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The NewsWorthy
Historic Winter Storm, ICE Detains 5-Year-Old & Movie Breaks Oscar Records - Friday, January 23, 2026
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Today is Friday, January 23rd. We're talking about a life threatening storm that's started to move across the country. What the biggest concerns are this morning. Also the growing outrage over a young child being detained by immigration authorities in Minnesota. And some good news when it comes to crime nationwide. Plus, why President Trump is suing America's largest bank, how the government now plans to crack down on late night tv and which movie has already made history at the Oscars two months before the ceremony. 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. One of the most significant winter storms in years is now just hours away for millions of Americans from New Mexico to the Carolinas. The big concern is a major ice storm that could crush trees and power lines and and knock out electricity for days. For millions more from Virginia to Maine, it could cause enough snow to make travel difficult, if not impossible. We're talking about more than 2ft of snow in some areas. And in the upper Midwest and Great Lakes region, wind chills of 40 to 50 degrees below zero have already arrived in some places. At least a dozen governors have already declared states of emergency. Some states have started deploying National Guard troops. FEMA has already pre positioned some supplies. And airlines and delivery services have warned about mass cancellations and delays. The millions of Americans in the path of this storm have been asked to get all of their driving done now before the worst hits. And many forecasters have told people to prepare for the worst, at least for the next few days. The former president of the American Meteorological Society told ABC News this could end up being the new storm of the century. An immigration arrest in Minnesota has prompted even more outrage all around the country. Authorities detained a 5 year old boy as he was arriving home from preschool. And an image of it happening has now gone viral. It shows the young boy in a knit hat with bunny ears standing with his Spider man backpack staring at the back of the truck. The family's lawyer says the boy and his parents are in the country legally as asylum applicants, though immigration officials called them illegal. The superintendent of the school system where the boy goes says agents tried to use him as bait to lure his mother out of their home and that they wouldn't let the boy stay with neighbors who know the family or anyone from the school district. But the Homeland Security Department says ICE agents were really only targeting the boy's father, who actually asked for the child to stay with him. Now they're both together at an immigration lockup in Texas. DHS has acknowledged hundreds of other children have been held at that same lockup for months. And one national nonprofit advocacy group says conditions are dire, with children malnourished and extremely sick. Now, more and more students in the Minneapolis area are skipping school entirely in protest of the immigration crackdown. An organized effort is encouraging people not to work, shop or go to school today in Minnesota, hundreds of businesses, schools and churches have already announced they'll be closed. The reports say this could turn out to be one of the largest acts of protest since the ICE surge began in the state. As we've told you, thousands of protesters have already been attending marches, vigils and rallies. And while most have been peaceful, authorities say some have broken the law. Yesterday, three protesters were arrested for their part in a demonstration that happened inside a church where an ICE official serves as a pastor. The Department of Homeland Security also says the anti ICE sentiment has gotten worse, with hostile crowds now stalking federal agents and keeping them from doing even usual things like eating meals or using the bathroom. In the face of these incidents, Vice President J.D. vance was in Minneapolis yesterday. He called on local police to work with federal officials on enforcing immigration policy, saying that would be the best way to tame the chaos. But local and state officials have strongly opposed how the immigration crackdown is playing out, so they're not helping ICE track down people to arrest. Still, officials say they've been able to arrest 3,300 people in the Twin Cities over the last six weeks. At this point, their operation has no end date. As expected, the former special counsel who tried to prosecute President Trump faced a grilling from GOP lawmakers during his first public appearance on Capitol Hill. Republicans portrayed Jack Smith as an overzealous prosecutor who was out to get Trump ahead of the 2024 election. Smith responded by again insisting Trump was only charged with crimes because he broke the law. Remember, one of Smith's cases accused Trump of trying to overthrow the results of the 2020 election. The other claimed Trump illegally kept classified