Latest / The Ben Ferguson Podcast / Pressure Cooker as Senate Faces the SAVE Act plus Cubans Rise as Energy Grid Collapses

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Pressure Cooker as Senate Faces the SAVE Act plus Cubans Rise as Energy Grid Collapses · The Ben Ferguson Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Well, I think you guess, prices as soon as that's.
• 0:02
  Speaker 2: Over going to come tumbling down along with everything else.
• 0:05
  Speaker 3: I think it's going to be here to see a
• 0:07
  Speaker 3: very big decrease in the price of gasoline, gas, anything
• 0:10
  Speaker 3: happy to do with energy as soon as this is ended.
• 0:14
  Speaker 3: But we had to end the nuclear threat in the
• 0:16
  Speaker 3: Middle East throughout the world, and we will have done that.
• 0:20
  Speaker 4: You're listening to the forty seven Morning Update with Ben ferguson.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: Good Monday morning. Nice to have you with us on
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: the forty seven Morning Update, and we've got a major
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: update for you on the Save Act. There is real
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: movement in Washington, DC as conservatives are joining together to
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: do everything they can to get the Save Act into reality.
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  Speaker 2: The President coming out talking about as well, and the
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  Speaker 2: Senate majority leader. So who's holding it up and what's
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  Speaker 2: going to happen this week? Will there be a vote
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: on it? I explain it all for you, But before
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: we get to that, I want to tell you about
• 0:55
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  Speaker 2: seven or nine seven to two Patriot and Switch. Today
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: it's the forty seven Morning Update and it starts right now.
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  Speaker 4: Story number one center.
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  Speaker 2: Mike Lee is saying now that there is a planned
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  Speaker 2: vote on the Save America Act that will show who
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  Speaker 2: is fighting for securing elections and also who fears them.
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  Speaker 2: Mike Lee said, the plan vote on the Save Act
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  Speaker 2: will reveal exactly who's on the side of America is
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: another way of putting it. Now, let me give you
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: a background on where how we got to this point.
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: This has been one of the biggest political fights happening
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: in Washington right now. And it is a fight in Washington,
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  Speaker 2: but not actually among the American people. Because polling shows
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: that the majority of Americans are in favor of the
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  Speaker 2: Save Act. That is not a controversy. So why is
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  Speaker 2: Washington doing what they're doing Because Democrats want to cheat.
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  Speaker 2: That's what this is all about. This would safeguard American
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  Speaker 2: voter Eligibility Act. That's what the Save Act stands for.
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  Speaker 2: The legislation has become a major priority for Donald Trump
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  Speaker 2: and Republicans in Congress for one reason, because there shouldn't
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: be people that are voting illegally in our elections. Now,
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  Speaker 2: what does the SAVE Act do? That is a big
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  Speaker 2: question that so many have asked, and I think it's
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  Speaker 2: important that we answer it. At its core, this bill
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  Speaker 2: would require, and this is not crazy, the majority of
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  Speaker 2: Americans are in favor it documenting proof of US cisenship
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  Speaker 2: in order to register to vote in federal elections, along
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  Speaker 2: with stronger voter ID requirements. Many supporters and other countries
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  Speaker 2: around the world that do what we're trying to do
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  Speaker 2: in the US have not only said that the goal
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  Speaker 2: is simple. It is to ensure that only American citizens
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  Speaker 2: are voting in American elections. This is why the majority
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  Speaker 2: of Americans are overwhelmingly in favor of this. Now, the
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  Speaker 2: House of Representatives has already passed their version of the
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  Speaker 2: bill with strong Republican support. The focus has now shifted
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  Speaker 2: to the US Senate, where the legislation faces a difficult
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  Speaker 2: path because it would likely need sixty votes to overcome
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  Speaker 2: a filibuster. And that's where the political fight is really
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  Speaker 2: heating up. President Trump and GOP leaders and I'm talking
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  Speaker 2: about real leaders, Okay, not Fune, I'm talking about the
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  Speaker 2: other ones all right, are now pushing hard on this
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  Speaker 2: because the American people are demanding it. President Trump promised it,
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  Speaker 2: and that's why many people voted for Donald Trump. President
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  Speaker 2: Trump has made the same Act a centerpiece issue of legislation.
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  Speaker 2: He's been out there arguing that election integrity reforms are
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  Speaker 2: essential ahead of the upcoming elections now. At a Republican
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  Speaker 2: gathering earlier this month, President Trump said voter ID and
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  Speaker 2: citizenship verification laws are overwhelmingly supported by the American public
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  Speaker 2: and are necessary to protect elections. Trump has also taken
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  Speaker 2: the extraordinary steps of pressuring Congress to act on this,
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  Speaker 2: saying he does not want to sign other legislation until
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  Speaker 2: the SAVE Act is pass, making it clearly his top priority.
