Verdict with Ted Cruz - January 06, 2026


BONUS POD： Trump’s Plan to Rebuild Venezuela’s Broken Oil Empire plus Maduro in the Big Apple


Episode Stats

Length

15 minutes

Words per Minute

169.90999

Word Count

2,567

Sentence Count

173

Misogynist Sentences

1


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 This is an iHeart Podcast.
00:00:02.580 Guaranteed human.
00:00:04.820 Senator John Fetterman sits on the Homeland Security Committee and he joins us now.
00:00:08.800 I think I don't know why we can't just acknowledge that it's been a good thing what's happened.
00:00:13.440 I mean, I've seen the speeches from whether it's Leader Schumer or kinds of past tweets from President Biden.
00:00:20.580 No, we all wanted this man gone and now he is gone.
00:00:24.020 I think we should really appreciate exactly what happened here.
00:00:27.340 And I think we did, just as I salute our military, what they've done.
00:00:31.740 That was really surgical and precise and very efficient.
00:00:35.200 So why we can't celebrate these kinds of things.
00:00:37.820 You're listening to the 47 Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.
00:00:41.800 Good Tuesday morning. Nice to have you with us on the 47 Morning Update.
00:00:45.600 First up, Donald Trump has a plan for Venezuela.
00:00:49.060 It's a well-thought-out plan that deals with oil as well.
00:00:52.160 So what is going to happen next? We'll explain it all to you.
00:00:55.460 Also, Maduro makes his first court appearance in the United States of America.
00:01:01.360 Did he plead guilty or not guilty?
00:01:03.300 And what else did he have to say? We have it all for you.
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00:03:09.140 It's the 47 morning update, and it starts right now.
00:03:12.660 Story number one.
00:03:13.880 Donald Trump coming out, making it very clear on Venezuela and their oil reserves,
00:03:18.920 we're going to run everything.
00:03:21.720 We're going to run it when asked what would happen to Venezuela's oil reserves,
00:03:25.320 which are now worth trillions of dollars.
00:03:29.420 Trump's remarks came aboard Air Force One
00:03:31.800 during a gaggle with reporters on a flight back to D.C. from Palm Beach.
00:03:36.240 And according to the newest report, Venezuela has, as of Saturday's oil prices,
00:03:42.740 approximately $17.3 trillion in oil reserves,
00:03:47.860 which exceeds the collective global gross domestic product,
00:03:52.040 excluding the United States and China.
00:03:54.940 Just to put it in perspective,
00:03:56.960 a reporter started a question by stating,
00:04:00.000 Venezuela has $17 billion worth of oil reserves.
00:04:04.040 Donald Trump responded with,
00:04:05.720 You mean trillion.
00:04:07.460 Did you say billion or trillion?
00:04:09.380 I said billion, the reporter replied,
00:04:11.300 to which Trump emphasized,
00:04:12.960 it's much more than that.
00:04:14.680 And then the president had this to say.
00:04:17.560 Venezuela right now is a dead country.
00:04:19.560 We have to bring it back.
00:04:20.600 And we're going to have to have big investments by the oil companies
00:04:23.540 to bring back the infrastructure.
00:04:24.900 And the oil companies are ready to go.
00:04:28.020 They're going to go in.
00:04:28.820 They're going to rebuild the infrastructure.
00:04:30.620 You know, we built it to start off with many years ago.
00:04:34.020 They took it away.
00:04:35.800 You can't do that.
00:04:36.980 You can't do that with me.
00:04:38.160 They did it with other presidents.
00:04:39.300 How soon can an election take place?
00:04:42.700 How soon can an election take place?
00:04:44.860 Well, I think we're looking more at getting it fixed,
00:04:47.980 getting it ready first, because it's a mess.
00:04:50.560 The country is a mess.
00:04:52.280 It's been horribly run.
00:04:53.440 The oil is just flowing at a very low level.
00:04:57.980 Much lower than, even if it was badly run,
00:05:00.960 it should have more income, more oil than what they're doing.
00:05:04.020 So we're going to have the big oil companies go in,
00:05:06.640 and they're going to fix the infrastructure,
00:05:08.200 and they're going to invest money.
00:05:09.980 We're not going to invest anything.
00:05:11.520 We're going to just take care of the country.
00:05:13.860 We're going to cherish the country.
00:05:15.480 We're going to take care, more importantly, of the people,
00:05:17.720 including Venezuelans that are living in our country,
00:05:20.320 that were forced to leave their country.
00:05:22.460 And they're going to be taking very good care of.
