Fox News "Hannity" - Transcript: Cruz calls Obama's refugee plan 'profoundly dangerous'; How will House Speaker Ryan fulfill GOP promises?
Interview
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HANNITY: And here now with reaction, 2016 GOP presidential candidate Texas Senator Ted Cruz. Senator, I think when the president was talking about the religious test, which is offensive and contrary to our values and a recruitment tool, he was talking about you. And I want your reaction to that.
SEN. TED CRUZ, R-TEXAS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, you know, it really is remarkable that t6wice this week, President Obama has attacked me directly. And both times, he's done so from foreign soil, first in Turkey, where he called me un-American, and then in Manila, where he said I was offensive.
And apparently, what he deems offensive is what you and I and millions of Americans have been saying, which is that the Obama/Clinton plan to bring in tens of thousands of Syrian Muslim refugees to America is utter lunacy!
At a time when ISIS has declared war, at a time when radical Islamic terrorists want to murder as many Americans as possible, at a time when the Obama administration admits it can't vet these refugees -- the head of the FBI said they lack the information to be able to ascertain whether these refugees are, in fact, ISIS terrorists, it is the essence of reasonableness and common sense to say we shouldn't be bringing in tens of thousands of refugees who may include ISIS terrorists.
HANNITY: Senator
CRUZ: And yet Obama, instead of defending this nation, just attacks you and every American who wants to keep this nation safe!
HANNITY: You know, he just said that this is no dangerous than any tourist coming to America. Now, I'm going to play for you Obama's top envoy in the coalition to defeat ISIS. That's General John Allen. And I'll play for you the FBI director, James Comey, and the assistant director, Steinbeck (ph), and the national intelligence director, James Clapper. They're all saying that ISIS will very likely infiltrate the refugee community, which, by the way, is exactly what they did in France. And he says no different than tourist.
I want to play it for you and our audience so they know what our intelligence officers are saying about this.
CRUZ: Right. Right. Right.
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HANNITY: Now, Senator, if the president refuses to listen to our top law enforcement and intelligence community, it seems to me he is willing to gamble with the lives of the American people! How can this be stopped?
CRUZ: You know, Sean, you are exactly right. There president is so driven by radical ideology, by political correctness -- I mean, remember, this is a president refuses to say the words "radical Islamic terrorism," just like Hillary Clinton in the Democratic debate. She could not utter the words "radical Islamic terrorism." If they won't define the enemy, then they don't acknowledge the simple reality that they can't vet whether the people they're bringing in are terrorists. And it is profoundly dangerous.
Now, you asked what can we do about it. I am leading the fight in the Senate to stop Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton's plan to bring in tens of thousands of Syrian Muslim refugees. Today, I went to the Senate floor and brought forward two pieces of legislation I've introduced. The first is the Expatriate Terrorist Act. This is common sense legislation that says if an American citizen goes and joins ISIS, if he takes up arms against America and wages jihad against this nation, that by doing so, he or she loses their American citizenship. We shouldn't have ISIS terrorists coming back to America, using U.S. passports in order to then wage jihad and try to murder innocent Americans.
The second legislation is legislation that I've introduced that would block Syrian refugees and refugees from Iraq and from Libya from coming over (ph) nations where al Qaeda and ISIS control large portions of territory. It would block those refugees from coming in so that we don't expose ourselves to the national security risk.
Now, listen, there's a humanitarian crisis, but these refugees can be resettled in the Middle East, in majority-Muslim countries. We're already providing -- we're paying more of that bill than any country on earth, and yet the president insists we have to endanger the safety and security of our nation.
And I'll tell you what, Sean. When I brought both of these up on the Senate floor, the Senate Democrats stood up and objected. You know, Pat Leahy echoed President Obama's attack. He said it was anti-American, and he said, gosh, his ancestors were Irish and Italian and we didn't block them.
And I responded to Pat Leahy, I said, You know what? On my mother's side, my ancestors were Irish and Italian. The difference was they weren't coming here to blow up and murder innocent civilians, and if the Democrats can't tell difference between immigrants coming, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free, and people who may be radical Islamic terrorists, that's what's wrong with
HANNITY: Senator
CRUZ: ... the Obama foreign policy in the first place!
HANNITY: It -- there's something that I think too few people are willing to have an honest discussion about
CRUZ: Yes.
