into iran's nuclear program. today, international inspectors are on the ground, and iran is being subjected to the most comprehensive, intrusive inspection regime ever negotiated to monitor a nuclear program. inspectors will monitor iran's key nuclear facilities 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. for decades to come, inspectors will have access to iran's entire nuclear supply chain. in other words, if iran tries to cheat -- if they try to build a bomb covertly -- we will catch them. so the bottom line is this. whereas iran was steadily expanding its nuclear program, we have now cut off every single path that iran could have used to build a bomb. whereas it would have taken iran two to three months to break out with enough material to rush to a bomb, we've now extended that breakout time to a year -- and with the world's unprecedented inspections and access to iran's program, we'll know if iran ever tries to break out.
was in iran as a student. their cases were largely unknown to the world. but when americans are freed and reunited with their families, that's something that we can all celebrate. so i want to thank my national security team -- especially secretary kerry. susan rice, my national security advisor. brett mcgurk. avril haines. ben rhodes -- our whole team worked tirelessly to bring our americans home, to get this work done. and i want to thank the swiss government, which represents our interests in iran, for their critical assistance. and meanwhile, iran has agreed to deepen our coordination as we work to locate robert levinson -- missing from iran for more than eight years. even as we rejoice in the safe return of others, we will never forget about bob. each and every day, but especially today, our hearts are with the levinson family, and we will not rest until their family is whole again.
in a reciprocal humanitarian gesture, six iranianamericans and one iranian serving sentences or awaiting trial in the united states are being granted clemency. these individuals were not charged with terrorism or any violent offenses. they're civilians, and their release is a one-time gesture to iran given the unique opportunity offered by this moment and the larger circumstances at play. and it reflects our willingness to engage with iran to advance our mutual interests, even as we ensure the national security of the united states. so, nuclear deal implemented. american families reunited. the third piece of this work that we got done this weekend involved the united states and iran resolving a financial dispute that dated back more than three decades. since 1981, after our nations severed diplomatic relations, we've worked through a international tribunal to resolve various claims between our countries.
the united states and iran are now settling a longstanding iranian government claim against the united states government. iran will be returned its own funds, including appropriate interest, but much less than the amount iran sought. for the united states, this settlement could save us billions of dollars that could have been pursued by iran. so there was no benefit to the united states in dragging this out. with the nuclear deal done, prisoners released, the time was right to resolve this dispute as well. of course, even as we implement the nuclear deal and welcome our americans home, we recognize that there remain profound differences between the united states and iran. we remain steadfast in opposing iran's destabilizing behavior elsewhere, including its threats against israel and our gulf partners, and its support for violent proxies in places like syria and yemen.
program and accepted unprecedented monitoring of that program -- these things are a reminder of what we can achieve when we lead with strength and with wisdom. with courage and resolve and patience. america can do -- and has done -- big things when we work together. we can leave this world and make it safer and more secure for our children and our grandchildren for generations to come. i want to thank once again secretary kerry. our entire national security team, led by susan rice. i'm grateful for all the assistance that we received from our allies and partners. and i am hopeful that this signals the opportunity at least for iran to work more cooperatively with nations around the world to advance their interests and the interests of people who are looking for peace and security for their families. thank you so much. god bless you, and god bless the united states of america.
>> and presidential candidate ted cruz is on a bus tour through new hampshire. he stopped at a local restaurant in the town of milford.
[indistinct conversations] [cheering] [audience cheering "ted"] >> i want to be on tv. [indistinct conversations] senator cruz how are you doing -- senator cruz: how are you doing? how are you doing? thanks for being here. >> good luck. senator cruz: thank you.
hampshire. [applause] i am thrilled to be with so many friends. thank you for coming out. thank you for joining us. how about those patriots? [cheering] senator cruz: you guys are playing some football. and by the way, for the record -- tom brady was framed. [cheering] senator cruz: i'm not willing to pander on much, but on that, tom brady was framed and i have it on good authority that hillary clinton was responsible. [cheers and applause] senator cruz: whilst do you think she destroyed her e-mails? [laughter] senator cruz: you know, i appreciate you all's coming out tonight. we are at a time when our country is in crisis. we are bankrupting our kids and grandkids.
our constitutional rights are under assault each and every day, and america has receded from leadership in the world, and yet i am here tonight with a word of hope and encouragement. all across the state of new hampshire, all across this country, people are waking up. there is an awakening and there is a spirit of revival that is sweeping this country. so, i want to ask everyone here to look forward. look forward to january 2017. [applause] senator cruz: if i am elected president, let me tell you what i intend to do on the first day in office. the first thing i intend to do is resend every single illegal and unconstitutional executive action taken by this president.
just a week ago, president obama signed yet more illegal executive actions, this time trying to undermine our second amendment right to keep and bear arms. he may have a phone and he may have a pen. but if you live by the pen, you die by the pen, and as you rightly noted, my pen has got an eraser. the second thing i intend to do in office -- >> throw obama out? senator cruz: oh, he will be out. and if anyone wants to take up a collection to pay for his green fees the next year, i think he does far less damage on the golf course.
the second thing i will do, open up an investigation into planned parenthood and these horrible videos. the administration of justice should be blind to party or ideology. the only fidelity of the department of justice should be to the laws and the constitution of the united states. the third thing i intend to do on the first day in office is instructed the department of justice and the irs and every other federal agency that the persecution of religious liberty ends today.
that means every service man and woman who has the right to seek out and worship god with all of their minds and their souls and their superior officer has nothing to say about it. the fourth thing i intend to do on the first day in office is ripped to shreds this catastrophic iranian nuclear deal. today, all of us are celebrating the return of five americans from iran. let me say praise god and in particular for the return of the pastor.
