VA Dems Melting Down, facing Corruption Charges, plus Dems Embracing Communist Cuba & Neuralink’s Extraordinary Promise Curing Disability

Summary

The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson

Episode Date: May 8, 2026
Main Theme:
An intense look at scandals among Virginia Democrats—from alleged prosecutorial corruption to FBI raids—paired with discussion of Democratic sympathies for Communist Cuba and a deep dive into Neuralink's transformative advances for disability, featuring Senator Ted Cruz.

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Episode Overview

Ben Ferguson, joined by Senator Ted Cruz, explores three major current events:

• Corruption and federal investigations involving Virginia Democrats.
• Democratic party figures openly supporting Communist Cuba.
• The extraordinary promise of Neuralink, Elon Musk's brain-computer interface, in restoring abilities to the disabled.

The episode blends sharp political critique, personal anecdotes, and a rare surge of optimism about technological innovation.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Virginia Democratic Corruption Scandals

Timestamps: 07:39 – 17:05

DOJ Probe into Fairfax County DA Steve Descano

• Department of Justice Press Release:
  Sen. Cruz reads the press release outlining a federal civil rights investigation into DA Steve Descano for alleged preferential treatment towards illegal immigrants versus US citizens in criminal cases.

  "The Justice Department Civil Rights Division will investigate whether the office of the Fairfax Commonwealth Attorney discriminated against United States citizens by offering preferential treatment only to illegal alien criminal defendants."
  — Senator Ted Cruz, 07:39

• Pattern of Soros-Funded DA Influence:

  • Extensive recounting of crime cases where Descano allegedly went easy on violent criminals and sex offenders.
  • Emphasizes that Descano's campaign was substantially funded by George Soros-backed PACs.

  "George Soros and the radical leftists, the Marxists, they've discovered a vulnerability in our democracy ... They can elect what are now called Soros DA's ... We're going to release murderers, we're going to release rapists, we're going to lease violent criminals."
  — Senator Ted Cruz, 12:07

• Mechanics of Influence:

  • Cruz argues this represents a broader left-wing strategy to weaken law enforcement not just by defunding police but by ensuring "radical" DA's don't prosecute, thus rendering police work futile.

• Ben Ferguson's Challenge:

  • Ferguson pushes for solutions and suspects this is common nationwide.

  "This can't be just happening in one place. It's probably happening by activist DAs all over the country." — Ben Ferguson, 13:47

• Cruz's Prescription:

  • Shine a light, defeat them electorally, and openly campaign for law and order.

  "You go run and say... Violent criminals should be in jail." — Senator Ted Cruz, 14:32

FBI Raid on VA Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas

• Corruption Probe Details:
  • Coverage of FBI raiding the top Virginia Democrat's office, allegedly tied to marijuana dispensary corruption and gerrymandering tactics.
  • Lucas was central in redistricting that heavily favored Democrats.

  "This particular Democrat was particularly mad at me... She responded, blasting me. She said you all started it... We effing finished it." — Senator Ted Cruz, 16:00

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2. Democrats and Communist Cuba

Timestamps: 19:50 – 30:07

Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal’s Pro-Cuba Advocacy

• Recap of Jayapal’s Statements:

  • Ben Ferguson highlights Jayapal's attempt to help Cuba circumvent U.S. oil sanctions, questioning the legality and patriotism of her actions.

  "You have a liberal Democratic Congresswoman Jayapal who defies President Trump to literally go work with a foreign country, Cuba, to try to get them oil." — Ben Ferguson, 19:50

• Cruz's Stance:

  • Expresses deep frustration that "too many elected Democrats in Congress hate America and actively, aggressively and enthusiastically support the communist enemies of America."
    — Senator Ted Cruz, 20:24

• Jayapal’s Own Words:

  “Now Russia has said they're going to send another tanker. I was in conversations with the ambassadors from Mexico and some other places, and I know other countries in Latin America are trying to figure out how to get oil there. But it is a crisis beyond imagination ... I have called these sanctions an economic force bombing of the infrastructure of Cuba.”
  — Rep. Pramila Jayapal, quoted by Cruz, 21:13

• Cruz Responds:

  • Condemns her language as indistinguishable from America’s enemies, outlines Maduro’s crimes, and frames her advocacy as overt support of oppressive regimes.
  • Shares poignant family history: his aunt was imprisoned and tortured by Castro's regime.

