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Trump Launches Probe That Challenges Blue-State Abortion Insurance Mandates · The Ben Ferguson Podcast

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  Speaker 1: Why didn't you tell your eyes in Europe and Asia
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  Speaker 1: like chapare about the wall before? I thinking you are,
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  Speaker 1: so we are very confused about well.
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  Speaker 2: One thing.
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  Speaker 1: You don't want to signal too much. You know when
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  Speaker 1: we go in, we went in very hard and we
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  Speaker 1: didn't tell anybody about it because we wanted surprise.
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  Speaker 2: Who knows better about surprise in Japan? Okay, why didn't
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  Speaker 2: you tell me about Pearl Harbor?
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  Speaker 1: You're listening to the forty seven Morning Update with Ben ferguson.
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  Speaker 2: Good Saturday morning. Nice to have you with us on
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  Speaker 2: the forty seven Morning Update, and we've got two big
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  Speaker 2: stories for you. First up, Donald Trump's administration has launched
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  Speaker 2: an investigation of states that are mandating health insurance cover abortions.
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  Speaker 2: Why are they investigating these states? We'll explain it in
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  Speaker 2: just a moment. Plus, Saudi Arabia uniting the Arab world
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  Speaker 2: against Iran? What did they have to do to make
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  Speaker 2: this happen? I explained? That is what It's the forty
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  Speaker 2: seven Morning Update and it starts right now.
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  Speaker 1: Story number one.
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  Speaker 2: The Trump administration set on Thursday that it has launched
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  Speaker 2: an investigation into thirteen states that requires state regulated health
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  Speaker 2: insurance plans to cover abortion. This is a major development,
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  Speaker 2: and it goes right to the core of one of
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  Speaker 2: the biggest cultural and cons social battles in America right now.
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  Speaker 2: We're talking about states like California, New York, New Jersey, Illinois,
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  Speaker 2: states where the government has said, if you want insurance,
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  Speaker 2: abortion coverage is mandatory with no exceptions, and the Trump
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  Speaker 2: administration is now saying that may be illegal. Now. At
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  Speaker 2: the center of this fight is something called the Weldon Amendment.
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  Speaker 2: It's a federal law that has been on the books
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  Speaker 2: for years. It explicitly says the government cannot discriminate against
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  Speaker 2: healthcare entitiestors, insurers, employers who refuse to provide, or pay for,
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  Speaker 2: or refer for abortions. In other words, you cannot force
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  Speaker 2: Americans to violate their conscience. But here's where it gets serious.
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  Speaker 2: The Trump administration's Department of Health and Human Services says
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  Speaker 2: these states mandates may be doing exactly that, forcing employers
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  Speaker 2: and individuals into plans that cover abortion even if it
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  Speaker 2: violates their religious beliefs. And according to officials, that could
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  Speaker 2: put billions of dollars in federal health care funding at
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  Speaker 2: risk if states are found in violation. Now, let's talk
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  Speaker 2: about the scale of this. There are thirteen states currently
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  Speaker 2: under the investigation. These laws affect millions of Americans enrolled
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  Speaker 2: in state regulated insurance plans. Federal protections aren't just one law.
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  Speaker 2: There are actually more than two federal statutes protecting religious
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  Speaker 2: and moral objections in healthcare. And here's the key stat
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  Speaker 2: that matters politically. For decades, under the High Amendment, federal
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  Speaker 2: taxpayer dollars have been barred from funding abortion. That policy
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  Speaker 2: has had Bi Parson support for decades. President Trump didn't
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  Speaker 2: just maintain it. He strengthened it, signing executive action to
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  Speaker 2: enforce it across the federal government. And most importantly, I'm
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  Speaker 2: sure taxpayer money is not used for elective abortions. And
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  Speaker 2: this is where the Trump agenda comes into focus. From
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  Speaker 2: day one, the administration has made it crystal clear we
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  Speaker 2: protect life, we defend religious liberty, and stop government coercion.
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  Speaker 2: The White House has said President Trump is committed to
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  Speaker 2: protecting the unborn and restoring conscience rights across federal policy
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  Speaker 2: investigation they say as a direct extension of that promise. Now,
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  Speaker 2: the other part of this debate is how officials are
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  Speaker 2: actually fighting over it framing the arguments. Pauli sten Art,
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  Speaker 2: who heads the HHS Office for Civil Rights, put it bluntly,
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  Speaker 2: health care entities are protected from paying for abortion contrary
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  Speaker 2: to conscience. Period. That's not ambiguous. That's a line in
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  Speaker 2: the sand. And conservatives are rallying behind this move as well.
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  Speaker 2: Pro life and religious liberty advocates have argued for years
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  Speaker 2: that these mandates are government overreach, forcing faith based organizations,
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  Speaker 2: small businesses, and individuals into impossible choices. Many conservative leaders
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  Speaker 2: have said in response to policies like this quote, no
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  Speaker 2: Americans should be forced to choose between their faith and
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  Speaker 2: the law, or the government should not compel participation in abortion.
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  Speaker 2: And the White House said this conscience rights are civil rights.
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  Speaker 2: And that last point is key because what the Trump
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  Speaker 2: administration is doing here is reframing this entire debate, and
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  Speaker 2: that is brilliant, not just as an abortion policy, but
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  Speaker 2: as a civil rights issue.
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  Speaker 1: Now.
