Democrats Crazed as Trump Breaks Their Toys, Social Security for 150yr Olds & USAID Funding Hamas Week In Review

Summary

The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson: Episode Summary

Episode Title: Democrats Crazed as Trump Breaks Their Toys, Social Security for 150yr Olds & USAID Funding Hamas Week In Review
Release Date: February 15, 2025
Host: Ben Ferguson
Guest: Senator Ted Cruz
Runtime Highlights: 00:01 – 38:45

---

1. Democrats’ Threat to Shut Down the Government

Discussion Overview:
Senator Ted Cruz and Ben Ferguson delve into the Democrats' recent strategy of threatening government shutdowns to undermine President Trump’s administration. They explore whether such tactics will effectively harm Trump and achieve Democratic objectives.

Key Points:

• Democrats’ Motivation:
  Cruz highlights Democratic frustrations with not being in control and their willingness to consider government shutdowns as leverage against Trump.
  Quote (00:07): “Democrats now trying to figure out their footing... every executive order that's been to court now has been shut down by the court. That's a lie.”

• Impoundment Power:
  The conversation shifts to the concept of impoundment—the President’s authority to withhold funds appropriated by Congress.
  Explanation (02:45): Cruz provides a historical context, noting that impoundment has been exercised by presidents since Thomas Jefferson but was curtailed by the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974.

• Current Legal Battle:
  Cruz anticipates a prolonged legal struggle over impoundment, potentially reaching the Supreme Court within two to three years.
  Quote (07:04): “This is a fight that we want to go to the Supreme Court... it’s going to take a couple of years.”

• Cruz’s Position:
  He advocates for restoring impoundment power to the President, viewing it as a necessary tool to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse in federal spending.

Notable Quote:
Senator Ted Cruz at 07:18: “We're going to be just dealing with pure fights with the media, Democrats coming after and trying to stop everything that they're trying to cut with waste, fraud and abuse.”

---

2. Social Security Fraud: Payments to 150-Year-Olds

Discussion Overview:
The episode addresses alarming reports of Social Security checks being issued to individuals aged 150 years, highlighting systemic fraud and inefficiencies within federal programs.

Key Points:

• Press Conference Revelations:
  President Trump and Elon Musk held a press conference revealing instances of fraudulent Social Security claims.
  Quote (17:36): “There's crazy things like just cursory examination of Social Security, and we've got people in there that are 150 years old now.”

• Elon Musk’s Involvement:
  Musk emphasizes the absurdity of paying benefits to non-existent or exceptionally aged individuals, questioning the integrity of the Social Security system.
  Quote (17:47): “Or they should be very famous. One of the two.”

• Trump’s Commentary:
  President Trump underscores the magnitude of fraud, asserting that billions are wasted and highlighting judicial resistance to their anti-fraud initiatives.
  Quote (18:37): “Billions and billions of dollars in waste, fraud and abuse... maybe we have to look at the judges, because that's very serious.”

• Media Backlash:
  The discussion transitions to media reactions, showcasing how CNN hosts like Anderson Cooper and Jeffrey Toobin responded defensively to allegations of fraud and lack of transparency.
  Quote (21:59): “Like he doesn't present any actual evidence.”

Notable Quote:
Elon Musk at 17:36: “Do you know anyone who's 150? Okay. They should be on the Guinness Book of World Records. They're missing out.”

---

3. USAID Funding Linked to Hamas and Terrorist Organizations

Discussion Overview:
Ben Ferguson and Senator Cruz expose disturbing reports of USAID funds being diverted to terrorist organizations, including Hamas, during the Biden administration. They argue that this misallocation of taxpayer money has directly contributed to terrorism and posed significant national security risks.

Key Points:

• Funding Misallocation:
  Extensive funding by USAID to groups linked with Hamas, including educational institutions and charities that collaborate with terrorist entities.
  Quote (26:39): “Hundreds of millions of dollars... they lied about the nature of that aid in public databases.”

• Notable Cases:

  • Anwar al-Awlaki received USAID-funded scholarships despite his future ties to terrorism.
    Quote (35:20): “USAID documents obtained by Fox News showed... Anwar Al Awlaki... he was arrested in 2006 for his terrorist ties in Yemen.”

  • Funding of the Unlimited Friends Association, which collaborated openly with Hamas and made inflammatory statements against Jews.
    Quote (30:53): “In 2021, its director called for Jerusalem to be cleansed...”

• Internal Conspiracies:
  USAID staffers showed no embarrassment in associating with terrorist organizations, and efforts were made to conceal funding allocations from public scrutiny.
  Quote (26:39): “There was a lack of embarrassment among some USAID staffers about being associated with terrorist organizations.”

• Legislative Action:
  The Trump administration, supported by Elon Musk and Senator Cruz, is pushing to eliminate USAID due to its failure to prevent funding diversion, advocating for legislative reforms to ensure accountability.
  Quote (38:20): “The fact that President Trump is standing up and delivering real cuts... shows President Trump is winning.”

