Biden Lied About Laptop from Hell, Catch and Release but w Terrorists at the Border plus Trump Luncheon-What's Next w GOP Week In Review

Summary

The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson Episode Summary: "Biden Lied About Laptop from Hell, Catch and Release but w Terrorists at the Border plus Trump Luncheon-What's Next w GOP Week In Review" Release Date: June 15, 2024

In this pivotal episode of The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson, host Ben Ferguson engages in a profound discussion with Senator Ted Cruz, delving into critical and timely political issues. The conversation is segmented into three primary topics: allegations against President Joe Biden concerning the Hunter Biden laptop scandal, the ongoing national security threats at the southern border, and the recent unity within the GOP propelled by former President Donald Trump’s engagements. Below is a comprehensive summary of the episode.

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1. Biden and the Hunter Biden Laptop Controversy

The episode opens with a heated discussion between Ted Cruz and Ben Ferguson regarding President Joe Biden's handling of information about his son, Hunter Biden's, laptop. Senator Cruz vehemently accuses the Biden administration of deception and calls for accountability.

• Allegations of Deception:

  • Ted Cruz [00:11]: "He's now been busted lying to the American people along with the intelligence community. They knew when they gave him that letter to get him through the presidential debate claiming that the Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation, the entire time they knew they were lying to the American people."

  • Unnamed Senator [02:33]: "Every word Biden said there was a deliberate lie. ... he was lying because it helped him politically."

• Impact of the Letter:

  • Ted Cruz [00:04]: Emphasizes the significance of the letter used during the presidential debate as a “get out of jail free excuse” for Biden.

  • Unnamed Senator [03:18]: "Biden would be president now if it wasn't for that letter."

• Media and Intelligence Community's Role:

  • Leslie Stahl [02:09]: Highlights that "50 former National Intelligence folks" have dismissed Biden's claims about the laptop as Russian disinformation.

  • Joe Biden [02:20]: "You mean the laptop is now another Russia, Russia, Russia hoax?"

• Consequences and Accountability:

  • Ted Cruz [04:42]: Criticizes CBS and journalist Leslie Stahl for not verifying the laptop's authenticity, labeling their coverage as a "flat out lie."

  • James Clapper [05:29]: "He stands by the letter of the laptop."

The senators express frustration over what they perceive as a coordinated attempt by the Biden administration and the media to downplay the laptop scandal, arguing that it significantly influenced the 2020 election in Biden's favor.

2. Border Security and Terrorist Threats

Transitioning to national security, the discussion pivots to the alarming rise in terrorist activities at the U.S. southern border, particularly focusing on individuals connected to the ISIS K faction.

• Recent Arrests:

  • CBS News Reporter [13:01]: Reports on the arrest of eight individuals from Tajikistan with possible ties to ISIS K across major U.S. cities.

  • Unnamed Senator [14:02]: "This is a big damn deal. We have eight suspected terrorists with ISIS K who've been arrested."

• Patterns of "Catch and Release":

  • Ben Ferguson [13:07]: Highlights the recurring issue of terrorists being apprehended but subsequently released due to overwhelmed border security systems.

  • Unnamed Senator [17:15]: References previous incidents, including the release of a known terrorist in April, emphasizing the recurring failures of border policy.

• Warnings from Authorities:

  • Christopher Wray [20:37]: Warns about the dangerous threats emanating from the border, specifically mentioning ISIS K's activities.

  • Unnamed Senator [21:52]: Stresses the lack of action from Democrats in addressing these security breaches, citing inaction even in the face of multiple warnings.

• Legislative Inaction:

  • Unnamed Senator [21:52]: Criticizes Democrats for blocking the impeachment of Alejandro Mayorkas and not addressing the escalating terrorism risks, stating, "We are on borrowed time... it's only a matter of time before, tragically, Americans are going to die."

The conversation underscores the senators' urgent call for stricter border controls and accountability within the Biden administration to prevent potential terrorist attacks reminiscent of September 11th.

