Verdict with Ted Cruz - September 18, 2025


BONUS POD： Trump declares Antifa a Terrorist Organization plus Feds Drop Rates & How it Effects You

Topics
Flags of Fellowship movement Antifa designation and consequences
Hosted by
Ted Cruz
Mentioned
Jerome Powell Donald Trump Antifa Ben Ferguson Brianna Charlie Kirk Lisa Cook Biden Matt
CNN Insists ＂Who can tell the Motive？＂ of Charlie Kirk's Murderer plus ＂Loving＂ Texts between the Murderer & His Boyfriend Jimmy Kimmel Fired-Was it Right & Should the FCC have Gotten Involved plus Trump Designates ANTIFA a Terrorist Organization

Episode Stats


Length

15 minutes

Words per minute

174.0

Word count

2,660

Sentence count

201

Harmful content

Misogyny

5

sentences flagged

Toxicity

1

sentences flagged

Hate speech

8

sentences flagged


Summary

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

Trump declares Antifa a major terrorist organization, the Fed cuts rates by a quarter percent, and there's still time to get involved in the Flags of Fellowship movement to stand with the victims of the most brutal attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust.

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 .
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:00:02.520 Guaranteed human.
00:00:06.140 Cars of ice and border patrol.
00:00:09.600 By a past administration, it became almost a culture.
00:00:12.860 If somebody throws a rock at you, do nothing.
00:00:16.020 If somebody spits in your face, do nothing. 0.71
00:00:19.220 And I say, when they spit, you hit.
00:00:21.220 Do whatever you want.
00:00:22.640 You're listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.
00:00:26.280 Good Thursday morning.
00:00:27.260 Nice to have you with us on the 47 Morning Update.
00:00:29.800 And we've got two big stories for you coming out of the White House.
00:00:32.860 First up, President Trump has declared that Antifa is a major terrorist organization.
00:00:40.120 What does this mean?
00:00:41.500 Well, it's going to have a big impact on those that are funding the organization
00:00:45.840 and finding out who they are.
00:00:48.960 Also, finally, the Fed cuts rates by a quarter percent,
00:00:54.440 signaling two more cuts will be coming this year.
00:00:57.920 And it means that Donald Trump was right.
00:01:01.060 Interest rates were far too high.
00:01:03.020 And now the Fed's finally having to admit it.
00:01:06.400 All right, I want to take a moment and I want to talk to you real quick
00:01:08.720 about what you can do to help the people in Israel.
00:01:13.140 It was nearly two years ago that the terrorists murdered more than 1,200 innocent Israelis
00:01:19.840 and they took 250 hostages.
00:01:22.700 Today, it seems as if the cries of the dead and dying have been drowned out by the shouts
00:01:27.720 of anti-Semitism and just pure hatred, not just in America, but around the world.
00:01:32.420 And the most brutal attack on Jewish people happened.
00:01:34.980 It happened since the Holocaust. 0.90
00:01:38.040 And now it's like they're trying to act like it never happened.
00:01:41.440 Now, this is where it is important for us to stand with the people in Israel.
00:01:46.280 It's a movement of love and support for the people of Israel.
00:01:50.620 And this is where I want you to get involved.
00:01:53.100 It is called Flags of Fellowship.
00:01:55.820 It's being organized by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.
00:01:59.860 And on October the 5th, you can stand with Israel and the victims proudly. 1.00
00:02:06.580 Just a few weeks away, millions across America will prayerfully plant an Israeli flag in honor
00:02:13.780 and solidarity with the victims of October the 7th, 2023, and stand with their grieving families.
00:02:21.560 You can be a part of this movement as well.
00:02:24.660 And that's what I love about what IFCJ does.
00:02:27.380 They're making sure that the world knows there are lots of people of faith in this country
00:02:33.140 and friends and advocates for Israel.
00:02:36.200 They're going to stand with them.
00:02:37.660 You can get more information about how you can join the Flags of Fellowship movement, including your church.
00:02:44.120 There are going to be countless churches around the country.
00:02:46.680 They're going to plant flags as well.
00:02:48.300 So all you have to do to get involved with Flags of Fellowship movement is go to ifcj.org.
00:02:55.780 That's ifcj.org.
00:02:58.940 Stand with Israel on October the 5th. 0.57
00:03:00.860 It's just a few weeks away.
00:03:02.480 And if your church you think would want to be involved, you can also find out more about
00:03:06.260 how to get your church to be involved on a special Sunday at ifcj.org.
00:03:12.080 That's ifcj.org.
00:03:15.400 It's the 47 Morning Update, and it starts right now.
