Jill Biden’s ‘Stroke Scare’ sent Joe to Waffle House, U.S. Shipyards Roar Back to Life & Is NIL Killing College Athletics Week In Review

Summary

Podcast Summary: The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson

Episode: Jill Biden’s ‘Stroke Scare’ sent Joe to Waffle House, U.S. Shipyards Roar Back to Life & Is NIL Killing College Athletics Week In Review
Date: June 6, 2026
Host: Ben Ferguson (Premiere Networks)
Featured Guest: Senator Ted Cruz

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Overview

In this "Week in Review" episode, Ben Ferguson and Senator Ted Cruz recap and analyze three major stories from the week:

1. Jill Biden’s controversial comments after President Biden’s disastrous debate and her claim of a "stroke scare"
2. The renaissance of American shipbuilding, major investments in the U.S. Coast Guard, and new jobs on the Texas Gulf Coast
3. The crisis in college athletics caused by NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) and transfer portal chaos—and a new bipartisan Senate bill aiming to save college sports

The discussion is candid, unfiltered, and occasionally combative, with direct critiques of the Biden administration and celebration of recent legislative victories.

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Key Discussion Points

1. Jill Biden’s ‘Stroke Scare’ and Debate Fallout

(Starts ~02:30)

Main Points

• Jill Biden has been making media rounds to promote her new book and frame the aftermath of Joe Biden’s disastrous debate with Donald Trump.
• She stated she feared Joe was having a stroke during the debate, but her subsequent actions (attending a campaign party and Waffle House visit) cast doubt on her narrative.
• Ferguson and Cruz analyze the credibility of Jill Biden’s claims and the implications for public trust.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Ben Ferguson [03:26]:
  “It’s either senior abuse or you’re a pathological liar, or both.”
• Senator Ted Cruz [04:01]:
  “We told verdict listeners at the time, you’ve just watched the single most consequential presidential debate in American history. … This debate will change the names on the ballot in November.”
• Jill Biden Quote via Ben Ferguson [04:53]:
  “I thought, oh my God, he’s having a stroke. And it scared me to death.”
• Senator Ted Cruz [06:26]:
  “Anyone who is watching their spouse and thinks they're having a stroke would do that. She didn't do that. She went to the campaign party. She cheered and celebrated.”
• Senator Ted Cruz [09:25]:
  “Every Democrat aide knew that he was in massive mental decline. Every reporter knew that. … ABC knew that. CBS knew that. … And yet Democrats say, you know what? If he's there, we get to run things.”

Key Insights

• Both hosts reject Jill Biden’s claims as implausible, suggesting a cover-up or deliberate misrepresentation.
• Cruz reveals he never spoke to Joe Biden in person during his presidency, a major break from precedent, and claims this was to conceal Biden’s decline.
• The discussion is laced with frustration at media and Democratic silence during the campaign.

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2. U.S. Shipyards Roar Back to Life – Coast Guard Investment & National Security

(Starts ~15:27)

Main Points

• Massive $24 billion investment in the Coast Guard, the largest in U.S. history, to fund new ships and infrastructure, with an emphasis on Arctic security.
• Historic shipbuilding returns to Galveston, Texas, with over 2,000 jobs created in a new shipyard focusing on Arctic ice cutters.
• The Trump administration’s involvement in expanding the number of ice cutters commissioned and bringing shipbuilding to both Texas and Louisiana.
• The move is framed as “America First,” bolstering national security and ending reliance on foreign shipbuilding.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Senator Ted Cruz [16:10]:
  “We funded more than $24 billion—billion with a B—into the Coast Guard. That is the largest single investment in the history of the United States and the Coast Guard.”
• Senator Ted Cruz [19:56]:
  “That's going to fuel a renaissance of shipbuilding right here on the Texas Gulf Coast."
• Senator Ted Cruz [21:08]:
  “Galveston was called the Queen of the Gulf Coast ... the Wall Street of the Southwest ... and the Ellis Island of the South.”
• Senator Ted Cruz [23:54]:
  “Trump said, that's not enough. I don't want five to six (ice-cutters), I want 11 ... and it was a win, win. ... We're going to be able to compete with and protect our national security in the Arctic against Russia and China.”

Key Insights

• The investment is portrayed as a pivotal national security and economic win, a concrete example of populist, America-centric policy.
• The historical context of Galveston’s shipbuilding legacy is highlighted, underscoring the pride and symbolism of “born on the island” (BOI) jobs.
• Cruz and Ferguson narrate the inside struggle to secure Texas as the site, a political and economic victory.

