Senator Ted Cruz (3:37)

Yeah. Give a listen to what Brett Bear said. You noticed if you watch the interview, he ended it really abruptly. Well, he explained why.

Bret Baier (3:45)

Give a listen, Dana, you've been on the other side. You've been on the rapper as a press secretary interviewing a president. And, you know, I'm talking like four people waving their hands like it's to stop. So, Martha, final. Yeah, I had to dismount there at the end. There's so many things. And she maybe should do more of these.

Dana Perino (4:08)

Well, I, I think so.

Ben Ferguson (4:10)

I, I love that. Maybe she should do more of these. You and I have actually talked about this in different races that we've, we've seen around the country where a lot of Democrats have taken on this strategy of, hey, we might be able to win elections without ever having to do tough interviews ever again. They obviously got this idea from Joe Biden hiding in his basement last time Kamala Harris's campaign adopted this. And the problem is many other people running for office around the country on the Democratic side have taken to this idea by the election, put out ads, only do friendly interviews, which are not real interviews. And then the problem is you're not prepared for when you just sit down with an actual journalist. Because let's be clear, Bret Baier was not asking I got you questions. He just did what a journalist should have done every day when they interview her. Not instead of doing call her daddy podcast, sit down with real journalists. And she didn't know what to do?

Senator Ted Cruz (5:05)

Well, several observations. Number one, the fact that she did this interview is indicative of a panic on behalf of the Harris campaign. They've tried for two months the Biden basement strategy, hiding. And what they've seen is they've seen her poll numbers plummeting. They've seen Trump's numbers rising in every one of the swing states. They're looking at polling right now that shows if the election was today, she loses and Trump's the next president. So they're in a panic. They're like, oh, the basement isn't working. So they decide, all right, let's do Fox. And I'm sure they sat around and said, all right, this will show how powerfully brave we are. This will be. See, she's fearless. And by the way, every Democrat spinmeister and every media person after the media, they all use the same adjectives. They said it showed she was tough, tough, tough. That that was their word. You know, it's kind of amazing if you're a Republican, you do hostile interviews every day. You sit down with reporters who are throwing fastballs at you, who are throwing gotcha questions, who are trying to attack you or trying to make you look dumb. That's just part of being a Republican. If you do any media interviews, the Democrats are used to being in this warm, loving cocoon of these corporate media journalists who gaze at them adoringly. They ask, what's your favorite flavor of ice cream? Or I guess the, the call your daddy podcast. I don't know. I don't listen to that podcast, so I don't know what they talk about, but I have a feel, feeling it's not hard hitting policy questions. And Democrats are used to just never being challenged on anything. And so for Kamala, I think the idea that she sat down with a reporter who would ask her a real question was a little shocking. But then I think once they decided to do it, I think what happened is she and her team got cold feet. And so you got to understand, not only did they end the interview early and they ended it in a panic. Like four people jumping up and down saying, end, end, end. That is a sign. Oh, the train has gone off the rails. We got to stop this. But. But they also shortened it on the front end. So take a listen to Brett Baer talking about how they chopped the interview on both ends. Because what I think happened is they got cold feet and decided they were really scared of doing it. Give a listen to Brett Baer on this.

Bret Baier (7:29)

Dana, I'll give you a little behind the scenes here, I know you love this. And it fits in with Dana Reed Sports. You know, when the kicker in football, they call a timeout right before he's going to kick the field goal, they're icing the kicker. So we were supposed to start at 5:00pm we, this was the time they gave us originally. We were going to do 25 or 30 minutes. They came in and said, well, maybe 20. So it was already getting whittled down. And then the vice president showed up about 515. We were pushing the envelope to be able to turn it around for the top of the 6 o'clock. So that's how it started. And I could tell when we started talking that she was going to be tough to, to, you know, redirect without me trying to interrupt. I did this with President Obama at one point. I just said, Mr. President, I know you like the filibuster. I just didn't even have the chance to sometimes redirect in those ways. I had a lot of other questions.

Martha MacCallum (8:31)

So what a missed opportunity for them. Right? So I don't know what she had before. I know she had that one event right before. But what's more important than this interview today on your campaign schedule? If your goal as a candidate at this point is to win the day, win the news cycle of the day, then your interview with Fox is arguably your most important issue. And I think you could tell at the end that you were having to rush through it so that you could get to the top of the show and you were trying to be respectful of their time. But it would have been really interesting for her to be able to say to her team, no, no, let's keep going, Brett, what else do you have? Right? And let it keep going.

Ben Ferguson (9:09)

And so people understand how this was supposed to go. Just for a little more context, they wanted to do the interview, basically tape it and go straight live unedited for his show, which is at the top of the hour. So when she purposely showed up 15 minutes late, you're running 15 minutes behind schedule with a. You're supposed to be airing this interview in 45 minutes. And his point he's making here is like, they clearly did that on purpose to basically put us in a bind to limit the amount of time we could talk to her. And then when you wrap early, that really screws up the entire plan for a live TV show at the top of the hour. And that was done deliberately.

