00:01Trump sends in his immigration enforcer.
00:03Tom Homan heads to Minneapolis as tensions spike and the White House moves to contain the fallout.
00:09Why, the president is now on the phone with the governor and mayor.
00:12Plus, the storm may be gone, but the damage is still piling up.
00:16Massive snow totals, blackouts across the South, and brutal cold gripping millions.
00:22And Venezuela makes a move and draws a line.
00:24Political prisoners freed as the interim president says she's had enough of America's demands.
00:32The stories that matter, clear and credible, from across the country to around the world.
00:38These are your unbiased updates from Straight Arrow News.
00:44Good morning, I'm Craig DeGrelli.
00:46We begin this morning with the latest out of Minneapolis.
00:48As the Trump administration faces growing backlash over a third immigration enforcement officer-involved shooting in as many weeks.
00:56The president is now dispatching border czar Tom Homan to the Twin Cities to, quote,
01:01continue the discussion after Trump says he spoke with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frye Monday evening.
01:07Trump saying Homan will now be in charge of the immigration crackdown in Minnesota and will report directly to the White House.
01:13Meanwhile, protests continue as calls grow for ICE to leave Minnesota altogether.
01:19Overnight, dozens of people held a demonstration outside a hotel in a Minneapolis suburb where federal agents,
01:25including top Border Patrol official Greg Bovino, are believed to be staying.
01:29Bovino is expected to leave the city today as the administration moves to change leadership amid public outcry.
01:35That outcry intensified after Bovino made unsubstantiated claims that the man killed in the latest shooting,
01:4137-year-old ICU nurse Alex Preddy, was trying to, quote, massacre law enforcement officers.
01:48Multiple videos of the incident, along with witness accounts, contradict Bovino's statements,
01:53as well as claims from other top Trump administration officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
01:59They claimed Preddy was brandishing a gun and attacking immigration officers.
02:03CBS News reports there is frustration inside the Department of Homeland Security over how the situation is being handled
02:10and over the decision to make public statements before any investigation was completed.
02:16Meanwhile, a growing number of Republicans are also criticizing the Trump administration's response to Preddy's death.
02:23Texas Senator Ted Cruz said on his podcast the Trump administration needs to improve, quote,
02:29the tone with which they're describing this.
02:31Escalating the rhetoric doesn't help, and it actually loses credibility.
02:36And so I would encourage the administration to be more measured, to recognize the tragedy and to say,
02:43we don't want anyone, anyone's lives to be lost.
02:47And the politicians who are pouring gasoline onto this fire, they need to stop.
02:53Utah Senator John Curtis called out Noem directly, saying in a social media post,
02:59I disagree with Secretary Noem's premature DHS response, which came before all the facts were known and weakened confidence.
03:08Curtis says he wants to see a transparent, independent investigation of the incident and is calling for accountability.
03:13North Carolina Senator Tom Tillis also weighed in, calling for an impartial investigation
03:20and accusing the administration of trying to, quote, shut down an investigation before it begins.
03:25We are now into day four of this massive winter storm.
03:30And for a lot of the country, the worst of it is not just what fell from the sky, it's what's sticking around.
03:36The storm is now pushing out of the northeast, but bitter cold is settling in behind it,
03:41with dangerous wind chills stretching from the Midwest to New England.
03:44More than a half a foot of snow fell across a 1,300-mile swath of the country.
03:50And some places north of Pittsburgh saw close to 20 inches.
03:53At least 30 people are now confirmed dead from hypothermia, crashes, snowplow accidents, even sledding mishaps.
04:01Millions are still digging out.
04:03In New Jersey, which is where you're looking at right now, neighborhoods like Montvale are still buried.
04:08Others are sitting in the dark.
04:10Roughly half a million customers remain without power this morning,
04:14especially across parts of the South, because of situations like this.
04:18Ice-covered trees toppling power lines.
04:21In some places, help had to come from the National Guard,
04:24digging out a stranded bus, as you see here, one shovel at a time, just to get people moving again.
04:29But not everyone is miserable.
04:32In Texas, one family made the most of it.
04:34Whoa!
04:35Sledding through the fresh snow with their two daughters after a rare winter blast in Denton.
04:40In New York City, lots of people there.
04:42Central Park turned into a playground.
04:44Kids sledding, families building forts, and tourists soaking in a snow day that the city has not seen in years.
04:51Even the animals are getting in on it.
04:52A polar bear having a ball here at the Memphis Zoo, rolling around in the snow, clearly living its best life.
04:59Venezuela's interim leader is now drawing the line with Washington,
05:03even as her government quietly moves to meet one of the United States' biggest demands.
05:09Delcy Rodriguez, who took over after Nicolas Maduro was captured by U.S. forces earlier this month,
05:14is pushing back against American pressure, telling workers she's had enough of what she calls Washington's orders over Venezuela politics.
05:23Her message comes as the Trump administration continues to squeeze Caracas,
05:27pressing for oil production, political reforms, and the release of hundreds of political prisoners.
05:33On that last front, there is movement.
