Georgia Howe (2:35)

Chaos continues in Minnesota as state officials continue to defy the White House in a high stakes showdown over ICE operations. Fingers on both sides of the aisle are pointing at Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey for fanning the flames. Daily Wire Culture reporter Megan Basham is here now with the latest. So, Megan, can you just paint a picture for us of the atmosphere in Minneapolis right now amid this ICE standoff?

Megan Basham (2:59)

Yeah. You know, I would say that the atmosphere continues to be very tense, to say the least. And overall, Georgia, I would say that it's hard not to see how generally out of control things seem in Minneapolis. It's very similar to the summer of 2020 in the very same city. So to take you just on a quick chaos Tour here, around 200 activists stormed into the Minnesota Capitol Tuesday. They were very angry about Governor Tim Walls taking a meeting with border czar Tom Homan. And they were demanding charges against the agents who shot activists Alex Preddy and Renee Good. Now, these activists didn't just enter the Capitol building, though. They actually went into Walls office in what they called a quote, unquote, slow march for immigration justice. They were shouting slogans like ICE out now and no one is illegal. Abolish ICE and other statements like that. So you can hear a bit of that here.

Georgia Howe (3:51)

Justice delayed.

Cabot Phillips (3:53)

Justice denied.

Georgia Howe (3:54)

Justice delayed.

Cabot Phillips (3:56)

Justice denied.

Megan Basham (3:57)

But then to complicate this image of Alex Preddy that the protesters and, you know, not to mention much of the media have presented of him as this merely mild mannered ICU nurse, some new video has now emerged and it's been confirmed by his family. And what it shows is him in another altercation with Ice on January 13th. So only 11 days before that fatal incident. And in it, Preddy is seen spitting at ICE officers and screaming obscenities at them. Then as they try to pull away, he kicks out the taillight of the agent's vehicle. At that point, the agents stop, get out of the car to arrest him, and he clearly resists arrest. There's an ongoing struggle between him and at least four agents before they're able to subdue him. It's really astonishing. New video, Georgia. And for whatever reason, Preddy was not ultimately arrested or charged at that time. But then getting back to the current chaos, also this past Tuesday, Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar was in the middle of giving a speech when a suspect ran up and threw some liquid on her.

Marco Rubio (4:59)

ICE could not be reformed.

Megan Basham (5:01)

It cannot be rehabilitated. We must abolish ICE for good.

Georgia Howe (5:07)

And DHS Secretary Kristi Noem must resign or face impeachment. I don't know.

Sponsor/Ad Voice (5:26)

Oh, my God. He's sprayed something on her.

Megan Basham (5:29)

So right there was the moment when the suspect ran up to the podium. There are now reports that the substance was just apple cider vinegar. And so the congresswoman is okay, but, you know, obviously a serious situation. And agitators have continued to gather outside of hotels that ICE agents are staying in. They're still defacing and damaging property. But that said, over the last couple of days, we have started to see local Minneapolis police beginning to arrest some of these agitators for harassing these ICE agents. And that's something they've largely refused to do up till now. So, you know, maybe some acknowledgement there by Minnesota and Minneapolis officials that things have gotten once again out of control in this city.

Georgia Howe (6:10)

So what efforts are we now seeing to restore order? I know the White House made some personnel changes on the ground in Minnesota. Are there any other compromises being made to turn down the heat?

Megan Basham (6:21)

Yeah, there are. As you mentioned, the Trump administration does seem to be trying to work with Minnesota's state leadership now, but at the same time, they're still not getting a lot of cooperation. So the two agents involved in these shootings have been put on administrative leave pending an investigation. That's what you expect to see. Customs and Border Protection boss Greg Bevino has been pulled out of the state, and Homan has been sent in. And meanwhile, the White House announced some adjustments, like withdrawing some agents from active patrols, revising operational protocols to emphasize precision and safety, and also initiating direct outreach to local leaders that has included Governor Walz and Mayor Frey. But here's where things get squirrely. So Homan said he conducted a productive call with Frey on Tuesday. He said they discussed ways to align efforts and to mitigate community impacts. And President Trump also spoke with Governor Walz on Monday, and both men framed the conversation as a productive step toward, quote, common ground. Trump reportedly agreed that the Minnesota authorities should be allowed to conduct independent investigations into these recent shootings. And he also agreed to look into reducing the number of agents currently deployed in Minnesota as part of that Operation Metro Surge. But then almost immediately after this, Mayor Frey, who continues to uphold Minneapolis's sanctuary city policies, insisted that local police will not cooperate with ice, and he says they will not give ICE access to their jails. Frey said bluntly that Minneapolis, quote, does not and will not enforce federal immigration laws. Now, after that, Trump addressed Governor Walz and Mayor Frey directly on truth social. And he said they are playing with fire. And he said Frey in particular is in, quote, very serious violation of the law. In the meantime, Minneapolis businesses are boarding up and battening down.

