Morning Wire - Evening Wire: Minneapolis Protests Widen & Federal Fraud Task Force | 1.8.26

Episode Date: January 8, 2026

More protesters take to the streets in Minneapolis, the Vice President announces a federal anti-fraud task force, and college football semifinals kick off tonight. Get the facts first with Evening Wire. - - - Ep. 2570 - - - Wake up with new Morning Wire merch: https://bit.ly/4lIubt3 - - - Privacy Policy: https://www.dailywire.com/privacy 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

More protesters take to the streets in Minneapolis. The vice president announces a federal anti-fraud task force and college football semifinals kickoff tonight. I'm Daily Wire, Executive Editor John Bickley, with Georgia Howe. It's Thursday, January 8th. This is Evening Wire. More protests erupted in Minneapolis today following the fatal shooting of a woman who ICE attempted to ram an agent with her car. Daily Wire, senior editor, Cabot Phillips reports.

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside of federal. building Thursday confronting officers and chanting threatening slogans as authorities deployed tear gas and pepper balls. At least four protesters were detained. Homeland security officials say the victim of the shooting ignored repeated lawful commands. Minneapolis city leaders strongly dispute that account, calling the shooting unjustified. State and federal authorities say the FBI and Minnesota investigators are jointly reviewing the incident as tensions remain high. Meanwhile, Minneapolis public schools has canceled classes Thursday and Friday due to, quote, safety concerns posed by potential riots and protests. Amid all the fraud allegations in Minnesota, Vice President J.D. Vance announced a new federal

task force today to tackle the issue. Daily Wire's senior editor, Joel Needler, has more. Vance says that the administration has already issued more than 1,500 subpoenas and secured 100 indictments with more enforcement to come. The VP went on to say that fraud investigations are expanding beyond Minnesota to states including California and Ohio, calling the initiative a major interagency push to protect taxpayers. The Justice Department will add a dedicated associate attorney general position focused solely on the issue. Now, of course, that person's efforts will start and focus primarily in Minnesota, but it is going to be a nationwide effort because unfortunately the American people have been

defrauded in a very nationwide way. The White House says a nominee for the new DOJ role could be announced within days. Legislation aimed at limiting the president's ability to take further military action in Venezuela has passed the Senate. Daily Wire political reporter Cameron Arcand has the details. The measure would require congressional approval moving forward. The vote passed 52 to 47 with Republican Senors Rand Paul, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Todd Young, and Josh Holly joining Democrats and backing the resolution. The White House's argued its actions in Venezuela were lawful, targeted and necessary to disrupt narco-terror networks and restore regional stability.

The measure now heads to the House, where its future remains uncertain and the administration has made clear it will continue pursuing its Venezuela strategy in the national interest. Tougher sanctions for Russia are in the works in Congress, and they have President Trump's blessing. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham announced on Wednesday that the president supports a bill to impose secondary sanctions and tariffs on countries that purchase Russian oil, including China, India, and Brazil. The bill is a product of bipartisan talks, including Graham and Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, among others. With the president's support behind it, the bill could be up for a vote as early as next week. After threats from President Trump that he was open to another military operation, this time in Colombia, the country's president called the White House promising a meeting. Daily Wire reporter Zach Jewel reports. Gustavo Petro's call followed Saturday's unprecedented midnight raid in Venezuela. The next day, aboard Air Force One,

President Trump put Columbia on notice, saying a raid there, quote, Sounds good to me. Columbia is very sick, too, run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States, and he's not going to be doing it very long, let me tell you. Petro initially slammed the president, but on Wednesday evening, Trump revealed that he'd received a conciliatory call from Petro. He, quote, called to explain the situation of drugs and other disagreements that we have had, President Trump said, adding that he appreciated his tone and that arrangements are being made for a meeting at the White House.

We now have a date for President Trump's State of the Union speech, February 24th. The date was made firm after an official invite from Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. He wrote to Trump, quote, Together in 2025, your administration and the 119th Congress delivered one of the most consequential agendas in history, and Americans across this great country will experience the tangible results of common sense governance. President Trump is pulling the U.S. out of dozens of international organizations. Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce has more. The president signed an executive order ending the country's affiliation with 66 groups, many tied to climate and gender activism, including the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Green Climate Fund.

