Unvetted & Unchecked brings Disaster, Fear vs. Future on AI plus CAFE Standards not so Cozy Week In Review

Summary

Verdict with Ted Cruz: Week in Review – "Unvetted & Unchecked Brings Disaster, Fear vs. Future on AI, plus CAFE Standards Not So Cozy"

Date: December 6, 2025
Hosts: Senator Ted Cruz & Ben Ferguson
Guest: Scott Jennings

---

Episode Overview

This "Week in Review" episode of Verdict with Ted Cruz covers three major stories anchoring recent national debate. Senator Cruz and Ben Ferguson discuss the fallout of the National Guardsman shooting tied to Afghan resettlement, the public’s anxiety and potential of artificial intelligence (AI) with guest Scott Jennings, and President Trump’s rollback of stringent CAFE standards and EV mandates, aiming to make cars more affordable and less regulated.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Afghan Resettlement, Vetting Failures, and National Security

[01:03 – 12:23]

• Incident Recap:

  • National Guardsmen were shot in D.C., one fatally, by an Afghan national admitted under the Biden administration’s resettlement program. The media initially blamed Trump, but details indicate vetting failures by the Biden administration.
  • Cruz recalls warnings he made in 2021 about bloodshed due to poor oversight in Afghan resettlement.

• Cruz's Experience at Arrival Facilities:

  • Recounts visiting the Donna Ana tent facility and observing the lack of security and vetting for Afghan arrivals.
  • "Are there any fences around it? No. Is there any barrier? No... This is just... housing. Think of this like an apartment complex. They can stay here if they want, or... go somewhere else." (Cruz, [03:23])

• Vetting Shortcomings:

  • Points to an Afghan national in Texas (Mohammad Dawood Al Kazay) threatening violence post-resettlement.
  • "The Biden administration invited into this country Islamists, terrorists who explicitly want to murder us." (Cruz, [04:29])
  • Suggests that ideological blindness within the administration downplayed the threat of importing individuals from radicalized regions.

• Democratic Ideological Blindness:

  • Critiques Democrats for not recognizing or condemning radical Islamic terrorism.
  • Cites the example of Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s reluctance to condemn ‘Death to America’ chants at a rally in her district:
    • "Is she okay with her constituents chanting Death to America?" (Ferguson, [09:35])
    • "If you are a member of the United States Congress... it ought to be easy to say, yeah, of course. Death to America is wrong. I'm against that." (Cruz, [11:04])

• Outcomes:

  • Cruz underscores the real danger of poor vetting, linking the current violence to policy failures.
  • "That shows just how dangerous the ideological rot is. And tragically, we saw the very real consequences... one of whom just murdered one D.C. national Guardsman." (Cruz, [12:09])

---

2. AI: Between Fear, Disruption, and American Innovation

[14:34 – 22:41]

• AI Hype and Fear in the U.S.:

  • Cruz frames AI as a geopolitical race against China, with deep public skepticism: polling shows Americans are "about 70-30 terrified." (Cruz, [14:54])
  • "Even if you don't want it to happen, it is coming." (Cruz, [16:48])

• Technology Adoption and Public Anxiety:

  • Fears of job loss and distrust dominate, with historical comparisons to previous tech disruptions (e.g., automobiles vs. horse-and-buggy).
  • "Many of the jobs that are at risk with AI are white collar jobs... that's a level of... elite discontent." (Cruz, [19:27])

• Power and Infrastructure:

  • Jennings raises concerns about community resistance to building data centers and the enormous energy requirements of AI.
  • Cruz notes exceptions in West Texas, where job creation offsets fears.

• Education and Job Market Evolution:

  • Jennings: "We're going to have to reorient how we're educating kids, what we're teaching them to do... It may not be the path anymore." ([20:59])
  • Creativity and information work will be reshaped as AI can now emulate high-level skills rapidly.

• Opportunities and Optimism:

  • Cruz: "The positive outlook here is how can we use these tools to make your life easier, make you more productive, and maybe make you more economically successful." ([22:10])
  • Emphasis is placed on proactive engagement and American leadership to direct the values AI will reflect.

---

3. CAFE Standards, EV Mandates, and Car Prices: Deregulation Wins

[24:48 – 33:16]

• Policy Change:

  • President Trump, with Cruz’s support, rolls back the stringent CAFE fuel economy standards and federal electric vehicle (EV) mandates.
  • The rollback is pitched as a path to cheaper new cars, more choices, safety, and U.S. job creation.

