sir,

179
00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:49,360
Speaker 3: would you like to pardon everybody, including yourself? I said,

180
00:10:49,400 --> 00:10:52,520
Speaker 3: I'm not going to pardon anybody. We didn't do anything wrong.

181
00:10:52,720 --> 00:10:56,040
Speaker 3: And we had people that suffered, their incredible patriots. We

182
00:10:56,160 --> 00:11:00,439
Speaker 3: had people that suffered. You had Bannon put in jail,

183
00:11:00,640 --> 00:11:03,760
Speaker 3: you had Peter Navarro put in jail. You had people

184
00:11:04,640 --> 00:11:09,520
Speaker 3: that suffered, and and far worse than that. They've lost

185
00:11:09,559 --> 00:11:13,200
Speaker 3: their fortunes, they've lost their whatever, their nest egg, paying

186
00:11:13,240 --> 00:11:17,880
Speaker 3: it to lawyers and those people and people said to you,

187
00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:20,440
Speaker 3: and they don't even they wouldn't have even taken most

188
00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:23,640
Speaker 3: of those people. They wouldn't have even taken apart. This

189
00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:26,320
Speaker 3: guy went around giving everybody pardons. And you know that

190
00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:31,439
Speaker 3: the funny thing, maybe the sad thing, is he didn't

191
00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:33,160
Speaker 3: give himself a parton.

192
00:11:33,679 --> 00:11:37,920
Speaker 1: He didn't give himself a pardon. Senator, I gotta I

193
00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:40,160
Speaker 1: gotta ask you your take on that is that is

194
00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:43,880
Speaker 1: that a foreshadowing comment coming from from Donald.

195
00:11:43,640 --> 00:11:48,920
Speaker 2: Trump there, well listen, it may well be. And we've

196
00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:51,840
Speaker 2: been been very clear. We've talked a lot on on

197
00:11:52,080 --> 00:11:56,280
Speaker 2: Verdict about how the scandal with with Hunter Biden and

198
00:11:56,320 --> 00:12:00,520
Speaker 2: the Biden crime family was never about Hunter being a

199
00:12:01,440 --> 00:12:05,200
Speaker 2: you know, guy who abuses drugs and has made a

200
00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:08,800
Speaker 2: lot of wrong choices in life. The scandal was always

201
00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:12,960
Speaker 2: that the entire Biden family made millions of dollars selling

202
00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:15,960
Speaker 2: favors from the big guy, selling favors from Joe Biden.

203
00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:19,439
Speaker 2: It was always about Joe Biden's corruption. And we talked

204
00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:23,400
Speaker 2: a lot about how the Biden doj The tell in

205
00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:26,440
Speaker 2: terms of whether they were being politicized on protecting Biden

206
00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:31,040
Speaker 2: would be if they fought in the Hunter Biden investigation

207
00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:36,480
Speaker 2: to protect Joe himself and to prevent any inquiry into

208
00:12:36,480 --> 00:12:39,880
Speaker 2: his corruption. If they kept it focused on the drug

209
00:12:39,920 --> 00:12:42,720
Speaker 2: crime or the gun crime, or even the the the

210
00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:46,199
Speaker 2: income tax crimes that were personal to Hunter rather than

211
00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:50,320
Speaker 2: examining the corruption, That's exactly what they did. And so

212
00:12:50,920 --> 00:12:54,360
Speaker 2: I think that corruption needs to be investigated. I think

213
00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:58,840
Speaker 2: we need to enforce the law fairly, regardless of party.

214
00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:02,280
Speaker 2: And I got to say, by the way, we predicted

215
00:13:02,280 --> 00:13:04,920
Speaker 2: on this podcast when when the we number one predicted

216
00:13:04,960 --> 00:13:07,520
Speaker 2: the Hunter Biden pardon, and in fact, I put the

217
00:13:07,559 --> 00:13:09,840
Speaker 2: odds of the Hunter Biden pardon at one hundred percent.