  "My Tia Sonia... was in Cuba after the revolution. She fought in the Cuban revolution. She was tortured in Cuban prisons... When she was dying, she. She lived in Dallas. She was fading away earlier this year... And I told her, it was right after Maduro had been arrested... The look of joy in her face..."
  — Senator Ted Cruz, 26:02

• Vision for Cuba’s Future:

  • Cruz dreams of Cuba as a free-market democracy, drawing investment and prosperity like “Singapore or a Hong Kong before China took it over.”

  "Cuba has some of the most beautiful beaches on the face of the planet...we'll see this tourist oasis. Billions of dollars flooding into Cuba and it's just 90 miles off the coast of America."
  — Senator Ted Cruz, 29:22

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3. Neuralink: The Promise of Tech for Curing Disability

Timestamps: 30:07 – 38:18

Cruz’s Tour of Neuralink & Key Innovations

• Background:

  • Neuralink (founded by Elon Musk, whom Cruz calls a “good friend”) develops implantable brain-computer interfaces.

• Breakthroughs Described:

  • Tiny implant (size of a quarter) inserted into the skull with 128 microscopic filaments for tailored stimulation.
  • Early success in restoring movement in paralyzed patients, enabling ALS patients to communicate, and potential to restore vision to the blind.

  “Let's take someone that has a spinal cord injury...they're a paraplegic or quadriplegic. They can't walk, they can't move their arms. Neuralink is embedding these, these units in people's skulls that enable people who are paralyzed to move again.”
  — Senator Ted Cruz, 32:40

  • Patients can think to move robotic arms, type, or draw; some can “speak” via direct brain-to-text.

  "You can think and just your thoughts can move robot arms, so you can pick things up, you can feed yourself...not only that, for people with ALS...you're able to think, and the computer will speak for you."
  — Senator Ted Cruz, 33:36

• Volume of Interest & Regulatory Hurdles:

  • Tens of thousands waiting for trials, frustration with FDA’s slow approval versus China's rapid pace.

  "China, the approvals are almost instantaneous. And the FDA, it is very, very slow. I'm working to speed this up, because the ability to cure disease..."
  — Senator Ted Cruz, 36:54

• Personal Reflection & Optimism:

  • Cruz expresses pride that these breakthroughs are happening in Texas and hope for millions.

  “All of that is happening in our great state of Texas. It is unbelievable innovation.”
  — Senator Ted Cruz, 35:51

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “In 87 years in life, [my father] has never hiccuped twice. And...he really does view it as a fundamental moral failing.”
  — Senator Ted Cruz, 05:27 (lighthearted banter)

• “Virtually every Democrat in the Senate has voted repeatedly in favor of abolishing the police. That is a radical and nutty idea.”
  — Senator Ted Cruz, 12:51

• “Illegal immigrants should not be able to walk away from the laws that they're breaking, but American citizens be held accountable for breaking those same laws.”
  — Ben Ferguson, 13:42

• “Too many elected Democrats in Congress hate America and actively, aggressively and enthusiastically support the communist enemies of America.”
  — Senator Ted Cruz, 20:24

• “There's been no ideology in American history or world history that has resulted in more murder, more torture, more slavery, more oppression, more poverty, and more misery than [communism].”
  — Senator Ted Cruz, 27:18

• “Neuralink lets someone communicate ... I saw one woman who was paralyzed, just weeping that she was able to have artistic expression.”
  — Senator Ted Cruz, 34:31

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Important Segment Timestamps

• 07:39 – DOJ investigation into Fairfax DA
• 12:07 – Soros DA pattern, critique of elite funding
• 16:00 – FBI raid on VA Senate President Pro Tempore Lucas
• 19:50 – Discussion of Jayapal’s actions re: Cuba
• 21:13 – Jayapal’s quote (audio clip)
• 26:02 – Cruz’s family tale of suffering under Cuban communism
• 30:07 – Neuralink introduction and awe
• 32:40 – Explanation of Neuralink device and impacts
• 36:54 – Regulatory hurdles, comparison to China, future hopes

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Tone and Style

• Direct, Candid, and Partisan: Ben Ferguson and Senator Cruz speak openly about perceived threats from the political left, using strong analogies and drawing on personal experience.
• Conversational with Humor: Personal banter (hiccups, anecdotes) lightens the tone amidst intense political critique.
• Optimistic Closing: Despite the episode's heavy topics, the Neuralink segment ends with hope and admiration for American innovation.

