Elder Abuse or Executive Power, Take It Down Act Targeting Deepfakes Signed plus Tom Homan & the Battle for Border Accountability Week In Review

Summary

Verdict with Ted Cruz: Episode Summary Release Date: May 24, 2025

In this episode of Verdict with Ted Cruz, host Ben Ferguson and Senator Ted Cruz delve into three pivotal stories shaping the political landscape: the troubling narrative surrounding President Joe Biden, the historic signing of the Take It Down Act by former President Donald Trump, and a critical discussion on border accountability with guest Tom Homan. Here's a comprehensive overview of their in-depth conversations.

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1. The Decline of Joe Biden: Elder Abuse or Executive Power?

[03:37]
Ben Ferguson opens the discussion by expressing concern over President Joe Biden's recent actions, suggesting that Biden is a victim of "elder abuse."

Ben Ferguson ([03:37]): "I actually feel bad for Joe Biden. I think it's very clear that people are taking advantage of him. I think this is a form of elder abuse."

The conversation intensifies as they examine a leaked transcript revealing Biden's handling of classified documents related to Afghanistan. Counsel underscores the legal implications of Biden's inability to recall the intentional retention of these documents.

Senator Ted Cruz ([08:02]): "Legally, that exchange is very important. This is a classified document on Afghanistan that he had in a non-secure location, which is a criminal violation."

Ben Ferguson questions the accountability of individuals involved in the alleged cover-up, emphasizing the need for congressional hearings to uncover the truth and prevent future abuses.

Ben Ferguson ([10:44]): "How do we find out who the five people are and what does Congress's role play in this? To make sure it never happens again."

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2. Donald Trump Signs the Take It Down Act: Protecting Against Deepfakes and Revenge Pornography

[17:57]
Senator Cruz shifts focus to the landmark legislation recently signed into law by former President Donald Trump: the Take It Down Act. This act aims to combat the distribution of non-consensual explicit imagery, including deepfakes, by imposing federal penalties and obligating tech platforms to remove such content promptly.

Senator Ted Cruz ([17:57]): "The Take It Down Act makes it a federal felony to post non-consensual intimate images, either real pictures or deep fakes."

He elaborates on the bipartisan effort required to pass the legislation, highlighting the collaboration between Republicans and Democrats, including Senator Amy Klobuchar.

Senator Ted Cruz ([20:44]): "We passed it through the Senate unanimously, it was 100 enough. And then the House took it up and passed it with an overwhelming bipartisan majority."

The senator shares the emotional testimonies of victims, such as Elliston Berry, whose experience with deepfakes inspired the creation of this law. He emphasizes the law's significance in providing victims with a statutory right to have explicit images removed swiftly.

Senator Ted Cruz ([25:54]): "Elliston and Ana are Texans. So Ana picked up the phone and called my office and said, hey, look, you're my senator. Can you help my daughter?"

The episode includes poignant moments from Elliston Berry's appearance on Fox News Channel, illustrating the personal impact of the legislation.

Elliston Berry ([25:54]): "I never would have thought that this could ever be my reality. My mom, she's really an amazing person and she's the one that's been pushing for this."

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3. Tom Homan & the Battle for Border Accountability

[32:41]
In the final segment, Tom Homan joins the conversation to critique former Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas's handling of the U.S. border crisis. Homan asserts that Mayorkas's policies have led to increased human trafficking, fentanyl smuggling, and a surge in illegal immigration.

Tom Homan ([33:09]): "What he did was borderline treasonous. He did more damage to this country."

He highlights the dramatic increase in fentanyl trafficking revenues, citing a jump from $500 million in 2018 to over $13 billion last year, a staggering 2,600% growth.

Tom Homan ([37:30]): "The CDC needs to track this more, more, more accurately. But we do know there's been a reduction."

Homan advocates for stronger U.S. military intervention to dismantle Mexican cartels, drawing parallels to successful operations in Colombia. He criticizes the Biden administration for turning these criminal organizations into powerful entities, exacerbating violence and corruption in Mexico.

Tom Homan ([38:17]): "One of the best things President Trump did was designate a terrorist organization because these cartels have killed more Americans than every terrorist organization in the world combined."

Senator Cruz echoes these sentiments, emphasizing the need for robust border security to protect American lives and reduce the cartel's influence.

Senator Ted Cruz ([35:42]): "Look, the men and women who sign up for the Border Patrol do so because they're patriots... They want to keep our communities and our families safe."

The discussion also touches on the recent charges against New Jersey Democrat Congresswoman LaMonica McIver for assaulting law enforcement at an ICE facility, highlighting the importance of holding all individuals accountable under the law.