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3. Is NIL Killing College Athletics? The Crisis & a Bipartisan Solution

(Starts ~27:56)

Main Points

• The new NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) system, combined with the unfettered transfer portal, has pushed college sports to the brink:
  • Athletes transferring multiple times, playing into their late 20s
  • Financial insolvency for most athletic programs; Olympic and non-revenue sports cut
  • Risk of only football and basketball thriving, everything else going “club”
• Senator Cruz introduced the bipartisan “Protect College Sports Act” with Maria Cantwell and others to address the crisis, setting federal standards.
• Legendary coach Nick Saban testifies to the unsustainable arms race in NIL spending.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Coach Nick Saban [via recording, 29:29]:
  “My first year (with NIL) ... 2.7 million. Next year, 7 million. Next year, 10 million. I retired. Next year, 17 million. Next year, 24 million. Now you have schools that have close to 40 million dollar rosters.”
• Senator Ted Cruz [30:44]:
  “If we don’t act, I think within five years we will see 30 to 50 colleges that have a football program and they'll basically be an NFL. And the rest ... will be obliterated.”
• Ben Ferguson [32:26]:
  “There are so many young men ... that said they literally believe they would either have been dead, they would have been in a gang if it wasn’t for sports ... sports actually saved their life.”
• Senator Ted Cruz [34:21]:
  “We’ve had over 130 signatures from leaders at more than 65 universities come out in support of the bill. ... President Donald J. Trump came out strongly in support of the bill.”
• President Trump’s quote via Cruz [~36:00]:
  “College sports, a great American institution ... is a total mess ... Women's sports and the Olympics itself are in the most danger from this catastrophic situation ... We have to save college sports.”
• Senator Ted Cruz [38:26]:
  “We can’t pass this bill unless you get at least 60 votes in the Senate. That means you need at least seven Democrats. ... I’d like to see a big bipartisan vote.”

Key Insights

• Cruz and Ferguson argue that the new NIL landscape threatens opportunities for hundreds of thousands of student-athletes, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, and risks destroying the unique American tradition of collegiate sports.
• The Protect College Sports Act is presented as a rare and urgent bipartisan effort, with broad support from universities, athletic associations, and the White House.
• Listeners are encouraged to contact their senators and urge passage to preserve college athletics.

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Important Timestamps

• 02:30 — Joe & Jill Biden’s debate night, “stroke scare,” and credibility questions
• 04:53 — Jill Biden’s quote about fearing Joe had a stroke
• 09:25 — Cruz claims every Democrat and reporter “knew” about Biden’s decline
• 15:27 — Coast Guard investment and shipbuilding announcement
• 21:08 — Historical context: Galveston as a shipbuilding center
• 23:54 — Details on the ice cutter contract, Texas/Louisiana rivalry, and Trump’s push for more ships
• 27:56 — College sports crisis, unfettered NIL, and transfer portal chaos
• 29:29 — Coach Nick Saban’s testimony before Senate committee
• 32:26 — Ferguson on positive impacts of college sports
• 34:21 — Broad support for Protect College Sports Act; Trump’s endorsement
• 38:26 — Legislative maneuvers, need for bipartisan Senate approval
• 40:33 — How listeners can help: contacting senators

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Notable Quotes (with Attribution & Timestamps)

• Ben Ferguson [03:26]:
  “It’s either senior abuse or you’re a pathological liar, or both.”
• Senator Ted Cruz [04:01]:
  “This debate will change the names on the ballot in November.”
• Jill Biden via Ferguson [04:53]:
  “I thought, oh my God, he’s having a stroke. And it scared me to death.”
• Senator Ted Cruz [09:25]:
  “Every Democrat aide knew that he was in massive mental decline ... They all knew that.”
• Senator Ted Cruz [16:10]:
  “We funded more than $24 billion—billion with a B—into the Coast Guard. That is the largest single investment in the history of the United States and the Coast Guard.”
• Coach Nick Saban [29:29]:
  “My first year we had collective at Alabama, 2.7 million. Next year 7 million. Next year, 10 million. I retired. Next year 17 million. Next year 24 million. Now you have schools ... at 40 million dollar rosters. ... we'll lose Olympic sports, non revenue sports, scholarships ... basically football and basketball succeed and we'll have club sports for everything else.”
• President Trump (read by Cruz) [~36:00]:
  “College sports ... is a total mess ... Women's sports and the Olympics itself are in the most danger from this catastrophic situation ... We have to save college sports.”

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Overall Tone & Style

• Direct & combative: Especially regarding the Biden administration and Democrat leadership.
• Patriotic & prideful: When discussing U.S. shipbuilding, national security, and American sports traditions.
• Urgent & solution-oriented: On the need to fix college athletics before irreversible damage occurs.
• Conversational, with humor: Personal anecdotes and playful jabs.