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For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in current political controversies, the intersection of ideology and legal policy, or the frontiers of biotechnology. You’ll hear passionate, sometimes provocative analysis, rare behind-the-scenes context on both the dangers and promise facing America—and a hopeful vision for how science could transform millions of lives.

Transcript

[Podcast Host]

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[Senator Ted Cruz]

Foreign.

[Ben Ferguson]

Welcome. It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you and if you're listening on the radio, it is so nice to have you with us wherever you are around the country. Senator, We've got a lot to talk about on this week's show, including some shocking news involves FBI raids on top of the fact that the DOJ has launched a federal probe into America's worst Soros DA over preferential treatment for illegal immigrants. Plural.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, we have corruption in Virginia Soros da's. We have the head of the Virginia Senate being raided by the FBI for corruption. We also have, extraordinarily enough, a Democratic member of the House trying to smuggle fuel into communist Cuba because she supports the Communists over the United States of America. We're also going to discuss. I had a chance to visit Neuralink, an incredible company in Texas that is literally doing science fiction. But before all of that, Ben, I want to take a moment to say thank you to our incredible listeners and viewers, everyone on the radio, everyone on the podcast, everyone watching on YouTube. Look, we do this show three days a week, and it's a lot of hours. It's right now 11:48pm we do it late at night. And there are times when I'm tired and there are times when Ben is frankly dysfunctional and hiccuping like a sick leper on the road to Damascus.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yes, yes, yes. So for people that miss, let's just be clear about where you're going with this. So I have got a back injury. They gave me some medicine. It gave me the hiccups as one of the side effects. And in the last show, I got the hiccups. It just could not get rid of them all day. By the way, I didn't go to bed till.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

By the way. For an audio podcast. Yes, for an audio podcast or a radio show, having the host go like, every 12 seconds. Yeah, I'm just saying, for an ordinary listener, that would be annoying. But I want to take the moment to thank our listeners because they endured it. And, Ben, can you read some of the comments the listeners made? Because they embrace. They slug you.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, my phone stopped working. There was a lots of thoughts and prayers and there was some. Dearest Ben, you gave me the best slow, creeping smile I've ever had. I've had in a while. That was what one of them said. I did have a little brandy. You were so committed that. See, there you go. I am committed to the show, Senator, even with the hiccups, I power through to fight the commies every day. So the other, I will say, the

[Senator Ted Cruz]

number of, to be clear, hiccups was impressive. I, for one, I'm not sure it was about a back injury. I just think you were hammered and hiccuping because you had, like, 92 beers that night.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

I have no basis in fact. I just figured I'd say that because it's fun.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah, because it's fun. I do appreciate all the verdict listeners who sent in and made sure that I had every possible hiccup remedy in the history of mankind. So they're committed listeners that gave.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

By the way, last time I told. Told Ben, my father's rule.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Which is in 87 years in life, he has never hiccuped twice. And, and I gotta say, I love my dad, but he's not a terribly, shall we say, understanding soul.

[Ben Ferguson]

There you go.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And he really does. I've hiccuped twice. And, and, and he really does view it as a fundamental moral failing. Not saying anything, Ben. I'm just saying that's my dad's worldview.

[Ben Ferguson]

I did. True story. I did go to bed after 4am because I could not get them to stop. It was that long.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Are you okay? That, that sucks. I'm sorry, man.

[Ben Ferguson]

It was, it was, it was four hours straight before the show. Then they went away. Then they started halfway through the show and then literally I could not go to bed until about 4:15.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Okay, that's a nightmare. All right, let's talk about something worse. Let's talk about commie prosecutors in Virginia. I read you a press release from the Department of Justice.

