Speaker 1: Well, because they've shown that they are willing to take
Speaker 1: the pain. It's the people of Iran who are suffering,
Speaker 1: and that these old guards they're just like, fine, bring
Speaker 1: it on. And then they said we're going to go
Speaker 1: on offense. It's like cold with what I think right now,
Speaker 1: it wouldn't hurt them to declare communications bankruptcy. Bring in
Speaker 1: the pool that's like a representative of several different types
Speaker 1: of reporters that are assembled every day, so it's a
Speaker 1: random selection. Sit them down with the Secretary of War,
Speaker 1: the Secretary of State, the National Security Advisor, maybe even
Speaker 1: John Ratcliffe at the CIA if they're willing and say
Speaker 1: here's where we are, and answer every question until they're
Speaker 1: done and start fresh, because I think that they do
Speaker 1: need a communications reset.
Speaker 2: You're listening to the forty seven Morning Update with Ben ferguson.
Speaker 3: Good Tuesday morning.
Speaker 4: So nice to have you with us in the forty
Speaker 4: seven Morning Update, and we've got two big stories for you.
Speaker 4: First up, Iran is now threatening all out war on
Speaker 4: US interests in the Middle East. Why because they believe
Speaker 4: the politics of this play their advantage before the midterm elections.
Speaker 3: So what does President Trump doing in response? We have
Speaker 3: that for you.
Speaker 4: Also a shocking new exchange program. The Chinese Communist Party
Speaker 4: is working with dozens and dozens of schools and universities
Speaker 4: across more than thirty states to work with Chinese communist propaganda.
Speaker 4: We expose it all. It's the forty seven Morning Update
Speaker 4: and it starts.
Speaker 3: Right now, story number one. It's time I.
Speaker 4: Give you a quick update on what's going on in Iran,
Speaker 4: and it seems that things are changing. It looks like
Speaker 4: we're now moving into a much more dangerous phase of
Speaker 4: the war with Iran, not because of the US, because
Speaker 4: of Iran, and as we are seventy seven days away
Speaker 4: from the midterms. The timing of this matter is because well,
Speaker 4: now Iran knows they can probably keep this going long
Speaker 4: enough they believe to hurt President Donald Trump. Iran for
Speaker 4: the first time is publicly saying consistently now that they
Speaker 4: are threatening for escalation. Reuters reported today that Tehran is
Speaker 4: warning that it could move to a fully offensive military
Speaker 4: posture as diplomacy with the United States has stalled out.
Speaker 4: The Iranian officials are threatening escalation in the Strait of
Speaker 4: Hormuz and potentially beyond it as well. Now that is
Speaker 4: an extraordinary threat because this isn't happening in a vacuum.
Speaker 4: The United States and Iran have already been locked in
Speaker 4: this conflict for months. The Strait of Hormuves remains the
Speaker 4: center of the confrontation, and Iran has previously warned that
Speaker 4: another major American attack could trigger retaliation, they say, against
Speaker 4: US assets and critical energy infrastructure throughout the Gulf region.
Speaker 4: In other words, they're saying, we're going to hold you hostage.
Speaker 4: And then comes the political escalation. Retired General Jack Keene
Speaker 4: is now warning that with America's midterm elections approaching, the
Speaker 4: Iranians have an incentive to increase the relatility and violence
Speaker 4: because they understand that a prolonged conflict can create political
Speaker 4: pressure inside the United States of America ahead of election day. Now,
Speaker 4: if you think about that strategy, Iran doesn't necessarily have
Speaker 4: to defeat the United States militarily. All they got to
Speaker 4: do is try to make the political and economic price
Speaker 4: of the war painful. Now, this can also mean more
Speaker 4: missile attacks, more drone attacks, more attacks on American forces
Speaker 4: or American allies, and ultimately that means more instability around
Speaker 4: the strait of war moves, and that means putting pressure
Speaker 4: on the global energy markets. Now, I want you to
Speaker 4: hear what General Jack Keane, former Army Vice Chief of
Speaker 4: Staff said about all this on Fox.
Speaker 5: I have been saying, and I think the Wall Street
Speaker 5: Journal has picked up on it from their sources, that
Speaker 5: the Iranians, likely given the midterm elections are coming, will
Speaker 5: increase the volatility and violence in the area to demonstrate
Speaker 5: to the American people that the management of the war
Speaker 5: is not going good. Because where are the Iranians coming from?