3. Trump’s Recent Luncheon and GOP Unity

The final segment focuses on former President Donald Trump's recent meetings with GOP leaders, highlighting a newfound unity within the Republican Party and outlining strategic plans for the upcoming election cycle.

• Trump's Engagements:

  • Unnamed Senator [23:07]: Details Trump's meetings with House Republicans and GOP Senate leaders, noting an atmosphere of enthusiasm and collaboration.

• Signs of Republican Unity:

  • Unnamed Senator [23:31]: Observes, "The biggest thing about the lunch that struck me was the unity in the room... everyone in the room was focused on winning in November and turning the country around."

  • Ted Cruz [26:37]: Emphasizes the importance of this unity for passing legislation swiftly if the GOP gains control of both the House and Senate.

• Policy Focus Areas:

  • Border Security: Reiterates the necessity to secure the border as a foundational step towards national safety.

  • Energy and Inflation: Criticizes the Biden administration's energy policies, linking them to rising inflation, and asserts that reversing these policies will alleviate economic pressures.

  • National Security: Highlights the administration's financial dealings with Iran, promising to terminate such actions under a Trump presidency.

• Strategic Planning:

  • Unnamed Senator [27:17]: Discusses proactive measures taken by GOP leaders, including strategic legislative agendas to ensure swift action within the first hundred days of a potential Trump administration.

  • Ted Cruz [30:40]: Reflects on past legislative battles, urging the current GOP to learn from previous mistakes and seize legislative opportunities promptly.

• Call to Action:

  • Unnamed Senator [21:51]: Concludes with a rallying cry, "The only solution is the ballot box is throwing Joe Biden, the Democrats out of office. And then listen in January in a Trump administration that we're going to secure the damn border."

This segment encapsulates the GOP's strategic vision and the leadership's commitment to immediate and impactful policy changes, positioning former President Trump as the catalyst for a unified and effective Republican agenda.

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Conclusion

Throughout this episode, Ben Ferguson and Senator Ted Cruz present a compelling critique of the current Biden administration, emphasizing alleged deceit in the Hunter Biden laptop saga and significant national security lapses at the southern border. Concurrently, they highlight a revitalized and unified Republican Party, poised to implement substantial policy changes under former President Trump's leadership if elected. The conversation is marked by fervent calls for accountability, robust border security, and economic reforms aimed at mitigating inflation and enhancing national safety.

Notable Quotes:

• Ted Cruz [00:11]: "They knew when they gave him that letter to get him through the presidential debate... they knew they were lying to the American people."

• Unnamed Senator [02:33]: "He was lying because it helped him politically."

• Unnamed Senator [17:53]: "This is happening over and over and again."

• Unnamed Senator [21:51]: "The only solution is the ballot box is throwing Joe Biden, the Democrats out of office."

This episode serves as a crucial update for listeners seeking insight into the current political landscape, offering an in-depth analysis of ongoing controversies and the strategic maneuvers within the GOP as they gear up for future elections.

Transcript

[Ted Cruz]

Welcome. It is Verdict with Ted Cruz, Week in Review. Ben Ferguson with you. And we've got a lot of major stories that you may have missed that we talked about this week.

[Ben Ferguson]

First up, Joe Biden.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah, he's now been busted lying to the American people along with the intelligence community. They knew when they gave him that letter to get him through the presidential debate claiming that the Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation, the entire time they knew they were lying to the American people. Will there be accountability for that? We're going to talk about it. Also, terrorists are coming across the southern border and we're catching them and the Biden administration is letting them go. Now we have multiple terrorists that are connected with ISIS k who have been arrested in this country. And finally, Donald Trump has closed door meetings with House Republicans and the GOP in the Senate. And what they have planned next, if he wins, is going to be huge for this country. We'll break all that down for you. It's the weekend review and it starts right now.

[Ben Ferguson]

Hold on.

[Ted Cruz]

Let's not forget this. Let's remind people why that letter was so important. It was before a presidential debate and they needed a get out of jail free excuse.

[Unnamed Senator]

Yeah. And Biden cited the letter in the debate. He relied on it. Here, take a listen.

