Fox news "Hannity" - Transcript: Sen. Cruz on securing the southern border

Interview

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HANNITY: Well, Chuck, North Dakota and Indiana were in Democratic hands.

Anyway, that was more of the president's showdown, beat down with Democratic leaders earlier today. Now, President Trump continues to forge ahead despite Democratic obstruction.

Earlier tonight, he tweeted this: Thanks to Leader McConnell for agreeing to bring a Senate vote on criminal justice this week. These historic changes will make communities safer and save tremendous taxpayer dollars. It brings much needed hope to many families during the holiday season.

All right. Joining us now with reaction to this and so much more, Texas senator -- whoa -- we got the new beard thing going on. I didn't know you had that.

Ted Cruz is with us.

Good to see you, Senator.

SEN. TED CRUZ, R-TEXAS: It's good to be with you, Sean.

HANNITY: I think you're the only guy in history. I may be wrong, I think you've had more money thrown at you in that last election than ever before in any Senate race. Is that pretty accurate? Almost a hundred million?

CRUZ: Yes, no, it's right. They spent over $80 million against us. We were outspent three to one, and they increase Democratic turnout by over a hundred percent. But thankfully, we turned Texans out, we turn Republicans out, and we ended up winning statewide. Very gratified victory.

HANNITY: Important race. Here's what I want to ask you -- I remember when in 2013 or '14, when you did a filibuster and I watched I was up for a good part of the night, I can tell you who actually supported you, and I watched you and then there were predictions he's just lost us the Senate. And in 2014, no, we actually had a very good year for the Senate.

I watched the president today and I'm thinking -- this is what people want from their elected officials, to fight for the promises they made. You were fighting on health care then, he's fighting on borders now. Why don't we see more of this in the Republican Party?

CRUZ: Sean, I think you're exactly right. The American people had for a long time been frustrated with Washington, frustrated that too many too many elected officials don't follow through on their promises and they want us to do what we said we would do.

You know, I watched that whole exchange with the president, Chuck Schumer, and Nancy Pelosi, and I think the president was terrific that he was standing up and saying, we're going to keep our promise. We're going to secure the border. We're going to build the wall.

And I'll tell you, one of the surest indications of how unhappy the Democrats were in that exchange is over and over again, Nancy Pelosi says, can we turn the TV cameras off? We're not supposed to be doing this publicly.

HANNITY: Right.

CRUZ: You could tell there are the losing end of the argument when she's scared that cameras are showing that she and the Democrats are for open borders and the president is fighting to do what the American people want, which is secure the border, build the wall and keep our country safe.

HANNITY: Well -- and I was down with Rick Perry on the border and on boats and helicopters. I've been down to the border from the Rio Grande through San Diego 13 times. I sat through a security briefing with Governor Perry, 642,000 Texans victims of crime in a seven-year period.

Here's my question though -- and by the way, I got to give Lindsey Graham credit, when he stood up to Justice Kavanaugh in that case against what was happening to him. Here's my question: everybody seemed to fear a government shutdown, don't essential services continue? The elderly will get their Social Security checks.

CRUZ: Right.

HANNITY: Medicare continues, our military are in place, so why always the big fear about a shutdown on something as important as our national security?

CRUZ: Well, listen, essential services continue during any shutdown, and at this point about 70 percent of the federal government has already been appropriated. So, we're fighting over about 30 percent of the federal budget.

Now I personally hope we don't have a shut down but I think the president is absolutely right to say the American people want the border secured. It's the right thing to do. And the Democrats are just being obstructionist.

They are opposed to border security and I'll tell you that's a big reason why Republicans grew our majority in the Senate this election, as the president noted, winning North Dakota, and Indiana, winning Texas is because the American people want the border security.

HANNITY: Let me ask you about Mueller and where we are with this. First of all, your thoughts on the double standard, Hillary Clinton, the Uranium One deal gave 20 percent of our uranium to the hostile nation of Russia and the hostile actor Putin, nobody investigates that. Twenty percent.

And 145 million went back to the Clinton Foundation or the dossier which we now know that they never vetted but it was the foundation of this entire or the bulk of information for the FISA applications. Nobody talks about that.

The money that paid for the dossier was funneled through a law firm. That would seem to me it would be a campaign finance issue but they are trying to claim Donald Trump has campaign financial issues, as a lawyer, I'm asking you, do you see that? Because I do not.

CRUZ: Listen, all of these are serious allegations. And the Department of Justice needs to investigate serious allegations of criminal conduct. One of the things frustrating over the last two years is we have not had sufficient accountability in the Department of Justice.

I think the Department of Justice should be blind to political party. I don't want a Republican DOJ, or a Democratic DOJ. I want the Department of Justice--

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: Just equal justice.

CRUZ: -- that's faithful to the Constitution and the law.

HANNITY: Right.

CRUZ: And I'm hopeful with the new attorney general nominee Bill Barr that we will see that at the Department of Justice.

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: May I ask you a question?

CRUZ: We need to make sure that everyone is held accountable.

HANNITY: I had this woman Alice Marie Johnson on who the president commuted her sentence. Amazing woman, 20 years, on single drug crime. How do you feel about the prison reform bill as long as violent felons are not included?

CRUZ: Well, I think we are getting ready to have a major bipartisan victory. And I want to commend the president's leadership on criminal justice reform. I'm a longtime advocate of criminal justice reform and I think reducing mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders makes a lot of sense.

There are far too many young black men in prison for decades for simple possession, and that's not right. And so, but my big concern, you just put your finger on it, is we should not be releasing violent criminals. Violent criminals are totally different. I draw a big line between violent and non- violent.

And so, what happened last week, I drafted an amendment to this bill that excluded violent criminals that said we're going to focus relief on nonviolent criminals but rapists, murderers and violent criminals are going to stay in jail.

The sponsors of the bill in the White House they took my amendment word for word and when they took my amendment I'm now supporting, and I'm a co- sponsor, I urged Mitch McConnell to take it up and schedule a vote. And just today he announced, we are going to do it. I think we are going to pass this, which will be a major, major bipartisan victory and I think it's in the interest of justice.

HANNITY: I do, too. All right, Senator, well said. Good to see you. I'm getting used to the new look. If it gets wider and longer, next year you could be Santa Claus. You have ways to go.

CRUZ: Ho, ho, ho.

HANNITY: All right. Senator Ted Cruz, thank you.

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