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Key Shutdown Vote, Trump's Unusual Call & NFL Flag Football - Tuesday, February 3, 2026
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Today is Tuesday, February 3rd. We'll tell you what's changing for immigration enforcement agents in Minneapolis. And the unusual phone call between President Trump and the FBI agents who searched a Georgia elections office. Also, why authorities think the mother of a Today show host could be in grave danger. Plus, a deal between the US and one of America's top trading partners, a merger that includes the most valuable private company on earth. And why well over 100 million people are expected to watch a flag football game today. Those stories and even more news 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. An end to this partial government shutdown is within reach, but not a done deal just yet. A compromise measure to keep the federal government running survived a key hurdle last night. And with that, it's set to come up for a vote before the full US House today. This is the same compromise we've been telling you about that already passed the U.S. senate last week. It funds most of the government throughout the rest of the year and the Homeland Security Department for the next two weeks, giving lawmakers more time to negotiate on that part. President Trump got involved yesterday, telling lawmakers they needed to support the bill without making any changes. But the bill does face pushback from certain lawmakers in both parties. For example, some Democrats say they don't want to keep funding immigration enforcement as is because even if it's just for two more weeks and they don't see their negotiating position being any different once a two week extension ends. Meanwhile, some conservative Republicans want to add more to the package, like a measure to force Americans to show ID before they vote. But any changes in the House would mean the bill would have to go back to the Senate, extending the shutdown further. So, to be continued, Alex Preddy's death at the hands of federal immigration agents has now officially been ruled a homicide. And that's according to the medical exam examiner's report that came out yesterday. Now, to be clear, homicide refers to a person being killed by another person. So it doesn't necessarily mean a crime happened. The two agents involved in Preddy's death were wearing body cameras, though for now, the Homeland Security Department says it's still preserving that footage. So, in other words, it has not been released to the public. The officers involved in the shooting death of Renee Good did not appear to be wearing body cameras. Well, yesterday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced all federal officers in Minneapolis will get them. And when the funding is available, they'll be rolled out to the federal officers nationwide. It's a change since the Trump administration had actually proposed large cuts to ICE's body cam program. Also this week, another eight federal prosecutors have decided to quit their jobs in Minnesota. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported on the latest wave of departures, but didn't get into their exact reasons. Of course, this is on top of the six prosecutors who already quit last month due to directives from the U.S. justice Department after the shooting death of Renee Good. And experts say losing so many prosecutors so quickly could decimate an office already struggling to deal with a surge in immigration enforcement and fraud cases. The Pentagon has sent dozens of military lawyers to help. Fulton County, Georgia is now planning to challenge last week's FBI search. Remember, the FBI served a warrant at an election office near Atlanta taking 700 boxes of records related to the 2020 presidential election. A county commissioner now says that included voter rolls and all the original ballots. So his goal is to get all of those records returned and to protect voter information. Fulton county has been at the center of President Trump's claims the 2020 election was stolen from him. And as we've told you, he repeatedly said the county produced fake results, despite several courts and election authorities saying the results were legitimate. And now it turns out Trump was directly involved in the FBI's search. Fox News said it got a copy of a letter from the Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, who was on site as FBI agents were executing their warrant. She sent it to Democrats who were looking for more information as to why she was there in the first place. In it, she reportedly said President Trump asked her to be there and that she facilitated a phone call between the president and the FBI agents who conducted the search. Critics have denounced all of it, saying the Justice Department needs to be more independent from the president to to ensure justice is not politically motivated. But the White House defends its work, saying the DOJ is serving President Trump and the rest of the country well. The mother of Today show anchor Savannah Guthrie may have been kidnapped. 84 year old Nancy Guthrie has been missing since Sunday and now authorities say they believe she was taken from her Arizona home against her will, possibly in the middle of the night. The local sheriff also said he believed she was harmed and the that investigators saw some things at her home that were especially concerning, though he didn't give any other details. Nancy Guthrie is said to have physical ailments that leave her with limited mobility, but she's also been described as of sound mind and sharp as a tack. The Today show started yesterday morning's broadcast with a message from Savannah thanking everyone for their thoughts, prayers and messages of support, and asking that anyone with information about what may have happened to call authorities. She's now in Arizona with family, and not surprisingly, reports say she's expected to pull out of hosting Winter Olympics coverage, though no official changes have been announced yet, as mountains of snow are still piled up in the eastern U.S. the western U.S. is in a snow drought, and now in many areas, the extent of snow covered ground is at a record low. This has caused economic trouble for places famous for deep natural snow like Park City, Utah, Vail, Colorado, and central and eastern Oregon. To put it into perspective this time last year a ski resort near Bend, Oregon, had 109 inches of snow at its base. This year it has just 27 inches, and the resort has had to close some of its ski lifts. Similar stories can be told all around the region. Many people are also concerned because snow in the mountains typically offers natural water storage in the west and the runoff acts as a main water source for millions of people and farm fields. But at least in Colorado and Oregon, researchers say the snowpack last month was the lowest it had been since the 1980s, and now weather models suggest the pattern will continue. We have more news