Senator Ted Cruz (9:50)

Well, of course it was. It was not accidental. And the reason is the Kamala Harris campaign, their Objective in this interview was not to go out and persuade Fox viewers. I don't think they believed anything she said was gonna suddenly make someone say, gosh, an open border, left wing radical seems like a great choice to be president. That was not their objective. They decided they wanted the headline, kamala Harris does an interview with Fox. So the simple fact of it existing is all they wanted. And then as they're sitting there preparing, they're like, oh, our candidate doesn't actually handle hard questions very well. We want to minimize the time. So look, you're running a presidential campaign. I've done that. You've been on a presidential campaign on the commstaff. If you've got a major national interview at 5:00, you don't show up at 5:15. Or if you do, it is a very deliberate decision. And it's a deliberate decision because they were trying to minimize the exposure. They chop off time at the beginning and time at the end so that there would be less opportunities for Kamala to screw up. Ironically, even doing that, she managed to screw up a whole lot in the limited time she had. So, for example, by the way, did you see her.

Ben Ferguson (11:06)

By the way, let me say this because this made me laugh. Did you see, and I know you've been traveling today, but did you see the Babylon be headline of this interview that came out?

Senator Ted Cruz (11:15)

No.

Ben Ferguson (11:16)

It's hilarious. It says, quote, harris complains that she was not informed the interview would include questions. It's obviously satire, but it's so accurate to the situation, is it not?

Senator Ted Cruz (11:29)

Yep. Yep, it is. And let's start. Let's start with one of the first examples, which is Bret Baier hits her for flip flopping on decriminalizing illegal immigration. So give a listen to this back and forth.

Kamala Harris (11:43)

So decriminalizing border crossings, like you said.

Kamala Harris (11:46)

In 2019, I do not believe in decriminalizing border crossings. And I've not done that as vice president. I will not do that as president.

Kamala Harris (11:54)

So these are allegations that you've had.

Kamala Harris (11:57)

But let's be very clear. I'm the only person who's running for president who has prosecuted transnational criminal organizations from the Sinaloa cartel to the Guadalajara cartel, to people who have trafficked in guns, drugs, and human beings. I have spent a significant part of my career going after people who present a threat to the safety of the American people and cross our border with the intent of doing us harm and cross our border illegally. And I will do that work as vice president. I take that work quite seriously.

Kamala Harris (12:32)

This is A time when vote.

Ben Ferguson (12:34)

I mean, you listen to it there. He's like basically saying, like, you want to really play this. You want to just say you've had an evolution. And that's a kind way of putting it. In other words, you're either lying to the American people. You're not.

Senator Ted Cruz (12:48)

Well, look, I'll say a couple of things. One, you saw there, and you're going to hear this on a number of examples, how she filibusters. And on each question, she tries to take as much time as possible with her answer. And her answer is just her memorized talking points. And so she's doing that there. And I will say, listen, Bret Baer was a very gentle questioner. To be honest, I've had tougher interviews with Bret Baier than he was with Kamala. He gave her a lot of room. He let her just talk and talk, talk. And so there he pointed out, she said that she wanted to decriminalize illegal immigration. And she jumps in and says, no, no, I don't. And she doesn't address the fact that it's a total reversal of what she said when she was campaigning for president. But she also, this talking point, and she says it a lot. I'm the only one who has prosecuted drug cartels. So that's actually an objectively false statement. So when she was Attorney general, or for that matter, when she was district attorney, to the best of my knowledge, she never went into a courtroom as a prosecutor and tried any case against any drug cartel. She was not actually the line lawyer. She was not the lead lawyer that I know of in any single case against a drug cartel. So that's fine. She was the executive in charge of an organization where she had lawyers that were reporting up through the chain of command that I'm sure were prosecuting people in drug cartels. Well, you know what? So did Donald Trump. If you're saying lawyers who worked for me and reported me were, were prosecuting drug cartels. Well, what do you think the Department of Justice did during the four years that Donald J. Trump was president and the DOJ was going after drug traffickers and human traffickers? And so she's trying to claim she's tough, but. But it, it's something that's true for both her and Donald Trump. Now, here's another exchange where Bret Baer points out that she allowed millions of illegal immigrants into the country and she failed to act. And so he's trying to focus on her actual record and give a listen to what she said in response.

Kamala Harris (14:57)

When you came into office, your administration immediately reversed a number of Trump border policies, most significantly, the policy that required illegal immigrants to be detained through deportation, either in the US or in Mexico. And you switched that policy. They were released from custody, awaiting trial. So instead, included in those were a large number of single men, adult men who went on to commit heinous crimes. So looking back, do you regret the decision to terminate, remain in Mexico at the beginning of your administration?

