Verdict with Ted Cruz - January 13, 2026


BONUS POD: Iranians Protest & Die for Freedom plus Trump Targets Funding Behind Anti-ICE Chaos


Episode Stats

Length

14 minutes

Words per Minute

165.30872

Word Count

2,340

Sentence Count

175

Misogynist Sentences

4

Hate Speech Sentences

3


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:00:02.500 Guaranteed human.
00:00:04.720 Does the president stand fully behind that officer, that agent?
00:00:08.640 Does the president believe his actions were justified?
00:00:11.200 Absolutely.
00:00:12.140 And I think the more evidence that comes out shows the officer was justified,
00:00:16.280 and President Trump was right about this all along.
00:00:18.860 And who was wrong?
00:00:20.020 The Democrat Party and the mainstream media,
00:00:22.360 who despicably have been lying about this officer
00:00:25.760 and about this case from the very beginning.
00:00:27.960 And they have had to change their story and their narrative.
00:00:31.500 You're listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.
00:00:35.420 Good Tuesday morning.
00:00:36.380 Nice to have you with us on the 47 Morning Update.
00:00:38.780 And we've got two big stories for you.
00:00:40.640 First up, Donald Trump, we're being told,
00:00:42.580 is keeping the Iran airstrikes on the table.
00:00:46.640 White House saying the president has a lot of options,
00:00:49.000 but he is going to crack down on the country
00:00:52.060 that is now going after and killing innocent people in the streets.
00:00:55.540 What's the latest?
00:00:56.300 We have it all for you in just a moment.
00:00:58.420 Also, President Donald Trump is pledging to uncover leftist groups
00:01:03.100 that are countering ICE agents.
00:01:05.380 We're seeing it happen all over the country.
00:01:08.080 And the anti-ICE mobs, well, they're anything but organic.
00:01:11.400 So who is financing them?
00:01:13.360 That coming up as well.
00:01:15.240 But first, I want to tell you about an amazing opportunity right now
00:01:19.400 that I'm involved in,
00:01:21.280 and I cannot wait for you to take advantage of it.
00:01:24.240 I want you to take some incredible courses at Hillsdale College for free.
00:01:30.000 You may not know this,
00:01:31.420 but Hillsdale College has been influencing conservatives like myself for decades.
00:01:36.240 They had a huge impact on Charlie Kirk's life.
00:01:39.460 And even at his memorial service,
00:01:41.040 they talked about how Charlie took class after class after class at Hillsdale College.
00:01:47.240 Hillsdale College is now offering for you,
00:01:49.680 the listeners of this show, more than 40 free,
00:01:53.900 I want to say that again, free online courses.
00:01:56.940 That's right, more than 40 free online courses.
00:02:00.440 You can learn about the works of C.S. Lewis,
00:02:03.020 the stories in the book of Genesis,
00:02:05.720 the meaning of the U.S. Constitution,
00:02:08.020 the rise and fall of the Roman Republic,
00:02:10.820 or the history of the ancient Christian church,
00:02:14.020 all with Hillsdale College's free online courses.
00:02:17.600 Right now, I'm personally taking the Constitution 101.
00:02:21.840 In this course, you're going to explore the design
00:02:24.080 and the purpose of the Constitution,
00:02:26.460 the challenges it faced during the Civil War,
00:02:30.100 and how it has been undermined for more than a century
00:02:33.180 by radical progressives and liberals.