218
00:13:10,160 --> 00:13:12,120
Speaker 2: We even predicted the date. I said it would be

219
00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:14,640
Speaker 2: December of twenty twenty four. It happened on December first

220
00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:18,560
Speaker 2: of twenty twenty four. But second when that happened, we

221
00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:21,800
Speaker 2: went on this podcast and predicted said he's going to

222
00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:23,560
Speaker 2: pardon the rest of his family. Well he did that

223
00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:27,200
Speaker 2: on the very last day, moments before he left office.

224
00:13:27,200 --> 00:13:29,480
Speaker 2: He pardoned the rest of his family because they were

225
00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:31,480
Speaker 2: all involved in the corruption. They were all involved in

226
00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:34,480
Speaker 2: selling favors. And so right now the only one with

227
00:13:34,559 --> 00:13:37,959
Speaker 2: potential liability is Joe Biden himself. And you know, Trump's

228
00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:42,280
Speaker 2: right that it's interesting he didn't pardon himself. We'll we'll

229
00:13:42,320 --> 00:13:45,680
Speaker 2: see if that has real consequences. By the way, one

230
00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:49,240
Speaker 2: of the results of all these pardons is that Congress

231
00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:53,440
Speaker 2: can now subpoena the members of the Biden family and

232
00:13:53,520 --> 00:13:55,880
Speaker 2: force them to answer questions under oath, and they don't

233
00:13:55,880 --> 00:13:57,840
Speaker 2: have a Fifth Amendment right to decline to answer.

234
00:13:58,320 --> 00:14:01,120
Speaker 1: Really, okay, so why do you know that? Including me?

235
00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:04,120
Speaker 1: So explain that a little bit for everybody, because that

236
00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:05,280
Speaker 1: is that is big news.

237
00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:09,120
Speaker 2: So the Fifth Amendment says that you can't be forced

238
00:14:09,120 --> 00:14:13,000
Speaker 2: to testify against yourself. Now, that only applies if you

239
00:14:13,120 --> 00:14:16,240
Speaker 2: have criminal jeopardy. If you can be prosecuted. Once you've

240
00:14:16,280 --> 00:14:19,400
Speaker 2: been pardoned, you have no criminal jeopardy, which means you

241
00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:21,720
Speaker 2: don't have the right to say, I'm not going to

242
00:14:21,760 --> 00:14:24,120
Speaker 2: answer that because I might incriminate myself in a crime.

243
00:14:24,160 --> 00:14:27,560
Speaker 2: Because if it's a federal crime, you can't be prosecuted

244
00:14:27,600 --> 00:14:31,560
Speaker 2: for it, which means if you refuse to answer, you

245
00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:34,400
Speaker 2: can be held in contempt and put in jail. And

246
00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:39,000
Speaker 2: and so it uh, it has changed. I will be there.

247
00:14:39,280 --> 00:14:42,400
Speaker 1: There's a very there's a very real chance that members

248
00:14:42,440 --> 00:14:45,920
Speaker 1: of the Biden crime family that were pardon could be

249
00:14:46,040 --> 00:14:49,160
Speaker 1: asked to come and testify in Congress and they would

250
00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:51,680
Speaker 1: be forced to answer the questions for the reasons you

251
00:14:51,840 --> 00:14:52,880
Speaker 1: just stated, yep.

252
00:14:53,320 --> 00:14:55,440
Speaker 2: And if they don't, by the way, same is true

253
00:14:55,440 --> 00:14:59,360
Speaker 2: about Fauci that you know, you know, Biden pardon Fauci.

254
00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:02,440
Speaker 2: That means Fauci doesn't have a Fifth Amendment right to

255
00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:06,040
Speaker 2: refuse to answer questions under oath. I certainly hope that

256
00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:09,320
Speaker 2: he's forced to answer those questions, and I got to say.

