Latest / The Ben Ferguson Podcast / ‘Lunatics Can’t Control Nukes’ Trump Sends Warning to Tehran plus the Bill That Could Redefine U.S. Elections

Transcript

‘Lunatics Can’t Control Nukes’ Trump Sends Warning to Tehran plus the Bill That Could Redefine U.S. Elections · The Ben Ferguson Podcast

0:00
Speaker 1: A major escalation in the Middle East, Israel announcing that
0:03
Speaker 1: it is now taken out not one, but two top
0:06
Speaker 1: Iranian leaders in a targeted strike, sending a clear and
0:10
Speaker 1: unmistakable message to Tehran and the world that there are
0:14
Speaker 1: still consequences for the actions of those leaders in Iran. Now,
0:18
Speaker 1: this just isn't another headline. That's the point. I want
0:21
Speaker 1: to make clear. This is clearly a defining moment. According
0:26
Speaker 1: to Israeli leadership, these were not symbolic targets. These were
0:31
Speaker 1: key architects of Iran's military and terror operations. Israel making
0:37
Speaker 1: it clear that they will act with or without permission
0:40
Speaker 1: to defend their nation, something they clearly wanted to let
0:44
Speaker 1: the Middle East know with, something that's non negotiable. Meanwhile,
0:49
Speaker 1: President Trump is weighing in backing Israel's right to defend
0:52
Speaker 1: itself and warning Iran not to retaliate, making it clear
0:57
Speaker 1: that strength, not weakness, is the policy moving forward. I
1:01
Speaker 1: want to take a quick moment and talk to you
1:03
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Speaker 1: dot com. That's Compassion dot com. The President asked about
2:19
Speaker 1: these new strikes in the Oval office, and here's what
2:22
Speaker 1: he had to say.
2:23
Speaker 3: The leaders have gotten I guess one of the top person.
2:27
Speaker 3: They say a lot of people say their actual top
2:29
Speaker 3: was killed yesterday along with somebody else who was responsible.
2:36
Speaker 4: For the killing.
2:37
Speaker 3: The man that was responsible for the killing of thirty
2:39
Speaker 3: two thousand people over the list two weeks. He was
2:42
Speaker 3: in charge of the killing of protesters. It's an evil group.
2:46
Speaker 3: I mean they've killed much more than thirty two thousand people.
2:50
Speaker 3: And the man who was responsible for that was also
2:52
Speaker 3: killed yesterday.
2:54
Speaker 1: President Trump wanting the world to know exactly why Israel
2:58
Speaker 1: had the right to protect and also to defend itself. Now,
3:02
Speaker 1: the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council was one
3:07
Speaker 1: of those that was killed. You also had a general,
3:10
Speaker 1: the head of the Revolutionary Guard, all volunteer by SIF force.
3:15
Speaker 1: They were eliminated last night, is what the Israeli Defense
3:18
Speaker 1: Minister said in his statement. The first individual that we
3:22
Speaker 1: talked about, the secretary of iran Supreme National Security Council,
3:26
Speaker 1: was considered one of the most powerful figures in the
3:29
Speaker 1: country since the Ayatola was killed in an airstrike on
3:33
Speaker 1: the first day of the war. Iranians Judiciary News Agency
3:38
Speaker 1: confirmed the killing of Solimani. Iran has not confirmed or
3:42
Speaker 1: denied the reported killing of the second individual.
3:45
Speaker 2: Now.
3:46
Speaker 1: Both men were key to Iran's violent crackdown on protests
3:50
Speaker 1: in January. The challenge that theocracy's forty seven year rule.
3:55
Speaker 1: The killings would strip a ran of important leaders during
3:59
Speaker 1: a war, presents the greatest test to the Islamic Revolutionary
4:03
Speaker 1: Guard and the Islamic Republic in recent decades. Now, all
4:08
Speaker 1: of this news is breaking as the world is also
4:11
Speaker 1: growing with real concern and watching about a global energy crisis.