00:02:35.960 This 12-lecture course is self-paced.
00:02:39.240 It's another reason why I love it.
00:02:40.580 So start whenever and wherever.
00:02:43.140 In our country, we need more Americans like you and I
00:02:46.060 that understand the Constitution
00:02:47.760 and can defend the freedom of the American people
00:02:50.960 against the left
00:02:52.120 and their increasing encroachments on our God-given rights.
00:02:57.000 So start your classes today for free.
00:03:00.120 Start your free Constitution 101 course right now.
00:03:03.280 How do you do it?
00:03:04.100 Go to hillsdale.edu slash morning update
00:03:09.260 to enroll, and it's no cost.
00:03:11.980 It's easy to get started.
00:03:13.740 You've got to use a special website,
00:03:16.100 hillsdale.edu slash morning update.
00:03:20.300 Enroll for free.
00:03:21.720 hillsdale.edu slash morning update.
00:03:24.300 It's the 47 Morning Update,
00:03:26.000 and it starts right now.
00:03:27.760 Story number one.
00:03:28.940 U.S. President Donald Trump,
00:03:30.880 we are now being told is considering airstrikes on Iran
00:03:34.620 to stop a crackdown on the protesters
00:03:37.520 the White House has confirmed on Monday,
00:03:40.320 adding that people were being killed in the streets.
00:03:43.800 A channel for diplomacy,
00:03:45.360 they also made clear,
00:03:46.620 is still open,
00:03:48.020 with Iran taking, quote,
00:03:49.440 a far different tone in private discussions
00:03:51.700 with President Trump's special envoy,
00:03:54.380 Steve Witzkoff,
00:03:55.200 and the press secretary, Caroline Levitt,
00:03:57.200 confirming that,
00:03:58.160 saying, quote,
00:03:59.460 one thing President Trump is very good at
00:04:01.640 is always keeping all of his options on the table,
00:04:05.580 and airstrikes would be one of the many,
00:04:07.920 many options that are on the table
00:04:09.580 for the commander-in-chief.
00:04:11.580 Levitt added that diplomacy
00:04:13.020 is always the first option for this president,
00:04:16.360 saying, quote,
00:04:17.060 what you're hearing publicly
00:04:18.240 from the Iranian regime is quite different
00:04:20.580 from what the message
00:04:22.140 the administration is receiving privately,
00:04:24.300 and I think the president has an interest
00:04:26.460 in exploring those messages.
00:04:29.420 Iran's foreign ministry said earlier on Monday
00:04:32.120 that a channel of communication
00:04:34.260 was open between its top diplomat
00:04:36.680 and Trump's special envoy,
00:04:39.540 despite a lack of diplomatic relations.
00:04:42.620 Trump said on Sunday
00:04:43.980 that the U.S. military was, in fact,
00:04:46.140 considering a very strong option against Iran,
00:04:49.800 saying it looks like Tehran
00:04:51.140 crossed his previously stated red line
00:04:53.440 of protesters being killed.
00:04:56.120 Here's more of what the president had to say
00:04:57.780 in his last interview.
00:04:59.140 Take a listen.
00:05:00.160 Are you following the protesting
00:05:03.100 that is taking place all over the country of Iran?
00:05:06.720 Yeah, I'm following it very closely.
00:05:07.600 And have you read that
00:05:09.540 the Ayatollah, Ali Khamenei,
00:05:12.680 is now, has a plan B to go to Russia?
00:05:16.040 Or someplace, yeah.
00:05:16.920 He's looking to go someplace.
00:05:17.820 Do you believe that Iran,
00:05:19.780 you think the country's on the verge of collapsing?
00:05:22.040 Well, it could be.
00:05:22.920 I mean, what they've done is they start,