Georgia Howe (8:16)

So very much a repeat of 2020.

Megan Basham (8:18)

Yeah.

Georgia Howe (8:18)

Megan, thanks for reporting.

Megan Basham (8:19)

Yep. My pleasure.

Sponsor/Ad Voice (8:24)

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Georgia Howe (9:34)

On Wednesday, President Trump publicly warned Iran to come to the table. And after US Warships arrived in the region and on Capitol Hill, Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the president's foreign policy to skeptical lawmakers. Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce is here to break down everything that happened yesterday. So, Tim, let's start with Iran. A lot of speculation right now about whether Trump is going to approve a strike imminently. What can we take away from the president's message yesterday?

Tim Pierce (10:01)

Yeah, Trump posted on Truth Social that Iran needs to make a deal or risk major destruction. Far worse, the president said, than Operation Midnight Hammer. Back in June, Trump spoke about Iran at a rally in Iowa on Tuesday. Here's that.

Marco Rubio (10:14)

By the way, there's another beautiful armada.

Sponsor/Ad Voice (10:17)

Floating beautifully toward Iran right now, so we'll see.

Cabot Phillips (10:23)

I hope they make a deal.

Tim Pierce (10:25)

Secretary of State Marco Rubio talked more in depth about deploying additional warships in the region here he was in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday.

Marco Rubio (10:34)

Here's the baseline I want to set for Everybody. We have 30 to 40,000American troops stationed across eight or nine facilities in that region. All are within the reach reach, theoretically, not theoretically. In reality, all are within the reach of an array of thousands of Iranian one way UAVs and Iranian short range ballistic missiles that threaten our troop presence. We have to have enough force and power in the region just on a baseline to defend against that possibility.

Tim Pierce (11:03)

Earlier in the hearing, Rubio also recognized that the Iranian regime has brutally killed thousands of protesters. So a recognition from the administration that Iran has crossed Trump's red line on killing protesters.

Georgia Howe (11:16)

Now, most of the focus of that hearing was actually on the administration's Venezuela policy. What did Rubio have to say about that?

Tim Pierce (11:22)

Yeah, Rubio faced a lot of tough questions on that from both Democrats and Republicans. There was a general consensus, all except for GOP Senator Rand Paul, that getting Maduro out of the way was good. But lawmakers on the committee were concerned about what comes next in Venezuela and when democratic elections can be restored. Here's Rubio on the administration's work with Delsey Rodriguez, the interim president of Venezuela.

Marco Rubio (11:45)

On the second point about her being still in power. Look, let me say this, a couple things. This is not unprecedented. I can point to a number of places, Spain, Paraguay, two examples of places in which there was a transition, you know, from an autocratic regime to a democratic regime. And it took time. I can't give you a timeline of how long it takes. It can't take forever. I can probably give you a better answer. And this is not deflecting when we finally have people on the ground like the ambassador and the team around her on a daily basis that are interacting.

Tim Pierce (12:13)

Rubio was also questioned about how the administration plans to keep Rodriguez in line. Rubio said through control of Venezuela's access to the international oil market. Rubio also did not take off the table the possibility of further military action in Venezuela. There were also a lot of questions on the Trump administration's treatment of its allies, mainly on NATO and over Greenland. On Greenland, Rubio said that the Department of State has had productive talks with Denmark to address US Security concerns. He did not speak much on how those talks came to happen, mainly through the president's use of tariff threats against Europe, which were, I think, what ranking member Jeanne Shaheen and others on the committee were concerned about. Rubio also said that the U.S. relationship with NATO needs to be reimagined mainly through military buildup by other members.

Marco Rubio (12:59)

NATO is going to be stronger if our allies are more capable, especially, and here's the reality, whether we want to accept it or not, we have interests.

Georgia Howe (13:06)

All over the world.

Marco Rubio (13:07)

And the stronger our partners are in NATO, the more flexibility the United States will have to secure our interests in different parts of the world.

Tim Pierce (13:14)

In other words, the stronger US Allies are, the more capable the US Is at projecting strength all over the world.

Georgia Howe (13:20)

Well, that's definitely the Trump model, which of course is ruffled feathers. Tim, thanks for reporting. Good to be on Eczema is unpredictable, but you can flare less with ebglis, a once monthly treatment for moderate to severe eczema after an initial four month or longer dosing phase. About four in ten people taking Hebglis achieved itch relief and clear or almost clear skin at 16 weeks. And most of those people maintain skin that's still more clear at one year with monthly dosing.