Notable Quote:
Senator Ted Cruz at 31:29: “What right do they have to take your money that you're working hard to provide for your kids and your family, to take it and spend it on every radical agenda item they wanna push?”

---

4. Media's Response to Trump's Anti-Fraud Initiatives

Discussion Overview:
Cruz and Ferguson critique major media outlets, particularly CNN, for their hostile reactions to Trump and Musk’s revelations about government waste and fraud. They argue that media figures are losing composure when faced with undeniable evidence of corruption.

Key Points:

• CNN’s Meltdown:
  The podcast highlights a segment where CNN hosts Anderson Cooper and Jeffrey Toobin unsuccessfully challenge the evidence presented by Trump and Musk, resulting in unprofessional outbursts.
  Quote (21:59): “Like he doesn't present any actual evidence.”

• Public Reaction:
  The hosts interpret the media’s inability to effectively counter the presented evidence as a sign of recognition of its own failings and misrepresentations.
  Quote (24:03): “When you see Anderson Cooper get rattled like this, this is when you know they're losing America.”

• Credibility Issues:
  They assert that the media’s portrayal is part of a broader attempt to discredit legitimate calls for accountability, emphasizing that the failure to question corrupt practices stems from inherent biases.
  Quote (24:30): “Jeffrey Toobin jumping in screaming, that's not transparency.”

Notable Quote:
Senator Ted Cruz at 24:04: “When you see Anderson Cooper get rattled like this, this is when you know they're losing America...”

---

5. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Under Scrutiny

Discussion Overview:
The episode concludes with an examination of recent actions against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), positioning it as a symbol of overregulation and bureaucratic overreach under Democratic control.

Key Points:

• CFPB’s Demise:
  Russ Vogt’s appointment as Acting Director led to an immediate cessation of CFPB activities, marking a significant reduction in its regulatory power.
  Quote (13:07): “The CFPB... is now being turned off. That is fantastic.”

• Legislative Efforts:
  Cruz advocates for the permanent elimination of the CFPB through budget reconciliation, arguing it will reduce regulatory burdens and curb government overreach.
  Quote (16:11): “I believe we will get that done as part of budget reconciliation...”

• Critique of Funding Structure:
  He criticizes the CFPB’s funding mechanism, which bypasses Congressional appropriations, arguing it undermines traditional checks and balances.
  Quote (13:07): “Elizabeth Warren structured it... Congress doesn't get to appropriate and engage in the oversight that comes with that.”

Notable Quote:
Senator Ted Cruz at 38:45: “Eliminating the CFP would be a major victory for lowering inflation, for lowering burdensome regulation, for lowering the nanny state control of big government.”

---

Conclusion

In this episode of The 47 Morning Update, Ben Ferguson and Senator Ted Cruz provide a scathing critique of Democratic strategies and policies, emphasizing themes of government overreach, systemic fraud, and media complicity. They advocate for restoring executive powers to combat waste and corruption, expose significant mismanagement within federal agencies like USAID and Social Security, and celebrate recent legislative victories aimed at deregulation. The discussions are underscored by notable confrontations with mainstream media, which the hosts claim are faltering in the face of undeniable evidence presented by the Trump administration and allies like Elon Musk.

---

Quotes Summary with Timestamps:

• Senator Ted Cruz (00:07): “Democrats now trying to figure out their footing... every executive order that's been to court now has been shut down by the court. That's a lie.”

• Elon Musk (17:36): “Do you know anyone who's 150? Okay. They should be on the Guinness Book of World Records. They're missing out.”

• Senator Ted Cruz (07:18): “We're going to be just dealing with pure fights with the media, Democrats coming after and trying to stop everything that they're trying to cut with waste, fraud and abuse.”

• Senator Ted Cruz (31:29): “What right do they have to take your money that you're working hard to provide for your kids and your family...?”

• Senator Ted Cruz (24:04): “When you see Anderson Cooper get rattled like this, this is when you know they're losing America...”

• Senator Ted Cruz (38:45): “Eliminating the CFP would be a major victory for lowering inflation...”

---

Note: For a comprehensive understanding and to hear the full breadth of the discussions, listeners are encouraged to subscribe to The 47 Morning Update on the iHeartRadio app or their preferred podcast platform.

Transcript

[Ted Cruz]

Welcome.

[Ben Ferguson]

It is Verdict with Ted Cruz, Weekend Review. Ben Ferguson with you. And if it sounds like I'm under.

[Unnamed Guest or Analyst]

The weather, I have the flu right now.

[Ben Ferguson]

But the show, as they say, must go on. So here are the three stories that you may have missed that we talked about this week. First up, Democrats not in charge and don't mind shutting down the government to hurt Donald Trump. So will it work? We'll explain that in a moment. Also, Social Security checks are going out to people that are 150 years old. That's right. Doge is uncovering more waste, fraud and abuse. It's incredible what we found in the first three weeks. And we'll have the list for you as well. And finally, USAID money going directly to terrorist organizations and charities. And the government knew it the entire time. It's the Weekend Review and it starts right now.