israel to jerusalem, the once and eternal capital of israel. now that is day one. [laughter] senator cruz: there are 365 days in a year, four years in a presidential term, and four years in a second term. every one of those days is going to be spent defending the constitution, as jfk would say - [imitates president kennedy] with vigor! [normal voice] by the end of eight years, there are going to be a whole lot of newspaper reporters and editors and journalists who have checked themselves into therapy.
in the days that follow, i will go to congress, and we will repeal every word of obamacare. we will pass commonsense health care reform that makes health insurance personal and portable and keeps government from getting in between us and our doctors. in the days that follow, i will instruct the u.s. department of education that common core ends today.
in the days that followed, we will finally, finally, finally secure the borders and end sanctuary cities. [applause] senator cruz: there are 360 sanctuary jurisdictions in this country. everyone of them his going to find their federal taxpayer dollars cut off. and as you rightly noted, we will build a wall.
we will fundamentally reform the v.a. to protect every veteran right to choose his or her doctor. we will protect every service man and woman's right to keep and bear arms. [applause] the next time a jihadists walks into a recruiting center in chattanooga he's going to encounter the business and of firearms wielded by a dozen marines. we will have a commander-in-chief who stands up and says to the world we will defeat radical islamic terrorism.
i asked folks in west texas was the difference between regulators and locusts. is he can't use pesticide on the regulators. saidold west texas farmer one of that? bet?na will pass the fundamental tax reform. a simple flat tax. [applause] every american can fill out their taxes on a postcard. we should that abolish the irs.
some of you might be thinking all this makes sense. those words, bernie and common sense, it is like a matter and antimatter universe will cease to exist. i can't say that the you can [laughter] . simple principles live within your means. don't rank reps our kids and grandkids. follow the constitution.
cannot be done? can we do it? scripture tells us there is nothing new under the sun. it is very much like in the late 1970's, the jimmy carter administration. the same failed economic policies the same naive foreign policies. the very same countries, russia openly laughing at and mocking the president of the united states. what is that analogy give me so much hope and optimism? we know how that story ended. all across this country millions of men and women rose up and became the reagan revolution.
it didn't come from washington. washington despised ronald reagan. candidate that washington embraces, run and hide. it came from the american people and return to this country around. we went from misery and stagnation and malaise to booming economic growth and millions lifted out of poverty. into prosperity. the american dream. iranostages languishing in to winning the cold war and tearing down the berlin wall. why am i so optimistic? the same thing can happen again. people are waking up.
i thought that was the whole point of the campaign. if you think things in washington are doing great and we need to keep heading in the same basic direction that i'm not your guy. if you think washington is fundamentally broken that there is a bipartisan corruption of career politicians in both parties that get in bed with the lobbyists and the special interests and grow the government and we need to take power out of washington and back to we the people that is what this campaign is all about.
[applause] freedom is not some abstract concept we read about in a school book. freedom is real. it is in our lives, our families. i think about my dad. my debt was born and raised in cuba. he fought in the cuban revolution. when he was a teenager he was imprisoned and tortured. he found himself on the floor of a cuban jail cell covered in mud and blood and grime.
his nose was broken. his teeth were shattered. i don'tbers thinking have any kids nobody depends on me. it doesn't matter if i live or i die. and yet thankfully god had different plans for him. in 1957 my father fled to america. , couldn'tyears old speak english. dollars.dred job washing dishes. need $.50 an hour. work seven days a week. paid his way through school. he and my mother went on to smart start a small business.
i grew up in texas as the sun is too small business owners. i saw the ups and downs. today my dad is a pastor, he travels the country preaching the gospel. what was a kid my dad used to say to me when we faced oppression in cuba i had a place to flee to. if we lose our freedom here where we go? that is why all of us are here tonight. to go quietlyling into the night. we are not prepared to give up on our kids and our grandkids.
if we stand together and defend freedom, if we defend the constitution, if we defend the judeo-christian values that built this country and we stand as we the people, we will bring that last best hope for mankind. thatshining city on a hill is the united states of america. [applause] [applause] we want ted!
ted cruz: after i commented , which isyork values how donaldson described and explained his own views, it was interesting our friends in the media it seems that they let their hair on fire. they were very confused. what are these new york values? people know exactly what that means.
throw their charter schools. i apologize to the cops and the heroes whos and 9/11 were forced to stand and turn their back on mayor de blasio theuse he sides with looters send the criminals instead of the brave men and women in blue. i'm not sure if that is exactly the apology they were looking for.
the question was too i think gets how angry the american people are? the answer is they don't get it at all. you hear this from republicans and democrats and independents. we keep electing people and they go to washington and they stop listening to us. they don't fight for us. they don't stand with us. they get in bed with washington. the book spends a lot of time talking about the washington cartel. the career politicians in both parties who get in bed in washington.
says that they understand up to washington. sometimes politicians don't do what they say. the natural next question is who has stood up to washington? [applause] who has taken on jet not just the democrats but leaders of our own party? what we have got to do. we have got to stand with the american people against the bipartisan corruption of washington. we run a populist campaign of hard-working men and women, people who want to believe again in the promise of america. we run against the bipartisan corruption of washington that is embodied by hillary clinton.
preserve social security and medicare. growth is my number one priority. economic growth. i will note that jfk, when he ran for president campaigned on 5% economic growth. he got in and cut taxes and limited regulations and small businesses took off and he achieved economic growth of 5%. jfk campaigned on tax cuts limiting government and standing up in defeating the soviet communists. jfk would be a republican today. crowd: he would! he would!