257
00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:11,920
Speaker 1: So, on hypothetically, you get Fauci in front of you,

258
00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:14,440
Speaker 1: you start asking him questions and he just refuses to

259
00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:17,680
Speaker 1: answer those questions. Is that in contempt of Congress at

260
00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:18,520
Speaker 1: that point.

261
00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:20,880
Speaker 2: Well, Congress has to vote to hold him in contempt

262
00:15:20,880 --> 00:15:23,280
Speaker 2: for refusing to answer those questions, and then the Department

263
00:15:23,320 --> 00:15:26,080
Speaker 2: of Justice has to prosecute him. I got to say,

264
00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:28,200
Speaker 2: I think if Congress voted to hold him in contempt,

265
00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:30,600
Speaker 2: I think DOJ would prosecute him. And by the way,

266
00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:33,600
Speaker 2: to be clear, the Biden Department of Justice Trump mentioned

267
00:15:33,920 --> 00:15:36,720
Speaker 2: putting Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro in prison. They did

268
00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:39,360
Speaker 2: that because they held them in contempt to Congress, and

269
00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:43,480
Speaker 2: that was even aside from from pleading the fifth there

270
00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:46,480
Speaker 2: they just refused to testify, and they argued that they

271
00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:52,640
Speaker 2: asserted executive privilege, and DOJ prosecuted them after Congress, after

272
00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:55,080
Speaker 2: the House voter to hold him in contempt of Congress.

273
00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:57,360
Speaker 1: As before. If you want to hear the rest of

274
00:15:57,400 --> 00:16:00,280
Speaker 1: this conversation on this topic, you can go back and

275
00:16:00,360 --> 00:16:02,800
Speaker 1: now the podcast from earlier this week to hear the

276
00:16:02,960 --> 00:16:06,360
Speaker 1: entire thing. I want to get back to the big

277
00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:08,600
Speaker 1: story number three of the week. You may have missed,

278
00:16:09,280 --> 00:16:11,960
Speaker 1: so as I mentioned earlier, what he did do today

279
00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:15,840
Speaker 1: was some pretty incredible work on the Hill. Senator Cruz

280
00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:18,640
Speaker 1: question at least to phonic and the confirmation hearing, and

281
00:16:18,680 --> 00:16:20,160
Speaker 1: I want you to hear what he had to say.

282
00:16:20,520 --> 00:16:22,720
Speaker 1: Take a listen to what Senator Cruz had to say

283
00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:26,480
Speaker 1: today on Capitol Hill and the questioning of Elist to phonic.

284
00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:31,080
Speaker 2: Congratulations on your nomination. You're going to be terrific. I

285
00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:34,000
Speaker 2: want to go back to topic you discussed with Senator Cornyn.

286
00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:37,440
Speaker 2: I want to focus on a Ram's push to build

287
00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:42,440
Speaker 2: a nuclear arsenal, which poses I think the most immediate

288
00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:46,840
Speaker 2: and acute threat to American national security. When the Iatola

289
00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:51,840
Speaker 2: chance death to America, he means it, and I believe

290
00:16:52,200 --> 00:16:56,040
Speaker 2: he would absolutely detonate a nuclear weapon over an American

291
00:16:56,080 --> 00:17:00,800
Speaker 2: city if he could. The Trump administration got RAN's nuclear

292
00:17:00,800 --> 00:17:04,720
Speaker 2: program in a box and kept it there. President Trump

293
00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:09,400
Speaker 2: withdrew from the catastrophic Obama Iran nuclear deal in twenty eighteen.

294
00:17:10,240 --> 00:17:14,720
Speaker 2: He imposed maximum pressure. In twenty nineteen, he invoked the

295
00:17:14,840 --> 00:17:19,000
Speaker 2: UN snapback mechanism in the UN Security Council Resolution two

296
00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:23,560
Speaker 2: two three one to reimpose international sanctions in twenty twenty.

