00:01President Trump openly cheers protesters in Iran, telling them don't stop and promising help is coming as the death toll keeps climbing.
00:09Plus, a high stakes meeting over Greenland today at the White House.
00:13Trump wants to buy it. Greenland says absolutely not.
00:16And Denmark is standing right behind them.
00:18And a civil rights pioneer passes away.
00:21Not a household name, but without her courage, history looks a lot different.
00:26The stories that matter, clear and credible from across the country to around the world.
00:34These are your unbiased updates from Straight Arrow News.
00:40Good morning. I'm Craig DeGrelli.
00:41We begin in the Middle East, where President Trump is signaling a hard shift on Iran, openly backing protesters,
00:48warning the regime to stop the killing and saying that U.S. action could follow once he gets confirmed numbers.
00:54The comments come as reports from inside Iran point to mass arrests, executions moving forward,
01:01and a nationwide crackdown that's increasingly hard to track under an Internet blackout.
01:05Trump told reporters he's waiting for what he calls accurate figures on how many protesters have been killed,
01:12and said the regime is running out of time.
01:15Yeah, the message is they've got to show humanity.
01:18They've got a big problem.
01:19And I hope they're not going to be killing people.
01:21And I'm going to have a report very soon.
01:24It would seem to me that they have been badly misbehaving.
01:28But that is not confirmed.
01:30Human rights groups say the killing is significant, with estimates now in the thousands,
01:35though the blackout has made verification difficult.
01:38The State Department says more than 10,000 Iranians are under arrest for taking part in anti-government demonstrations,
01:45including a 26-year-old protester, Irfan Sultani, who is scheduled to be executed today,
01:51sentenced without a lawyer or a formal trial, given just 10 minutes to say goodbye to his family.
01:57Trump, speaking Monday in Michigan, directly encouraged protesters to keep pushing,
02:01and said talks with Iran are off.
02:03And by the way, to all Iranian patriots, keep protesting.
02:09Take over your institutions, if possible, and save the name of the killers and the abusers that are abusing you.
02:16You're being very badly abused.
02:19And I've canceled all meetings with the Iranian officials until the senseless killing of protesters stops.
02:25And all I say to them is help is on its way.
02:28The White House confirms the president's national security team is weighing next steps,
02:33including diplomatic pressure, cyber options, and possible military action,
02:38though Trump stops short of specifying what comes next.
02:42European leaders are also escalating their response.
02:45The EU says more sanctions are coming, calling the crackdown brutal and unacceptable.
02:50Iran's government, meanwhile, is warning that Trump's rhetoric crosses the line,
02:54accusing him of encouraging instability, even as executions appear to be moving forward.
03:00Greenland is drawing a very clear line this morning, and it's not with Washington.
03:06Standing beside Denmark's prime minister Tuesday, Greenland's leader said flatly,
03:10if forced to pick, his country chooses Denmark over the United States.
03:15The message comes as the Trump administration ramps up pressure over the Arctic territory's future.
03:20The statement lands just hours before a high-stakes White House meeting today.
03:25Greenland and Denmark's foreign ministers are set to sit down with Vice President J.D. Vance
03:29and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
03:32Greenland is a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, strategically located, resource-rich,
03:37and suddenly at the center of a geopolitical fight.
03:40It's about three times the size of Texas, with a population of roughly 57,000 residents.
03:46President Trump has repeatedly said the United States needs Greenland for national security,
03:51to keep it away from China and Russia.
03:53Trump has refused to rule out taking the island by force.
03:57Rubio insists the president wants to buy it, not invade it.
04:01Greenland's answer remains unchanged, not for sale, not interested, not American.
04:06Denmark's prime minister says the pressure from its closest ally has been unacceptable,
04:11and insists the two countries will enter the White House together and leave together.
04:16More fallout in Minneapolis a week after an ICE officer shot and killed a 37-year-old woman on a neighborhood street.
04:23Tensions are still high as federal officers continue to clash with Twin Cities residents demanding that ICE leave.
04:30At least a half-dozen federal prosecutors in Minnesota have now resigned,
04:35citing concerns over how the Trump administration is handling the investigation into the death of Renee Good.