00:05:26.320 Yes, ma'am.
00:05:26.680 Have you spoken with the oil companies
00:05:28.140 and that are going into Venezuela?
00:05:29.720 I have.
00:05:29.980 Which ones?
00:05:30.520 Have you received any amendments?
00:05:31.700 All of them, basically.
00:05:32.700 Any amendments from the oil companies?
00:05:34.440 They want to go in so badly.
00:05:36.720 Did you speak with them before the operation took place?
00:05:39.160 Yes.
00:05:39.920 Did you maybe tip them off?
00:05:41.220 Before and after.
00:05:42.940 And they want to go in.
00:05:44.440 And they're going to do a great job for the people of Venezuela.
00:05:47.560 And they're going to represent us well.
00:05:50.060 But, you know, the infrastructure is rusty, rotten.
00:05:53.120 Most of it unusable.
00:05:55.040 It's old.
00:05:55.900 It's broken.
00:05:56.600 You see pipes laying all over the ground.
00:05:59.340 Has it been?
00:06:00.180 Nothing's been invested for years.
00:06:02.160 Chevron's in it.
00:06:02.920 You know, they've done a good job.
00:06:03.920 But even they haven't been in a position to invest money
00:06:07.740 because they're on a month-to-month basis.
00:06:10.560 What happens to that?
00:06:11.300 They're only there because I wanted them to be.
00:06:13.440 Donald Trump, again, making it clear.
00:06:15.280 We're going to run everything.
00:06:16.340 We're going to run it.
00:06:16.980 We're going to fix it.
00:06:17.820 We'll have elections at the right time.
00:06:19.600 And the main thing is you have to fix it.
00:06:21.620 It's a broken country.
00:06:23.260 There's no money.
00:06:24.760 There's inflation like we would have had
00:06:27.000 if we didn't win this election.
00:06:29.040 And we would have been Venezuela on steroids,
00:06:31.740 the president said.
00:06:32.620 Trump noted Saturday that American oil companies
00:06:35.780 will go into Venezuela to repair
00:06:37.800 the badly broken oil infrastructure.
00:06:41.100 The world agrees it is absolutely broken.
00:06:44.040 And he said that he had spoken with the oil companies
00:06:46.100 before and after the operation about resolve
00:06:49.100 to remove the former dictator Maduro from power.
00:06:53.100 This, of course, tried to turn into a fake controversy
00:06:56.060 by the media claiming that he had tipped off
00:06:58.640 by asking the question to the oil companies.
00:07:01.280 Another pathetic story, yet again, from the left.
00:07:05.800 What we also know is this.
00:07:08.740 Chevron's in.
00:07:09.780 As you know, the president said,
00:07:11.740 they've done a good job,
00:07:13.000 but they haven't been in a position to invest money
00:07:15.340 because they're on a month-to-month basis.
00:07:18.380 They're only there because I wanted them to be there.
00:07:21.840 Now things are changing.
00:07:23.260 And what's very clear is the president of the United States
00:07:26.040 of America is not holding back,
00:07:28.720 saying this is how the country will be saved.
00:07:31.780 And as he described it,
00:07:32.960 it will not cost Americans any money.
00:07:37.780 Something very different from what we witnessed
00:07:39.840 in Afghanistan and Iraq.
00:07:42.260 The president making it clear,
00:07:43.960 we'll fix it,
00:07:44.800 and then they're going to pay for all of it.
00:07:47.680 That is something that the president was very clear on.
00:07:50.600 He was also asked by NBC's Kristen Welker
00:07:54.060 in an interview about are we at war with Venezuela?
00:07:58.340 I want you to hear how NBC News
00:08:00.400 is reporting on that as well.
00:08:02.800 The president reacting to today's arraignment
00:08:05.400 during my phone call with him telling me,
00:08:08.020 quote, it is an extraordinary moment in history.
00:08:10.500 That's true.
00:08:11.440 And it's great for the hemisphere.
00:08:13.500 He went on to say the prices of oil
00:08:15.780 are going to, you know, be reduced.
00:08:18.680 The president also telling me
00:08:20.460 we are not at war with Venezuela
00:08:22.460 and that he would not need congressional approval
00:08:25.780 to send in a second strike.
00:08:28.320 One of the biggest questions right now
00:08:29.760 is who is really in charge in Venezuela
00:08:31.700 after President Trump said explicitly on Saturday
00:08:34.840 that the U.S. would run the country.
00:08:37.040 I asked the president about that today.
00:08:39.320 If Secretaries Rubio and Hegseth,
00:08:42.120 Stephen Miller would be the top three people
00:08:44.380 in charge of Venezuela,
00:08:45.720 the president said, yeah, among the top people,
