Loading summary
Transcript27 lines
- [00:00]
Ted Cruz
Welcome. It is verdict with Senator Ted Cruz. This is obviously one of those shows that neither of us wanted to do, but it's an important one to get you information about what has happened and this horrific terrorist attack in New Orleans and also what looks to be some sort of attack in Las Vegas outside of the Trump Hotel there. Senator, this has a connection obviously to Texas. Many of us were celebrating New Year's Eve. You were down at Mar a Lago, I was with my family at the beach. And then we see and wake up to this news breaking. And I want to timestamp this for people to understand when we're recording this. We're recording this at 9:30 Eastern Time on Wednesday. So much of this may change. So I just want you to know when we started this, but I want to get your initial reaction to what we've witnessed.
- [00:50]
Unnamed Co-Host
Well, we're less than 24 hours out from the United States once again seeing a significant terrorist attack on US soil at 3:15 in the morning New Year's Day. 42 year old Shamsad Din Bahar Jabbar, who is a US citizen, a Texas resident, he drove a white pickup truck into people celebrating on Bourbon Street. Jabbar was born in Beaumont, Texas. He resides in Houston, your hometown and my hometown. And he was an army veteran. As we talk today, 15 people have been killed and several dozen more have been injured. And I will say, as is the nature of any fast breaking crisis and fast breaking news story, the news that is available is rapidly moving. It is changing. So we're going to talk about what's happening, what we know now, but with the caveat that we can fully expect the information we know on this to change and very possibly change significantly in the days and weeks to come. We're less than 24 hours out from this attack, but what we know now is deeply, deeply disturbing. It has been reported that this army veteran drove the pickup truck deliberately into a crowd of revelers with the intent of of killing and harming as many people as possible. It's also been reported that the pickup truck was flying an ISIS flag and that Jabbar was inspired by isis. Simultaneously, we have a Tesla cybertruck that exploded in front of the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas, killing one, injuring several. The one who was killed was the driver. It is not confirmed that those two are linked, but both occurred early in the morning on New Year's Day. And America is now dealing with the aftermath of one or potentially two terrorist attacks. Finding out who's responsible, finding out if additional actors were responsible. There have been multiple reports of additional individuals potentially placing IEDs. And at this point, the entire country is reeling from this attack.
- [03:23]
Ted Cruz
It is really sad. And this goes back to the bigger concern that we've worried about on the show and talked about. And it's something that I think so many Americans felt. You had a wide open southern border. You had a lot of people that have been able to come across the southern border that were caught, that were on the terrorist watch list. You have law enforcement that I think it's pretty fair to say is stretched extremely thin when you're having to deal with a wide open southern border. And what is coming across that southern border. And this individual being an American citizen and being a Texan, as you described it, the real problem can be that we are stretched so thin with so many possibilities out there that this is one of those examples of when we've had this open door policy. Law enforcement is doing maybe in many cases the best they can and they just don't have the time or the resources they need to focus in on these types of threats.
- [04:21]
Unnamed Co-Host
Well, that is tragically correct. And on this podcast, we have been predicting for months now that the odds of a major terrorist attack in the United States were higher than they have been at any time since September 11th. And unfortunately, this morning's tragic events confirms that. Now, in this instance, the facts are still coming out. What we know about Jabbar, according to the Army Liaison's office and what he is told, what they have released, he served in the army from 2006 to 2020, including approximately nine years of active duty service. He held specialties in HR and IT. He was born in Beaumont, Texas. He deployed in Afghanistan from 2009 to 2010. He was in the Army Reserve from 2015 to 2020. And he was discharged in 2020 with an honorable discharge for unsatisfactory participation. That much we know. We also know that in his truck were found explosive devices. Explosive devices including two pipe bombs that were concealed within coolers and wired for remote detonation. That's according to the Louisiana State Police. And the pickup truck, the pickup truck, its. Its origin. There has been conflicting reporting on it. So earlier today it was reported that the truck used in the New Orleans attack came through the southern border. The Daily Wire reported that early today, Fox News reported that the truck entered the US Two days ago. But then they then updated their story to report that the truck crossed the southern border on November 16. So November 16, a month and a half ago, apparently the truck crossed the southern border. It has also now been reported that the truck in New Orleans was rented using the Turo app. The Turo app is a peer to peer app and one of the strange details that has been reported is that both the truck in New Orleans and the cyber truck in Los Angeles, Las Vegas rather, were both rented using the Turo app. That that may simply be a coincidence. It may be something more. But, but what has been reported, the New York Times is reporting that both were were rented using, using Turo. Turo itself put out a statement that said that it was, quote, actively partnering with law enforcement authorities as they investigate both incidents. They also said, quote, we do not believe that either Renner involved in the Las Vegas or New Orleans attacks had a criminal background that would have identified them as a security threat threat. It's not clear as we sit here today the full details of that. But, but, but that those are the breaking details as of 9:41pm I want.