• Trump Quotes in Oval Office:

  • "From day one, I've been taking action to make buying a car more affordable. I signed an executive order to end the unfair expensive electric vehicle mandate." (Trump, [26:32])
  • On infrastructure inefficiencies: "They spent to build nine chargers. They spent $8 billion. So that wasn't working out too well." (Trump, [26:49])
  • On California’s previous rules: "We revoked Biden's emissions waiver for California so that California communists could not regulate the automobile industry..." (Trump, [27:41])
  • Projected consumer benefit: "The action is expected to save the typical consumer at least $1,000 off the price of a new car. And we think substantially more than that." (Trump, [28:25])

• Cruz on Deregulation and Choice:

  • "It should be your choice. If you decide you want to go buy a Tesla... you can go do that. But if you decide you want to drive your F150, that ought to be your choice too." ([29:18])
  • Cruz describes safety risks of "plastic instead of steel" under prior standards, claiming deregulation will result in safer vehicles and lives saved. ([30:03])

• Capstone Moment:

  • Light-hearted exchange about car sales among lawmakers highlights bipartisan business interests.
  • "I just want to give props to Mike Kelly. He tried to sell you a car. And you can afford a much nicer car than I can." (Cruz to Trump, [31:20])

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Afghan Vetting:

  • "The Biden administration invited into this country Islamists, terrorists who explicitly want to murder us." – Ted Cruz ([04:29])

• On Democratic reluctance to condemn extremism:

  • "If you are a member of the United States Congress... it ought to be easy to say, yeah, of course. Death to America is wrong. I'm against that." – Ted Cruz ([11:04])

• On AI’s Inevitable Disruption:

  • "Even if you don't want it to happen, it is coming." – Ted Cruz ([16:48])
  • "We're going to have to reorient how we're educating kids, what we're teaching them to do." – Scott Jennings ([20:59])

• On Deregulation and Personal Choice:

  • "It should be your choice. If you decide you want to go buy a Tesla... But if you decide you want to drive your F150, that ought to be your choice too." – Ted Cruz ([29:18])

• On Safety and CAFE Standards:

  • "What these regulations did is they forced cars to be more expensive and made of plastic instead of steel... So you'd get in a wreck and people would die." – Ted Cruz ([30:03])

---

Timestamps of Important Segments

• National Guardsmen Shooting, Afghan Resettlement, and Vetting Issues:
  [01:03–12:23]

• Rashida Tlaib and ‘Death to America’ Chants Discussion:
  [08:32–11:35]

• AI Anxiety, U.S.-China Race, Economic Fears, and Solutions:
  [14:34–22:41]

• CAFE Rollback, EV Mandates, and Consumer/Industry Impact:
  [24:48–33:16]

---

Episode Tone and Flow

Throughout the episode, Senator Cruz and Ben Ferguson deliver a direct, punchy, and impassioned conservative critique, placing accountability on Democratic leaders for policy failures and highlighting victories under Republican leadership. The show is conversational with moments of humor (such as the car dealer story), serious warnings regarding security and technology, and calls for returning freedom and choice to the American public. The inclusion of Scott Jennings adds a layer of bipartisan analysis, especially around AI policy.

---

This summary presents all major arguments and memorable moments, encapsulating the urgency and tone of the podcast for listeners who missed the discussion.

Transcript

[Ben Ferguson]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Apollo Advertiser]

Guaranteed Human Tired of juggling sales tools or spending hours on prospecting just to book a few meetings? Meet Apollo, the go to market platform for finding leads, connecting with buyers and closing deals all in one place. Apollo gives you access to over 210 million contacts and AI that handles all your busywork, finding leads, drafting emails, and even prioritizing your day. So stop paying for five different sales tools when one does it all. Visit Apollo I.O. and sign up free today.

[Grainger Advertiser]

If you're a maintenance supervisor for a commercial property, you've had to deal with everything from leaky faucets to flickering light bulbs. But nothing's worse than that ancient boiler that's lived in the building since the day it was built 50 years ago. It's enough to make anyone lose their cool. That's where Grainger comes in. With industrial grade products and dependable, fast delivery, Grainger can help with any challenge from worn out components to everyday necessities. Call click granger.com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done.

