Latest / The Ben Ferguson Podcast / FBI’s New War on Corruption, Harvard’s Federal Funding in Jeopardy & End of the Dose for Moderna

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FBI’s New War on Corruption, Harvard’s Federal Funding in Jeopardy & End of the Dose for Moderna · The Ben Ferguson Podcast

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  Speaker 1: That this is not the end of DOGE, but really
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  Speaker 1: the beginning. My time as a special comment point necessarily
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  Speaker 1: had to end.
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  Speaker 2: It was a limited time things one hundred and thirty
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  Speaker 2: four days, I believe, which ends in a few days.
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  Speaker 1: So that's you know, it comes with the title. But
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  Speaker 1: the Dog Team will only grow small growth of time.
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  Speaker 2: You're listening to the forty seven Morning Update with Ben Ferguson.
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  Speaker 1: Good Saturday morning to you.
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  Speaker 3: Ben Ferguson with you, and these are some of the
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  Speaker 3: stories that you may have missed that we talked about
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  Speaker 3: this week on the forty seven Morning Update.
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  Speaker 1: First up, the Deputy.
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  Speaker 3: FBI Director Dan Bongino coming out and saying, there's some
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  Speaker 3: big stories that we're still looking into. You remember the
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  Speaker 3: cocaine at the White House, or the leaking of the
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  Speaker 3: twenty twenty two Supreme Court decision when it came to
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  Speaker 3: Roe v. Wade and the Washington pipe bomb incident just
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  Speaker 3: the day before January the seventh. Well, all of these
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  Speaker 3: are now being investigated again.
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  Speaker 1: By the FBI. I'll have those details.
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  Speaker 3: Also, President Trump yet again proving he wasn't joking when
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  Speaker 3: he said he was going to be looking at where
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  Speaker 3: your tax dollars are going this time. He says it's
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  Speaker 3: time to cut off the funding to Harvard, and Harvard
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  Speaker 3: is now fighting back. We'll have that and how much
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  Speaker 3: money it could save you in just a second. And finally,
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  Speaker 3: RFK Juniors Helped in Human Services has canceled Maderna's seven
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  Speaker 3: hundred and sixty six million dollar vaccine contract line. They
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  Speaker 3: say the technology actually may not be safe for you
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  Speaker 3: at all. It's the forty seven Morning Update and it
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  Speaker 3: starts right now.
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  Speaker 2: Story number one.
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  Speaker 3: There were some pretty big stories in the past administration
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  Speaker 3: that literally got swept under the rug. And there are
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  Speaker 3: stories that Democrats, certainly those in power, were really hoping
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  Speaker 3: they'd never have to worry about again. That's part of
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  Speaker 3: the reason why they were propping up Joe Biden, even
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  Speaker 3: though they knew he wasn't even the president of the
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  Speaker 3: United States of America.
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  Speaker 1: He had a massive cognitive decline.
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  Speaker 3: But hey, when you're doing what they're doing, why not
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  Speaker 3: keep the charades going. Well, The FBI Deputy Director Dan
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  Speaker 3: Bongino has come out and said that quote the Bureau
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  Speaker 3: is now looking at several of those cases involving quote
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  Speaker 3: potential public corruption cases. The FBI could look at. Are
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  Speaker 3: the Washington pipe bomb incident, a white House cocaine discovery.
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  Speaker 3: You may remember that story and also the minor leaking
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  Speaker 3: of the twenty twenty two Supreme Court decision that overturned
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  Speaker 3: rov Wade. Yes the FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino saying
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  Speaker 3: that the bureau is looking at launching investigations into these
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  Speaker 3: cases a potential public corruption Bongino said, quote shortly after
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  Speaker 3: swearing in the FBI director Cash Mattel, and I evaluated
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  Speaker 3: a number of cases of potential public corruption that understandably
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  Speaker 3: have garnered public interests. Bongino a former Secret Service agent
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  Speaker 3: and you may know him from his podcast. Note that
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  Speaker 3: they made the decision to either reopen or push it
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  Speaker 3: additional resources and investigative attention to these cases.