for you in just a moment, but first, a quick break for our sponsor. Quince focuses on elevated essentials that are designed to layer, mix. And last, whether it's organic cotton sweaters, premium stretch denim, or those cotton cashmere blends that feel just right as the seasons change, everything is thoughtfully made to be worn again and again. I have a few Quince pieces that I reach for constantly, from a soft cashmere sweater that's become my new go to to a washable silk tank that somehow works year round, dressed up or down. Even my Quince Carry on suitcase has become a staple for travel. I love the compression features, it has how it easily rolls, and I like the color and look of it. And of course, I wear my Quint's bracelet daily, too. What I appreciate most is knowing that I'm not paying for brand hype. Quince works directly with ethical, safe factories and cuts out the middlemen. The result is a wardrobe that feels polished, versatile and smart. Refresh your wardrobe with quince. Go to quince.comnewworthy for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns now available in Canada too. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.comnewworthy to get free shipping and 365 day returns quints.comnewworthy now back to the news. People in the US are living longer than ever before. The CDC recently put out a report on American life expectancy, showing it has gone up to a record high of 79 years old. The health agency says it mostly reflects a sharp decline in deaths from both COVID 19 and drug overdoses. The latest data show the leading cause of death is heart disease, followed by cancer, but death rates from those have actually gone down too, and life expectancy has improved for both men and women across races. The bad news is the US does still rank below dozens of other countries, so analysts say there's more work to be done. The US And India have reached a trade deal after months of negotiations. President Trump announced the deal on Truth social, saying the US will lower its 25% tariff on Indian goods to 18%. In exchange, he says India will lower its tariffs on American goods to zero and will stop buying Russian oil. So with that, an extra 25% tariff penalty will also be dropped. Trump says India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered even more, committing to buying more than half a trillion dollars worth of American energy technology, agriculture and coal products. This comes just days after India signed a landmark trade deal with the European Union. Since President Trump first imposed tariffs on India, India also made trade deals with the uk, Oman and New Zealand. NASA conducted a crucial test yesterday meant to determine whether its most powerful rocket might be ready to head to the moon. It was basically a dress rehearsal, and it ran into fuel leaks, much like it did three years ago, delaying the Artemis mission to the moon. Still, it's not clear if NASA considered the test a failure or a success overall, and it could still launch a crew to the moon within days. But if it doesn't happen on Sunday, the launch will be delayed again until at least next month. The plan is for a nearly 10 day mission to send astronauts past the moon, around the mysterious far side, then straight back to Earth, testing the capsule's life support and other vital systems. On this mission, the crew will not attempt to land on the moon, but the goal is to make that happen next year, or perhaps in 2028. NASA is expected to give an update later today. Two of billionaire Elon Musk's biggest companies are joining forces. SpaceX acquired Xai in a deal that combines the dominant rocket and satellite business with with the struggling artificial intelligence startup. Still, it cements SpaceX's standing as the most valuable private company in the world. The acquisition valued SpaceX at a trillion dollars and XAI at around 250 billion. Musk says the merger makes sense, explaining how the electricity demand for AI can be best met with data centers in space. But many experts say there are still technical and physical limitations to that idea, and some believe the merger was more of a financial rescue for xai. Either way, the combined company is expected to move forward with an initial public offering this summer. Already, Musk is known for bringing different parts of his business empire together. In fact, he merged XAI with X just last year. So, in other words, SpaceX also now owns what used to be Twitter Some of the best players in the NFL are facing off in San Francisco this week, and we're not just talking about the Super Bowl. The 2026 Pro bowl is happening today as part of the festivities leading up to the big game. Both the AFC and NFC are sending in a team whose players were voted on by fans, fellow players and coaches. Well, sort of. Some of the chosen players opted out and were later replaced. Still, there will be some big names in the mix like Christian McCaffrey, Dak Prescott and Joe Flacco. They'll participate in the event that now includes a skills competition and a 7 on 7 flag football game tonight. Coverage kicks off at 6:30 Eastern. Kickoff for the game is at 8:00pm Eastern and you can watch it all on ESPN. That's it for the main news today. So now it's time for Trivia Tuesday when we ask a different trivia question every week. But first, this episode is brought to you by Wildgrain. 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I highly recommend giving Wild Grain a try. We love it in our household. And right now, Wild Grain is offering our listeners $30 off your first box plus free croissants for life when you go to wildgrain.comnewsworthy to start your subscription today. That's $30 off your first box and free croissants for Life when you visit wildgrain.com newsworthy or use our promo code Newsworthy at checkout. Okay, now back to Trivia Tuesday. And today's trivia question is which pope was once a nightclub bouncer? Listen again next Tuesday for the answer and explanation. As for last week's trivia question, which freezes faster, hot or cold water? The answer is hot water. It's a phenomenon first observed by Aristotle, but there wasn't actually a scientific consensus if it was true until the 1960s. That's when a high school student named Mpemba noticed something hot ice cream mix placed into a freezer would freeze before ice cream mix cooled to room temperature. First, he repeated the experiment many times with a physics professor, and eventually they published the results of their research. Now the phenomenon is called the Mpemba effect. They didn't prove exactly why it exists, but there seems to be a few factors, e.g. evaporation, convection, dissolved gases, and so on. It's also true that it doesn't always happen. So if you test out the theory yourself, you may need to play around with the size of your sample or be like Mpemba and try making ice cream in your freezer. Thank you for joining us to get caught up on the news today. We'll be back tomorrow with the latest news to know. Until then, have a great day.