[Ben Ferguson]

Welcome. It is Verdict with Ted Cruz Week in Review. Ben Ferguson with you. And these are the stories you may have missed that we talked about this week. First up, a big story coming out of Washington D.C. national Guardsmen that were shot, one of them killed and what we now know is the media wanted to blame Donald Trump for this. Well, they now have had a massive backfire as we're learning that this was clearly lack of vetting done and warnings that were there by the Biden administration that they were letting people in this country that could be a threat to all of us. I'll have all those details for you in just a moment. We're also joined by Scott Jennings, you know him from cnn. He's talking about his new book and also AI and what you need to know. It's really incredible. And finally a massive win for the President. United States of America. Telling Americans I want to get out of your car. CAFE standards are now changing and going backwards. And what does that mean a car that you can buy is going to be a lot lower priced. It's the Weekend Review and it starts right now. The media is trying to say that these National Guardsmen that got shot, one of them has died as the time we are we are doing this it happened they're trying to say because of Donald Trump rewriting the history and the warnings going back to as we just played there From September of 2021 on this exact thing happening in reality.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah at the same time I wrote an op ed in Fox News where I said, unfortunately, I believe we will see American blood spilled because of these foolish mistakes. And I. And I went on to say, the truth is that the Taliban doesn't want to be welcomed into the community of civilized nations. They are vicious terrorists who want to kill us. Unfortunately, because of the catastrophic mistakes the Biden administration made in Afghanistan, we are much more at risk for deadly attacks by the Taliban or Al Qaeda, which Pentagon officials estimate could regroup in Afghanistan in the next year or two. It's a disgrace. And the fault lies directly with President Joe Biden and his administration. This was obvious at the time. And look, you heard on that clip in September 21st, I'm talking about seeing the Donna Ana tent facility. When I showed up there, I was like, well, are there any fences around it? No. Is there any barrier? They're like, no, no, this is not a prison facility. And it was a one star general who was taking me around in the helicopter. And I'm like, well, you know what happens? You're saying, anyone can leave. He's like, yeah, they're not detained. This is just. We're just offering them housing. Think of this like an apartment complex. They can stay here if they want, or if they want to go somewhere else, they can go. If they want, they can go somewhere else. And I. And I. And I. Yeah. And I asked the army, are y' all doing any vetting here? And they said, no, no, no, the State Department does that. Afghanistan. So. So it's all done before they get there. So they got 10,000 people there, and who knows where they went? They don't keep a record of them. They don't ask, where do you go? I mean, that's part of the infuriating problem that the Biden administration invited into this country Islamists, terrorists who explicitly want to murder us. And by the way, you know what is unbelievable is the shooting in D.C. was one of two. Yeah. Afghans who were arrested this week for threatening violence. Another one happened in Texas. Here. Here's one report from Breitbart. An Afghan national admitted to the United States under President Biden's Operation Allies Welcome Resettlement program was arrested this week after posting a TikTok video in which he appeared to be building a bomb and referenced Fort Worth as a target. According to the Department of Homeland Security. Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin reported the arrest of Muhammad Dawood Al Kazay, saying he allegedly posted a video on TikTok threatening to blow up a building in Fort Worth, Texas, with A bomb. The Texas Department of Public Safety of the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force teamed up to make the arrest on charges of making terroristic threats. This is happening. And by the way, it continues to be, uh, Alakaze is an Afghan national who was pardoned into the United States by the Biden administration. His arrest came one day prior to the vicious attack on two West Virginia National Guard soldiers in Washington D.C. by another Afghan national. This pattern, when you let people in, you don't vet them. This violence and this terrorism is predictable. And you had a combination of a. For four years, an open southern border, so any Hamas or Hezbollah or other terrorists could come in through the southern border.

[Ben Ferguson]

You combine what. What we're witnessing now with what you just mentioned, Senator, at the southern border. We knew for a fact that people on the terrorist watch list were coming across our southern border. The same border that when Texas tried to secure it, the federal government said, no, no, we're going to use forklifts to raise up the barbed wire to let more people. And we have that on video. We talked about that on verdict. They knew that people were getting on the terrorist watch list. People that wanted to kill Americans who. They knew there was a real threat of sleeper cells in this country coming from multiple places around the world. And there still is Al Shabaab. Exactly. Still is. And you combine that with this and you sit there and you go. Basically, they said, look, we know people are going to die, but we want an open border. We know terrorists are coming in. We know they're on the watch list. We know we're catching some of them. There's a lot of got aways that we don't catch. This is just the cost of doing business. There will be human carnage of American citizens, abuse of children, the rape of children, the sex trafficking of children. There will be murderers and all sorts of people in this country. We know that it's worth it to flood America with illegal immigrants. That was a calculated decision they made.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