[Joe Biden]

If this is true about Russia, Ukraine, China, other countries, Iraq, if this is true, then he's a corrupt politician. So don't give me the stuff about how you're this innocent baby Joe, they're calling you a corrupt politician.

[Donald Trump]

Nobody's President Trump. I want to stay on the issue of race. We're talking about from hell, President Trump. Nobody talking about race right now. And I do want to stay on the issue of race. President Trump, Now I have to respond to that, please, because look, very quick.

[Leslie Stahl]

There are 50 former National Intelligence folks who said that what this he's accusing me of is a Russian plant. They have said that this is has all the care. Four, five former heads of the CIA, both parties say what he's saying is a bunch of garbage. Nobody believes it except his and his good friend Rudy Gianni.

[Joe Biden]

You mean the laptop is now another Russia, Russia, Russia hoax? That's exactly what this, exactly what this is where he's going. The laptop is Russia.

[Donald Trump]

I want to stay on the issue of race.

[Joe Biden]

You have to be kidding. Here we go again with Russia.

[Donald Trump]

We're going to.

[Ted Cruz]

I will. By the way, how the whole time the moderators like, we got to move on from this. We got to, we got to move on as fast as we can. We don't need to be talking about this.

[Unnamed Senator]

Any topic about this. Look, I mean, the, the, the moderators, they, they might as well wear Biden campaign hats. And that, that, that is just where the press is. And they're even worse now. But, but every word Biden said there was a deliberate lie. And by the way, Hunter Biden knew as an absolute fact the laptop was accurate then, which means either Joe Biden knew as a fact that it was accurate, or if he didn't know, it's because he didn't want to know it. He didn't ask his son. Those are the two options. So he was lying. And he was, he was lying because it helped him politically. And the person who organized that letter was Tony Blinken. The reward for doing that, Blinken becomes the US Secretary of State. That's how important it was.

[Ted Cruz]

That letter saved him. I mean, let's be clear. I don't think he would have been. Joe Biden would be president now if it wasn't for that letter.

[Unnamed Senator]

And it was a flat out lie. And you look at the press. All right, Take a listen to Leslie Stahl when she's interviewing Trump and she's making very much the same point.

[Joe Biden]

I think it's one of the biggest scandals I've ever seen. And you don't cover it. You want to talk about.

[Unnamed Senator]

Well, because it can't be verified.

[Joe Biden]

You want to talk about insignificant things. I'm telling you, of course it can be verified. Excuse me. They found the laptop, Leslie. Can't be verified.

[Unnamed Senator]

What can't be verified?

The laptop.

[Joe Biden]

Why do you say that? Even the family hasn't. The family on the laptop. He's gone into hiding for five days. He's gone into hiding. He's preparing for your debate. Oh, it's taking him five days to prepare. I doubt it. I doubt it. Okay.

[Unnamed Senator]

All right. So let's get back to the name calling.

[Ted Cruz]

I love that. So let's, let's just get back to the name calling here. We're going to move on. We can't talk about it because I've.

[Unnamed Senator]

Got an agenda and facts can't get in the way. Look, Leslie Stahl pretends she's a journalist. That's 60 Minutes. That's CBS. And what she's saying, it can't be verified is a flat out lie. Of course it could be verified. It's called journalism. But CBS had no interest in doing journalism, nor do they now. You know, if Leslie stall.

[Ted Cruz]

She gave him an excuse. She said there. Well, he's Been.

[Unnamed Senator]

Well, they're busy. They're preparing for the debate. So. So you can't expect them to respond to the overwhelming evidence of corruption because, you know, let's get back to the name calling. I'm busy attacking you, Donald Trump. So. So don't you bring up anything that Biden is doing. And, you know, look, if Leslie Stahl, if any journalist had a shred of integrity, they would stand up and say, I was totally wrong, what I said was false, I didn't do my job, and I apologize. She's not going to do that. None of them are. And by the way, the people who have signed this letter, they're not coming back and admitting, okay, I was completely full of crap and I lied to the American people right before an election. And it influenced the election profoundly.

[Ted Cruz]

Not just that. James Clapper told Fox News that he stands by the letter of the laptop.

