Pam Bondi as AG, plus Biden Burning the House Down on the Way Out-Opening the Border & Trying to Start WW3

Summary

Summary of Podcast Episode: "Pam Bondi as AG, plus Biden Burning the House Down on the Way Out-Opening the Border & Trying to Start WW3"

Date Released: November 25, 2024
Podcast: The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson
Host: Ben Ferguson
Guest: Senator Ted Cruz

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Introduction

In this episode of The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson, host Ben Ferguson engages in a comprehensive discussion with Senator Ted Cruz. The primary focus revolves around two major topics: President Trump's recent nomination of Pam Bondi as Attorney General (AG) and allegations regarding President Biden's final actions in office, particularly concerning immigration policies and foreign affairs.

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Pam Bondi's Nomination as Attorney General

Senator Ted Cruz opens the discussion by highlighting the significance of President Trump's nomination of Pam Bondi as Attorney General. He emphasizes Bondi's strong legal background and loyalty to the President, projecting confidence in her ability to navigate the Department of Justice (DOJ) amidst upcoming legal challenges.

• Background and Qualifications:
  Cruz details Bondi's extensive experience, noting her 18-year tenure as a prosecutor in Hillsborough County, Florida, and her historic role as Florida's first female Attorney General. Her focus areas included challenging Obamacare, combating human trafficking, shutting down pill mills, and fighting the opioid crisis.

  "Attorney General is a job that requires competence. It requires knowledge of the law, it requires good judgment, and it requires backbone. And I think Pam's got all three."
  [07:24] Senator Ted Cruz

• Support and Endorsements:
  The nomination has garnered bipartisan support, including unexpected endorsements from figures like Al Sharpton, who praises Bondi's qualifications despite political differences.

  "Bondi is certainly on the right, but she is one who's qualified to become Attorney General in terms of she's handled cases, she's managed offices, and yes, we can raise questions about what she did with Trump University, but there's no glaring things in terms of her values and morals."
  [10:16] Al Sharpton

• Comparison with Matt Gaetz:
  Cruz contrasts Bondi's robust legal resume with that of Matt Gaetz, whom he deems less qualified for the AG position. He underscores Bondi's experience as a career prosecutor and her role in Trump's defense during the first impeachment trial.

  "Pam Bondi was a career prosecutor down there in Hillsborough County for many, many years before she was elected Florida's first female Attorney General."
  [11:59] Fox News Analyst

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Biden Administration's Final Moves: Immigration and Foreign Policy

Biden's Immigration Policies:
Cruz criticizes President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for loosening immigration policies in the final days of their administration. He argues that these actions undermine border security and complicate the incoming Trump's administration's efforts to secure the borders.

• Introduction of a New Immigration App:
  The Biden administration is reportedly launching an app to allow migrants to check in electronically, bypassing in-person requirements. Cruz highlights significant flaws in the app, such as its inability to track migrants using Android devices and its failure to check for past arrests or outstanding warrants.

  "If you're an illegal immigrant, just don't use an iPhone phone and they won't be able to track you. The app also does not check migrants for past arrests or outstanding warrants."
  [21:45] Ben Ferguson

• Impact on Deportations:
  With 1.4 million illegal immigrants ordered deported and only 13,000 in ICE custody, Cruz predicts that the Trump administration will prioritize removing these individuals, particularly those with criminal backgrounds.

  "There are 1.4 million illegal immigrants in the US who have been ordered to be deported... you are potentially looking at a lot of people roaming around the country who are in the US illegally and who have been ordered removed."
  [24:19] Ted Cruz

• Denver Mayor's Defiance:
  The podcast discusses Denver Mayor's stance against federal immigration policies, likening him to a modern-day Bull Connor. Cruz expresses concerns that such defiance may lead to increased influxes of illegal immigrants into Denver.

  "Trump's new border czar, Tom Homan, has said that he is willing to arrest leaders like yourself for standing in the way of these policies that they want to enact."
  [27:04] Ted Cruz

Biden's Foreign Policy and Allegations of Escalation:
Cruz accuses President Biden of taking aggressive steps in foreign policy to destabilize situations, specifically referencing actions related to Ukraine and landmines.

• Ukraine Missile Deployments and Landmines:
  The Biden administration has allegedly authorized Ukraine to use U.S.-made long-range missiles within Russia and has sent anti-personnel landmines to Ukraine. Cruz contends these moves are dangerously escalating the conflict and could contribute to the onset of World War III.

  "The Biden White House has signed off on Ukraine firing US-made long-range missiles directly into Russia... and sending anti-personnel landmines to Ukraine again to use against Russian citizens."
  [34:38] Ted Cruz

• Consequences of Escalation:
  Cruz argues that these decisions aim to prolong conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, hindering potential resolutions and exacerbating global tensions.