- [07:41]
Ted Cruz
To go back to a headline real quick and then I also want to play for everybody what Joe Biden said. But this was a headline that you and I talked about and warned about. And it was from the New York Post, October 23rd of 2024, and it said border agents caught 300 migrants with terrorist ties, including ISIS, and it's still incredibly easy for them to enter the U.S. this report came out October 23rd. So we're talking a couple of months ago. And you and I. And that's when you really talked about you felt like there was a real chance that something like this could happen because of the idea that we have so many resources spread all over the place. When you look ahead to January 20th and Donald Trump coming in, does this now clearly become a top priority on the issue of border security? Because it's a national security issue very much. And getting back to doing the way that we used to deal with, whether it was domestic or homegrown or foreign terrorism, 100%.
- [08:49]
Unnamed Co-Host
One of the things that is maddening is even to this day, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and the Democrats refused to secure the border. Just a few weeks ago, the Democrats held a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee on the horrors of mass deportations. Not on the need to secure the border, but on how terrible it was that Trump is going to enforce the law. The border will be secured. We are three weeks away from an administration coming in that is going to be, I believe, absolutely serious and incredibly effective securing the border. But every day that border is open, Americans are at greater risk and we're at risk Number one, from terrorists crossing the southern border. But number two, we're at risk from law enforcement, the FBI, the federal government, focusing on every other policy and agenda item other than keeping the American people safe. You know, I have to say, one of the things that was dismaying is the FBI right after this happened in New Orleans, they went out and publicly said this was not a terrorist attack. The New Orleans police disagreed with that statement. The FBI has since gone on to say they are investigating it as terrorism. But I got to say, when a truck drives into a crowd waving an ISIS flag, I don't know what the hell you call it. Other than terrorism.
- [10:11]
Ted Cruz
Yeah. And that, I think, is one of the things that's so frustrating. And that moves us also to what we witnessed today with the closed circuit TV footage of this cybertruck that exploded in front of Trump Tower, killing that driver. We're now being told by authorities there that they said the driver of the electric vehicle parked in the Valley area outside the hotel's lobby before it exploded into flames there. We've gotten a tweet from Elon Musk saying that this was not, in fact, the batteries or a malfunction of the car that so many immediately wanted to blame. This was a Tesla accident that just happened to happen the same day as this other attack at the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. They've now said definitively in law enforcement, this was not any type of battery issue or a malfunction. This was clearly done deliberately. And thank goodness no one besides that driver, from what we understand, died. There were seven that were injured there. And this is now being treated apparently, as a other terrorist activity attack in Las Vegas as well.
- [11:15]
Unnamed Co-Host
Well, that. That's right. And. And the details there that. That there's one fatality from the Las Vegas expl. Was the driver himself. The driver in New Orleans is also dead from a shootout with the police as soon as it happened. The mayor of New Orleans, latoya Cantrell, publicly described as a terrorist attack. The police chief stated the driver's actions were intentional. This was not a DUI situation. According to the chief, the driver was, quote, hell bent on creating carnage. And yet, as I mentioned, the FBI spokesperson countered the mayor's claim, moments later, stating it was, quote, not a terrorist event. Here. Give a listen.