[Ben Ferguson]

Hold on. Before we get to that, I gotta ask you a question. Can you buy real bitcoin in your retirement account? Well, if not, it's time to upgrade to Bitcoin IRA. It's 2026 and cryptocurrency is where so many investors are going and diversifying. And you can buy and sell bitcoin inside a tax advantaged IRA with bitcoin ira and that gives you more ways to diversify and grow your retirement savings. Security is their number one priority and your assets are protected by military grade multi key security. And you're covered up to 250 million in digital asset insurance as well. So what are you waiting for? Get in the bitcoin game today and call and talk to a real person. 866-679-7871. That's 866-679-7871. Or go online to bitcoinira.com ben to open a free account and earn up to a thousand dollar bonus. That's bitcoin. Ira.comBen to open a free account and earn up to a thousand dollar bonus now. All right. Now back to your press conference and the, in the, and the, and everything that we've got in detail on this story.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Press release for the Department of Justice. Justice Department notifies Fairfax County, Virginia Commonwealth's Attorney of investigation into his plea bargaining, charging decisions and sentencing policy. Today the Justice Department notified the Fairfax County, Virginia Commonwealth Attorney Steve Descano of the initiation of a federal investigation into the Commonwealth attorney's plea bargaining, charging decisions and sentencing policy. The Justice Department Civil Rights Division will investigate whether the office of the Fairfax Commonwealth Attorney discriminated against United States citizens by Offering preferential treatment only to illegal alien criminal defendants. Now stop for a second. How is this possible? What kind of prosecutor says given every criminal defendant in front of us, let's discriminate against US Citizens and let's favor illegal aliens? Well, that is in fact what is happening in Northern Virginia.

[Ben Ferguson]

It's not only happening, but I think when you look at the reach, what you realize is George Soros understood that he was going to be able to buy access to power. He was going to be able to then use those individuals however he wanted to because he's the one that got them elected. And that meant going easy on the people that he said regardless of what the law says are the actual criminal illegal immigrants, including if they are committing heinous crimes. If he says you let him go, you look the other way. I'm the one that got you elected. Apparently that's exactly what happened in this scenario.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, let me go through the facts and, and there's an article written by Tim Carney entitled Steve Descano, America's worst prosecutor. Here's what it says. Murderers, rapists, perverts and pimps. These are the folks served by Fairfax county prosecutor Steve Descano. The George Soros funded commonwealth attorney for the suburban county of 1 million has openly stated he won't enforce the law when it clashes with his ideology. The results have been ugly. Richard Cox was already a serial sex offender when he exposed himself in a women's locker room in Fairfax. But Descano let him go and he proceeded to expose himself in a high school girls locker room. Abdul Jala was arrested more than 30 times, including for malicious wounding, but was repeatedly set free. He is now accused of stabbing Stephanie Mintner to death. On February 23, Gret Glyer was executed in his bed. In a calculated assassination, Descano last month let the killer go with an insanity plea. And a Chinese pimp ran a brothel in a residential neighborhood across the street from a school bus stop. While police did everything they could to shut it down, Descano's office dropped the prostitution charges and let the place continue operating until the Republican attorney general got it shuttered. These are just a few of the stories that illustrate Descano's extreme tolerance of criminals and harm to constituents. Descano is in office because of left wing billionaire George Soros. Descano was first elected as Fairfax County's Commonwealth Attorney in 2019 when he knocked off the incumbent Raymond Morrow in the Democrat primary. Winning by 1500 votes in a low turnout election, Descano raised about $1 million. $1 million between the primary the general election, a shocking amount for a down ballot county race. About 2/3 of his cash came from two Soros funded organizations, the justice and Public Safety PAC and the New Virginia Majority pac. This is a pattern. It's a pattern over and over again. George Soros and the radical leftists, the Marxists, then they've discovered a vulnerability in our democracy, in our constitutional republic, which is they can elect what are now called Soros dies. And these are DA's that make the decision, we're going to release murderers, we're going to release rapists, we're going to lease violent criminals. You know, you think about it, virtually every Democrat in the Senate has voted repeatedly in favor of abolishing the police. That is a radical and nutty idea. Five years ago, if you asked any person in your favor of abolishing the police, people would say no, no, that's crazy. Well, today's Democrat Party, that is now mainstream. There are two ways you abolish the police. One, you cut off the funding and shut down the police. And we've seen Democrat cities do that, from New York City to Minneapolis to sadly, Austin, Texas and our home state of Texas. But the second way you abolish the police is you elect a Soros da. You flood millions of dollars from George Soros, you elect a da. And by the way, the police cannot enforce the law if the DA will not prosecute. Doesn't do any good for the police to arrest someone if the DA says, you know what, we're going to let these violent criminals go. And so now you've got the Department of Justice going after this elected Soros DA for giving sweetheart deals to illegal immigrants and favoring illegal immigrants over US citizens. It is shocking. And the most shocking thing is. It's not shocking. That is. Look, I think George Soros and his team of cronies have discovered a vulnerability in our Democrat society. And we need to fight back against this.

