Verdict with Ted Cruz - April 02, 2026


BONUS POD： Trump Addresses War in Iran & Delivers Epic Fury Speech to the American People


Episode Stats


Length

11 minutes

Words per minute

157.40767

Word count

1,871

Sentence count

137

Harmful content

Toxicity

1

sentences flagged

Hate speech

6

sentences flagged


Summary

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

Trump delivers an update on where things stand after 31 days of fighting in Iran and lays out his vision for the future of the conflict and what he wants from the Iranian regime. The president also announces that Iran will never be allowed to get a nuclear weapon.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
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.
00:00:02.440 Guaranteed human.
00:00:04.680 Let me begin by congratulating the team at NASA
00:00:08.700 and our brave astronauts on the successful launch of Artemis II.
00:00:13.540 It was quite something.
00:00:14.760 It will be traveling further than any manned rocket has ever flown
00:00:18.240 and will very substantially pass the moon,
00:00:21.340 go around it, and come back home from a distance
00:00:24.100 that has never been done before.
00:00:26.740 It's amazing.
00:00:28.000 They are on the way, and God bless them.
00:00:30.880 These are brave people.
00:00:32.500 You're listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.
00:00:36.160 Good Thursday morning. Nice to have you with us on the 47 Morning Update.
00:00:39.980 We've got one big story for you, and that is President Trump addressing the nation in prime time,
00:00:45.720 talking about where we are when it comes to the war in Iran.
00:00:49.360 What happens next, and what are his demands so that we can move on past this with those in charge in Iran?
00:00:56.880 I've got it all for you and the highlights of what the President said.
00:01:01.000 It's the 47 Morning Update and it starts right now.
00:01:04.160 Story number one.
00:01:05.260 President Trump addressed the nation in prime time, giving an update on Operation Epic Fury
00:01:11.300 and where things stand after 31 days of fighting.
00:01:15.020 The bottom line was pretty clear.
00:01:16.980 According to the President, the latest operation, well, it is a mission that is not just working,
00:01:22.120 it's dominating.
00:01:23.160 From the very beginning, the objectives of Operation Epic Fury were clearly defined.
00:01:28.560 And now, more than a month into the conflict, officials say those objectives are being executed with overwhelming force
00:01:35.520 and potentially nearing completion within weeks, not months.
00:01:39.440 So let me break down exactly what that means.
00:01:42.760 The first objective the President talked about was this, to destroy Iran's missile threat. 0.85
00:01:47.300 Now this was priority number one, taking out the regime's ballistic missiles and crippling their ability to produce them.
00:01:54.620 So far, the results are staggering.
00:01:57.580 Ballistic missile attacks down 90%.
00:02:00.580 Drone attacks also down 90%.
00:02:03.900 The U.S. military has now struck more than 11,000 targets inside of Iran.
00:02:09.500 At the same time, American forces have established overwhelming air dominance flying deeper into Iranian territory and launching coordinated strike packages literally every hour.
00:02:22.900 And perhaps most importantly, over 66 percent of Iran's missiles, drones and naval production facilities have already been damaged or completely destroyed.
00:02:34.380 The second objective was to eliminate Iran's navy. 0.61
00:02:38.720 And again, the numbers, well, they're hard to ignore.
00:02:41.620 More than 150 Iranian vessels have been destroyed or sunk, including over 44 mine layers.
00:02:48.620 In fact, the Iranian navy has now been assessed as being what is described as combat ineffective,
00:02:55.420 with roughly 92% of its largest ships completely wiped out.
00:03:00.900 At this point, Iran has effectively lost the ability to project naval power in the region.
00:03:07.000 There are currently no Iranian vessels operating in major regional waterways.
00:03:12.460 Military officials say this is the largest elimination of a navy in a three-week period since World War II.
00:03:19.380 And a key focus remains securing the Strait of Hormuz, one of the most critical energy choke points in the world.
00:03:27.120 The third objective was to neutralize Iran's terrorist proxies.