Tom Homan ([42:11]): "No one's above the law. You're damn right they're not above the law."

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Conclusion

Throughout the episode, Ben Ferguson and Senator Ted Cruz provide a critical analysis of current political issues affecting the United States. From questioning President Biden's handling of classified information to celebrating the protective measures of the Take It Down Act and addressing the ongoing border crisis, the hosts offer a comprehensive overview of the challenges and legislative responses shaping the nation.

For listeners seeking a deeper understanding of these topics, the episode encourages revisiting the full conversation in the podcast archives.

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Note: This summary excludes advertisements, sponsorship messages, and non-content segments to focus solely on the substantive discussions of the episode.

Transcript

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[Ryan Seacrest]

No, that was sad.

[Ben Ferguson]

It is, it's just, it is absolutely sad. That is the president, United States of America. And the fact that there were some people wanting to keep their power, whoever those five people were that they did.

[Ryan Seacrest]

This to him, look, and he do you remember, remember the question that was in the front of that?

[Ben Ferguson]

What was it?

[Ryan Seacrest]

It was where are you keeping classified documents? And he went down a four minute recollection of losing his son tragically. And there's nothing sadder than a parent bearing a child. And that's certainly a personal tragedy that Joe Biden has had more than his fair share of. But he was not able to even answer the question. Well, all right. Here's another segment of her tapes. Listen to this next excerpt.

[Joe Biden]

This memo. Mr. President, was this something that you consciously kept after your term as vice president? Is this something that you wanted to hold on to? I don't recall. Did I have this? Was this in my possession, Ms. Memo yes. To give you some context for this, Mr. President, he was found in the front of this notebook that's on the first page. And the notebook was found in those library at the lake house in one of the drawers. I don't recall how it got back. I mean, I don't recall how it got back in the book because I sent it to the president. I gave it to the president. And this looks like the original. I don't think there's maybe there's a copy made of it. I don't Think so. It was faxed just to give you. Oh, okay. That's why. Yeah. All right, Now I got it. I wasn't sure how I got how I whether I gay handed to the President. It was faxed to the president which I had to copy. Right. Okay. You had the original? Yeah, I had the original and I just put it in the book and that was it.

[Tom Homan]

Okay.

[Joe Biden]

Did were you aware that you had kept it after your term as vice president? Did you know that you had it? I, I, I, I don't know that I knew, but I wouldn't have it wouldn't sound something I would have stopped to think about. The reason I ask is it's been written about. Bob Woodward wrote about it in one of his books. Jules Wyntcover wrote about it in his biography of you. So that's the reason I asked is if it was something that you wanted to hang on to because he was going to be the subject of reporting or. I don't think it would be subject to reporting, but I wanted to hang. I guess I wanted to hang on to it just for posterity's sake. I mean this was my position on Afghanistan. I've been of view from a historical standpoint that there certain points in history, world history, where fundamental things change using technology. For example, without Gutenberg's printing press, Europe would be a very different place, literally a different place because countries would not have known what was happening in another country. Other parts of the country. You know, think about a stupid idea notion. Nixon probably would have been on president where he used to television where he sweaty. I mean sincerely. He was sweating so profusely in that a lot of people thought he won the debate but he lost the debate because of his demeanor. So there's a lot of things that I think are fundamentally changing how international societies function and they relate a lot to technology. And one of the things that I was of the view that a lot has changed in terms of everything from the, the Internet to the way in which we communicate with one another to that has fundamentally altered the ability I've had this discussion with the press. Mr. President, I'm sorry to interrupt you. No, I'm sorry. Anyway, that's what I wanted to do. Nothing to do with Afghanistan. Okay, that answered my question and Mark, just really quickly. I promise it'll be brief.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I just really would like to avoid for the purpose of a clean record getting into speculative areas. When the president responded and said I don't recall intending to keep this memo.

[Joe Biden]

You then said well, you know, might.

[Ryan Seacrest]

You have thought it was important to keep him whatever. And he said, well, I guess I could have his recollection, as I understand it, is he does not recall specifically intending to keep this memo after he left the Vice presidency. And I want that to be. I want these questions to be as clearly answered and recorded on the transcript as possible.

[Joe Biden]

I think we should take up gravies.

[Ben Ferguson]

If there's one thing that's consistent. They wanted to take a break and you had the questions coming in in such a kind way like this is not what I was expecting.

