Verdict with Ted Cruz - June 05, 2025


BONUS POD： Big Pharma gets Cancelled, FBI Reopens Pipe Bombs, Cocaine & Court Leaks plus Ivy Under Fire


Episode Stats


Length

14 minutes

Words per minute

150.47412

Word count

2,174

Sentence count

119

Harmful content

Misogyny

1

sentences flagged

Toxicity

1

sentences flagged

Hate speech

1

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

The Trump administration has canceled a $700 million contract with Moderna for the development of a bird flu vaccine for humans. They say the technology may not be safe for you. Also, the FBI is investigating whether or not the technology actually works. And finally, President Trump says it s time to cut off the funding to Harvard.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:00:02.400 Guaranteed human.
00:00:04.560 That is why today I am signing a new executive order
00:00:08.560 placing travel restrictions on countries
00:00:11.540 including Yemen, Somalia, Haiti, Libya,
00:00:15.920 and numerous others.
00:00:17.220 But we will not allow people to enter our country 1.00
00:00:20.260 who wish to do us harm.
00:00:22.520 And nothing will stop us from keeping America safe.
00:00:26.220 You're listening to the 47 Morning Update
00:00:29.080 with Ben Ferguson.
00:00:30.400 Good Thursday morning.
00:00:31.400 Welcome.
00:00:31.860 It is the 47 Morning Update
00:00:33.360 and we've got three big stories for you
00:00:35.280 that you do not want to miss this morning.
00:00:37.060 First up, RFK Jr.'s Health and Human Services
00:00:40.840 has canceled Moderna's $766 million vaccine contract.
00:00:48.180 Why?
00:00:48.640 They say the technology actually may not be safe for you at all.
00:00:52.460 Also, the Deputy FBI Director, Dan Bongino,
00:00:56.240 coming out and saying there's some big stories
00:00:58.740 that we're still looking into.
00:01:00.660 You remember the cocaine at the White House
00:01:02.740 or the leaking of the 2022 Supreme Court decision
00:01:05.960 when it came to Roe v. Wade
00:01:07.560 and the Washington pipe bomb incident
00:01:09.820 just the day before, January the 7th.
00:01:13.460 Well, all of these are now being investigated again
00:01:16.980 by the FBI.
00:01:18.320 I'll have those details.
00:01:19.260 And finally, President Trump yet again
00:01:21.940 proving he wasn't joking when he said
00:01:23.980 he was going to be looking at
00:01:25.180 where your tax dollars are going.
00:01:26.700 This time, he says, it's time to cut off the funding to Harvard.
00:01:31.400 And Harvard is now fighting back.
00:01:33.700 We'll have that and how much money it could save you
00:01:36.240 in just a second.
00:01:37.560 It's the 47 Morning Update and it starts right now.
00:01:41.080 Story number one.
00:01:42.100 There's no other way to describe it
00:01:43.440 but a major victory for American taxpayers.
00:01:46.340 The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
00:01:48.440 Undersecretary RFK Jr.
00:01:51.140 has canceled a $766 million contract with Moderna
00:01:57.440 that was intended to fund the development
00:01:59.380 of an mRNA-based vaccine
00:02:03.580 targeting pandemic influenza viruses
00:02:06.520 including the H5N1 bird flu.
00:02:10.320 The funding awarded through the
00:02:12.340 Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority
00:02:15.440 known as BARDA
00:02:16.880 comprised $176 million granted in July of 2024
00:02:22.000 and $590 million in January of 2025.
00:02:26.640 The cancellation occurred despite Moderna
00:02:28.540 reporting positive interim results
00:02:30.740 from early stage trials involving 300 healthy adults
00:02:35.160 which demonstrated they claimed
00:02:36.960 a robust immune response and favorable safety profile.
00:02:41.340 That's obviously coming from the company.
00:02:44.220 Well, when the announcement came through
00:02:46.700 this is what it sounded like on MSNBC.