[Ted Cruz]

Democrats now trying to figure out their footing. They had Alamo Mar, who went on, on TV today saying that Trump has decided he will not abide by the Constitution. Just throwing it out there. And then she says, by the way, every executive order that's been to court now has been shut down by the court. That's a lie. Not true. But, but even Face the Nation tried to softly correct her because they want.

[Unnamed Co-Host or Analyst]

This to be true.

[Ted Cruz]

Right? And then there's this new threat of like, all right, we'll just shut down the government. I kind of laugh because for many concerns, like, great, let's shut it down and save some money for a while.

[Unnamed Co-Host or Analyst]

I wish it worked that way.

[Ted Cruz]

I wish it was that simple. It's obviously not. But this is the new temper tantrum of the left. They're saying if, if we aren't in charge, then we want to destroy what the government does. Well, we want to hurt people and we want to shut down the government to hurt people. So you'll blame Donald Trump. That's what this is really all about. Am I wrong?

[Unnamed Guest or Analyst]

Well, look, understand there's a battle going back and forth. And at some level, this battle is inherent in the structure of our government. It's inherent in the Constitution. Congress. Under Article 1, all legislative power is vested in the Congress of the United States. Congress passes the laws that the president signs into law and that are then binding federal law. The executive, all executive power is vested in the President of the United States. That's under Article 2 of the Constitution. And the president is charged with, has given the authority to, and also the responsibility to, quote, take care that the laws be faithfully executed. That's the Constitution's language. And So, a lot of, you know, it's interesting, as I travel around and talk to people back home in Texas or around the country, they ask, okay, so is what Elon's doing is what Trump is doing cutting off funding at usaid, pausing other funding, is that gonna stick? And this is a battle back and forth between the executive and legislature that has occurred since the very first days of the republic. And one of the things right at the heart of this battle is about something called impoundment. Now, what does impoundment mean? Impoundment is when the President of the United States decides not to spend money that has been appropriated by the U.S. congress. Now, you might ask, okay, is impoundment some crazy theory that Donald Trump cooked up or Elon Musk cooked up? Well, no. No. Impoundment has been around for more than 200 years. The first president to exercise impoundment was Thomas Jefferson, and he did so in 1801. And if you look at what Thomas Jefferson did, the first use of impoundment involved a refusal to spend $50,000, which $50,000 in 2023 is about 1.24 million in funds that were appropriated for the acquisition of gunboats for the United States Navy. And Thomas Jefferson said in 1803 that, quote, the sum of $50,000 appropriated by Congress for providing gunboats remains unexpended. The favorable and peaceful turn of affairs on the Mississippi rendered an immediate execution of that law unnecessary. Now, Jefferson did so, and in the years that went on, presidents did so for 200 years. Now, what happened? Well, in the 1970s, Richard Nixon had a battle with Congress, and Congress got, got angry with Richard Nixon and felt he was using impoundment too aggressively. And. And Congress passed a law called the Congressional Budget and Impoundment control act of 1974 that purported to remove the power of impoundment or at least to severely curtail it. And the Supreme Court heard a decision. It was a decision called Train versus City of New York, where the Supreme Court upheld the Impoundment Control act and significantly reduced the President's power to exercise impoundment. Now, by the way, there was a subsequent wrinkle in this, in that Congress came back afterwards and passed a bill called the Line Item Veto act of 1996. This happened after the Republican takeover of Congress. Newt Gingrich came in and the Line Item Veto act gave the President the power of line item veto, which Bill Clinton used on the federal budget 82 times. However, that law was struck down in 1998 by the Supreme Court. It was a 5, 4, vote. Actually, my former boss and very good friend Chuck Cooper, the man who taught me how to be a lawyer, argued that case. Unfortunately, he was on the losing side of that case and lost. 5, 4. The point what Elon is doing and what Trump is doing, there's a long history of presidents saying, I don't want to spend money that is wasteful, and I'm not going to. Now. There's also a history of Congress pushing back what's likely to happen. There is already, and there will be more, a crap ton of litigation challenging these actions. We're seeing Democrat attorneys general bringing lawsuits. We're going to see Democrat interest groups being lost bringing lawsuits. We're going to see activist judges striking down actions, executive orders. And this is going to test the legal boundaries. At the end of the day, part of what is going on is this is designed to go to the Supreme Court and to restore the power of impoundment to the President. I think that would be a very good thing. I think it is consistent. It is an inherent authority of the president to exercise the authority of. Of impoundment. But understand, we're going to see a litigation battle royale, and it'll take in all likelihood.

[Unnamed Co-Host or Analyst]

So this is that you're saying this.

[Ted Cruz]

Is a fight that we want to go to the Supreme Court, and if it does go to the Supreme Court and it plays to our advantage, the way that you're describing it with the law, how long is it going to.

[Unnamed Co-Host or Analyst]

Take us to get it there?

[Unnamed Guest or Analyst]

Probably a couple of years, two to three years.