It was. And the two occurred simultaneously. So on one, on the one hand, they're opening the southern border and letting anyone come in. Yep. But on the other hand, they're affirmatively flying tens of thousands of Afghans. And by the way, we don't have any firm numbers in terms of how many they brought in. In terms of vetting, you know, the. You don't have anyone from the Biden administration saying, oh, yeah, we thoroughly vetted this guy before we brought him here, because their view was there was nothing to vet. Um, if they're bringing a 50 year old dude with an 8 year old girl that he says is his wife. That shows you how utterly incompetent the vetting is, that they just didn't care ideologically. They believed, well their culture, apparently it's okay to rape little girls. And, and so they certainly were not asking, engaging in the serious vetting. And it's difficult. Look, one of the problems with vetting a place like Afghanistan is there are limited records. And so that's not an easy task in my view. Unless you can conclusively determine that this person is not a terror threat, we should not be bringing them to America. And so but the Biden administration, I don't believe was even trying to vet them in any serious way, that they were just bringing in numbers because this was all about politics rather than the substance of keeping America safe.

[Ben Ferguson]

All right, Senator, I want to go back to a little over a year ago and let's just remind people of the Democratic Party and also how we got to the point that we're at right now.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, this just shows the overlap we were talking about before that ideologically, today's Democrat Party refuses to acknowledge the threat of radical Islamic terrorism, refuses to acknowledge radical Islam and that it is fundamentally anti American. And so In April of 24, there were protesters in Dearborn, Michigan for the and it was the International Al Quds Day rally where they began chanting Death to America. And when that happened. So Dearborn, Michigan is in Rashida Tlaib's district. She is the member of Congress that represents Dearborn, Michigan. You have a rally in her district chanting Death to America. And Fox News quite reasonably came and asked her if she would condemn that. Give a watch and give a listen to how she responded.

[Ben Ferguson]

Not a great look.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

The mayor condemned it. The White House condemned it. But what about Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib?

[Ben Ferguson]

She repped Stearborn. Is she okay with her constituents chanting Death to America? Fox Business correspondent Hilary Vaughn asked her watch.

[Rashida Tlaib]

Congressman Tlaib, FOX News I don't talk to Fox News. At a rally in your district, people were chanting Death to America. Do you condemn talk to FOX News. Do you condemn chants of death to America? I don't talk to people that use racist tropes.

Why can't you just say whether or not you condemn people chanting death, tumor. Why are you afraid to talk to Fox News? Is not listen. Using racist tropes towards my community is what Fox News is about. And I don't talk to Fox News. It's Death to America. Racist. Is chanting Death to America racist? Talking about your guys, racist tropes. You know, you guys are. You guys know exactly what you do. I know you're Islamophobic, but you guys gotta go deal with it on your own self. You're not gonna use me.

[Ben Ferguson]

All right, Senator, you go back to that. And it's just one of those moments where the warning signs are there. We tell you that these warning signs are there, and then it happens. And I hate it that it happens, but it's so predictable now.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

You know, it reminds me, when Obama was president, John Kerry was Secretary of State, there was an editorial cartoon and it had the Ayatollah in Iran going, death to America. And it had John Kerry saying, well, can we meet you halfway? Yeah, that's the ideological incoherence. Look, when you walk down the halls of Congress and you've been there with me, Ben. Reporters stop you all the time, by the way. I answer questions from Fox News, I answer questions from cnn, I answer questions from New York Times, I answer questions from every lefty outlet just walking along. Because if you know what you believe, I gotta say, that's not a gotcha question. It's not a difficult question. Do you support death to America? If you are a member of the United States Congress? The Congress of the United States of America. One would think it ought to be easy to say, yeah, of course. Death to America is wrong. I'm against that. That should not be difficult for anyone. It speaks volumes that Rashida Tlaib was unwilling to even condemn chance of death to America in her own congressional district. That shows just how dangerous the ideological rot is. And tragically, we saw the very real consequences of that ideological rot in letting unvetted Afghan.

