Latest / The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson / Inside the Room with the Heroic Soldiers Wounded in the Maduro Raid & with Venezuelan Opposition Leader Maria Corina Machado

Transcript

Inside the Room with the Heroic Soldiers Wounded in the Maduro Raid & with Venezuelan Opposition Leader Maria Corina Machado · The 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Welcome in is Vertic with Center Ted Cruz, Ben Ferguson
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: with you. It's nice to have you with usespecially if
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: you're listening on the radio around the country.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: And a reminder, this show we.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Also do as a podcast three days a week, so
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: make sure for free you download Verdic with Ted Cruz
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcast centers. We've got a big
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: show for people today, including a really special day for you.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: You got to spend with some amazing heroes who recovering
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: in the hospital after they went in in an incredible
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: raid in Venezuela.
• 0:31
  Speaker 3: Well, Ben, We're living in incredibly consequential times. The entire
• 0:35
  Speaker 3: world is changing before our eyes. I started this week
• 0:38
  Speaker 3: by having the chance to visit the three soldiers who
• 0:41
  Speaker 3: were wounded arresting Maduro, and I got a chance to
• 0:45
  Speaker 3: visit with each of them. I'm going to share to
• 0:46
  Speaker 3: you exactly what they had to say from there. I
• 0:50
  Speaker 3: also this week sat down with Maria Carino Machado, the
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: opposition leader in Venezuela. She came to Washington, she met
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: with President Trump at the White House. How she met
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: with me and several other senators. I'm going to bring
• 1:02
  Speaker 3: you inside that meeting tell you what she had to say.
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: Beyond that, I joined Secretary Pete Hegseth going to the
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: F thirty five Plan in Fort Worth, Texas, an incredible
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: an incredible so course support of our military strength. And
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: then from there we both went down to Brownsville, Texas,
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: to SpaceX, to Starbase with Elon musk and and tour
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: the facilities there. We're going to bring you inside all
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: of that on Today's Verdict.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: It really is cool.
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: I also want to talk to you an amazing organization
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: that I want you to know about called Compassion International.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: Right now, somewhere in the world, a kid you've never
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: met is writing you a letter. They're telling you about
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: their day, their dreams, the goal they scored, the test
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: they passed, the new friend they made it school. Maybe
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: they're drawing you even a picture. Maybe they've asked you
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: about your family, your favorite color, what makes you laugh.
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: They're wondering who you are, this person who cares enough
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: to be part of their story. And you, you're not
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: just sending money. You're writing back. You're showing up month
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: after month, letter after letter. You're celebrating their victories, encouraging
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: them through challenges and reminding them that they truly matter.
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: Now this isn't a transaction, it's an incredible relationship that
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: spans continence and changes everything for both of you. That
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: is where Compassion International connects you directly with one child,
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: real letters, real relationships, and real change, because poverty isn't
• 2:38
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• 2:43
  Speaker 1: the world, one child at a time and learn how
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: at Compassion dot Com. That's Compassion dot com. All right, Senator,
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: So let's get back to this. Just incredible meeting the
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: heroes and the bravery, especially the story is that we've
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: been told going in after Maduro and look, the guy
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: who lived on a military base, he had these fighters
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: that were supposed to be protecting him from Cuba. Seeing
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: that what we had compared to what they had on
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: the ground and the way that we came out without
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: losing a single American life is just unbelievable. There were
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: those soldiers, however, that were injured and shot, and you
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: got to meet them as they're recovering in the hospital
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: in San Antonio, talk about just their story. What did
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: they have to say, what was their perspective.
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: So we had three of our soldiers who were wounded
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: during the raid, and they're all at the hospital in
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: San Antonio. They're being treated. The good news is that
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: that that they're all in good condition. None are in
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: life threatening condition. Now, they were in good spirits. We
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: had the opportunity to visit with each of the three
• 3:49
  Speaker 3: of them, with each of their wives as well. They
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: were there with their wives, and I will tell you
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: that the first one we met with was a soldier
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: who was in charge of helping plan the entire higher raid.
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: He was leading one of the helicopters, and he had
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: been shot in the leg, and he continued, even in
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: the midst of being shot in the leg. Continued. He
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: did not step back from the fight, and he was
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: critical in terms of his location, making sure protecting his
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: fellow soldiers. You know, I got to tell you he
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: was he was in great spirits. His wife was incredibly
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: proud of him. And with all three of the soldiers,
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: I took an opportunity to tell them, I said, look,
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: you were part of history. You were part of history
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: in a way without exaggeration, that changed the entire Western hemisphere.