00:02:50.780 The administration has canceled a contract with Moderna
00:02:54.080 for the development of a bird flu vaccine for humans
00:02:58.060 or Angelica Peebles joins us now with more 1.00
00:03:01.900 and you could conjecture a lot of things about this
00:03:06.460 between RFK Jr. and vaccines and mRNA.
00:03:10.500 What's behind all this?
00:03:12.500 Yeah, good morning, Joe.
00:03:13.480 So this is just the latest in a string of events
00:03:16.560 that we've seen related to COVID vaccines
00:03:18.860 over the last week.
00:03:20.220 And what's happening here is that
00:03:21.620 the Trump administration is canceling
00:03:23.560 a more than $700 million contract with Moderna
00:03:26.720 to develop a bird flu vaccine
00:03:28.860 and other pre-pandemic influenza viruses.
00:03:31.920 And so what's really notable about this
00:03:33.800 is that obviously we've seen this,
00:03:35.500 you know, we've seen bird flu tearing through birds
00:03:37.960 and also dairy cows and the risk to humans.
00:03:41.640 And so what we saw in the Biden administration
00:03:43.440 is that they really ramped up this work
00:03:45.800 and they were helping to fund,
00:03:47.520 they were going to fund a phase three trial
00:03:49.200 to see if we could use mRNA for a bird flu vaccine
00:03:52.640 if it indeed spills over to humans.
00:03:55.260 And now the cancellation of this vaccine
00:03:57.620 is quite a surprise, maybe not a surprise now,
00:04:00.760 because we had been hearing rumblings about this
00:04:02.880 for the past few months.
00:04:03.940 But, you know, we just saw this contract ramp up
00:04:07.520 right before the last administration left.
00:04:09.960 And now you have the Trump administration
00:04:11.300 saying that they felt like after a rigorous review,
00:04:14.320 we concluded that the continued investment
00:04:16.180 in Moderna's H5N1 mRNA vaccine
00:04:18.760 was not scientifically or ethically justifiable.
00:04:22.060 And they're saying that it's not just about efficacy,
00:04:24.020 it's about safety.
00:04:25.500 And so it's interesting to hear them
00:04:27.020 really casting doubt on just the safety
00:04:29.760 and the efficacy of mRNA vaccines as a whole.
00:04:32.640 You go back to what the HHS official stated
00:04:35.980 in that decision,
00:04:37.540 and you would think the media
00:04:38.740 would have spent more time on this,
00:04:41.060 saying, following a comprehensive review,
00:04:44.620 they concluded that continued investment
00:04:46.960 in Moderna's H5N1 and mRNA vaccine
00:04:52.480 was not scientifically or ethically justifiable.
00:04:58.620 Now, concerns were raised about the safety
00:05:00.500 and testing rigor of the mRNA technology.
00:05:03.940 And the HHS emphasized the need for safety,
00:05:06.940 number one, integrity, number two,
00:05:09.780 and public trust in medical advancement,
00:05:12.800 something that at all disappeared
00:05:14.760 because of the, quote, COVID vaccine.
00:05:17.600 Remember when they promised you if you got it,
00:05:19.420 you were going to stop the spread
00:05:21.040 and you didn't have to worry about getting COVID-19.
00:05:24.820 Well, that never happened,
00:05:26.300 and we all know we were lied to.
00:05:27.800 Now, this move also aligns with Secretary Kennedy's
00:05:30.880 longstanding skepticism towards mRNA vaccines.
00:05:35.900 Since assuming his role in February,
00:05:37.760 Kennedy has implemented several policy changes
00:05:40.040 reflecting those views,
00:05:41.780 including rolling back COVID-19 vaccine recommendations,
00:05:44.800 as we mentioned yesterday,
00:05:46.580 for healthy children and pregnant women,
00:05:49.520 something that's been celebrated
00:05:50.860 by quite a few Americans.
00:05:52.800 Now, to be clear,
00:05:55.380 no one has banned vaccines.
00:05:59.040 This is going back to giving you the choice,