[Unnamed Senator]

You know, the Biden intelligence and the Obama intelligence, hardcore partisans. Facts have no bearing for them. They, they are so partisan, they will stick to their lie no matter what.

[Ted Cruz]

Senator, what. One other question I want to ask you about your trip before we wrap things up is you met with a guy by the name Zelinsky. Now, what matters the most to me was, was he wearing a suit or was he still wearing the military fatigues? I just, I got to know.

[Unnamed Senator]

Yeah, no, he was in the military fatigues. That's what he wears every day.

[Ben Ferguson]

Oh, man.

[Ted Cruz]

I mean, back in the good old days when he's meeting with Trump and you guys, he was wearing a suit when he came to ask for money.

[Unnamed Senator]

Yeah, ever since the war started, he, he's, he's in the fatigues every day. And so he was in kind of a olive, olive green sweatshirt.

[Ted Cruz]

So you meet with them and he's got a bunch more money. A couple, you know, a couple hundred million dollars more. Two hundred and something, I think, is what, is what Biden said during this trip that he was going to give to them. Again, you guys met with him. What was it like this time? And what did he have to say?

[Unnamed Senator]

So, well, there was a group of senators that went to D day for the 80th anniversary of D Day, went to Normandy, and there were 19 senators. It was a big, big trip. And there were, I think, 53 House members. So it was a significant percentage of the United States Congress. And so Zelensky sat down, had a meeting with all the senators, and then after that, he had a meeting with the House members. So both sides sat down and met with him. We met in the Historic Talleyrand Hotel, which is this beautiful hotel in Paris that actually the US Government now owns. It's no longer a hotel, and it is where the Marshall Plan was signed. And so there's a big room that has gold, you know, gold on the ceiling. It's very elaborate, and it's a historic meeting space. So that's where we met. And it was a good discussion. Look, Zelensky was there with several of his aides, and he was describing what is happening. And he was. You know, he is a wartime leader. And listen, there are some who are big critics of Zelensky. I don't put myself in that camp. I think he is trying to defend his nation from an invasion and an invasion from Russia, and Vladimir Putin is a bad guy. And so Zelensky is doing what you would hope any leader, when his country is at war, is doing, which is trying to defend his country and trying to get help wherever he can get it. And so he's coming in and he's asking for American help, and he's laying out his goals in the war. And so he laid them out. And then each of us had the opportunity to ask questions. My principal question, I asked him, I said, how would you define victory? What does victory mean, and what is the path to getting there? Look, I want Russia to lose the difficulty. And I gotta say, that question that I asked, he didn't really answer me on how he would define victory. He has, in other contexts, define victory as Ukraine winning back essentially every square inch of territory that Russia has taken. I understand why Zelensky would say, that's victory. If you were Zelensky, you'd probably say the same thing. But. But that doesn't mean it is in the United States interest to demand every square inch of territory be taken back. The reason we have an interest in this war is that we want. We do not want our enemy, Russia, to win and get stronger, and instead, we want Russia to be weaker so that they're less able to pose a threat to America. There are also, by the way, very, very significant resources, in particular rare earth minerals in Ukraine that are critical for the economy going forward. One of the reasons Russia's invading Ukraine is to get a stranglehold on those rare earth minerals. We don't want Putin to have those. That would not be good for America. And so. But, you know, what was really striking then is in the meeting with Zelensky, and we also had a classified meeting with senior leaders of the Pentagon talking about details of what exactly is happening in the war. Where the battles are, where the victories are, where the losses are. And it was a very interesting and worthwhile briefing. But the question of what does victory mean? This administration is not asking that question. No Democrat in that room is asking that question. What is victory? And I gotta say it, really, you know, what it struck me is we went out to lunch two days ago at a little Paris cafe in between meetings. And we're sitting there at lunch talking. And I was. Most of the senators there at the lunch table were Democrats, and they were all talking about Vietnam. And it struck me, looking around the table, that they're all baby boomers. They're all children of Vietnam. They all kind of got their start in politics protesting against Vietnam. And look, for you and me, I mean, neither of us were alive when Vietnam was a thing. You weren't alive at all. And I was like two when the Vietnam War ended. So I have no memories. Vietnam did not impact my awareness of the world. It was done by the time I was learning about the world. And so I gotta say, a lot of the boomers, particularly the Democrat boomers, they took the wrong lesson from Vietnam. And I think there are lots of lessons to take from Vietnam, but one of the central ones is that you should have a clear, defined objective that you know what it is that is directly related to your national security that is achievable. You should have a plan to achieve it, and then you should get the hell out. And Vietnam, we just let it go on and on and on and be a quagmire and just kept pouring money and American soldiers and lives into it without a clear objective that we were willing to use overwhelming force to accomplish. This administration has no objective. They can't articulate one. They're not even asking that question. That is infuriating.