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: What you did was profoundly important. And I also told
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: them I took the chance on behalf of Texans and
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: American just to say thank you, thank you for your bravery,
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: thank you for your heroism. They went into a situation
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: where they were vastly outnumbered, and and and and the
• 5:03
  Speaker 3: Cuban military that were guarding Maduro opened fire and and
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: and it is amazing, It is an incredible testament to
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: the precision and effectiveness of our military that not a
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: single soldier on the American side was was killed, that
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: there was a very large number of Cuban forces defending
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: Maduro who were who were killed in that firefight, and
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: and just taking the chance to to thank them. And
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: then the first soldier who had been shot in the
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: leg I was there with Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: Defense and and and Pete said, uh, you know, if
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: there's anything you need, let me know, and and and
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: he said, well, actually there is something you could do
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: and and Pete said what And he said, I'd really
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: like the bullet, the bullet that went into his leg.
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: And the hospital had it, and and and the the
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: medical director at the hospital he said, well, we have
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: the bullet, but we're not allowed to give it over
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: unless we get give a waiver, and and to his
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: credit said the waiver is granted. You can have the bullet.
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: And that soldier was beaming. He was thrilled to have
• 6:08
  Speaker 3: the bullet. And actually the second soldier we met, he
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: had been he had been shot, but he had also
• 6:12
  Speaker 3: been cut by a piece of shrapnel. He had a
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: cut that ran the whole length of his arm. Oh wow,
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: And he had the exact same request. He said, I'd
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: really like the shrapnel. So they had the piece of
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: metal that had cut his arm open. And again the
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: hospital said, we have it, but we're not allowed to
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: give it to him without the waiver. And again Pete said,
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: we're granting the waiver, you can have it. So both
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: of those I assume that they're going to frame it
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: or otherwise keep it as just a memento to the injury,
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: the purple heart that they earned fighting for their country,
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: but also being a part of profoundly impacting history.
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: You mentioned their wives were there, and I don't know
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: if you can tell us, but age range twenties thirties,
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: for like, how old are these guys.
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: One of the soldiers, the first soldier who helped plan
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: plan the raid was was a little bit older the
• 7:04
  Speaker 3: other two were were young guys and and they were, uh,
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: you know, they were young guys, and they they were
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: not someone like if you saw them walking down the street,
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: you wouldn't do a double take. The first guy kind
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: of looked a little like Captain America. He was a
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: little but but the other two, look, they were fit,
• 7:22
  Speaker 3: they were in good shape. But but the skill that
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: you know, they have, the heroism you know they have
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: if you just saw them on the street, you you
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: wouldn't immediately know that. And and their wives were young
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: and and it was interesting their wives were, you know,
• 7:42
  Speaker 3: they said, there were women of faith. They were praying
• 7:44
  Speaker 3: for their husbands. They were really proud of their husbands, proud,
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: proud of everything that they had been through. And I'll
• 7:50
  Speaker 3: tell you that the first soldier, he said, well, you know,
• 7:56
  Speaker 3: he asked he he heg seth asked him, well, how
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: are you feeling? And he said, I'm ready to go again.
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: That's amozing.
• 8:03
  Speaker 3: And I said, great, can you do Saturday? And he said, well,
• 8:08
  Speaker 3: can we hold off till Monday? So that kind of
• 8:11
  Speaker 3: gives you a sense of the spirit they were. They
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: were really in good spirits. And actually with two of
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: the soldiers. There was an additional soldier there that was
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: there in the in the hospital room who said he
• 8:26
  Speaker 3: used to be their commanding officer and he had rotated
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: off the unit about six months before the raid, and
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: he said, look, I'm really disappointed. I mean it, it
• 8:34
  Speaker 3: broke his heart that he just missed going on the raid.
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: So he was there to be with his guys, but
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: he did not go on the raid and he was
• 8:41
  Speaker 3: just cheering them on center.
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: You talk about incredible week.
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: You meet with three heroes that that risked their lives
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: to go capture mean Duro, that's unbelievable. But you also
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: got to meet with who I would describe as another
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: hero for Venezuela, and that is the opposition leader. You
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: got to meet with her. She met with the president
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: and I said America as well. That is a really
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: I think a very important moment, a signal that the
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: that the president met with her as well to give
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: hope to the people in Venezuela.
• 9:12
  Speaker 3: Well, Maria Corrino Machado, who is the opposition leader in Venezuela,
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: You're right, She's shown incredible heroism, incredible bravery, standing up
• 9:20
  Speaker 3: to Maduro, standing up to the communist regime. And by
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: the way, other opposition leaders like Leopoldo Lopez, like Juan
• 9:27
  Speaker 3: Guido likewise have shown incredible courage, have faced Lopez spent
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: years in prison. I mean, I mean, you to stand
• 9:35
  Speaker 3: up and be an opposition leader to a communist regime
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: like Hugo Chavez or Nicholas Maduro, you are quite literally
• 9:43
  Speaker 3: taking your life in your own hands. And a great
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: many of the opposition leaders face arrest, face torture, face
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: you know, if you're in the opposition, you can face murder.
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: And so Machado last year was awarded the Nobel Peace
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: Prize for her heroism and in standing up to Maduro.