HANNITY: ... and that is there is a clash of cultures. In other words, the values of people that grow up, for example, under Sharia law -- if that's what you grew up under and you think women shouldn't be able to drive and women can't be seen in public without a male relative and you need four male eyewitnesses for a woman to prove rape, and many countries practice, Sharia, how do we ascertain whether or not you still hold those values, but still want to live in America, or maybe even more extreme values?
There's no vetting process that I can think of that will ascertain what is in the human heart, especially because terrorists -- aren't they trained to lie to people that would interview them, if we're vetting them?
CRUZ: They are, and indeed, there is a religious philosophy in Islamism that encourages them to like to carry out jihad. And -- and, you know, if you look at Islamism, it is a theocratic and political ideology that says that they are compelled to use violence and force to murder anyone that doesn't share their radical faith or to forcibly convert them. And it is a cancer, and we will not defeat radical Islamic terrorism unless and until we have a commander-in-chief willing to say those words!
HANNITY: In light of the refugees, Senator, that committed these atrocities, these terror attacks in France -- the Democrats seem like they're willing to gamble with the lives of Americans. Now, let's assume that one of the refugees, one of these ISIS members infiltrates the refugee population, and they do commit acts of terror. Who will have blood on their hands?
CRUZ: Listen, we know they did that in Europe. We know that at least one of the terrorists who committed these horrible attacks in Paris came in with the refugees. And President Obama and Hillary Clinton and the Democrats are willing to allow those same refugees to come to our shores. And apparently, they're willing to just roll the dice and take the risk that hundreds, or God forbid, thousands of Americans will be murdered by jihadists!
And you know, one of things that's striking, Sean? You know what seemed to make President Obama the angriest, is
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CRUZ: ... distinction -- well, yes, but in particular that I drew a distinction and said there's a different circumstance for the Christians who are being persecuted, for the Christians who are facing genocide. You know, ISIS is crucifying Christians. They are beheading Christians.
HANNITY: Well, he said we're no longer a Christian nation, Senator.
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HANNITY: ... at one point, and he said terrible deeds in the name of Christ.
Can I -- I want to play for you the
CRUZ: And he seems angrier by those of us who want to provide safe heaven for the Christians being persecuted than he is at the attacks from ISIS. Why is it that this president is so opposed to standing up -- do you know the current Syrian refugees, only 3 percent of them are Christians? Why is the president unwilling to defend
HANNITY: Of the 2,100
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HANNITY: ... that have already come in, only 3 percent are Christian, 96 percent or Muslim.
Is this more pervasive radical Islam -- and I only have 20 seconds here. I want to play a little bit of the soccer game and the moment of silence in Istanbul, and instead of silence, the crowd started booing and reports they were chanting, Allah-u Akbar. Let me play that for you, and think about -- is this a more pervasive mindset than the world is willing acknowledge, meaning radical Islamists? Play this.
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HANNITY: Hillary Clinton sounding like Obama, again refusing to say the words "radical Islam," taking a shot at Republicans during a speech earlier today. Senator Cruz will respond.
Then later, the one and only Mark Steyn is with us as we continue on this busy news night.
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HANNITY: And welcome back to "Hannity." The Democrats continue to refuse to say the words "radical Islam" and are attacking Republicans for calling ISIS what is really is. Now, the latest example comes from 2016 Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton during a foreign policy speech. This was earlier today. Watch this.
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HANNITY: And back with reaction, 2016 GOP presidential candidate, senator from the great state of Texas, Ted Cruz. Senator, she couldn't say it during the debate Saturday, couldn't say it today. Bernie Sanders thinks climate change is a bigger national security threat.
I want you to respond to that. And as you are, we have new footage, by the way, from inside the Paris cafe of some of the refugees (sic) attacking these innocent men, women and children. So what's your answer to her and Bernie Sanders and Barack Obama when they say these things?
CRUZ: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, the modern Democratic Party, has a blindness to racial Islamic terrorism, and they've endangered the safety and security of this country, the safety and security of millions of Americans.
You know, have you noticed that the onetime President Obama and Hillary Clinton are willing to use military forced is when using it benefits radical Islamic terrorists? Go back to the beginning of the administration, Libya. Listen, Qaddafi was a bad man. He had a terrible human rights record, but he had voluntarily handed over his nuclear weapons efforts. He was aiding the United States in going after radical Islamic terrorists. He was targeting the terrorists. And what did Obama and Clinton do? They led NATO in bombing Qaddafi and doing everything they could to drive him out of power. And the consequence was they handed Libya over to warring tribes of radical Islamic terrorists. One of the reasons Benghazi happened, four Americans were murdered -- It wasn't just Hillary Clinton's malfeasance on that night. It was the failed foreign policy that had handed that country over to radical Islamic terrorists.