documents after his first term. Neither case went to trial since Smith dropped them after Trump was reelected. And now Smith says not moving forward with the cases may have caused catastrophic threats to American democracy, explaining that it sends a message that the crimes are ok. Smith also told lawmakers he expects the Trump administration to do everything in its power to prosecute him. And yesterday, President Trump warned about just that, while calling Smith a deranged animal. In fact, he specifically said, quote, hopefully the attorney general is looking at what he's done. To be continued. The US Just experienced the largest one year drop in murders ever recorded. New data shows homicides dropped by about 21% last year in major U.S. cities, and it might be the lowest murder rate since around 1900. The analysis from the nonpartisan Council on Criminal justice looked at dozens of large cities and it found that all seven categories of violent crime fell below pre pandemic levels for the first time since COVID Not only were homicides down, but also shootings, robberies and carjackings all fell sharply. Only one category moved in the other direction, drug crimes, which rose about 7%. As for why this is happening, experts say there's no single answer. They point to a mix of factors, including the end of the pandemic, disruptions and violence prevention programs, and long term shifts in technology, demographics, medical treatment and daily life. President Trump has taken credit touting National Guard deployments and immigration enforcement. But researchers note crime was already falling before he returned to office, and cities without federal troops saw similar or even bigger declines. Bottom line, the COVID era crime spike now looks like it was a temporary surge, not a new normal. The US has now finalized its withdrawal from the World Health Organization, ending a commitment that's lasted nearly eight decades. President Trump first gave notice the U.S. would quit the UN health agency on the first day of his second term. Since then, global health experts have warned that doing so would hurt public health in the U.S. and around the world. But President Trump says the U.S. had to withdraw in part because of how the WHO handled the COVID 19 pandemic and other global health crises. WHO made costly mistakes during the pandemic, like at one point saying COVID 19 was not airborne and advising people against wearing masks until more evidence suggested that was the wrong tactic. That's a big deal, since the agency is mandated to coordinate the response to global health threats. But the organization also provides technical assistance to poorer countries, helps distribute scarce vaccines, supplies and treatments, and sets guidelines for hundreds of health conditions. Plus, it shares data. So some public health experts say American scientists and pharmaceutical companies will now have a hard time developing vaccines, vaccines and medicines against new threats. The Trump administration doesn't expect a big disadvantage, though it says it now plans to work directly with other countries on public health priorities. All right, we have more news for you still coming up. But first, let's take a quick break for our sponsor. In a world full of everything digital, I still look forward to the routine of getting the physical mail every day. There's just something about that real personal touch, going outside with my son, waving to our neighbors, and even chatting with our mailman. I can always remember his name because it's Bill. You know, Bill delivering our bills. But I know, I know. I wish we could say no thank you to getting any bills or getting any junk mail. But that's why I'm a fan of Gunder. They create smart, targeted direct mail that people actually want. It's not junk, it's intentional, useful, well crafted mail going to the right audience for the products and services they need. In a world full of AI slop and sketchy digital ads, this is something real hand delivered by a human. And here's the best part. Direct mail response rates are way higher than digital, often more than 30 times the response rate of email and other digital ads. So if you're a business owner, CMO or marketing manager and want to reach better customers and cut through the noise of digital clutter, check out Gunder. And don't miss their free 2026 direct mail lookbook packed with over 500 real creative examples that drive response. Just visit trustdirectmail.com and get yours free hand delivered of course. That's trustdirectmail.com now back to the news. TikTok has finally completed its deal to keep operating in the U.S. this ends the years long saga to force TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance, to sell its U.S. operation to American owners to alleviate national security concerns. With this new deal, there are many new owners as well as ByteDance, which will still own nearly 20%. The new joint venture will be responsible for protecting Americans data, updating the algorithm, moderating content, and more. This might change what appears on TikTok users for your pages over time, and