  "It's the foreign policy equivalent of what they're doing on the border... trying to make it all as bad as possible before the new administration comes in."
  [37:04] Ted Cruz

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Predictions and Closing Remarks

Cruz remains optimistic about Pam Bondi's confirmation as Attorney General, anticipating a smooth process despite potential Democratic opposition. He reiterates his concerns about the Biden administration's last-minute policies and their implications for national security and border integrity.

"Pam Bondi's nomination was a very strong nomination... she will be confirmed easily, barring some dramatically unexpected step."
[15:30] Senator Ted Cruz

Cruz concludes by expressing frustration with the current administration's strategies, labeling them as sabotage intended to undermine the incoming Trump administration's agenda.

"It is brazenly irresponsible. It's called sabotage. And that is what they are trying to do on the way out."
[38:43] Ted Cruz

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Notable Quotes

• Senator Ted Cruz on Pam Bondi's Competence:

  "Pam's got all three [competence, knowledge of the law, good judgment]."
  [07:24]

• Al Sharpton Endorsing Bondi's Qualifications:

  "There's no glaring things in terms of her values and morals."
  [10:16]

• Critique of Biden's Immigration App:

  "If you're an illegal immigrant, just don't use an iPhone phone and they won't be able to track you."
  [21:45]

• Comparison to Bull Connor:

  "The mayor of Denver is the modern day Bull Connor."
  [27:35]

---

Conclusion

This episode of The 47 Morning Update provides a critical examination of recent political developments concerning Pam Bondi's nomination as Attorney General and the Biden administration's final policy decisions. Through a detailed dialogue with Senator Ted Cruz, listeners gain insight into the implications of these actions on national security, immigration, and international relations. The discussion underscores a narrative of legal robustness in Bondi's selection and portrays the Biden administration's concluding efforts as detrimental to America's future governance and global standing.

Transcript

[Ben Ferguson]

Welcome. It's verdict with center Ted Cruz. This is one of those fun podcast center where you and I get to hang out in person. So if you're listening to this show, this is if you're listening audio, you can go back and watch this on YouTube and that really makes it a lot more fun. A lot of the video clips we're going to play, the audio you may hear, but you can go back and watch them. So make sure you do that. This was a very big week center because the president named Pam Bondi as his AG pick and that was something that a lot of people received with a lot of excitement.

[Ted Cruz]

Well, that's right. It's big news. Pam Bondi is going to make a very strong ag. I know Pam well. We're going to talk about her. We're going to talk about that nomination, what it means, what it means for the Department of Justice, what it means for the country, what to expect in the Senate, what's going to happen next. We're also going to talk about what Joe Biden is doing on the way out of the White House. And spoiler alert, it ain't pretty. Joe Biden is in the process of opening up the borders, trying to accelerate the invasion, trying to make Donald Trump and the new administration's lives and jobs more difficult. He's not just doing it at home with opening up the borders, but he's also doing it abroad. He's doing, I think, everything he can to accelerate and to make worse the war in Ukraine that is dangerous, World War 3. It seems like he's rolling the dice and hoping whoever comes in next has to deal with the consequences.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, it's going to be very interesting to see what he does here and why he's doing it. We're going to break all that down for you. Want to talk to you real quick about our friends over at Ammo Squared. Ammo Square ensures that you have ammo when you need it. It is an automated approach to purchasing ammo on any budget. I absolutely love Ammo Squared because if you dealt with not being able to find ammo during COVID you know how frustrating it is when you cannot find what you need. And the best part about Ammo Squared is you pick your calibers, you set your budget, you select a shipping trigger, and bam, that's it. Your ammo grows over time. And this is the other thing I love. It is stored for free as it builds up and then you can have it shipped to you with a click of a button or automatically whenever you want to Ammo squared offers nearly 70 different caliber options, hard to find calibers as well. And each shipment contains a carefully curated mix of factory new ammunition. It it's budget friendly and you can buy as little as a few dollars a month and use cost dollar averaging to your advantage. Everything is managed online. Forget about moving heavy case of ammo in your garage or trying to sell ammo online. You can literally exchange your Ammo Squared inventory from one caliber to another in seconds. And let's say you build up a lot of ammo and you want to sell it. As prices rise in the future, you can do that and make big profits. There's no minimum to buy, no memberships needed and no extra fees. You can buy ammo on a small budget and watch it grow. Sign up and I'm going to give you free ammo in your account today@ Ammo squared.com Ben that's Ammo squared.com Ben today to get free ammo in your account. Senator, it's official. Pam Bondi has been selected by Donald Trump to be the ag. I've gotten to know her a little bit through doing different things on tv. You know her pretty well from different campaign things, et cetera. Are you excited about this pick? Because it seems to be that most are very excited about how qualified she is. Her resume matters in this one a lot more than the last pick and people say she knows how to do this job.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah, it's a great choice. It is an excellent choice. You know, it's interesting, we did Friday's pod. You and I recorded it Thursday afternoon right before I got on the plane and flew back from D.C. to Texas. And Thursday afternoon the news had just broken that Matt Gaetz was pulling out. So we did the whole podcast on that news that had just broke. I had come from the lunch with the other Senate Republicans where everyone was still a little shocked at the speed with which Gates pulled out of the contention. And at the time we didn't know who the nominee was. So Friday's pod, we were speculating different, folks. What is interesting is how quickly Trump acted. Trump acted within hours and by Thursday night we knew the nominee, Pam Bondi. And that nominee is now going full speed ahead. I've got to say it is a very, very strong choice.

