← Verdict with Ted Cruz
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Ben Ferguson
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Senator Ted Cruz
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Senator Ted Cruz
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Senator Ted Cruz
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Ben Ferguson
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Senator Ted Cruz
The News Agents we're not just here to tell you what's happening, but why? From me, Emily Maitlis and me, John Sopel with Global's award winning podcast the News Agents Dropping daily covering everything you need to know about politics and current.
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Ben Ferguson
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Senator Ted Cruz
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Ben Ferguson
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Senator Ted Cruz
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Ben Ferguson
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Senator Ted Cruz
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Ben Ferguson
And right now you can get 30% off every single thing we sell during our friends and family sale. 40% off if you sign up for email. Shop comfortable classics, no BS@PublicWreck.com radio be you never change. I'm Rodney Williams. And I'm Travis Holloway. Welcome to the wealthbreak podcast, a real conversation about finance. Let's be honest, building weft doesn't look the same for everyone. I feel like sometimes being broke is a cycle and that we might have to revisit that and we're not stopping at success stories.
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Senator Ted Cruz
What happens when it doesn't go right? How do you cope with it?
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Ben Ferguson
Because well 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. Welcome. It is Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson with you. It is right now 1:07am Eastern Standard Time. That means it is 8:06am right now in Tel Aviv and Israel and the hostages that are being held in Gaza are set to be released. We are hoping that's going to happen at any moment and very well could happen as we are taping this in the wee hours of the morning. Senator, I want to get your reaction just to this and what all we're going to be talking about today.
- [03:10]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, it is an historic day, although I will have to note, Ben, I am impressed that somehow Jerusalem has managed to go back in time, that it is 1:07am in the east coast of America, but it is only 8:06am in Jerusalem. So they are somehow a minute ahead of us that look the Holy Land. I think that's appropriate. So, so, so I appreciate like a fine Swiss watch. You have acute appreciation.
- [03:40]
Ben Ferguson
I'm just looking at the screens here.
- [03:43]
Senator Ted Cruz
I got you. Look, peace in the Middle east is a big damn deal. Now, as we're sitting here right now, we're holding our breaths because the peace deal has been announced. If this follows through, if Hamas releases the hostages, it will be historic. At the moment, we don't know if they're going to follow through. They said they're going to follow through. Yeah, but Hamas is not exactly the most trustworthy of dealmakers. They've broken deals over and over and over again. Terrorists have a bad habit of doing that. So we are waiting, we are hoping, we are praying. What's interesting about this podcast is by the time you're listening to it, you're going to know. And so we very much hope the hostages are released. The agreement that President Trump negotiated was an agreement to release all the hostages, both the living hostages and the remains of those who have been killed. And there are a number who've been killed. They're holding onto the remains. Obviously, the families would like to bury the dead. And in exchange, Israel has agreed to a complete and immediate ceasefire that is historic. It is such a big deal that President Trump is flying to the Middle east to be there to welcome the hostages to their release. And I will say this is a day of great celebration if, if, if Hamas follows through on the terms of the deal.
- [05:14]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah. By the way, right now the hostage release process is beginning. We are witnessing in Gaza City, The Red Cross vehicles are leaving the compound there. And so we are doing this, like I said, am here 1:00am Eastern, 1:10am and this is what we're watching as we're seeing this happening. But the first process they're saying coming from the AP right now has release process is beginning and going as planned. That certainly is a great sign as we're recording this right now.
- [05:46]
Senator Ted Cruz
Amen. Those hostages have to have been in living hell for two years now, and it is time for them to be released. And hopefully within minutes, they will be, they will be back with their families. I will tell you, in the last two years, I have met with many of the families of the hostages that when they've come to Washington, they've come by my office, they've shown me pictures of their loved ones, of their sons, of their daughters, of their sisters, of their moms, of their dads. And it's heartbreaking. I've met with family members of those who were killed, killed on October 7th, and seen just the horrific atrocities that Hamas carried out on that day. And this is a time, I think, really to commend President Trump. And by the way, it's not just me saying that you want to see how extraordinary it is. Hillary Clinton has praised Donald Trump for this peace agreement. I want you to give a listen to what Hillary Clinton had to say about Donald J. Trump.