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Summary for New Listeners

If you missed this episode, expect incisive political commentary, detailed policy discussion, and a blend of historical insight, legislative process, and passionate advocacy from Ben Ferguson and Senator Ted Cruz. The hosts aren’t afraid to criticize political opponents or rally support for causes they believe vital to the nation's future.

Transcript

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[Ben Ferguson]

with Ted Cruz Weekend Review Ben Ferguson with you and here are some of the stories that you may have missed that we talked about this past week. First up, Joe Biden wants you to buy her new book. She also is trying to rewrite history and tell you that her husband was totally fine, even though she thought he was having a stroke during the debate with President Trump. So why did she take him to a campaign event right afterwards and then to Waffle House? We'll dive into that in just a moment. Also, in a big move for America's national security, we're bringing shipbuilding back to the United States of America instead of relying on foreign countries would put our national security in major risk. And lastly, Senator Cruz authoring legislation that could save college sports and the president, United States of America saying he's all in for it as well. It's the week in review and it starts right now. I want to move finally on to Joe Biden, and you want to talk about a dumpster fire of interviews. Joe Biden's out there. I, I was like, is she. I, I literally was searching. I'm like, is she promoting a book and did she write about autobiography? She's out there doing all these interviews, trying to rewrite history, but also want you to feel sorry for her and her husband saying that his bad night. She was terrified he was having a stroke. The only problem is, after she thought he may be having a stroke in that debate with Donald Trump, she had no problem taking him to campaign event and then to a Waffle House and said on TV with him, stand there. I'm so proud of you. You did such a great job tonight. It's either, I'm like, all right, well, it's either senior abuse or your pathological liar or both.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, you and I did an emergency podcast the night of that debate. We did it immediately as the debate concluded, and we told verdict listeners at the time, you've just watched the single most consequential presidential debate in American history. And the reason is, and you and I predicted that night as the debate ended, this debate will change the names on the ballot in November. This debate was such a disaster, such a train wreck. The Democrats will do what we're worried they're going to do with Graham Platner, which is pull them off and put someone else on. The Democrats are really, Republicans are lousy at this, by the way. Republicans almost never managed to do this. The Democrats are ruthlessly efficient. And, and we saw that debate. We saw it went badly. But it turns out apparently Jill Biden thought it went even worse than we did. Give a listen to what she Said she thought when she was watching the debate.

[Ben Ferguson]

Were you horrified as you saw it unfold? I wasn't horrified. I was frightened because I had never ever seen Joe like that before or since. Never since? Yes. Never seen. Never. No. What happened? I don't know what happened. I mean, when I. As I watched it, I thought, oh, my God, he's having a stroke. And it scared me to death. Senator, if you think that your spouse is having a stroke, A, why would you leave him on stage? B, why would you then take him to a campaign event afterwards and see why would you then go to Waffle House and send it to a doctor? And D, if this is the worst it ever was and the whole world saw that exact moment, it's never been anywhere close before or after. You're either a pathological liar, A, or B, you're either a pathological liar who's crazy. You pick which one you want to be.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Look, Ben, this is an area where. Where I think the American people have a great sense of intuition, of judging whether someone's speaking the truth or lying. You asked the right question. What would you do if you believed your spouse, your spouse of many decades was having a stroke? And the answer every one of us would give. The answer you would give. The answer I would give. The answer everyone would give is you take your doctor, your spouse to the hospital immediately.

[Ben Ferguson]

Regardless of what they're doing.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Regardless of what they're doing, they're having a stroke. And look, maybe you don't rush out and pull them off national tv. I don't know about that. But at a minimum. So suppose you just. Just, just. You're scared, but you don't. As soon as it was over, how do you not say, we're going to the emergency room, we're going to go, okay, you don't want a big public, public brouhaha, all right? Get a doctor when you're watching it. He's having a stroke. Get a doctor here right now. The instant he steps off stage, I want him being examined like, like, like that. Anyone who is watching their spouse and thinks they're having a stroke would do that. She didn't do that. She went to the campaign party. She cheered and celebrated. I'm actually not critical. Like, like you're giving. You're giving harsh criticism because she said he did great. Look, she's a campaign spouse. Every campaign spouse is going to say that. I'm understanding of that. If I do a terrible job at a debate, I don't really want Heidi to go, wow, he really Crapped the bed. Like, like, like that.