00:03:19.120 Story number one.
00:03:20.160 President Donald Trump has declared that he is designating the Antifa movement as a major terrorist organization.
00:03:27.720 He also stated he will recommend that people or organizations funding Antifa be strongly investigated
00:03:36.380 under the highest legal standards and practices.
00:03:39.980 Now, this announcement came in the wake of the assassination of conservative activist Charlie
00:03:45.040 Kirk, which Trump and his allies say underscores the need to address what they characterize as
00:03:51.100 left-wing extremism.
00:03:53.440 Now, Antifa, you may ask, what is it?
00:03:56.000 No, they say it's anti-fascist.
00:03:57.920 It's not a single group or with a hierarchy structure.
00:04:01.660 In fact, it's a loosely affiliated ideology where people all the time are saying, I'm a member
00:04:06.860 of Antifa, and then carrying out many times criminal activities.
00:04:11.080 Now, because of the decentralization of it, there's no clear chain of command, which means
00:04:17.640 you have to actually follow the money, because without formal membership lists or centralized
00:04:23.360 leadership, you've got to find out who is funding Antifa and who on the left is writing
00:04:29.420 the checks for so many of the things that they actually do.
00:04:32.680 Now, there are several significant legal obstacles to make this kind of designation meaningful
00:04:38.540 and also enforceable.
00:04:40.720 And that's exactly what the president is doing right now.
00:04:44.640 In fact, if you want to know when this really became a reality, you can go to the White House
00:04:49.660 and the Oval Office just two days ago when the president was asked this question about
00:04:55.580 Antifa and what it would mean to designate them a terrorist organization from a member
00:05:02.220 of the press.
00:05:03.120 Take a listen.
00:05:04.260 Do you plan on designating Antifa finally a domestic terror organization?
00:05:09.620 Well, it's something I would do.
00:05:11.880 Yeah.
00:05:12.100 If I have support from the people back here, I think we'd start with Pam, I think.
00:05:15.880 But I would if you give me I would do that 100 percent.
00:05:19.580 And others also, by the way.
00:05:20.960 But Antifa is terrible.
00:05:23.640 Are there other groups?
00:05:24.700 There are other groups.
00:05:25.520 Yeah, there are other groups.
00:05:26.540 We have some pretty radical groups and they got away with murder.
00:05:29.680 And also, I've been speaking to the attorney general about bringing Rico against some of
00:05:35.060 the people that you've been reading about that have been putting up millions and millions
00:05:38.360 of dollars for agitation.
00:05:40.300 These aren't protests.
00:05:41.940 These are crimes, what they're doing, where they're throwing bricks at cars of the of ice
00:05:47.260 and border patrol and they come in with a beautiful new car.
00:05:50.600 They're so proud.
00:05:51.420 It's border patrol ice.
00:05:52.780 You know, it's got whatever it is.
00:05:53.980 And they're throwing rocks at it.
00:05:56.160 And after 50 yards, it looks like an old beat up vehicle.
00:05:59.440 It was just brand new.
00:06:00.460 It was just bought for the purposes.
00:06:02.500 And they don't have to take that anymore.
00:06:04.160 I let it be known.
00:06:05.480 We'll take responsibility.
00:06:06.840 They don't have to take it anymore.
00:06:08.100 And they don't want to take it.
00:06:09.380 I watch it.
00:06:11.040 I watch it so sick.
00:06:12.620 It made me for four years.
00:06:14.300 I had to sit home and watch people screaming at policemen and spitting in their face and
00:06:20.900 they weren't able to do anything.
00:06:22.200 They just had a grin and bear it.
00:06:24.000 They're standing up like a piece of steel.
00:06:27.340 And a woman, in many cases, women, you can see they're professional agitators. 1.00
00:06:31.740 I had one the other night.
00:06:32.820 I had four the other night, all in one group, total phonies.
00:06:36.340 I started to scream when I got into a restaurant, oh, you know, something with Palestine. 1.00
00:06:41.100 And I said, well, I'm doing a great job for peace in the Middle East.
00:06:44.240 I should get lots of awards for that, right?
00:06:46.400 With the Abraham Accords and everything else. 0.96
00:06:48.780 But a woman just stood up and started screaming. 1.00
00:06:51.380 And she got booed out of the place, too. 1.00
00:06:53.100 The people, there were a lot of people in the restaurant.
00:06:55.220 I went there to show how safe, and it was safe.
00:06:57.360 I mean, the woman is just a mouthpiece. 1.00
00:06:59.480 She was a paid agitator. 1.00
00:07:02.800 And you have a lot of them.