[Ben Ferguson]

Let's talk about a resume so people understand because if you're outside of Florida, you may not know just how qualified she is, what she has done.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah. So Pam's background, she's from Tampa originally. She got an undergraduate degree from University of Florida, degree in Criminal justice. She then got her law degree from Stetson Law School, and she was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1991. And she spent 18 years as a prosecutor in the Hillsborough County State Attorney's Office, trying cases, including domestic violence, including murder. She was a line prosecutor trying cases. She then became Attorney General of Florida in 2010, and she made history. She was the first female attorney general in the state of Florida. And she focused on, number one, challenging Obamacare. She focused on taking on human trafficking, and she also focused on shutting down pill mills and fighting the state's opioid crisis. And she held that post for 8 years until 2019. She is right now the chair of the center of Litigation and also co chair of the center for Law and justice at the America First Policy Institute. And she was very notably part of his defense team, Trump's defense team in the first impeachment trial. So when Verdict started, when this podcast began, the very first verdict podcast was the first night of the first Trump impeachment trial. And I came from the Senate floor, where we spent the entire day there, came to the studio and recorded Verdict, the very initial episode. And actually Verdict at the time went from non existent. We started with zero listeners, zero viewers.

[Ben Ferguson]

That's right.

[Ted Cruz]

It went from non existent to it skyrocketed up the charts and became the number one ranked podcast in the world, beating Joe Rogan, beating the New York Times, beating everybody. Pam at the time was someone I worked with closely during that impeachment trial, and she is a serious, capable trial lawyer. And I gotta tell you, look, Attorney General is a job that requires competence. It requires knowledge of the law, it requires good judgment, and it requires backbone. And I think PAM's got all three. And it is a job where competence really matters. Listen, this administration is going to face all sorts of legal challenges. It's going to face blue states and blue attorneys general filing lawsuits day after day after day. It is going to face every step President Trump takes, he's going to face lawfare on the other side. And one of the most important responsibilities for an attorney general is to give good, sound legal advice about how to navigate those landmines, how to implement the Trump policy in a way that survives and is durable legally. And I gotta say, I think Pam will do an excellent job.

[Ben Ferguson]

You talk about the role as the AG and there's so many different things you're involved in. A lot of it is managing and making sure that people are doing their jobs well and find the right people. There's also the deep state aspect of this that people are saying, hey, we want to get the bad actors out. She has actually defended Donald Trump against those activists and the deep state that were coming after him. How important is her just seeing that and defending him and knowing what they were doing to him and to others around him, whether it be Flynn, the list goes on and on. That will help her do better, be better at this job than maybe anyone else.

[Ted Cruz]

Look, she's strong and she's loyal to the president, but she also cares about the rule of law. And you need to have both to do this job effectively. This may be the single hardest job in the incoming Trump administration. And look, I want to give you an example. Take a look at Pam and who she is.

[Pam Bondi]

These criminals made one very big mistake. They wound up in Polk County. And I'll tell you, it's bad enough in one thing to profit from poisoning others, but it's another when you bring drugs from Mexico into our country, California, Texas, Georgia, and end up in our state and do it with impunity. Because when you're in this country illegally and you're doing things illegally, I want to tell you, and you wind up in Polk County, Grady Judd is going to find you. The DEA is going to help him, and my statewide prosecutors are going to lock you up for as long as we can.

[Ted Cruz]

And we're going to enjoy it.

[Pam Bondi]

And each of these defendants are looking at 15, 30 years in Florida State Prison for conspiracy to traffic drugs.

[Ben Ferguson]

I mean, she's not messing around. And I love the sheriff there, by the way. We're going to enjoy it. But, I mean, this is. I think her life works. She's saying, let's go. You want to go to war? We're going to go war against the bad guys. We're going to protect Americans, we're going to go after the cartels, we're going to go after the drugs, we're going to go after the people that are doing this across our borders. And she mentioned all those states, including Texas. That's why I'm excited about her.