4:17
Speaker 1: Iran has launched fresh attacks against several of its Gulf
4:21
Speaker 1: Arab neighbors and oil infrastructure throughout the region. Dubai, for example,
4:27
Speaker 1: a major transit hub for international travel, had to briefly
4:31
Speaker 1: shut down all of its airspace. Now that's the second
4:34
Speaker 1: disruption of flights in the city in the last two days.
4:38
Speaker 1: An Iranian official said Tehran had no intention of relinquishing
4:42
Speaker 1: its tight grip on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz,
4:45
Speaker 1: a crucial waterway as you know for oil. Twenty percent
4:50
Speaker 1: of the world's oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz.
4:53
Speaker 2: Now.
4:54
Speaker 1: On Tuesday, President Trump also said NATO and most other
4:58
Speaker 1: allies have rejected his calls to help secure the strait.
5:02
Speaker 1: The Israeli military said it had begun a wide scale
5:05
Speaker 1: wave of strikes as well across Iran's capital and was
5:09
Speaker 1: stepping up strikes on Iranian BacT Hesblah militants also in Lebanon.
5:15
Speaker 1: A former parliamentary speaker and senior policy adviser advised the
5:20
Speaker 1: late commanding on strategy and nuclear talks with the Trump administration.
5:24
Speaker 1: He was also sanctioned by the US Treasury in January
5:28
Speaker 1: for his role in coordinating Irans of violent suppression and
5:32
Speaker 1: nationwide protests. Solimani was also sanctioned by the US, as
5:37
Speaker 1: well as by the European Union and other nations over
5:40
Speaker 1: his role in helping suppress dissidents for years. The Israeli
5:44
Speaker 1: Prime Minister Netanyahu said the killings of these two individuals
5:48
Speaker 1: were aimed at weakening Iran's government, saying, quote, we are
5:52
Speaker 1: undermining the regime to give the Iranian people the opportunity
5:57
Speaker 1: to remove it now. There's been no signs of anti
6:00
Speaker 1: government protests since the war began, as many Iranians are
6:04
Speaker 1: sheltering for the American and Israeli airstrikes. The reported killing
6:08
Speaker 1: of these two individuals came on the eve of the
6:12
Speaker 1: Festival of Fire, shortly before the Persian New Year. Authorities
6:17
Speaker 1: have sent threatening text messages urging the public not to
6:21
Speaker 1: celebrate the festival, warning that the normally routy celebrations could
6:25
Speaker 1: be used by quote unquote rioters. State media aired footage
6:31
Speaker 1: Tuesday of pro government demonstrations, including images of some men
6:35
Speaker 1: in playing clothes branding assault rifles and shotguns on the
6:38
Speaker 1: backs of motorcycles, a sign of the government wanting to
6:41
Speaker 1: prevent renewed protests against their government. State television also showed
6:47
Speaker 1: crowds of women wrapped in black and older men waving
6:51
Speaker 1: flags and portraits of the killed former Supreme leader. Iran
6:55
Speaker 1: kept up the pressure on its neighbors and the energy
6:59
Speaker 1: infrastructure around the region. That is certainly something they're trying
7:02
Speaker 1: to use to their advantage. And in Iraq, not one
7:06
Speaker 1: but two drones were shot down by the defense system
7:09
Speaker 1: at the US embassy in Baghdad. I put that video,
7:12
Speaker 1: by the way, up on social media, and if you've
7:14
Speaker 1: not watched it yet, you should. You can see it
7:17
Speaker 1: on Instagram, at Ben Ferguson podcasts and on x at
7:20
Speaker 1: Ben Ferguson's show. A third drone also crashed inside the
7:24
Speaker 1: embassy compound that according to two Iraqi security officials and
7:29
Speaker 1: associated press journalists in the area also saw a massive
7:32
Speaker 1: fire that appeared to be engulfing a structure in the compound.