Afghan immigrants into this country, one of whom just murdered one D.C. national Guardsman and may have murdered a second. We pray that he survives, but at this point, our prayers are with him because we don't know if he's going to survive the horrific attack.

[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. I want you to just pause what you're doing for the next 60 seconds and I want you to imagine Lucy, a 7 year old. Her stomach often aches with hunger. Her small hands, instead of holding crayons, know only the struggle of survival on dusty streets. School is a distant dream. Medical care, a forgotten hope. Lucy's potential is overshadowed. Her future is dim. But what if someone stepped in? What if there was a way to ignite hope for children just like Lucy? Well, there is and that is with Compassion International partners and the local churches that provide children holistic support. More than just food, they receive critical medical care, life changing education, vital skills training and spiritual development all in Jesus's name. And you can empower a child just like Lucy to to break free from poverty. I want you to do what I've done and sponsor a child. Today you can visit compassion.com that's compassion.com.

[Apollo Advertiser]

Tired of juggling sales tools or spending hours on prospecting just to book a few meetings? Meet Apollo, the go to market platform for finding leads, connecting with buyers and closing deals all in one place. Apollo gives you access to over 210 million contacts and AI that handles all your busywork, finding leads, drafting emails and even prioritizing your day. So stop paying for five different sales tools when one does it all. Visit Apollo I.O. and sign up free today.

[Logan Urie]

Hi, I'm Logan Urie, Hinge's lead relationship scientist. We asked 30,000 people about their dating lives. Gen Z daters told us they want deeper conversations, but they're 36% more hesitant than millennials to start them. We call this the communication gap, the space between wanting connection and starting the conversation. But here's the good news. It doesn't have to be this way. Ask one better question or share something honest and watch the connection grow. Find more in Hinge's 2025 Gen Z date report, now live at Hinge Co.

[Ben Ferguson]

Now on to story number two.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So on AI. AI is an issue I care about a lot and I agree with you that we are in a race. AI is coming and either the United States is gonna win or China's gonna win. And I think the world is much, much worse off if China wins. And it's much better off if America wins. I will tell you the polling on AI is terrible. AI is unpopular in America. If you do almost any polling you do, it's about 70, 30 people are terrified. They're afraid they're gonna lose their jobs. They don't trust it, they're scared of it. And I get that. And in fact I talk with a lot of the tech leaders and I say, look, if you don't engage on this issue, the easy political outcome, every Democrat and a number of Republicans are like, AI is horrible. We oppose it. And that if you look at the polling, that's the knee jerk response.

I get that fear. I understand anytime you have economic dislocation, it is frightening, it is dangerous.

But at the end of the day, I'm not a Luddite. I don't think you can stop technological advancement. I'll give you an example. If I could right now destroy every cell phone in America, I would. I think these are evil portals to everything harmful in the world. All three of us are parents. These things invite every horrible force to our children. Yeah, but we don't live in that world. We can't end that. I'd also like a world with no nuclear weapons. Like, if I could push a button and every nuclear weapon disappear, I would. But we don't live in that world. And if we're going to live in a world with nuclear weapons, I sure as heck want to make sure the United States has enough that China and Russia and our enemies can't dominate us. I view AI in the same world. Even if you don't want it to happen, it is coming. And one of two outcomes will occur in five to 10 years. Either China will have won the race, in which case AI Worldwide will reflect China's values, will be totalitarian, will be controlling, will be censoring, will reflect the values of Communist China, or America will have won, in which case, hopefully, AI will reflect American values of freedom, free enterprise, free speech. That is a massive shift between those two worlds. World two is much better, where America wins.

Two questions. Number one, do you agree with that? And number two, if so, how does the politics change? Do you agree with my point that right now the politics is against AI and that is dangerous?

[Scott Jennings]

Yes, I agree. First of all, on point one, I agree with everything you said about which world we want to live in. Number two, I agree with you on the polling. And I think people have a healthy fear of how this is going to upend their life.

Which is a reasonable fear. And so the next iteration of this march towards AI is going to have to be not how it's going to make your life worse. How's it going to make your life better? How did you, you know, how has any other technological evolution ultimately made your life better? And so that explanation has to come. And then point four is just going to be, how are we going to power it all? And, you know, are we going to be able to produce enough energy to do what we have to do now?

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Plus what we have to do, AI is energy. And if we don't unleash energy, we cannot win the race for AI.