Speaker 3: Here?
Speaker 5: They pay huge attention to what happens in the United
Speaker 5: States and our political will, and they want to affect
Speaker 5: those elections. They don't want President Trump and the Republicans
Speaker 5: to maintain the control politically that they have. They would
Speaker 5: like to see the Democrats get some level of control
Speaker 5: over I hate to get involved in politics, but I'm
Speaker 5: talking about where the Iranians are coming from, not where
Speaker 5: I'm coming from, and that's what's on their mind here. So, yes,
Speaker 5: when you hear phrases like this, we're going on offense one,
Speaker 5: that's a threat, and a lot of their threats are hollow.
Speaker 5: But I do think there is some substance to it.
Speaker 5: For the reasons I just stated, so it's likely we
Speaker 5: may see something here going forward. Now, Iranians, they miscalculate
Speaker 5: time and time again and not understanding who our president is.
Speaker 5: Remember first and forty seven years to ever confront them militarily.
Speaker 5: And two, if they pushing that direct, I suspect the
Speaker 5: President will come down very very strong on them once
Speaker 5: and for all. So we'll see where we are here.
Speaker 5: We're in an economic phase. That's the decision we've made.
Speaker 5: But the president has lots of options that he can
Speaker 5: go to in terms of military action when and if needed.
Speaker 5: That's the reality of it in the sense, the ball
Speaker 5: is a little bit in an Iron's court to see
Speaker 5: what they're going to do here.
Speaker 4: Now, the Iranian regime clearly understands something very basic about
Speaker 4: American politics. Wars become political issues when Americans start feeling
Speaker 4: their consequences at home. And Iran itself, by the way,
Speaker 4: is under enormous pressure. Reuter's reports of the Iranian economy
Speaker 4: has been battered by this war, disrupted exports and imports,
Speaker 4: and inflation, unemployment and rising prices, and the people on
Speaker 4: the ground are getting extremely anxious. Iran's leaders are reportedly
Speaker 4: worried that additional American economic pressure can reduce another wave,
Speaker 4: they say of domestic unrests where they killed countless in
Speaker 4: the Sennraneans recently. Now, Teyron may believe escalation gives it leverage,
Speaker 4: but that strategy also carries an enormous risk because you're
Speaker 4: dealing with Donald Trump, and what Donald Trump has made
Speaker 4: clear is he's not going to be afraid to attack
Speaker 4: if he needs to. He also has made it clear
Speaker 4: that countries like Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States, Israel, and
Speaker 4: American military installations across the region, well, they're ready to
Speaker 4: go on offense if they need to. You heard that
Speaker 4: from General Jack Keene. So the bottom line this morning
Speaker 4: is this Iran appears to understand that the American political
Speaker 4: calendar is approaching a critical moment, and they believe that
Speaker 4: increasing violence can increase economic anxiety and political pressure on
Speaker 4: Trump before November. Now, they may decide escalations worth that gamble,
Speaker 4: but it could also be a catastrophic miscalculation because if
Speaker 4: you try to manipulate America and politics through attacks on
Speaker 4: American troops or allies, that could produce exactly the opposite
Speaker 4: response and turn an already dangerous war into a far
Speaker 4: larger regional confrontation. And by the way, if Americans could attack,
Speaker 4: the data overwhelmingly shows that Americans want our military to
Speaker 4: fight back. Next story number two, I want to talk
Speaker 4: about a big and important issue in a new report
Speaker 4: that has come out, a sweeping report that has uncovered
Speaker 4: the scope of the Chinese Communist Party and their Chinese
Speaker 4: back exchange program that is inside of America and our schools.
Speaker 4: Right now, we have now learned through this report that
Speaker 4: at least eighty three universities and twenty six k through
Speaker 4: twelve schools across thirty states are actively participating in Beijing's
Speaker 4: Young Envoys scholarship. Now dozens of these American schools, high schools,
Speaker 4: middle schools, and actually elementary schools are taking part in
Speaker 4: the program that was launched by the Chinese President Ggping.