00:05:24.880 in the past,
00:05:26.060 they've started shooting the hell out of people.
00:05:28.880 And all of a sudden,
00:05:29.780 people without any weapons whatsoever
00:05:31.480 are standing there
00:05:32.200 and you have machine guns gunning them down.
00:05:34.500 Or they grab,
00:05:35.560 take them to prisons
00:05:36.320 and then hang them and kill them.
00:05:38.260 So they played rough.
00:05:39.260 And I said, if they do that,
00:05:40.480 we're going to hit them very hard.
00:05:42.680 Well, we're going to hit them hard.
00:05:43.560 We're ready to do it.
00:05:44.620 If they do that,
00:05:45.560 we're going to hit them hard.
00:05:46.700 And so far, for the most part,
00:05:49.240 there's been some of it.
00:05:51.140 But for the most part,
00:05:52.180 they haven't.
00:05:52.700 There have been people killed.
00:05:54.500 Some of them,
00:05:55.280 the crowds are so big
00:05:56.480 that some of them have had,
00:05:58.600 really, like,
00:05:59.580 were stomped on.
00:06:01.120 Literally, it was terrible.
00:06:03.980 The crowds are just,
00:06:05.880 they're massive.
00:06:08.100 The enthusiasm to overturn that regime
00:06:10.520 is incredible.
00:06:12.260 But there's been people killed.
00:06:14.740 But it's more from death by,
00:06:16.760 it's literally stomping.
00:06:18.900 It's people running
00:06:20.700 in a certain direction.
00:06:21.880 So we'll see what happens.
00:06:23.160 We'll see what happens.
00:06:24.180 They know, though,
00:06:25.460 that it's a stampede.
00:06:27.360 It's, I guess,
00:06:28.060 the best word.
00:06:28.780 They have, like, a stampede.
00:06:29.980 You talk about stampede for cattle.
00:06:32.300 But the people are stampeding.
00:06:35.540 And you're losing a lot of people
00:06:36.980 with the stampedes.
00:06:37.940 There's so many,
00:06:38.940 there's so many people protesting.
00:06:41.060 Nobody's ever seen anything
00:06:42.160 like what's happening right now.
00:06:43.320 But I have put Iran on notice
00:06:45.360 that if they start shooting at them,
00:06:47.840 these people are totally unarmed people.
00:06:50.100 And they love their country.
00:06:51.300 They want something to happen.
00:06:52.940 Look at their country.
00:06:53.940 They've gone,
00:06:54.700 they've gone back 150 years.
00:06:57.500 But I've told them that
00:06:59.500 if they do anything bad
00:07:01.320 to these people,
00:07:02.020 we're going to hit them very hard.
00:07:04.240 We're going to hit them very hard.
00:07:06.180 The president clearly sticking
00:07:07.820 with that line.
00:07:09.140 As Trump said,
00:07:09.700 the U.S. military is considering
00:07:11.020 those very strong options.
00:07:13.560 And the Iran leaders
00:07:14.420 have reached out for a meeting.
00:07:16.180 But we may have to act
00:07:17.180 before a meeting,
00:07:18.480 the president also went on to say.
00:07:20.480 Rights groups have also reported
00:07:22.080 a growing death toll,
00:07:23.740 with information continuing
00:07:24.900 to trickle out of Iran
00:07:26.200 despite a days-long internet
00:07:28.660 and phone shutdown.
00:07:30.600 Caroline Leavitt,
00:07:31.480 White House press secretary,
00:07:32.540 appeared to confirm
00:07:33.400 there have been
00:07:34.280 a significant increase in deaths,
00:07:36.340 saying, quote,
00:07:36.940 he certainly doesn't want
00:07:38.460 to see people being killed
00:07:39.640 in the streets of Tehran.
00:07:41.240 And unfortunately,
00:07:42.140 that's something we're seeing