00:08:48.840 including J.D. Vance.
00:08:51.080 I then asked him, who will be the top person
00:08:54.040 if there is one?
00:08:55.140 The president's answer to that question was me.
00:08:59.220 The president of the United States of America
00:09:00.720 yet again giving simple answers to the media
00:09:03.520 that, of course, makes the liberals lose their mind
00:09:06.780 and doing it in a way that shows he is in charge
00:09:10.280 and actually has a plan.
00:09:12.000 Now story number two.
00:09:13.060 Nicolas Maduro's first court appearance,
00:09:15.820 it has officially happened.
00:09:17.600 The ousted Venezuelan president
00:09:19.380 was arraigned Monday in a federal courtroom in Manhattan
00:09:22.540 on U.S. narco-terrorism and drug trafficking charges.
00:09:27.140 He pled not guilty to all of the charges,
00:09:30.060 denying any wrongdoing.
00:09:32.180 Maduro repeatedly insisted through an interpreter
00:09:35.040 that he is innocent
00:09:36.420 and described himself as a, quote,
00:09:38.260 prisoner of war and said he remains
00:09:41.300 a legitimate president of Venezuela.
00:09:44.200 He also characterizes capture by U.S. forces
00:09:46.660 as an abduction.
00:09:49.440 Maduro's wife also appeared.
00:09:51.900 She pled not guilty
00:09:53.020 and has visible injuries
00:09:55.660 that her lawyer says may include rib fractures
00:09:58.620 from the arrest operation.
00:10:01.580 Both are being held
00:10:02.720 at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn
00:10:05.080 and waived bail for now.
00:10:07.400 The judge scheduled the next hearing
00:10:09.420 for March the 17th, 2026.
00:10:12.720 There are protests as well
00:10:14.360 as radicals on the left
00:10:15.800 are outside the courthouse
00:10:17.100 saying that this was, well,
00:10:19.340 a terrible day for America.
00:10:21.580 Official U.S. government line?
00:10:23.660 Very different.
00:10:24.620 Coming from the White House.
00:10:26.120 The government is defending
00:10:27.320 the military operation
00:10:28.580 and Maduro's prosecution
00:10:30.080 as legitimate action
00:10:32.080 against narco-trafficking
00:10:33.660 and criminal syndicates
00:10:35.500 even as international critics
00:10:37.920 are, of course,
00:10:39.440 siding with Maduro
00:10:40.680 saying it was illegal.
00:10:43.280 A White House spokesman
00:10:44.280 pushed back strongly today
00:10:45.660 on domestic criticism
00:10:46.960 from the left.
00:10:48.620 Many liberal commentators
00:10:50.000 saying of the Venezuela raid
00:10:51.960 many countries consider Maduro illegitimate
00:10:54.900 and we should go back
00:10:57.060 and report on the words
00:10:59.080 of so many countries now
00:11:00.360 that are just criticizing Trump
00:11:01.840 because he's in charge.
00:11:03.980 The FBI director,
00:11:05.200 Cash Patel,
00:11:06.100 went on TV to talk about
00:11:07.460 the real threat
00:11:08.280 that Maduro posed
00:11:09.400 to the United States of America
00:11:10.500 and here's part of what he had to say
00:11:12.300 about the fentanyl
00:11:13.080 that had been seized
00:11:13.920 by the Trump administration.
00:11:15.800 Mr. Director,
00:11:16.700 correct me if I'm wrong,
00:11:17.560 but didn't you meet
00:11:18.200 with Chinese officials
00:11:19.020 about stopping
00:11:19.840 the precursors to fentanyl
00:11:21.440 and what has happened
00:11:23.460 since that meeting?
00:11:24.580 The president pushed
00:11:25.620 with tariffs to stop it.
00:11:27.840 What could you tell us
00:11:29.240 happened with the flow
00:11:30.440 into Mexico
00:11:31.280 where they refine it
00:11:32.600 and send it to us?
00:11:34.380 That's just it.
00:11:35.660 There was nobody,
00:11:36.720 no other administration
00:11:37.700 was willing to engage
00:11:38.880 with our counterparts
00:11:39.740 on things like fentanyl
00:11:41.480 which were killing
00:11:42.080 almost 100,000 Americans
00:11:43.620 per year
00:11:44.380 and President Trump
00:11:45.420 laid the groundwork
00:11:46.380 for us to go over there
00:11:47.640 and engage directly
00:11:48.860 and say,
00:11:49.280 hey,
00:11:49.600 you've got to shut off
00:11:50.480 the flow of the chemical precursors,
00:11:53.000 the ingredients
00:11:53.660 that they utilize
00:11:54.680 to make fentanyl
00:11:55.720 and we went over there
00:11:57.260 and we got that agreement
00:11:58.560 while we were there
00:11:59.140 thanks to President Trump's leadership
00:12:00.480 and we were able
00:12:01.380 to literally shut off
00:12:02.740 the flow of all 13 precursors
00:12:05.040 and eight chemical adjuster agents