there could be some changes with the ads and shopping features, but most people are not expected to notice any kind of a difference. President Trump is now suing JPMorgan Chase and its CEO, who is considered one of the most powerful business executives in the U.S. trump's lawsuit is seeking at least $5 billion in damages. It's all over allegations the bank closed his account for political reasons shortly after the capitol riot in 2021. The lawsuit says it caused a lot of harm to the president and his companies. But JPMorgan Chase says it will fight the suit, insisting it doesn't close accounts over politics, but that it does when they create legal or regulatory risk. This also escalates a feud between Trump and CEO Jamie Dimon, who has spoken out against some of President Trump's business and economic policies. JP Morgan is not the only bank Trump has targeted. He also sued Capital One, saying the bank shut down hundreds of Trump organizations corporate accounts in 2021. And he's criticized bank of America for not taking up his business. The FCC is starting to get tougher with daytime talk shows like the View and late night shows like Jimmy Kimmel Live. It warned the shows they'll have to start following a rule that hasn't been enforced for talk shows, at least in years. It's the one that says they need to give political candidates equal time when booking guests. The Media Research center, which is a conservative group, said it found that dozens of Democrats have appeared on late night shows last year, while zero Republicans were given that platform. On the View, 128 liberal guests were on, but only two conservatives and Republicans have complained about the disparity for a while now. Still, the one Democratic commissioner on the FCC criticized the warning, saying it's part of an ongoing campaign to censor and control speech. Either way, with the midterms coming up later this year, daytime or late night shows might have to start rethinking their guestbooks. The Oscar race is officially on, and this year it starts with a record breaker. Sinners led all movies with 16 Academy Award nominations, the most in Oscar history right behind it. One battle after another with 13 nominations. Both movies come from Warner Bros. Discovery, which had its biggest Oscar morning ever, a notable moment as the studio faces a potential sale to Netflix. This year's best picture field also highlights a continuing shift at the Academy. For the eighth year in a row now, a non English language film is up for Hollywood's top prize. Meanwhile, some big name blockbusters were left out of the nominations. Wicked for Good was shut out entirely, and Fire and Ash missed a best picture nomination for the first time in the franchise. The 98th Academy Awards will air March 15 live from Los Angeles with Conan O' Brien returning as host. Remember how last week we told you about the cultural phenomenon Heated Rivalry? Well, now the show's two lead actors are joining real hockey stars on an even larger global platform. They've been selected as official torchbearers for the Olympic torch relay in Italy. In case you're not familiar, Heated Rivalry is a romance that follows two hockey players from rival teams who can't ignore their feelings for each other. But to be clear, neither actor will actually hit the ice at the Olympics. The Winter Games begin in two weeks. Well, that's it for the Maine News today. So now it's time for Feel Good Friday when we bring you one extra feel good or positive news story before the weekend. And today we're talking about Austin's famous 37th street, where neighbors gathered this month to count ballots and swear in their new mayor. The winner didn't give a speech, though. He barked. Mo Bamba, 25 pound Pug Chihuahua mix, won the neighborhood's fourth annual pet election, becoming the first dog ever elected mayor of the street. He won by just 130 votes out of, get this, more than 12,000 cast. The pet election started as a playful way to get people interested in real human local elections, and it's grown into a full blown campaign season, complete with posters, smear ads and long lines to vote. At times, the wait was 20 minutes, with kids even begging their parents to stay so they could cast a ballot. Mo Bamba's opponents even put up signs warning he'd poop in your yard, but it didn't work. His campaign promises to include fire hydrants on every block and government contracts for anyone willing to play fetch. Organizers say the election may even be helping boost real voter turnout seems to be keeping Austin weird and apparently civically engaged. Thank you so much for listening today. We'll be back tomorrow with our special edition Saturday episode about the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. You'll hear from a sociologist and anti violence expert who lives in the area, as well as a federal law enforcement representative. They share their different perspectives on what this moment feels like and what it could bring next. Find that in your podcast feed tomorrow morning and then we'll be back on Monday with the latest news to know. For now, have a great weekend.