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: And and she came, she came to Washington this week,
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: and she went went went to the White House, and
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: she met with President Trump. And she did something that
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: I think was very very savvy and and showed a
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: lot of wisdom and showed a lot of humility, which
• 10:17
  Speaker 3: is she presented the Nobel Peace Prize to President Trump.
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: She had it framed for him. It's beautifully framed, and
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: and and and she had presented to the president and
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: and with with the thanks of of the people of
• 10:29
  Speaker 3: Venezuela and and and I think President Trump appreciated that
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: a great deal. Look, a lot of us, you and
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: me included, believe President Trump should have been awarded the
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: Nobel Peace Prize. But there's no way, there's no way.
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: The lefty Europeans. It doesn't matter if if like he
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: cured cancer and and like ended every war that has
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: ever happened in the history of humanity, they will not
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: give him the Peace Prize because they haint.
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: Someone said to me the other day, and I made
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: me laugh. They said, the chances of Donald Trump getting
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: to know Peace Prize from these like you said, European
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: you know, lefties.
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: They said, I would.
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: Put more money on Vladimir Putin getting it before Donald
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: Trump does.
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: Not crazy. By the way, that's sad.
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: That's not hyperbole. That that's actually not hyperbole. Remember, these
• 11:15
  Speaker 3: are the same idiots who awarded Barack Obama the Nobel
• 11:20
  Speaker 3: Peace Prize when he'd been in office a couple of months,
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: and he was literally awarded it for simply not being
• 11:26
  Speaker 3: George W.
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: Bush.
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: That was the entire basis. You're not Bush, Okay, you
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: get the Nobel Peace Prize. He hadn't been there even
• 11:34
  Speaker 3: long enough to screw everything up, which he spent the
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: next eight years doing. He just he had just moved
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: in and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. These are
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: also the same people. If you go back several decades,
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: you look at Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan was never awarded
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: the Nobel Peace Prize, despite the fact that he ended
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: the Cold War without firing a shot. And so this
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: is a very ideological prize, and and I think in
• 11:58
  Speaker 3: this past year it is questionable that Donald Trump deserved it,
• 12:03
  Speaker 3: but they weren't going to give it. And she showed
• 12:06
  Speaker 3: when she was awarded it. She showed real life, like
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: I said, wisdom and humility, that it's a beautiful presentation.
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: And she just said, look, the difference you have made
• 12:18
  Speaker 3: for the people of Venezuela is transformative. I think that
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: was a wise decision on her part.
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: So let's talk just a little bit about about her
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: and what was her message to you, Senator for Venezuela
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: its future. Obviously there's a lot of people in Venezuela
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: that hope that she would be the leader of that country,
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: but she is clearly spending time in DC as an advocate.
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: I also think the president meeting with her make no mistake.
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: That is to send a message to those in Venezuela
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: that if you don't play by the rules that we've
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: talked about, we are talking to others that will play
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: by those rules.
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: I think that's a really and political point as well.
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: Well. And Machado right now is an exile. She's in
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: the United States. She she fled for her life because
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: Maduro was was was going to kill her.
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: Uh.
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: And and she wants to go back. And and so
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: when she when she left the White House, left meeting
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: with President Trump, she came to Capitol Hill, and she
• 13:18
  Speaker 3: met with about a dozen senators and we sat down
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: and spent oh probably forty five minutes talking with her.
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: And and and I got to say, I've visited with
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: her before. She has uh. I think an enormous amount
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: of courage, an enormous amount of grace, grace. I asked her,
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: I said, tell me the reaction on the street. Tell me,
• 13:36
  Speaker 3: tell me how people are reacting just in Venezuela. And
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: she said, they're just they are overjoyed that there's a
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: level of relief, there's a level of just they can't
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: cannot believe Maduro is finally gone. They've also because the
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: Trump administration has been pressing the Maduro regime been pressing
• 13:56
  Speaker 3: Delsi Rodriguez, who's the acting president. They've released a significant
• 14:00
  Speaker 3: number of political prisoners. So the political prisoners, many of
• 14:03
  Speaker 3: them have been released. And she said, there's a lot
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: of celebration on the ground for that. But she said, look,
• 14:07
  Speaker 3: the political prisoners are still being monitored, They're still being watched,
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: they still have to check in. And she emphasized the
• 14:14
  Speaker 3: regime is still the communist regime. Delsi Rodriguez is a communist.
• 14:20
  Speaker 3: She she was was Maduro's right hand and and and
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: so she says, there's there's enormous celebration. But the second
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: question I asked her is I said, listen, what steps
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: do we need to take to move towards free and
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: fair elections? And that was one of the things she
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: really wanted to emphasize. She said, look, the people of Venezuela,
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: they want UH to have a chance to vote to
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: elect their leader. And and and and she said, right now,
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: the Rodriguez administration is the Maduro administration. It is illegitimate.
• 14:53
  Speaker 3: They were beaten in the last election, they were roundly defeated,
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: and and Maduro held onto power just through brute force,
• 15:01
  Speaker 3: because he controlled the army, and so the fact that
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: the voters voted him out office didn't matter to him.