297
00:17:24,400 --> 00:17:28,240
Speaker 2: For that entire time, Iran was deterred from making significant

298
00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:32,159
Speaker 2: advances on their nuclear program. They did not even enrich

299
00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:38,920
Speaker 2: uranium above five percent or cascade advanced centrifuges. Starting in

300
00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:42,480
Speaker 2: November twenty twenty, the Iranian regime gambled that it could

301
00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:46,159
Speaker 2: start rushing to a nuclear arsenal and the incoming Biden

302
00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:53,720
Speaker 2: administration would let them. Unfortunately, that proved correct. In November,

303
00:17:53,760 --> 00:17:56,720
Speaker 2: the regime approved a new law calling for major nuclear

304
00:17:56,720 --> 00:18:03,359
Speaker 2: advances in January guarded enriching at twenty percent at fordoh

305
00:18:03,960 --> 00:18:07,639
Speaker 2: the underground enrichment bunker built into a mountain that the

306
00:18:07,680 --> 00:18:12,800
Speaker 2: Obama Iran nuclear deal left open. The incoming and Biden

307
00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:19,640
Speaker 2: administration responded with appeasement. In February, immediately after being inaugurated,

308
00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:23,879
Speaker 2: they rushed to the UN to rescind President Trump's snapback,

309
00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:30,600
Speaker 2: again allowing international sanctions to expire. For the next four years,

310
00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:36,399
Speaker 2: the administration continually dismantled pressure on the regime and refused

311
00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:41,639
Speaker 2: to impose sanctions. We know the result today, the Iyatola

312
00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:47,840
Speaker 2: has achieved a nuclear breakout time of zero. We now

313
00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:51,600
Speaker 2: face the very real possibility of an Iranian nuclear arsenal.

314
00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:54,520
Speaker 2: I do not believe that this is a threat the

315
00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:58,800
Speaker 2: US can tolerate, and I'm confident that both the President

316
00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:03,879
Speaker 2: and Secretary of State. I asked Secretary of State Rubio

317
00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:06,199
Speaker 2: whether he intends to go to the United Nations and

318
00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:10,439
Speaker 2: again trigger the snapback mechanism as a part of his

319
00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:15,600
Speaker 2: written testimony to this committee. Here was Secretary of Rubio's response, quote,

320
00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:18,760
Speaker 2: I believe it is in our national security interest for

321
00:19:18,800 --> 00:19:22,800
Speaker 2: the UN Security Council to snap back the sanctions that

322
00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:27,720
Speaker 2: were suspended under the JCPOA. I will execute the President's

323
00:19:27,760 --> 00:19:31,960
Speaker 2: guidance and work with our allies to ensure that snapback

324
00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:37,440
Speaker 2: takes place. First, do you agree with Secretary of Rubio's

325
00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:39,760
Speaker 2: assessment that it is in the national security interests of

326
00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:44,120
Speaker 2: the United States to snap back those sanctions? Yes, talk

327
00:19:44,160 --> 00:19:47,159
Speaker 2: about how you would execute a strategy to do so,

328
00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:49,880
Speaker 2: either unilaterally or working with allies.

329
00:19:50,560 --> 00:19:53,040
Speaker 4: We will have to That will be a strategy that

330
00:19:53,080 --> 00:19:55,520
Speaker 4: I developed with the National Security Council in Tanhem, with

331
00:19:55,560 --> 00:19:59,080
Speaker 4: Secretary Rubio and President Trump, to work with our allies

332
00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:03,119
Speaker 4: within the United Nations, within the Security Council, and there

333
00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:06,119
Speaker 4: are allies that are already considering this and looking at it,

334
00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:09,640
Speaker 4: and that has been publicly reported. But obviously, pushing back

335
00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:12,880
Speaker 4: on Iran is a top priority. It was a success

336
00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:16,400
Speaker 4: during President Trump's first term, and we've seen the catastrophic

337
00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:20,080
Speaker 4: results in loss of life during the previous four years

338
00:20:20,119 --> 00:20:23,280
Speaker 4: when you have had an embolded Iran that has led

339
00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:27,719
Speaker 4: to directly the October seventh terrorist attack against Israel and

340
00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:31,800
Speaker 4: his Belah firing tens of thousands of rockets against Israeli civilians.