7:37
Speaker 1: There was no immediate comment from the embassy. Now in
7:40
Speaker 1: the UAE, an oil facility was hit and a man
7:44
Speaker 1: was killed in Abu Dhabi by debris from an intercepted missile,
7:48
Speaker 1: the eighth person to die in the UAE since the
7:51
Speaker 1: start of the war. Authorities have confirmed. Saudi Arabia said
7:55
Speaker 1: it intercepted drones while air defense could be heard targeting
7:59
Speaker 1: incoming fire over Qatar's capital a Doha. Iran's grip on
8:04
Speaker 1: the Straight of Hormuz is what everyone's watching right now,
8:07
Speaker 1: through which a fifth, as I mentioned earlier, of the
8:10
Speaker 1: world's oil is transported, and that is now sparking increased
8:14
Speaker 1: concerns about a tightening of energy supplies that is unnerving
8:18
Speaker 1: the world economy. President Trump was also asked about what
8:23
Speaker 1: exactly is happening in Iran an update, and the President
8:27
Speaker 1: kept it very simple, as he said this.
8:30
Speaker 5: Franklly, as somebody said, very They could leave today and
8:34
Speaker 5: it would take ten years to rebuild the damage that's
8:37
Speaker 5: been done. But I think we have to make it
8:39
Speaker 5: a little bit more permanent, because no other president has
8:41
Speaker 5: to go through this, and we shouldn't have any other
8:44
Speaker 5: president having to go through this kind of a thing,
8:48
Speaker 5: and if they didn't want to do it, if for
8:50
Speaker 5: some reason they didn't want to do.
8:52
Speaker 4: It, would have the same problem.
8:54
Speaker 5: We don't ever want to have that problem again, not
8:56
Speaker 5: with lunatics. We can't have lunatics control nuclear weaponry. So
9:02
Speaker 5: I just want to thank you every broder.
9:07
Speaker 1: President Trump was also asked by the media about is
9:11
Speaker 1: he concerned that this is going to turn into some
9:13
Speaker 1: sort of quagmire, some sort of Vietnam. The President responded
9:18
Speaker 1: very clearly with a simple message.
9:21
Speaker 2: The Iranian regime is filled stein news.
9:23
Speaker 5: If you put boots on the grounds.
9:24
Speaker 6: In round, it will be another Vietnam. Are you afraid
9:27
Speaker 6: of that?
9:28
Speaker 5: No, I'm not afraid of I'm really not afraid of anything.
9:32
Speaker 1: President Trump, looking at the media and saying it clear,
9:35
Speaker 1: not only to them, but also the terrorists and the
9:37
Speaker 1: rest of the world. This is certainly a big day
9:41
Speaker 1: for the attacks in Iran and a big day for
9:44
Speaker 1: Israel taking out two top leaders who are holding that
9:47
Speaker 1: regime together. I want to get you up to speed
9:51
Speaker 1: on one of the biggest fights happening in Washington, DC.
9:55
Speaker 2: Right now. I've got big breaking news for you.
9:57
Speaker 1: The Save America Act has been officially greenlit. Today, the
10:04
Speaker 1: US Senate officially kicked off debate on the Save America Act.
10:08
Speaker 1: It's a major election integrity bill that has become a
10:11
Speaker 1: top priority for President Trump and now, thank goodness, the
10:15
Speaker 1: Republican leadership. This is a big deal because just getting
10:20
Speaker 1: the debate required a key vote. Republicans pushed it through
10:25
Speaker 1: fifty one to forty eight, meaning the bill is now
10:28
Speaker 1: front and center on the Senate floor. Now here's what
10:32
Speaker 1: the bill actually does. At its core, the Save Act
10:36
Speaker 1: requires proof of US citizenship to register to vote, along
10:39
Speaker 1: with photo ID requirements to cast a ballot in federal elections.
10:44
Speaker 1: Republicans and President Trump say this is about one thing,
10:48
Speaker 1: protecting election integrity and making sure only American citizens are voting,
10:53
Speaker 1: which is not controversial. Trump has made it clear this
10:57
Speaker 1: is the top legislative priority for him. He's even worn
11:01
Speaker 1: again today that he'll politically target Republicans who don't support
11:06
Speaker 1: it and push Congress hard to get it done. Now,
11:10
Speaker 1: the bill already passed the House earlier this year. It's
11:13
Speaker 1: now in the Senate and the debate is underway. Now
11:16
Speaker 1: here's the hard facts and the tough part it faces.