00:07:43.280 right now.
00:07:44.560 One thing is for sure,
00:07:45.840 the president of the United States
00:07:46.720 of America
00:07:47.240 is going to hold Iran
00:07:48.960 accountable
00:07:49.620 for what's happening
00:07:50.740 right now on the ground,
00:07:53.040 keeping all options
00:07:54.480 on the table.
00:07:55.480 Now, story number two.
00:07:56.940 Which brings us
00:07:57.580 to another important story.
00:07:59.780 President Donald Trump
00:08:00.780 has come out
00:08:01.600 and pledged
00:08:02.440 to uncover
00:08:03.480 the leftist groups
00:08:04.640 that are countering ICE
00:08:06.380 all over the country.
00:08:08.360 President Trump said
00:08:09.380 that he believes
00:08:10.200 the woman
00:08:10.840 that was fatally shot
00:08:11.920 by a U.S. Immigration
00:08:13.580 and Customs Enforcement officer
00:08:15.420 in Minneapolis last week
00:08:16.760 may have been
00:08:17.740 a professional agitator
00:08:19.380 and indicated
00:08:20.140 that the government
00:08:20.880 will uncover
00:08:21.800 the funding sources
00:08:22.940 behind such
00:08:24.380 anti-law enforcement
00:08:25.840 agitation nationwide.
00:08:27.720 Here's the president
00:08:28.840 in his own words.
00:08:30.580 The woman and her friend
00:08:32.120 were highly disrespectful
00:08:34.020 of law enforcement.
00:08:35.400 You saw that.
00:08:36.600 They were harassing
00:08:37.620 and were following
00:08:38.440 for days
00:08:39.800 and for hours.
00:08:41.860 And I think, frankly,
00:08:43.140 they're professional agitators.
00:08:45.240 And I'd like to find out
00:08:47.120 and we are going to find out
00:08:48.300 who's paying for it
00:08:49.320 with their brand new signs
00:08:51.240 and all the different things.
00:08:52.620 But these are
00:08:53.120 professional agitators
00:08:54.340 and law enforcement
00:08:55.840 should not be in a position
00:08:58.140 where they have to
00:08:59.120 put up with this stuff.
00:09:00.940 What that woman
00:09:02.280 and what her friend
00:09:03.260 and what their other friends
00:09:04.880 were doing to law enforcement,
00:09:07.340 not just ICE,
00:09:08.680 law enforcement
00:09:09.420 is outrageous.
00:09:11.400 The president added
00:09:12.560 that he would like
00:09:13.200 to find out
00:09:14.040 and we're going to find out
00:09:15.200 who's paying for it
00:09:16.280 with their brand new signs
00:09:17.780 and all the different things.
00:09:19.700 But these are
00:09:20.460 professional agitators
00:09:21.680 and law enforcement
00:09:22.560 should not be in a position
00:09:24.140 where they have to
00:09:25.400 put up with this stuff.
00:09:26.660 What that woman
00:09:27.660 and what her friend
00:09:28.660 and what their other friends
00:09:29.900 are doing to law enforcement,
00:09:31.060 not just ICE,
00:09:31.940 law enforcement
00:09:32.540 is outrageous.
00:09:34.480 The U.S. Department
00:09:35.240 of Homeland Security
00:09:36.460 retweeting a post
00:09:37.580 in which Republican
00:09:38.640 Representative Lance Gooden
00:09:40.600 of Texas asserted
00:09:41.620 that the anti-ICE protesters
00:09:43.380 are actually all
00:09:44.600 just being paid for,
00:09:46.080 saying, quote,
00:09:46.720 the anti-ICE mobs
00:09:48.300 are anything but organic.
00:09:50.420 Dark money is bankrolling
00:09:51.740 these far-left groups
00:09:52.860 like Ice Watch
00:09:54.120 and lighting the fuse.
00:09:56.500 Americans deserve to know
00:09:57.840 who's cutting the checks,
