Some surprising
developments at the US-Mexico border.
The number of migrant
crossings has dropped
significantly in the days
since Title 42 expired just last week.
Border officials had seen record
numbers of migrants
trying to enter the US,
but in the last three days or so.
Department of Homeland
Security officials
say they've seen a 50% drop
in migrant crossings.
And joining us with more on
this is former Texas Governor Rick Perry,
who also served as energy secretary
during the Trump administration.
Governor, great to see you.
Really appreciate it.
I know you had to deal with border issues
as well.
When you were governor,
why do you think we're hearing
about these lower
than expected numbers so far?
Yeah.
Before we start,
let's just wish every mother out there
happy Mother's Day
and what a great day to reflect
how blessed
we are to have some wonderful
women in this world. So
back to your question.
And listen, taking a snapshot in time
is a snapshot in time.
This issue has been going on.
As a matter of fact,
I was digging around in my office.
I don't know if you see this or not.
This is a Homeland Security Committee
briefing book
that I just happened
to see on my disheveled office in here.
It's dated 2014.
And we're dealing with the
field hearing crisis on the Texas border.
Surge of unaccompanied minors.
You remember that?
That was
nine years ago.
So this has been going on
for a really long time.
We've had now three administrations that
dealt with it.
I'm very
biased in my observation
as I think we had
this issue in hand and four years ago
with the programs that we had in place,
the message was clear.
It's not just a casual walk
across the border to get into
the United States. And so
I think you
have to go back to some really strict
enforcement of the of the border.
You have to have a system in place
where you can allow for legal immigration
and you have to have these countries
south of the border working with you.
And I think we may have failed
there more often
than we were successful
in getting these countries and central
and Mexico, Central America and Mexico.
So there's a lot of work to be done.
And we got a real problem on our hands.
And we don't know who these people are.
And that's the that's the real challenge.
So but we need we need to come together
this this deal
and in a circle and pointing to the left
and saying it's their fault
we know how to do this.
So let's,
you know,
say and saying this is easier than it is
to get it done.
I recognize that.
But the Biden administration
needs to get serious about
what's going on on the border.
Well, as you know,
your state has been in the news
a lot over the last few weeks.
Just last week,
we saw that mass
shooting in Allen, Texas,
one of a rash of massacres
we've seen in Texas in recent years,
including the tragedy.
And you've all these just last year
and last week,
I had to ask you about this
because you served as governor
of the state of Texas.
A state House committee
voted to raise the minimum age,
I should say, from 18 to 21
to purchase an AR 15 style rifle.
But that measure failed to advance.
What do you think?
Do you support raising that purchase age
in Texas?
You and I are going to
talk about an issue
that really may have
a lot more to do with that
than raising the age
of whether someone can have a weapon.
And that's this issue of mental health.
And, you know,
that is where
we need to be focusing a lot.
We need to make sure
that our schools are secure
and that we have the security
around those schools.
And that requires weapons.
And in the state of Texas,
we're going to keep the weapons.
We're going to
you should be increasing the amount
of security
that we have around places
and people that we love.
That's how you stop bad
people with weapons,
not by raising the minimum age of
when someone can buy a weapon
and let's talk about mental health.
I know that
this is something
that you've been working on
when it comes to veterans.
You know,
this issue of mental health
has been an issue
in the veteran community
for some time now,
for several years, though.
I wanted to ask you about this.
You've been an outspoken
proponent for the legalization
of psychedelic drugs for therapeutic use.
We're talking about things
like magic mushrooms,
as they're commonly called.
Tell me why a conservative
former Texas governor thinks
that's a good idea.
Yeah.
Ten years ago, if he
had said my name and psychedelics
are going to be in the same sentence,
I would've said you're crazy.
But there are a lot of things
that have happened in my life
that have
really changed my mind about it.
You know, I grew up in the sixties.
I was a total and absolute against
legalization of drugs.
And I still am
for the standpoint of recreational use
and what have you.
But these compounds,
when they're used with the right dosage,
well, obviously
the right
diagnosis, the first right
dosage, the right
and guiding through these
these experiences and the follow up,
those four things together.
And we're seeing some
extraordinary benefits from
let me just give you one example up
in New York. In the VA,
there's a
doctor, Rachel Yehuda,
who is overseeing a program there.