Speaker 4: It is also run by an agency dedicated to promoting
Speaker 4: Marxism and Leninism. And this new report published should have
Speaker 4: been out there years ago, and it should have happened
Speaker 4: by the government saying no, and the school district saying no,
Speaker 4: and the school administrator is saying no, We're not going
Speaker 4: to work with the Chinese Communist Party no matter how
Speaker 4: much money they want to give us with a Marxist
Speaker 4: Leninist propaganda machine. Now, we don't know how many other
Speaker 4: schools are out there yet that are no one the lists.
Speaker 4: What we do know is we found at least eighty
Speaker 4: three universities and twenty six of these k through twelve
Speaker 4: schools and thirty states that are involved in this. Now
Speaker 4: they sell this as a simple exchange program. The problem
Speaker 4: is the exchange program is literally with the Chinese Communist
Speaker 4: Party and they say it's designed and improve relations with
Speaker 4: the United States.
Speaker 3: According to the report, critics.
Speaker 4: Are now saying no, no, no, no, that is not what
Speaker 4: this is at all. This Chinese exchange program serves, they say,
Speaker 4: as a political function, and that allows the CCP to
Speaker 4: curate manicured experiences to unduly sway American perceptions of China.
Speaker 4: In other words, it's a Chinese Communist Party propaganda machine. Now,
Speaker 4: the program's reach also underscores how Beijing uses the disguise
Speaker 4: of this educational opportunity slash exchange to build influence not
Speaker 4: only with American students, but even US officials. And they
Speaker 4: count among this program's basically connections even yeah, you guessed it,
Speaker 4: former presidents of the United States of America. One of them,
Speaker 4: Joe Biden. You look at the CCP's efforts to shape
Speaker 4: not only the public opinion of them, but to also
Speaker 4: gain footholds in our institutions so they can then indoctrinate
Speaker 4: American kids to not only hate America, but also to
Speaker 4: think that China is not bad at all, and that
Speaker 4: China is great, and that China should be well respected,
Speaker 4: and the human rights and every other concerns out there
Speaker 4: really don't matter, and you're overblowing them if you're an American,
Speaker 4: because we're telling you the CCP is just a normal,
Speaker 4: great country.
Speaker 3: They do nothing wrong.
Speaker 4: They don't have child labor camps, they don't have and
Speaker 4: injured servants slaves by the millions in China, by the way,
Speaker 4: that's a fact.
Speaker 3: And they want you to just believe that everything's awesome. Now.
Speaker 4: The new Defending Education Report, and that's where the statu
Speaker 4: is coming from, is raising massive questions about what students
Speaker 4: are shown in China, and because we're sending American minds
Speaker 4: over there and then also shapes those experiences, and whether
Speaker 4: schools and families fully understand the political manipulation and implication
Speaker 4: of this participation quote, the Chinese Communist Party engages in
Speaker 4: cognitive warfare to destroyed American perceptions of the CCP's endless
Speaker 4: human rights abuses and global aggression. That is what Michael Lucy,
Speaker 4: the CEO of the national security nonprofit State Armor, said
Speaker 4: to Fox. They are reaching deep into our education system,
Speaker 4: he said, to influence American students as one of their
Speaker 4: influence operations to try to change the way that America
Speaker 4: thinks altogether.
Speaker 3: Period.
Speaker 4: Now, Zee established the program in twenty twenty three, his
Speaker 4: aim of inviting fifty thousand young Americans to country over
Speaker 4: five years. Why would you have such a lofty goal
Speaker 4: because you're hoping to get fifty thousand Chinese communists spies
Speaker 4: in essence to America to then use our education system
Speaker 4: to their advantage with propaganda. Now, the Chinese Coot Education
Speaker 4: Administration for International Exchange they run the program. Who are they?
Speaker 4: I go back to what I mentioned earlier, the people
Speaker 4: that are in charge running the exchange program that they
Speaker 4: use Marxism and Leninism and many other radical theories to
Speaker 4: help indoctrinate Chinese young people. They go through socialism and
Speaker 4: the Chinese characteristics for it, and they're guided ideology and action.
Speaker 4: Now again, this is not me saying this is in
Speaker 4: there according to a translation of their actual Chinese language website.