[Ted Cruz]

Well, and for those of you all listening to this on audio, what we just played is a video of a press conference of her bringing a prosecution against drug traffickers against criminals. And as you noted, the sheriff behind her quickly chimes in, and we're going to enjoy it. I mean, this is. We need an attorney general who is tough, who is focused on securing the border, is focused on stopping human traffickers, is focused on stopping drug traffickers. I think Pam's gonna do an excellent job of that. And by the way, if you don't trust me on it, let me give you someone else. If you don't want to take my word for it, take Al Sharpton's word for it. Give a listen to Al Sharpton on msnbc.

[Al Sharpton]

Absolutely. I think it was the wise thing for the Trump people and for President Elect Trump to withdraw him now because a long term spectacle of days and weeks would only damage them even more. Take your losses short. Let him walk away because he was never qualified and he could not give any reasonable argument as to why he'd be Attorney General. I talked to people that I know in Florida last night that on the civil rights side, we have a chapter, National Action Network there. Bondi is certainly on the right, but she is one who's qualified to become Attorney General in terms of she's handled cases, she's managed offices, and yes, we can raise questions about what she did with Trump University, but there's no glaring things in terms of her values and morals. You're talking about Gates with underage sex. You're talking about money that has been documented that was sent around and to put him in charge of the Justice Department made a mockery of the system. So I think it was better for Trump, not that I'm a Trump person at all, but it's better for him and certainly better for the American public to get Gates off the scene.

[Ben Ferguson]

I mean, he's saying like, I don't know how you're gonna attack her. And that's on msnbc. I think she's qualified. She knows how to do the job. She's been elected by the people of a big state not once, but twice. And basically, if Al Sharpton, that's like a glowing review, as if you're Republican.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah, look, that's basically Sharpton going, oh, crap, like, this is a good choice. And I'm Al Sharpton and I really hate that. This is a good choice. That's an awfully good recommendation. Here's another one. Take a listen.

[Fox News Analyst]

Well, one reaction I got from inside the Justice Department last night was, this is Matt Gaetz with a better legal resume. But the legal resume is significant, Willie. And guys, because Pam Bondi was a career prosecutor down there in Hillsborough county for many, many years before she was elected Florida's first female Attorney general. So she's prosecuted major cases, murders, death penalty cases. She understands how that works. Matt Gaetz had never really been much of a lawyer before he was elected to the Florida legislature. So that's a big difference. And you know, she at the same time, though, she is, you know, an extreme MAGA activist and has tainted her legal career with very strong stands in favor of some questionable things. There was a famous incident back in around 10 years ago when, if you remember, Trump University, that for profit university that Donald Trump ran, was getting a lot of consumer complaints about being a scam and her office was asked to join a multi state lawsuit. And Donald Trump's foundation contributed $25,000 to her campaign and she opted not to join that lawsuit. And his foundation was later fined for making a legal contribution. So look, she, she served her tenure eight years as Florida Attorney General. She later went on to be one of Donald Trump's impeachment defense lawyers in the Ukraine. Impeachment in 2020, made a speech on the House floor during the trial arguing that there was a Biden corruption scandal in Ukraine and that that's why that phone call was okay. And she's also raised questions about fraud in the 2020 election, which people think were baseless. So it's a bit of a mixed bag, but people are breathing a little bit of a sigh of relief at the Justice Department that at least she's a real lawyer and that her deputy, Todd Blanche, Donald Trump's defense attorney, does have a lot of experience with the Justice Department and is also well regarded over there. So net, net, people are thinking this is a much better situation than Matt Gates, but she is certainly a Donald Trump loyalist who has also raised questions about weaponization at the Justice Department and may really cause some trouble over there. From the perspective of some of the career folks.

[Ben Ferguson]

If you want to know what a weak argument looks like from MSNBC, like, well, like there's something maybe 10 years ago. And by the way, if you actually heard her explanation on the, on the Trump University thing, she said, we looked at the number of people that could have been affected in the state and we decided it wasn't worth any of our time to even look at this for X, Y and Z purposes. And there was a bunch of liberals that went after him, but they went back over a decade to find something pretty darn obscure. And they're like, well, her biggest liability is she's friends with Donald Trump. Well, it's the Trump administration. Get used to it.

[Ted Cruz]

Well, and once again, that's an MSNBC legal analyst who is laying that out, who says she's a serious lawyer, career prosecutor, real lawyer, knows how to lead teams, knows how to run organizations, knows how to bring a case. That's their attempt to attack her. And their attack is, well, you know, she's a Trump loyalist. Well, you know, did you think a.

[Ben Ferguson]

Biden loyalist was gonna get the job?

[Ted Cruz]

You know, funny thing, I mean, Eric Holder was the runner up and sure, Trump was thinking about give me a radical leftist who wants to destroy my administration. And as much as MSNBC would love that, that was not gonna happen. Listen, where is this gonna go now? Pam Bondi's gonna be confirmed.