[Ryan Seacrest]

So let me say legally, that exchange is very important. So this is a classified document on Afghanistan. I don't actually know the precise details of the document, but it's a classified document in Afghanistan that he had in a non secure location, which is a criminal violation, is the violation they were charging. Right then the Biden Justice Department was prosecuting Donald Trump doing exactly that. And the prosecutor asked him, so did you intend to keep this document? And he's like, I don't know, I don't. And immediately his lawyer jumps in. Your answer is, you don't know. Now his lawyer's being a good lawyer there. Yeah, because this is all about establishing the mens rea, the mental status to be guilty of the crime. But then Biden goes on and says, well, why did you keep it? It's been reported, it's been in this book, it's that book. And he says, well, I kept it for posterity. It was important to have. And his lawyer comes in at the end. He's like, oh, crap. Oh crap. You just admitted that you did this on purpose and you kept it because you wanted to be able to tell a really good story about Joe Biden and you wanted to leak classified information to reporters and you needed the memo to do it. And he admits that. And then his reporter at the end, his lawyer at the end tries to clean that up. That exchange has enormous legal significance. Had DOJ not concluded that the sitting President of the United States was incompetent to stand trial. Let me repeat that sentence because it's an astonishing 1. Had DOJ not concluded that the sitting President is incompetent to stand trial, that exchange would have featured prominently in the criminal trial convicting him of violating that law.

[Ben Ferguson]

You look at now what we're seeing with this, her tape, and I go back to accountability. There are clearly people that were helping cover this up. They were taking advantage of Joe Biden. I think his family obviously was in on this as well. They wanted the power, whoever the five people are. The question I ask you is how the hell do we find out who the five people are and what does Congress's role play in this? To make sure it never happens again.

[Ryan Seacrest]

There should absolutely be congressional hearings. We need an answer. The media ought to do its job and report. I want to play one more excerpt from the her tapes. Listen to this final excerpt.

[Joe Biden]

Went to Mongolia. Great pictures. I unfortunately embarrassed the hell out of the leader of Mongolia there. Showed they were doing what they would do at the time of the invasion of the Mongols into Europe in the 14th, in the 800s. And so we're out in the middle of nowhere and they're looking up on the hill and you see this tiny line, 20 mile horse race with all these kids under the age of 16 on bareback racing to come down and you know, they're sumo wrestlers and doing everything they do. And so they walked over and they had a target bales of hay 100 yards away. And these guerrillas were, you know, taking shots. And I think, I don't know if it's going to embarrass me or make a point, but handed the bow and arrow. I'm not a bad archer, but the only problem they if I can pull it back. So I, and pure luck, I hit the goddamn target. No, I really did. Bales of hay. They're like 20 bales of hay with a, with a big target in the middle of. And so I didn't mean anything by it. I turned the primary handed to him toy some bitch couldn't pull back.

[Ryan Seacrest]

So look, if Genghis Khan, if Genghis Khan comes in, if we face the Mongol horde, know that Joe Biden is ready to fire his bow and arrow. Look, there are a lot of things you can say about this interview, but it's very clear why Democrats did not want this release before the election.

[Ben Ferguson]

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

[Rodney Williams]

I'm Rodney Williams. And I'm Travis Holloway. Welcome to the Wealth Break. Let's be honest. Building wealth doesn't look the same for everyone. It's not just about saving. It's about investing. It's about navigating systems that weren't built for you, embracing your hustle and relying on your community to create something bigger. And that's exactly why we created the wealth break. We made something different, something more human. It's not just another financial podcast. It's a conversation about real life, real struggles and real wins. We're here to talk about the journey. You're hearing from people who've broken barriers, found creative ways to succeed, and learn to build wealth on their terms. Whether it's the first time homeowner, a gig worker, or someone turning a side hustle into a six figure business, we're bringing you their stories. And we're not stopping at success stories. We're breaking down the reality, like what it means to take risk, how to navigate failure, and why resilience matters. Because wealth isn't about money. It's about creating a life where you can thrive and help others to do the same. So if you're ready for a podcast as much as about people as it is about money, you're in the right place. Listen to the Wealth Break podcast on the iHeartRadio app.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, I'd like to change gears for a minute and talk about our friends in Israel now. It's now the month of May and 80 years ago this very month, the horror of the Holocaust, quote, the final solution, thank God, came to an end. But did you know that half of all Holocaust survivors, they now live in Israel. And the pain of the past now intensified today by what happened on October 7, 2023 and the rise of anti Semitism everywhere. Thousands live in Israel below the poverty line. There's no safety net. We have partnered with a great organization called the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. Now, the fellowship provides a lifeline to these precious people in the form of hot meals and boxes, a healthy food, and for only 25 bucks, you can help provide a food box. And better yet, $335 provides hot meals for an entire year. Call 888-488-IFCJ 888-488 IFCJ or online you can give to ifcj.org that's ifcj.org finally.

