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The NewsWorthy
Anti-ICE Protests, Trump's Next Military Action? & Golden Globes Upset - Monday, January 12, 2026
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Today is Monday, January 12th. We're talking about rising tensions over a deadly shooting involving an ICE agent and the protests that brought out tens of thousands of people around the country. Also, Iran's deadly crackdown on protesters that could prompt military action from the US While President Trump also threatens Cuba and Greenland. Plus, how Trump's portrait at the Smithsonian was changed, where thousands of nurses are set to go on strike and which movies, TV shows and podcasts won big at this year's Golden Globes. Those stories and even more news to know coming up. Welcome to the Newsworthy. All the day's news in less than 15 minutes. I'm Erica. Mandy. Thanks so much for being here. Let's do this. All around the country, large crowds of Americans took to the streets to protest the way federal officials are cracking down on immigration. Activists say at least a thousand so called ICE out for good events happened. A lot of focus was on the death of the Minnesota woman named Renee Good, who died in a confrontation with an ICE agent last week. A new video came out on Friday showing the officer's perspective leading up to the shooting. It appears the officer was recording with his cell phone. The video shows Goode's wife also recording the ICE agent's actions from outside of the car. While Good sits in the driver's seat with her hand on the wheel. The last thing she says to the officer is, quote, that's fine, dude. I'm not mad at you. Other officers tell Goode to get out of the car and one attempts to open her door so her wife tells her to drive. Goode reverses slightly and then drives forward. And the ICE agent at the front of her vehicle, seemingly the one recording, opens fire. Then a man's voice is heard saying a misogynistic insult toward her. Well, the Homeland Security Department says the video shows the officer's life was in danger and that he fired in self defense at a woman who was trying to run him over. And DHS Secretary Kristi Noem again characterized Good's actions as an act of domestic terrorism. Good's family tells it differently, though. Her wife explained their actions by saying they had stopped their car to support their neighbors after dropping their son off at school and that we had whistles. Three, they had guns. State and local officials in Minneapolis also reject the federal government's characterization. They say Good was a US Citizen who was never charged with anything beyond a single traffic ticket. And many protesters who watch the video say they're convinced Good did nothing wrong. Most of this weekend's protests were peaceful, but there were a few incidents of vandalism and objects being thrown at officers. Dozens of people were arrested. And now the Trump administration says hundreds more federal agents are being sent into the Minneapolis area. Once again, the US Military has struck ISIS targets in Syria. The Pentagon says it conducted large scale strikes in response to an attack last month also in Syria, that killed three Americans. The weekend strike was just the latest in a series of retaliation missions the US has carried out that have killed or captured dozens of ISIS operatives. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is considering military strikes in Iran. It comes as Iran is seeing nationwide anti government protests across the country. President Trump told reporters he's looking at some very strong options. A few days ago, Trump had said the US Would get involved with unrest in Iran if the country's government began killing its own people. And now human rights groups say that's exactly what's happening. That more than 500 protesters have been killed and some fear the death toll is already much higher. More than 10,000 others have been arrested. The country also has been offline for days because authorities shut down Internet access and telephone lines. Iran's supreme leader has called the protesters a bunch of vandals who are just acting to please President Trump, and state media referred to them as terrorists. Some Iranian officials have warned the US Military and Israel could be considered legitimate targets for strikes if it seems America is going to attack to protect demonstrators. For now, though, no final decision has been made here in the U.S. president Trump says Iran is willing to negotiate. By the way, a large group of protesters came out against the Iranian government in Los Angeles yesterday. But the protests quickly came to an end when a U Haul truck drove through the crowd. One man was hit and treated for minor injuries, but no one else was hurt. Police say the driver is now in custody and that his motive is now under investigation. A team of US Diplomats visited Venezuela, which was seen as a major step to re establish diplomatic ties. The first one since Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was captured in an American raid. Now the US Is talking about potentially reopening the US Embassy in Venezuela's capital of Caracas. And President Trump says he canceled a second wave of attacks on Venezuela since the country is now cooperating with the U.S. to be clear, Venezuela's interim president, Delsey Rodriguez still supports the old Maduro regime, but she says diplomacy with President Trump is the best way to defend Venezuela and secure the return of President Maduro. At least for now, though, there's no sign of Maduro's return actually happening. In fact, yesterday, President Trump posted an image on social media that referred to himself as the acting president of Venezuela. And there is still a US Military buildup in the Caribbean Sea. But Trump has also said the US And Venezuela are working well together, especially when it comes to oil and gas. Here in the US the president is still trying to convince American oil companies to speed up work in Venezuela. Trump expects the oil industry to invest at least $100 billion there and has promised the US government will provide security guarantees. But as of this morning, big oil execs have not committed to ramping up work in the country. In fact, the CEO of ExxonMobil called Venezuela uninvestable unless there are significant changes to the country's commercial frameworks, legal system, and more. Well, Trump says he didn't like that response and that because of it, might block ExxonMobil from drilling in Venezuela. At this point, Chevron is the only major US Company currently active in Venezuela, and its executives say they can ramp up production relatively quickly. Separately, the US Military has intercepted another tanker carrying Venezuelan oil. It was the fifth one that American forces have boarded or seized in the past month. And reports say the US Is pursuing several more that seem to be working to evade American sanctions. President Trump now says Cuba, a close ally of Venezuela, will get no more Venezuelan oil or money. On social media, Trump also told the Cuban government to make a deal before it's too late. It's not clear what he meant by a deal, but Cuba's president has responded by saying his country is prepared to defend itself against American threats. Or, as he put it, the island is, quote, ready to defend the