[Ben Ferguson]

You have no doubt about that?

[Ted Cruz]

I think she'll be confirmed easily, barring some dramatically unexpected step, which I don't expect. Yeah, you know, she will be confirmed. I think she will have a straightforward hearing in the Judiciary Committee. The Democrats will take some shots at her. But you just saw from msnbc, they don't have much.

[Ben Ferguson]

I'd start with just quoting Al Sharpton. I'm glad we're here today. Al Sharpton said this about you.

[Ted Cruz]

All right, that's not bad. I mean, you can still, you know, I'm gonna have my questioning. I've never quoted Al Sharpton in my question.

[Ben Ferguson]

You get to check two boxes that day and Democrats will also cringe.

[Ted Cruz]

She is gonna be confirmed. It is gonna be straightforward. And I gotta say, this is not our rundown for topics today, but we just did play two clips from msnbc. And for the record, we're doing this before Elon Musk buys.

[Ben Ferguson]

Msnbc, mxnbc, that's what it's trending on Twitter right now. Or on X, I should say.

[Ted Cruz]

I gotta say, it is a phenomenal thing. I've been encouraging Elon, do it, do it, do it. I gotta say, it would be a fabulous thing. And maybe that's what Al Sharpton is doing. Maybe Al is.

[Ben Ferguson]

I still want a job. I still want a job.

[Ted Cruz]

I want a job. Nobody else is paying me. Please, I want a job. Even on MSNBC as the wild eyed leftists they are today, we played their clips twice and there's a reason for that. Pam Body's nomination was a very strong nomination.

[Ben Ferguson]

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[Ted Cruz]

Well, it's late November now. Let me point out a couple of things. Number one, have you seen Joe Biden in weeks?

[Ben Ferguson]

No. I guess he's still on vacation.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah. Look, Kamala Harris is in Hawaii. Joe Biden, I don't know where the hell he is. I'm not sure if we actually have a president of the United States right now. They're certainly not allowing him to go outside or to appear on camera. And even so, even though we have an AWOL president and an AWOL vice president, I think it is absolutely clear that both Biden and Harris want Trump to fail. They want the problems in this country to get worse and they want to make sure that Donald Trump inherits the worst stinking pile of crap possible. So you look at challenges at home and abroad. At home, the greatest domestic challenge we have is the open borders that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris put in place abroad. The greatest challenge we have are the wars that are unfolding because of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris weakness domestically. What are they doing? Well, apparently neither Biden nor Harris learned a damn thing from the election. They didn't hear from the voters that they don't want an open border. They don't want this invasion. So instead they're doubling down and they're trying to make it harder for Trump to come in with the new administration, secure the border and remove dangerous criminal illegal aliens. Take a listen to this reporting on FOX about what specifically the Biden administration is doing. Sandra. The Biden administration is quietly loosening immigration policies before Trump takes office. This according to the New York Post.

[Fox News Analyst]

It reports the administration is testing a new app that will allow illegal migrants to bypass in person check ins at.

[Ted Cruz]

Their local ICE office.

[Fox News Analyst]

Jeff Paul is live with more.

[Ted Cruz]

It sounds like they're just giving Donald.

[Fox News Analyst]

Trump one more thing to undo.

[Fox News Reporter]

Well, John, we do know the Biden administration has been testing this new immigration and Customs app and the idea is to streamline the check in process for migrants, allow them to use their phones or computers to touch base with immigration officials while they wait for their date in court instead of appearing for those check ins in person. Now a source tells Fox News ICE has been using the app already in a couple of cities, but according to the New York Post, it's going to be launched officially next month in New York City. The field office there reportedly has been overwhelmed, fully booked with appointments for a year. Our sources tell us that's the really the push to get this backlogged moved through the concerns regarding this app. Obviously it's a new app, so there's going to be some glitches. The other wider concern is could it cause even more migrants to go under the radar? We'll have to see what happens, John.

[Ben Ferguson]

There's also some major issues in the reporting with this app. For example, the app reportedly has severe glitches and issues and does not track a migrant's location if he or she is using an Android phone or laptop. So hey, if you're an illegal immigrant, just don't use an iPhone phone and they won't be able to track you. The app also does not check migrants for past arrests or outstanding warrants, which is what they do now currently. And so that's another problem. They say the app allows them to opt out of the the contest government orders to undergo electronic tracking. So you can just say, no, I don't want to be tracked. There's no way to find you. And they know all of these glitches are in here and yet they're going, yes, we should move forward with this knowing that Donald Trump's going to undo it.