[Ben Ferguson]

And I understand that. But my, my point is the pathological lying aspect of this. I don't believe for a second that she's telling the truth. And she says it's the worst it's ever been. It only happened that one time. It happened to be the one and a half hours that was on national television during a presidential debate. I don't believe her, number one. And number two is if you are, I mean, center, let's, let's go to debate night with you. If I thought as one of your friends that you're having a stroke and you could make it till the end, I would immediately do what you just said. And I'm not your spouse and I think your team would. But second of all, I think you'd also, if you thought there was a medical issue there, you probably would actually let people know because they did. Remember, they made up an excuse. They lied and said he had a cold. Like, if you thought something was bad, that's your alibi to get out of a terrible debate. But which is why I think they didn't actually say it is because this was the cognitive normal for him. And so I think it's another part of the pathological lying of the Democratic Party in the COVID up is that they're like, no, no, no, this, she says one time, no, it wasn't. This is the guy that wasn't running the country. Somebody else was in the White House. And then they glide and covered it up. And now she's saying it only happened one time. I don't believe her for a moment.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, and in fact, listen to a reporter ask, asking her about whether this had been going on for a long time. Give a listen.

[Ben Ferguson]

Did you ever see signs that he was falling into cognitive decline? No, no, no. Truly, No. I mean, that's just totally insane. Everyone saw it. There was examples that you could actually give that were caught on tape. And then I go back to what she said. It was the worst I ever saw. I thought he was having a stroke, but I didn't do anything when he was having the stroke. And I never saw anything like this ever again. This is why I think so many Americans have distrust for politicians and why you should even be asking more questions now about who the hell was running the country. Was it Joe Biden? I don't know.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And by the way, I'll say again, I am, I am more forgiving of Jill Biden of the spouse. But every Democrat aide knew that he was in massive mental decline. That he was not capable of doing the job. Every reporter knew that. ABC knew that. CBS knew that. NBC knew that. CNN knew that. MSNBC knew that. They all knew that.

[Ben Ferguson]

And where are these questions when the campaign was going on? Right.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Every Democrat Senator, every Democrat House member, they all knew that. The four years Joe Biden was president, do you know how many times I spoke with him in person during those four years?

[Ben Ferguson]

I'm going to guess one or zero.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Zero. Not a single time. That is weird. It is a regular part of the job of being a senator to talk to the President. When Obama was president, I talked to him regularly. When Trump is president, I talk to him sometimes every week or sometimes even every day. Last time I talked to Trump was three days ago. It is weird. And by the way, it was not just me. Almost every single Republican senator did not speak to him at all during his presidency. We would sit around at lunch and talk about how weird it was that the White House would not let us talk to the President and understand we all knew him. Joe. Joe was a man of the Senate for 40 plus years. So every one of us had a personal relationship with Joe Biden. And the fact that they wouldn't let him speak to us was a screaming alarm bell that his mental capacity has diminished so much that they couldn't let us see it. And it's why the debate was so high risk, because there you had the TV cameras going and you couldn't have an aide step in and save him. And, but, well, by the way, what are the Biden staff say about Jill Biden's comments about thinking he was having a stroke? Well, an Axios reporter said, quote, ex Biden aides simply don't believe Jill Biden.

[Ben Ferguson]

And there's your sign.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, there's your sign. No kidding. But, but I'll tell you, and this story links back to the story we started with. Number one, Democrats in the party and the media do not care about anything other than power. That, that sounds too harsh, but they were willing to have for four years and potentially for eight years someone who was senile, who was unable to put together coherent thoughts. As the Commander in Chief understand, Joe Biden could have pushed a button, launched our nukes and annihilated mankind from the face of the planet.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yep.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And yet Democrats say, you know what? If he's there, we get to run things. So, you know, what does it matter if our enemies look at the Commander in Chief and think he's a addled old man who can't operate the TV remote control? Yeah, that level of cynicism. Frankly, it's the same thought process that says what does it matter if someone is a commie, Nazi, misogynist racist? What does it matter? My party gets to stay in power, so that's good by me. There is look, I I think it is number one we keep and by the way, Swalwell, they were fine. Someone's a re a repeat sexual predator. They were great with him until there was a political problem. And then with all three, they immediately jettison them and throw them out the back. I'm going to try to be restrained and say that is not the behavior of a party that gives a damn about principle.

[Ben Ferguson]

Now, if you want to hear the rest of this conversation, you can go back and listen to the full podcast from earlier this week.

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mom, can I have Lingokids? Dad, Lingokids, please. When did we become the Lingokids house?

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No idea. Last week it was dinosaurs.