341
00:20:32,440 --> 00:20:35,320
Speaker 2: Let's move to another topic. You and I talked about

342
00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:38,560
Speaker 2: the deep rot in the United Nations when it comes

343
00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:42,520
Speaker 2: to supporting terrorism against America and our allies, especially Israel.

344
00:20:43,320 --> 00:20:47,160
Speaker 2: As you discussed with Senator McCormick. ANRA has for decades

345
00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:50,560
Speaker 2: provided material support for Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza.

346
00:20:51,119 --> 00:20:54,439
Speaker 2: World Health Organization has also been deeply complicit in the

347
00:20:54,520 --> 00:20:58,600
Speaker 2: use of hospitals by Hamas for terrorist activities, including for

348
00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:03,000
Speaker 2: the holding of hostages. The complicity of these organizations deepened

349
00:21:03,240 --> 00:21:08,240
Speaker 2: after October seventh. The Biden administration embraced UNRA, and the

350
00:21:08,280 --> 00:21:13,440
Speaker 2: World Health Organization Congress prohibited the Biden administration from funding UNRA,

351
00:21:13,680 --> 00:21:19,960
Speaker 2: but the administration officials circumvented that prohibition by using UNRA infrastructure. Yesterday,

352
00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:23,320
Speaker 2: the President rightly and immediately withdrew our participation from them.

353
00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:26,159
Speaker 2: I think that was a critical first step. But the

354
00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:29,000
Speaker 2: next step is to enable American citizens to hold these

355
00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:33,960
Speaker 2: organizations accountable. We currently have a very odd legal environment

356
00:21:33,960 --> 00:21:39,119
Speaker 2: where these organizations enjoy more sovereign immunity than states and

357
00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:43,000
Speaker 2: thus are shielded from accountability. Last Congress, I introduced the

358
00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:45,919
Speaker 2: Liable Act and was joined by four current members of

359
00:21:45,920 --> 00:21:49,600
Speaker 2: this committee, including as well as Secretary of State Rubio.

360
00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:52,840
Speaker 2: The bill will allow American victims of terrorism and their

361
00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:57,159
Speaker 2: family to sue international organizations that support terrorism against this

362
00:21:57,240 --> 00:22:00,639
Speaker 2: I will soon reintroduce it in this Congress. What is

363
00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:03,960
Speaker 2: your understanding of the role these organizations have played in

364
00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:08,240
Speaker 2: facilitating terrorism against Americans, Israelis and our allies.

365
00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:13,160
Speaker 4: Well, UNRA, there were individuals in UNRA who participated, who

366
00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:19,400
Speaker 4: executed and committed terrorist acts against Israel. On October seventh, Sinwar,

367
00:22:19,480 --> 00:22:23,600
Speaker 4: the leader of Hamas carried an UNRA passport. You had

368
00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:27,960
Speaker 4: a HAMAS data center under UNRA headquarters. So the rot

369
00:22:28,119 --> 00:22:30,640
Speaker 4: is deep. Congress made the right decision. I was proud

370
00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:32,119
Speaker 4: to be one of the leaders when it came to

371
00:22:32,200 --> 00:22:36,359
Speaker 4: defunding UNRA, and I am committed to holding them accountable

372
00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:39,320
Speaker 4: and working with the US Senate and the US House

373
00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:42,480
Speaker 4: and the President. If that legislation passes.

374
00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:43,320
Speaker 2: Trifect, thank you.

375
00:22:43,560 --> 00:22:46,240
Speaker 1: Now, there's also other big news that we want to

376
00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:49,000
Speaker 1: talk about, and that deals with the Secretary of State.