05:35Over the weekend, the government freed more than 100 detainees from prisons across the country,
05:40part of what human rights groups say is one of the largest single-day releases in years.
05:45We're seeing emotional scenes of families reunited right here,
05:49former prisoners hugging relatives, and tearful celebrations outside prison gates.
05:53But not everyone is home yet.
05:55In Caracas Monday, the mother of one still-detained man chained herself outside a police detention center,
06:01begging for her son's release as other families gathered with photos of their loved ones.
06:06The releases appear aimed at easing U.S. pressure.
06:09President Trump took to Truth Social to thank Rodriguez,
06:12calling the releases a powerful humanitarian gesture.
06:16President Trump is turning up the pressure on U.S. ally South Korea over a trade deal reached last year,
06:22and he's now imposing new tariffs on that country.
06:25The president is raising tariffs on autos, lumber, and pharmaceutical drugs from 15 percent to 25 percent.
06:32Trump wrote on Truth Social,
06:34South Korea's legislature is not living up to its deal with the United States.
06:38President Lee and I reached a great deal for both countries on July 30th.
06:42Why hasn't the Korean legislature approved it?
06:45South Korean lawmakers are now considering nearly a half-dozen bills,
06:49including one that would commit $350 billion in investments in the U.S. economy.
06:54That investment package is a core part of the trade deal.
06:58Seoul responded to Trump's tariff threats by saying there will be swift debate and action
07:02on the bills in the National Assembly.
07:05The government also says it will send a top official to Washington
07:08for talks with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and reaffirm its commitment to the agreement.
07:13A former Olympic snowboarder is now facing some of the most serious criminal charges on the books.
07:19Ryan Wedding, who once competed for Canada in the 2002 Winter Olympics,
07:24pleaded not guilty Monday to federal charges of running a billion-dollar drug trafficking operation
07:29and ordering multiple murders.
07:32U.S. prosecutors say Wedding moved as much as 60 tons of cocaine
07:36between Colombia, Mexico, Canada, and Southern California
07:39and worked under the protection of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel.
07:43Authorities say he had been living in Mexico for more than a decade.
07:47The FBI put him on the 10 most wanted list last year with a $15 million reward on his head.
07:53Wedding was arrested in Mexico last week and flown to Southern California,
07:57where he appeared in court on Monday in a jail jumpsuit and legs shackled.
08:01A judge ordered him held without bail, saying he could not find conditions to ensure public safety.
08:07Wedding is due back in court February 11th.
08:09His trial is set for March 24th.
08:12Finally this morning, the United States has named the 233 athletes
08:16who will represent America in the Milan Cortina Olympics.
08:20The team includes 117 men and 115 women,
08:23with the youngest competitor, 15-year-old free skier, Abby Winterberger.
08:28What a great name. Perfect for the games, right?
08:30And the oldest, 54-year-old curler, Rich Roonan.
08:34It's the first Olympics for both.
08:36Roonan will also be the oldest American ever to compete in the Winter Olympics.
08:41They will join seven veteran athletes marking their fifth trip to the games,
08:45including the person you see here, skier Lindsey Vonn,
08:47Bob Sutter's Kaylee Humphreys and Elena Myers-Taylor,
08:50hockey player Hillary Knight, figure skater Evan Bates,
08:54and snowboarders Faye Thielen and Nick Baumgartner.
08:57The opening ceremony is set for next Friday, February 6th, in Milan,
09:01but some of the competitions will begin two days earlier on the 4th.
09:05These will be the most geographically spread-out games in Olympic history,
09:09listen to this, with Milan serving as a home base for hockey, figure skating, and speed skating,
09:14while Cortina and nearby mountain venues will host skiing, snowboarding, the biathlon,
09:20and a brand-new Olympic event, ski mountaineering.
09:24That sounds cool, right?
09:25And new this morning, we're learning ICE agents will have a security role during the Winter Games.
09:30That's according to a report from the Associated Press.
09:32Sources told the AP the agents will support diplomatic security details
09:37and not run any immigration enforcement operations.
09:39It is not unusual for federal agencies, including Homeland Security,
09:43to boost support for diplomatic security during the Olympics.
09:48All right.
09:49Before we head out, here's what we're tracking today.
09:51At 9 a.m., the NTSB will hold a public board meeting
09:54on last year's deadly mid-air collision near Washington
09:56to determine the probable cause,
09:59coming just days before the one-year mark of the crash that killed 67 people.
10:04At 10, the Doomsday Clock gets reset,
10:06a symbolic snapshot of how close scientists believe we are to global catastrophe.
10:12Later today, the United States formally pulls out of the Paris Climate Agreement,
10:16again after President Trump signed an executive order last year.
10:20And this afternoon, the president heads to Clive, Iowa, to make remarks on the economy.
10:25Hey, we're the fastest, fairest few minutes in news.
10:27Be sure to tell your friends about us.
10:29You can always watch us at san.com or on the app or stream us on Spotify.
10:34Those are your Unbiased Updates for this Tuesday.
10:35We'll see you back here tomorrow.
10:37For all of us here at Straight Arrow News, I'm Craig DeGrelli.
10:39Have a great day.
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