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  Speaker 2: That is exactly what the President had to do, spend
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  Speaker 2: that political capital to get us where we are now.
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  Speaker 2: That's also sad because the President shouldn't have had to
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  Speaker 2: have done that. It should have been something that the
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  Speaker 2: Democratic Party overwhelmingly support as well, because the majority of
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  Speaker 2: Americans support it. This should have gotten to sixty votes easily.
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  Speaker 2: The only reason why it has is because of one reason.
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  Speaker 2: Democrats love to cheat in elections, and they want to cheat.
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  Speaker 2: That is the only reason why you wouldn't support the
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  Speaker 2: SAVE app now, Republicans in Congress say the legislation is
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  Speaker 2: about restoring confidence and elections after years of controversy and
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  Speaker 2: distrust by the American people. Several GOP centers and candidates
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  Speaker 2: have even suggested changing Senate rules, including bringing back a
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  Speaker 2: talking filibuster, to force the build through if Democrats continue
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  Speaker 2: to block it. Now, this is where the politics comes in,
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  Speaker 2: and it's really interesting to see what the politics are
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  Speaker 2: on this one. All Right, You've got Senator John Cornyn,
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  Speaker 2: who is upside down, I mean in a big way.
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  Speaker 2: All right, I want to be clear about that. He
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  Speaker 2: is did not get fifty plus one percent in his
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  Speaker 2: primary challenge by Ken Paxton. You also had Wesley Hunt.
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  Speaker 2: He's out. It's now gone to a runoff. John Cornan
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  Speaker 2: has now been forced to shift his stance on the
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  Speaker 2: Senate rules as the pressure from conservative voters is growing
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  Speaker 2: to get the bill across the finish line. If he doesn't,
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  Speaker 2: he has definitely done in this primary runoff that they're
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  Speaker 2: having in Texas right now. So that's one of the
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  Speaker 2: reasons why we're seeing this movie, because let's be clear,
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  Speaker 2: John Cornyn was holding this thing up. Now, not every
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  Speaker 2: Republican agrees on the tactics that we're dealing with right now.
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  Speaker 2: Senate leadership, for example, is acknowledged the math is difficult
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  Speaker 2: right now, Republicans holding a narrow majority of the Senate,
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  Speaker 2: the bill would still need Democratic votes to reach the
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  Speaker 2: sixty vote threshold, which leadership says is unlikely at this moment.
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  Speaker 2: Republican leaders say, the plan of force votes and put
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  Speaker 2: Democrats on record opposing what they describe and what the
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  Speaker 2: American people agree is a common sense election protections is
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  Speaker 2: still worth it. So let's go to the polling here,
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  Speaker 2: because that's something else that Americans need to understand. Republicans
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  Speaker 2: are making it very clear that are behind this, in
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  Speaker 2: quitting President Trump, that the numbers show that the American
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  Speaker 2: people want this. Polling numbers frequently cited by supporters of
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  Speaker 2: this legislation are showing that there is strong national support
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  Speaker 2: for voter ID and proof of citizenship requirements.
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  Speaker 5: Now.
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  Speaker 2: According to recent polling cited by the White House, seventy
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  Speaker 2: one percent of Americans support the Save America Act, eighty
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  Speaker 2: one percent of Americans support voter ID requirements, seventy five
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  Speaker 2: percent of voters support proof of citizenship to vote, and
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  Speaker 2: sixty nine percent of Independents support the legislation. Now here's
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  Speaker 2: the part that's really interesting. Even about half of Democrats
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  Speaker 2: support the proposal as well, saying yes, only Americans should
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  Speaker 2: vote in our elections. Now. Separate polling has also showed
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  Speaker 2: I support for voter ID laws more broadly in general.
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  Speaker 2: Let me give you those numbers so you understand this
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  Speaker 2: is a bipartisan issue. Eighty four percent of Americans support
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  Speaker 2: requiring photo ID to vote. That's more than eight out
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  Speaker 2: of ten Americans. Eighty three percent support requiring proof of
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  Speaker 2: citizenship when registering to vote, because it's insane that you
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  Speaker 2: could be able to vote without showing that you're a citizen.
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  Speaker 2: Supporters say, those numbers are showing one thing. This is
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  Speaker 2: as bipartisan as it gets in twenty twenty six. It's
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  Speaker 2: one of the most popular election reforms in decades in
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  Speaker 2: this country, and there is a clear consensus. It goes
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  Speaker 2: back to the question why are Democrats against it? Now?