Kamala Harris (15:32)

At the beginning of our administration, within practically hours of taking the oath, the first bill that we offered Congress before we worked on infrastructure, before the Inflation Reduction act, before the Chips and Science act, before any, before the Bipartisan Safety Communities act, the first bill practically within hours of taking the oath, was a bill to fix our immigration system.

Kamala Harris (16:02)

Yes, ma'am. It was called the US Citizen Citizenship act of 2021. It was essential pathway to citizenship.

Kamala Harris (16:10)

Yes, ma'am. May I finish responding, please? But you have to let me finish.

Kamala Harris (16:14)

You had the White House and the House and the Senate, and they didn't.

Bret Baier (16:17)

Bring up that bill.

Kamala Harris (16:18)

Responding to the point you're raising. And I'd like to finish.

Kamala Harris (16:21)

Yes, ma'am.

Kamala Harris (16:22)

We recognized from day one that, to the point of this being your first question, it is a priority for us as a nation and for the American people. And our focus has been on fixing a problem.

Ben Ferguson (16:38)

I mean, number one, I gotta say, Bret Baer had some serious restraint there because this was like, like he said earlier, total filibuster, total bs.

Senator Ted Cruz (16:47)

Yep. So she refused to answer his question. He pointed out that she ended detaining illegal immigrants. She ended keeping violent, criminal illegal aliens in detention. And instead she implemented catch and released. And he asked, do you regret that? And she refused to answer that. Instead, she filibusters. She talks and talks and talks. And she says, well, the first bill we introduced her, one of the first bills was immigration. Now, he quickly points out, yeah, but that was an amnesty bill. That wasn't a border security bill. That was, you wanted to make illegal immigrants citizens. That's not actually solving the problem. And she's like, well, you. Let me, let me finish. Let me finish. By the way, she does that in debates. Remember, in debates. That was her big line. I'm speaking. Let me finish. She likes to be anyone who tries to press her. She just, she gets on her high horse and lectures that. But every word she said was a total non sequitur. And she didn't answer a single word of his questions. Now, let's shift on to when Bret Baer asked her a very simple question. How many illegal immigrants did she release into the country? Now, that's not a complicated question, but you're going to notice she doesn't answer and she. Filibusters give a listen.

Kamala Harris (18:02)

You know, voters tell pollsters all over the country and here in Pennsylvania that immigration is one of the key issues that they're looking at this election and specifically the influx of illegal immigrants from more than 150 countries. How many illegal immigrants would you estimate your administration has released into the country over the last three and a half years?

Kamala Harris (18:25)

Well, I'm glad you raised the issue of immigration, because I agree with you. It is a topic of discussion that people want to rightly have. And you know what I'm going to talk about.

Kamala Harris (18:35)

Yeah, but just a number. Do you think it's 1 million, 3 million?

Kamala Harris (18:39)

Brett, let's just get to the point, okay? The point is that we have a broken immigration system that needs to be repaired.

Kamala Harris (18:47)

So your Homeland Security secretary said that 85% of apprehensions.

Kamala Harris (18:50)

I'm not finished. We have a, we have, it's a.

Kamala Harris (18:53)

Rough estimate, 6 million people have been released into the country and. Let me just finish. I'll get you the question, I promise you.

Kamala Harris (18:59)

I was beginning to answer.

Kamala Harris (19:00)

And when.

Ben Ferguson (19:02)

I mean, you can hear it there. She won't answer the question.

Senator Ted Cruz (19:06)

No. Well, A, she doesn't know. B, she doesn't care. C, she's certainly not going to say, even if she did know and she did care, you have to understand, this was not an accident. It was a conscious decision to open up the borders. Remember, Kamala Harris inherited the lowest rate of illegal immigration in 45 years. I worked hand in hand, very closely with President Trump to secure the border. And the success we achieved was historic. The numbers plummeted when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris walked into office. That's what they inherited, and they very deliberately, they systematically broke it. And so when he asks her, how many illegal immigrants have you released? She's not going to answer that. She's not going to admit she's released anyone. And, and, and, and there's an even broader pattern. So not only does she filibuster every question, not only does she refuse to answer any question, but she also has a pattern, which is whenever she gets in trouble, her answer to everything is, I hate Donald Trump. So no matter what, any policy failure on her part, her answer is, I hate Donald Trump. And, and so, and, and, and so if you listen to, for example, when Bret Baer asks her about the people who are killed by violent illegal immigrants, that she released. Listen to her answer on this.

Kamala Harris (20:34)

Jocelyn Nungarry, Rachel Morin, Lakin Riley. They are young women who were brutally assaulted and killed by some of the men who were released at the beginning of the administration, well before a negotiated bipartisan bill. Former President Clinton actually referred to Lake and Riley Sunday campaigning for you in Georgia, saying if those men had been properly vetted, Lake and Riley probably would not have been killed. So if it wouldn't have happened, this is well before any negotiation. This is well before Donald Trump got involved in the politics. This is a specific policy decision by your administration to release these men into the country. So what I'm saying to you, do you owe those families an apology?