[Ben Ferguson]

How do you fight back against this? I mean, when you see the deals that are being made, I think every American should be outraged over this. Illegal immigrants should not be able to walk away from the laws that they're breaking. But American citizens be held accountable for breaking those same laws. But if you, as you mentioned, if you have a DA that decides to do this, what are our options after that? And when you look into this investigation, I gotta say, this can't be just happening in one place. It's probably happening by activist DAs all over the country. If this is the kickback that in essence Soros was guaranteeing himself.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah. The way you do it is you do what we're doing right now. You shine a light on it. You go defeat them in elections. You go run candidates against him. You go run and say, let me say, a radical idea. Violent criminals should be in jail. Let me give you some facts about Fairfax County DA Steve Descano. He reduced rape, which is normally punishable by up to life in prison, to misdemeanor assault. 90 days suspended sentence, no jail.

[Ben Ferguson]

Wow.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

He dropped gun possession by illegal alien to brandishing. The result of it is he is released over and over again. Violent criminals and violent criminal illegal aliens. But I'll tell you, Virginia is having a tough week because not only do they have a radical DA who the Department of Justice is now investigating, but the head of the the top Democrat in the state legislature. This extremely left wing Democrat, Virginia Senate President Pro Tempore Luis Lucas has now had her office raided by the FBI. Raided by the FBI for corruption. The FBI is executing court authorized federal search warrant Portsmouth, Virginia an FBI spokesperson told the Washington examiner, adding there's no threat to public safety. This is an ongoing investigation. Now what is the investigation by the way, this particular left wing Democrat, she was the leading author of Virginia's Democrat gerrymander that took their 65 democrat majority in the congressional delegation and drove it to 10 to 1. And by the way, this particular Democrat was particularly mad at me. So when I pointed out that this was a corruption of democracy to take a state where nearly half of the citizens voted for Donald Trump and to gerrymander it so that 10 seats would be Democrat, one would be Republican, she responded, blasting me. She said you all started it blasting me. We effing finished it. Well I gotta say right now she's being prosecuted for corruption. Prosecuted for corruption, in particular favoring marijuana distribution locations. It's an investigation examining possible corruption and bribery related to marijuana dispensary businesses. And this is a bad, bad week for left wing radical Democrats in Virginia.

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[Senator Ted Cruz]

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[Ben Ferguson]

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[Ben Ferguson]

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[Ben Ferguson]

I feel the love. Book a VRBO that's loved by guests. If you know you've all right Senator, this is a very interesting and just weird story. You have a liberal Democratic Congresswoman Jai Powell who defies President Trump to literally go work with a foreign country, Cuba to try to get them oil. And I'm pretty sure that if I'M looking at this the right way. This could be against the law. What she's now trying to do is again, advocate for Cuba right now.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, Ben, let me make a statement that I don't want to be true and I want to make the statement and then we're going to assess the facts to determine if it's true. Here's the Too many elected Democrats in Congress hate America and actively, aggressively and enthusiastically support the communist enemies of America. Now, as I say that, listen, as someone who loves our country, I hate saying those words. I don't want them to be true. I want you to listen to the words of Pramila Jayapal, who is a left wing, progressive Communist member of the Democrat Party from Washington. Listen to what she had to say about what she's been doing lately.