- [06:48]
Ben Ferguson
It's a really significant first step. And I really commend President Trump and his administration, as well as Arab leaders in the region, for making the commitment to the 20 point plan and seeing a path forward for what's often called the Day after. Most importantly, the conflict hopefully will end with the ceasefire, the hostages will be returned, and then the very hard work of rebuilding Gaza, of finding the kind of security that Israel and the Palestinians after Hamas deserve to have, moving forward with the other points in the plan to try to create an opportunity for Palestinians to have a better life and for Israel to have greater peace and security. I am very hopeful that we'll be able to see progress. Today's a good start, but we have to keep going from here. You listen to Hillary Clinton there saying that, Senator, and this goes back to, I think what the world is admitting right now, this was something that never had a chance of happening under the Biden regime. Their administration, they weren't even close to this. What President Trump has been able to do, bringing people together, bringing the Arab world together, being able to iron out the points of this deal, I truly believe this. I think he's probably the only guy in the world that could have pulled this off the way he did as quickly as he did.
- [08:26]
Senator Ted Cruz
Look, undoubtedly, and I'll say a Sentence I've never before said in my life. Bravo, Hillary Clinton. Yeah, like I will give her credit for commending Donald Trump. She must have hated saying those words. It was the right thing to do. And I want to draw a contrast, because Hillary Clinton acknowledged the obvious, that this is historic, this is a massive step forward. And I want to contrast it to Barack Obama, because Barack Obama put out a statement. After two years of unimaginable loss and suffering for Israeli families and the people of Gaza, we should all be encouraged and relieved that an end of the conflict is within sight, that those hostages still being held will be reunited with their families, and that vital aid can start reaching those inside Gaza whose lives have been shattered. More than that, though, it now falls on Israelis and Palestinians, with the support of the US and the entire world community, to begin the hard task of rebuilding Gaza and to commit to a process that by recognizing the common humanity and basic rights of both peoples, can achieve lasting peace. Now, Ben, do you know what word is nowhere in Barack Obama's statement?
- [09:44]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah. The President of the United States of.
- [09:45]
Senator Ted Cruz
America, Donald Trump, the guy who negotiated the deal, the guy without whom there would be no such deal. And by the way, Hillary Clinton was Barack Obama's Secretary of State. So Hillary Clinton is demonstrating some class and Obama. This is one of the most classless statements I have ever seen. Because Obama cannot acknowledge that Trump accomplished something and accomplished something really powerful and meaningful and is a major step towards peace. And those are words I think Barack Obama is utterly unwilling to say.
- [10:22]
Ben Ferguson
You also gotta listen. And I wanna play this. This is Netanyahu talking as well about this deal getting done with Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the son in law of the President Donald Trump, and getting this deal done. They put together a statement and I want to play that for everybody as again, it's now being reported by virtually all the major news networks that the hostage release process has begun and is moving its way the way it's supposed to be choreographed. That is good news. We are seeing in Gaza now that there are multiple Red Cross vehicles that have moved into the area where they're going to do the handoff of these hostages. We're going to keep you updated on that, obviously, as it's happening as we're recording this. But I want you to hear what Netanyahu had to say as well, and those in Wyskov as well, and Jared Kushner. Take a listen.
- [11:07]
Senator Ted Cruz
We're at a momentous development in the last two years. We fought during these two years to achieve our War aims. The central one of these war aims is to return the hostages, all of the hostages, the living and the dead. And we're about to achieve that goal. We couldn't have achieved it without the extraordinary help of President Trump and his team. Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, they worked tirelessly with Ron and his team, our team, and that and the courage of our soldiers to enter Gaza and the combined military and diplomatic pressure that isolated Hamas, I think, has brought us to this point. I want to personally thank both of you. Steve, Jared, it's been long hours around the clock, but not only worked, I think you. You put in your brains and your hearts, and we know that it's for the benefit of Israel and the United States, for the benefit of decent people everywhere, and for the benefit of these families who will finally get to be with our loved ones. And I want to thank you on their behalf as well, and on behalf of the people of Israel. Thank you.
- [12:42]
Ben Ferguson
Obviously, bringing the hostages home is a.
- [12:45]
Senator Ted Cruz
It's been a priority for President, President.
- [12:47]
Ben Ferguson
Trump for a very, very long time, and we've all worked very tirelessly to do that.
- [12:53]
Senator Ted Cruz
But I really want to say that.
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Ben Ferguson
This all would not have been possible.
- [12:55]
Senator Ted Cruz
Without the bravery of the IDF and the soldiers.
- [12:59]
Ben Ferguson
What they've accomplished, not just in Gaza.