377
00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:52,159
Speaker 1: The Secretary of State now has an even bigger job

378
00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:55,960
Speaker 1: than any Secretary of State had during the time of

379
00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:59,879
Speaker 1: Joe Biden Kamala Harris being in office. And what's really

380
00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:03,359
Speaker 1: cool about what's happening now is Donald Trump is empowering

381
00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:04,720
Speaker 1: leaders to do their job.

382
00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:05,240
Speaker 2: Well.

383
00:23:05,880 --> 00:23:08,439
Speaker 1: Now, there was some big breaking news, and that is

384
00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:11,560
Speaker 1: that President Donald Trump sign an executive order suspending all

385
00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:16,440
Speaker 1: US foreign assistance programs for ninety days, pending a comprehensive

386
00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:21,240
Speaker 1: review to ensure their alignment with his administration's policy objectives. Now,

387
00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:24,600
Speaker 1: this suspension affects a wide range of global initiatives, including

388
00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:30,080
Speaker 1: humanitarian aid, economic development, and health programs. Notably, the US

389
00:23:30,240 --> 00:23:34,359
Speaker 1: contributes approximately seventy point three billion annually in foreign aid

390
00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:39,280
Speaker 1: supporting various international efforts. So what did the President do.

391
00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:41,800
Speaker 1: He said, it's time for all of this to go

392
00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:45,600
Speaker 1: back under a review and is calling out other countries

393
00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:48,439
Speaker 1: for what he described was not paying their fair share.

394
00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:51,720
Speaker 1: Who's going to be looking over this, well, that would

395
00:23:51,760 --> 00:23:55,240
Speaker 1: be Marco Rubio. He will do a deep dive into

396
00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:58,440
Speaker 1: where your tax dours are going and then come back

397
00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:02,760
Speaker 1: with recommendations. What's also interesting is how this relates back

398
00:24:02,840 --> 00:24:06,439
Speaker 1: to Marco Rubio and his conversation with Senator Cruz on

399
00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:09,639
Speaker 1: January seventeenth. Take a listen to what he had to

400
00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:09,960
Speaker 1: say that.

401
00:24:10,160 --> 00:24:12,360
Speaker 2: Thank you, miss Chairman, and I got to say, boy,

402
00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:15,280
Speaker 2: that sounds good. Mister Chairman is as good as it

403
00:24:15,320 --> 00:24:18,440
Speaker 2: sounds to me. Thank you, well, congratulations and I'm looking

404
00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:20,760
Speaker 2: forward to the next two years working together. Thank you,

405
00:24:21,160 --> 00:24:23,560
Speaker 2: and the Sener Rubio, let me say congratulations to you

406
00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:25,520
Speaker 2: as well. We're going to miss you on this committee.

407
00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:27,160
Speaker 2: We're going to miss you in the Senate, but you're

408
00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:31,159
Speaker 2: going to do an extraordinary job at Foggy Bottom. And

409
00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:34,040
Speaker 2: I will say, if they capture you and tie you

410
00:24:34,160 --> 00:24:36,040
Speaker 2: up in the basement, we will send a team to

411
00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:41,240
Speaker 2: pull you out. You know, as I look back over

412
00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:45,000
Speaker 2: the last four years of the Biden Harris administration, there

413
00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:46,639
Speaker 2: are a lot of policies that have done a lot

414
00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:50,720
Speaker 2: of damage. Domestic policies economic policies. But I think all

415
00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:54,320
Speaker 2: of those pale compared to the damage that has been

416
00:24:54,320 --> 00:24:56,840
Speaker 2: done to national security and foreign policy over the last

417
00:24:56,880 --> 00:25:00,840
Speaker 2: four years. Over the last four years, this administration is

418
00:25:00,880 --> 00:25:06,520
Speaker 2: systematically undermined and abandon our allies, and it has systematically