[Ted Cruz]

So. So in the next two or three years, we're going to be just dealing with pure fights with the media, Democrats coming after and trying to stop everything that they're trying to cut with waste, fraud and abuse.

[Unnamed Guest or Analyst]

Yes. And understand, Elon and Doge, they're embodying right now the Silicon Valley mantra of move fast and break things. I mean, that's what they're doing. Not everything that they do is going to be upheld. There will be injunctions issued. And I think they understand that, and I think they're trying to. They're trying to implement the mandate that came from the voters as rapidly and effectively as possible. Listen, I for one, am excited about that. And I think if you look at some of the egregious abuses that have been uncovered so far, it gives an illustration of just how important this is.

[Ted Cruz]

Before we move on to the federal financial watchdog order to cease activity. And that's important. We're gonna deal with that in a second. One final question on this, we could go back, I think, whenever the sale was a year and a half, whatever it was when Elon Musk took over Twitter and we saw the Twitter files and then we saw the corruption. I actually think you can trace this all the way back to there when people really start paying attention to saying, I don't trust the government. You add Covid in there and the lies of the vaccine and the two weeks stop the spread and the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and then the lies over the Hunter Biden laptop. And there started to be these moments that were big where people like, okay, maybe I shouldn't be so trusting of the news. Maybe I shouldn't be trusting of the government, the deep state, the president and. And then you have him take over X. Right, Twitter now. X. Part of the reason why I think Donald Trump's having so much success now is because we're getting the word out about the waste and the fraud and getting the line item. And people are seeing it because before you go back 2016, center, big tree falls in the forest, no one's around. Does it make a sound? Right. The answer is no. But now what we're getting in the info that we're getting and it's getting out because Big tech can't suppress it on X. How valuable is that to saving our democracy?

[Unnamed Guest or Analyst]

Look, I think it's incredibly valuable. I believe Elon Musk's buying Twitter was the most important development for free speech in modern times because it turned around the rampant censorship from Big Tech. It put positive pressure on the rest of big Tech, and it created a vehicle for the truth to get out. So, you know, we've gone through in previous podcasts all the examples, or not all the examples, but a number of examples of abuse of spending $2 million for sex changes in Guatemala. Now, who the hell can defend that? Why US Taxpayers are paying for sex changes in Guatemala money to the BBC, the British Broadcasting Corporation. By the way, that. Why the hell are American taxpayers paying for the BBC? The last I checked, the United Kingdom is a major developed country. They can pay for their own damn television station. What? What do we need? What do we need to pay for that? And what's amazing is the Democrats are just digging in. Give a listen to Senator Chris coons defending spending $20 million on American taxpayer money for Sesame street in Iraq. Give a listen.

[Michael]

Is funding Sesame Street a judicious use of soft power? Well, Michael, the way you put it is the way I hope folks considering your poll today will think about it. This isn't just funding a kid show for children, millions of children in countries like Iraq. It's a show that helps teach values, helps teach public health, helps prevent kids from dying from dysentery and disease, and helps push values like collaboration, peacefulness, cooperation in a society where the alternative is isis, extremism and terrorism. And to your point, it's pennies on the dollar. The U.S. department of Defense has an annual budget of about $850 billion. USAID was spending about $30 billion. It is a small proportion of our total federal spending. And as Joe Nye would often say, it's not just soft power, it's smart power. Let me leave you with one other quote, Michael, if I could. Jim Mattis, who is a four star Marine Corps general and Trump's Secretary of Defense in his first term in a hearing back then said, if you slash development and aid spending, then I'm going to need more bullets for our troops.

[Ted Cruz]

I mean, you want to talk about stretching? He's saying sesame seeds going to save us from extremism.

[Unnamed Co-Host or Analyst]

Are we kidding ourselves?

[Unnamed Guest or Analyst]

Well, look, the Democrats are dug in to defending everything, to defending all of the money that was just flowing out with no checks whatsoever. And I think these examples are having a real effect of pissing people off saying why is my money going to that? By the way, if Democrats think that's such a good idea, let them give their own money for that. But what right do they have to take your money that you're working hard to provide for your kids and your family, to take it and spend it on every radical agenda item they wanna push? That's what's been happening. It happened at egregious levels under the Biden administration. And I think that's what Trump's working very hard on to turn around.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah, great point. Finally I want to ask you about this because I think it should be on listeners radar screen. It's an important issue. The New York Times is coming out talking about this. The federal financial watchdog has been ordered to cease activity. Known as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Why is this happening and what does this mean?