[Ted Cruz]

Well, understand the problem is not just that Donald Trump's gonna undo it, but the Biden administration is trying to make it harder to find these illegal immigrants why would you say, hey, you don't have to check in in person. Hey, you can check in on an app that doesn't track your location. If you're on an Android phone, hey, you can check in in a way that we're not gonna find out if you've been arrested, if you have a warrant. This is all designed to help illegal immigrants go underground because Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, and let's be clear, every Democrat in the House and Senate, you don't hear any of the Democrats spe. None of them are saying, this is wrong. Don't do this. This is designed to make it more difficult for the incoming administration to find illegal immigrants and to arrest illegal immigrants and to deport illegal immigrants. That includes the convicted murderers that have been released by this administration, the convicted rapists, the convicted child molesters. You look at 2023 set the record for the highest number of illegal immigrants entering the country in a single year, 3.2 million. And Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, they don't want those illegal immigrants removed from this country. They see them as future Democrat voters. This is all about power. And I gotta say, it is stunning. Well, here I want you to take a look at this tweet from Bill Milluchin that lays out some of the numbers. And for those of you all that are listening, I'm going to read it to you. This is what Bill Malugian tweeted, new per US official to Fox News. There are currently 1.4 million illegal immigrants in the US who have been ordered deported by a DOJ immigration judge but haven't been removed yet.

[Ben Ferguson]

So that's by the way, if people want to know where Trump's going to start. I think Bill Malugian's tweet is a great reminder. There are 1.4 million illegal immigrants in the US have been ordered to be deported. So if you want to know where they're going to start, this is where they would start.

[Ted Cruz]

Yeah, I'm told approximately 13,000 of them are being held in ICE custody. So out of 1.4 million, only 13,000 are in custody. The population of 1.4 million illegal immigrants have final orders of removal, meaning they have had their immigration cases heard, received their due process, and have been ordered removed from the US By a DOJ federal immigration judge. A fraction of them may still have appeal options available to them and may not yet be removable. With only 13,000 in federalized custody, we are potentially looking at a lot of people roaming around the country who are in the US Illegally and who have been ordered removed. It is impossible to know how many of them may be in state or local custody. That 1.4 million. You are right, is exactly where I expect the Trump administration to start. I also expect them to start with the 500,000 convicted criminals, those with other criminal convictions, murder, rape, child molestation, who are illegal immigrants, who are released to go and apprehend the criminals. Go after the murderers, the rapists, the child molesters. Go after the Venezuelan gang members. If you're a Venezuelan gang member, my advice is pack up and move out right now because we're coming for you. This administration is going to arrest you, they're going to remove you, they're going to deport you, and if you've committed criminal offenses, they're going to put you in jail. Taxes was taxing. Now taxes is relaxing. When you file for free, I can file for free. TurboTax Free Edition.

[Ben Ferguson]

Roughly 37% of filers qualify.

[Ted Cruz]

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[Ben Ferguson]

But let's talk about the tone death aspect of this. And I say tone death. Some people would care. They don't seem to care. Referring to the Biden administration. You just had a trial that was watched in Georgia of an incredible young lady who fought for her life for 18 minutes. 18 minutes. She was fighting to save her own life. She was ultimately killed by an illegal immigrant that we were paying for the hotel rooms. We were flying him from New York to Georgia and we're allowing him to be able to kill this incredible student in nursing school. And yet the response from this administration is, yeah, we're gonna keep facilitating that and do it on an app and make sure we can't track people for the next 70 days because, well, we're sorry that you guys picked Donald Trump and you wanted security. We're not gonna give that to you.

[Ted Cruz]

Well, it's even worse than that. The attitude of a great many Democrats is massive resistance. It is reminiscent of Bull Connor during the civil rights battles. Bull Connor was an elected Democrat who did not want to follow the law and was defying the law. And he was bitterly angry. I want you to give a listen to a modern day Bull Connor, which is the Democrat mayor of the city of Denver. Give a listen to what he has to say about civil disobedience. You've mentioned that a couple of times now. Would you be willing to participate in those? As the mayor of Denver, would you be willing to go out and protest these things?

[Denver Mayor]

I would if I believe that our residents are having their rights violated. If I think things are happening that are illegal or immoral or un American in our city, I would certainly protest it, and I would expect other residents would do the same.

[Ted Cruz]

Trump's new border czar, Tom Homan, has said that he is willing to arrest leaders like yourself for standing in the way of these policies that they want to enact. Would you be willing to go to jail for these things?

[Denver Mayor]

Yeah, I'm not afraid of that, and I'm also not seeking that. I think the goal is we want to be able to negotiate with reasonable people how to solve hard problems. Republican and Democratic presidents in the past have all tried to find solutions to these problems. President Reagan helped people get access to work so they could stay and support themselves. Biden and Harris worked on restricting entry at the border to close down. There are a lot of ways to approach this problem. We don't think it has to come to this. But, yeah, I think when you look at, you know, Ralph Carr has always been one of my heroes. He was the governor who, in the middle of the internment of Japanese Americans, said this was the wrong thing to do and he stood up. It was unpopular. People were mad at him about it. That was in the middle of wartime. If the president or any of his actors are going to do things that we think are illegal or immoral or un American, we'll stand up against those.