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  Speaker 1: One case they're looking.
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  Speaker 3: To target is the FBI investigation to the alleged pipe
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  Speaker 3: bomb left near the Democratic and Republican National Committee buildings
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  Speaker 3: in Washington, d C. The day before the January sixth
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  Speaker 3: capital breach, he said. The FBI said in twenty twenty
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  Speaker 3: four that a five hundred thousand dollars reward is still
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  Speaker 3: an effect for information leading to the arrest of the
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  Speaker 3: pipe bomb suspect. Earlier in twenty twenty five, the former
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  Speaker 3: assistant director in charge of the FBI Washington Field Office
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  Speaker 3: told CNN that officials are seeking quote new leads, saying
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  Speaker 3: maybe alliances have changed or relationships have changed, and it's
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  Speaker 3: time to report.
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  Speaker 1: On the suspect.
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  Speaker 3: Is what he said to the outlet at the time,
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  Speaker 3: saying tips from the public really have been very helpful,
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  Speaker 3: but as I mentioned, we're still trying to identify the suspect,
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  Speaker 3: so we're trying to release a little more information such
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  Speaker 3: that maybe it will jog somebody's memory. Other cases that
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  Speaker 3: weren't more resources include one involving the discovery of cocaine
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  Speaker 3: in the White House in July of twenty twenty three,
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  Speaker 3: as well as the massive leak of the Supreme Court
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  Speaker 3: decision that overturned Roe v.
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  Speaker 1: Wade in June of twenty twenty two.
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  Speaker 3: Saying it this way, quote, I receive requests briefings on
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  Speaker 3: these cases weekly, and we are making progress. If you
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  Speaker 3: have any investigative tips on these matters that may assist us,
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  Speaker 3: then please contact the FBI. Also in his ex posts,
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  Speaker 3: Bongino said he and Patel have conducted one media interview
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  Speaker 3: together which was with Fox News as you know, a
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  Speaker 3: few days ago, saying quote, we decided early on to
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  Speaker 3: limit our media footprint overall in.
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  Speaker 1: Order to keep the attention on the work being done.
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  Speaker 3: We have chosen to communicate in writing on this platform
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  Speaker 3: to fill some of the inevitable information vacuum, saying quote,
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  Speaker 3: I try to read as much of your feedback as possible,
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  Speaker 3: but the workday is busy and my off This is
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  Speaker 3: a sensitive compartment and information facility with limited phone access
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  Speaker 3: and response to feedback both positive and negative from our
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  Speaker 3: interview last week, We will be releasing more information which
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  Speaker 3: will further clarify answers to some of the questions asked
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  Speaker 3: in the interview. One thing is for sure, they are
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  Speaker 3: definitely going for more transparency. But for the liberals out
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  Speaker 3: there that may have been committing crimes, guess what you
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  Speaker 3: may have thought you got away with it, and apparently
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  Speaker 3: with this administration, you may be very wrong.
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  Speaker 1: Now, story number two, it's a pretty simple idea.
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  Speaker 3: If you hate the United States of America, why should
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  Speaker 3: we let you come to America's universities, especially if you're
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  Speaker 3: advocating for violence against Jewish students or even American students. Well,
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  Speaker 3: the Trump administration has now intensified its actions against Harvard
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  Speaker 3: University by directing federal agencies to cancel or redirect contracts
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  Speaker 3: worth approximately one hundred.
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  Speaker 1: Million dollars now.
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  Speaker 3: This this move follows earlier measures, including the freezing of
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  Speaker 3: over two point six billion in federal research grants citing
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  Speaker 3: concerns over the university's policies and campus climate. Now, the
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  Speaker 3: aspects of the policy change are actually very simple. The
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  Speaker 3: reallocation of resources is number one. The administration's decision aims
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  Speaker 3: to redirect substantial federal funds to institutions that align more
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  Speaker 3: closely with its policy objectives, potentially benefiting trade schools and
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  Speaker 3: other educational entities. They also say there's an emphasis on accountability.