[Unnamed Guest or Analyst]

Well, the cfpb, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was created by the Dodd Frank law. This is a creation of Elizabeth Warren. And it has descended like locusts, putting all sorts of regulations and costs. It brings abusive litigation. It is an avenue for left wing bureaucrats to try to control community banks, smaller financial institutions and to drive up costs. And the cfpb. I've introduced repeatedly legislation to eliminate the cfpb. What happened this week is Russ vote was confirmed to lead the Office of Management and Budget. And Russ is a good friend. He's a good guy. He ran OMB under Trump during the first term. And Russ was just confirmed, we just confirmed him this past week to run OMB again. And on Friday, he was also named the acting director of the of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the cfpb. And as a result, he issued an order for them to halt what they're doing. So one chunk of it. So the way Elizabeth Warren structured it, Congress does not appropriate money to the cfpb, which is weird, by the way, if you look at virtually every federal agency, Congress appropriates money for them. That's part of the checks and balances of how the federal government is set up. Well, Dodd Frank instead has the CFPB funded with money from the Federal Reserve that flows automatically. So Congress doesn't get to appropriate and engage in the oversight that comes with that. So as a result, on Saturday, Russ Vogt wrote that he had notified the Federal Reserve that the cfpb, quote, will not be taking its next draw of unappropriated funding because it is not reasonably necessary to carry out its duties. The Bureau's current balance of $711.6 million is in fact excessive in the current fiscal environment. This spigot, long contributing to CFPB's unaccountability, is now being turned off. That is fantastic. And I'll tell you what, I've introduced legislation that will zero out the cfpb, that will shut it down permanently. I believe we will get that done as part of budget reconciliation. And so eliminating the CFP would be a major victory for lowering inflation, for lowering burdensome regulation, for lowering the nanny state control of big government. And if we get that done, that's a huge victory. I'll tell you, Russ, vote taking over as acting director in the past few days was a major step forward in that regard.

[Unnamed Co-Host or Analyst]

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. Now on to story number two. Let, let's move to another aspect of just an incredible three weeks where Elon Musk and Donald Trump are doing exactly what they said they were going to do. And they are, I think, using the media, the bully pulpit, the microphone that they've been given in the Oval Office to inform the American people, those that voted for him and others that maybe didn't, that, hey, we're finding some of the most ridiculous, egregious wastes of your tax dollars. And one of the stories I talked about was people that are still getting Social Security checks when they're, quote, 150 years old.

[Unnamed Guest or Analyst]

Yeah, it was really powerful. So President Trump and Elon Musk did a press conference from the Oval Office on Thursday. Earlier this week, President Trump signed an executive order instructing DOGE to coordinate with federal agencies and to execute massive cuts in federal government staffing numbers. And the order instructs federal agencies and DOGE to significantly shrink the size of the federal government and to limit the hiring of new employees. And I gotta say, Elon Musk laid out several of the egregious examples of abuse. Listen to this first one.

[Elon Musk]

You know, there's crazy things like just cursory examination of Social Security, and we've got people in there that are 150 years old now. Do you know anyone who's 150?

[Unnamed Guest or Analyst]

I don't.

[Elon Musk]

Okay. They should be on the Guinness Book of World Records. They're missing out. So, you know, that's a case where, like, I think they're probably dead. It's my guess. Or they should be very famous. One of the two.

[Unnamed Co-Host or Analyst]

I mean, I want to meet him. Elon wants to meet him. The President wants to meet him. You want to meet him, right? If you're 150 and you're still cash that check.

[Unnamed Guest or Analyst]

Ben, Ben, I gotta say, you don't look a day over 140.

[Unnamed Co-Host or Analyst]

I mean, and this is the stuff that you. You just can't even make it up. Of course, they would be sending a check to somebody that we assume is just. Is committing fraud here.

[Ted Cruz]

Right?

[Unnamed Co-Host or Analyst]

Like, this checks never stopped. And they're like, well, just keep cashing them. They're too stupid enough.

[Unnamed Guest or Analyst]

Of course it's fraud. And the Biden administration had no interest in uncovering that fraud. And take a listen to what President Trump said about the magnitude of the waste, fraud and abuse that they're finding.

[Donald Trump]

Billions and billions of dollars in waste, fraud and abuse. And I think it's very important, and that's one of the reasons I got elected. I say we're going to do that. Nobody had any ide. It was that bad, that sick, and that corrupt. And it seems hard to believe that judges want to try and stop us from looking for corruption, especially when we found hundreds of millions of dollars worth much more than that in just a short period of time. We want to weed out the corruption. And it seems hard to believe that a judge could say, we don't want you to do that. So maybe we have to look at the judges, because that's very serious. I think it's a very serious violation.

[Unnamed Co-Host or Analyst]

He mentions the judges there, by the way. There's a lot of activist judges that were put in by liberals who are like, all right, we're the last defense here. So let's try to, you know, stop him at all costs to, you know, because he's too successful at giving the American people transparency and their money back.

[Unnamed Guest or Analyst]

Look, Barack Obama and Joe Biden put a lot of radicals on the federal bench. And right now you've got Democrat attorneys general going and seeking out these radicals to file lawsuits. You've also got left wing special interest groups seeking out these radical judges. We're going to see a lot of lawsuits. We're going to see a lot of lawfare over the next four years. But, you know, I got to say, watching Democrats in the media meltdown, number one, they've always melted down over Trump. They have Trump derangement syndrome, but they also have Elon derangement syndrome. And they scream, well, Elon Musk was not elected to anything. Well, yeah, that's true, but Donald Trump was elected to something. He was elected to President of the United States and he was elected on a mandate. And this is actually a point that Elon made quite effectively in the Oval. Give a listen.