419
00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:11,480
Speaker 2: shown weakness and appeasement to our enemies, and the consequence

420
00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:14,720
Speaker 2: has been disastrous. We've gone from four years ago peace

421
00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:20,040
Speaker 2: and prosperity to today a situation with wars across the

422
00:25:20,080 --> 00:25:24,800
Speaker 2: globe and every enemy of America stronger than they were

423
00:25:25,520 --> 00:25:29,359
Speaker 2: when this administration came into office. I am confident the

424
00:25:29,359 --> 00:25:32,280
Speaker 2: incoming administration is going to change that direction. I am

425
00:25:32,320 --> 00:25:34,720
Speaker 2: confident that President Trump and the White House, and you

426
00:25:34,800 --> 00:25:39,240
Speaker 2: as Secretary of State, are going to shift us back

427
00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:41,359
Speaker 2: to where we should be, which is standing by our

428
00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:46,040
Speaker 2: friends and allies and standing up to our enemies. Do

429
00:25:46,080 --> 00:25:48,200
Speaker 2: you agree with that assessment? Is that what you intend

430
00:25:48,240 --> 00:25:49,280
Speaker 2: to do a Secretary of State?

431
00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:51,600
Speaker 5: Well, let me say first, the foreign policy the United

432
00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:53,640
Speaker 5: States will be set by the President, and my job

433
00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:55,720
Speaker 5: is to advise on it and ultimately to execute. I

434
00:25:55,760 --> 00:25:58,320
Speaker 5: think the President has been abundantly clear and that is

435
00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:01,480
Speaker 5: his policy is going to be driven about making America safer, stronger,

436
00:26:01,520 --> 00:26:04,440
Speaker 5: and more prosperous. As I said in my opening statement,

437
00:26:04,560 --> 00:26:08,160
Speaker 5: everything the State Department does, every policy, every program, every

438
00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:12,080
Speaker 5: dollar it spends, every initiative it takes has to answer

439
00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:14,159
Speaker 5: three questions. Does it make us safer, does it make

440
00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:16,879
Speaker 5: us stronger? Or does it make us more prosperous? And

441
00:26:16,920 --> 00:26:18,879
Speaker 5: if it doesn't, if the answer is not yes to

442
00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:21,120
Speaker 5: one of those three, you're going to have a hard

443
00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:24,120
Speaker 5: time moving that forward because that's the priority to the president,

444
00:26:24,200 --> 00:26:26,240
Speaker 5: and that's the priorty that, by the way, voters gave

445
00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:28,920
Speaker 5: this president when they elected him. You point to a

446
00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:31,280
Speaker 5: number of things that I think are critically important that

447
00:26:31,480 --> 00:26:33,280
Speaker 5: and let me I'll phrase it a different way, but

448
00:26:33,359 --> 00:26:35,560
Speaker 5: I think we're saying the same thing. We have lost

449
00:26:35,560 --> 00:26:39,360
Speaker 5: to terrence and multiple theaters around the world. So as

450
00:26:39,359 --> 00:26:41,560
Speaker 5: an example, and I use this as a small scale example,

451
00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:43,280
Speaker 5: but it's really an important one. I think of the

452
00:26:43,359 --> 00:26:47,320
Speaker 5: year was twenty twenty, twenty nineteen, the Wagner Group tried

453
00:26:47,320 --> 00:26:50,280
Speaker 5: to get cute and came after some of Americans Americans

454
00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:54,160
Speaker 5: operating in Syria, and fire from the sky rained down

455
00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:57,400
Speaker 5: on them, and that group was pushed back pretty hard.