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[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Ben Ferguson]

Now on to story number two. Senator, let's talk about this other incredible moment that happened this week at the White House. Donald Trump signed the Take It down act into Law law. It's something that you championed and and remind people what this law is intent and why it is such an important piece of legislation to protect not only young people and minors but really anyone from just evil and hateful revenge from an ex.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Well this, this is legislation that I authored that, that President Trump signed into law this week. Actually he signed it into law in the Rose Garden at a big ceremony in the Rose Garden. I've done a lot of bill signing ceremony in the Oval Office. This is the first time I've been in the Rose Garden because you had victim groups and victim advocates and people who have been victims of non consensual explicit imagery. Now what is that? That's really two different Things number one, so called revenge porn. So if you have a boyfriend and girlfriend and they're in a relationship and they take explicit pictures or videos and then they have a breakup and one or the other is mad and they say, okay, I'm going to stick it to you, I'm going to put this out for the whole world to see. And it is an utterly grotesque violation of privacy. Nobody has the right to do that to somebody else. And it's something we're seeing happening more and more often. There's a second manifestation that is new and it has to deal with technology, which is more and more we are seeing people use AI artificial intelligence to create deep fakes and deep, deep fakes where they appear to be either a picture or a video of a real person, but it's utterly fake. And so they make a naked or explicit image of someone and put it out. And the incidence of deep fakes last year increased 3,000% and over 90% of the victims of deep fake explicit imagery are women or teenage girls. And so it is growing massively. And so the Take It down act is legislation that I introduced that makes it a crime, a federal felony to post non consensual intimate images, either real pictures or deep fakes. And secondly, it puts a federal statutory obligation on tech platforms to take the pictures down, to take the videos down because the platforms have been horrible responding to victims, they ignore victims, they leave the images up and so the victim ends up up being being victimized over and over and over again by the images staying out there. And so the Take It down act get puts a legal obligation that when the victim notifies them, hey, that's me, that's an explicit image of me. And you don't have my consent to put it up. They have to take it down. This legislation I introduced with Amy Klobuchar, Democrat from Minnesota, and we passed it through the Senate, we passed it unanimously, it was 100 enough. And then the House took it up and passed it with an overwhelming bipartisan majority and President Trump signed it into law. And give a listen to what President Trump said this week in the Rose Garden as he signed the Take It down act into law. Today, it's my honor to officially sign the Take It down act into law.

[Joe Biden]

It's a big thing, very important, so.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Horrible what takes place.

[Joe Biden]

This will be the first ever federal.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Law to combat the distribution of explicit it imaginary posted without subject's consent. They take horrible pictures and I guess sometimes even make up the pictures and they post it without consent or anything. Else. And very importantly, this includes for forgeries generated by artificial intelligence known as deepfakes. We've all heard about deep fakes.

[Ben Ferguson]

I have them all the time, but I don't.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Nobody does anything. I asked Pam, can you help me, Pam? She says, no, I'm too busy. Too busy doing other things. Don't worry, you'll. You'll survive. But a lot of people don't survive. That's true.

[Joe Biden]

And so horrible.

[Ryan Seacrest]

With the rise of AI image generation, countless women have been harassed with deep fakes and other explicit images distributed against their will.

[Joe Biden]

This is the wrong.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And it's just so horribly wrong. And it's a very abusive situation like in some cases people have never seen before. And today we're making it totally illegal.

[Ben Ferguson]