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: Rodriguez is in office for the same reason, and so
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: my view is we need to move swiftly towards free
• 15:13
  Speaker 3: and fair election. There was some conversation. One Democrat senator
• 15:17
  Speaker 3: asked her what time frame for election. She was wisely
• 15:22
  Speaker 3: noncommittal on that, and she said, look, I just hope
• 15:25
  Speaker 3: it moves swiftly. And the Democrat senator says, well, if
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: it goes a year, will that be too long. I'll
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: tell you what I chimed in. I said, I think
• 15:32
  Speaker 3: it should happen within six months. I think that is
• 15:34
  Speaker 3: the right timing. I think you need a little bit
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: of transition. But I think the faster we move to
• 15:40
  Speaker 3: elections and someone with legitimacy who will be elected and
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: will be a friend of America, the faster the better.
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: Senator.
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: If people just joining us right now, we're talking about
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: an incredible wee. Can you get to meet with the
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: opposition leader of Venezuela in Washington, d C.
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: You mentioned, by the way that the meeting you had.
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: With her after she met with the president of the
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: United States of America, Donald Trump. Well, it was with
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: twelve different centers. So how does that room get made?
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: And it sounds like it was by parson You mentioned
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: a Democrat that was in that room. Does everybody get
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: an invite or only certain people? How does that work?
• 16:14
  Speaker 3: So no, it was a smaller subset. And and typically
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: what happens when you have heads of state come to Washington,
• 16:21
  Speaker 3: they will often reach out to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: And I sit on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and
• 16:26
  Speaker 3: so often we will have regularly we'll have at like
• 16:30
  Speaker 3: afternoon coffees or lunch lunches with heads of state when
• 16:33
  Speaker 3: they could they come to town. And and in the capital
• 16:36
  Speaker 3: there's an office where the Senate Foreign Relations Committee meets
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: with There's a hearing room with this big ornate table
• 16:43
  Speaker 3: that they'll set up and they usually put you have
• 16:45
  Speaker 3: some coffee and some some pieces of cheese and crackers
• 16:50
  Speaker 3: and like a little bit of a good stuff. Yeah,
• 16:53
  Speaker 3: you know, it's but it look it is. It's an
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: opportunity to visit with with world leaders. In this instance,
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: it wasn't the Senate Form Relations Committee. It ended up
• 17:04
  Speaker 3: being we met in the office of Dick Durbin, who
• 17:07
  Speaker 3: was the number two Democrat. He was the one hosting it.
• 17:10
  Speaker 3: And initially I think durban was making the invites. And
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: then this is actually something Marina Karina Machado did that
• 17:17
  Speaker 3: I think was very wise. Also, she invited a number
• 17:20
  Speaker 3: of people. So the reason I was there is because
• 17:22
  Speaker 3: she invited me.
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: And and look, I say, Durbin, you didn't make the
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: cut on Durbin's is group chat. You're not in that
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: group chat with them.
• 17:31
  Speaker 3: So look, I suspect that there were some Democrats that
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: wanted to have at a meeting of just Democrats in
• 17:38
  Speaker 3: her Yeah, and I think that would have been really
• 17:42
  Speaker 3: unfortunate if that had happened, because I think the Democrats
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: would have wanted to use it to attack Trump. And
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: I think she realized that that would be that would
• 17:50
  Speaker 3: not further the people of Venezuela, that would not be
• 17:53
  Speaker 3: good for anyone, and so she reached out. And we
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: had four Republicans who was there were there, So I
• 17:59
  Speaker 3: was there, Rick Scott from Florida was there. Uh, Bernie
• 18:03
  Speaker 3: Moreno uh from Ohio was there, and and then John
• 18:06
  Speaker 3: Curtis from Utah was there. So that was the four
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: Republicans who were in the room, and then there were
• 18:10
  Speaker 3: about seven eight nine Democrats that were there, so it
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: was a larger group of Democrats, and they were all
• 18:17
  Speaker 3: posing for the cameras and and and and look, I
• 18:21
  Speaker 3: think Rick Scott had had obvious reason to be be there.