00:03:32.020 Groups backed by Iran, long known for destabilizing the region,
00:03:36.380 are now described as barely putting up resistance.
00:03:39.980 That's a major shift in the balance of power.
00:03:42.980 And the fourth objective, and this is the big one,
00:03:45.800 ensure Iran never gets a nuclear weapon.
00:03:49.080 President Trump made it clear on this point and has for decades,
00:03:53.820 Reiterating it over and over again in the last 30 days,
00:03:57.500 Iran will never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon.
00:04:01.080 Now, as for what comes next, this is where things got even more interesting,
00:04:05.480 as the president started to lay out why his doctrine is very different from what we've seen in the past.
00:04:10.720 He started out talking about Barack Obama giving Iran $1.7 billion in cash.
00:04:18.000 And then, very importantly, I terminated Barack Hussein Obama's Iran nuclear deal.
00:04:22.800 a disaster. Obama gave them 1.7 billion dollars in cash. Green, green cash. Took it out of banks
00:04:31.760 from Virginia, D.C. and Maryland. All the cash they had. Flew it by airplanes in an attempt to
00:04:39.740 buy their respect and loyalty, but it didn't work. They laughed at our president and went on with
00:04:45.360 their mission to have a nuclear bomb. His Iran deal would have led to a colossal arsenal of 0.92
00:04:51.920 massive nuclear weapons for Iran and they would have had them years ago and they would have used 0.55
00:04:57.940 them would have been a different world there would have been no Middle East and no Israel right now 0.99
00:05:03.540 in my opinion the opinion of a lot of great experts had I not terminated that terrible deal
00:05:08.900 I was so honored to do it I was so proud to do it it was so bad right from the beginning
00:05:13.740 essentially I did what no other president was willing to do they made mistakes and I am
00:05:20.560 correcting them. The president talking about correcting those major mistakes that were made
00:05:26.400 by past leaders who knew there was a threat but refused to act. The president also praised the
00:05:32.640 U.S. armed forces saying this. As I stated in my announcement of Operation Epic Fury,
00:05:39.580 our objectives are very simple and clear. We are systematically dismantling the regime's ability
00:05:46.140 to threaten america or project power outside of their borders that means eliminating iran's navy
00:05:53.020 which is now absolutely destroyed hurting their air force and their missile program at levels
00:06:01.180 never seen before and annihilating their defense industrial base we've done all of it their navy
00:06:07.320 is gone their air force is gone their missiles are just about used up or beaten taken together
00:06:14.320 these actions will cripple Iran military, crush their ability to support terrorist proxies and
00:06:20.320 deny them the ability to build a nuclear bomb. Our armed forces have been extraordinary. There's
00:06:26.860 never been anything like it militarily. Everyone is talking about it and tonight I'm pleased to say
00:06:33.580 that these core strategic objectives are nearing completion. As we celebrate this progress we
00:06:41.360 think especially of the 13 American warriors who have laid down their lives in this fight
00:06:46.880 to prevent our children from ever having to face a nuclear Iran. Clearly, President Trump
00:06:54.420 understands that the message he has to explain to not only the U.S., but to the world is that
00:06:59.160 it's unacceptable for Iran to ever get a nuclear weapon. There also is another part of this story,
00:07:04.740 though, that's extremely important, and that is the Strait of Hormuz. And what will happen next
00:07:10.620 With the president saying this, not only to every American, but also to other countries around the world, including our allies.
00:07:18.860 The countries of the world that do receive oil through the Hormones Strait must take care of that passage.
00:07:25.880 They must cherish it. They must grab it and cherish it.
00:07:29.600 They can do it easily. We will be helpful, but they should take the lead in protecting the oil that they so desperately depend on.
00:07:38.400 So to those countries that can't get fuel, many of which refuse to get involved in the decapitation of Iran, we had to do it ourselves.
00:07:47.840 I have a suggestion.