Senator, one of the things I just, I love about this legislation is the fact that not only is it bipartisan, but you had the first lady who really got involved in this as well. It was important to her. And that made it, I think, even easier to bridge the gap.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Well, we did. The first lady became very active in pushing this bill. She reached out to me and said she wanted to help get it over the finish line. So last year we passed it out of the Senate, 100 to nothing. And the House failed to take it up last year. So it did not pass last year. And so we got to this year to the new Congress. I passed it through the Senate again, 100 to nothing. And the real battle was to get it to rise up the priority list of House leadership. And so when the first lady called my office and said she wanted to help, what I did is I invited her to come to Capitol Hill for a roundtable where she could hear from the victims. And also at that roundtable was the speaker of the House and Steve Scalise, the majority leader, and Brett Guthrie, who's the committee chairman in the House. And when the first lady asked them, will you please pass this into law, they committed to her. They would. And this was the day before the State of the Union address. And you may remember at the State of the Union address, Melania was sitting with a teenage girl from Texas, Ellison Berry. And President Trump told her story in the State of the Union and called on Congress to pass this bill. And I'll tell you, it's actually, it's a fascinating story of how this bill came to pass because it originates with one teenage girl in Texas, Elliston Berry. She's from North Texas, from Alito, Texas. And a year ago, she was 14, and she was in ninth grade, and she woke up one morning, and her phone was blowing up with texts from her friends because a classmate of hers had taken a perfectly innocent picture of her from social media and had used an app online that he had found to create a deep fake and then sent what appeared to be naked pictures of Elliston to all of her ninth grade classes. And so she was in tears. Listen, it is hard to be a teenager. I'm the father of two teenage girls. I know the pressure that is on teenage girls. It's much harder to be a teenager today than when you and I were teenagers, Ben. And this was just horrific. Well, what happened is her mom, Ana. Look, Elliston and Ana are constituents. They're Texans. So Ana picked up the phone and called my office and said, hey, look, you're my senator. Can you help my daughter? And my staff, to their credit, they elevated this to me, and they told me what had happened to Elliston. And this is happening more and more all over the country. And so I said, look, let's draft legislation to fix this to address the problem. And so we did, and it was because of Elliston that we drafted it. But as I said, it's happening all over the country. Well, elliston came to D.C. the day we announced the bill last year for the press conference. And I sat down and met with Elliston. I met with her mom in my office. And in the course of the meeting, I asked, I said, hey, what happened to the pictures? And her mom said, it's the most frustrating thing in the world. She said, this happened nine months ago. She said, I have been calling and emailing Snapchat over and over and over again. They just stonewall us. We get no response. Ben, I turned to my staff. I said, I want you to get the CEO of Snapchat on the phone today. I want those pictures down today. They pulled them down within two hours. Now, it should not take a sitting senator making a phone call to get those pictures taken down. And now, as a result of the legislation Trump has signed, every victim has a statutory right to insist that it be taken down as a matter of law, automatically.

[Ben Ferguson]

Yeah. In fact, Ellison Berry got to go on Fox News Channel with our good friend Kayleigh McEnany and talk about this moment. And here's what she had to say. Take a listen.

[Ryan Seacrest]

But you didn't stop. You decided to go and talk to your local congressman. You get connected with a senator, and then you manage. There you are standing behind the President of the United States, changing the laws for other young women like you.

[Ben Ferguson]

Did you ever think this day would come.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I never would have thought that this could ever be my reality. My mom, she's really an amazing person and she's the one that's been pushing for this and she's the one that's.

[Ben Ferguson]

Encouraged me so I wouldn't be able.

[Ryan Seacrest]

To do this without her help and her support. And she really just has encouraged me.

[Ben Ferguson]

To the point where I, I feel.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I felt encouraged about this. So having the opportunity to speak about this and to bring awareness really just means so much.

[Ben Ferguson]

Especially it's so much growth seeing how.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Scared I was at first and seeing how confident I am able in this situation. Well, other young women now have recourse, thanks to you, Ellison Berry. So impressive. Thank you.

[Ben Ferguson]

I love it. It's just, it's finally a happy ending to a really hard and sad, sad well.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And Ben, at the signing ceremony, I was able to introduce Elliston to the President. I introduced also Francesca Moni, who was another 15 year old girl who was in New Jersey. And the exact same thing happened to her as happened to Elliston. And I also introduced Brandon Guffey. Brandon Guffey is a state rep from South Carolina. And tragically, his oldest son got what we thought was a direct message from a cute girl and she convinced him to send naked pictures to her. Well, it turned out it was not a cute girl, it was a con man. And the con man began extorting him and threatening. I'm going to send these naked pictures to your friends and family. Well, Brandon's son Gavin killed himself and we are seeing suicides across the country. So I introduced Brandon and his family, the president too. And this law is a victory for everyone that is a target of this kind of exploitation.

[Ben Ferguson]

As before, if you want to hear the rest of this conversation on this topic, you can go back and download the podcast from earlier this week to hear the entire thing.