• 18:24
  Speaker 3: There's a big, big Venezuelan population in Florida. Uh, Rick
• 18:29
  Speaker 3: Scott has a lot of support from the Venezuelan population
• 18:32
  Speaker 3: in Florida, so it made sense for him to be there. Bernie,
• 18:35
  Speaker 3: his family's from Colombia, and so you know, he you know,
• 18:38
  Speaker 3: Bernie and I are are the two two Hispanic Republicans
• 18:42
  Speaker 3: that are in the Senate. Yeah, and and since he's
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: Colombian American, I'm Cuban American. We kind of talked smack
• 18:48
  Speaker 3: at each other quite a bit, and Colombians and Cubans
• 18:51
  Speaker 3: usually throw down a little bit. And and you know
• 18:55
  Speaker 3: what it as for me. Look, there's a significant Venezuelan
• 18:58
  Speaker 3: population in Texas, in particularly because Venezuela has the largest
• 19:03
  Speaker 3: proven reserves of oil in the world, and Houston is
• 19:09
  Speaker 3: obviously the energy capital of the world. And so there
• 19:11
  Speaker 3: are a lot of Venezuelans who were in Houston. A
• 19:14
  Speaker 3: lot of Houston oil companies have been down in Venezuela
• 19:17
  Speaker 3: over the years. For many years, there was a group
• 19:21
  Speaker 3: called the Sitgo six that were Americans who were imprisoned
• 19:25
  Speaker 3: in Venezuela, and they were Houstonians. They worked for Citgo,
• 19:28
  Speaker 3: the oil company, and and Maduro had put them in prison,
• 19:32
  Speaker 3: and I was their leading advocate in the Senate. I
• 19:34
  Speaker 3: went to the Senate floor repeatedly. I spoke out for them.
• 19:37
  Speaker 3: I leaned repeatedly on the regime, and ultimately the Sitgo
• 19:42
  Speaker 3: six were released. But it had been you know, I
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: visited with with brick Orinomachado previously, had been engaged. I'd
• 19:50
  Speaker 3: been engaged with the opposition leaders for some time. And
• 19:54
  Speaker 3: and part of that is listen, I hate communists. It
• 19:58
  Speaker 3: is you know, my family was imprisoned and tortured by communists.
• 20:03
  Speaker 3: My dad was in prison and tortured by Batista was
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: not a communist, but my aunt, Mike Deasagna, was imprisoned
• 20:09
  Speaker 3: and tortured by Castro's goons. And and so when it
• 20:12
  Speaker 3: comes to communists, my.
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: You're talking, one of the level is extremely low.
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: I think they're in the embodiment of evil, and and
• 20:20
  Speaker 3: and and one of the real missions that I've had
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: really since since the day I got elected to the Senate,
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: is trying to highlight dissonance. I think there's a real
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: power to dissonance. There's a real power to those that
• 20:31
  Speaker 3: stand up to tyrants, that that that show courage and
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: that face prison and human rights abuses, because we've seen
• 20:40
  Speaker 3: tyrannies collapse because of the threats to their legitimacy. And
• 20:44
  Speaker 3: so I've tried in my time in the Senate really
• 20:47
  Speaker 3: to shine a light and amplify the message of dissonance.
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: And I got you and I, by the way, I've
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: talked about this this week when I was up in
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: DC and we had Bruce pearl on. By the way,
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: if you missed that show, go back and listen to it.
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: The famous basketball coach is a man sitting up for
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: Israel right now.
• 21:02
  Speaker 3: And that was a fun podcast.
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: It really was go back and grab it. But you
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: and I have talked about it.
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: And by the way, I did talk with someone last
• 21:10
  Speaker 3: night who said said she loved the podcast, and she
• 21:13
  Speaker 3: was she cracked up the most by hearing that Bruce
• 21:16
  Speaker 3: and I shared having both run around naked in college
• 21:19
  Speaker 3: streaking on campus. So if you want to hear the
• 21:21
  Speaker 3: story of that. Go listen, Go listen to the last podcast.
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: There you go. That's an easy tease right there.
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: You and I I've talked about the moment that we're
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: living in right now could be one of the biggest
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: historical moments, certainly of my lifetime, and that is we
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: have three countries that without Donald Trump being president right now,
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: if Kamala Harris is in the White House, we would
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: not be having this conversation. I believe that are on
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: the verge of quite possibly having free and fair elections
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: within the next twelve months. And that would be Iran,
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: that would be Venezuela, that would also be Cuba. People
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: are standing up for them stillselves and saying to their
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: government because they're being inspired by Donald Trump and what
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: he's also said, which is we have your back.
• 22:07
  Speaker 3: Well, and I want to take a moment for us
• 22:09
  Speaker 3: just to reflect on the incredible consequential times we're living.
• 22:14
  Speaker 3: And this is a point that I made to Machado
• 22:16
  Speaker 3: when she was in DC. I said, Look, it is
• 22:19
  Speaker 3: entirely possible that in the next few months, in the
• 22:23
  Speaker 3: next six months, we could see the regimes fall in Venezuela,
• 22:28
  Speaker 3: in Cuba, and Iran. We could see elections in Venezuela,
• 22:34
  Speaker 3: in Cuba and Iran, we could see leaders elected by
• 22:39
  Speaker 3: the people who stand for freedom and who want to
• 22:42
  Speaker 3: stand with America and be friends with America. We could
• 22:45
  Speaker 3: see that in Venezuela, in Cuba, and Iran, Iran. It
• 22:48
  Speaker 3: could happen literally in the next few hours of the
• 22:52
  Speaker 3: next few days. What is happening in Iran is so consequential,
• 22:56
  Speaker 3: what is happening in Venezuela is so consequential. In Cuba
• 22:59
  Speaker 3: is not far behind. And if that happens, that will
• 23:05
  Speaker 3: be the single most significant foreign policy development the world
• 23:09
  Speaker 3: has seen since the Berlin Wall was torn to the ground.