- [13:02]
Senator Ted Cruz
But also what they've done in the.
- [13:04]
Ben Ferguson
Theater over the last couple years to eliminate Hezbollah in the north and really degrade them.
- [13:09]
Senator Ted Cruz
What you were able to do in.
- [13:10]
Ben Ferguson
Iran, it really helped set a big tone, but particularly seeing the way that your citizen army, I know a lot of you, probably all of you have.
- [13:17]
Senator Ted Cruz
Family, friends who were in this effort.
- [13:20]
Ben Ferguson
Really put your sacrifices on the line to fight for your country and to.
- [13:24]
Senator Ted Cruz
Try and try to make a difference. I think that made a very, very big difference in there.
- [13:29]
Ben Ferguson
And I want to just give a very, very special thanks to Prime Minister Netanyahu, who really did an incredible job with this and did a great job at the negotiations. You held your lines firm. And I think that between you and President Trump, you had a lot of alignment on what the end state should be. The hard job was the Prime Minister's.
- [13:50]
Senator Ted Cruz
He had the job of protecting this country. He had the job of making tough.
- [13:54]
Ben Ferguson
Choices with regard to how tough to.
- [13:58]
Senator Ted Cruz
Be with Hamas, when to be flexible.
- [14:00]
Ben Ferguson
When not to be flexible. I think to myself all the time.
- [14:05]
Senator Ted Cruz
I lost sleep over it.
- [14:06]
Ben Ferguson
What would I have done in some of those circumstances? There were times that I thought we should be more flexible or your country.
- [14:14]
Senator Ted Cruz
Should be more flexible. But the truth is, as I look.
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Ben Ferguson
Back I don't think we get to this place without Prime Minister Netanyahu playing it. And I'm not just saying that.
- [14:30]
Senator Ted Cruz
They're not just words.
- [14:31]
Ben Ferguson
The president believes that.
- [14:32]
Senator Ted Cruz
My president believes that.
- [14:33]
Ben Ferguson
He believes that Prime Minister Netanyahu made some very, very difficult calls. And lesser people would not have made those calls. And here we are today because Hamas had to. They had to do this deal. The pressure was on them. They were backed up, and you've got the bigger army.
- [14:54]
Senator Ted Cruz
You were making inroads.
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Ben Ferguson
And that's what led to this deal. You can hear Wishkov, they're saying that's what led to this deal. And look, this was all about the presidential leadership and the President of the United States of America leading in a way that one else could.
- [15:09]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, and the contrast is really night and day to the previous administration. You know, you mentioned a minute ago you said that President Trump achieved something that Joe Biden could not have done. Well, I'll tell you someone who disagrees with that is Tony Blinken. And Tony Blinken, of course, was Biden's Secretary of State. And he put out a long Twitter statement on this. And here's where he said critically, he says it starts with a clear and comprehensive post conflict plan for Gaza. It's good that President Trump adopted and built on the plan the Biden administration developed after months of discussion with Arab partners, Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Like, what nonsense. It literally is Tony Blinken saying, well, this, this Trump peace deal, it's really the Biden peace deal.
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Ben Ferguson
Yeah.
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Senator Ted Cruz
And that's utter nonsense because Biden spent four years demonstrating weakness and appeasement to our enemies. That weakness and appeasement, I believe, is why October 7th happened. The $100 billion that Joe Biden, with Tony Blinken being a very active part of that, flowed $100 billion to the Ayatollah Khamenei in Iran. He provides 90% of the funding, 90% of the funding to Hamas, and 90% of the funding for Hezbollah. So in a very real sense, Joe Biden and Tony Blinken and Kamala Harris and the entire Biden administration funded the October 7th death squads because the hundred billion dollars they sent to Iran and they allowed to flow to Iran, much of that ended up directly in the hands of Hamas and Hezbollah, carrying out those mass murders. And so the idiocy to say, well, gosh, all Trump did was implement the Biden plan, it is gibberish. And look, the person who refuted that most directly was Hillary Clinton, where she gave credit. And look, we don't have this peace agreement without Trump's strength, let me tell you, this peace agreement doesn't happen, I believe, without President Trump ordering the bombing attack on Iran and taking out Iran's nuclear facilities, nuclear facilities where they were working to develop nuclear weapons to target the United States and to target our allies. And that act of strength combined with Israel's 12 Day War, where they decimated the Iranian military, air defenses, the senior leadership, the IRGC leadership, all of that, look, Hamas, Iran is Hamas's patron. And Iran is in a much, much weakened position because of President Trump's strength. That is a major, major reason this deal was reached today. And this deal, we are both hoping, we are praying that Hamas follows through and that within hours all of the hostages are released. If that happens, this will be an historic day, a day to celebrate and a day to say thank God for President Donald J. Trump.