[Ted Cruz]

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

[Ben Ferguson]

From earlier this week.

[Ted Cruz]

Now on to story number two.

[Ben Ferguson]

Senator, as. As I said at the beginning, shocking how crazy the news cycle is in the last 24 hours. Hunter Biden trial is a big story. Yes, being found guilty. But there is an even bigger story that we have been warning about for months on this show, and that is prospective terrorists. Those that are on the terrorist watch list, hundreds that have been caught, a lot of gotaways that have not been caught. And even when terrorists are getting caught, we're letting them go. This is the second story of this happening. And now we have multiple arrests of ISIS K coming across our southern border. Here is how CBS News broke the story last night.

[CBS News Reporter]

Eight individuals, all from the Central Asian country of Tajikistan, were arrested in Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia. They entered the United States this year and in 2023, crossing the Mexican border, they were vetted and allowed to remain in the country. CBS News has learned. Further investigation uncovered the men had possible ties to ISIS K the terror group which claimed responsibility for an attack at a Moscow concert hall that killed more than 140 people earlier this year.

[Ben Ferguson]

Senator, that's eight across the entire country from the extreme west coast to the east coast and Philadelphia. And this are. These are just the ones that we've caught that have been arrested. You've been warning about this open border and we've had the numbers to back it up of those on the terrorist watch list. And the administration is saying were willing to roll the dice and taste at risk to bring in illegal immigrants.

[Unnamed Senator]

Well, sadly, that's exactly right. This story is a big damn deal. We have eight suspected terrorists with ISIS K who've been arrested. They've been arrested in Los Angeles, in New York and in Philadelphia. Now they came into this country illegally at our southern border. The Biden administration apprehended them and then they let them go. They let terrorists go. And I've been saying for a long time we are at a greater risk of a major terrorist attack in the United States right now than we have been any time since September 11th. And let's go. So the first outlet to break this story was the New York Post. And the New York Post announced that these people had been arrested. And they were arrested in a coordinated sting operation that occurred in three cities. Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia. Two ICE sources confirmed to the Post that they arrested six people from Tajikistan over the last week after the FBI contacted the agency to warn them. Two others who were part of the same group were also arrested after being under surveillance for several months by the multi agency Joint Terrorism Task Force. Part of the investigation featured a wiretap which revealed one of the now arrested individuals was talking about bombs. And here's a quote, quote, remember the Boston Marathon bombing? I'm afraid something like that might happen again or worse. One of the sources told the Post. The subject, the target it was. The subject to the wiretap was previously released by federal authorities at the southern border with a court date next year. But it has since emerged that he has potential ties to isis. And by the way, it is worth noting, who is ISIS K? So ISIS K is a splinter group, but it is the group that carried out the terror Attack that, that, that we just saw the terror attack that, that happened in the concert hall in Moscow and that was carried out by terrorists from Tajikistan. So the same country. These folks are from the same terror group, ISIS K. And remember what they did? They killed 145 people in that Moscow terror, terror attack. And so the Biden administration has an open border. It is effectively a red carpet. If you're a terrorist, come to America and we, the idiot Democrats will let you in if we catch you. And by the way, they catch all these guys because. And what happens, they turn around and let them go. How many terrorists are Joe Biden and the Democrats gonna let go? And by the way, is anyone in the news covering this? Is anyone asking Joe Biden, this? Is anyone asking any other Democrat? You know, I've got 51 Democrat colleagues. How many of them in Capitol Hill are being asked, why does your party keep releasing terrorists into America? And why are you endangering the lives of American families across this country?