[Rodney Williams]

I'm Rodney Williams. And I'm Travis Holloway. Welcome to the wealth break. Let's be honest. Building wealth doesn't look the same for everyone. It's not just about saving. It's about investing. It's about navigating systems that weren't built for you, embracing your hustle and relying on your community to create something bigger. And that's exactly why we created the wealthbreak. We made something different, something more human. It's not just another financial podcast. It's a conversation about real life, real struggles and real wins. We're here to talk about the journey. You're hearing from people who've broken barriers, found creative ways to succeed, and learn to build wealth on their terms. Whether it's the first time homeowner, a gig worker, or someone turning a side hustle into a six figure business, we're bringing you their stories. And we're not stopping at success stories. We're breaking down the realities like what it means to take risk, how to navigate failure, and why resilience matters. Because wealth isn't about money. It's about creating a life where you can thrive and help others to do the same. So if you're ready for a podcast as much as about people as it is about money, you're in the right place. Listen to the Wealth Brave podcast on the iHeartRadio app.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, I'd like to change gears for a minute and talk about our friends in Israel now. It's now the month of May and 80 years ago this very month, the horror of the Holocaust, quote, the final solution, thank God, came to an end. But did you know that half of all Holocaust survivors, they now live in Israel. And the pain of the past now intensified today by what happened on October 7, 2023 and the rise of anti Semitism everywhere. Thousands live in Israel. Below the poverty line. There's no safety net. We have partnered with a great organization called the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. Now, the fellowship provides a lifeline to these precious people in the form of hot meals and boxes, a healthy food, and for only 25 bucks, you can help provide a food box. And better yet, $335 provides hot meals for an entire year. Call 888-488-IFCJ 888-488-IFCj or online. You can give to ifcj.org that's ifcj.org.

[Ben Ferguson]

Finally, pro family movies, movies that you want your kids and grandkids to see, movies you want to see are being made again by my friends at Angel Studios. And the record breaking animated movie King of Kings over Easter was just one example of that that. Well, now there's another great movie coming out and I want to give you two free tickets. Angel has a family driven blockbuster, the Last Rodeo, starring my favorite actor, Neil McDonough, in theaters May 23. The Last Rodeo celebrates the inspiring story of a veteran PBR champion who returns to bull riding in his old age to save the life of his grandson and features real life PBR stars. Now I'm gonna give you tickets right now and you can become a premium member of Angel Studios, a membership that puts you in the driver's seat called Angel Studios. Choose which movies it green lights for you and your family and then you're gonna get those two free tickets to see the Last Rodeo and every single movie released from angel as well. Go to Angel.comVerdict now and get your two free tickets to the last rodeo today. That's Angel.comVerdict and join the Angel Guild and stream other Neil McDonough hits like Homestead and the Shift and more exclusively on Angel. As a Guild member, you'll be part of more than 1 million Americans who are reshap the face of family entertainment. So go to angel.com verdict and sign up today. I can't wait to see this movie and help choose the rest of Angel's movies this year.

[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Tom Homan]

The hatchback.

[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Ben Ferguson]

I want to get back to the big story number three of the week you may have missed. I want to go back to accountability for a second, Tom, and I want to ask you. There are a lot of people that believe that there were laws that were broken deliberately in the last administration. They knew they were breaking the law. One of those would be former Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas that you mentioned a moment ago. Should he be criminally prosecuted for his role in the border crisis? If it was as deliberate as it now seems.

[Tom Homan]

Look, I think what he did was borderline treasonous. I'm not an attorney, I'm not a prosecutor. But what he did, he did more damage to this country. Him and the Biden administration. What they did to this country. I can tell you when they open that border up, sex trafficking, women and children increased tenfold. A record number of migrants died making that journey. Over 4,000. A record number of Americans died from fentanyl that come across that open border. And it's just what he, what he calls this country and from a national security perspective, because here's what his orders were. Process quick release quick. They didn't care about the crisis, they cared about the optics of the crisis. If there's no overcrowding, there's nothing to see here. So border trades were processed as quick as they could and releasing that quick as they could. And there's been several instances where they released so quickly the FBI scanned and come back and, and it came back hot after they already been released, they came back hot as a known inspector terror. So yeah, what he did was unconscionable. What he did is by my opinion, borderline treason. This, he should be held accountable because a lot of deaths occurred under his watch. And like it like, like Senator Cruz said a few minutes ago, right now 96% decline in illegal immigration when 96% less people coming. How many women are being raped? How many children aren't dying crossing a border? How many no respected terrorists aren't getting in the country? How many pounds of fentanyl is not getting the country? What are you going to see? Under President Trump's administration, fentanyl deaths are decreasing. Sex trafficking would decrease. Smuggling would decrease. And no inspector terrorists, they got no open that anymore. Now that we got the board secure, every single border patrol agent is on the line on patrol doing his national security duty. Under Joe Biden, it was an average, Most days, an average 70%, 7 0. 70% of agents were no longer on patrol. They were changing diapers, making baby formula, making hospital run. The last time I went down there before the election, I talked to hundreds of board police and told me, hang on, hang on, change is coming. I really think President Trump's going to win where they told me no. We're sick of being tourist stations. We're sick of being uber drivers. We process and deliver these people to the very same people who pay for their smuggling. They couldn't recruit. They couldn't. People were quitting. They were quitting before they're even eligible for retirement. They couldn't read the recruiting numbers. You know, last month, month ice. Excuse me, Borbatro had the highest recruiting numbers in the history of that agency just last month.

