Morning Wire - Evening Wire: Anti-ICE Crowd Protests Walz & Ilhan Omar Assaulted | 1.28.26

Episode Date: January 28, 2026

The aftermath of winter storm Fern continues to grip the South, the Fed holds interest rates steady, and Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is assaulted during a town hall event.  Get the facts first with Evening Wire. - - - Ep. 2604 - - - Wake up with new Morning Wire merch: https://bit.ly/4lIubt3  - - - Today’s Sponsor: Good Ranchers - Get $25 off your first order and save up to $500 a year when you use code WIRE at https://GoodRanchers.com - - - Privacy Policy: morning wire,morning wire podcast,the morning wire podcast,Georgia Howe,John Bickley,daily wire podcast,podcast,news podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The aftermath of winter storm Fern continues to grip the South. The Fed holds interest rates steady. And Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is assaulted during a town hall event. I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Executive Editor John Bickley. It's Wednesday, January 28th, and this is Evening Wire. Dangerous winter conditions are paralyzing parts of the South as temperatures plunged below freezing overnight, turning roads into sheets of ice.

Daily Wire Senior Editor Joel Needler has the latest. In northern Mississippi, major interstates, including I-22 and I-55, are at a standstill, with drivers stranded for hours after melted snow, refroses once the sun set. Governor Tate Reeve says emergency responders, drones, and National Guard units are working to evacuate motorists in clear wrecks, urging residents to stay off the roads. Similar impacts are being felt across the region, with more than 380,000 customers still without power in the south. Ferry service in and around New York City has been suspended due to ice buildup. President Trump has approved emergency disaster declarations for more than a dozen states

as crews race to restore power and prepare for another blast of extreme cold in the days ahead. Secretary of State Marco Rubio faced Congress today defending the Trump administration's operation to remove Venezuela's Nicholas Maduro, insisting it was not an act of war and that no further military action is planned there. The only military presence you'll see in Venezuela is our Marine Guards at an embassy. That is our goal. That is our expectation. And that is what everything that outlines towards. Rubio also addressed Iran saying the U.S. has no immediate plans to strike, but warned that military buildup in the region is deliberate. He cautioned lawmakers that regime change in Iran would be far more complicated than what unfolded in Venezuela.

I don't think anyone can give you a simple answer as to what happens next in Iran at the supreme leader and the regime were to fall. because you're talking about a regime that's in place for a very long time. So that's going to require a lot of careful thinking if that eventuality ever presents itself. During the hearing, some senators used their time to attack President Trump, such as Tim Cain, who scolded the president for once mistakenly calling Greenland, Iceland. But it wasn't just Democrats throwing barbs. On the Republican side, Rubio took tough questions from Senator Rand Paul, who's been outspoken against U.S. involvement in Venezuela.

So I would ask you, if a foreign country bombed our air defense, missiles, captured and removed our president, and blockaded our country, would that be considered an act of war? So I will point to two things. The first is it's hard for us to conceive that an operation that lasted about four and a half hours and was a law enforcement operation to capture someone we don't recognize as a head of state, indicted in the United States, wanted with a $50 million. My question would be if it only took four hours to take our president, would it be an act of war?

We just don't believe that this operation comes anywhere close to the constitutional definition of war. interest rates will stay steady for now. The Federal Reserve met today and announced that the baseline interest rate will not change. The decision comes amid an investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over building renovations and public calls from President Trump for lower interest rates. Here's Powell this afternoon. At today's meeting, the committee decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at three and a half to three and three-and-three-quarters percent. Monetary policy is not on a preset course, and we will make our

decisions on a meeting-by-meeting basis. Ilhan Omar was rushed with a syringe and sprayed with a liquid during a town hall on Tuesday. Daily Wire reporter, Zach Jewel, has the details. Omar was hosting her first in-person town hall of 2026 on Tuesday when a man identified by authorities as 55-year-old Anthony J. Kashmir Cheekh rushed Omar with a syringe and sprayed her with what was likely apple cider vinegar before pointing and appearing to yell at her. A security guard grabbed the man and took him to the ground. A woman then tried to convince Omar to end the town hall, but she refused.

No, we won't continue. No, no, no, still fine. You need to go get chipper. No, we won't continue. This s' assholes are not going to get away with this. You need to go give chase. No, I don't. President Trump dismissed the attack just days after saying the Justice Department and Congress are

looking into Omar's finances over concerns that she could be connected to the massive fraud scandal recently uncovered in Minnesota. In an interview with ABC News, Trump called Omar a, quote, fraud and said, quote, she probably had herself sprayed knowing her, while acknowledging he had not watched the video. Anti-ice protesters have turned on Governor Tim Walls, amassing at the state's capital and outside his office. Daily Wire immigration reporter Jenny Tear has the latest. Dozens of anti-ice activists stormed the Minnesota state capital on Tuesday and crowded outside of Governor Tim Walls's office to chant slogans. A crowd of protesters has gathered