The Trump administration says the organizations are wasteful and misaligned with American interests. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the decision a fulfillment of Trump's pledge to stop funding what he described as globalist bureaucracies. Treasury officials confirm the U.S. will also exit the Green Climate Fund, saying affordable energy, not climate mandates, drives growth. The White House says reviews of other international commitments are ongoing. ICE officers nabbed several dozen members of a violent gang in New York. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced today that 54 members and associates of the

Trinitario's Dominican gang who are operating across New York have been arrested. Among them were individuals accused of weapons, trafficking, human smuggling, narcotics distribution, and armed robberies. Here's Noam. During our investigation, we learned that these scumbags were affiliated with the transnational criminal organization, the notorious Trinitarist gang in New York. We began to target every single last person that is affiliated with them and recognized that they needed to be brought to justice. These arrests and these removals represent a significant blow to the criminal network that has been terrorizing communities right here in New York City and throughout the United States. France and the UK are making plans for a post-war Ukraine and have agreed to make joint military

investments in the embattled nation. The agreements came out of talks in Paris on Tuesday between leaders from Europe, the U.S. and other allies. The discussions focused on the specifics of security guarantees for Ukraine, as well as support for rebuilding its economy after the war. Beyond the shared security commitments, France and the UK will set up military hubs to help coordinate allied activities in armament factories in Ukraine. J.P. Morgan Chase is taking over Apple's massive credit card program, potentially ending Goldman Sachs' troubled foray into consumer lending. J.P. Morgan will become the new issuer of the Apple card, a co-branded program with roughly $20 billion in balances, further solidifying J.P. Morgan's dominance in the credit card market.

Goldman is selling the portfolio at a rare discount, reflecting higher delinquency rates and losses that plagued the program since its launch in 2019. J.P. Morgan says it's confident it can absorb the risk and grow the business, while Apple gains a partner with a far larger consumer banking footprint. The transition is expected to take about two years. Warner Brothers Discovery has formally rejected the hostile takeover bid from Paramount amid their merger deal with Netflix, dubbing the proposed terms inferior to the Netflix partnership. Daily Wire Entertainment reporter Amanda Harding has more.

The Warner Brothers Board wrote in a letter to shareholders Wednesday that they, quote, negotiated a merger with Netflix that maximizes value while mitigating downside risks. And they unanimously believe that merger is in the best interest of the company. The letter further stated that the paramount offer is not more favorable to WD shareholders than the Netflix merger and continues to be inadequate. because of insufficient value, taking into account price and numerous risks, costs, and uncertainties. This was the sixth offer made by Paramount and rejected by Warner Brothers. Late night host, Jimmy Kimmel worked the Minneapolis ice shooting into his opening monologue last night

and heaped scorn on Trump and his supporters. The comedian held up a red shirt during his monologue emblazoned with the words, Donald J. Trump is going to kill you and suggested that this was, quote, the new slogan for MAGA supporters. Kimmel went on to disparage Trump's response to the shooting. He isn't just killing people overseas. An ICE agent today shot and killed an unarmed 37-year-old woman. Kimmel also riffed on Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey telling ICE to, quote, get the F out of the city.

Too ice. And the college football playoffs pick up again tonight. Here with a preview as Craning Cohn, co-host David Cohn. The college football playoff semifinals have arrived. Miami will take on Ole Miss in the Fiesta Bowl today, January 8th, while Indiana and Oregon will face off in a rematch from the regular season in the Peach Bowl on Friday, January 9th. The Indiana Hoosiers are the number one overall seed and the only undefeated team remaining. Oregon's loan loss came against the Hoosiers back in October. The Ole Miss Rebels are on a two-game playoff win streak under new head coach Pete Golding after former coach Lane Kiffin departed for LSU,

and the Miami Hurricanes are coming off of a win in the Cotton Bowl against the old. the defending champion, Ohio State Buckeyes. One interesting point to note, all four head coaches remaining in the college football playoff spent time as assistance for former Alabama head coach Nick Sabin. Those are your drive home updates this evening. To learn more about these stories, go to Dailywire.com. And in case you missed it earlier today, we covered some major stories, including the fallout from the fatal ice shooting in Minneapolis, the U.S. seizing two more oil tankers, and the food pyramid getting flipped upside down. Thanks for tuning in. We'll be back to. tomorrow morning with another full edition of Morning Wire.