Kamala Harris (21:15)

Let me just say, first of all, those are tragic cases. There's no question about that. There is no question about that. And I can't imagine the pain that the families of those victims have experienced for a loss that should not have occurred. So that is true. It is also true that if a border security had actually been passed nine months ago, it would be nine months that we would have had more border agents at the border, more support for the folks who are working around the clock trying to hold it all together, Madam Vice President, to ensure that no future harm would occur. And this election in 20 days will determine whether we have a president of the United States who actually cares more about fixing a problem, even if it is not to their political advantage in an election. Because there was a solution, Brett.

Kamala Harris (22:17)

Madam Vice President, it was a policy decision in the early part of your administration. I will let one of the mothers talk about it. Take a listen.

Alexis Nungare (22:26)

Because of the Biden Harris administration open border policies, catch and release, they were enrolled in the Alternatives to Detention program. This meant that they were released into the United States. It was not even a full three weeks later that they would take my daughter Jocelyn Nungare's life. I believe the Biden Harris administration open border policies are responsible for the death of my daughter.

Kamala Harris (22:49)

That's the early days. So do you owe them an apology is what I'm saying.

Kamala Harris (22:54)

I tell you that I am so sorry for her loss. I am so sorry for her loss, sincerely. But let's talk about what is happening right now with an individual who does not want to participate in solutions. Let's talk about that as well. In all fairness, I told you I feel awful for what she and her family have experienced during that time.

Ben Ferguson (23:22)

It's still shocking to me that she refuses to accept no responsibility or accountability for her open border policy as the borders are. She refuses to say, yeah, we probably did some things wrong.

Senator Ted Cruz (23:37)

So listen, I will say just listening to that testimony, and I listened to it when it happened. I listened to it when. When the interview happened with Brett Baer. That's the testimony from Alexis Nungare, who is the mother of Jocelyn Nungri. And. And I spent some real time with Alexis. She is a beautiful young woman. She's just 27 years old and she lost her baby girl or 12 year old, raped and murdered by two illegal immigrants that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. They had in custody. They had apprehended them. At least one of them is alleged to have been a Venezuelan gang member. And yet they released those two criminal illegal aliens the same day they apprehended them. And just a few weeks later, they went to Houston, Texas, and raped and murdered that beautiful little girl. What Jocelyn's mother went through is the ultimate nightmare. And when Kamala says that she's so sorry for what happened, sincerely, you want to tell. You want to tell. When a politician like Kamala Harris says the word sincerely, it means she's lying to you. And I'll tell you why she's lying to you. Because number one, as you rightly noted, Ben, she has zero accountability. She takes no. She doesn't even acknowledge that the rapist and murderers in custody and she released. She doesn't say that. But number two, even more importantly, if she was actually sincere about these are tragic, tragic cases and we need to prevent them, she would change that policy. Kamala Harris today released additional illegal aliens, criminal illegal aliens, some of whom are at real risk of raping and murdering another little girl. She keeps doing the same thing, and you're not sorry for it if you keep doing it and doing it and doing it. For Kamala Harris, the politics matters more than the body count, that the people who suffer than the people who pay the price. This is the. This was the answer that made me angry. I mean, it just. And part of it is because I know Jocelyn's mom, because I have sat in the living room with Jocelyn's mom and Jocelyn's grandfather and felt the tears and the agony of losing that little girl. And you see, what does Kamala Harris say? Kamala Harris says, I hate Trump. That's her answer. The problem is Trump. Now, number one, it's a non sequitur. She's focusing on the Chuck Schumer border bill, which happened this past year in the fourth year of the Biden Harris administration. So it had zero impact on Jocelyn Nungaree. It had zero impact on Rachel Moran. It had zero impact on Lake and Riley. Their murderers were released by Kamala Harris long before this ridiculous border bill. Now secondly, and you and I have talked about this at great length, the border bill, the Chuck Schumer border bill, would not have secured the border. You know, Kamala talks about. Well, gosh, it would have put more border, border agents there. Yes, but it wrote into law catch and release. So it would have written into law that the next murderer shall be released. So you have more agents there to process and release illegal immigrants faster. But this bill was designed to codify, to write into law catch and release and to normalize 5,000 illegal immigrants a day. 1.8 million a year, every year, forever. And the cynicism of just turning your back on the people who are suffering. That answer of the entire interview, that's the one that made me most, most angry and upset.