00:09:58.960 the lawmaker said
00:09:59.900 in his post.
00:10:01.060 A person weaponizing
00:10:02.720 their vehicle
00:10:03.480 against law enforcement
00:10:04.680 is unacceptable.
00:10:06.480 And we're witnessing it
00:10:07.420 happen all over the country.
00:10:10.540 Fox News having even more
00:10:12.000 on this,
00:10:12.600 and here's what they said.
00:10:14.020 Right now,
00:10:14.900 DHS is deploying
00:10:16.020 hundreds of more
00:10:17.120 federal agents
00:10:17.860 to Minnesota
00:10:18.520 as violent anti-ICE protests
00:10:20.800 continue to rise
00:10:21.900 in the state.
00:10:22.700 Matt Finn joins us
00:10:23.860 live in Minneapolis
00:10:24.800 with the details.
00:10:25.900 Hey, Matt.
00:10:26.540 Hi, Ainsley.
00:10:27.160 DHS sources tell us
00:10:28.320 up to 1,000 additional
00:10:30.380 federal officers
00:10:31.200 could surge
00:10:31.860 Minneapolis here.
00:10:32.780 That's on top
00:10:33.300 of the already 2,000 agents
00:10:34.640 on the ground.
00:10:35.900 And this comes
00:10:36.640 as DHS Secretary
00:10:38.120 Kristi Noem
00:10:38.920 is defending
00:10:40.020 her assessment
00:10:40.760 of the Renee Goods shooting.
00:10:42.580 If you look at
00:10:43.520 what the definition
00:10:44.140 of domestic terrorism is,
00:10:45.780 it completely fits
00:10:46.960 the situation
00:10:47.740 on the ground.
00:10:48.680 This individual,
00:10:49.920 as you saw
00:10:50.460 in the video
00:10:50.860 that we released
00:10:51.580 just 48 hours
00:10:52.540 after this incident,
00:10:54.100 showed that this officer
00:10:55.260 was hit by her vehicle,
00:10:56.580 she weaponized it,
00:10:57.940 and he defended
00:10:58.980 his life
00:10:59.540 and those colleagues
00:11:00.300 around him
00:11:00.820 and the public.
00:11:02.380 But the Democratic
00:11:03.420 mayor of Minneapolis,
00:11:04.720 Jacob Fry,
00:11:05.500 disagrees
00:11:06.160 and is slamming
00:11:07.360 Secretary Noem.
00:11:08.940 It sounds like
00:11:10.120 she doesn't believe
00:11:10.940 a single word
00:11:11.720 that she is saying
00:11:12.720 right now.
00:11:13.380 Here's the thing,
00:11:13.900 she's calling Minneapolis
00:11:14.820 like this dystopian
00:11:16.140 hellhole.
00:11:17.140 You know how many
00:11:17.640 shootings we've had
00:11:18.480 so far this year?
00:11:20.320 Two.
00:11:20.880 And one of them
00:11:21.660 was ICE.
00:11:22.640 Two shootings
00:11:23.240 in a large city
00:11:24.100 so far this entire year
00:11:25.600 and one of them
00:11:26.580 is ICE.
00:11:27.320 This is a safe city.
00:11:29.360 ICE and Christy Noem
00:11:30.920 and everything they're doing
00:11:31.660 is making it
00:11:32.520 far less safe.
00:11:34.200 And there's new video
00:11:35.200 leading up to the moments
00:11:36.300 of Renee Goodes
00:11:37.140 shooting death
00:11:37.840 by an ICE agent
00:11:39.000 on Wednesday.
00:11:48.580 The video appears
00:11:49.820 to show Goodes' SUV
00:11:51.040 partially blocking
00:11:52.200 the street,
00:11:52.920 honking her horn,
00:11:53.760 and apparently dancing
00:11:54.920 in the driver's seat.
00:11:56.720 Border Patrol tells us
00:11:57.860 it's dangerous
00:11:58.660 for agents
00:11:59.320 to be blocked in
00:12:00.180 by a car
00:12:00.760 because there are
00:12:01.640 so many anti-ICE
00:12:02.800 agitators
00:12:03.500 who quickly surround them.
00:12:05.240 A new video
00:12:05.620 from last night
00:12:06.400 apparently shows
00:12:07.200 federal agents
00:12:08.060 using crowd-control tactics,