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  Speaker 2: Critics warn of major voting barriers, right, is what they say,
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  Speaker 2: and I'm going to go through those in a moment.
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  Speaker 2: But I also want you to hear the Senate Majority
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  Speaker 2: Leader John Thune what he had to say about what
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  Speaker 2: will happen this week.
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  Speaker 5: Next week, I will be bringing the Save America Act
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  Speaker 5: to the full and we will be having a full
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  Speaker 5: and robust debate. So, mister President, what is the Save
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  Speaker 5: America Act. It is a package of common sense policies,
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  Speaker 5: the kind of common sense policies that should get an
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  Speaker 5: automatic yes vote from literally every member of this body.
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  Speaker 5: At the core of the Save America Act is the
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  Speaker 5: requirement that individuals provide proof of citizenship to register to
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  Speaker 5: vote and then show an ID when they go to
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  Speaker 5: the polls. In other words, it would require Americans to
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  Speaker 5: demonstrate that they're eligible to vote and that they are
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  Speaker 5: who they say they are when they go to do so.
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  Speaker 5: Not to keep using the word common sense, but it's
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  Speaker 5: pretty common sense, right. We require photo ID for a
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  Speaker 5: whole lot of things in this country for obvious reasons.
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  Speaker 5: Getting on a plane, show your official government issued photo ID.
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  Speaker 5: Go to the doctor, same thing. Provide your government issued
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  Speaker 5: photo ID plus your insurance card. Get hired for a
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  Speaker 5: new job, provide your government issued photo ID. When you
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  Speaker 5: start this, President, public libraries ask for a photo ID.
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  Speaker 5: In New York City, you have to provide some type
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  Speaker 5: of photo ID to get a library card. Baltimore, Maryland.
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  Speaker 5: Same thing, Washington, d C. Again, photo ID.
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  Speaker 2: President.
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  Speaker 5: I'll stop with the list of libraries, but I think
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  Speaker 5: we can all agree that if you have to show
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  Speaker 5: photo ID improve where you live to get a library card,
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  Speaker 5: it's not too much to ask for orders to show
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  Speaker 5: ID to vote in federal elections.
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  Speaker 2: Now, let me tell you what Democrats are saying. Democrats
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  Speaker 2: in voting rights groups, those are hardcore radical liberals. Just
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  Speaker 2: to you understand what those actually are. They're opposing the bill.
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  Speaker 2: Why they say that the SAVAC could make it harder
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  Speaker 2: for millions of eligible Americans to vote? They certainly go
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  Speaker 2: straight to one core group, and that is Hispanics and
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  Speaker 2: African Americans. Why do they say that it's pretty racist
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  Speaker 2: to imply that if you are African American or Hispanic
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  Speaker 2: you do not have an ID to vote. That is insane.
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  Speaker 2: The left also says as many as twenty one million
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  Speaker 2: eligible voters lack ready access to the required documents, which
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  Speaker 2: they argue to lead a voter disenfranchisement. Again, another hardcore
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  Speaker 2: racist statement. That is a racist statement by the Democratic Party.
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  Speaker 2: They are saying that African Americans who are Democrats are
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  Speaker 2: so behind the times. You can't expect them to actually
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  Speaker 2: have an ID. So this is where we are with
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  Speaker 2: the Democratic Party. The Democrats are going to do everything
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  Speaker 2: they can to stop this because ultimately what they really
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  Speaker 2: want is they want people to be able to vote
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  Speaker 2: in American elections who are not American citizens. They want
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: illegal immigrants. So they flooded this country with to be
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: able to vote in our elections. They want to be
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  Speaker 2: able to cheat in our elections. They want your vote
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  Speaker 2: to be canceled out by someone who may even be dead.
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  Speaker 2: That is their plan. So this week is a big
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  Speaker 2: week and we're going to keep you up today the
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  Speaker 2: entire time.
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  Speaker 4: Next story number two.