Ben Ferguson (27:14)

Yeah, I couldn't agree with you more. October 7th was the one year mark of the worst massacre of the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Twelve hundred Israelis were murdered and more than 250 taken hostage, many of them still being held by the terrorists. Yet the war in Israel is raging on today with Iran firing a massive barrage of nearly 200 ballistic missiles earlier this month. Israel and her people are facing attacks from enemies on all sides. And that's why I'm asking for your help for the people in Israel. The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews is on the ground providing food, shelter and safety to those in need during this crisis. Since the war started, thousands of reservists every day Israeli citizens have left their families to serve their country. Soldiers have been injured and their families now need our support. Your gift of $150 helps the fellowship provide food and other necessities to the families to help them survive. And thanks to a generous fellowship supporter, your gift gift will be matched, doubling in impact. Meaning if you give 150, there's another 150 given with that. That means $300. So join us in letting those families know that the listeners like you stand with Israel and the people of Israel. To make your 150 gift right now, you can call 888-488 IFCJ. That's 888-488-4325 or go online to supportifcj.org that's one word. Supportifcj.org Senator, you mentioned something a moment ago and I. It's a theme that went back to a core point in this interview where she always went back to somehow I'm not The vice president, I'm not in charge. And it's all Donald Trump's fault. Who hasn't been in charge for what, three and a half years now? And, and I, I don't know why she thought that was going to get her out of the jail. Card. On every tough question.

Senator Ted Cruz (29:28)

Well, this was her standard answer to every difficult question about the failure of her record. So why have you had an open border with 11 and a half million people invading this country? Answer, I hate Donald Trump. Why did if Iran is America's greatest enemy, which is what she said on 60 Minutes, why did your administration give Iran $100 billion? Answer, I hate Donald Trump. And one of the ones that was most just I thought funny was, okay, you're campaigning on change. How are you different from Joe Biden? And spoiler alert. But her answer is I hate Donald Trump. Give a listen.

Kamala Harris (30:07)

Slogan is a new way forward, and it's time to turn the page. You've been vice president for three and a half years, so what are you turning the page from?

Kamala Harris (30:16)

Well, first of all, turning the page from the last decade in which we have been burdened with the kind of rhetoric coming from Donald Trump that has been designed and implemented to divide our country and have Americans literally point fingers at each other. Rhetoric and an approach to leadership that suggests that the strength of a leader is based on who you beat down instead of what we all know. The strength of leadership is based on who you lift up. The strength of an American president, which is one who understands that the vast majority of us have more in common than what separates us.

Kamala Harris (30:54)

Madam Vice President, more than 70% of.

Ben Ferguson (30:57)

People turning to the.

Kamala Harris (30:57)

That is about turning the page on rhetoric that people are frankly exhausted of.

Kamala Harris (31:02)

Brett, more than 70% of people tell the country is on the wrong track. They say the country is on the wrong track. If it's on the wrong track. That track follows three and a half years of you being vice president and President Biden being president. That is what they're saying, 79% of them. Why are they saying that? If you're turning the page, you've been in office for three and a half.

Kamala Harris (31:24)

Years and Donald Trump has been running.

Kamala Harris (31:27)

For office, but you've been the person holding the office.

Kamala Harris (31:31)

Come on. You and I both know what I'm talking about. You and I both know what I'm talking about.

Kamala Harris (31:35)

I actually don't. What are you talking about when I'm.

Kamala Harris (31:37)

Talking about is that over the last decade, people have become.

Ben Ferguson (31:42)

But listen, I, I love what is response there. I actually don't know what you're talking about. She's like, yes, you do. And she's basically saying, because that'll single.

Senator Ted Cruz (31:53)

Best moment of the. Of the entire interview. It's the single best moment of the entire interview. And kudos to Brett Baer. Like, I actually don't. Was spectacular. And you gotta understand, Kamala Harris, like virtually every Democrat in elected office and like all of CNN and all of MSNBC and all of abc, NBC and CBS has full on Trump derangement syndrome. So she literally like, you are turning the page, but wait, you're in power. What are you turning the page from? If we're on the wrong track, doesn't that mean what you're doing is wrong? And like her line, well, and Donald Trump has been running for office, so clearly that's the problem. How dare he run for office? And then she's like, you and I both know what I'm talking about. And it's. We hate Trump. Like, we wake up and he is the devil. And I love Bret Barry. It's just like shakes his head. I actually don't. It really is. She's not willing to address anything about her record other than Trump. Bad. So there was. There's another exchange where Brett Baer is like, okay, fine, you. You don't like Trump. Well, what about Joe Biden? The guy has dementia. He's clearly not capable of being president or running for president. Why are you covering that up? When did you see that? And, and this exchange also, she completely dodges accountability. Give a listen.

Kamala Harris (33:24)

He's not.

Bret Baier (33:25)

Let me ask you this.

Kamala Harris (33:26)

And you told many interviewers that Joe Biden was on his game, that ran around circles on his staff. When did you first notice that President Biden's mental faculties appeared diminished?

Kamala Harris (33:38)

Joe Biden, I have watched in from the Oval Office to the Situation Room. And he has the judgment and the experiment and experience to do exactly what he has done in making very important decisions on behalf of the American people. Joe Biden is not on battle.