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  Speaker 3: By scrutinizing Harvard's use of federal funds, the administration underscores
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  Speaker 3: the importance of accountability and also adherence to national standards
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  Speaker 3: and higher education institutions. And then the promotion of diverse
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  Speaker 3: educational opportunities. The potential redistribution of funds, the White alsay
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  Speaker 3: may enhance vocational and technological training program offering countless students
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  Speaker 3: alternative pathways to successful careers without the traditional university route
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  Speaker 3: and or going to an Ivy League school. There's also
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  Speaker 3: the encouragement of institutional self reliance. The funding cuts may
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  Speaker 3: prompt elite universities, they say, to seek greater financial independence,
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  Speaker 3: foster innovation, efficiency, and management resources. Now these actions are
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  Speaker 3: sparking legal challenges as the universities are angry over what's happening.
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  Speaker 3: But at the end of the day, the White House
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  Speaker 3: also says this comes down to another issue, and that is,
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  Speaker 3: are we actually encouraging students from around the world to
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  Speaker 3: come to the US that love America and that want
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  Speaker 3: to be a part of the process, or are tax
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  Speaker 3: dollars going to students that actually hate America? And that
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  Speaker 3: brings up the State Department pausing visa interviews as Trump
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  Speaker 3: moves to cancel Harvard's last federal contracts. Here's more of
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  Speaker 3: that story is CNN freaked out over it news.
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  Speaker 4: And a major escalation in the Trump Administration's fight against
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  Speaker 4: America's universities. The State Department pausing all new student visa
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  Speaker 4: application interviews, and while that pause is in place, the
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  Speaker 4: government is developing new guidance for social media screenings of
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  Speaker 4: foreign students who want to study in the US. This
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  Speaker 4: comes to the White House moves to cancel all remaining
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  Speaker 4: federal contracts with Harvard. Two senior administration officials Telsenn that
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  Speaker 4: those contracts are worth about one hundred million dollars. This
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  Speaker 4: on top of more than two billion dollars in grants
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  Speaker 4: that the administration froze last month, and on Monday, the
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  Speaker 4: President threatened to give that money to trade schools. Here's
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  Speaker 4: Harvard's president in an interview that was taped before news
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  Speaker 4: broke about those latest contract cancelations.
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  Speaker 5: I don't know fully what the motivations are, but I
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  Speaker 5: do know that there are people who are fighting a
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  Speaker 5: cultural battle. I don't know if that is what is
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  Speaker 5: striving the administration. They don't like what's happened to campuses,
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  Speaker 5: and sometimes they don't like what we represent.
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  Speaker 3: The Harvard president right there, going on MPR, which the
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  Speaker 3: president's also trying to defund, complaining about the motives of
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  Speaker 3: the Trump administration.
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  Speaker 1: You can't make it up.
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  Speaker 3: Donald Trump doesn't care, by the way, and he's moving
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  Speaker 3: forward with protecting America's interests and your tax dollars.
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  Speaker 1: And lastly, story number three.
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  Speaker 3: There's no other way to describe it but a major
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  Speaker 3: victory for American taxpayers the US Department of Health and
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  Speaker 3: Human Services under Secretary RFK Junior has canceled a seven
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  Speaker 3: hundred and sixty six million dollar contract with Maderna that
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  Speaker 3: was intended to fund the development of an mRNA base
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  Speaker 3: vaccine targeting pandemic influenza viruses, including the H five in
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  Speaker 3: one bird flu. The funding, awarded through the Biomedical Advanced
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  Speaker 3: Research and Development Authority known as BARDA, comprised one hundred
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  Speaker 3: and seventy six million granted in July of twenty twenty
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  Speaker 3: four and five hundred and ninety million in January of
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  Speaker 3: twenty twenty five. The cancelation occurred despite Maderna reporting positive
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  Speaker 3: interim results from early stage trials involving three hundred healthy adults,
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  Speaker 3: which demonstrated they claimed a robust immune response and favorable
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  Speaker 3: safety profile. That's obviously coming from the company. Well, when
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  Speaker 3: the announcement came through, this is what it sounded like
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  Speaker 3: on MSNBC.