11:20
Speaker 1: A major hurdle. It will likely need sixty votes to pass,
11:24
Speaker 1: and Republicans don't currently have that level of support. What
11:28
Speaker 1: we do know is the Republicans are saying, let's talk
11:31
Speaker 1: it out. Center Thun, the Majority leader, saying this about
11:36
Speaker 1: this legislation.
11:37
Speaker 4: Good afternoon everyone.
11:39
Speaker 7: Thank as everybody knows, we are looking forward to having
11:42
Speaker 7: an important battle on the floor of the Senate this
11:44
Speaker 7: week on the Save America Act. And obviously the message
11:50
Speaker 7: that came over from the House includes a couple of
11:53
Speaker 7: key components, one of which is that you have to
11:56
Speaker 7: prove citizenship to be able to register to vote in
11:58
Speaker 7: this country, and the second component is that you actually
12:02
Speaker 7: have to show an ID to vote in this country.
12:04
Speaker 7: We think those are both things that are overwhelmingly popular
12:07
Speaker 7: all across this country, no matter what your political party is.
12:11
Speaker 7: And just to sort of illustrate, I think how this
12:16
Speaker 7: issue is something that a lot of people resonate with
12:18
Speaker 7: and connect to is the fact that pretty much everything
12:21
Speaker 7: you do in your daily life involves showing an ID.
12:26
Speaker 7: You know, whether it's opening a bank account, you know,
12:29
Speaker 7: getting a hotel room, picking up prescription drugs. You need
12:34
Speaker 7: a card in many cases just to get into a library,
12:37
Speaker 7: I mean, these are things that are just basic, fundamental
12:40
Speaker 7: aspects of our everyday life. We certainly ought to be
12:43
Speaker 7: able to apply them to something as important as voting
12:47
Speaker 7: in this country.
12:48
Speaker 4: And if you think.
12:49
Speaker 7: About it, even the Democrats who are complaining loudly about this,
12:53
Speaker 7: require a photo ID to get into the Democrat National Convention.
12:58
Speaker 7: And there are a number of our colleagues, Democrat colleagues
13:01
Speaker 7: on the other side of the aisle, who require a
13:04
Speaker 7: photo ID just to attend their official events. So these
13:08
Speaker 7: are issues that are overwhelmingly popular with American people, as
13:12
Speaker 7: is the issue of ensuring that biological males cannot compete
13:16
Speaker 7: in women's sports. We think that is also a no brainer.
13:19
Speaker 7: It defies common sense not to agree with that. But
13:23
Speaker 7: that is an issue also that we intend to have
13:27
Speaker 7: a conversation about on the floor in the next few days,
13:30
Speaker 7: and we'll look forward to putting the Democrats on record
13:34
Speaker 7: and showing just the lack of common sense that they
13:37
Speaker 7: apply to some of these basic issues where the American
13:39
Speaker 7: people agree with us. So it'll be an interesting debate,
13:43
Speaker 7: and we are engaging. Starting we'll get on that bill
13:47
Speaker 7: this afternoon. We'll pick up the message that came over
13:49
Speaker 7: from the House and start that conversation. And I'm looking
13:53
Speaker 7: forward to a vigorous, long and spirited conversation on the
13:58
Speaker 7: floor of the United States Senator out these important issues.
14:01
Speaker 5: Now.
14:01
Speaker 1: Republicans seem to understand now that they need to really
14:05
Speaker 1: sell this not only to the American people, but sell
14:08
Speaker 1: the fact that the Democrats are refusing to do what
14:12
Speaker 1: the public is demanding. Voter idea is overwhelmingly supported by Republicans, Independents,
14:19
Speaker 1: and even Democrats. This is probably the most bipartisan issue
14:23
Speaker 1: in the United States of America right now. Senator Barasso
14:28
Speaker 1: talking about the Democratic Party and what they're really all about.