They did the same thing in Egypt. Mubarak, again a flawed man, a dictator with a terrible human rights record, but he consistently stood as an ally with America against radical Islamic terrorists. What did Obama and Clinton do? Pushed Mubarak out and pushed the Muslim Brotherhood, which finances radical Islamic terrorism
HANNITY: Yes. By the way
CRUZ: ... all over the globe
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HANNITY: Mubarak (sic) referred to the Israelis as descendants of apes and pigs, and we gave him money and F16s and tanks! Or Obama did, I should say.
CRUZ: Yes, Morsi, rather -- rather
HANNITY: I'm sorry, Morsi
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CRUZ: Yes. And for that matter in Syria. President Obama and Hillary Clinton want to topple Assad. Assad is a bad man. If they succeed in toppling Assad, Syria will be taken over by radical Islamic terrorists, by al Qaeda and al Nusra and ISIS.
And by the way, there are a whole bunch of Republicans running for president that agree with Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton that we should be toppling Assad in Syria, that we should be putting in a no-fly zone. I think that makes no sense whatsoever! Why would we want another country to be governed by radical Islamic terrorists? How about we have a president and a commander-in-chief that focuses on U.S. national security interests instead of meddling in civil wars in the Middle East?
HANNITY: We can create the safe zone. And as you pointed out, we're spending millions and millions on humanitarian assistance.
I want to play -- I want to do two things in the little time I have left with you, Senator, and I want to play two days ago, or three days ago now, John Kerry says it's -- I understand the legitimacy or the rationale - - he changed the word -- of the Charlie Hebdo attack, but there was no basis for this one. I was stunned by that statement! And as you answer, I'm going to put up some the immigration statistics of how many people America has taken in from Muslim countries
CRUZ: Yes. Yes.
HANNITY: ... so people are already aware of what we're doing. But let's go to John Kerry first.
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HANNITY: A rationale? That is insane! What is your reaction to that? We're putting up those statistics as you speak.
CRUZ: Look, John Kerry's statement is shameful. He should resign. I've called on John Kerry to resign multiple times. Both John Kerry and Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have all served as apologists for radical Islamic terrorists.
Now, what does an apologist mean? And apologist is someone who gives rationalizations, someone who gives justifications. That's what John Kerry was doing right there.
And you know, I remember back to the National Prayer Breakfast that I attended. President Obama spoke there. It was the day after ISIS had lit a Jordanian pilot on fire. And President Obama gave an astonishing speech, where he said, Yes, ISIS has done some bad things, but you know what? Jews and Christians have done bad things, too. And he invoked the Crusades and the Inquisition, which last I checked, ended hundreds and hundreds of years ago! And I don't think it's asking too much to ask the president to stay in the current millennium.
And the argument he's using that ISIS just like the Crusades and the inquisition -- that exactly the argument that ISIS uses, that the radical Islamic terrorists use, and it is harmful when the president is -- and the secretary of state is defending radical Islamic terrorists.
I'll tell you this, Sean. If I'm elected president, number one, we will finally secure the borders. We will get it done. I will build a wall that works. We will triple the border patrol. We will deport criminal illegal aliens. We will stop illegal immigration. Just in Texas, they just caught eight Syrians trying to cross the border illegally! We will solve that problem.
But number two, as commander-in-chief, we will defeat radical Islamic terrorism. You know, President Obama said in Europe he doesn't have time for American leadership or America winning. What on earth is happening when the president says he doesn't believe in America winning anymore?
I'll tell you what. My philosophy on radical Islamic terrorism is exactly the opposite. To borrow a page from Ronald Reagan and the cold war, my philosophy is very simple. We win, they lose.
HANNITY: You know
CRUZ: We will defeat radical Islamic terrorism!
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CRUZ: ... January of 2017.
HANNITY: You know, it's interesting because the 9/11 commission report said they're at war with us, we're not at war with them.
CRUZ: Yes.
HANNITY: One side will win. Senator, thank you for your time tonight. Appreciate it.
CRUZ: Thank you, Sean. God bless.
HANNITY: God bless.
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