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[Ben Ferguson]

Now on to story number two. I want to move center on to another really interesting story. It deals with national security, especially what's happening in the Middle east and Iran right now. And something that we've highlighted and talked about on this show in the past, and that was that ship building was not happening in the United States of America. That is a national security issue. And it was a very clear national security issue that was brought up. You were one of those sounding the alarm on it because when you're dependent on your ships being made overseas and you have things that happen, whether it's Covid. Right. That's not even a war. But with COVID and all of these issues that we're now seeing in the Middle east, we needed to bring ship building back to the United States of America. And now we are seeing that actually happening.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah. Another one of the major provisions of the working families tax cut was the funding for the Coast Guard. And the way it works in the Senate. When you're writing a bill in reconciliation, which is the process we used to pass the working families tax cut, each committee chairman writes the portion of the bill that is within his or her jurisdiction. I'm the chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. We've got jurisdiction over about 40% of the US economy. Every single provision that was in my jurisdiction I was responsible for writing. And I did write. One of the subjects that is within the jurisdiction of the Commerce Committee is the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard falls within our jurisdiction. We funded more than $24 billion billion with a B into the Coast Guard. That is the largest single investment in the history of the United States and the Coast Guard. I want to give you a sense of the order of magnitude of that. The annual budget of the coast guard is between 11 and 12 billion dollars. In one year. We invested more than double the annual budget of the Coast Guard to rebuild their fleet, to rebuild, to purchase new ships, to purchase new helicopters, to purchase new capital and infrastructure. One of the biggest elements of our investment was Arctic ice cutters. So if you look at the Arctic, near the North Pole and all around the Arctic, that is a major national security contested domain. Russia and China are both killing us in the Arctic and the United States has fallen way behind. And we put in the funding to build new Arctic ice cutters. And the Trump administration signed a contract to purchase 11 new Arctic ice cutters and, and in particular to build many of them here in the United States. So I started this week, Monday morning down in Galveston, Texas. And in Galveston, we had a groundbreaking for a brand new shipyard where there's over a billion dollars being invested. It's going to create more than 2,000 jobs to build Arctic ice cutters. And not only is that important for that investment, those new jobs, but that's an expertise that doesn't exist in the United States. We're going to see more commercial ships built in the United States and in Texas and Galveston and Port Arthur because of this investment. I spoke at the groundbreaking. Give a listen to what I had to say at the groundbreaking. And I was very proud when President Trump announced that three and a half billion dollars was going to Davy Defense to build five Arctic security cutters and to build them here in the Texas Gulf Coast. That is going to produce over 2000 high paying jobs here on the Texas Gulf Coast. And, And mark my word, that's just the beginning because that is going to fuel a renaissance of shipbuilding right here on the Texas Gulf Coast. A final observation about Galveston. Folks here are really particular about Galveston. It's a thing you will learn. There's a phrase that folks from Galveston will tell you, which is boi, born on the islands. And it's a little bit, there's an old line that you never ask anyone if he's a Texan. If he is, he'll tell you. And if he's not, you don't want to embarrass the guy I love.

[Ben Ferguson]

By the way, that, that, that line there, Senator, because it is, by the way, totally accurate. But this is a really big I, I think moment, as you described it, for national security. It also makes us not dependent on, on foreign countries and foreign workforces for things that deal with national security. This is part of what you've been advocating for with America first policy is with the Trump administration as well and being able to do this and do it quickly and also to get these cutters back into the Arctic where we need them. From a national security standpoint, this is a big win all the way around and it produces American jobs and not just a few. As you mentioned, you've got thousands and then you have the support jobs around those jobs as well.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, that's right. And let me tell you a little bit of History. Look, you're a relatively new Texan. You're from Memphis. So this is a bit of history that I shared at the press conference that you may not know and that everyone in Galveston knew, but maybe other people don't. So Galveston used to be the largest city in Texas.

[Ben Ferguson]