- [18:12]
Ben Ferguson
So over the last several weeks, you've heard me talk with Josh Sherrard from Burna. He's been telling stories of how people just like you have used their burner launcher to protect them and their families. Now, Burn is a handheld pistol that fires both kinetic rounds and chemical irritants to separate you from an attacker. And it can be life saving. Josh is back with me today to tell another story about how a former professional race car driver saved his family from an attack outside the garage of their own home. Josh, tell me about this. Yeah, it just happened actually, not too long ago in Santa Monica, just two blocks from the beach. So former pro race car driver Court Wagner was pulling into his garage with his family in the car when he was confronted by a man hiding in the alley after trying to talk him into leaving. It was obviously not going to work. The man lunged at court with a sharp object, trying to attack him with his wife and child only steps away. He grabbed his burner launcher that he kept in the glove box of his car and fired five rounds, striking the attacker several times. The suspect fled immediately. It worked and court called the police and gave them the description of the assailant. Now, police were able to locate someone that somewhat matched the description in the area, but not quite exactly. And it wasn't until officers lifted the suspect shirt and saw the multiple welts from the Verna launcher that they knew they had the right guy and subsequently arrested him. It really is incredible. And I get this question now often when I'm out, and that is okay, tell me about how a launcher works and they worry about, or they wonder about the stopping power of less lethal weapons. I've used it, it's amazing. I have it in all of my cars right now because I want to have this option.
- [19:54]
Senator Ted Cruz
Yeah, absolutely.
- [19:55]
Ben Ferguson
You know, the stopping power is great. No matter if you're using our kinetic rounds or even the chemical agent rounds that obviously have the gas in them, the tear gas, the pepper spray that's going to incapacitate them. I mean, this is a great case of how some resistance, enough resistance obviously to cause these wells, immediately stopped the situation and was able to provide that safety for Cort and his family. It really is incredible. If you want more information on what I carry and how you and your family members can protect themselves with a burn a launcher, whether it is for a daughter or for a family member or a grandparent, go to Burna b y r N a dot com. That's Burna b y r n a dot com again, burna dot com right now. Let's go back to something. And I do think one of the very interesting historic moments as we go back and look at this weeks and years and months from now is going to be Donald Trump not flinching on going after the Iran nuclear sites. When you look at that moment and you see how quickly we now got to where we are when it comes to this deal being done, how much of the psyche you think of Hamas and realizing what they were dealing with with President Trump changed after he actually went after those nuclear sites.
- [21:13]
Senator Ted Cruz
I think it was fundamental. And this is where the appeasement crowd gets it wrong. They think that being weak to our enemies avoids war. They'll say all the time, quite piously, oh, we hate war. And this is true of left wing Democrats. But I'll tell you, within the Trump administration, there was a major debate about whether to launch that bombing run on Iran. And there were major voices that were vocal saying, do not launch that bombing raid. I was urging the president take out those nuclear facilities. It makes America safer. And I think that decision, it's the single most important national security decision President Trump has made this second term. And that decision demonstrated, number one, it weakened Iran, which is Hamas's patron and funder. Yep. But number two, it demonstrates to Hamas, okay, this president's not gonna flinch. He's not gonna give in. He's not weak. He's not gonna ro over when we try to roar. And I think without that, you don't have a peace deal as long as they believe. Look, Joe Biden, what was he doing? He was freezing weapons to Israel, blocking the IDF from getting weapons. And I'll tell you what that did that Encouraged Hamas. That said, okay, great, we've got a friend. We've got a friend in the White House. And by the way, you and I talk about this.
- [22:37]
Ben Ferguson
Joe Biden was harder on Israel. We talked about this. Joe Biden was harder on Israel many days than he was on Hamas, the terrorists.
- [22:43]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, you'll recall the podcast we did several months ago, and it was right after I sat down and spent about two hours with Prime Minister Netanyahu when he was in Washington, D.C. and one of the things he told me in that meeting is that when they launched the pager attack on Hezbollah, you remember that? It's one of the most incredible military and intelligence actions.
- [23:05]
Ben Ferguson
By the way, I still can't wait for the movie to come out. Can we all agree on that? It's gonna be unbelievable.