[Scott Jennings]

One other issue on this that is on my mind is how are we going to build enough of these data centers to win this thing? I'm noticing in local communities, in a lot of places, folks are, like, rising up against data center development.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

So the polling is terrible in most communities. I will say, by the way, one of the few exceptions is sort of West Texas. You've got West Texas in the panhandle, and you're seeing a ton of data centers come in there. And Texans are like, all right, we want jobs, we want investment, we want billions in investment. And there'll be jobs for construction, there'll be jobs for running the data centers. Look, I think in dense urban areas, people are afraid. They're afraid it will suck power, it will drive up their electricity prices, it will suck water. And I get those fears. Look, anyone, if you're given a choice, do you want something that will make your life worse or better? People are naturally going to say, I don't want something that makes my life worse. And so I think I had a.

[Ben Ferguson]

Guy, by the way, Senator, I had a guy the other day that said to me in the AI industry, he said the hardest part for them now is overcoming what you're describing, because he says they're polling data internally, says that the fear in a lot of parts of the country right now are at the level of where they were with nuclear reactors back in the 80s.

[Scott Jennings]

Yes, interesting now.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And there's been a lot of demagoguery and. But there's also. The demagoguery is there. But I will say the fears of AI are real and justified. And.

All right, look, with every great technological change, there's been economic dislocation. So when the automobile was invented, the horse and buggy industry was decimated. And if you were in the buggy business, you were screwed.

The difference with AI is twofold. Number one, the volume is greater. I think there are going to be more jobs that are going to be threatened by AI than have been in previous technological innovations. Number two, it's a different contour of jobs. So often in the past it's been blue collar jobs that have been at risk. Many of the jobs that are at risk with AI are white collar jobs. If you look at Mondami, part of what elected Mondami is you have young college graduates who have $200,000 in college debt who were told, I can go and be an investment banker, a consultant or an accountant. And they're seeing those jobs being eliminated as AI is replacing thousands and thousands of those jobs. That's a level of, I guess I would call elite discontent.

That is politically complicated. And so, and I get those concerns are very real. If you've gone and worked hard and you got a degree and you took out loans and you were told, this is what I got to do. And then suddenly you come out and you can't get a job. You're pissed. Like, that's a very real concern. And so I actually think as policymakers, as people in elected office, we need to have real solutions to that problem, because that discontent is not illegitimate, but it is driving much of this resistance and it's a very real battle.

[Scott Jennings]

We got well, and you have now for many years, people teaching their children, here's the course you gotta get on. Do well in school, go to college. You can get one of these white collar jobs. And, you know, for, you know, a few generations, we've been telling people, this is the path. It may not be the path anymore. We're going to have to reorient how we're educating kids, what we're teaching them to do. What other skills can we teach them to do? I agree with you on the white collar verse, blue collar issue. Also, creatives, I mean, they're freaked out. I've seen AI apps in a matter of seconds, write songs that sounded like they had a whole team of musicians and writers over weeks putting them together. And California, and it literally happened on my phone in a matter of seconds.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

By the way, I'll tell you, in politics, it's interesting. I'll pull up AI and I'll ask something like, what has Cruz said on the following issue? And listen, I've been doing this a long time, so I don't remember every comment I've given in every newspaper interview 10 years ago. And in like four seconds it comes out with, he said this here, he said this here. And it like traces. And it's like, it's insane. It is insane. The ability of power you have on your cell phone.

[Scott Jennings]

Oh, yeah. I mean, and it's basically free. I mean, information for the first time in human history is basically accessible to all and free to all and instant. And yeah, it's. I can see why the polling on this is bad. Now, the positive outlook here is how can we use these tools to make your life easier, make you more productive, and maybe make you more economically successful. Maybe you haven't conceived of how that will work yet, but that's the challenge of these companies that are developing the technology as before.

[Ben Ferguson]

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. For the next 60 seconds. Can you hit pause on your life and just think about this? Every day, millions of children face a crushing reality A constant, defeating message echoes in their empty stomachs and their desperate eyes. It is that you don't matter. Poverty doesn't just steal food and shelter. It steals hope, dignity and the fundamental belief that they are loved. But there's another message, one of boundless love and hope. Through Compassion International, you can change the child's story forever. You can sponsor a child just like I do. You can introduce them to a loving heavenly father. You can equip them with education, health care and the support to overcome poverty. This isn't just about one child. It's about transforming family families, revitalizing communities and changing nations. It's about proving that every child truly matters. So help give a child a future. Give them hope. Visit compassion.com today. That's compassion.com tired of juggling sales tools.