- [11:55]
New Orleans Police Chief
This is not a terrorist event. What it is right now is their improvised explosive devices that was found. And we are working on confirming if this is a viable device or not. As Chief Kirkpatrick said, we're asking everyone to stay away from Bourbon street, specifically From Canal street to St. Ann. That is my ask. Once again, stay away from Bourbon Street, Canal street, all the way to St. Ann until we can figure out what is going on, our goal is provide you additional information at the 11am press conference. Thank you so much. And we will be in touch.
- [12:33]
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell
Yes, I will say that we want our community and our visitors to continue enjoying. There's so much to enjoy about New Orleans, and we are going to make sure that our routes in the Superdome are safe today for the game. And yet we, we had this tragic event and we're sorry again to everyone in our community, but we do want you to go about the day. As we say, just stay away from Bourbon.
- [13:05]
Ted Cruz
There's two parts of that center that I think are the most frustrating for many people that are listening. One, the out of touch with reality. And you want to have faith in law enforcement, but to come out and in such a hardcore way. So this is not a terrorist attack, not being treated like a terrorist. And people are like, what's wrong with you? And the part that also went viral after that was a tweet that came out from the FBI New Orleans. And it was them having holding this summer a diversity agent recruitment event. And we want to meet you. This was DEI on full display. We want diversity and equity, inclusion. And people say this statement and then that tweet, and they say, what is happening at the FBI?
- [13:52]
Unnamed Co-Host
Well, the FBI has in far too many instances not kept their eye on the ball. And that is one of the reasons that Donald Trump is coming into office with an agenda of fundamentally reforming the Department of Justice. And the FBI, getting it back, focused on its core mission, ending the weaponization, ending the politicization. And its core mission includes preventing acts of terrorism. Now, in this instance, the terrorist in New Orleans was an American citizen. So he did not cross the border illegally, although apparently his truck did. The truck he used crossed the border six weeks ago. However, we don't know the story of how he was radicalized. Someone who was an army veteran who served for many years, who became a self described proponent of isis. That is something gone profoundly wrong. And it reminds me of Nadal Hasan Nidal Hassan, you'll Recall, who murdered 14 innocent souls at Fort Hood. He was active duty military and he became radicalized. And during the Obama administration, that they knew that he was communicating with the radical Islamic cleric Anwar Al Awlaki and asking about the permissibility of waging jihad on his fellow soldiers. And infuriatingly enough, the Obama Pentagon, they had those communications with Anwar Al Awlaki. And they did nothing to stop Nadal Hassan from committing that mass murder. They sat on that information. And we don't know if there's any of that. We have no indication that there's any of that information now. But I will say we're dealing with another individual who is a soldier who apparently became radicalized. And I think there's a real need for transparency to figure out what happened. And I want to play my colleague, John Kennedy, Senator John Kennedy, a good friend of mine, he's down in New Orleans now. I want to play what he had to say because I very much agree with what he expressed on the ground today.
- [16:02]
Senator John Kennedy
I want to hear from anybody in the federal government that they don't have the resources now. The White House, the FBI, Justice, Homeland Security are in charge now. We're cooperating with them. I want to give them a reasonable period of time. There's a lot of information out there. Some of it is actually true. I want to give them a reasonable period of time. But they need to saddle up and ride. We need to find out what happened here, and it's not going to be covered up. We're going to tell the American people exactly what happened. I'm not interested in placing blame or saying who was right or wrong. I just want to catch these sons of bitches who did this.
- [16:43]
Ted Cruz
Senator, I think that the sentiment that many are feeling is exactly the way it was described by your colleague there, the Senator from Louisiana.
- [16:52]
Unnamed Co-Host
Well, Kennedy's absolutely right. And look, the priority, number one, needs to be keeping people safe. Number two needs to be catching anyone else involved in this. Were there other conspirators? Was this a broader plot? Number three needs to be transparency, figuring out how did this come to pass, why was this not prevented? Why did nobody sound the alarm that this guy was dangerous, that this guy was affiliating with isis, that this guy was looking to commit murder. All of those are questions that come out. And I said, number one, though, is keeping people safe. You know, one of the frustrating things about this attack in New Orleans is that there were steel barricades on Bourbon street that were installed in 2017. And they were installed to prevent terrorist attacks in the area. And had the barricades been up, they clearly would have minimized the carnage. This morning, unfortunately, the barricades were down. The police chief said the barricades were in the process of being replaced. And I will say that is tragic. And look, we've got bowl games. They delayed the Sugar bowl for a day, but we've got football games across the country. We've got all sorts of events across the country. We've got the inauguration on January 20th. And one of the very important football front and center needs to be keeping people safe and preventing another terrorist attack. Just because one happened doesn't mean we're not at risk of another one happening. And that's why we need to be vigilant. Number one, keeping people safe. But number two, tracking down everyone involved in these horrible atrocities and then having full transparency and doing everything we can to remove and to apprehend potential ISIS terrorists before they take more lives.