Senator Ted Cruz (33:58)

It.

Kamala Harris (33:58)

I understand.

Kamala Harris (33:59)

And Donald Trump. Donald Trump.

Kamala Harris (34:00)

But you talked about it.

Kamala Harris (34:01)

And Donald Trump after George Clooney said.

Kamala Harris (34:03)

Within a few minutes of talking to President Biden at a fundraiser that he thought this was not the same Joe Biden that we saw on the debate.

Kamala Harris (34:10)

Stage is on the.

Ben Ferguson (34:13)

She goes back to Donald Trump there. I actually think this is one of the most damning parts of her legacy as the vice president. She. She lied to the American people and covered up day after day, week after.

Senator Ted Cruz (34:27)

Week, month after month, year after year. Yep.

Ben Ferguson (34:30)

And and then she's like, absolutely, calm down, it's not a big deal. Now I'm the candidate. Leave me alone.

Senator Ted Cruz (34:37)

Yeah. And, and her answer is, but, but Orange man bad. I hate Trump. That, that's the only thing she can say. Well, yes, I lied to the American people. Well, yes, I, I actively covered up to the commander in chief has full on dementia. Yes, I covered up the fact that the person in charge with keeping the nation, our nation, safe, the person with his finger on the nuclear button. Still right now, today, like today, if Joe Biden woke up from his 4 o'clock nap and said, let's exterminate humanity, he is one of the very few people on the planet with the power to do so, assuming his generals would follow his orders. And she was an active and integral participant in covering up the fact that he is not competent and capable of protecting this country. And her only answer is, I hate Trump.

Ben Ferguson (35:32)

It is a theme. I go back to this question. You look at this interview. I think the idea of this interview was a smart one. They obviously feel that something has changed in this election. I think you and I can feel it out there as well on the road. There is a, there's been a shift in the last, I don't know, 10 to 15 days where it just feels like there's starting to be a surge of support for Donald Trump. And their campaign clearly felt it to the point where they're like, all right, that last week of all those big interviews when we should have been focusing on the hurricane number two hitting this country and putting her on late night comedy shows and putting on her Call her Daddy podcast or Charlemagne the God, that didn't work. So now we're going to see if we can, in a weird way, have Fox News bail us out. Not only did it not work, it was a disaster. What, what do you do now if you're her campaign? I mean, do you go back to the basic strategy?

Senator Ted Cruz (36:31)

Listen, I think what, what is happening? And this is something you and I talked about, you and I talked about coming out of the Democrat convention where she had a surge. And by the way, the polling numbers, if the vote had been right after the Democrat convention and she probably would have won, she probably would have been president. Her numbers surge. At the time, simply replacing Joe Biden with Kamala Harris on the ballot was worth five to eight points for every Democrat in the country because it unified Democrats and it was a pure sugar high. But you and I said at the podcast at the time, the election is not today. We've got several months to go. And what I believe is the issue set strongly favors Republicans because the issue set whether it is illegal immigration, on which Kamala Harris record is a disaster and on which Donald Trump's record is incredibly successful, or whether it is the economy and inflation, on which Kamala Harris record is a disaster and on which Donald Trump's record is incredibly successful, or whether it is war and peace, on which Kamala Harris track record is a disaster and Donald Trump's record is incredibly successful. Every one of those issues, the advantage is with the Republicans. And so as the campaign has gone on, I think that advantage is asserting itself. And she's left with the only thing. She can't talk about her record because her record is so bad. She can't talk about her policies because her policies have failed. So she just has to vet at Trump. And actually, there was one exchange that I thought illustrated that in a way that was really funny. So it has become a big issue. The Democrats radicalism on transgender issues, and in particular, boys and girls, sports, boys and girls, locker rooms and dressing rooms, and also Kamala Harris's support of using taxpayer dollars to pay for sex changes for illegal aliens in prison. And by the way, when Trump brought that up at the debate, I pointed out that sounded like something you would hear on Saturday Night Live that sounds like something almost made up. Sex changes for illegal immigrants in jail. Like, like, let's just make it so wacky that only alone would support it. Now, of course, Kamala Harris did support it. And, and when Bret Bear asked her about it again, I'm gonna give you a surprise. What did she do? She pivots to Trump.

Ben Ferguson (38:47)

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Kamala Harris (41:13)

Listen, it's gotten a lot of attention.

Senator Ted Cruz (41:15)

Kamala supports taxpayer funded sex changes for.

Kamala Harris (41:18)

Prisoners, surgery for prisoners for prisoners. Every transgender inmate in the prison system would have access.

Kamala Harris (41:29)

So are you still in support of using taxpayer dollars to help prison inmates or detained illegal aliens to transition to another gender?

Kamala Harris (41:37)

I will follow the law. And it's a law that Donald Trump actually followed you're probably familiar with. Now, it's a public report that under Donald Trump's administration, these surgeries were available to, on a medical necessity basis to people in the federal prison system. And I think frankly, that ad from the Trump campaign is a little bit of like throwing, you know, stones when you're living in a glass house.