14:32
Speaker 8: Ten million illegal immigrants flooded into our country while Joe
14:36
Speaker 8: Biden was president and the Democrats were in charge in
14:39
Speaker 8: the United States Senate and House, and now the Democrats
14:43
Speaker 8: want those same illegal immigrants to have an impact on
14:46
Speaker 8: the elections in the United States. I believe only citizens
14:50
Speaker 8: of the United States should be allowed to vote in
14:53
Speaker 8: American elections, and I believe you should have to present
14:56
Speaker 8: a photo identification card in order to vote.
15:00
Speaker 4: It's common sense.
15:02
Speaker 8: You need to present a photo ID to buy a beard,
15:04
Speaker 8: a board a plane, and to do so many other
15:06
Speaker 8: things that are part of American.
15:07
Speaker 4: Life, why not to vote?
15:10
Speaker 8: And the great American, the great number of American people
15:13
Speaker 8: agree completely with this that you should have to have
15:16
Speaker 8: a photo ID and be a citizen in order to vote.
15:20
Speaker 8: The Save America Act is the best way to secure
15:25
Speaker 8: and safely provide elections that represent the viewpoints of the
15:29
Speaker 8: American people.
15:31
Speaker 4: And you have the.
15:31
Speaker 8: Democrats in this chamber are going to come to the
15:33
Speaker 8: floor and each and every one of them is going
15:36
Speaker 8: to stand with the far left, the extreme members of
15:38
Speaker 8: their party who oppose voter identification with a photo ID.
15:43
Speaker 8: We're going to put every one of them on the
15:45
Speaker 8: record so that everyone in America knows that Republicans support
15:50
Speaker 8: voter ID and Democrats are the party of open borders
15:55
Speaker 8: and illegal voters.
15:57
Speaker 1: Now, let me be clear about a couple of things. One,
16:00
Speaker 1: I don't think it should have taken Republicans this long
16:02
Speaker 1: to take it up, and Senator Thune obviously was slow
16:06
Speaker 1: playing this.
16:07
Speaker 2: That bothers me.
16:08
Speaker 1: Number Two, I do think it's important that Donald Trump
16:12
Speaker 1: said what he said, making it abundantly clear that he
16:16
Speaker 1: is going to go after any Republican that doesn't actively
16:19
Speaker 1: support this. And if you're trying to undermine it behind
16:22
Speaker 1: the scenes. There will be a major problem for you.
16:26
Speaker 1: He will find a cannant to literally run against you
16:29
Speaker 1: and do it. It shouldn't take any of that to
16:34
Speaker 1: get this done. Unfortunately, there are far too many well
16:38
Speaker 1: squishy is the best way I can describe them, Republicans
16:43
Speaker 1: in the Senate that don't seem to really want to
16:45
Speaker 1: fight on an issue that so many Americans have said,
16:48
Speaker 1: we are begging you to fight on. The President has
16:52
Speaker 1: made it clear that the Save Act is his top priority.
16:56
Speaker 1: He's made it clear that he is not going to
16:59
Speaker 1: back down. He's made it very clear that if you
17:02
Speaker 1: are a Republican, you are expected to stand up and
17:08
Speaker 1: do the right thing and listen to the American people. Now,
17:11
Speaker 1: this should be a midterm election year issue. Democrats should
17:15
Speaker 1: have to answer for this. America is entering the two
17:20
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17:23
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Speaker 4: Now.
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Speaker 2: One thing is also clear.
18:48
Speaker 1: As I mentioned earlier, Donald Trump says he's holding Republicans
18:51
Speaker 1: accountable for their actions on this I it's sad by
18:55
Speaker 1: the way that he even has to say this, But
18:57
Speaker 1: Donald Trump at the White House describe it this way
19:01
Speaker 1: to make it clear to Democrats and Republicans.
19:05
Speaker 2: You oppose this, I'm coming after you.
19:08
Speaker 5: Ain't that in the Save America Act as one of
19:11
Speaker 5: our five that's voter ID. We want voter ID, we
19:14
Speaker 5: want proof of citizenship. We want no transgender mutilization of
19:20
Speaker 5: your children. We don't want transgender beauty. That's number three.
19:24
Speaker 5: We want no men in women's sports. That's number four.
19:27
Speaker 5: And we don't want to have mail in voting where
19:30
Speaker 5: the votes go win a hell do they come from?