00:06:02.240 and a choice that many Americans
00:06:03.860 had taken away from them
00:06:05.760 during the COVID lockdowns.
00:06:08.020 Now, story number two.
00:06:09.240 There were some pretty big stories
00:06:10.780 in the past administration
00:06:12.260 that literally got swept under the rug.
00:06:15.280 And there are stories that Democrats,
00:06:16.900 certainly those in power,
00:06:18.080 were really hoping they'd never have to worry about again.
00:06:20.820 It's part of the reason why they were propping up Joe Biden,
00:06:23.540 even though they knew
00:06:24.420 he wasn't even the President of the United States of America.
00:06:27.780 He had a massive cognitive decline.
00:06:30.600 But hey, when you're doing what they're doing,
00:06:32.800 why not keep the charades going?
00:06:35.220 Well, the FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino
00:06:38.180 has come out and said that,
00:06:40.380 quote,
00:06:40.500 the Bureau is now looking at several of those cases
00:06:43.860 involving, quote,
00:06:45.520 potential public corruption.
00:06:48.060 Cases the FBI could look at
00:06:50.640 are the Washington pipe bomb incident,
00:06:53.420 a White House cocaine discovery,
00:06:56.020 you may remember that story,
00:06:58.120 and also the minor leaking
00:07:00.160 of the 2022 Supreme Court decision
00:07:04.160 that overturned Roe v. Wade.
00:07:07.240 Yes, the FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino
00:07:09.800 sang that the Bureau is looking at launching investigations
00:07:13.280 into these cases of potential public corruption.
00:07:16.520 Bongino said, quote,
00:07:18.300 shortly after squaring in,
00:07:19.980 the FBI Director Cash Patel and I
00:07:21.800 evaluated a number of cases
00:07:23.280 of potential public corruption
00:07:24.700 that understandably have garnered public interest.
00:07:28.720 Bongino, a former Secret Service agent,
00:07:31.100 and you may know him from his podcast,
00:07:32.980 noted that they made the decision
00:07:34.440 to either reopen
00:07:35.540 or push additional resources
00:07:37.280 and investigative attention to these cases.
00:07:41.040 One case they're looking to target
00:07:43.200 is the FBI investigation
00:07:44.360 to the alleged pipe bomb
00:07:46.100 left near the Democratic
00:07:47.840 and Republican National Committee buildings
00:07:50.680 in Washington, D.C.
00:07:52.380 the day before the January 6th Capitol breach,
00:07:55.480 he said.
00:07:56.240 The FBI said in 2024
00:07:57.880 that a $500,000 reward
00:07:59.960 is still in effect for information
00:08:01.740 leading to the arrest
00:08:02.740 of the pipe bomb suspect.
00:08:04.500 Earlier in 2025,
00:08:06.000 the former Assistant Director
00:08:07.580 in charge of the FBI Washington field office
00:08:10.320 told CNN that officials
00:08:12.000 are seeking, quote,
00:08:13.120 new leads,
00:08:13.960 saying maybe alliances have changed
00:08:16.860 or relationships have changed
00:08:18.360 and it's time to report on the suspect
00:08:20.400 is what he said to the outlet at the time,
00:08:23.020 saying tips from the public
00:08:24.220 really have been very helpful.
00:08:25.880 But as I mentioned,
00:08:27.120 we're still trying to identify the suspect.
00:08:28.860 So we're trying to release
00:08:30.280 a little more information
00:08:31.620 such that maybe it will jog somebody's memory.
00:08:35.220 Other cases that warrant more resources,
00:08:37.260 include one involving the discovery
00:08:39.160 of cocaine in the White House
00:08:41.760 in July of 2023,
00:08:43.220 as well as the massive leak
00:08:46.180 of the Supreme Court's decision
00:08:48.060 that overturned Roe v. Wade
00:08:49.500 in June of 2022,
00:08:51.500 saying it this way,
00:08:52.780 quote,
00:08:53.180 I receive requests,
00:08:54.920 briefings on these cases weekly
00:08:56.960 and we are making progress.