- [23:10]
Senator Ted Cruz
It would make an incredible movie. And actually, if you had written that, that is a movie, it would be rejected as a movie script. People would say, this is too fantastical. There's no way this would happen. This is a bad Jason Bourne movie. It's just not realistic. And you look at what Israel did years earlier, creating a shell company in Hong Kong, making the pagers, selling them to Hezbollah. Hezbollah sends them to the terrorists. But one of the things you and I talked about on this podcast is the government of Israel, when they decided, okay, we're going to detonate those pagers and take out the Hezbollah terrorists, they did not tell the Biden White House. And the reason they didn't tell the Biden White House is they were afraid if they told the Biden White House, they'd pick up the phone and warn Hezbollah. Yeah, that says, you know what? You don't get peace when the American president, when the American White House is going to warn the terrorist, hey, your. Your pagers are going to. About to blow up. So. So they notified the Biden White House as they were detonating the pagers. Hey, by the way, we just blew up a bunch of Hezbollah terrorists. And that President Trump saying, we stand with Israel, period, the end is a major, major reason we get to this moment to celebrate the peace deal, to celebrate the ceasefire, but to do so from a position of strength.
- [24:33]
Ben Ferguson
Let's talk about. There's been a lot of criticism of the exchange for these terrorists, prisoners, murderers, that Israel is going to release and saying that was a capitulation and a bad decision by Israel. I understand that Israel did not want to do this, but they also understood that to get this deal done, there had to be some movement here. I want to get your take and your thoughts on that? For people that are just wanting to criticize this deal and try to find something wrong with it, there's a perfect case scenario and then there's reality. This was part of the reality to get this done, to save the 20 that we believe are still alive at this moment.
- [25:08]
Senator Ted Cruz
Yeah, look, negotiations for the release of hostages are always difficult. They raise incredibly challenging issues and questions. I've spent a long time in the Senate. I've made it a real passion of mine to fight for Americans who are detained abroad and to fight for people like Mark Sweden. Mark Sweden was a Texan.
- [25:29]
Ben Ferguson
By the way, I want to interrupt you. We're just getting word now. Hamas has officially just handed over the hostages to the Red Cross. That is coming from multiple news agencies. The Hamas hands over the hostages to the Red Cross. Apparently it has officially just happened as we're recording this at 1:28am Eastern Standard Time in the morning.
- [25:51]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, that is phenomenal. That is great news. We should all say a prayer and thank God that this is an important and historic day. And you know what I was saying a minute ago that you were asking about? In any hostage negotiation, there are often difficult trade offs and they're agonizing trade offs. And I've tried. Mark Sweden, as I mentioned, was wrongfully imprisoned in Communist China for more than a decade. And I repeatedly pressed the Chinese Communist government, pressed the Biden administration, and we finally got him released and he's back with his mom in Texas. And that's a phenomenal thing. But those trade offs are difficult. And so I'm not going to second guess the decisions President Trump made and Prime Minister Netanyahu made in terms of the specific negotiations to get the hostages released. Hamas remains incredibly dangerous. They are terrorists. Their objective is to murder as many Israelis as they can. But today's a victory. It's a victory for peace, it's a victory for Israel, it's a victory for President Trump. And all of that is really good.
- [27:09]
Ben Ferguson
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- [28:35]
Senator Ted Cruz
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- [30:07]
Ben Ferguson
The stories making the news headlines across the world.
- [30:10]
Senator Ted Cruz
The News Agents we're not just here to tell you what's happening, but why? From me, Emily Maitlis and me, John Sopel with Global's award winning podcast the News Agents Dropping Daily covering everything you need to know about politics and current.
- [30:23]
Ben Ferguson
Affairs and The News Agents USA listening.
- [30:26]
Senator Ted Cruz
To the News Agents on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Open your free iHeart app and search the newsagents to start listening. We don't give a damn about fashion. We're public rec the cheat code for guys who want to look just good enough.