19:33
Speaker 5: So we're gonna we do that. It's five things. They're
19:36
Speaker 5: all ninety nine percent. They say, oh, that's an eighty
19:40
Speaker 5: percent issue, like voter ID. No, I think it's a
19:43
Speaker 5: ninety nine I think the Democrats have it at eighty
19:46
Speaker 5: seven percent. The leadership doesn't want it. Why don't you
19:50
Speaker 5: want voter ID. There's only one reason, ready, because you
19:54
Speaker 5: want to cheat. Okay. They blame it on all sorts
19:57
Speaker 5: of things. They came up. They said it's race. They
20:01
Speaker 5: came up with things that you have to say. Their
20:03
Speaker 5: imagination is great. No, we're not gonna let them cheat
20:06
Speaker 5: like they did in a certain election that we won't
20:09
Speaker 5: talk about, but that.
20:10
Speaker 2: Election was and they cheat. Now, look, we're not gonna.
20:14
Speaker 5: Let it happen. So we're gonna go get the Save
20:16
Speaker 5: America Act, not the Save Act. Nobody knew what the
20:19
Speaker 5: Save Act meant. The Save Act?
20:20
Speaker 3: What save?
20:21
Speaker 8: What?
20:22
Speaker 5: Save America Act? And it's we're going to do everything
20:25
Speaker 5: we can. It's hard to believe. It's hard to believe.
20:28
Speaker 5: We're having a hard time. I think anybody that votes
20:32
Speaker 5: against it shot shouldn't be allowed to run for office.
20:34
Speaker 1: You want to know that to President Trump making it
20:37
Speaker 1: clear this is a top priority. He's not backing down
20:42
Speaker 1: and he's going to fight on this one to win it.
20:46
Speaker 1: It is a big win for election integrity. The Save
20:50
Speaker 1: Act is heading to the Senate for with a lot
20:52
Speaker 1: of Republicans that are excited about it. The problem is
20:56
Speaker 1: there's a couple of Republicans that are not wanting to
20:59
Speaker 1: play ball on the issue, which is truly frustrating and
21:03
Speaker 1: also shocking. Now recent pulling overwhelmingly supports this, strong majorities
21:09
Speaker 1: backing voter ID requirements as well as proof of citizenship measures.
21:14
Speaker 1: This isn't a fringe issue. It's literally a mainstream demand
21:18
Speaker 1: from people on all sides of the country. Republicans are
21:22
Speaker 1: framing this is common sense reform, and the American people
21:25
Speaker 1: are saying that's exactly what they see as well. Secure
21:29
Speaker 1: the vote, protect citizens, restore trust in our elections. Now,
21:33
Speaker 1: GOP leaders say that bill is about one simple thing,
21:36
Speaker 1: and this is what the President has said over and
21:38
Speaker 1: over again. This is about American elections should be decided
21:44
Speaker 1: by American citizens. President Donald Trump is applauding the move,
21:49
Speaker 1: calling it a massive step forward for election integrity, also
21:53
Speaker 1: praising Senate Republicans for fighting to protect the voice of
21:56
Speaker 1: every legal voter in the country. Trump has also made
21:59
Speaker 1: it clear this is just the beginning here at swift
22:03
Speaker 1: passage in the Senate and signaling that election security will
22:07
Speaker 1: remain front and center heading into the next midterm election cycle.
22:11
Speaker 1: Republicans in Congress are also leaning into the momentum, arguing
22:16
Speaker 1: that this vote puts every lawmaker on record, forcing a
22:20
Speaker 1: clear choice on election day stand for secure elections or
22:24
Speaker 1: opposed safeguards that the majority of Americans support. Now, that
22:29
Speaker 1: also brings us to reality center. Thune, he is the
22:33
Speaker 1: majority leader in the Senate, set down with Fox News
22:36
Speaker 1: channels Brett Baer and he asks them about the reality
22:40
Speaker 1: of the Save Act and what's going to happen. Here
22:42
Speaker 1: is what he had to say about getting to that
22:45
Speaker 1: sixty vote threshold for the Save Act to actually pass
22:49
Speaker 1: some votes.