[Elon Musk]

The people voted for major government reform. There should be no doubt about that. That was on the campaign. The president spoke about that at every rally. The people voted for, for major government reform. And that's what people are going to get. They're going to get what they voted for. And a lot of times people that don't get what they voted for, but in this presidency, they are going to get what they voted for. And that's what democracy is all about.

[Unnamed Co-Host or Analyst]

I got to say, I love listening to Elon. You spent a lot of time with him. I think this is a perfect example of just how genuine his heart is on this. He truly is a believer in this country and giving the American people what they voted for. And he is an agent to go find the waste, fraud and abuse. And he's, and he's, and he's incredibly focused on it.

[Unnamed Guest or Analyst]

He is incredibly focused. And he's right. This is democracy. And yet it is causing the radical left to lose their minds. You know, I gotta say, I wanna play this segment from CNN because it really does show how the media, their minds are melting down. You had former New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, who's on. And he's on with Anderson Cooper, and Anderson Cooper loses it. And you've also got Jeffrey Toobin, another left wing CNN contributor. You know your old buddies. These are all the folks you palled around with, Ben.

[Unnamed Co-Host or Analyst]

Seven years in hell. Seven years in hell.

[Unnamed Guest or Analyst]

Do you have CNN tattooed somewhere on your body?

[Unnamed Co-Host or Analyst]

I do not. I do not. I'm sure.

[Unnamed Guest or Analyst]

Just checking. So, all right, give a listen to Chris Sununu and look how he causes the CNN folks to lose their minds.

[Chris Sununu]

It was surreal. But I got to tell you, I know what you're not showing here. Musk gave seven specific examples off the top of his head of where the corruption and fraud were. I know you don't. You didn't play the clips. He was talking about a contractor that had a three month contract. He was paid for 20 years. He was talking about welfare benefits that were being paid to someone that was technically 150 years old. He was talking about line items that he had no justification.

[Anderson Cooper]

Like he doesn't present any actual evidence.

[Chris Sununu]

Well, he's standing there in the Oval Office. Do you expect him to come in with 10,000 pages? And I have to be clear, to complain about this administration, about transparency when this president takes open questions on a daily basis, yet Joe Biden didn't show up for a press conference this six months is insane. These guys are being extremely transparent. They don't have to sit there and take the questions, but they do. It's all on the website. It's all out there.

[Jeffrey Toobin]

It's not transparency to say things that have no factual background. I mean to say we're cutting, you know, we've found a billion dollars or a trillion dollars in waste with no specifics. That's just talk. That's not transparent.

[Chris Sununu]

It's 23 days in here, guys. 23 days. You were talking about 2.3 billion that was saved last year. These guys are saving 2.3 billion a day. But, well, it's incredible.

[Jeffrey Toobin]

That's what they're saying. But where's, but again, you're waiting.

[Chris Sununu]

You're not going to be satisfied till he shows up at 10,000 pages.

[Anderson Cooper]

I know, but he's giving very specific things, but he's not actually giving any evidence of that.

[Chris Sununu]

It's all going to come because what they also said was if we have to go to Congress, we'll go to Congress.

[Anderson Cooper]

Right, but show where some of the details that have come out, like the, you know, $59 million spent on luxury hotels.

[Chris Sununu]

It's actually not about the FEMA money that was used for migrants. That was, yeah, FEMA money for migrants. That's okay now.

[Anderson Cooper]

No, I'm not saying It's. I'm not saying it's okay. Don't put words so.

[Chris Sununu]

Would you stop that? Would you stop that process?

[Anderson Cooper]

Don't be a dick. The portrait. What I'm saying is the portrayal by him is.

[Unnamed Co-Host or Analyst]

I just got to say, I, this is from my. My seven years in hell at cnn when the hosts start cursing at you. Don Lemon lost it on me one night, screaming, that is bs. That is bs.

[Ted Cruz]

But saying the full thing.

[Unnamed Co-Host or Analyst]

When you see Anderson Cooper get rattled like this, this is when you know they're losing America and they feel it and they're witnessing it because they are part of this cover up center. And now they realize how stupid their argument is that, well, we didn't see a piece of paper with it on there. What, you think Elon Musk is sitting there making this up in the Oval Office? Like, what's wrong with you guys? And by the way, you guys never question anything that was shady with the Biden administration when you knew it was shady.

[Unnamed Guest or Analyst]

Yeah, look, number one, you see Jeffrey Toobin jumping in screaming, that's not transparency. Trump is literally doing a press conference every day. They're putting all of this out for everyone to see. They're giving chapter and verse and specifics. And you see Anderson Cooper at the end where he just curses and melts down and insults a former governor, by the way.