[Pramila Jayapal (quoted)]

In January, Trump issued an executive order threatening tariffs on any country supplying fuel to Cuba this January, just a few months ago. And oil shipments from Venezuela, that's where Cuba had been getting its oil, were halted after the US Operations to kidnap Nicolas Maduro. Since January, only one Russian tanker of oil has made it to Cuba. In fact, it landed just a couple of days before I landed. And one tanker has enough oil basically for 10 to 14 days of Cuba's oil needs. So it's a very limited amount of time. Now Russia has said they're going to send another tanker. I was in conversations with the ambassadors from Mexico and some other places, and I know other countries in Latin America are trying to figure out how to get oil there. But it is a crisis beyond imagination. Just this past Friday, on May 1, Trump signed a broad executive order that widens sanctions and allows for new penalties similar to what we have for Iran and Russia against foreign banks and firms that are dealing with Cuba. And it also reinforces the ban on US Tourism. I have called these sanctions an economic force bombing of the infrastructure of Cuba. It is illegal. It is against the war. We were talking about this in Iran. Obviously, to bomb the infrastructure of any country that is against international law, this is essentially doing the same thing. It is bombing the infrastructure of Cuba with economic sanctions that essentially ensure that the infrastructure collapses.

[Ben Ferguson]

There's something interesting that she said there. She kept saying the kidnap of Maduro like it was a crime center. I'm like, which, I mean this like, whose side is she on? Is it on the side of Maduro and the communists in Cuba? Because the way she said it there, she was saying it like it was a crime, what America was doing.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So listen, there used to be a rule that politics Ends at our water's edge. I like that rule. I liked a time where we said, gosh, Democrats and Republicans will disagree. We'll disagree on how high the top marginal tax rate should be. We'll disagree on some policy questions. But when it comes to defending America, when it comes to standing with American servicemen and women, when it comes to standing up against our enemies, we're going to stand united. Sadly, that is not this world. Representative Jayapal, who I've never met, she's a very, very left wing. She is part of the squad. She is part of AOC and Ilhan Omar and these extremely left wing house members. Look, when she says the kidnapping of Nicolas Maduro, understand, Nicolas Maduro was indicted for being a massive narco trafficker. Our FBI came down, executed a legitimate arrest warrant. The Delta Force accompanied them to carry out that arrest warrant. She describes it as the kidnapping. That is language that is identical to what every enemy of America would say. The last I checked, executing a legitimate arrest warrant. Nicolas Maduro, number one, he's. He's a tyrant who's responsible for massive oppression of his people, for murder, for torture, for. He has destroyed Venezuela, just like you, Chavez has. But you know what? That's not what he was indicted for. That's not what he was arrested for. He is a huge narco trafficker and he has killed thousands of Americans through the drugs he's flooded into this country. And her view is Nicolas Maduro is the victim. It is the evil American government that dared arrest this narco trafficker. So on Cuba, understand, she is unambiguous. She stands with the Cuban communist government. And I will say this. My family was imprisoned and tortured by Cuban communists. I don't take this as cute. I don't take this as fun. I get that. She's from Washington State. I guess there are a bunch of leftists who snap their fingers at. Yes, yes, yes. Communism is wonderful because they're soft and weak and they hate America. But I gotta say, the idea that they are actively trying to smuggle fuel into Cuba because their objective is they want the communist regime in Cuba to stand, to exist, I find infuriating. Look, Ben, did you ever have a chance to meet my Theasonia?