• 23:14
  Speaker 3: It will literally remake the geopolitical map and the consequences
• 23:20
  Speaker 3: of that. Now, to be clear, there are a thousand
• 23:23
  Speaker 3: things that can go wrong. There are a thousand things
• 23:25
  Speaker 3: that could go wrong in Venezuela, in Cuba, in Iran.
• 23:29
  Speaker 3: It's not guaranteed. In fact, it is guaranteed to not
• 23:32
  Speaker 3: be smooth and without challenges at is one hundred percent.
• 23:36
  Speaker 3: It will be bumpy and there will be challenges. But
• 23:39
  Speaker 3: all three regimes are in a panic, they are in
• 23:42
  Speaker 3: a free fall, and the people of all three countries
• 23:46
  Speaker 3: are energized. If you were to pick three countries that
• 23:49
  Speaker 3: for decades have been explicitly passionately anti American, the regimes,
• 23:56
  Speaker 3: the rulers have been responsible for terrorists, I'm responsible for
• 24:01
  Speaker 3: threatening the lives of Americans. It would be difficult to
• 24:04
  Speaker 3: find three more dangerous than Iran, Venezuela, and Cuba. And
• 24:10
  Speaker 3: you're right. This is the direct consequence of strong leadership
• 24:14
  Speaker 3: from the commander in chief. And it was interesting. One
• 24:16
  Speaker 3: of the Democrat senators who was in the meeting with me,
• 24:19
  Speaker 3: he actually pulled me aside afterwards and said, you know, Ted,
• 24:22
  Speaker 3: you made this point yesterday that this could be a
• 24:25
  Speaker 3: time as consequential as the Berlin Wall being torn to
• 24:29
  Speaker 3: the ground. And he said, I hadn't really thought about
• 24:32
  Speaker 3: it that way, but you're right, and it was an
• 24:35
  Speaker 3: interesting point. And I have to say one of the things, Look,
• 24:40
  Speaker 3: I was really impressed with Machado, how she handled her message,
• 24:44
  Speaker 3: by the way, to the senators, was that America's support
• 24:49
  Speaker 3: is really important to Venezuela and seeing some unity. Look,
• 24:53
  Speaker 3: her message, she was not in any way chastising the Democrats,
• 24:58
  Speaker 3: but she did say unity is really important, and what
• 25:02
  Speaker 3: is happening the people of Venezuela. This would not have
• 25:05
  Speaker 3: happened without President Trump. And there were some very partisan
• 25:08
  Speaker 3: Democrats in that room who were not thrilled to hear
• 25:11
  Speaker 3: that message, because their message every day is Trump bad,
• 25:14
  Speaker 3: Trump bad, Trump bad. But but she didn't want to
• 25:18
  Speaker 3: argue with them on that. But she just said, listen,
• 25:21
  Speaker 3: this is a moment we've waited decades for. And and
• 25:25
  Speaker 3: and in the opposition, she said, so many people in Venezuela,
• 25:28
  Speaker 3: what they said is this day would never come. This
• 25:31
  Speaker 3: day would never come, and it came, and it is here,
• 25:33
  Speaker 3: and and and seeing unity from America right now is
• 25:37
  Speaker 3: so important. Look, I think the same is true for Iran,
• 25:40
  Speaker 3: seeing unity standing with the protesters against the Ayahtola. If
• 25:47
  Speaker 3: we are six months from now, with the with the
• 25:49
  Speaker 3: governments and the leaders of those three countries being pro
• 25:52
  Speaker 3: American and want wanting to be our friends.
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: That is like Holy Cow.
• 25:59
  Speaker 3: That makes the world much safer, and that makes every
• 26:02
  Speaker 3: American much safer.
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: Sata, I want to ask you real quick before we
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: get back to Texas, where you had an amazing trip
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: with the Secretary of War. You got to go to
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: the plant where they make f thirty five. That's incredible,
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: and you got to go meet with Elon Musk again
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: and take a tour of what he's doing down in Brownsville, Texas.
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: But one other question I just want to get your
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: reaction to, and that is what are you hearing? What
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: have you guys been told this week about what's actually
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: happening in Iran? To be clear, depending on when you
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: hear this, things could change. So it's changing quickly. But
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: we've had an internet blackout there, the phones and the
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: landlines they've shut down. They didn't want information it out.
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: We saw the death toll rise significantly during that blackout period,
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: and then the president said the killing had stopped. He
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: said that the White House and he's like, look, I'm
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: looking at all options on the table.
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: What do you know and what have you been told?