22:50
Speaker 9: But you know the frustration here you have head counters
22:53
Speaker 9: that look at the votes and if you bring this
22:55
Speaker 9: to the floor and knowing it can't clear sixty votes,
23:00
Speaker 9: willing to kind of vote procedurally to change the rules.
23:05
Speaker 4: To pass it.
23:06
Speaker 9: Then is this, you know, legislating Are you kind of
23:09
Speaker 9: just messaging for the election?
23:10
Speaker 4: Well, it's legislating.
23:12
Speaker 7: I mean, actually, if you look at the substance of
23:14
Speaker 7: the policy, this is about safe and secure and elections
23:18
Speaker 7: in this country and making sure that you know, we
23:21
Speaker 7: have an election process that is actually the right people,
23:24
Speaker 7: not just the you know, the illegals who are in this.
23:27
Speaker 4: Country have an opportunity to vote.
23:29
Speaker 7: We want to make sure that if you're in this country,
23:31
Speaker 7: you have to be a citizen of this country actually
23:33
Speaker 7: to exercise and cast your vote. So I think that's
23:35
Speaker 7: a fairly simple position and one that Democrats audit we
23:39
Speaker 7: eventually get on board with, but if they don't, we will.
23:42
Speaker 7: I mean it's obviously an issue that we will be
23:44
Speaker 7: able to use, I think in the fall elections.
23:46
Speaker 4: But so it has politics around it.
23:48
Speaker 7: But this is a goal is to achieve a policy outcome,
23:52
Speaker 7: and that is to try and get a requirement in
23:56
Speaker 7: law that in federal elections that you would have to
23:59
Speaker 7: be a citizen in order to register a vote, and
24:01
Speaker 7: you'd have to show an ID in order to vote
24:03
Speaker 7: in our election.
24:04
Speaker 4: And there's no way to split it up to do
24:06
Speaker 4: pieces of that.
24:07
Speaker 9: Is there any way any piece of this could get
24:10
Speaker 9: passed to sixty votes?
24:11
Speaker 7: Well, we'll see. I mean we're looking at how to
24:13
Speaker 7: do that. There are other pieces of the Save America
24:16
Speaker 7: Act in addition to those two.
24:17
Speaker 4: Those are the two that pass the House.
24:19
Speaker 7: The President has also introduced the idea of mail in voting,
24:23
Speaker 7: and so we've got some reforms and modifications to that.
24:26
Speaker 7: There's also the issue of whether or not biological mails
24:29
Speaker 7: ought to be able to compete in girls sports. There
24:32
Speaker 7: is the transgender surgery issue. Those are all issues on
24:35
Speaker 7: which I think most Americans, at least if they're Americans
24:38
Speaker 7: who are applying common sense, vote for and support in
24:43
Speaker 7: very big numbers.
24:43
Speaker 4: The only folks who don't support it.
24:45
Speaker 7: Peers, at least at the moment are Democrats and the Senate,
24:47
Speaker 7: but we'll see if that changes over the course of time.
24:50
Speaker 4: What I've said all along, Bret.
24:52
Speaker 7: Is that what we will do is we will guarantee
24:53
Speaker 7: a debate on this issue. Obviously, it's a big priority
24:56
Speaker 7: for the president. There are a lot of people across
24:58
Speaker 7: the country who want to see this voted on, and
25:01
Speaker 7: we will guarantee a vote at the end of that.
25:03
Speaker 1: Now, to be clear, Senator Thune isn't telling you every
25:06
Speaker 1: option available to actually get a real vote on this
25:09
Speaker 1: or to get it passed. I should say without getting
25:12
Speaker 1: to sixty there are other options. Senator Cruz was explaining
25:17
Speaker 1: exactly what one of those options would be. The problem
25:21
Speaker 1: is finding fifty Republicans that are willing to go along
25:26
Speaker 1: with it, and what it would mean is working over
25:28
Speaker 1: time and having a night and day back and forth
25:33
Speaker 1: with the Democrats, forcing it to become a reality. Now,
25:38
Speaker 1: this is something that's been done in the past, and
25:40
Speaker 1: this is Senator Cruz explaining exactly how it could be done.