[Ben Ferguson]

This goes back to another story that happened in April and we talked about it here. There was a man on the terror watch list that was released also by Border patrol. With border security funding blocked in Congress, this became an issue. And they said, quote, the case illustrates the challenges U.S. officials face in identifying migrants who pose national security threats because we're being overrun at the border. NBC News at the time, and we played this and I just think it's important to remind them it's not just these eight ISIS K. But, but go back just to April 11th. NBC News.

[Unnamed Senator]

This is happening over and over and again.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, listen to what they said back in April.

[NBC News Reporter]

An alarming development and the border crisis. Among the record number of migrants crossing the southern border was a member of an Afghan terror organization who was released into the US by border agents. According to US officials, 48 year old Mohamed Harwin illegally crossed into California in March of last year. His name is on a US terror watch list identifying him as a member of Hague, a terror group that's killed Americans in Afghanistan.

[Ben Ferguson]

I mean, Senator, this is, this is another story that is completely unrelated. A month before that we found out that another man on a terrorist watch.

[Ted Cruz]

List was released and they had to.

[Ben Ferguson]

Go grab him up in upstate, I think it was upstate New York. So, so you have these, these headlines that keep happening. We are catching some of these people and we're releasing them because we're overrun.

[Unnamed Senator]

So.

And it's worth remembering that the FBI director, Chris Wray has repeatedly testified before Congress about possible ISIS terror plots being carried out on US Soil and the group's potential for using the southern border to get into this country illegally. And Chris Wray has warned about a possible, quote, coordinated attack that could take place on the United States from ISIS K. So they know this risk is there. And I want to point out also, you know, we had a couple of months ago, we had the impeachment of Alejandro Mayorkas and it came over to the Senate and I and many others on the Republican side wanted to lay out the facts that this administration, that Mayorkas lawless refusal to follow federal, federal immigration law and his. His releasing of millions and millions and millions over 11 million illegal immigrants that have come into this country under Joe Biden that a major threat from that are the terrorists that they keep releasing over and over and over again. And it's worth noting, Ben, every single Democrat voted not to hear the case, to throw it out, to dismiss it. At the outset. They didn't want to hear the evidence of terrorists being released in the country. They didn't want to allow the House managers to present that evidence. They didn't want the American people to hear that evidence. And we are on borrowed time. It is not complicated that if you continue to invite terrorists from all over the world, whether Hamas or Hezbollah or Palestinian Islamic Jihad or ISIS k or anybody else, if you invite terrorists from all over the world, come into this country, if when you catch them, you release them and allow them to continue planning terror attacks, it is only a matter of time before, tragically, Americans are going to die.

[Ben Ferguson]

March 11 Christopher Wray in his own words before Congress.

[Christopher Wray]

From an FBI perspective, we are seeing a wide array of very dangerous threats that emanate from the border. There is a particular network that has where some of the overseas facilitators of the smuggling network have ISIS ties that we're very concerned about and that we've been spending enormous amount of effort with our partners investigating that.

[Ben Ferguson]

That's at least his second, if not third warning to Congress, I think in the last six to seven months. Senator, does this give you guys leverage to now say we've got these eight ISIS K? ISIS K is the same group that had the spinoff that had the attack in Russia. The FBI director has now warned us a couple times, why are you guys not changing the policy at the southern border? Mr. President, and clearly you should know now from all of these warnings that.

[Ted Cruz]

This policy is a disaster.

[Ben Ferguson]

And there are multiple terrorists that are already in this country that we don't know where they are.

[Unnamed Senator]

So frankly, the only leverage we have is what I'm doing right now is shining a light and informing the American people. Why is that? Because not a single Democrat in the United States Congress cares. Look, the mayorkas impeachment, every single Democrat, all 51 of them, they voted. Nope.

We don't want to hear the evidence.