04:40Reporting indicates senior Justice Department officials pushed investigators to scrutinize Good's spouse and others at the scene,
04:48rather than focus on the ICE agent who fired the fatal shots.
04:52Minnesota Governor Tim Walz called the resignation of the first assistant U.S. attorney a huge loss for our state.
04:59But the Justice Department says there is no basis for a criminal civil rights case against the ICE officer,
05:05even as the FBI's investigation continues.
05:07Later today, a judge is expected to hear arguments in Minnesota's lawsuit seeking to halt the federal immigration crackdown
05:14and force ICE and Homeland Security to leave the Twin Cities.
05:18This morning, the parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue, Saks Global, is scrambling for a financial lifeline.
05:25The company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as it runs low on cash and misses key payments.
05:31Saks had been trying to line up $1 billion in financing just to keep operations going.
05:35It recently missed interest payments to bondholders, a major red flag.
05:41In 2024, Saks acquired Neiman Marcus in a roughly $3 billion deal,
05:46hoping the combination would create a luxury powerhouse.
05:49That never materialized.
05:51As cash tightened, Saks stopped paying some suppliers, pushing the company closer to the brink.
05:57For now, the bankruptcy filing buys Saks time.
06:00Time to find a buyer for the entire business, including Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, and Bergdorf Goodman.
06:06Or, time to break it up, sell off pieces, pay down debt, and reorganize what's left.
06:12What's not clear this morning, what this means for the more than 200 upscale stores,
06:17and the future of the iconic brands as Saks searches for new investors.
06:21If you're in Paris today or heading there soon, your Louvre ticket just got more expensive.
06:27As of this morning, the world's most visited museum has officially raised prices for visitors from outside Europe.
06:34For Americans and other non-EU tourists, admission jumps from about $25 to nearly $37.
06:42French officials say the increase is about money and necessity.
06:45The Louvre is aging, a massive renovation is underway, and last year's brazen jewel heist, seen around the world, exposed serious security gaps.
06:55But the price hike is already stirring backlash inside France.
06:59Museum unions are calling the policy discriminatory, and that anger is spilling over.
07:04The Louvre has been closed for much of the week due to staff strikes,
07:08with workers demanding more hiring, better maintenance, and safer conditions inside the building.
07:12The Louvre says entry remains free, though, for minors, and for Europeans under 26.
07:18Finally this morning, we are remembering a woman whose courage came early, cost her dearly, and only later received its due.
07:26Claudette Colvin was just 15 years old when she refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama.
07:34That was nine months before Rosa Parks did the same in 1955, and years before the country was ready to hear Colvin's name.
07:41Police dragged her off that bus.
07:44She was arrested, humiliated, and branded a troublemaker.
07:47Civil rights leaders decided she was not the right face for the movement.
07:51Too young, too poor, too dark-skinned.
07:54But history did not forget her.
07:56Colvin went on to become a key plaintiff and star witness in the case that ultimately ended bus segregation nationwide.
08:03Her testimony helped dismantle Jim Crow laws on public transportation, not just in Montgomery, but across the country.
08:09For decades, she lived quietly in New York, raising her children, and working as a nurse's aide, rarely telling her story.
08:17When she finally did, she put it simply, history had me glued to the seat.
08:22Claudette Colvin died Tuesday at the age of 86, and this morning, we remember her.
08:27Before we head out, here's what we're tracking today.
08:30In Detroit, the auto world kicks into high gear as the Detroit Auto Show formally opens.
08:35The North American car, truck, and utility vehicle of the year are revealed.
08:40In Delaware, Paramount Skydance makes a high-stakes court push in its bidding war with Netflix over Warner Brothers Discovery.
08:47And this afternoon, the four astronauts aboard NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 head home early after a medical issue aboard the International Space Station.
08:55In Colorado, lawyers for former elections clerk Tina Peters will ask an appeals court to throw out her conviction tied to a voting systems breach.
09:04Hits news on the gossip.
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09:10Go to san.com slash newsletters.
09:13Those are your Unbiased Updates for this Wednesday.
09:15We'll see you back here tomorrow.
09:16For all of us here at Straight Arrow News, I'm Craig DeGrelli.
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