00:08:59.280 If you have any investigative tips
00:09:01.020 on these matters that may assist us,
00:09:03.580 then please contact the FBI.
00:09:05.800 Also in his ex post,
00:09:07.080 Spongino said he and Patel
00:09:08.700 have conducted one media interview together,
00:09:11.240 which was with Fox News,
00:09:13.140 as you know,
00:09:13.720 a few days ago,
00:09:15.100 saying, quote,
00:09:15.900 we decided early on
00:09:17.080 to limit our media footprint overall
00:09:19.160 in order to keep the attention
00:09:20.720 on the work being done.
00:09:22.980 We have chosen to communicate
00:09:24.360 in writing on this platform
00:09:26.140 to fill some of the inevitable
00:09:27.580 information vacuum,
00:09:29.420 saying, quote,
00:09:30.140 I try to read as much
00:09:31.560 of your feedback as possible,
00:09:33.520 but the workday is busy
00:09:35.180 and my office is a sensitive,
00:09:38.020 compartmented information facility
00:09:40.020 with limited phone access.
00:09:42.440 In response to feedback,
00:09:43.660 both positive and negative,
00:09:44.780 from our interview last week,
00:09:45.960 we will be releasing
00:09:46.760 more information,
00:09:48.020 which will further clarify answers
00:09:49.980 to some of the questions
00:09:50.980 asked in the interview.
00:09:52.460 One thing is for sure,
00:09:54.000 they are definitely going
00:09:55.240 for more transparency.
00:09:56.380 But for the liberals out there
00:09:58.240 that may have been committing crimes,
00:10:00.300 guess what?
00:10:00.980 You may have thought
00:10:01.720 you got away with it,
00:10:02.760 and apparently with this administration,
00:10:04.880 you may be very wrong.
00:10:06.680 And lastly, story number three.
00:10:08.560 It's a pretty simple idea.
00:10:10.420 If you hate the United States of America,
00:10:12.460 why should we let you come
00:10:13.880 to America's universities,
00:10:15.400 especially if you're advocating 0.97
00:10:17.100 for violence against Jewish students
00:10:19.540 or even American students?
00:10:22.560 Well, the Trump administration
00:10:23.780 has now intensified its actions
00:10:26.640 against Harvard University
00:10:28.300 by directing federal agencies
00:10:30.860 to cancel or redirect contracts
00:10:33.380 worth approximately $100 million.
00:10:36.220 Now, this move follows earlier measures,
00:10:39.360 including the freezing of over $2.6 billion
00:10:42.740 in federal research grants,
00:10:44.860 citing concerns over the university's policies
00:10:47.500 and campus climate.
00:10:49.840 Now, the aspects of the policy change
00:10:52.620 are actually very simple.
00:10:55.220 The reallocation of resources
00:10:56.980 is number one.
00:10:58.480 The administration's decision
00:10:59.780 aims to redirect
00:11:00.980 substantial federal funds
00:11:02.600 to institutions
00:11:03.620 that align more closely
00:11:05.400 with its policy objectives,
00:11:07.780 potentially benefiting trade schools
00:11:09.680 and other educational entities.
00:11:12.780 They also say
00:11:13.440 there's an emphasis on accountability.
00:11:15.580 By scrutinizing Harvard's use
00:11:17.220 of federal funds,
00:11:18.060 the administration underscores
00:11:19.340 the importance of accountability
00:11:21.220 and also adherence
00:11:22.860 to national standards
00:11:23.980 in higher education institutions.
00:11:26.900 And then the promotion
00:11:27.840 of diverse educational opportunities.
00:11:30.740 The potential redistribution of funds,
00:11:32.560 the White House say,
00:11:33.360 may enhance vocational
00:11:35.040 and technological trading programs,
00:11:37.940 offering countless students
00:11:39.460 alternative pathways
00:11:40.640 to successful careers
00:11:42.160 without the traditional university route
00:11:44.960 and or going to an Ivy League school.
00:11:47.380 There's also the encouragement
00:11:49.340 of institutional self-reliance.