[Ben Ferguson]

Yes, I actually did once at an election event.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Okay. My Thea Sonia, my aunt, she's my father's kid sister. I adored her. She was an amazing, spectacular person. She passed away earlier this year.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

My nickname, what I've called her my whole life, is my Tia Loca, which is Spanish for crazy aunt. She was A fireball. She died at 82. She lived a wonderful life, a life that I celebrate. She was in Cuba after the revolution. She fought in the Cuban revolution. She was tortured in Cuban prisons. When she was dying, she. She lived in Dallas. She was fading away earlier this year, and she was on her deathbed. We all knew she was going. And I told her it was right after Maduro had been arrested. And I told her, I said, dia. We just arrested Maduro. Cuba's next. Cuba is going to fall. And I gotta say, the look of joy in her face. And there are millions of people in America, millions of Cuban Americans, millions of Venezuelan Americans, millions of Chinese Americans and Korean Americans. And everyone who has been a victim of communism, who has understood. Listen, Ben, I believe communism is the most evil ideology that the world has ever produced. There's been no ideology in American history and world history that has resulted in more murder, more torture, more slavery, more oppression, more poverty, and more misery than China. And to listen to an elected member of Congress, a leader of the Democrat Party, saying she desperately wants to smuggle fuel in because her objective is to save the communist government in Cuba. I gotta say, it will be an amazing thing. I don't know what's going to happen in Cuba, but we have a greater opportunity right now than at any point in my lifetime to see the communist regime fall. And, Ben, here's what I want to see happen. I want to see this communist regime fall. I want to see a new government in Cuba that is democratically elected, that is legitimate, that. That is just two things. That embraces free markets.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And that wants to be friends with America. And let me tell you what that will look like if that happens. Number one, I would love to see Cuba be this oasis of free enterprise, much like a Singapore or a Hong Kong before China took it over. I think it could be extraordinary. But number two, Cuba has a massive advantage. There are millions of Cuban expats, Cubans who fled Cuba, came to America seeking freedom. Who, if Cuba had a free market government that was friends with America, would eagerly invest in Cuba. There would be billions of dollars, tens of billions of dollars that would be invested in Cuba. You would see a mass of capital. Cuba is stuck in the dark ages. It's like going to Cuba, and I've never been. I will go to Cuba when we have a free Cuba. I do not wish to go to Cuba under communism, but Cuba, the cars they drive. Do you know the cars they drive from the 1950s?

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

It's like the movie the Land that Time Forgot when the revolution happened. The car stopped, the innovation stopped, the food stopped, the misery stopped, the poverty. Everything froze in time. And I'll tell you, Cuba has some of the most beautiful beaches on the face of the planet. If we have a free market government that's friends with America, we will see this tourist oasis. Billions of dollars flooding into Cuba and it's just 90 miles off the coast of America. And what befuddles me? I want to ask you this, Ben, take a minute. Get in the mind of a leftist congresswoman. Premier Jayapal, why would you root for Cuban Communists over America?

[Ben Ferguson]