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  Speaker 2: Politically, this is a very strategic move. It draws a
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  Speaker 2: crystal clear contrast. The Republicans and the Trump administration are
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  Speaker 2: defending religious liberty and individual choice, and Democrats are expanding
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  Speaker 2: mandates and government control in healthcare, forcing you to actually
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  Speaker 2: pay for coverage for abortions, even if you don't agree
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  Speaker 2: with it religiously, and it puts Democrats finally on defense
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  Speaker 2: because they now have to explain why someone should be
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  Speaker 2: forced to pay for something they morally and religiously oppose.
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  Speaker 2: Even critics of the administration are admitting what's happening here.
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  Speaker 2: Some Democratic officials are already calling the investigation politically motivated.
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  Speaker 2: But that also shows how high stakes this debate really is,
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  Speaker 2: because if the Trump administration wins, you could see three
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  Speaker 2: different things happen. Number One, states would be forced to
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  Speaker 2: roll back abortion mandates. Number two, federal funding battles tied
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  Speaker 2: to compliance would then be up for real debate. And thirdly,
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  Speaker 2: and potentially that you could have a Supreme Court showdown
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  Speaker 2: on the limits of states' powers to mandate abortion be
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  Speaker 2: a part of healthcare. The bottom line is this, this
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  Speaker 2: isn't just another policy fight. This is about whether the
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  Speaker 2: government can force you, can force your business, can force
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  Speaker 2: your church, can force your family to fund something that
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  Speaker 2: violates your moral beliefs. And President Trumps may get very
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  Speaker 2: clear with this investigation that the bond will not be
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  Speaker 2: crossed without a major fight.
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  Speaker 1: Next story number two, Saudi.
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  Speaker 2: Arabia has now united the Arab world against Iran. Trust
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  Speaker 2: has completely been shattered, as what they said in new
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  Speaker 2: statements as the government of Saudi Arabia held a large
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  Speaker 2: level meeting with representatives of other victims of Iranian bombings
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  Speaker 2: in the past month, issuing a joint statement condemning Tehran
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  Speaker 2: for widespread drone and missile attacks on civilian sites in
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  Speaker 2: over a dozen countries. Participating in the meeting where the
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  Speaker 2: foreign ministers of Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Turkey, Katar, Syria,
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  Speaker 2: and Lebanon as well. On Thursday, the Saudi Press Agency
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  Speaker 2: published a joint statement from the participants demanding an immediate
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  Speaker 2: end to bombings by Iran's Terras Islamic Revolutionary Guard and
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  Speaker 2: warning Iran to stop disrupting commercial traffic in the Strait
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  Speaker 2: of Hormuz. Iran has been at war with Israel. In
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  Speaker 2: the United States since February the twenty eighth, President Trump
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  Speaker 2: announced Operation Epic Fury to eliminate Iran's ability to pose
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  Speaker 2: a threat to its neighbors. Iran is the world's most
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  Speaker 2: plurific state sponsor of terrorism, funding the IRGC in addition
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  Speaker 2: to several other terrorist proxies, including Hesblahamas, the yeminy Houthi Gangs,
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  Speaker 2: the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and several Iraqi Sheite militias, among others.
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  Speaker 2: On the first day of Operation Epic Fury, Trump announced
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  Speaker 2: an air strike had eliminated the Supreme Leader American Israel
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  Speaker 2: have eliminated, as you know, dozens of senior Iranian leaderships
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  Speaker 2: since but in response to the military campaign, Iran has
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  Speaker 2: used its missiles and drone capabilities to target its Arab
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  Speaker 2: and Muslim neighbors. Among the countries Iran has targeted, striking
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  Speaker 2: civilian areas are many of the participants in the meeting
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  Speaker 2: late Wednesday. Iran has also repeatedly targeted Israel instruct Cyprus,
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  Speaker 2: and Iranian officials have denied targeting nations such as Turkey,
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  Speaker 2: though the IRGC has openly struck Saudi Arabia and the UAE,
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  Speaker 2: allegedly because they're not actively hostile towards America and Israel.
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  Speaker 2: Now following the meeting of the Gulf Corporation Council countries
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  Speaker 2: and other guests, the government of Saudi Arabia also published
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  Speaker 2: a joint statement by the participating countries condemning Iran. The nations,
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  Speaker 2: according to Saudi Press Agency, affirm their condemnation and said
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  Speaker 2: these deliberate Iranian attacks with ballistic missiles and drones which
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  Speaker 2: targeted residential areas, civilian infrastructure, including oil facilities, as well
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  Speaker 2: as airports, residential buildings and diplomatic premises, was unacceptable. The
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  Speaker 2: Minister's further affirm that such attacks could not be justified
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  Speaker 2: under any pretexts or in any manner whatsoever. The text
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  Speaker 2: continued that Iran must immediately halt its attax and affirm
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  Speaker 2: the necessity of respecting international law, international humanitarian law, and
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  Speaker 2: the principles of good neighborliness. Yes, this is now where
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  Speaker 2: we are in the Middle East, as all of these
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  Speaker 2: countries seem to be finally realizing they can't just look
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  Speaker 2: the other way with what Iran is doing, and now
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  Speaker 2: they're joining with the US to hold them accountable.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to the forty seven Morning Update
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  Speaker 1: with Ben Ferguson. Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever
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  Speaker 1: you're listening to this podcast right now and for more
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  Speaker 1: and we will see you back here on Monday morning,