We don't care. I sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee. In three and a half years of Biden's presidency, we have had zero hearings on the risk of terrorism from illegal immigrants coming into this country. Joe, that Joe Biden and the Democrats, they don't want to hear it. Which means as long as Chuck Schumer is the majority leader and the Democrats have control over the Senate, the Senate is not going to do anything. And there are 49 of us. We can jump up and down and yell, but 49 cannot outvote 51. And so fundamentally, the Senate will do nothing as a matter of law to hold Joe Biden, the Democrats accountable and the media will do nothing. It's why you and I do this podcast. Because the only solution is the ballot box is throwing Joe Biden, the Democrats out of office. And then listen in January in a Trump administration that we're going to secure the damn border. But you've got to have a president willing to follow the law, and Joe Biden refuses to follow the law as before.

[Ted Cruz]

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 thing. I want to get back to the big story number three of the week.

[Ben Ferguson]

You may have missed.

[Ted Cruz]

Senator. This was a very interesting moment on Capitol Hill. Donald Trump came and met with a lot of the Republican leadership. A lot of your colleagues were there. And the initial reports that came out were saying it was a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of excitement from the Republican leaders that were there. You were in the room. Tell us what was happening.

[Unnamed Senator]

So I was. So Trump began the day by meeting with the House Republicans. I was not in that meeting. Some of the reports of that is that was a little bit wild and woolly that that got into all sorts of topics. But Trump came by the Senate to have lunch with us. And so we met at the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which is like three blocks away from the Capitol. And Trump joined us for the lunch. And it started, we're all sitting, sitting in a room. It started with him talking for about, oh, 20, 25 minutes. And then we did a whole series of Q and A where probably about a dozen of us asked him questions. And he commented on Those. And then we went out and we did a press conference where we stood. We all stood behind him, and he stood up and gave the press conference. And listen, I gotta say, the biggest thing about the lunch that struck me was the unity in the room. Look, the media likes to talk about divisions in the Republican Party, and there are certainly some. But today, I didn't see any of that. Today, everyone in the room was focused on winning in November and turning the country around, and Trump was in great spirits. You know, one of the things I asked him after the meeting, I came up and spent a couple of minutes talking with him. I just asked, how are you doing? I mean, it's been this BS you're dealing with, with these New York convictions. They're utter garbage. But listen, it's not fun to be convicted of felonies. I mean, it's been. He's been through hell. And so, just as a personal level, I was asking him how he was doing, and he said he was doing fine. And it seemed real and genuine. I mean, he was not down in the dumps. He was not discouraged. In fact, he was really in good spirits. He was optimistic. And his message to everyone is, listen, let's stand together. And he emphasized several things. Number one, he emphasized the border, that we've got to secure the border, that it is insane, that we have open borders, that it's an invitation to terrorists. And he's exactly right. If and when Trump wins, we will secure the border in the first month or two of the next Trump administration. And I can say that because we know how to do it. We did it before and we'll do it again. He also talked a lot about inflation and energy in particular. And he pointed out, quite rightly that energy is foundational to inflation. One of the reasons that prices have gone up on just about everything is that energy prices have skyrocketed because the Biden administration has been waging war on American energy. And we are an energy powerhouse. We're the number one producer of oil in the world. We're the number one producer of natural gas in the world. And the Biden administration is doing everything they can to. To stifle that. And Trump was very clear that we're going to reverse that. We will reverse that fast early next year. And that's going to have a real impact on energy prices and inflation across the board. We also talked about national security and in particular, how insane it is that the Biden administration has flowed $100 billion to Iran. And if and when Trump wins, that's going to end as well.

[Ted Cruz]

You mentioned a moment ago that there seemed to be unity in the room that's incredibly important for getting legislation passed. Yes, and, and you need that. And we didn't have that type of unity. I, I would argue last time in 2016, early on, there was some splinters, there was some divide, divisiveness in the House, that Senate side. What you seem to be describing this time is if Donald Trump is elected and Republicans have control of the House and Senate, it's game on. From the, from, from January 2nd, there's not going to be, you know, let's get to know each other time and have some meetings and maybe come over the White House like there's an agenda and it's ready to go for the American people.