Wow.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Galveston was called the Queen of the Gulf Coast. Galveston was also called the Wall street of the Southwest. And Galveston was called the Ellis island of the South. And just like Ellis island, when people came as immigrants, they would come to Galveston. That was the port of entry where vast numbers of people came to America through Galveston. And what happened is, in 1900, there was a devastating hurricane that killed between 8,000 and 12,000 people in Galveston. And they didn't have the technology to have any early warning signs. So the hurricane just hit and destroyed the city. And it remains the single most devastating natural disaster in US History. But a really cool fact that I pointed out, and I bet you you don't know this, Ben. In 1836, Galveston was the capital of the Republic of Texas. The Republic of Texas. We were our own nation, and Galveston was our capital right when we became our own nation. And so I said, look, it's really special that we're seeing thousands of new manufacturing jobs coming to Galveston, shipbuilding jobs. And I mentioned in the clip, we just played the phrase boi. And by the way, you'll meet people from Galveston who are fifth, sixth, seventh generation Boi, born on island. And what I called for at the press conference, I said, listen, every. Every Arctic ice cutter you build there, I turned to the CEO of the company, Davies, that's going to be building them. And I said, I hope and expect on every one of those Arctic ice cutters, somewhere in the interior, on the hull, you will engrave the simple letters boi, because those Arctic ice cutters will have been born on the island of Galveston. And that's an awesome thing, but it's an awesome thing for American jobs. You look at what President Trump is fighting to do. What I'm fighting to do, it is bring jobs back to America, manufacturing jobs. And I'll tell you a little bit. Let me bring you a little bit inside the story. So the bill we wrote, we had the funding for what was likely to be five to six Arctic ice cutters. And there was a battle. There was a battle that went to the. To the. To the White House about where that contract would go. And that battle was principally between Texas and Louisiana. Now, I love Louisiana. My parents met in New Orleans. My mom went to high school in Baton Rouge, Rouge, Louisiana is a great state. And to be clear, Louisiana is the home of the speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, and Steve Scalise, the House Majority Leader. They're both very good friends. They were understandably fighting for their state and wanted the shipbuilding in Louisiana. I was fighting for Texas. And I will tell you, it was a knife fight at the White House. I spoke repeatedly to the President of the United States. I spoke to the senior staff in the White House over and over and over again. And it was a real fight. We didn't know who was going to win, Texas or Louisiana. And I want to give the President real props here. Look, we all know before he was in the White House, the President was a businessman and he is very committed to getting more for less. So the proposal, the legislation that had been passed, was funding to build five to six new ice cutters. Trump said, that's not enough. I don't want five to six, I want 11. And so they found new funding that had been appropriated by Congress and what they ended up doing was approving both. So there's several ice cutters being built in Louisiana, there are several being built in Texas. And it was a win, win. And it's a great example. He went to the shipbuilding companies and he said, I want you to cut your prices and deliver more ships. And they did. And this was not staff driven. This was, you know, Trump is a builder, so he, I mean, he likes things like negotiating a contract and he leaned in and instead of five to six ice cutters, we're getting 11. Instead of just one place, Louisiana or Texas, we're getting both. And we're getting thousands and thousands of new jobs and we're going to be able to compete with and protect our national security in the Arctic against Russia and China. It is a win, win all around.

[Ben Ferguson]

As before. If you want to hear the rest of this conversation on this topic, you can go back and download the podcast from earlier this week to hear the entire

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[Parent]

with my mom and dad living in Orange county, when we bring my five and seven year old to visit, we are sometimes in for a two hour drive that could feel like ten.

[Ben Ferguson]

Oh, as an avid camper, I know all about this. We'll pack up the RV and know this is either going to be the trip of a lifetime or a complete disaster.

[Parent]

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[Ben Ferguson]

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[Ben Ferguson]

today we'll attempt a feat once thought impossible. Overcoming high interest credit card debt. It requires merely one thing thing. A SoFi personal loan. With it you could save big on interest charges by consolidating into one low fixed rate monthly payment. Defy high interest debt with a SOFI personal loan. Visit sofi.com stunt to learn more. Loans originated by SOFI Bank n a member FDIC. Terms and conditions apply. NMLS 696891 I want to get back to the big story number three of the week you may have missed.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, this week I chaired a hearing on college sports and saving college sports and we've talked before on Verdict about how college sports is in crisis right now. It is chaos. You've got an out of control transfer portal with athletes transferring three, four, five times. You've got people playing until they're 26, 27, 28 years old. You've got people with six, seven years of playing time. You have virtually every athletics program in the country losing money and losing millions or even tens of millions of dollars. Schools are going, they're canceling programs every week. You're seeing women's sports getting canceled. You're seeing Olympic sports getting canceled. You're seeing your favorite tennis getting canceled. That happened at Arkansas just a few weeks ago. And it is, if we don't act, we are going to see much of college sports decimated and destroyed. And so last week I introduced bipartisan legislation with Maria Cantwell. Maria Cantwell is a Democrat from Washington state. She is the ranking member, the senior Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee. I'm the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee. This week we had a big hearing and we heard testimony from leaders in college athletics about the urgency of solving the crisis. Now one of our witnesses was coach Nick Saban, the legendary coach of Alabama. And coach Saban's testimony was incredibly powerful. And give a listen to a little bit of coach Nick Saban on why Congress needs to pass our Protect College Sports Act.