00:07:49.100 Number one, buy oil from the United States of America.
00:07:52.240 We have plenty.
00:07:53.000 We have so much.
00:07:54.280 And number two, build up some delayed courage.
00:07:57.220 Should have done it before.
00:07:58.440 Should have done it with us, as we asked.
00:08:00.420 Go to the strait and just take it.
00:08:03.840 Protect it.
00:08:04.840 Use it for yourselves.
00:08:05.840 Iran has been essentially decimated.
00:08:09.700 The hard part is done, so it should be easy.
00:08:12.920 And in any event, when this conflict is over, the strait will open up naturally.
00:08:18.120 It'll just open up naturally.
00:08:19.780 They're going to want to be able to sell oil because that's all they have to try and rebuild.
00:08:25.100 It will resume the flowing and the gas prices will rapidly come back down.
00:08:31.200 President Trump also said that the U.S. is prepared economically to confront the effects of Iran's terror attacks on the Strait of Hormuz, on the oil takers.
00:08:41.000 And this is what the president said you can expect.
00:08:43.560 Many Americans have been concerned to see the recent rise in gasoline prices here at home.
00:08:49.660 Although this short-term increase has been entirely the result of the Iranian regime launching deranged terror attacks against commercial oil tankers in neighboring countries that have nothing to do with the conflict, this is yet more proof that Iran can never be trusted with nuclear weapons. 0.91
00:09:08.580 They will use them, and they will use them quickly. It would lead to decades of extortion, economic pain, and instability worse than we can ever imagine.
00:09:19.660 The United States has never been better prepared economically to confront this threat.
00:09:24.520 You all know that.
00:09:26.460 Now, the president also wanted to make it very clear to everyone that was watching,
00:09:30.760 that would include the bad guys in Iran, that America is not done.
00:09:35.460 This also is very similar to the wording that we've seen used by Israel.
00:09:40.720 They're not done yet either.
00:09:42.760 One thing does seem to be clear.
00:09:44.940 We are going to wrap this up within weeks, not months.
00:09:48.300 And as the president closed things out, this is what he had to say to the world.
00:09:53.480 Yet if during this period of time no deal is made, we have our eyes on key targets.
00:09:58.800 If there is no deal, we are going to hit each and every one of their electric generating plants very hard and probably simultaneously.
00:10:07.560 We have not hit their oil, even though that's the easiest target of all,
00:10:12.300 because it would not give them even a small chance of survival or rebuilding.
00:10:18.300 But we could hit it, and it would be gone, and there's not a thing they could do about it.
00:10:24.640 They have no anti-aircraft equipment.
00:10:27.280 Their radar is 100% annihilated.
00:10:30.520 We are unstoppable as a military force.
00:10:34.600 The nuclear sites that we obliterated with the B-2 bombers have been hit so hard that it would take months to get near the nuclear dust.
00:10:43.720 And we have it under intense satellite surveillance and control.
00:10:48.300 If we see them make a move, even a move for it, we'll hit them with missiles very hard again.
00:10:56.260 We have all the cards. They have none. 0.98
00:10:58.020 It's very important that we keep this conflict in perspective.
00:11:02.560 So there you have it.
00:11:04.060 The president of the United States of America laying it out.
00:11:06.780 31 days into Operation Epic Fury.
00:11:10.120 It's abundantly clear, despite some in the media pretending otherwise,
00:11:14.180 this has been a resounding military triumph.
00:11:16.520 Now, the objectives are clear as well from the start, and the president says we're executing it with overwhelming force.
00:11:23.980 We expect to wrap it up in a matter of weeks, not months.
00:11:28.420 And that is exactly what the president wanted you to hear from the White House.
00:11:32.580 Thank you for listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.
00:11:37.140 Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever you're listening to this podcast right now.
00:11:42.020 And for more in-depth news, also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson podcast, and we will see you back here tomorrow.
00:11:49.860 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:11:52.400 Guaranteed human.