[Apollo Advertiser]

Or spending hours on prospecting just to book a few meetings? Meet Apollo, the go to market platform for finding leads, connecting with buyers and closing deals all in one place. Apollo gives you access to over 210 million contacts and AI that handles all your busy work finding leads, drafting emails and even prioritizing your day. So stop paying for five different sales tools when one does it all. Visit Apollo I.O. and sign up free today.

[Logan Urie]

Hi, I'm Logan Urie, Hinge's lead relationship scientist. We asked 30,000 people about their dating lives. Gen Z daters told us they want deeper conversations, but they're 36% more hesitant than millennials to start them. We call this the communication gap, the space between wanting connection and starting the conversation. But here's the good news. It doesn't have to be this way. Ask one better question or share something honest and watch the connection grow. Find more in hinges 2025 Gen Z date Report. Now live at Hinge Co.

[Ben Ferguson]

I want to get back to the big story number three of the week you may have missed, Senator, on Wednesday you were at the White House for a really cool moment and that was President Trump saying, I want government to get out of your way and stop making things so expensive for you. Specifically cars having a reset of CAFE standards that were out of control. That is going to lower the cost of cars for many Americans. We're also getting rid of the obsession with a mandate for EV vehicles which the Democrats were hell bent on. And this is going to again make cars more affordable for Americans. Everyone should be excited about that.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, that's exactly right. After spending Monday at the White House with the President while he was signing my legislation tripling the monthly stipend for Medal of Honor recipients, after spending Tuesday at the White House with the President and Michael and Susan Dell giving six and a quarter billion dollars to the kids of America for Trump accounts. On Wednesday, I joined the President again, this time with the CEOs of the major auto companies in the United States as the President was implementing legislation, a provision again that I wrote, zeroing out the CAFE standards. The CAFE standards were the federal mileage requirements that the Biden administration used to jack them up so high that it, number one, made cars much, much more expensive. But number two, it was part of their effort to eliminate the internal combustion engine, to force everyone to to buy an electric car whether they want it or not. And as part of the one big beautiful bill, we zeroed that out entirely. I wrote that provision and on Wednesday, the President was implementing it. Here I want you to give a listen to the President describing the historic steps he took on Wednesday.

[Donald Trump]

From day one, I've been taking action to make buying a car more affordable. I signed an executive order to end the unfair expensive electric vehicle mandate. As you know, we had to have an electric car within a very short period of time, even though there was no way of charging them and lots of other things. It would have cost $5 trillion to build the charging plants. And as you know, in certain parts of the Midwest, they spent to build nine chargers. They spent $8 billion. So that wasn't working out too well. That was done before me, by the way. I wouldn't have let it go forward. We're canceling the EPA's absurd tailpipe emission standards. One of the most important things that I've never had a group of people come to me more.

More powerfully and really just devastated that they had to do it. It was killing them than the automobile manufacturers, the tailpipe emission standards. And I can tell you, your people at Ford were coming to me all the time and they were saying, like, please, it doesn't do anything and it's killing us and it's driving the cost through the roof. And we revoked Biden's emissions waiver for California so that California communists could not regulate the automobile industry and ruin the entire nation of automobiles. And they were doing that too. But we have that now under control also with your governor, who's got much more than he can control now. Under the new rules being issued today by Secretary Duffy, the Department of Transportation will rescind the Biden fuel economy prices. And I hate to say that because they were really not economy. They were really, they were anti economy. They were horrible what they were doing to the costs and actually Making the car much worse. But these policies forced automakers to build cars using expensive technologies that drove up costs, drove up prices, and made the car much worse. The action is expected to save the typical consumer at least $1,000 off the price of a new car. And we think substantially more than that.