[Ben Ferguson]

All right, let's play for you. Nick Saban, part of what he had to say in front of your committee hearing. It truly was impressive to hear him talk about sports, especially in front of Congress. Take a listen. Let me give you the history. My first year we had collective at Alabama, 2.7 million. Next year 7 million. Next year, 10 million. I retired. Next year 17 million. Next year 24 million. Now you have schools that have close to 40 million dollar rosters. So if we continue to do that, we're going to lose Olympic sports, we're going to lose non revenue sports, we're going to lose scholarships. And basically what's going to happen is you're going to have football and basketball succeed and we'll have club sports for everything else. He's not wrong by the way. Center I, I was in one of those non money making sports, tennis. Right. You had a lot of friends that you, that you get to know that are in those Olympic sports, for example, that would all disappear. And when you think about having a college RO at 80 million if you're a student athlete, that in theory sounds great, but that's only in two sports. Really the majority of that 80 are. You know he's talking about Alabama. I mean there's not that much in basketball I promise you at Alabama. So unless you pick football, you're left behind. And that's the reason why you're taking this action now. And, and why Saban was saying what he was saying at the time.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, and that there's only a handful of powerhouses that, that, that that generate and can dominate football. And, and so what if we don't act? I think within five years we will see 30 to 50 colleges that have a football program and they'll basically be an NFL. And the rest of the schools, their Programs will be obliterated. And there are a lot of reasons that's tragic. One is just sports brings us together. Sports is so much fun. Look, we're divided on so many issues today. We scream at each other. It really is hard to find common ground. And yet you can go cheer on your alma mater and you can be there with people of different parties, people of different races, people of different religions, and you're all standing together. That's really important. Every bit as critical as that is. College sports is an amazing avenue for education for millions of young men and women. And until I really started diving into this topic and working to save college sports, I hadn't really focused on how. College athletics is something that is unique in the United States. No other country has anything remotely resembling what we have here with college sports. There are today more than a half million college athletes right now every year. Athletics enables kids, many kids from low income homes, many minority kids who otherwise might not have had a chance to go to college. It enables them to go to college, to study, to get a degree, to learn skills, to learn hard work and discipline and teamwork and sportsmanship.

[Ben Ferguson]

Accountability, just showing up. I can't tell you how much I learned from just the accountability, which, by the way, made me a better person. It made me better in business, it made me better in my job that I, that I did afterwards. There are so many young men when I was at Ole Miss that said they literally believe they would either have been dead, they would have been in a gang if it wasn't for sports keeping them out of trouble in high school. And then they said if it wasn't for college and getting that college education, they would have immediately been into bad stuff on the streets. They said that sports actually saved their life. And not only saved their life, a lot of them, they were the first member of their family to ever go to college. And they went because they were an incredible athlete. It gave them the opportunity, it gave them a free education that seemed unattainable and it completely changed their family's trajectory in life. I think that's one of the most important things about college sports that people don't talk about.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

No, that is exactly right. And the status quo is unsustainable. If Congress doesn't act, we will end up with hundreds of thousands of those college athletic positions going away and those kids, many of them, having no chance to go to school, to go to college, to get those skills, those life skills that set them up for success. And look, the way I approach this, I didn't worry too much about the top 1%. I didn't worry about the Michael Jordans or Mannings. I worried about the 99 of college athletes who are never going to play pro ball. But it's giving them opportunity.

[Ben Ferguson]

I had a ton of people center that were calling me. I had friends and people I've known in the past come out of the woodwork because they knew how important this bill was. They knew how important it was to you asking me questions. There was a lot of people saying they're just not going to be able to get this done. There's no way you'll get bipartisanship here. That seems to not be true. And they said, well, there's no way, even though he'll be able to get the White House behind it. That also doesn't seem to be true either. There is a lot of growing bipartisan support here to get this thing done.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, there is. And I worked for months. Marie Cantwell and I negotiated. We sat in a conference room six, eight hours a day negotiating provision by provision by provision. We introduced it with Cantwell and myself, a Democrat and Republican, and also with Eric Schmidt, a Republican from Missouri, and Chris Coons, a Democrat from Delaware. So we had two Democrats, two Republicans on the bill and we've seen phenomenal support for it. So the ACC has come out emphatically in support of it. The Big 12 has come out emphatically in support of it. Condoleezza Rice at Stanford has come out emphatically in support of it. At the hearing, Pete Bavacqua, the athletic director at Notre Dame, testified strongly in support of it. Gordon Gee testified at the hearing, former president of West Virginia University, also Vanderbilt, has been a president of actually five universities. He testified that this is a crisis and this bill is the only hope to save college. And we've had already We've had over 130 signatures from leaders at more than 65 universities come out in support of the bill. And importantly this week, President Donald J. Trump came out strongly in support of the bill. He sent a truth social that I want to read to you. Here's what he said. College sports, a great American institution that produces our many athletes, leaders and Olympic dominance is a total mess. And everyone is saying that it must be fixed. After unending lawsuits and crazed rulings, there are virtually no limits anymore. And soon most colleges won't have sports because each and every one of them will be bankrupt, never to be heard from again. Women's sports and the Olympics itself are in the most danger from this Catastrophic situation. College sports are turning into pro sports, except with absolutely no rules. A result no one wants. University presidents, conference commissioners, student athletes, coaches and athletic directors all complained to me that it has become a disaster after years of no action and that schools were losing hundreds of millions of dollars a year. They compared it to a freight train that can't be stopped. That is why a few months ago I convened a roundtable bringing together a world class team of some of the best sports executives, student athletes and political leaders in our country. The goal was to find a bipartisan solution to fix the problem. Based on these meetings and the expertise of the leading authorities, I signed an executive order. But I always said that the best solution was to get a bipartisan act through Congress to my desk in order to save a long and embarrassing road through hell for these institutions. I'd like to thank Senators Ted Cruz, Eric Schmidt, Maria Cantwell and Chris Coons, among others, for introducing the Protect College Sports Act. This law resolves many of the most urgent issues challenging our universities and student athletes, stops the chaos, and most importantly, it may be the last chance to save college sports and colleges themselves before it's too late. The House has worked long and hard on this issue as well, and I'm very grateful to Speaker Mike Johnson and Leader Steve Scalise for their work to fix this very major problem. I urge the House and Senate to come together to pass a final bipartisan law that I can sign this summer that reflects the views and input of both chambers and in all caps, we have to save college sports. Thank you for your attention to this matter. President Donald J. Trump. The support we're seeing is really significant and I think we're gonna see, I hope and believe, a big bipartisan vote in the Senate behind this bill.