- [30:41]
Ben Ferguson
Lightweight, breathable classics made for fall and 30% off now during our friends and family sale. 40% off with email shop comfortable classics, no BS@PublicWrec.com radio bu never change. What are your thoughts on President Trump traveling to Israel and also going to address the people he's going to meet with the hostages? There are some that have said in the media that this seems to be grandstanding. I think that's pretty absurd. I think when you're doing a deal, you showing up also probably puts more pressure on Hamas to do what they said they're going to do when you're there. I actually think this is part of the strategy. Like, hey, if we get on Air Force One and we're over there and we're landing, this is gonna make it harder for them to pull out. We now are seeing the breaking news of hostages and the Red Cross care as releases are underway. That's one of the other headlines I'm witnessing as we were talking about this. Having Donald Trump fly there had to put more pressure on them to do what they said they were going to do and help almost guarantee or secure or have a better chance of those hostages being released. I don't think it's grandstanding. I think it was a smart move of diplomacy when you're dealing with a terrorist organization.
- [31:46]
Senator Ted Cruz
Unquestionably, number one, I think President Trump deeply wanted to be there to celebrate, to celebrate their release, to celebrate this groundbreaking victory. But number two, in terms of negotiating, President Trump and his entire team, they know there is a very real chance that Hamas reneges on the deal that Hamas has broken deal after deal after deal. Anyone who is paying the tiniest bit of attention knows that Hamas is not trustworthy. The fact that the president of the United States gets on Air Force One and flies to Israel to be there to say, okay, you've said you're going to release the hostages, I'm going to be there to welcome them. That ratcheted up the pressure enormously. When he got on Air Force One, he didn't know. He knew there was a chance that when he landed, Hamas would have said, never mind, we're not going to release him, because they've done that over and over and over again. But I'll Tell you this, Hamas knew that President Trump would be unbelievably pissed.
- [32:43]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah.
- [32:43]
Senator Ted Cruz
If that were the case. And that's. It goes back to the doctrine of peace through strength that his being there makes clear. Look, guys, I'm not messing around. We've cut a deal. I expect you to stick to the deal. And I think ratcheting up that pressure, even dealing with people who are not rational actors like Hamas terrorists, they saw, I think, real downsides. If we break this deal, the consequences would be even more devastating. And I think his being there increased the likelihood of the hostages actually being released dramatically.
- [33:25]
Ben Ferguson
By the way, we're getting word now from Israeli sources. You and I really get to do actual breaking news recording. Israeli sources are now saying the first seven hostages have been released to the Red Cross. So that means they are in. In the hands of people that are caring for them, loving on them. But again, Israeli sources are saying the first seven hostages have been released. Red Cross, there's 20 total. So the first seven. And part of this is they're going to wait for the prisoners. And I'm assuming now, based on what I've been told on this, to be released a certain set of the prisoners that are being released by Israel, then the next hostages. And it will come in waves. But this is a certainly an incredible moment for not just Israel, but for all of the family members that are hoping to get their loved ones back. But the first seven hotchas have been released to the Red Cross. This is incredible.
- [34:13]
Senator Ted Cruz
It is incredible. And I'll give credit to President Trump and to his entire team. And, you know, it's striking. We also saw this week that the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded, and in any sane world, it would have been given to Donald Trump. I mean, that actually was not a difficult decision. If you're actually asking in the past year who has done the most to advance peace, it's not a close call. But the Nobel Prize are a bunch of Norwegians and they're European liberals and they hate, hate, hate Donald Trump. So instead, they gave it to Maria Corina Machado, who is the leading opposition figure in Venezuela, standing up to Nicolas Maduro. And I will say Machado is an extraordinary person. I have met with her in person, visited with her. She has demonstrated remarkable courage fighting the tyranny of Maduro. But at the end of the day, it wasn't even close that this should have gone to Trump. And by the way, again, if you don't believe me, then maybe you should believe Machado, because Machado called President Trump. And here's what President Trump said. He said, quote, the person who actually got the Nobel Prize called today, called me and said, I'm accepting this in honor of you because you really deserved it. And by the way, she went and then said that publicly as well. So she not only said that to President Trump, but she said that publicly. Now, that was very smart of Machado. That was a very smart thing to do. But it also, at this point, it just. It's the Nobel Committee being petty liberals. And by the way, these are the same knuckleheads that gave the Nobel Peace Prize to Barack Obama when he was first elected, when he'd literally done nothing. He'd walked in, been sworn into office, and they handed him the Nobel Peace Prize for simply not being George W. Bush. He won the Nobel Peace Prize for existing and being the Democrat who succeeded Bush. Trump, look, he could cure cancer. And the Nobel Prize is not going to recognize anything because they hate, hate, hate him. But this is an historic achievement, and it is something that everyone should celebrate.