Cabot Phillips (13:46)

Hempglis Lebricizumab LBKZ, a 250mg per 2ml injection, is a prescription medicine used to treat adults and children 12 years of age and older who weigh at least 88 pounds or 40 kilograms with moderate to severe eczema, also called atopic dermatitis, that is not well controlled with prescription therapies used on the skin or topicals, or who cannot use topical therapies. EBGLIS can be used with or without topical corticosteroids. Don't use if you're allergic to Allergic reactions can occur that can be severe eye problems can occur. Tell your doctor if you have new or worsening eye problems. You should not receive a live vaccine when treated with ebglis. Before starting ebglis, tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection.

Georgia Howe (14:20)

Ask your doctor about eglis and visit ebgliss.lilly.com or call 1-800-lilyrx or 1-800-545-5979. Amid President Trump's border crackdown and mass deportation effort, new data shows US Population growth fell dramatically last year. Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips is here now with more details on that decline and what sort of political implications it could have. So Cabot, you've been digging into these numbers. Can you give us a picture of what we're seeing?

Cabot Phillips (14:52)

Yeah. This week, the Census Bureau released new data showing that last year America's population grew by just 1.8 million, or 0.5%. That means with the exception of 2021, when Covid was at its peak last year saw the slowest population growth in the history of our nation. For context, the previous year we grew by 3.3 million people. So we're talking about a nearly 50% decline in just one year. And these numbers also run from July of 24 to July of 25. So President Trump was only in office about half of that time. If the current pace holds, it'll be an even more dramatic dip this coming year.

Georgia Howe (15:27)

So the big question is, what is causing this decline?

Cabot Phillips (15:31)

Well, there are a few aspects at play here. First, as we've talked about on the show in the past, Americans are simply having fewer babies than ever before. The US birth rate has fallen 20% in the last two decades. Right now, our fertility rate is 1.6. That is the average number of babies born to each woman. Get this, there were more babies born in America in 1966 than 2025, despite the fact our population has doubled since then. But that trend has been going on for years, and we just haven't seen a population decline this steep. So clearly there are other factors at play. And when you ask what is causing this, the what is also a who. Donald Trump. His immigration policies have undeniably played a role in this trend.

Georgia Howe (16:12)

So break down those numbers. How much of US Growth has been propped up by immigration in recent years? And also, how long has that been going on?

Cabot Phillips (16:20)

Yeah, first, much of our population growth over the last few decades has been supplemented, as you mentioned, with immigration. From 2010 to 2020, 40% of our growth came from immigration. But under President Biden, that number jumped to roughly 80% as illegal immigration soared. Since Trump took office, though, illegal border crossings have plummeted 92% while deportations, both forced and voluntary, have resulted in hundreds of thousands, potentially millions, of illegal immigrants leaving the country. And big picture, that has a trickle down effect. Because immigrants have significantly more children than native born Americans, some studies show that their birth rate is about 40% higher. To that point, journalist Ryan Graduski found that births to Mexican born women, for example, fell 15% last year. For Honduran women, it was 20%, Chinese 24% and El Salvadorans 34%. For their part, the Trump administration says now that the border is under control, they want to implement policies that will encourage more American citizens to have children so that our population growth won't be dependent on immigration, both legal and illegal.

Georgia Howe (17:24)

Now, this trend has some really interesting demographic and political implications just based on where the decline is most acute. Can you unpack that?

Cabot Phillips (17:34)

Right, this is fascinating. So for years now, blue states as we've talked about, have been losing hundreds of thousands of voters, most of whom have flocked to red states. But they've been able to supplement that decline with an influx of illegal immigrants. It's not a secret that more illegals end up in blue states. And remember, while those illegal immigrants cannot technically vote, they are still counted in the census, which determines how many electoral votes and seats in Congress each state gets. But if legal immigration continues to remain near zero over the rest of Trump's term, those states are going to lose even more votes in congressional seats in 2030. That's when the next reapportionment takes place. At the current pace, blue states like California, New York, and Illinois will lose 11 electoral college votes. Purple states will pick up one. And that leaves red states, led by Texas and Florida, gaining 10 seats. That means even more GOP representation in Washington and more importantly, a much easier path to the White House for Republicans in future elections.

Georgia Howe (18:31)

Well, on that note, I will let our audience know they can soon congratulate you. Having a second baby almost on the way.

Cabot Phillips (18:38)

Imminently fighting back against the population decline on our own.

Megan Basham (18:41)

Yeah. All right.

Georgia Howe (18:42)

Well, Cabot, thanks for reporting.

Cabot Phillips (18:43)

Absolutely.

Georgia Howe (18:47)

And before we sign off today, just a programming note. As some of you have noticed, we've not been able to do video this week. That is because of the winter storm here in Nashville. But no worries, we will be coming back to video as soon as it's feasible. And we're going to be back later this evening with more news. You need to know.