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  Speaker 6: Administration has canceled a contract with Maderna for the development
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  Speaker 6: of a bird flu vaccine for humans or Angelica peebles
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  Speaker 6: joins US now with more and you could conjecture a
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  Speaker 6: lot of things about this. Between RFK Junior and vaccines
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  Speaker 6: and mRNA.
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  Speaker 1: What's behind all this? Yeah, good morning, Joe.
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  Speaker 7: So this is just the latest in a string of
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  Speaker 7: events that we've seen related to COVID vaccines over the
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  Speaker 7: last week. And what's happening here is that the Trump
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  Speaker 7: administration is canceling a more than seven hundred million dollar
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  Speaker 7: contract with Maderna to develop a bird flu vaccine and
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  Speaker 7: other pre pandemic influenza viruses. And so what's really notable
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  Speaker 7: about this is that obviously we've seen this. You know,
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  Speaker 7: we've seen bird flu tearing through birds and also dairy
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  Speaker 7: cows and the risk to humans. And so what we
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  Speaker 7: saw on the Biden administration is that they really ramped
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  Speaker 7: up this work and they were helping to fund they
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  Speaker 7: were going to fund a phase through trial to see
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  Speaker 7: if we could use mRNA for a bird flu vaccine
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  Speaker 7: if it indeed spills over to humans. And now the
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  Speaker 7: cancelation of this vaccine is quite a surprise. Maybe not
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  Speaker 7: a surprise now, because we had been hearing rumblings about
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  Speaker 7: this for the past few months. But you know, we
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  Speaker 7: just saw this, this contract ramp up right before the
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  Speaker 7: last administration left, and now you have the Trump administration
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  Speaker 7: saying that they felt like, after a rigorous review, we
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  Speaker 7: concluded that the continued investment in Maderna's H five and
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  Speaker 7: one mRNA vaccine was not scientifically or ethically justifiable. And
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  Speaker 7: they're saying that it's not just about efficacy, it's about safety,
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  Speaker 7: and so it's interesting to hear them really casting doubt
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  Speaker 7: on just the safety and the efficacy of mRNA vaccines
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  Speaker 7: as a whole.
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  Speaker 3: You go back to what the HHS official stated in
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  Speaker 3: that decision, and you would think the media would have
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  Speaker 3: spent more time on this, saying following a comprehensive review,
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  Speaker 3: they concluded that continued investment in Maderna's H five N
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  Speaker 3: one and m r NA vaccine was not scientifically or
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  Speaker 3: ethically justifiable. Now, concerns were raised about the safety and
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  Speaker 3: testing rigor of the mr NA technology, and the HHS
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  Speaker 3: emphasized the need for safety number one, integrity number two,
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  Speaker 3: and public trust in medical advancements, something that had all
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  Speaker 3: disappeared because of the quote COVID vaccine.
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  Speaker 1: Remember when they promised.
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  Speaker 3: You if you got it, you were going to stop
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  Speaker 3: the spread and you didn't have to worry about getting
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  Speaker 3: COVID nineteen, Well that.
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  Speaker 1: Never happened and we all know we were lied to now.
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  Speaker 3: This move also aligns with Secretary of Kennedy's long standing
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  Speaker 3: skepticism towards mr NA vaccines. Since assuming his roll in February,
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  Speaker 3: Kenny has imputed several policy changes reflecting those views, including
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  Speaker 3: rolling back COVID nineteen vaccine recommendations as we mentioned yesterday,
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  Speaker 3: for healthy children and pregnant women, something that's been celebrated
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  Speaker 3: by quite a few Americans.
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  Speaker 5: Now.
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  Speaker 3: To be clear, no one has banned vaccines. This is
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  Speaker 3: going back to giving you the choice and a choice
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  Speaker 3: that many Americans had taken away from them during the
• 13:56
  Speaker 3: COVID lockdown.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to the forty seven Morning Updates
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  Speaker 2: with Ben Ferguson. Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: you're listening to this podcast right now and for more
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: in depth news, also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson podcast
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: and we will see you back here on Monday morning,