Friday morning news: June 27, 2025

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SCOTUS Planned Parenthood funds » The Supreme Court has ruled that states can legally cut off Medicaid funding to abortion providers like Planned Parenthood.

In a 6–3 decision, the justices sided with South Carolina’s health department, which had barred the abortion giant from receiving taxpayer funds. The court said Medicaid laws do not give patients the right to sue if their preferred provider is excluded.

Pro-life advocates in South Carolina hope the ruling pushes Planned Parenthood to close altogether.

Valerie Berry, with A Moment of Hope in Columbia:

BERRY: Almost everything that Planned Parenthood does is cheaper somewhere else, even if you’re paying out of pocket.

She says the number of women visiting the clinic has dropped since the state upheld its pro-life law.

Several other states have similar policies regarding Medicaid funding, including Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas.

Big Beautiful Bill latest » At the White House, President Trump held an event Thursday to rally support for his so-called “one big beautiful bill.” The president said the legislation would, among other things, lock in tax cuts passed back in 2017.

TRUMP:  We're gonna stop the largest tax hike and we're gonna do that in history.

Debate was expected to begin today, but the bill isn’t ready. House conservatives are blasting the Senate—saying they won’t accept a watered-down version of the bill after the House already passed it.

But White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said with this kind of bill, it’s always a bumpy ride at the end.

HASSETT:  We respect that process and we have high confidence that the majority leader is going to deliver a bill, uh, that can pass the Senate and pass the house, and that on the 4th of July, or even before President Trump is gonna sign the Big Beautiful Bill.

The Senate parliamentarian rejected key sections aimed at limiting Medicaid costs. Those included a provision to block illegal immigrants from accessing Medicare and Medicaid. That ruling partially forced Republicans back to the drawing board.

Latest in Iran damage intel, debate » The Trump administration and defense officials offered new details on Thursday about last weekend’s airstrikes targeting key nuclear facilities in Iran.

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine discussed the so-called ‘bunker buster’ bombs dropped on Iran’s underground Fordow facility.

CAINE:  The primary kill mechanism in the mission space was a mix of over pressure and blast ripping through the open tunnels and destroying critical hardware. The majority of the damage we assessed based on our extensive modeling was a blast layer combined with the impulse extending from the shock.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth blasted a recent media report suggesting the strikes may have only set Iran’s nuclear program back by a matter of months. That report cited a leaked preliminary assessment by one intelligence agency. Hegseth said of that assessment:

HEGSETH: It admits itself in writing that it requires weeks to accumulate the necessary data to make such an assessment. It's preliminary. It points out that it has not been coordinated with the intelligence community at all. There is low confidence in this particular report.

But senators yesterday emerged from a classified briefing with mixed reactions...mostly along party lines. GOP Senator Tom Cotton:

COTTON: I think it's safe to say that we have struck a major blow alongside our friends in Israel against Iran's nuclear program.

But Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal says he's not convinced.

BLUMENTHAL: My personal view, based on what I heard, is Iran continues to be a threat.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe Thursday both backed the conclusion that Iran's nuclear program was severely harmed. Israeli intelligence also backs that assessment.

And Rafael Grossi, the head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog agency has said he believes Iran’s nuclear program was “set back significantly.”

Iranian leaders speak out ahead of meeting with U.S. » Meantime, an Israel-Iran ceasefire is holding, but Tehran is still waging a PR battle.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei spoke ahead of scheduled talks between U.S. and Iranian officials next week.

BAEHAEI:  We have to make sure that, uh, whether the other parties are really serious when they're talking about diplomacy or it is again part of their, um, tactics to make more problem for the region and for my country.

He called the US airstrikes a “horrible blow” to diplomacy and international law.

Looking to project strength at home, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei made his first public statements yesterday since the start of the ceasefire. He declared:

KHAMENEI (translated):  The Islamic Republic delivered a hard slap to America's face by attacking one of its key bases in the region. Al Udeid Air Base and inflicted damage.

But analysts largely regarded the missile strike against the Al Udeid AirBase in Qatar as a token response to the U.S. airstrikes. There were no casualties or significant damage.

Stocks surge » Wall Street is hoping to keep a winning streak going today after stocks surged to the edge of another record on Thursday. WORLD’s Benjamin Eicher has more.

BENJAMIN EICHER: The S&P 500 rose eight-tenths (8/10) of 1% yesterday and finished just a half of percentage point below its all-time closing high, set back in February.

The Dow Jones Industrial rallied NINE-tenths (9/10) of 1%, and the Nasdaq gained a full percentage point.

McCormick helped lead the market after the seller of cooking spices delivered a better-than-expected profit report.

Treasury yields fell after a few stronger-than-expected reports on the U.S. economy, including a drop in jobless claims … and an increase in orders for long-lasting goods.

Stock markets in Europe and Asia ended the day with mixed results.

For WORLD, I’m Benjamin Eicher.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Culture Friday with John Stonestreet. Plus, comments and suggestions from you on Listener Feedback.

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