00:12:06.920 and what that does
00:12:08.080 is it suffocates
00:12:09.480 the drug trafficking organization's
00:12:11.100 ability in Mexico
00:12:12.280 and South America
00:12:13.020 and Central America
00:12:13.620 and elsewhere
00:12:14.120 to create and manufacture
00:12:16.560 the fentanyl
00:12:17.420 and just look at what we did
00:12:18.980 this past year
00:12:19.880 under President Trump's leadership.
00:12:21.020 We seized enough fentanyl
00:12:22.960 to kill 175 million
00:12:25.660 American citizens.
00:12:27.160 That is an increase
00:12:28.000 in fentanyl seizures
00:12:28.980 by over 30%.
00:12:30.580 That is what a coalition,
00:12:33.460 a team-led effort
00:12:34.500 by a decisive White House
00:12:35.680 and President Trump
00:12:36.300 looks like
00:12:36.760 to counter narcotics,
00:12:38.160 not just these great
00:12:39.740 successful operations
00:12:41.020 like what we saw
00:12:41.880 this past weekend
00:12:42.740 in Venezuela
00:12:43.200 but a continuing onslaught
00:12:45.460 of law enforcement activity
00:12:46.800 to safeguard the American public
00:12:48.520 and we're not going to stop.
00:12:49.980 The FBI director
00:12:50.820 wasn't finished with that.
00:12:52.380 He also praised
00:12:53.260 Donald Trump's
00:12:53.920 decisive leadership
00:12:55.000 for having a drastic reduction
00:12:57.860 in narcotics
00:12:59.140 available on our streets
00:13:00.700 which is saving American lives.
00:13:02.900 I want you to put on
00:13:03.780 your former prosecutor hat
00:13:05.100 because you know these charges
00:13:06.640 and I'm not asking you
00:13:07.280 to prosecute for our audience
00:13:08.940 but explain to us
00:13:10.300 the charges
00:13:11.260 and how long are we talking about
00:13:13.040 before Maduro
00:13:14.740 sees the other side of justice?
00:13:17.940 I just want to be
00:13:18.660 very careful here.
00:13:19.600 Department of Justice
00:13:20.320 and our DEA partners
00:13:21.460 are going to be running point
00:13:23.100 on these prosecution charges
00:13:25.020 for narco-terrorism
00:13:26.280 but generally speaking
00:13:27.800 it's what I alluded to earlier
00:13:29.220 it is a large
00:13:30.900 and continuous volume
00:13:32.700 of illicit narcotics
00:13:35.780 to include cocaine
00:13:36.920 and fentanyl
00:13:37.960 and meth
00:13:38.440 and everything else
00:13:39.160 that we see
00:13:39.680 harm our children
00:13:40.720 and that poured
00:13:41.740 into our communities
00:13:42.520 and thanks to President Trump's
00:13:43.660 decisive leadership
00:13:44.420 we've seen a drastic reduction
00:13:46.440 in not just deaths
00:13:47.720 the quantity of narcotics
00:13:49.020 available on our streets
00:13:49.860 but Venezuela acted
00:13:51.320 not only as a large
00:13:52.920 and massive transshipment point
00:13:54.800 by air and by sea
00:13:56.200 but also allowed drug traffickers
00:13:57.860 to operate
00:13:58.700 with reckless abandon
00:14:00.540 inside their borders
00:14:01.640 and their direct target
00:14:03.480 of deployment
00:14:04.120 was the United States of America
00:14:05.480 in large part
00:14:06.300 and that's what these charges
00:14:07.600 in my opinion
00:14:08.180 I believe will address
00:14:09.240 and thankfully
00:14:10.180 that these individuals
00:14:11.920 are now behind bars
00:14:12.880 to face the justice system
00:14:14.180 and for me quite frankly
00:14:15.720 it doesn't matter
00:14:17.280 how long
00:14:18.020 or how short
00:14:18.840 the process is
00:14:19.960 as long as we get it right
00:14:21.320 and we're off to a great start
00:14:22.620 thanks to the decisive leadership
00:14:24.040 this week
00:14:24.520 and of President Trump
00:14:25.260 and his national security team
00:14:26.260 yeah as long as he's in custody
00:14:27.500 I don't think
00:14:28.540 people just want to see
00:14:29.760 Venezuela get back to normal
00:14:30.940 as you heard there
00:14:31.980 from the FBI director
00:14:32.960 it's about national security
00:14:34.420 it's about saving American lives
00:14:36.160 it's also about making sure
00:14:37.860 that there is a better nation
00:14:39.700 in Venezuela
00:14:40.320 for the people
00:14:41.140 that have been oppressed
00:14:41.980 by Maduro
00:14:42.700 and that is clearly
00:14:44.100 part of Donald Trump's doctrine
00:14:45.960 thank you for listening
00:14:46.920 to the 47 Morning Update
00:14:48.620 with Ben Ferguson
00:14:49.840 please make sure
00:14:51.180 you hit subscribe
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00:14:56.960 also subscribe
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