[Ben Ferguson]

It's amazing how the law doesn't matter. He just said, well, if it's something I think is immoral, then I'm going to just say, I'm not going to follow the law. That's clearly. And they want to become martyrs. They want to become famous. He's enjoying this moment. Please put me in handcuffs. Make me a martyr. And I'm saying that we are still a sanctuary city.

[Ted Cruz]

So understand. The mayor of Denver is the modern day Bull Connor. He is standing at the courthouse saying, I will block federal law. I will not follow federal law because my politics, my prejudices. It's interesting, he referenced Japanese internment camps. Who was it that ordered Japanese internment camps? That was a Democrat, President fdr. You want to talk about patterns of lawlessness, The Democrat Party has over a century of history of lawlessness. And I'm gonna call for something right now. So the mayor of Denver has said we want illegal immigrants in our city. We will fight to keep illegal immigrants in our city. I don't care that the voters don't want it. I don't care what federal law says. I don't care about the women being murdered, the women being raped, the children being assaulted. I'm gonna call right now for Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, for Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, and for any other red governor to start sending buses to Denver, Colorado. Mayor of Denver wants illegal immigrants. Well, you know what, Joe Biden, one of the lies that mayor just said is, well, Biden and Harris tightened the standards at the border. That is called a lie. They didn't tighten the standard. They open up the border. Texas is being invaded right now. And I'm going to urge the state government of Texas, send every one of the illegals who comes into the state to Denver, Colorado. Drop them off in front of the mayor's residence. He wants them there. He's willing to go to jail to fight for them to be there. Fine. We will send you, the Venezuelan gang members to your city. And let's see. You know, I'm gonna predict right now the residents of Denver aren't gonna like this. I'm gonna predict right now, when's the tipping point?

[Ben Ferguson]

That was the question I was gonna ask you because it is in Colorado where we've seen these gangs from Venezuela take over apartment complexes.

[Ted Cruz]

Aurora, Colorado. And by the way, abc, the corporate media just said, well, it was only a handful of apartment complexes. You know what, we'll send a few more. And let us know when you would like us to stop because you're so proud. See, today's Democrat, they don't fight for American citizens. They fight for illegal immigrants. They fight for Venezuelan gang members. They want more of them there. Well, I'm happy to remove them from the state of Texas, to remove them from Florida, to remove them from other red states. And guess what? They can all learn to be ski pros.

[Ben Ferguson]

Is it a real threat? And I'm not kidding when I say this, I mean it really is this a real threat to these mayors where they don't realize what's about to change? Because illegal immigrants are going to hear this through translation that if you're in a place where they're starting to arrest people, let's say you use Texas, let's say you use Houston as a great example. Let's say that people actually are getting arrested and being deported. And then you're like, all right, we gotta get outta here. Is this not gonna be one of the biggest backfires in modern political history where illegal immigrants say, hey, we hear that Denver. And we have a video of the Denver mayor saying come here and you'll be safe. We'll protect you. And they get flooded just like New York City and other sanctuary cities.

[Ted Cruz]

By the way, Denver is also one of the whitest cities in America. So you've got rich white liberals saying, come invade our city. We don't care if our families are at risk from violent criminals. It is an example. The Democrats didn't learn anything from this election. They're not repentant. They didn't say, gosh, our first responsibility should be protect Americans, keep American families safe. No, they're doubling down on we are woke. Hear our roar.

[Ben Ferguson]

If you carry a firearm, you need to make sure that you are protected 24 7. And with a lot of woke activist DA's out there, they don't like law abiding citizens that carry firearms. And that's why there's over 88,000,000Americans that are members of the USCCA. Because not only will you get access to their protector academy to learn vital skills like precision shooting and how to fortify your home against criminals, but you're also going to get access to the 247 critical response team. And that includes the benefit of self defense liability insurance to make sure that you and your family are prepared for anything. Let me tell you, I've had to use my firearm to protect and save my own life and I wish I would have known about the USCCA then. So someone was looking out for my rights right after I had to pull the trigger. And for a limited time you can text the word America right now to 87222 to get the USCCA's free life saving concealed carry and family defense guide as well as an awesome chance to win $1700 to buy any self defense gear that you need before it's too late. So why not get a chance to win $1700 right now? Text the word America to 87222. That's text the word America to 87222 right now. Finally, Senator, this is a big one. And I worry more and more, especially over the last 72 hours about this headline. And it is the question that a lot of Americans are asking, is Biden trying to start World War 3 just so that he can bog down a Trump agenda? They had Russian collusion in 16 and impeachment and that was how they wanted to bog down Donald Trump. But now we're Seeing decisions that are being made, not that were in their foreign policy for the last four years, only after they lost, it's like, hey, we're going to allow American missiles to go deep inside of Russia. We're going to give the thumbs up to Ukraine to do that. And now we're hearing about we're going to have landmines that we've been against for quite some time. Yeah, we're going to send you those as well.