00:11:51.980 The funding cuts
00:11:53.420 may prompt elite universities,
00:11:55.500 they say,
00:11:55.920 to seek greater financial independence,
00:11:58.800 fostering innovation,
00:11:59.980 efficiency,
00:12:00.640 and management resources.
00:12:02.660 Now, these actions
00:12:03.780 are sparking legal challenges
00:12:05.780 as the universities
00:12:06.800 are angry over what's happening.
00:12:09.500 But at the end of the day,
00:12:10.660 the White House also says
00:12:11.900 this comes down to another issue.
00:12:13.780 And that is,
00:12:15.220 are we actually encouraging students
00:12:17.020 from around the world
00:12:18.100 to come to the U.S.
00:12:19.160 that love America
00:12:20.220 and that want to be a part
00:12:21.920 of the process?
00:12:23.400 Or are tax dollars
00:12:24.980 going to students
00:12:25.800 that actually hate America?
00:12:27.720 And that brings up
00:12:28.680 the State Department
00:12:29.900 pausing visa interviews
00:12:32.240 as Trump moves
00:12:33.380 to cancel Harvard's
00:12:34.680 last federal contracts.
00:12:37.020 Here's more of that story
00:12:38.460 as CNN freaked out over it.
00:12:40.660 News and a major escalation
00:12:42.860 in the Trump administration's
00:12:43.940 fight against America's universities.
00:12:46.280 The State Department
00:12:46.880 pausing all new
00:12:48.240 student visa application interviews.
00:12:50.540 And while that pause is in place,
00:12:52.120 the government is developing
00:12:53.120 new guidance
00:12:53.840 for social media screenings
00:12:55.240 of foreign students
00:12:56.400 who want to study in the U.S.
00:12:58.360 This comes as the White House
00:12:59.300 moves to cancel
00:12:59.920 all remaining federal contracts
00:13:01.340 with Harvard.
00:13:02.400 Two senior administration officials
00:13:03.720 tell CNN
00:13:04.420 that those contracts
00:13:05.560 are worth about $100 million.
00:13:07.980 This on top of more than
00:13:09.300 $2 billion in grants
00:13:10.840 that the administration
00:13:11.600 froze last month.
00:13:13.240 And on Monday,
00:13:14.060 the president threatened
00:13:14.760 to give that money
00:13:15.480 to trade schools.
00:13:16.780 Here's Harvard's president
00:13:17.840 in an interview
00:13:18.480 that was taped
00:13:19.040 before news broke
00:13:20.740 about those latest
00:13:21.500 contract cancellations.
00:13:24.520 I don't know fully
00:13:26.260 what the motivations are,
00:13:28.000 but I do know
00:13:28.780 that there are people
00:13:30.080 who are fighting
00:13:32.580 a cultural battle.
00:13:34.480 I don't know if that is
00:13:35.840 what is driving
00:13:36.640 the administration.
00:13:39.380 They don't like
00:13:40.220 what's happened
00:13:40.780 to campuses.
00:13:42.400 And sometimes
00:13:43.060 they don't like
00:13:44.060 what we represent.
00:13:46.600 The Harvard president
00:13:47.840 right there
00:13:48.780 going on NPR,
00:13:50.860 which the president's
00:13:51.640 also trying to defund,
00:13:53.740 complaining about
00:13:54.740 the motives
00:13:55.660 of the Trump administration.
00:13:57.680 You can't make it up.
00:13:59.260 Donald Trump
00:13:59.880 doesn't care,
00:14:00.660 by the way,
00:14:01.340 and he's moving forward
00:14:03.360 with protecting
00:14:04.180 America's interests
00:14:05.300 and your tax dollars.
00:14:06.560 Thank you for listening
00:14:07.420 to the 47 Morning Update
00:14:09.220 with Ben Ferguson.
00:14:10.820 Please make sure
00:14:11.680 you hit subscribe
00:14:12.620 wherever you're listening
00:14:14.060 to this podcast
00:14:14.900 right now,
00:14:15.880 and for more
00:14:16.620 in-depth news,
00:14:17.820 also subscribe
00:14:18.640 to the Ben Ferguson podcast,
00:14:20.520 and we will see you
00:14:21.500 back here tomorrow.
00:14:22.340 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:14:25.740 Guaranteed Human.