00:12:10.140 firing tear gas
00:12:11.040 and pepper balls
00:12:11.840 at protesters
00:12:12.560 outside the federal building
00:12:13.880 where ICE detainees
00:12:15.500 are being held.
00:12:16.860 An independent photographer
00:12:18.020 who was there
00:12:18.820 says protesters
00:12:19.740 tried to stop traffic
00:12:21.400 in and out
00:12:22.500 of the federal facility
00:12:23.500 and they were met
00:12:24.500 with force.
00:12:25.500 Now this is happening
00:12:26.340 in a city where the mayor
00:12:27.500 has told ICE
00:12:28.460 to get the F out
00:12:29.560 and highly organized
00:12:30.980 anti-ICE activists
00:12:32.160 are patrolling
00:12:32.780 the neighborhoods.
00:12:33.800 We asked Border Patrol
00:12:34.960 during a ride-along
00:12:36.060 if any of this
00:12:36.860 is going to deter them.
00:12:38.500 Absolutely not.
00:12:39.460 We're out here
00:12:39.960 to do a job
00:12:40.740 and we're not going to
00:12:42.260 stop until it's done.
00:12:44.060 If a mayor wants
00:12:45.240 to say something
00:12:46.540 that he's not for us,
00:12:48.260 if anybody wants
00:12:49.100 to say that they're
00:12:49.720 not for us,
00:12:50.720 that is not going
00:12:51.720 to stop what we're doing
00:12:52.700 in Minneapolis
00:12:53.600 or anywhere across
00:12:54.720 the country.
00:12:55.820 And that was during
00:12:56.880 a ride-along
00:12:57.420 with Border Patrol.
00:12:58.260 I have to say,
00:12:58.760 driving around the city,
00:12:59.760 as soon as they get
00:13:00.580 out of their cars,
00:13:01.580 they are met with people
00:13:02.400 who have those
00:13:03.440 ear-piercing whistles,
00:13:05.540 people resisting,
00:13:07.060 trying to surround
00:13:07.780 the cars.
00:13:08.380 There is really
00:13:08.940 a highly organized
00:13:10.140 anti-ICE,
00:13:11.080 anti-Border Patrol
00:13:11.840 network here
00:13:12.360 on the ground.
00:13:13.200 in the Twin Cities.
00:13:14.760 It's clear.
00:13:15.620 The President of the United
00:13:16.240 States of America
00:13:16.920 wants to find out
00:13:17.780 exactly who is
00:13:19.300 weaponizing these
00:13:20.200 individuals to go
00:13:21.100 after ICE agents.
00:13:22.720 And you can see it there
00:13:23.860 as ICE put out,
00:13:24.880 saying these individuals
00:13:26.060 are impeding law enforcement
00:13:27.340 and they're weaponizing
00:13:28.640 their vehicles against ICE.
00:13:30.660 The officer in this
00:13:31.880 shooting was
00:13:32.800 doofily acted
00:13:34.540 in self-defense.
00:13:36.200 That is what the DHS
00:13:37.040 Assistant Secretary
00:13:37.800 for Public Affairs,
00:13:38.940 Tricia McLaughlin,
00:13:39.820 said on X.
00:13:41.380 One thing's for sure,
00:13:42.360 the President now
00:13:43.320 has made it clear.
00:13:44.520 We're going to find out
00:13:45.180 exactly who's paying
00:13:46.180 these individuals
00:13:46.820 and what group
00:13:47.860 is behind them.
00:13:49.080 Thank you for listening
00:13:49.860 to the 47 Morning Update
00:13:51.580 with Ben Ferguson.
00:13:53.280 Please make sure
00:13:54.140 you hit subscribe
00:13:55.060 wherever you're listening
00:13:56.520 to this podcast
00:13:57.360 right now.
00:13:58.560 And for more
00:13:59.080 in-depth news,
00:14:00.280 also subscribe
00:14:01.100 to the Ben Ferguson
00:14:02.100 podcast,
00:14:02.980 and we will see you
00:14:03.940 back here tomorrow.
00:14:04.800 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:14:08.520 Guaranteed human.