00:07:03.780 And I've asked Pam to look into that in terms of RICO, bringing RICO cases against a criminal
00:07:09.040 RICO, because they should be put in jail. 1.00
00:07:11.700 What they're doing to this country is really subversive.
00:07:15.480 That is where all of this really got started.
00:07:20.460 Now, here is the best part about what this means moving forward.
00:07:24.820 The consequences of this action on Antifa are huge.
00:07:29.100 This will now allow the U.S. government to increase investigations into individuals or
00:07:34.440 entities that are believed to provide support to Antifa, a.k.a. money and logistics supplies.
00:07:41.740 Trump specifically asks for these types of investigations.
00:07:45.660 It also allows for potential executive orders, regulations, policy changes aimed at curbing
00:07:51.480 political violence or hate speech associated with Antifa.
00:07:55.020 And then there's the possible legal or administrative sanctions for those found to be a material support
00:08:02.000 of Antifa if state or federal laws can be invoked.
00:08:05.860 This is where there is real consequences for people that are involved with this radical organization.
00:08:11.980 And you need to find out who is exactly funding them.
00:08:15.880 Follow the money is everything here.
00:08:18.580 Now, we can also expect legal challenges.
00:08:21.900 Groups like the ACLU and the SPLC, they're going to argue that the designation violates
00:08:27.280 constitutional protection, free assembly, free speech, due process.
00:08:31.600 And then the courts are going to have to interpret what designating a terrorist organization means
00:08:36.620 in this context.
00:08:38.100 I think this is clearly a fight the White House is more than happy to have.
00:08:41.440 And then there's the political polarization of this.
00:08:44.180 Democrats already coming out and saying that this is a threat to free speech.
00:08:49.860 So let's go back to the president and what he actually had to say after designating Antifa
00:08:54.740 a terrorist organization.
00:08:56.380 Here's how CNN put it as they had to read the president's words.
00:09:00.260 I don't know if you know this, but I've just seen that the president on his social media
00:09:05.540 has announced, I'm pleased to inform our many USA patriots that I'm designating Antifa
00:09:11.060 a sick, dangerous, radical-left organization as a major terrorist organization.
00:09:15.900 I'll also be strongly recommending that those funding Antifa be thoroughly investigated
00:09:19.460 in accordance with the highest legal standards and practices.
00:09:23.660 They can't stand the fact that radical organizations that are out there being funded by dark money
00:09:30.680 from Democratic donors that are then committing crimes and terrorizing the public
00:09:35.100 are no longer going to be able to operate the way they were under the Biden administration.
00:09:39.600 By the way, this is exactly why I voted for Donald Trump.
00:09:43.480 And I think so many of you did as well.
00:09:45.780 Now, story number two.
00:09:47.100 Donald Trump has repeatedly urged the Fed to cut interest rates more aggressively.
00:09:52.320 For example, in June of this year, he called for a full percentage point drop.
00:09:57.000 Also, he said the rates are at least three percentage points too high.
00:10:02.220 Now, Trump had criticized the Fed, especially the chair, Jerome Powell, for not cutting sooner
00:10:07.620 or more deeply. He made it very clear he believed that the cuts needed to come
00:10:11.500 and it was holding the economy back.
00:10:13.640 He even talked about the idea that it was time to get rid of Jerome Powell, that he should resign.
00:10:19.140 Well, Jerome is still there.
00:10:20.920 But the good news is, finally, the Feds have cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point.
00:10:26.900 And here's how the news hit on CNN.
00:10:29.640 Tell us about this decision, Matt.
00:10:31.460 Yeah, Brianna, the Fed just delivered an interest rate cut and it is the quarter point cut that was widely expected.
00:10:38.380 Now, this is a big deal because it is the first interest rate cut of the second Trump administration.
00:10:43.340 And it's sending a clear message that Federal Reserve officials are more worried about the slumping job market
00:10:50.480 than they are about stubborn inflation.
00:10:53.580 They're acting now to try to shore up the job market before this trouble turns into something worse.
00:11:01.120 And they're signaling this concern in their new statement that they just put out
00:11:04.960 by inserting some new language that I'll read to you now.
00:11:07.780 Fed officials say that job gains have slowed and the unemployment rate has edged up but remains low.
00:11:14.480 Fed officials also say that they have judged that downside risks to employment have risen.