[Ted Cruz]

Two decisions that have played out in the last 10 days. Number one, the Biden White House has signed off on Ukraine firing US made long range missiles directly into Russia, attacking Russia, attacking within the interior of Russia using American weapons. And number two, as you just noted, the Biden administration signing off on sending anti personnel landmines to Ukraine again to use against Russian citizens. But one of the problems with landmines is they often stay buried and they kill civilians for years or even decades later. And one thing you noted that I think was important during the entire course of this war. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris haven't signed off on either of these steps until right now. So before the election, they didn't want to do so when they would have owned any escalation that came from it. They didn't give the green light. But after the election's over, after they're on the way out, it's like they're standing there pouring gasoline around the White House and looking for a match. I mean, they really are, I think, trying to light things on fire. I gotta say, as this news was breaking, I was on Trump Force One with President Trump flying down to Boca Chica in Brownsville, Texas for the SpaceX launch. And we were watching on TV the news about the Biden administration and what it was doing to deliberately escalate the war in Ukraine, the war with Russia. And I got to say, every person on the plane, we were all shaking our heads, saying they're trying to start World War iii. That's it is deliberately trying to make things worse. And understand we will see next year the war in Ukraine will be over and the war in Israel will be over. Both of those, Israel will defeat Hamas. That is going to happen. And the war in Ukraine will end. It will end with some sort of negotiated settlement. I believe it will end with Russia losing, facing a serious loss. But it will come to an end. And this Biden White House, they don't want either of those outcomes to happen. And so these decisions, I think, are systematically designed to make it harder and harder and harder to end These wars, and they're incredibly irresponsible. It is the foreign policy equivalent of what they're doing on the border. In both instances, trying to make it all as bad as possible before the new administration comes in.

[Ben Ferguson]

Can we just go back to 2016 and the narrative finally, which was, donald Trump is unhinged. Donald Trump is gonna start World War Three. It was all over the news for weeks on end. Oh, this guy's unhinged. He's crazy. He's got the nuclear codes, he's got the. The football right in the briefcase, and you can't trust him. And he's gonna start War iii. And he's a threat to national security. He didn't start any wars. He didn't send landmines, by the way, to countries to use them. And now we have these decisions that are being made. Where is the international condemnation of this? Like, it's been pretty quiet. Like, you would think a lot of people would be sitting up going, america, you don't need to be doing this. You certainly don't need to be sending land mines. When this broke, I was googling news stories about trying to get current information. There was an article about a week ago that there was a landmine, and this is the reason why much of the world says no to this. That was from World War II, 80 years ago, that blew up under a tarmac in Japan. It was an American landmine that was used during World War II. And that's how long these things can stay around. That's the reason why there's. Some of you are like, hey, let's not do this. Let's dial this back. And they're like, yeah, this is a great idea. Let's just throw them out there to Ukraine, see what happens.

[Ted Cruz]

Well, and I gotta say, I'm not convinced that either Biden or Harris are the decision makers here. I think Kamala is on a beach somewhere in Hawaii, and I have no indication that she is engaged in anything. And Joe Biden, who the hell knows what he knows, I think this is the bitter partisans in the White House. I think this is the young apparatchiks who've been running the federal government for four years. Anyway, I think this is Obama lashing out. And I think this is.

[Ben Ferguson]

And his team.

[Ted Cruz]

And his team. And I think they're deliberately. I think it is brazenly irresponsible. It's called sabotage. And that is what they are trying to do on the way out. And you know what? If you prioritize the welfare of the United States, of America. You wouldn't do this.

[Ben Ferguson]

And this was not their policy for the entire administration.

[Ted Cruz]

It is designed. It is the equivalent of taking a pile of dog manure, putting it in a paper bag, lighting it on fire, sticking it on someone's front door and ringing the doorbell. That's what they're trying to do to the incoming administration.

[Ben Ferguson]

Who cares who dies in the process? It's incredible. Don't forget, we do this show Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Make sure you hit that subscriber auto download button. If you are just listening to this podcast, you can go watch it on YouTube and make sure you subscribe on the YouTube channel. And on those in between days, I will keep you updated on the latest breaking news. Download my podcast, the Ben Ferguson Podcast, and Senator Cruz and I will see you back here Wednesday morning.