Bret Baier (42:04)

The Trump aides say that he never.

Kamala Harris (42:06)

Advocated for that prison policy and no gender transition. Well, you know what, you got to.

Kamala Harris (42:10)

Take responsibility for what happened in your administration.

Kamala Harris (42:13)

Yeah. No surgeries happened in this pregnancy. Would you still advocate for using taxpayer dollars for gender reassignment?

Kamala Harris (42:20)

I will follow the law. Just as I think.

Ben Ferguson (42:23)

I mean, it's amazing. She accuses Trump of doing something and Bret Bear is like, you never did that. She's like, yeah, yes, he did. No, no, actually he really didn't. And she's like, I will follow the law. This is Again, back to pivot to Trump. It's all, it's all Trump's fault. Even though I'm in charge.

Senator Ted Cruz (42:40)

Well, and I actually think the funniest statement in all of that is, well, you got to take responsibility for what happens in your administration. I will be surprised if we don't see that clip air and immediately after it. I'm Donald Trump and I approve this message. I mean, it really is. Talk about an indictment of every other word of the interview. She's not taking responsibility for anything that has happened in her administration. Everything that's gone wrong under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, it's all Trump's fault. And by the way, everything that went right when Trump was president, that's not, that's not his fault at all. And it really does show how, at the end of the day, her entire argument is that she hates Trump. And I promise you, nobody, nobody remotely conscious missed the point that she and the rest of the Democratic Party hates Trump. It just happens that their policies are also disastrous for virtually every American.

Ben Ferguson (43:34)

I want to move to this other issue because I think it's really important. And it is the breaking news out of Israel that Israel has killed the October 7 mastermind. It is interesting. It took them about a year to do that. It's something that we in this country have still not accomplished since 9 11. The mastermind of 9 11, Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, has still not been executed, even though we have him in our custody. Many Democrats have tried to give him a plea deal to save his life. Life, which was a major point that we talked about and were able to at least stop that deal from taking place because of so many listeners that were outraged by the decision by the Biden Harris administration to give him a deal as the mastermind of 911 Israel said, yeah, we're not going to do that. We're not going to do that at all. In fact, what we're going to do is we're going to kill the leader of Hamas, this, that planned this attack, and they did it today and told the world, yeah, we're not messing around. We're taking out everybody that was involved in this attack on innocent civilians and those that took hostages.

Senator Ted Cruz (44:46)

Look, that, that is exactly right. And, and I will say this is a, a very, very good day for Israel. It's a very good day for America. The Hamas leader, Sinwar hated America, was responsible for American deaths, and it's a good day for justice. And here I want you to listen to the coverage when the Israeli foreign minister confirms that The Hamas leader is dead. Give a listen.

Trey Yingst (45:12)

This is a Fox News alert. Reuters is now reporting that Israel's foreign minister has just confirmed the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. Yahya Sinwar was responsible and the mastermind between the vicious October 7th attack that was the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust. And Reuters is reporting that Israeli officials who were analyzing his dental records, that he is in fact dead. We go to Trey Yingst and Haifa, Israel, with more on this developing story. Trey?

Dana Perino (45:46)

Yeah, guys. Good afternoon. According to reports, the leader of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar, is dead. We cannot independently confirm this, and I'm going to tell you why. There are two things ongoing at the moment. Israeli officials are using dental records and they are using DNA to try to match Yahya Sinwar's DNA to DNA the Israelis have in their file. The dental records match, but we are waiting to report until the DNA test comes back, just given how high profile this figure is. But again, according to reports attributed to Israel's foreign minister, Israel Katz, Yahya Sinwar is dead. This follows an Israeli operation in southern Gaza today, reportedly in the city of Rafah, Gaza's third largest city that sits next to the Egyptian border. This was not a planned intelligence operation, according to officials, but rather a ground patrol that intercepted movement in southern Gaza. Ultimately, Israeli forces reportedly fired on that movement. And among the cell of Hamas militants was the leader, Yahya Sinwar. Now, Sinwar is a man who has been at the top of the Israeli target list since October 7th. He is one of three masterminds behind the massacre, along with Mohammed Death, a man who was killed in an Israeli airstrike earlier this year, and Ismail Haniyeh, a man who was killed in an explosion in the Iranian capital of Tehran over the summer. So now, now that this is confirmed, the three masterminds behind the massacre are dead. Now, Sinwar spent 22 years in an Israeli prison. He was released back in 2011 as part of a prisoner swap deal for one single Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit. Shalit was exchanged for more than a thousand Palestinian prisoners. Now, when Sinwar went back to Gaza, he was appointed to a defense minister level position among Hamas, Al Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, and then ultimately later took over as the leader of Hamas inside Gaza. The last time that I saw sinwar was in 2021. The month was May, and he was giving a rally where an infamous photo of him was taken holding a Palestinian child who was dressed as a member of the Al Qassam Brigades. Sinwar is someone who has devoted his life to killing Israelis, despite the fact that the Israelis actually saved his life during brain surgery on him in the early 2000s while he was still in. In prison and following the October 7th massacre. He had been hiding in the tunnel network beneath Gaza. Some of the Israeli hostages who were released as part of the November ceasefire deal back in 2023 reported meeting him in the tunnels beneath Gaza City. And so this is significant news and an indication that the Israelis will continue to pick off the remaining Hamas leaders that exist still inside Gaza. They have destroyed the battalions within the Gaza Strip. But the question remains, what does this mean for the remaining Israeli hostages inside Gaza? 101 of them are there. Around half of them are estimated to be alive. And Israeli sources are texting now they are talking about this news that is taking place. We do expect to hear from Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu later tonight. Israel Time. And the Israelis, according to this source, are in communication with their American counterparts to discuss the operation that took place today. Again, according to our reporting, this was not a planned operation, but rather one that took place after movement was identified inside the Gaza Strip. Again, the latest information that we have attributable to reports we are waiting for DNA evidence is that Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, is dead.