at the Capitol every day since ICU nurse and anti-ice. demonstrator Alex Preti died on Saturday. On Tuesday, activists gathered outside of Walls's office in the Capitol building and screamed slogans such as ICE out now and do your job, according to Fox News. This comes after Tim Walls met with Bordersar Tom Holman. The governor's office said the two had, quote, agreed on the need for an ongoing dialogue and will continue working toward those goals, which the president also agreed to yesterday. The protests also followed Tim Wall's phone call with President Trump, which Trump were counted on truth social, writing, quote, it couldn't have been a nicer conversation and that they, quote, seemed to be on a

similar wavelength. 13 agitators were arrested Monday night when they attempted to disrupt a hotel just outside of Minneapolis. Officers responded to calls of a protest at the hotel in Maple Grove, where agitators believed Border Patrol command Gregory Bovino was staying. The agitators damaged hotel property and through objects that officers leading to their arrests. Several of those arrested had criminal convictions, including aggravated robbery and felony theft. Another arrestee displayed the message disrupt, disturb, resist on her social media bio,

and yet another had been thrown out of a Senate hearing in September for causing a disruption. 2026 is a big year. America turns 250 years old. And while everyone's going to be talking about the founding fathers and all their accomplishments, I also want to talk about the people who don't get enough credit. American ranchers. These are the folks who've been feeding families like mine and yours for generations. No cameras, no headlines, just putting food on our tables. Our sponsor, Good Ranchers, is the only meat company I found that's 100% committed to America at every single step. Every cut comes from local American farms and ranches, everything, packaging, fulfillment, even their customer support team. It's all done right here in America. Receiving a Good Ranchers box is like Christmas

in January. We could all use a little more of that. Whatever cut, I graph, out of my box or my fridge or my freezer for dinner, I know it's going to be absolutely delicious, nutritious, and pro-America. Right now, if you go to Good Ranchers.com and use our code wire, you'll get an additional $25 off your first order. That's Wire for $25 off on top of the $500 annual savings when you subscribe. Good Ranchers.com. American Meat delivered. Hundreds of measles cases have been confirmed in South Carolina. Daily Wire reporter, Amanda Presti Giacomo has more. As of Tuesday, 780,000. cases were reported in South Carolina, that's more than the most recent outbreak in West Texas

last summer. 18 people, including children, have been hospitalized for complications from the disease. So far, no deaths have been reported. The vast majority of those infected in South Carolina, an estimated, an estimated, against measles. According to the Hill, one advocacy group blaming Secretary Kennedy and HHS for the outbreak, projected the messages Measles HQ, and and RFK Jr. colon, making America sick again on the HHS building in D.C. The department has since responded saying, quote, Vaccination remains the most effective way to prevent measles, and the secretary has been clear and consistent on this point.

Notably, the CDC does still recommend children receive the measles vaccine, which is included in the MMR shot as part of the routine childhood immunization schedule. HHS also argued that declines in measles vaccination rates, and erosion of public trust began well before the Trump administration. Federal investigators say the 2025 mid-air collision between a commercial jet and a U.S. Army helicopter that killed 67 people was completely preventable. The NTSB revealed earlier this week that the crash near Washington's Reagan National Airport stemmed from repeated failures by the FAA to address dangerous congestion in the airspace.

Investigators say warning signs were raised by air traffic controllers but ignored by management, while pilots were left relying too heavily on visual separations in crowded skies. NTSB chair Jennifer Homandy called the crash a result of systemic breakdowns across multiple agencies. We can talk about the pilots. We can talk about air traffic controllers. What we need to really talk about is tower personnel who were repeatedly saying, we have a safety problem here, and kept submitting one recommendation after another. We need help, we need help, we need help, apparently falling on death ears.

Since the accident, the FAA has banned non-essential helicopter traffic near the airport and closed the route involved in the collision. The Cleveland Browns have found their next head coach, Daily Wire reporter Lyndon Blake, has the latest. The team is hiring Todd Monkin to replace Kevin Stefanski after a disappointing five and 12 season. Monkin becomes the Brown's 11th head coach since the franchise returned to the NFL in 19, He most recently served as the Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator and brings prior experience in Cleveland, having held the same role with the Browns in 2019.

He also helped lead Georgia to back-to-back national championships as their offensive coordinator. Stefanski, a two-time NFL coach of the year, was fired after four seasons and has since taken the head coaching job in Atlanta. Monkin now inherits a Brown's team facing major questions at quarterback and on defense as it looks to reset for the 2026 season. And First Lady Melania Trump rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange today to mark the upcoming premiere of her new documentary. Wearing black and greeted by cheers on the trading floor,

Mrs. Trump said cultural influence now rivals economic power, emphasizing the importance of storytelling and emotional connection. In keeping with tradition, she was presented with a commemorative medallion by NYSE President Lynn Martin. The film titled Melania offers a behind-the-scenes look at the weeks leading up to the inauguration and is directed by Brett Ratner. Those are your drive-home updates. To learn more about these stories, go to DailyWire.com. And in case you missed it earlier today, we covered some major stories, including President Trump touting his first year economic wins, the White House switching things up in Minnesota, and Senate Democrats threatening to hold up government funding.

Thanks for tuning in. We'll be back tomorrow morning with another full edition of Morning Wire. You know,