[Unnamed Co-Host or Analyst]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Guest or Analyst]

I mean, wow. To be clear, that is the reason Anderson Cooper does that, is he realizes he's in a completely indefensible position. He's defending the prior administration diverting funds from fema, by the way, funds that FEMA are supposed to use to deal with a natural disaster, whether wildfires in California or a hurricane or tornadoes or other natural disasters. And the prior administration took those disaster funds and instead use them to pay for hotel rooms for illegal aliens. And Anderson Cooper realized. Wait a second, I'm defending something that is so absurd that even the four viewers who are watching CNN are gonna know it's absurd. And that's why he melts down. And I gotta say, the fact that President Trump is standing up and delivering real cuts that are. Is taking on this waste, fraud and abuse. The fact, the fact that Anderson Cooper is melting down, that shows President Trump is winning, that shows Elon Musk is winning, and that shows the American people.

[Unnamed Co-Host or Analyst]

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

[Ted Cruz]

You may have missed.

[Unnamed Co-Host or Analyst]

I want to move to, to USAID and, and some of the, the big issues that are now coming out of that and it deals also with the issue of terrorism. We got some shocking news that has come out. It's something by the way, that I think it's, we need to point out very clearly you had been talking about this now for several years in, in Congress and on this show and thank goodness, now at least all of it seems to be being exposed because of the digging with Doge and the Trump administration back in office.

[Unnamed Guest or Analyst]

Well, there was a lengthy tweet that I sent this week that said the following the full story of USAID funding Hamas is vast. And much of it was done in secret before and after October 7, USAID flowed unaccountable hundreds of millions of dollars towards Hamas that enabled it to launch the attack and keep battling Israel. Afterwards, they lied about the nature of that aid in public databases, refused to disclose what groups were getting the money and gave tens of millions in American cash to be distributed without American supervision. They internally admitted the aid would benefit Hamas and even exempted themselves from anti terrorism laws, but in public issued denials for all four years of the Biden administration. I prevented them from confirming a Middle east administrator because they wouldn't acknowledge what they were doing because continuing their secret pro Hamas programs was more important to them. And I'll tell you, there was a major article in the Washington Free Beacon that I tweeted out as well. And it's an article my team and I provided a significant amount of the information to the Washington Free Beacon, but it's entitled at usaid Funding for Terror, Tied Groups and internal Hostility towards Israel goes back years. One former State Department official described a lack of embarrassment among some USAID staffers about being associated with terrorist organization. And I'm going to read from the beginning of this article because it's an important article and the facts in it are very disturbing. As the Trump administration works to shutter the U.S. united States Agency for International Development, USAID. Current and former U.S. officials who work closely with the embattled aid group say they watched for years as it funneled millions of dollars to anti Israel advocacy groups and entities linked to terrorism. That funding caused internal friction across multiple administrations. According to those who spoke with the Washington Free Beacons. In some cases, USAID fought to conceal how taxpayer funds were spent. And when it came to Israel, officials recalled battling USAID over funding for groups that worked to undermine the Jewish state or maintain ties to terror organizations. Quote, for those who believe in A strong US Israel relationship. Elements of USAID have been problematic for years, said one former State Department official who worked with USAID during the Biden administration, quote, there was even a lack of embarrassment among some USAID staffers about being associated with terrorist organizations. Some of the terror tied funding initiatives are publicly known. In November 2022, for instance, USAID awarded $100,000 to a Palestinian activist group whose leaders hailed the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a designated terror group. Just six days before Hamas's October 7 assault on Israel, USAID handed $900,000 to a terror charity, Charity in Gaza involved with the son of Hamas leader Ismail Hanaye. USAID's hostilities towards the Jewish state, however, ran deeper than the agency's grant making. Under Samantha Power, former President Joe Biden's pick to run usaid, agency officials fought pro Israel policymaking at the State Department, often urging their colleagues at Foggy Bottom to pare down statements that praise the Jewish state, former officials said. In 2021, during a period of conflict with Hamas, Power herself refused to meet with Israel's ambassador unless Israel reached a ceasefire with the Iran backed terror group. The decision put Power at odds with the White House National Security Council, which signed off on the meeting. Emails obtained by the Free Beacon show.

[Unnamed Co-Host or Analyst]

It is shocking to hear you read that and yet it's, it's so well documented. It's something that you've been sounding the alarm on for a while now because of a new administration. We're actually getting some movement on this. But, but how angry should Americans be that their tax dollars have been going to terrorist organizations through these, funneled through these charities and other groups and there were warnings meaning that the government, Biden, Harris and their team, they knew the money was ending up with these people. This wasn't a one off, this wasn't an accident. This was deliberate.