Sorry, Senator, I want to get into. You got to take a tour of Neuralink. And for people that don't know what NeuroLink is, number one, explain it to us what the technology is and where this could be taking us.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, let me say our first three stories on today's POD have been a little depressing. Number one, a radical, George Soros, D.A. in Virginia, favoring illegal immigrants over American citizens releasing murderers, rapists, violent criminals. That's disturbing. Number two, the lead Democrat, the Virginia Senate, her office is raided by the FBI for corruption. For corruption concerning FBI, concerning marijuana dispensaries. That's disturbing. Number three, a Democrat member of the House, openly supporting Communist Cuba, trying to do everything she can to smuggle fuel into Cuba. So the communist regime continues oppressing the people. That's disturbing this last segment. I don't want you guys to be down. I want to give you a moment of optimism. I want to give you a moment of hope. Today in Austin, Texas, I toured the facilities of Neuralink. Neuralink is a company started by Elon Musk. Elon is. Is a good friend of mine. I know Elon very well. I gotta say, Neuralink feels like it's not real. It feels like it's something out of science fiction. I toured their facilities. Their facilities are amazing. Here's what they're doing. They're creating technology that can implant in the human brain to help people who have lost basic abilities, who have lost mobility, who have lost speech, who've lost sight, to turn that around and give them a life again. So, for example, what they do, they have a unit. And it's a unit about the size of a quarter. It's a little round disc. Most of it is a battery. And what they will do is they will drill a hole in someone's skull about the size of a quarter. They will implant the unit. And there are 128 little filaments, little strands. They are incredibly thin. They are. They're thinner than a strand of hair. They have a robot surgeon that will place each of these 128 strands into different places in the brain where the sort of round quarter size piece is being embedded inside the skull. What this will do. So let's take someone with als, an incredibly debilitating disease that incapacitates people, makes them unable to move, unable to communicate, what they're able to do. Or let's take someone that has a spinal cord injury that had a horrible accident, broke their spinal cord. And so they're a paraplegic or quadriplegic. They can't walk, they can't move their arms. Neuralink is embedding these, these units in people's skulls that enable people who are paralyzed to move again. They have all sorts of different mechanisms. So for example, they have one mechanism they're experimenting with, which is robot arms. Robot arms. So someone imagined, God forbid. And look, Ben, you and I are blessed, and most of the folks listening are blessed. We have our physical health. Imagine the nightmare of being a quadriplegic, of being unable to move. What Neuralink lets you do is you can think and just your thoughts can move. Robot arms, so you can pick things up, you can feed yourself, you can manipulate things, you can have the ability to move. Not only that, for people with ALS or other debilitating diseases, let's say you're unable to speak. Neuralink right now is able to implant the threads in your brain and you're able to think. And the computer will speak for you. And I watch. They've implanted it. They've implanted. They've done a lot of animal expert experimentation, mostly on sheep, with great success. They've implanted it in 25 human beings. And you have people who are unable to speak, that they think. And a computer will say, I am speaking to you right now. This is me thinking. Can you imagine? Look, the madness of feeling imprisoned in a cage in your brain. Yeah, where your brain is functional. You're smart, you're aware, you're able to think, but your body has shut down. You cannot communicate. Neuralink lets someone communicate, by the way, it also lets them. I saw amazing videos. It lets them control, for example, a computer cursor online. So you can draw art just thinking. You can control the art and express yourself. I saw one woman who was paralyzed, just weeping that she was able to have artistic expression. Another component of it that is amazing, Ben, is people who are blind. People either born blind or say they've had an injury that damaged their eyes or their optic nerve so they can't see. Neuralink is working on the technology so that you can have a camera see what's in front of you. And they broadcast that image to your brain so you're able to see. So this is technology that lets people who are paralyzed and crippled move and walk and have their arms and have the ability to engage in the world, that lets people who are blind see and lets people who cannot speak speak. It is truly. It's a combination of magic and science fiction. And all of that is happening in our great state of Texas. It is unbelievable innovation.

[Ben Ferguson]

I can't imagine, by the way, how many people could be affected by this in a positive way. Millions, I was going to say. I'm assuming they gave you a briefing on that. So it is in the millions.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So they have tens of thousands of people who signed up for their waiting list. So look, the process. And they talk to me about this. They're doing like watching their factory. They're designing these neuralinks. They have these. So I met with their team, their neurosurgeons. So when they go in for someone, for a human that's going in for the operation, the neurosurgeon will cut someone's the skin away from their scalp, will carve a little hole in their skull about the size of a quarter. And by the way, where they locate it depends on what they're trying to do. So it's one place in the skull if they're trying to do mobility because you're unable to move. It's a different place in the skull if they're trying to do sight. It's a different place in the skull if they're trying to do speech, because there are different parts of the brain that the brain that does all that, but the neurosurgeon will cut it open. But then the way they attach 128 tiny little filaments, it's really cool. They built these robots that will just. It's a needle, and it's a tiny thin needle that will place each of these filaments in different spots so that the filaments are in a place to connect with the neurons and to fill the voids that we have. And I will say they expressed frustration that the FDA can be slow. They're in the process of approving. And one of the dynamics China is rushing to develop this same technology. And China, the approvals are almost instantaneous. And the fda, it is very, very slow. I'm working to speed this up, because the ability to cure disease imagine, God forbid, you were Christopher Reeve. You were Superman. Incredibly, like, virile, strong person, you get in an accident riding a horse, you break your neck and are paralyzed. Imagine the transformational gift of being able to move again. That's what this technology is doing. And I'm so proud that it's happening in our great state of text.

[Ben Ferguson]

It's awesome. Don't forget, we do this show three days a week as a podcast, so make sure you stay with us. Hit that subscriber auto download button wherever you get your podcast and the center. I will see you back here on this radio station as well next week. Have a great week.