[Ben Ferguson]

Senator, you hear him talk about this. This is exactly what I think. So many Americans voted for its government actually not mandating things. It's government getting out of the way of insane regulations to make your life easier. Just give me a little bit of my freedom back. Let the private sector do what the private sector does. Stop putting all this government agenda on top of me and let me do what I want to do. If I want to buy an ebay, I'll buy an ev, but don't force me to do something. And don't make these standards so insane that you raise the cost of cars a point where I can't even afford a new one.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

It's your choice. It should be your choice. If you decide you want to go buy a Tesla. Tesla's are amazing automobiles. You can go do that. But if you decide you want to drive your F150, that ought to be your choice too. And this legislation and what the President did this week benefited consumers. Lowered prices made cars and trucks a lot cheaper. It also made them safer. It saved lives. It also helps produce jobs, thousands and thousands of jobs. As billions of dollars are being invested by car manufacturers in the United States. We're bringing blue collar jobs back to America. Ben, here's how I explained it in the Oval Office, standing next to the President. Give a listen.

[Donald Trump]

Anybody else want to say a few words? Oh, Ted.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Ted.

I'm easy to miss.

[Donald Trump]

It's very rare that I would miss. Go ahead, Ted.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Well, Mr. President, I want to congratulate you on behalf of everyone here for the leadership that you're showing. And this is a victory today for consumers. This is a victory for affordability. Your critics like to say the word affordability. Under Joe Biden and the Democrats, they put mandate after mandate after mandate on cars and trucks and they drove the price up. Thousands and thousands of dollars. And with the actions you're taking today, and you put on top of that the one big beautiful bill, you know, most of the senators here on the Senate Commerce Committee and on the Commerce Committee, we worked together to zero out the CAFE standards. We wrote that into the law that, that the CAFE standards went to zero. What does that mean? It means you can now, as a consumer, buy the car you want. It also means People's lives will be safer because what these regulations did is they forced cars to be more expensive and made a plastic instead of steel because you had to make them lighter to comply with these standards. So you'd get in a wreck and people would die. The result of what you're doing, you're literally saving people's lives. And you're making it where families can afford to get a new car. These actions will drop the cost of cars and trucks thousands of dollars. That makes a real difference. And I'll make one final point. You know, about half the members here are car dealers. And I will say, my good friend Roger Williams out in the lobby, he tried to sell me a car, which didn't surprise me. But I just, Just want to give props to Mike Kelly. He showed he was savvier because he tried to sell you a car. And you can afford a much nicer car than I can. So well done, Mike. Roger, you just went to the wrong customer.

[Donald Trump]

That was $100 cheaper. The thing that Ted just said, it's true. Plastic instead of steel. Think of that. And people died because of that. The plastic was plastic in an auto accident. Then it broke up and people were shattered because of that crazy deal. But that's a really good point. Go ahead.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

And Mr. President, I'll tell you, the Senate Commerce Committee on January 14th, we're going to have a hearing with all of the big three there and Tesla, and the entire hearing is going to focus on how your leadership has reduced the burdens on carmakers. That's lowering costs, that's giving consumers more choices, and it's producing more jobs in America. And it's highlighted. That's a real record of success.

[Ben Ferguson]

Not only is it a record of success, but as you mentioned there and highlighted. And the President agreed with you. It's an issue of safety, Senator.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

Yeah, yeah. No, I mean, it's. These CAFE standards were making cars much, much more dangerous. And we'll never know who. But. But there are people who will live now because of this change, because they'll be able to be in safer cars. Some of it is they may be able to afford a new car now because as this drives down the price of new cars and new trucks, they may sell their old used car and buy a new car because it makes it more affordable. New cars typically have more safety features and enhance their safety. But secondly, if you're not having to make these cars and remove all the steel, you're much more likely to survive an accident. If you're in a car that has some weight, has some steel, and doesn't just crumple up like like like a beer can.

[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.

[Apollo Advertiser]

Tired of juggling sales tools or spending hours on prospecting just to book a few meetings? Meet Apollo, the go to market platform for finding leads, connecting with buyers and closing deals all in one place. Apollo gives you access to over 210 million contacts and AI that handles all your busy work finding leads, drafting emails, and even prioritizing your day. So stop paying for five different sales tools when one does it all. Visit Apollo I.O. and sign up free today.

[Grainger Advertiser]

If you're a maintenance supervisor for a commercial property, you've had to deal with everything from leaky faucets to flickering light bulbs. But nothing's worse than that ancient boiler that's lived in the building since the day it was built 50 years ago. It's enough to make anyone lose their cool. That's where Grainger comes in. With industrial grade products and dependable, fast delivery, Granger can help with any challenge, from worn out components to everyday necessities. Call click granger.com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done.

[Senator Ted Cruz]

This is an I heart podcast. Guaranteed human.