- [36:39]
Ben Ferguson
So many people that are listening to verdict, they're going to get to not only, I think, hear from probably leadership in Israel in the next several hours, it's certainly going to happen in the morning or midday. You're also going to be able to hear from the President of the United States of America. What do you expect his message to be? And this is, by the way, all happening right now while the federal government is still shut down in the US And I want to get your take on that in a moment. But what do you expect to hear from the president today?
- [37:07]
Senator Ted Cruz
Look, I think the president is going to say, this is an historic day. This peace agreement is a moment of history that ended a war that has extended for two years, that freed people who have been in captivity for two years, subject to horrific treatment. And I think he's going to say, I expect the parties to stick to the terms of the agreement. I think he is going to continue with peace through strength. He's going to continue with the opposite of weakness and appeasement, because we don't get to this peace agreement without President Trump's strength. And then this is one thing to remember. There are some observers who want to say that Donald Trump is an isolationist. He has never been an isolationist. Yeah, he is. Look, the first term that Trump was in office, when he came into office, he inherited an ISIS caliphate that had grown under Barack Obama. That was the size of the state of Indiana. They had an entire nation state to wage terror against America. And Donald Trump utterly decimated and destroyed it. Within months, the caliphate was gone. He completely defeated them. He also took out General Soleimani, who took out Al Baghdadi. Those are not the actions of an isolationist. You look at the second term where he's been bombing the living daylights out of the Houthis who are attacking ships going through the Suez Canal. He is bombing the heck out of narco terrorists off the coast of Venezuela. And by the way, Machado was smart to say he deserved it because, look, her efforts fighting Maduro are very important and they're courageous. But President Trump's strength is the single factor that makes it most likely that the Maduro regime will be toppled. And so President Trump taking out those narco terrorists is another example of peace through strength. And finally, the Iran bombing run, taking out their nuclear facilities, none of those are the acts of an isolationist. Now, to be clear, President Trump is also not an interventionist. He's not invading foreign countries. I don't expect to see the Marines engaged in invading other countries other than to protect the vital security interest of America, to keep America safe. The only instance in which we would see a ground war is where there was a direct danger to the lives of Americans. And in those instances, President Trump is willing to use military force, but he's not engaged in this broader endeavor to send in our military to try to turn every country in the world into some utopian democracy. That's not the job of the military. Donald Trump doesn't think it's the job of the military. And the result? Strength is the best way to avoid war. Our enemies are afraid of Donald Trump. That is a very good thing. Hamas is afraid of Donald Trump. Hezbollah is afraid of Donald Trump. Iran is afraid of Donald Trump. Maduro is afraid of Donald Trump. China and Russia are afraid of Donald Trump. All of that is good because America is safer. We are much more likely to avoid military conflict when our enemies are afraid of the commander in chief than when our enemies. You look at Joe Biden when they look and say the commander in chief is weak and completely incapacitated. And that is why we went from no wars across the globe to two wars, Ukraine and Gaza, both raging under Joe Biden. That's what happens when you have a weak and appeasing president.
- [40:58]
Ben Ferguson
Yeah, no doubt about it. Again, this is breaking. As we continue, Israeli sources are now saying the first seven living hostages have been released to the Red Cross in Tel Aviv. Right now, we are witnessing celebration in the streets. We are seeing this in Jerusalem as well. The Videos are starting to come in. Is basically 8:40am in Israel right now. We're seeing people line the streets of the highway right now and ram Israel as well. And this is just some of that excitement after two plus years of these people that were taken on that October 7th attack day. We're going to keep monitoring this obviously until we wrap up. But I do want to get you an update for everyone on the government shutdown here in the US we are into two weeks now of this government shutdown. We are starting to see it affect people's lives. We're seeing health care issues with those. For example, in San Antonio, I was there today talking about there's a lot of people there that are saying that the providers are not able to get the money and the funding they need. Doctors are frustrated. The Schumer shutdown is really starting to hurt people in our military, their kids, those with special needs as well. Your reaction, how much longer this is going to continue and do you see any movement this week?