- [18:45]
Ted Cruz
Can we just talk for a moment about incompetency here? Because that's what everybody is thinking that I think is listening right now. The majority are. I certainly am. And when I talk about incompetency, you just mentioned it. It is New Year's Eve, Senator, and this is when I get angry. It's New Year's Eve. You have a Sugar bowl game that you've known about for a long time and New Year's Eve, and you don't have the barriers up that you know you need to keep people safe because you say that you're getting them ready for the Super Bowl. Why wouldn't you have them ready for New Year's Eve until the Super Bowl? Why is it that it seems like every time we give government the funding to do things like this and to protect people, there's some excuse, And I go back to incompetency on it. On what we talked about just a few days ago, you look at the Biden administration and the plea deal they gave to the mastermind of 9 11, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. What message does that send to terrorists around the world? That we will spare your life. We will not take your life, even if you're the mastermind. 9 11, you combine these types of things, and I think there's many Americans right now, and I say this with frustration on behalf of many Americans that feel like they are not being protected by this administration the way they should be. And we're sending the wrong signals to the terrorists at the same time.
- [20:07]
Unnamed Co-Host
Well, we've had four years of an open door, red carpet invitation for terrorists to come across our southern border. That has made us much, much less safe. We have also had law enforcement, including the FBI, focused on political and partisan agendas instead of focusing on the bad guys. Stopping the bad guys before they commit crimes like this. We will find out what information there was that could have been used to prevent this attack. We need to find that out and even if the Biden administration refuses to make it public and to be transparent, I have significant confidence that the incoming Trump administration will make that information public. And I gotta say, look, for everyone who lost, for the 15 people murdered this morning, for the families of them, for the three dozen people who were wounded, some very grievously wounded, I am sure they are feeling a level of frustration and anger. They're feeling frustration with the city. Why weren't those barricades up? The barricades should have been up. They were put in in 2017. This risk was known. New Year's Eve, it's not like that's a surprising time for someone seeking to do something horrible to target people. The eve of the Sugar bowl, that.
- [21:24]
Ted Cruz
Was another square is a great example of that.
- [21:26]
Unnamed Co-Host
Yeah. And listen, one of the real dangers of terrorism, you can have a big elaborate plot of a dirty bomb or attacking a nuclear reactor or something, but some of the most frightening terrorism, and sadly some of the most effective terrorism, is very low tech. It is driving a truck into a crowd. It is walking into a shopping mall wearing a suicide vest. It is. You know, I was living in DC 20 some odd years ago when the DC sniper was there, and that was two guys who drilled a hole in the trunk of their car, drove around D.C. parked and sat there with a rifle and just shot people. And I'll tell you, the entire city was terrified, was on edge, and there was no high tech involved in it. And that vulnerability is very real, which is why we need a proactive FBI. We need law enforcement that is focusing on the bad guys and not on every political agenda. That might be the latest fashionable priority.
- [22:34]
Ted Cruz
I want to wrap up with letting the country hear Joe Biden. He did address the nation From Camp David, 7:00 on New Year's Day, as we are recording this, about two hours after that. And this is what Joe Biden had to say, part of it, at least, about this attack. Take a listen. I want to get your reaction.