I think they have two phase
three trials behind them now
using MDMA the old rave drug ecstasy.
And the the the benefits of that
and the results of those trials
are stunningly good.
For instance,
and I'll try to be brief here
they are three doses two weeks apart
to these veterans
who had post-traumatic stress
symptoms either
depression, anxiety,
sleeplessness, suicidal thoughts,
or are all four in a lot of cases.
After six months, after three doses
70 plus percent of those individuals
had zero
symptoms of post-traumatic stress.
Jim, I don't know.
You know, to me that is stunning results.
It's one that we as a country
need to get behind.
It's my understanding that the FDA
is going to approve
or taken off of schedule one
MDMA in the fall.
I think that is very wise.
I think the VA
is supporting
that and all Americans should
if you care about these kids lives,
young men and women
who put their lives on the line for us.
We were at war for 20
years, was a whole nother story.
But for 20 years, they've been in combat
and to be able to
give them their lives back
after they
literally put their lives on the line.
And sadly, somewhere between 16 and 20
are still committing suicide every day.
Yeah, we need to get serious about this.
We've got some compounds
that we're seeing.
Great results with,
and I think that
Americans all across the board
should educate yourself about it.
I told you offline
that this is kind of like nuclear power
that, you know, in the sixties
we were afraid of nuclear power
and Fukushima
and Three Mile Island, Chernobyl,
and now we have small modular reactors
that are walk away safe
and we need to be looking at them
as our transition
for the new generation of clean energy,
if you will, in this world.
Well, Brandon Gibson put
on our new you get some energy ideas
in there, Governor.
But let me ask you,
I have to ask you about your former boss,
Donald Trump.
And this is something
maybe you can help us out with back in
20, 21 CNN reported on a text message
sent to Mark Meadows, the Trump
chief of staff, on November 4th.
20, 20 the day
after the presidential election.
It said, here's an aggressive strategy
why can't the states of Georgia, North
Carolina, Pennsylvania
and other
Republican controlled
state houses declare this is B.S.,
where conflicts and election
not called that night
and just send their own electors to vote
and have it go to the Supreme Court
at the time. Governor.
You remember this,
a spokesman for
you told CNN that, no,
you did not send that text.
You were not the author of the text.
But there were multiple people
who confirmed to us
that the text
came from your phone number.
Can you help us out with this?
Did you send that text
and did you agree with the president's
efforts to overturn the election results?
I didn't send it.
And that's kind of the interesting thing.
As a matter of fact,
if you go back
and look at the congressional testimony,
the congressman who brought that up
said later, you know what,
we're not really sure
where this came from.
I got called on it a couple of times.
Number one, it's not my style of speak.
So to our texting, so to speak.
So, again,
there is a lot of misinformation
out there, Jim,
and that that was one piece of it.
So I can assure you that
that didn't come from me.
And let me ask you,
you once called Trump
a cancer on conservatism.
That was way back in 20, 15,
given what took place on January six.
His efforts to overturn
that 2020 election
do you think you were right back then
you know
President Trump
reminds people on a regular basis,
even in cabinet members that I said
some pretty mean
and ugly and nasty stuff about him
which I did we play hardball and
in our politics
and but you know I got over it.
He got over it.
We work together
and you know that's
what people need to do in 2024.
You know I'm still trying to sort that
out for myself so you know, it
he may get to hear me
call him names again. Who knows?
It's it's still early in the process,
so I haven't written off that,
you know,
if you'll recall,
I didn't announce for president in
2011 until August,
so we got a lot of time left.
Does that mean that you're
thinking about jumping in
so I got your attention now, didn't I?
I think you did.
I'm not taking any magic mushrooms.
I can assure you that
well, you never know.
You might have some
traumatic brain injury
that you don't know about.
So let's keep an eye on this It's
something you're thinking about.
Listen, it's early in the process,
I think, for any of us to sit back
and say
I'm for this person or that person
is a little early in my process.
So, you know, it
certainly is something
that I haven't taken off the table. But,
you know, the chances of it
happening are probably a little bit slim.
But who knows?
There's a lot of time left
and we'll see how this all works out.
All right.
Former Texas Governor Rick Perry,
thanks so much for your time.