[Unnamed Guest or Analyst]

Well, they knew it and they actively hit it. Let me read a little more from this Free Beacon article. A January memo from Inspector General Paul Martin noted that the agency, quote, does not maintain a comprehensive internal database of sub awardees. In other words, the foreign entities that work with a primary grantee on a USAID project often go unreported, impeding the ability of the agency investigators to vet fraud allegations. According to the memoir, such allegations often include the diversion of taxpayer funded aid to terrorist organizations. In a November report, for example, Martin quote, identified deliberate interference and efforts to divert humanitarian assistance by foreign terrorist organizations, including systemic coercion of aid workers by FTOs, foreign terrorist organizations and FTO influence over Beneficiary selection. These diversion efforts are particularly pronounced in Hamas controlled Gaza. A February report from the Middle East Forum think tank found that the USAID had awarded millions of dollars to organizations directly in Gaza controlled by Hamas. Let me read that again. A February report from the Middle East Forum think tank found that USAID had awarded millions of federal dollars to organizations directly in Gaza controlled by Hamas. And it continues in one Biden Eric case. USAID funded an educational and community center in Gaza controlled by a local group called called the Unlimited Friends Association. The association openly collaborated with Hamas, inviting the terror group's officials to its office and boasting of US funded projects in Hamas controlled newspapers. In 2021, its director called for Jerusalem to be cleansed, quote from the impurity of the Jews. This is who Joe Biden and the Democrats were sending millions of dollars to. And this is who they were covering it up.

[Unnamed Co-Host or Analyst]

Not only were they covering it up, but this has a USAID has a long history that's now well documented of them helping radicals. And one of the things you and I talked about before the show was another just totally insane aspect of this and that included paying for terrorists college funds.

[Unnamed Guest or Analyst]

Well, that is exactly right and it is a stunning story. So, so this is something that's been reported in Fox News and, and, and the New York Post. Here's what the New York Post said. USAID reportedly bankrolled Al Qaeda terrorist college tuition unearthed record showed USAID American board jihadist Anwar al Awlaki received four full funding to attend Colorado State University in 1990. USAID documents obtained by Fox News showed. Now, now, now who is Anwar Al Laki? He. He is a notorious terrorist. So notorious that President Barack Obama ordered him killed in a U.S. airstrike in Yemen 20 years later. The documents revealed that Al A Laki, who was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, lied on his application and claimed that he was born in Yemen, apparently so he would be eligible for the federal tuition funding worth more than $27,000 at the time. That was 1990 tuition and fees for an international student at the university today would be nearly 10 times that. Using the education USAID provided him, he earned a bachelor's in Civil Engineering in 1994. Al Awlaki would go on to teach Islam at mosques across the country from Denver to San Diego and Virginia, where U.S. officials believe he used his platform to radicalize and recruit terrorists. And understand Al Awlaki is directly implicated in number one. At the San Diego mosque he met the 911 hijackers Nawaf Al Hazmi and Khalid Al Mihdhara, two of the men who flew Flight 77 into the Pentagon on 9 11. And he was arrested in 2006 for his terrorist ties in Yemen. And three years later, Anwarlaki communicated with Nidal Hassan, who murdered 14 innocent souls at Fort Hood. Anwar Al Awlaki was also tied to the underwear bomber Umar Farooq Abda Mattalab, who tried to blow up a Detroit bound Northwest Airlines flight on Christmas Day 2009 with bombs hidden in his shorts. This is who USAID said, you know what? We're gonna pay for you to get a college degree. What in the hell are these people doing?

[Unnamed Co-Host or Analyst]

So the question that I gotta ask finally on this, to wrap it up, and people that are listening are gonna say, number one, how did this a happen? But even more so, how are people not going to jail for knowingly giving American taxpayer dollars to terrorists? I mean, if you are working in our government, even if it's under the direction of the Biden Harris regime at the time, and you're sending out money that you know is going to terrorists around the world, is that not like breaking some law, Senator?

[Unnamed Guest or Analyst]

Well, look, that's a question that I think is going to have to be investigated and examined. I, you know, I will say US Anti terrorism laws prohibit sending money that goes to terrorism. And in fact, the Biden administration made a formal assessment and they concluded that sending the money to Gaza, that it was very likely that money would be used by Hamas for terrorism. Now, ordinarily, when you make that determination, under American anti terrorism law, you don't send the money. You can't send the money once you determine that it's likely it'll go to terrorism. However, the way the law is written, the President has the authority to waive that provision. And that's exactly what they did because they made a determination that their radical politics were more important than stopping terrorists from murdering American citizens and murdering Israeli citizens. And tragically, the entire world saw the consequences of that radicalism on October 7th.

[Unnamed Co-Host or Analyst]

Do you think there will be any accountability for this or is this going to be another one of those where, hey, we were in charge, so we get to, we got to wait with it.

[Unnamed Guest or Analyst]

Look, I certainly hope there will be accountability, but at a minimum, we're seeing accountability in President Trump and Elon Musk shutting down these programs at usaid. I think that is very good. And my hope and expectations is that Congress will come along and we will pass legislation, presumably as a part of budget reconciliation later this year, to codify these cuts and eliminate the waste, fraud and abuse.

[Unnamed Co-Host or Analyst]

And Senator, you mentioned, you know, the, the corruption and, and, and what the president's doing to clean it up. 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.