- [22:56]
Joe Biden
Texas. He served in the United States army on active duty for many years. He also served in the Army Reserve until a few years ago. The FBI also reported to me that mere hours before the attack, he posted videos on social media indicating that it was inspired by ISIS expressing a desire to kill. Desire to kill. The ISIS flag was found in his vehicle, which he rented to conduct this attack. Possible explosives were found in the vehicle as well, and more explosives were found nearby. The situation is very fluid and the investigation has a preliminary stage. And the fact is that right now, Excuse Me. There you go. The law enforcement intelligence community are continuing to look for any connections, associations, or co conspirators. We have nothing additional report at this time. The investigation is continuing to be active and no one should jump to conclusions. I've directed my Attorney General, the FBI Director, the Secretary of Homeland Security, head of the National Counterintelligence Terrorism center, and the intelligence community to work on this intensively until we have a full and complete information. And once we have that information, I will share that information as soon as we can confirm it. Additionally, we're tracking the explosion of a cybertruck outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. Law enforcement and the intelligence community are investigating this as well, including whether there's any possible connection with the attack in New Orleans. Thus far, there's nothing to report on that score at this time. I directed my team to make sure every resource, every resource is made available to federal, state and local law enforcement to complete the investigation in New Orleans quickly and to make sure there's no remaining threat.
- [25:03]
Ted Cruz
You know, there's part of me that's like, okay, I'm glad that the President's out there saying this. There's another part of me when he got lost and said, excuse me, while reading that teleprompter, that was just a one, a 360 moment of his entire time in the presidency. The reporting that we talked about, about his cognitive decline just. I think it was on the last podcast. And yet this is the guy who is in charge. And you wonder why some of these things are happening. Well, he gets lost in the teleprompter and has to apologize while reading a prepared statement. And that's the type of leadership we've had.
- [25:38]
Unnamed Co-Host
Well, listen, I am glad the President gave that press conference tonight. I'm glad he's speaking out. I think the substance of what he said is right. I wish him, I wish the. The Department of Justice and the FBI every success. And very quickly, finding anyone involved in this, apprehending them, focusing on it, There will be times, there is no doubt that the horrible policies of this administration, the open borders for four years, have contributed to making us less safe, have contributed to increasing the likelihood of a terrorist attack. But. But at this point, look, whether whether Joe Biden and the Democrats intend to be transparent or not, I am confident the incoming administration will make this information public. It needs to be public so there can be accountability for where. Where the ball was dropped. Because at the end of the day, this attack was not prevented tragically. And, and we need to, to learn from that and, and make sure we. We stop the next attack. But what I will say tonight is, is that our prayers are. Are with the families and loved ones of those who were murdered earlier today. Our prayers are with all of the victims who were injured. We are praying for their recovery. We're praying for their safety. And I'll say to all of you, look, look, stay vigilant, stay safe. And tonight, you know, give your kids an extra hug and remember your family and those you love. Because it's a dangerous world we live.
- [27:11]
Ted Cruz
In right now, no doubt about it. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those in the hospital. Dozens and dozens injured in New Orleans and at least seven injured. And what happened in Vegas, that suspect is. As we now know, the death toll has risen. At this moment, we're recording to 15 people. Pray for those families center. And I will see you back here as well. If there's any other significant breaking news, we will make sure that we get it to you. But we wanted to make sure we had this conversation with you as soon as we could tonight. And be safe, everyone. And we'll see you back here in a couple of days.
- [27:48]
Commercial Voiceover
Looking for excitement? Chumba Casino is here. Play anytime. Play anywhere. Play on the train. Play at the store. Play at home. Play when you're bored. Play today for your chance to win and get daily bonuses when you log in.
- [27:59]
Unnamed Co-Host
So what are you waiting for?
- [28:00]
Commercial Voiceover
Don't delay. Chumba Casino is free to play. Experience social gameplay like never before. Go to Chumba Casino right now to play hundreds of games including online slots, bingo, Slingo and more. Live the chumba life@chumbacasino.com VGW Group no purchase necessary, void or prohibited by law. Seek terms and conditions. Okay, picture this. It's Friday afternoon when a thought hits you. I can spend another weekend doing the same old whatever or I can hop into my all new Hyundai Santa Fe and hit the road. With available HTrack, all wheel drive and three row seating, my whole family can head deep into the wild. Conquer the weekend in the all new Hyundai Sand Santa Fe. Visit HyundaiUSA.com or call 562-314-4603 for more details. Hyundai there's joy in every journey.