Speaker 4: Now these aren't just cultural trips. They're an integral part
Speaker 4: of a China broader soft power strategy aimed at infiltrating
Speaker 4: America's classroom. Is what Reagan Dugan, the director of Defending
Speaker 4: Education's Higher Education Initiatives, said as well in an interview, saying, quote,
Speaker 4: disclosure requirements need to catch up. American students and families
Speaker 4: deserve to know if their school is participating and partnering
Speaker 4: with the Chinese Communist Party operation. The Chinese government maintains
Speaker 4: that their exchange program, and of course they lie about
Speaker 4: it say, are not intended to serve a political purpose. However, quote,
Speaker 4: China's committed to promoting mutual understanding and friendship between the
Speaker 4: Chinese and American people, and advancing exchanges and cooperation between
Speaker 4: the two countries and areas including they say, trade, education,
Speaker 4: and culture. Now, why would the Chinese embassy say that
Speaker 4: in DC? Because they're lying to you. China poses politicization
Speaker 4: and politicizing normal people to people educational and economic exchanges.
Speaker 4: Such unfounded accusations serve no constructive purpose and do not
Speaker 4: contribute to the healthy development of quote China US relations.
Speaker 3: So let me be clear.
Speaker 4: They know from their spies how to speak American, they
Speaker 4: know how to speak to the West, they know how
Speaker 4: to just not take the bait here that we know
Speaker 4: that they have set the largest spying operation in the
Speaker 4: history of the world in the United States of America.
Speaker 3: Yes, that's China.
Speaker 4: We know that they are beating our tails in the
Speaker 4: race to AI so they can control AI, influence AI,
Speaker 4: and then indoctrinate people that use AI to think that
Speaker 4: places like America are not a place to be proud of.
Speaker 4: But they're always in scanne, They're always weak. You understand
Speaker 4: my point.
Speaker 3: Quote.
Speaker 4: We hope the US side will view China and bilatteral
Speaker 4: relations in an objective and rational manner, provide an open,
Speaker 4: fair and non discriminatory environment for exchanges and cooperation, and
Speaker 4: work together to promote the sound and stable development of
Speaker 4: China US relations.
Speaker 3: To communists added, I'm going to make this very clear.
Speaker 4: This is all a like exactly what you should expect
Speaker 4: from the Chinese communists. They are playing us in this
Speaker 4: country perfectly. They're telling you, hey, we're just students know
Speaker 4: they're Chinese communists, sympathizers at best, probably full blown spies
Speaker 4: if you're dealing with reality, and America is just so
Speaker 4: far behind the eight ball and spying and the techniques
Speaker 4: at this granular level, and China is not. What China
Speaker 4: has decided to do here is they're going to say, hey,
Speaker 4: we believe Americans are stupid, we believe that Americans learning
Speaker 4: leaders are incompetent, and so we're going to have exchange
Speaker 4: program to indoctrinate Americans while having spies in America. And
Speaker 4: this is a win win for us. When you've got
Speaker 4: eighty three universities on the take on this twenty six
Speaker 4: k through twelve schools on the take in thirty states
Speaker 4: that are participating in Beijing's propaganda, you know that we're
Speaker 4: losing the battle.
Speaker 3: We're losing the war, and people should be.
Speaker 4: Really, really angry about this, and they should demand You
Speaker 4: should demand answers, and you should ask questions of the
Speaker 4: university that your kids, your grands kids go to to
Speaker 4: see if they are actually in this program, because if
Speaker 4: they are, you know, your kids in a bad program,
Speaker 4: and this is how they gain control of America. You
Speaker 4: want to know how we got all these Marxist socialist
Speaker 4: communist candidates. This is how it happens. You convince Americans
Speaker 4: that somehow America is a terrible place. You convince Americans
Speaker 4: that America is a place you should be angry about,
Speaker 4: ashamed of, and you should want to destroy it from
Speaker 4: within with socialism and communism and Marxism. And that is
Speaker 4: why the Chinese Communist Party is doing exactly that.
Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to the forty seven Morning Update
Speaker 2: with Ben Ferguson. Please make sure you hit subscribe wherever
Speaker 2: you're listening to this podcast right now and for more
Speaker 2: in depth news, also subscribe to the Ben Ferguson podcast
Speaker 2: and we will see you back here tomorrow