00:11:22.680 Now, at the same time, this statement also says that inflation has moved up and remains somewhat elevated,
00:11:29.780 which just gets at this really difficult situation facing the Fed where they're really trying to fight a two-front war, right?
00:11:36.320 They're trying to fix the job market and they're trying to defeat inflation at the same time.
00:11:41.340 It is really difficult.
00:11:42.340 Now, as far as the voting here, this was actually almost unanimous.
00:11:46.520 It was an 11-to-1 vote with Fed Chair Jerome Powell joined by 10 of his colleagues,
00:11:52.420 including Fed Governor Lisa Cook, who the president has tried to fire.
00:11:56.480 The one dissenter is the Federal Reserve's newest member.
00:12:00.400 That's Stephen Myron, the Trump loyalist and White House economist.
00:12:04.300 Not surprisingly, he was in favor of a bigger cut of half of a percentage point.
00:12:09.740 Now, looking forward, the key change with the Fed's projections is they are now penciling in a total of three interest rate cuts this year.
00:12:19.680 Today's and two more quarter point cuts.
00:12:22.100 Now, that's a shift from June when Fed officials had previously just penciled in two interest rate cuts.
00:12:28.100 Now, what does all this mean to everyone at home?
00:12:30.460 Well, the fact that rates have come down, that could be helpful for people who have credit card debt and people of floating rate debt, like home equity lines of credit.
00:12:39.460 But we should be clear.
00:12:40.420 This is not a silver bullet that's going to fix the economy.
00:12:44.240 Interest rates do remain high.
00:12:46.400 The Fed spiked interest rates three years ago to try to fight inflation.
00:12:50.700 That amounted to slamming the brakes on the economy.
00:12:53.940 Now, they're not going pedal to the metal and hitting the gas.
00:12:57.160 They're sort of gradually taking their foot off the brake.
00:13:00.740 Now, later this hour, Fed's shared Jerome Powell.
00:13:02.960 He's going to take questions.
00:13:03.940 I'm interested to hear what he's going to say about all of the pressure, the political pressure from the White House on Federal Reserve officials
00:13:10.700 and how many more interest rates he expects to have in the coming months.
00:13:16.100 Back to you, Brianna.
00:13:16.940 I love how they're like, well, this could be good for Americans.
00:13:19.960 This is going to be massive, by the way, for Americans.
00:13:22.460 And this is exactly what the president has been advocating for, saying that we need to move this in the right direction.
00:13:27.840 We also know from what was said by Powell that you can expect that there is a very good chance that more cuts could be coming on the regular.
00:13:37.420 So is this a victory for all Americans? 0.97
00:13:39.940 Americans, yes.
00:13:41.280 Is this a big victory for the fact that Jerome Powell said it the way that he described it?
00:13:45.940 Yes.
00:13:46.720 And is it something that we should all celebrate?
00:13:48.620 You better believe it.
00:13:50.100 Jerome Powell, in his own words.
00:13:52.040 Under what circumstances would a larger than 25 basis points rate cut be warranted?
00:13:57.700 And how seriously was that option entertained at your meeting this week?
00:14:01.740 There wasn't widespread support at all for a 50 basis point cut today.
00:14:05.880 You know, I think we've done very large rate hikes and very large rate cuts in the last five years.
00:14:12.260 And you tend to do those at a time when you feel that policy is out of place and needs to move quickly to a new place.
00:14:20.140 That's not at all what I feel certainly now.
00:14:22.620 I feel like our policy has been doing the right thing so far this year.
00:14:26.200 I think we were right to wait and see how tariffs and inflation and the labor market evolved.
00:14:32.260 I think we're now reacting to, you know, to the much lower level of job creation and other evidence of softening in the labor market and saying,
00:14:39.780 well, those risks are maybe maybe not fully balanced, but moving in the direction of balance now.
00:14:44.420 And so that that warrants a change in policy.
00:14:47.140 So even Jerome Powell having to admit he's probably gotten it wrong for a while now and he's having to be honest that Donald Trump was right.
00:14:56.060 Thank you for listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.
00:14:59.680 Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever you're listening to this podcast right now.
00:15:05.460 And for more in-depth news, also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson podcast and we will see you back here tomorrow.
00:15:13.600 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:15:16.480 Guaranteed Human.