25:44
Speaker 6: Now, you've got to have fifty Republicans who will stand together.
25:48
Speaker 6: Because the fifty Republicans have to number one. Anytime the
25:52
Speaker 6: Democrats want to, they can suggest the absence of a quorum,
25:56
Speaker 6: and we have to be able to produce fifty bodies.
25:58
Speaker 2: Oh, everybody's got to be there. So everybody's got to
26:01
Speaker 2: be there.
26:01
Speaker 6: Yeah, you've got to physically be able to.
26:03
Speaker 2: It could go for to be clear, that could go,
26:06
Speaker 2: as you were saying, for days, right, for days or weeks.
26:08
Speaker 1: Yes, And in other words, there's some senators in the
26:12
Speaker 1: Republican Party that just would rather go home. Yeah, we'd
26:15
Speaker 1: rather go home on Thursdays like they always do. They
26:17
Speaker 1: don't want to stay over the weekend. They don't want
26:19
Speaker 1: to fight for this for a week or two.
26:21
Speaker 6: And secondly, the Democrats can tee up amendments and try
26:25
Speaker 6: to force votes on amendments, and we've got to have
26:26
Speaker 6: fifty Republicans that reject their amendments, that stand together. And
26:31
Speaker 6: right now we have I don't know, forty seven, forty eight,
26:34
Speaker 6: but we don't have fifty. And so we're having an
26:36
Speaker 6: arguments with a handful who are saying no. And I
26:41
Speaker 6: hope it changes, but right now, right now, we don't
26:46
Speaker 6: have fifty.
26:48
Speaker 1: Final question on this one, when will the American people know?
26:52
Speaker 1: What day will you guys make this decision on either
26:55
Speaker 1: trying to vote for that or just having a straight
26:58
Speaker 1: up vote that you know you're going to come up.
27:00
Speaker 6: Yeah, if nothing changes, we will likely vote have the
27:04
Speaker 6: final vote on Thursday of this week, and we will
27:07
Speaker 6: end up probably with fifty to fifty one fifty two
27:10
Speaker 6: votes for the Save America Act, but will need sixty
27:13
Speaker 6: and so the vote will fail if nothing changes. That's
27:16
Speaker 6: where we're headed.
27:18
Speaker 1: And then do you expect the President to weigh in
27:20
Speaker 1: heavy on the strategy here? Does he know these two options?
27:23
Speaker 1: And how much influence would I have if the President
27:25
Speaker 1: came out and said, you know, damn it, men and women,
27:28
Speaker 1: stay in Washington, DC and fight this thing out and
27:30
Speaker 1: let's see what happens.
27:31
Speaker 6: Yeah, the President has said that multiple times and that
27:35
Speaker 6: has been a significant part of the argument. But we
27:37
Speaker 6: still at the end of the day, you can't wave
27:41
Speaker 6: a magic wand and produce the votes, and we're still
27:44
Speaker 6: frustratingly short of fifty.
27:47
Speaker 1: So the one big X factor here is also President Trump.
27:50
Speaker 1: What will he say over the next twenty four hours.
27:53
Speaker 1: How many phone calls will he be making to put
27:57
Speaker 1: real pressure on many of these Reportsublicans? And is there
28:01
Speaker 1: a chance that you could get the fifty Republicans needed
28:04
Speaker 1: for a filibuster. This is all playing out in real time.
28:08
Speaker 1: One thing is for sure. The President is focused on it.
28:12
Speaker 1: And I also think it's very clear to say he's
28:15
Speaker 1: not backing down, so we'll keep covering it. And the
28:19
Speaker 1: President said he's going to keep fighting for it no
28:22
Speaker 1: matter what, and that should make every Trump supporter excited.
28:27
Speaker 1: Right now, make sure you share this podcast please wherever
28:30
Speaker 1: you can on social media so others will hear it.
28:34
Speaker 1: Hit that subscriber auto download button, and I'll see you
28:37
Speaker 1: back here tomorrow