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  Speaker 2: I want to get you the latest on what's happening
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  Speaker 2: in Cuba. There has been so much attention on what's
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: going on in Iran and also the terrorist tax, and
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: you ask that many are paying attention to what's going
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: on right now in Cuba. There are major protests and
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: unrest that are breaking out. Cuba is seeing what is
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  Speaker 2: described in that country as a very rare anti government
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: protest as the economic and energy crisis is worsening by
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  Speaker 2: the hour. Protesters attacked and even vandalized the Communist Party
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: office in one of the major cities there. During demonstrations
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  Speaker 2: over the blackouts this weekend, demonstrators were chanting down with
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  Speaker 2: communism while demanding food, water, and electricity. Authorities arrested several
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: people after the protests then turned violent. Across the island,
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  Speaker 2: people have also been staging nighttime pot banging protests, yes,
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: actually banging pots outside of their doors and windows during
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: the long power outages. There is a massive energy crisis
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: and that's what's causing these blackouts. The biggest driver of
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: the unrest is the severe fuel and electric shortage. Cuba
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  Speaker 2: has now gone months without major petroleum shipments, causing an
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  Speaker 2: energy emergency. Power plants are shutting down and millions of
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  Speaker 2: Cubans have lost electricity during the major outage, Hospitals, now, schools, transportation,
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  Speaker 2: and food production are being disrupted all across Cuba. In
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  Speaker 2: some areas, blackouts have now lasted between fifteen to thirty hours,
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: leaving entire cities in total darkness, which is also affecting
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: the food and medicine shortages that have worsened. The energy
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  Speaker 2: crisis is hitting the food system hard. The shortages are
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: preventing crops from being harvested. Some bakeries have switched to
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: wood or coal ovens because they lack fuel they need
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: to make basic bread. Garbage collection, transportation and supply chains
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: are breaking down. The result is inflation and shortages of
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: basic necessities, which brings us to US policy. We knew
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: taking out Maduro in Venezuela and making sure that Cuba
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: didn't get that oil was going to have a big
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: impact on Cuba and allow hopefully for the people there
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  Speaker 2: to actually have a free and fair election. The crisis
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: has also intensified due to the pressure on the regime
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  Speaker 2: from the Trump administration. The US has now blocked oil
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  Speaker 2: shipments and tightened economic pressure as well. Now, the goal
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: from Donald Trump and from Washington is widely seen as
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: forcing political and economic reforms in Cuba. At the bare minimum,
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: regime change for the people in Cuba could be even bigger.
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  Speaker 2: President Trump now said that negotiations with Cuba are actually underway,
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: but he warned the US could take stronger action if
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: the talks fail. Now, in a major development, Cuba's president
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: confirmed talks with the US government. He actually did that
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: on state National TV. There The discussions are focused, he said,
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: on the energy crisis as well as US sanctions Cuba
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  Speaker 2: has also released dozens of prisoners, possibly is a goodwill gesture.
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  Speaker 2: These are the first publicly confirmed talks between the US
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  Speaker 2: and Cuba literally in years now. If you look at
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: the overall issue here, Cuba is facing three simultaneous crisises.
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: This is something that the Trump administration knew would happen
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: if they went after the oil supply to Cuba. One,
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: you've got the energy collapse, severe fuel shortages and nationwide blackouts.
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: That is then bringing us to number two. Economic, the
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: problems with the breakdown, the food shortages, inflation, and then
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: the supply chain failures. And then that brings part three,
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: and that may be the most important part. The political pressure,
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: the protests against the commiss regime, and the negotiations with
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: the US. We now have maximum leverage. You look at
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: all of this, and there's one great thing that has
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: come out of it. The President the United States of
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: America has said it's time for Cuba to move forward
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: and not be under such a repressive, repressive regime. It
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: also shows just how we China and other countries are.
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: For far too long, we were afraid of what other
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: countries would do if we did this to Cuba. Now
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: we don't have to worry about that. The President of
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: the United States of America even saying this about Cuba
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: over the weekend the Cuba. You said that Cuba wants
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: to make a deal. What would the United States get
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: in return for that? And why should Americans trust Marco
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: Rubio to negotiate it?
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: Well, Marco Rubio is doing a great job. I think
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: he's going to go down as the greatest Secretary of
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: State in history. Look at what we've done as a presidency,
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: look at what we've done as an administration. They trust Marco,
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: and so do the American people. Trust he's been successful
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: no matter where he's been. He also speaks to language,
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: which is always nice and always helpful. But he's dealing
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: and it may be a friendly takeover, it may not
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: be a friendly take It wouldn't matter because they're really
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: in They're down to as they say, fumes. They have
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: no energy, they have no money, They're in deep trouble
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: on a humanitarian basis, and we don't want to see that.
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: But they were very, very bad to a lot of people,
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: as you know, and a lot of people living. The
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: Cuban American vote, which I got at record levels.
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: You listen to DONC. Trump there. It's very clear he
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: has a plan and he understands exactly how he's going
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: to implement it, and that's probably why it's working.
• 19:43
  Speaker 4: Thank you for listening to the forty seven Morning Update
• 19:46
  Speaker 4: with Ben Ferguson. Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever
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  Speaker 4: you're listening to this podcast right now and for more
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  Speaker 4: and we will see you back here tomorrow