• 26:52
  Speaker 3: Well, we have been saying for a number of days now,
• 26:55
  Speaker 3: over a million Iranians taking to the street day after
• 26:58
  Speaker 3: day after day and pro test. It's the administration that
• 27:02
  Speaker 3: the regime is doing everything they can to try to
• 27:04
  Speaker 3: put the protests down. They're responding with violence. It is difficult.
• 27:09
  Speaker 3: Anytime you have a conflict, you have unrest. In this case,
• 27:13
  Speaker 3: you have potentially a revolution, that there is a fog
• 27:15
  Speaker 3: of war, and so it is difficult to get clear
• 27:18
  Speaker 3: and accurate numbers. I've seen death tolls as high as
• 27:21
  Speaker 3: twelve thousand Iranians murdered by the regime trying to put
• 27:26
  Speaker 3: down the protesters, and they continue standing up and risking
• 27:29
  Speaker 3: their lives. It is incredible heroism. It is difficult to
• 27:32
  Speaker 3: get accurate information from the ground, although one of the
• 27:36
  Speaker 3: things that has helped is Elon Musk is providing free starlink.
• 27:40
  Speaker 3: So even though the Iotola and the mulas are blocking
• 27:43
  Speaker 3: the Internet, blocking television, starlink is operating for free. You know,
• 27:47
  Speaker 3: just a few minutes ago, a friend of mine who's
• 27:49
  Speaker 3: a senior official at the State Department, texted me said,
• 27:53
  Speaker 3: I'm currently in the Middle East. This region feels ready
• 27:57
  Speaker 3: to break free from Iran and turn to the future
• 28:02
  Speaker 3: like it. Wow, this could be imminent. This could happen
• 28:06
  Speaker 3: within hours or days. And it's powerful.
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: What's happening.
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: It really is also the president keeping all options on
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: the table. I think that's one of the great parts
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: of his foreign policy. Yes, there's a lot of people
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: that are that are you know, there's warhawks that want
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: them just to go in and bomb things. There's also
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: I think some Democrats that wanted to do that so
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: they can then criticize him. I think he has done
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: a masterful job this time with diplomacy and also transparency,
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: but also making it clear there is a red line
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: with the United States of America and I'm not afraid
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: to use the military if I need to save the
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: people's lives that are being persecuted.
• 28:43
  Speaker 3: Well, and there's a massive difference between now and two
• 28:46
  Speaker 3: thousand and nine when you had the Green Revolution. The
• 28:48
  Speaker 3: last time you had Iranians really rising up in big,
• 28:51
  Speaker 3: big numbers. In two thousand and nine, Barack Obama was
• 28:54
  Speaker 3: in the White House and they made a conscious decision
• 28:56
  Speaker 3: to undermine the protesters and stand with the regime. And
• 29:00
  Speaker 3: it was exactly backwards. And I gotta say.
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: People of that scenario because that story still is astounding
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: if you think about it compared to what we're seeing now.
• 29:08
  Speaker 3: Yeah, look at it was the Obama administration decided they
• 29:13
  Speaker 3: were going to stand with the Iatola and stand with
• 29:15
  Speaker 3: the Mullas, and so that they discourage the protesters, they
• 29:19
  Speaker 3: did not support them. And it is night and day.
• 29:22
  Speaker 3: Donald J. Trump is not Barack Obama, and he's not
• 29:24
  Speaker 3: Joe Biden. He is instead telling the people of Iran,
• 29:28
  Speaker 3: we are with you, we have your back. He's also
• 29:31
  Speaker 3: saying he is threatening real consequences to the regime if
• 29:35
  Speaker 3: they murder the protesters. I think that's a real deterrent.
• 29:38
  Speaker 3: He's telling the protesters write down the names of anyone
• 29:41
  Speaker 3: attacking you. There will be consequences. And you're right. President
• 29:45
  Speaker 3: Trump has been reluctant to use military force unnecessarily, but
• 29:50
  Speaker 3: he hasn't been afraid to wield a stick. And that
• 29:54
  Speaker 3: is why our adversaries are so terrified. It's why you're
• 29:57
  Speaker 3: seeing change sweeping glow.
• 30:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: Now, let's go back to Texas, and in this deal's
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: national security as well. Uh, in our military. You you
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: toured with a Secretary of Wars, Pete Headseth, a good
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: friend of both of ours. Something that I'm jealous. I'm
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: not gonna lie. I would have gone. I would have
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: driven for this invite. You got to go to the
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: F thirty five factory. How cool is that?
• 30:22
  Speaker 3: Yeah? So, so Monday was a full day. I started
• 30:24
  Speaker 3: in Houston, I drove to San Antonio. I visited the
• 30:26
  Speaker 3: three soldiers who were wounded in the Maduro Raid. I
• 30:31
  Speaker 3: then flew with the Secretary of Defense to Fort Worth,
• 30:33
  Speaker 3: went to the F thirty five plant, then flew to Brownsville,
• 30:36
  Speaker 3: went went went to Starbase, and then flew to DC
• 30:39
  Speaker 3: all in one day, so it was five cities in
• 30:41
  Speaker 3: one day.