456
00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:00,480
Speaker 5: That's the terrence that they threatened us and they knew

457
00:27:00,520 --> 00:27:05,600
Speaker 5: what the response would be. I recall the consternation here

458
00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:09,560
Speaker 5: and in other places when Solomoni met his demise, but

459
00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:11,920
Speaker 5: I can tell you it impacted Ranian behavior for a

460
00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:14,600
Speaker 5: substantial period of time. No matter how tough they talked,

461
00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:17,720
Speaker 5: it impacted their behavior. I think it's important to re

462
00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:20,399
Speaker 5: establish the terrence and to the extent that that's been

463
00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:24,200
Speaker 5: lost for a variety of reasons. The lack of deterrence

464
00:27:24,280 --> 00:27:27,040
Speaker 5: is an invitation to war. The lack of deterrence is

465
00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:30,080
Speaker 5: an invitation to hostility. It prevents the very thing that

466
00:27:30,760 --> 00:27:33,600
Speaker 5: we hope to achieve, which is peace and stability in

467
00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:36,800
Speaker 5: the world. And I do think we've lost the terrence,

468
00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:39,520
Speaker 5: and I think in some ways it contributed to what

469
00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:42,119
Speaker 5: happened in Ukraine. An item I know is very close

470
00:27:42,119 --> 00:27:44,080
Speaker 5: to you and you've worked very on, and we talked

471
00:27:44,119 --> 00:27:48,040
Speaker 5: earlier today about is energy dependence. I recall President Trump

472
00:27:48,119 --> 00:27:50,840
Speaker 5: at both a NATO summit and at the United Nations,

473
00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:53,600
Speaker 5: and I recall the United Nations one in particular, President

474
00:27:53,640 --> 00:27:57,120
Speaker 5: Trump said Germany is dependent, entirely going to be left

475
00:27:57,119 --> 00:28:01,639
Speaker 5: dependent on China, on Russia its energy and they laughed

476
00:28:01,640 --> 00:28:04,160
Speaker 5: at him. There were diplomats in the hall that was snickering.

477
00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:06,560
Speaker 5: That's exactly what happened. It is one of the reasons

478
00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:09,680
Speaker 5: why Putin believed he could invade Europe is because Europe

479
00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:12,080
Speaker 5: would not push back because they depended on him so

480
00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:14,840
Speaker 5: much for energy. Now Europe is to be congratulated. They

481
00:28:14,840 --> 00:28:18,119
Speaker 5: have moved very swiftly, particularly the Germans, to diversify their

482
00:28:18,200 --> 00:28:21,480
Speaker 5: energy resources. But one could argue that we may never

483
00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:24,200
Speaker 5: have had that invasion had that depends and not existed,

484
00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:27,040
Speaker 5: because maybe who would have thought the European response would

485
00:28:27,040 --> 00:28:31,239
Speaker 5: have been more forceful than he anticipated. So I do

486
00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:34,320
Speaker 5: think re establishing deterrence and strength is important because it

487
00:28:34,359 --> 00:28:37,160
Speaker 5: prevents war and it gives us leverage and diplomacy, which

488
00:28:37,280 --> 00:28:40,240
Speaker 5: where we hope to solve ninety nine point nine percent

489
00:28:40,280 --> 00:28:43,800
Speaker 5: of the global disagreements we hope to solve through diplomacy,

490
00:28:43,960 --> 00:28:45,040
Speaker 5: not through armed conflict.

491
00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:46,920
Speaker 2: I think that's very well said.

492
00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:51,080
Speaker 1: As always, thank you for listening to Verdict with Center,

493
00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:53,560
Speaker 1: Ted Cruz Ben Ferguson with you don't forget to deal

494
00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:55,840
Speaker 1: with my podcast, and you can listen to my podcast

495
00:28:55,920 --> 00:28:57,920
Speaker 1: every other day. You're not listening to Verdict or each

496
00:28:57,960 --> 00:29:00,440
Speaker 1: day when you listen to Verdict afterwards, I love to

497
00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:02,960
Speaker 1: have you as a listener to again the Ben Ferguson

498
00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:06,040
Speaker 1: podcasts and we will see you back here on Monday morning.