[Ryan Seacrest]

That's fantastic. And look, I will say Tom is not exaggerating at all. Like when I would visit with border patrol agents, the frustration. Look, the men and women who sign up for the border Patrol, they do so because they're patriots. They do so because they love America. They do so because they want to keep our communities and our families and our community kids safe and they want to be out on patrol. Look, that's what you sign up in the job. And they were sitting there just shuffling paperwork. They were processing and just running a revolving door to try to release as many illegal immigrants as fast as possible. That's what Mayorkas. Look, viewed his job is accelerate illegal immigration, not stop it, but make it go more quickly. Let me ask you, Tom, you mentioned fentanyl. What do we know about the numbers of fentanyl traffic over the first four months of the Trump administration?

[Tom Homan]

There's been a decrease, and I've got from three or four different sources, the percentage decreases different from every source. The problem is the CDC doesn't have good metrics on fentanyl. But look across the country, you can see the decrease in fentanyl. Fentanyl is being seized on the southern border, and it's the metrics. And that's maybe something y' all could work on up there in the Senate. CDC needs to track this more, more, more accurately. Like I said, you got. You got a number of deaths reported by states. You got a number of deaths reported by cdc. None of them match. So. But we do know there's been a reduction. You don't see, you know, 300 people dying every day from fentanyl, as we did see. Right. We know we don't have two, you know, 9 11s a week happening from kids dying from fat. And so I don't have exact numbers, but we already see the effects of a secure border.

[Ryan Seacrest]

And, Tom, let me ask you also. So one of the things we've talked about on this podcast. In 2018, the Mexican drug cartels made roughly $500 million from human trafficking. Last year, the drug cartels made over $13 billion from human trafficking. That's a 2,600% increase. Do we have any data yet? Do you have any visibility on what is happening, happened to the drug cartel's revenue? Because one of the worst consequences of what Biden's open border did is it turned these vicious, murderous, transnational criminal organizations into incredibly wealthy powerhouses, and it put huge resources in their pockets. Do you have any data on what's happened to their revenues?

[Tom Homan]

Well, one of the best things President Trump did was designated a terrorist organization because these cartels have killed more Americans.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Americans, yeah.

[Tom Homan]

Every terrorist organization in the world combined. We knew that. That's why there's so much violence in Mexico. The last four years, cartels were fighting each other for control of the plazas. Why? Because they're making record amounts of money smuggling people. Record amount of Money in trafficking women and children, and a record amount of money moving dope across that border. Now, with the border secure, we're hitting where it hurts. Smuggling's down. Both drugs and people trafficking is down. So we're hitting where it hurts. That's why the latest intelligence force I see, they're trying to produce and push more fentanyl into Asia and European nations because their market here in the United States has been so brutally attacked. I wish what would happen is that Mexico would agree with President Trump to let us help them take the cartels and wipe them off the face of the earth. Because right now, they're like the Jalisco cartel. They're in 44 countries around the globe. They're like a Fortune 500 company. It's going to take the United States to take them out. Mexico's failed for decades to do it. And a lot of Mexico, you know that military, police and government officials are corrupt. I'll say this. A lot of corruption is forced corruption, because you're a police officer in Mexico, you're making, you know, 400amonth. But a Mexican cartel comes up and obviously 10,000 look the other way and you're going to take it or they're going to kill you and your family. I think Mexico would be a much safer, a much more prosperous country if they let President Trump help them wipe the cartels off the face of the earth.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Look, that is absolutely right. And let me underscore that point. A lot of people don't realize, particularly those on the left, that what Joe Biden and the Democrats did, it wasn't just horribly cruel to the American people, it was horribly cruel to Mexican nationals in Mexico. Turning these vicious criminals into the most powerful economic force in Mexico has increased the murder rate, the crime rate, the kidnapping rate. I visited with a Mexican mayor of a town on the other side of the border, and I'm not gonna say which mayor, because he told me in confidence, because he was afraid, but he said in his town, they had had over 3,000 disappearances. Just people, Mexican nationals living in Mexico who just ran afoul of the cartel and they just disappear and they find mass graves and the suffering and murder and kidnapping that has happened in Mexico because of the Democrats political decision, I think was cruel and horrible. And, Tom, you're exactly right that the US Military can take out the cartels. And we've done it before in Colombia. President Uribe asked the military to come in and take out the cartels in Colombia, and we came in and did that, and we could do it again. And I do think it would be much better if the Mexican government invited us in. It would have transformational impact within Mexico.