- [42:11]
Senator Ted Cruz
Well, we're right now in day 12 of the Schumer shutdown and the government is shut down because over and over and over again the Democrats are voting to shut the government down. And I will say, you know, it's actually interesting Today on Twitter, 53 Republicans was trending. And the reason it was trending was an exchange back and forth that I had with Gavin Newsom on the shutdown. So Gavin Newsom tweeted out, wow, that is wild. I wonder who has control of the White House, Senate and the House. And this is one of the Democrat talking points as well. This is, this is the Republicans fault because. Because the President and the Senate and House are all in Republican control. Here's what I responded on X. I said, Gavin is deliberately lying to fund the government. Takes 60 votes in the Senate. There are only 53 Republicans. We need at least seven Democrats. We keep voting to open the government. Dems keep voting to shut it down. Gavin Newsom knows this and he's lying to you. And as of right now, that's had 1.7 million views. It was trending on Twitter. And it's the simple fact we cannot pass funding for the government without 60 votes in the Senate. That means there is nothing Republicans can do to fund this on our own. The Democrats all know this. We have voted, I think eight times now. The Republicans have voted to open the government to fund the government and every Democrat, but I think three have voted no. And that's why we have a shutdown now. We're all expected to go back to D.C. on Tuesday of this week and we'll vote again to fund the government. I voted to fund the government now over and over and over again. I'll vote again on Tuesday to fund the government. And I think it is very likely right now the Democrats will continue the Schumer shutdown. Wow. And I'll tell you what I think is one of the major reasons is coming up on October 17th, there is this big rally in D.C. the no Kings rally, where a bunch of the left wing radicals are coming to D.C. and you know what most of my colleagues believe is the Democrat senators are terrified of opening the government before that rally because they don't want their crazy base, the same base that almost cost Schumer his job last time. They don't want their crazy base to get angry. And so I, I think most of us.
- [44:47]
Ben Ferguson
So you're, you're telling me, the American people right now, that there's a very good chance that the government shutdown will continue because of a rally date.
- [44:55]
Senator Ted Cruz
Yep.
- [44:56]
Ben Ferguson
And that date again is what?
- [44:58]
Senator Ted Cruz
October 17th.
- [44:59]
Ben Ferguson
Okay, so we. So the 14th. 14th. Okay, so we got another five, six days of this just to get to the rally, and then maybe we'll actually do their job and like, fund the government.
- [45:10]
Senator Ted Cruz
Look, at some point they're going to do their job and fund the government. But, you know, a bunch of federal employees are about to miss their first paycheck. I'll tell you, ordinarily, soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines would lose their first paycheck as well. The Trump Department of War has said they're going to move some funds around and pay our servicemen and women. And Democrats are furious. How dare you. Find a way. Look, I don't know if they can do it because it is not easy with the funding paused. But the Democrats don't care. And I'll tell you, one of the great acts of hypocrisy is the Democrat congressmen are all paying themselves, or most of them, maybe. I don't know about all, but. So under the 28th Amendment to the Constitution, the compensation of a member of Congress cannot be reduced during your term of office, which means during a shutdown, House members and senators get paid no matter what, even though everyone else their paychecks stop. Elected members of Congress get their paycheck. Now you can say no. So I sent a letter to the secretary of the Senate saying, please hold my paycheck. Do not pay me. I do not want that money deposited in my account until the government shutdown ends, until our service members are being paid. I'm not gonna pay myself. But you look at these Democrats who are happily shutting the government down. They're also taking their own paycheck and saying, gosh, I like being paid. And you know, they are not troubled at all if some young corporal serving overseas suddenly doesn't get his paycheck and can't pay his bills this week.
- [46:47]
Ben Ferguson
That's incredible. As we wrap this up at 1:47am Eastern Standard Time, the latest news we have, and this is good news, Israeli sources are saying the first seven living hostages have been released to Red Cross. We're obviously waiting on the other 13 and that hopefully by the time you get to hear this in the morning, on your commute or in the afternoon, they've all been released. But this is certainly a good day and we'll have a lot more on this, I can promise on Wednesday morning.
- [47:15]
Senator Ted Cruz
As opposed to Ben, let me say this, let me say this. Finally, number one, congratulations to President Trump and his team. Congratulations to Prime Minister Netanyahu and his big team. Congratulations to the people of Israel who are celebrating right now and rightly celebrating. And I just want to say, praise God. God is good all of the time.
- [47:35]
Ben Ferguson
Amen. We'll be back with you on Wednesday morning. Make sure you share this episode wherever you can on social media and grab my podcast as well, the Ben Ferguson Podcast. I'll keep you updated on the breaking news on Tuesday as well as you get ready for us again on Wednesday morning. We'll see you back then. Real soon, Take a deep dive into the stories making the news headlines across the world.
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Senator Ted Cruz
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Ben Ferguson
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Senator Ted Cruz
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