Ben Ferguson (49:10)

Guys, I mean, this is incredible news and I love how steadfast Netanyahu has been.

Senator Ted Cruz (49:18)

Yes. So two observations. Number one, on yet another issue, Kamala Harris was wrong. Remember, Kamala Harris has been opposing Israel continuing to fight to eliminate Hamas. Harris was explicit urging Israel opposing Israel going on the offensive in Rafah. Rafa. And she claimed to be an expert. She claimed to know that nothing could be accomplished. And what happened today proved that wrong. I want you to listen to a flashback of Kamala in March of 2024 when she's claiming to know that going into Rafah is going to be a mistake.

Kamala Harris (50:04)

We have been clear in multiple conversations and in every way that any major military operation in Rafah would be a huge mistake. Let me tell you something. I have studied the maps. There's nowhere for those folks to go. And we're looking at about a million and a half people in Rafah who are there because they were told to go there, most of them. And so we've been very clear that it would be a mistake to move into Rafah with any type of military operation.

Alexis Nungare (50:37)

A mistake. But would there be consequences if he does move forward?

Kamala Harris (50:42)

Well, we're going to take it one step at a time, but we've been Very clear in terms of our perspective on whether or not that should happen.

Senator Ted Cruz (50:47)

Are you ruling out that there would.

Alexis Nungare (50:48)

Be consequences from the United States?

Kamala Harris (50:51)

I am ruling out nothing.

Ben Ferguson (50:53)

Wow.

Senator Ted Cruz (50:55)

Well, once again, Kamala Harris was wrong. She was wrong. She was threatening Israel with consequences. And to be clear, she and Joe Biden cut off critical weapons to Israel and have been pressuring and undermining Israel at every stage since October 7th. And long before that, she was categorically wrong. And I'll tell you the real consequences. The consequences were for Sinwar. And this is the final point that I want to wrap up the podcast with. You know, it was 12 years ago that I was elected to the Senate. And when I came into the Senate, at the time, I resolve to be the leading defender of Israel in the Senate. And I got to tell you, a lot of times people ask me, how on earth did it come to pass that a Cuban, Texan, Southern Baptist would end up the leading defender of Israel in the United States Senate? And there are a lot of reasons, but one of the fundamental reasons, and I've described this before, is I was a little kid when the Entebbe raid happened. I was, I think, five years old. And, and listen, I didn't understand in detail what happened in the Entebbe raid, but it made an impression on me as a child. And my understanding of the Entebbe raid at the time was the people of Israel were saying, if you take our citizens hostage, our citizens might die, but you are going to die. And I gotta say, Ben, as a five year old, that struck me as a very Texan foreign policy. There was a clarity to that. And I gotta say, the three masterminds of October 7, including Sinwar, the head of Hamas, well, they've gone to meet their 72 virgins and I think they're disappointed with what they found. And there is an absolute seriousness with which Benjamin Netanyahu and the nation of Israel takes protecting their themselves, protecting their citizens, protecting their safety, defeating Hamas, defeating Hezbollah. And that is good for America, good for Israel, good for the world, and cause for celebration.

Ben Ferguson (53:03)

Amen to that. Don't forget to share this show on social media so other people can hear this conversation without you guys doing that. People don't hear it. And we say thank you and we mean it sincerely when we say thank you for sharing the show. Don't forget, we do it Monday, Wednesday and Friday. So hit that subscribe or auto download button at wherever you're listening to this podcast so you don't miss an episode. We do this Monday Wednesday and Friday and on in between days. Grab my podcast, the Ben Ferguson Podcast, and subscribe to that as well so you don't miss a day of important news as it breaks, especially in this election season. And we'll see you back here for our Week in Review on Saturday as well.