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: Wow.
• 30:43
  Speaker 3: Fort Worth. The F thirty five plant is incredible. The
• 30:46
  Speaker 3: plant is over a mile long. They're building F thirty
• 30:50
  Speaker 3: five fifth generation fighter jets. The technology on them is incredible.
• 30:55
  Speaker 3: One of the reasons that we're able to prevail in
• 30:57
  Speaker 3: military conflicts and and no one else can really come
• 31:00
  Speaker 3: close is because of the incredible technology and Texans. We're
• 31:04
  Speaker 3: proud F thirty five's are built right here in Texas.
• 31:09
  Speaker 3: The workers that are there, we had a chance to
• 31:12
  Speaker 3: visit with a great many of them. Secretary heag Seth
• 31:15
  Speaker 3: gave it address to the workers, thank them for their
• 31:18
  Speaker 3: incredible work helping protect America, helping keep America strong. And
• 31:25
  Speaker 3: then I got to say down in Star Bas, Elon
• 31:28
  Speaker 3: was there. We spent several hours with Elon, toured around
• 31:32
  Speaker 3: and I've been I've been to the F thirty five
• 31:33
  Speaker 3: plant before, I've been to starbas down in Bocachica multiple times.
• 31:37
  Speaker 3: I got to tell you. Every time I go to
• 31:39
  Speaker 3: starbas it's advanced further. So this time around they're now
• 31:44
  Speaker 3: on the third generation starships. Last time I was there,
• 31:47
  Speaker 3: there were on the second generation starships. The third generation
• 31:50
  Speaker 3: has substantially more lift. The new engines are in it.
• 31:54
  Speaker 3: You look at the degree of rapid innovation, and they're
• 32:00
  Speaker 3: objective they want to make. They want to make rocket
• 32:03
  Speaker 3: ships like airplanes, where basically you think about an airplane,
• 32:06
  Speaker 3: you take off, go to your destination, refuel, and you
• 32:09
  Speaker 3: go to the next place, and you refuel and you
• 32:11
  Speaker 3: go to the next place. And it is such a
• 32:13
  Speaker 3: system change from a paradigm shift from the old world
• 32:18
  Speaker 3: that a rocket you fire off once, drop at the
• 32:20
  Speaker 3: ocean and you're done. In this instance, the objective is
• 32:25
  Speaker 3: to dramatically lower the cost of spaceflight. And I will
• 32:30
  Speaker 3: tell you for our military look. Secretary of Hegseeth gave
• 32:35
  Speaker 3: a major address at SpaceX talking about innovation at the
• 32:40
  Speaker 3: Department of War, talking about moving away from the old
• 32:44
  Speaker 3: legacy contractors, moving away from the bureaucracy and instead pride,
• 32:48
  Speaker 3: prizing and incentivizing innovation, bringing in new innovators. He's also
• 32:54
  Speaker 3: talking about leadership that he's doing to shake up the
• 32:57
  Speaker 3: old bureaucracy, and to integrate AI in the decision making
• 33:01
  Speaker 3: and and and and obviously Elon and x Ai is
• 33:06
  Speaker 3: helping lead the world in AI and and one of
• 33:09
  Speaker 3: the challenges this is something Pete and I have talked
• 33:11
  Speaker 3: about quite a bit. The Pentagon with some frequency fights
• 33:16
  Speaker 3: the last war, they think about the war that just
• 33:19
  Speaker 3: happened rather than the next war. And and if we
• 33:23
  Speaker 3: find ourselves in a military conflict with say, god forbid China.
• 33:27
  Speaker 3: And look, everyone wants to avoid a military conflict with China,
• 33:30
  Speaker 3: but if we find ourselves in a military conflict with China,
• 33:33
  Speaker 3: it's not likely to be aircraft carriers that that decideth
• 33:37
  Speaker 3: the way they have in previous military conflicts. That next war,
• 33:41
  Speaker 3: particularly with a near peer power, is likely to be
• 33:44
  Speaker 3: fought with thousands or tens of thousands, or even hundreds
• 33:47
  Speaker 3: of thousands of drones controlled by AI and and and
• 33:52
  Speaker 3: so at SpaceX Elon was leaning in, heg Seth was
• 33:57
  Speaker 3: leaning in saying, we are trying to create in the
• 33:59
  Speaker 3: Pentagon the innovation mindset, so we are ahead of our
• 34:03
  Speaker 3: adversaries so that we can avoid war through peace through strength.
• 34:07
  Speaker 2: It's incredible, don't forget.
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: We do the show three days a week, so make
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: sure you download Verdict with tech Cruz. Wherever you get
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: your podcast, hit the subscribe or auto download button.
• 34:17
  Speaker 2: If you're lit's stay on the radio.
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: We'll see you back here next week as well, but
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: grab the podcast in between you and also watch it
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: on YouTube. It's been Verdict with Ted Cruse, Ben Ferguson
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: with you have a great week.