homeland to the last drop of blood. About 4,000 miles away, President Trump still has his eyes on Greenland, which is a Danish territory. Trump told reporters if the US didn't take over Greenland, then China or Russia would, and a military intervention is not off the table. But Greenland officials are still resisting, and they have support from European leaders who say Greenland belongs to its own people, not the U.S. some former American leaders agree. A group of 15 former senior U.S. officials who worked under both Democrats and Republicans sent a memo warning against an invasion. They say it would risk turning one of the most pro American countries in Europe against the US and that country being Denmark. This week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he plans to meet with the foreign ministers of Greenland and Denmark in Washington, D.C. the head of the Federal Reserve says he's now being threatened with a criminal indictment. Reports say the investigation has to do with testimony Fed Chair Jerome Powell gave to Congress last summer. He spoke about the $2.5 billion renovation project at the central bank, explaining it was necessary to address outdated infrastructure. So far, the U.S. justice Department has not given many details about the criminal investigation, just that the attorney general has told U.S. attorneys to investigate any, quote, abuse of taxpayer dollars. But Powell says it's just a pretext for the Trump administration to get more influence over the Federal Reserve. The president has blamed Powell for getting in the way of economic growth by being too slow to lower interest rates. But Powell insists the Fed only makes its decisions based on economic indicators, not politics. Trump said he didn't know anything about the Justice Department's actions involving Powell. To be continued. All right, we have much more news for you still ahead, but first, I'm excited to tell you about our new sponsor, blueland. Government data has shown that each year Americans throw away about 25% more trash from Thanksgiving to New Year's. So now in 2026, I'm thinking about how I can personally make a difference. 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That's blueland.comnewsworthy to get 15% off. Now back to the news. The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery has made a change to President Trump's display. It no longer includes details about the president's two impeachments, the Smithsonian explained, saying it was updating the exhibition with a more minimalist approach. But for now, some other president's portraits still do include the old labels. Just last month, the Trump administration threatened to withhold federal funding to the Smithsonian if it didn't share information about future exhibition plans and other things. Speaking of cultural institutions. What's now being called the Trump Kennedy center continues to see an exodus of performers, and the latest departure is actually the biggest so far since President Trump's takeover. The Washington National Opera announced it planned to leave the Kennedy center, which has been its home for the last 55 years. After the opera's announcement, the Kennedy center said it was the one who ended the relationship, and the decision was a financial one. More than a dozen other acts have already canceled their engagements at the center over political turmoil, though some other core groups are still on the schedule. Mississippi's oldest and largest synagogue was set on fire over the weekend. Flames ripped through the Beth Israel congregation in Jackson. Thankfully, no one was hurt besides the suspect. Authorities say the person responsible is in the hospital with burn injuries and they've been charged with arson. Investigators are still investigating it as a possible hate crime. The synagogue's library, surrounding rooms in the sanctuary were severely damaged, leaving Jewish people in the area with no other house of worship. This isn't the first time the congregation has dealt with a fire, either. In 1874, it was a wood frame building that went up in flames, and in 1967 the synagogue was bombed by local Ku Klux Klan members. Now other places of worship in Mississippi are offering to share building space while Beth Israel is rebuilt. Looks like today New York City hospitals are going to have to do without about 15,000 nurses, even in the middle of a severe flu season. Major hospitals have been negotiating a new contract with the New York State Nurses Association. There are a lot of issues being discussed, but some of the biggest ones are staffing levels and workplace safety measures. The hospitals say they've already made some improvements, but that the union's demands as a whole are too expensive. The deadline to reach a compromise was midnight, so that deadline came and went without any sign of a deal, so nurses could start to walk off the job as early as 6am now it's set to be the largest nurses strike in New York City history. New York's governor declared a state of emergency, saying the strike could jeopardize the lives of thousands of patients. The hospitals say they've hired at least some temporary nurses and have held drills to prepare. Now they're telling people they shouldn't avoid or delay seeking help if there's an emergency. Some of the biggest names in show business came together for one of the most highly anticipated award shows of the year, the Golden Globes. One of the biggest surprises of the night came when the movie Hamnet won for best drama, which was considered an upset over the movie Sinners. In a less surprising category, One battle after another won for best comedy and best director. On the TV side, the Pit won for best drama and the Studio won for best comedy. By the way, this was the first year there was a best podcast category at the Globes. The inaugural award went to comedian and actress Amy Poehler for her new podcast, Good Hang. That's it for the main news. So now it's time for Money Monday when we talk about one interesting money related news story. Americans with credit card debt could get some big relief under one of President Trump's plans. He called for a 10% cap on credit card interest rates to last for the next year. And that's a significant change since right now credit card rates average around 23%. Trump says it needs to happen since, in his words, the American public is being ripped off. It's not clear if the president is looking for credit card companies to make the change voluntarily or if he's looking for the government to enforce the proposal. But banks are not on board. Credit card interest rates make up a big part of their revenue, so analysts say they might end up imposing more fees to make up for it. They could also bring on stricter lending standards, with credit becoming less available to people with less income or lower credit scores. So in response to Trump's proposal, many banking industry groups put out a joint statement saying it would hurt American families and small businesses. But some lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have come out saying they fully support a 10% interest cap. President Trump says he wants it to come into effect next week on the one year anniversary of his return to the White House. Thank you so much for joining us today. We'll be back with even more news to know tomorrow. For now, have a great day.