[Unnamed Senator]

Yeah, I think that's exactly right. And let me put it in broader context, which is yesterday, the speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, came and had lunch with all the Republican senators. And by the way, that almost never happens. When Paul Ryan was speaker, he didn't do that. When John Boehner was Speaker, he didn't do that. When Kevin McCarthy was Speaker, he didn't do that. Mike Johnson has done that this multiple times. This is either the third or fourth time he's come and had lunch with all the Senate Republicans. I think that's great. He was talking at lunch yesterday. He said, you know, it's amazing that the media treats it as a news story that the House and Senate are talking to each other. And the reason he came over and talked to us is he said he's focused on his end very much, on developing the agenda and the plans to hit the ground running. If and when we win in November, if we come in to January of next year with a Republican president, Republican Senate, Republican House, we got an enormous amount to accomplish. And the speaker, to his credit, is very focused on the first hundred days. What can we accomplish? What can we do to change the path of the country? I encouraged him to dig in on that. In fact, I shared with the speaker and with everyone else in the room. You know, a lot of the senators that are there now were not there back in 2017 when Trump first became president. You know, the speaker said, look, when Trump first became president, he was a freshman, he was brand new in the Congress, and he was amazed that the Congress was not prepared with a legislative agenda from day one. And he pointed out that he thought a lot of Republicans were surprised that Trump won. They were expecting Hillary to win. And so when the administration came in, they weren't ready for primetime, they didn't know what to do in this instance. I'm very glad the speaker is trying to think proactively. And I described. I described something that I did back in the summer of 2018. So summer of 2018, we did a lunch with all the Senate Republicans, and I prepared a PowerPoint that was about 50 pages long. And I spoke to my colleagues probably the better part of an hour. And the title of the PowerPoint was Carpe Diem. And what I did in the PowerPoint is I looked in the past in previous instances when one party controlled the White House, the House, and the Senate. It happens pretty rarely. When the Democrats do it, they fundamentally transform the country. So in the last century, the first time they did it, they passed the New Deal. The second time they did it, they passed the Great Society. The third time they did it, they passed Obamacare and Dodd Frank. And now for the last two years, we've seen they've spent us into an absolute inflation and recession hole. And on the other hand, Republicans, when we have unified control, we tend to do small and piddling things. So what I argued in the PowerPoint is, at the time I presented, it was August of 2018, I said, Listen, any rational political observer recognizes that there's a very real chance that we will lose at least one House of Congress in November.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Senator]

And I said to my colleagues, particularly the guys who were the sophomores, who were the people who had been elected two years earlier, and I said, look, for you guys, we have 183 days till the next Congress. For many of you, if we do not pass things now, you will never again have another chance to pass anything into law. And so I put together a spreadsheet. It was about 50 different bills. All of the bills had been written by different Republican senators. Some I had written, but most of them were my colleagues. And all of the bills were bills that had a reasonable prospect of garnering 51 votes. They weren't fringe things that would get 10 or 12 votes. They were all things that would easily get 45 Republicans and that had a real shot at getting 50. And what I argued is, I said, listen, this is going to sound radical to you, Ben. We should do something. We should not do nothing. Amazingly enough, that argument proved unpersuasive. Mitch McConnell said, well, so the principal avenue that if you look, the biggest legislative victory of the Trump years was the 2017 tax cuts. We passed that using what's called budget reconciliation. Budget reconciliation is a process under a bill called the budget act of 1975. The budget piece is not terribly consequential. What's consequential is under the terms of the statute, you have an up down vote at 50 votes and it can't be filibustered. So it's one of the most important exceptions to the filibuster we could have. If you look at the Democrats, they did three budget reconciliations. It's how they passed almost all of their agenda that put us in this hole. When the Republicans had the majority, we did only one budget reconciliation. We did not do a single one in 2018, which, frankly, Ben, is indefensible. And so I made the case of the speaker and my colleagues. Let's not make that mistake again. Let's hit the ground running.

[Ted Cruz]

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.