[Ben Ferguson]

What's the timeline now and how much is there gonna be people pushing since now this has become so, you know, such a big discussion to try to change things last minute. Is that gonna be a problem and what does that look like?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Oh, look, that is going on and there are, there are a handful of people that are criticizing and throwing. But I'll tell you, most people are shocked that we could actually find a bipartisan compromise. And listen, one of the natures of that, that means that I had to give quite a bit and the Democrats had to give quite a bit to find a common ground because we can't pass this bill unless you get at least 60 votes in the Senate. That means you need at least seven Democrats. There are only 53 Republicans. And my objective, frankly, is to get a lot more than 60 votes. I'd like to see a big bipartisan vote come out of the Senate. The House has tried several times to fix this problem, and unfortunately, every time they try to take up a bill, it's failed in the House. And so I think the Senate has got to step in because the clock is ticking. And I will say that there's a real risk also of the biggest players coming together to form a super league. And I think that would be disastrous for everybody else and not good for fans. Let's take my home state of Texas. Look, my home state of Texas, if Congress does nothing in three to five years, I am certain that the University of Texas will survive, and I'm certain A and M will survive. They're so big. They have such a big donor base and alumni base. They'll survive no matter what happens. But it's not at all clear that the other players in Texas survive. It's not clear that TCU or SMU or University of Houston or Rice or Texas Tech or Baylor, all of the different programs in Texas, they could go under in the status quo. And I think that would be a terrible outcome if we lose historic programs all over Texas. Not just football, but when you lose football, football pays for all the other sports. So when you lose football, you end up losing the, the entire array of sports. That would be tragic and we can't let it happen.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, you're absolutely right there. If people want to get behind this legislation, is this one of those where they talk to their and their congressman? Who do they need to contact quickly?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Look, the first order of business is your senator. And urging your senator, whether your senator is a Republican or Democrat, urging your senator get behind this bill, the bipartisan Protect College Sports Act. There's an urgency I am hoping to move quickly on this. I'd like to get a big vote in the Senate. Once we get it out of the Senate, then the next step will be the House. But calling your senator, going on social media, speaking out and saying that sports, college sports should be saved, that's really valuable.

[Ben Ferguson]

As always, thank you for listening to Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you. Don't forget to download my podcast and you can listen to my podcast every other day. You're not listening to Verdict or each day when you listen to Verdict afterwards. I'd love to have you as a listener to again the Ben Ferguson Podcast. And we will see you back here on Monday morning this July 4th.

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[Ben Ferguson]

mom, can I have Lingokids? Dad, Lingokids, please. When did we become the Lingokids house?

[Parent]

No idea. Last week it was dinosaurs.

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[Ben Ferguson]

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[Senator Ted Cruz]

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[Senator Ted Cruz]

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[Ben Ferguson]

wrestling.com why should you listen to Armstrong

[Senator Ted Cruz]

and Getty on demand?

[Ben Ferguson]

We're not boring.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

A lot of news is boring and tedious and depressing and makes you angry. You don't want to live your life like that. Hey, I'm Jack Armstrong.

[Ben Ferguson]

He's Joe Getty.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

We're Armstrong and Getty. We try to bring you the truth and help you figure out this crazy

[Ben Ferguson]

modern world about something about a comedic tone.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

We have a winner. Yes. Listen to Armstrong and Getty on Demand on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.