[Tom Homan]

Yeah, this saved a lot of lives. Like I say, Mexican cartels have killed thousands of judges and prosecutors and journalists and citizens. So, you know, I wish they joined with President Trump because that would be a game changer for Mexico and the United States.

[Ryan Seacrest]

All right, final question. We saw just this week that New Jersey Democrat Congresswoman LaMonica McIver was charged for assaulting law enforcement at an ICE facility. Tell us how important that is, and what do you think about the fact that charges were brought for assault? We saw during the Biden administration repeatedly law enforcement, Customs, Border patrol, ICE agents were subject to physical assault. No charges were brought. How important is it that these charges were brought?

[Tom Homan]

The signs of strong message is very important. It also proves I don't bluff. I'd said from the day of inauguration, if you want to not support ice, we'll shame on you. But you have that right. If you want to protest against ICE and protest against Trump's policies, that's fine. If you want to watch ICE come in and clean your city up because you're a sanctuary city, don't want to help, you can do that, too. But I said from day one, you can't cross that line. You can't cross the line on impediment. That's a felony. You can't cross the line annoying and harboring, concealing of illegal aliens, that's a felony. You certainly can't commit criminal trespasses at our facilities. And for God's sakes, you can't put hands on IO officers. And this happened during the same time frame, the same week I went to Blue Mass in Washington, D.C. in remembrance of the men and women of law enforcement put their lives on the line for this country every day. So we spent a week just praising these men and women talking to their families, who also paid the ultimate sacrifice when they lost a loved one forever. Children lost their fathers and mothers and mothers, fathers lost their sons and daughters in the same week we're supposed to be honoring law enforcement. You got. You got some member of Congress put their hands and shove it, an ICE officer, which makes that facility very unsafe. And I'm sick and tired of hearing, well, we have congressional oversight responsibilities. There is a right way and wrong way to do it. You don't force your way in a facility. You don't put hands on an officer. There's. We do oversight all the time. And what are they finding out as people are getting tours in that facility that they have the high C tension standards in the industry and it puts every other detention center in jail in the state of New Jersey, whether it's a county or state, it puts them to shame because our detention standards are so high. So when you go and cause that kind of practice, we're trying to maintain a facility with very dangerous people inside. We got to protect not only the criminals, we got to protect the employees and the citizens on the outside. What she did was just horrendous. Linda's I, she, she put hands on an officer like they said, for four years. No one's above the law. You're damn right they're not above the law. Even members of Congress, the president is above the law. But these are members of Congress.

[Ben Ferguson]

As always, thank you for listening to Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you. Don't forget to download my podcast and you can listen to my podcast every other day. You're not listening to Verdict or each day when you listen to Verdict afterwards. I'd love to have you as a listener to again the Ben Ferguson Podcast. And we will see you back here on Monday morning.

[Rodney Williams]

I'm Rodney Williams. And I'm Travis Holloway. Welcome to the wealthbreak podcast, a real conversation about finance. Let's be honest. Building wealth doesn't look the same for everyone.

[Ryan Seacrest]

I feel like sometimes being broke is a cycle and that we might have.

[Rodney Williams]

To revisit that and we're not stopping at success stories.

[Ryan Seacrest]

What happens when it doesn't go right? How do you cope with it?

[Rodney Williams]

Because wealth isn't just about money. It's about creating a life where you thrive and help others do the same. Listen to the Wealth Break podcast on the iHeartRadio app.

[Ben Ferguson]

Wholesome family entertainment is so important, especially for my family with my three boys. And there's a new movie I want you to know about. I want to give you free tickets. The Last Rodeo, Angel Studios newest family Blockbuster starring Neil McDonough hits theaters May 23rd. And become a premium member right now. And get get two free tickets to see the Last Rodeo on the big screen. Plus you can stream other angel exclusives like Homestead, the Shift and more, help choose which movies get made and support film and filmmakers that share our values. So join the angel guild [e-mail] verdict that's angel.com verdict. Don't miss the Last Rodeo. Only in theaters at Amica Insurance.

[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Rodney Williams]

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[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Ben Ferguson]

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[Ryan Seacrest]

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