Morning Wire - Gulf Coast Blizzard Warning & Ryan Corbett Returns Home | Afternoon Update | 1.21.25

Episode Date: January 21, 2025

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View important disclosures at acorns.com slash wire. I'm Daily Wire, editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Tuesday, January 21st, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update. Marco Rubio has become the first confirmed member of President Trump's cabinet. Daily Wire White House correspondent Mary Margaret Ollahan has more. The former Florida Senator was sworn in by Vice President J.D. Vance as the new Secretary of State. Rubio says his focus will be on strengthening, securing, and prospering the United States.

He also emphasized that any State Department actions must align with these goals. Today, confirmation hearings have picked back up with several of Trump's cabinet picks inching closer to confirmation. Scott Bessent, Trump's Treasury Secretary nominee, as well as Pete Hegeseth, Trump's pick for Defense Secretary, have both made it through their respective committees. They will both face floor votes in the coming days. Meanwhile, VA Secretary picked Doug Collins and U.S. ambassador to the U.N. nominee Elise Stefaniq, face questioning today.

Here's a bit from Stefaniac saying no American taxpayer dollars should go towards funding terrorism. I think we can look to organizations within the UN system, such as UNHCR, such as the World Food Program, working with USAID, which are proven organizations. They still need, you know, reform efforts and modernization, but don't have the terrorist ties that UNRAA had, particularly that were exposed during the October 7th Hamas attack against Israel. Oathkeepers leader Stuart Rhodes and ex-proud boys chief Enrique Tario are free from prison after Trump pardoned more than 1,500 people connected to J6. Daily Wire reporter Amanda Presta Jocamo reports. Rhodes and Tario were convicted of seditious conspiracy, though neither of them actually entered the Capitol

building. Tario was serving out a 22-year sentence, and Rhodes was nearly two years into his 18-year term. Trump defended the pardons saying that these individuals had been destroyed. In addition to the pardons, Trump has directed the Justice Department to ask for the dismissal of about 450 cases that are still being litigated. Here's Trump making those actions official. We hope they come out tonight, frankly. They're expecting it approximately 1,500 people. 18 Democrat-led states and two cities have filed a lawsuit to challenge President Trump's executive order in the birthright citizenship. The order is set to take effect on February 19th. The challenging states

and cities argue that the move violates the Constitution and longstanding legal precedent, but the Trump administration says the policy aims to strengthen national security and immigration enforcement. Here's Trump signing the executive order last night. We're the only country in the world that does this with birthright, as you know. And it's just absolutely ridiculous. But, you know, we'll see. We think we have very good grounds. Certain people have wanted to do this for decades. This episode is brought to you by Babbel. Let's get you talking in a new language.

Babel's gifting our listeners 60% off subscriptions at babble.com slash wire. Again, that's babble.com slash wire. Rules and restrictions may apply. Ice raids in sanctuary cities have been temporarily put on hold as officials investigate a reported leak in the agency. Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce reports. Rice had prepared a large-scale crackdown targeting illegal immigrants deemed threats to public safety. Meanwhile, migrants in New York City have left shelters in anticipation of these raids.

Borders Tsar Tom Homan confirmed the delay and said the administration wants to keep some element of surprise to the raids. As ICE gets ready to move in, Congress is working on legislation to keep non-citizens convicted of theft and other crimes in detention. The Lake and Riley Act that passed the Senate last night could be one of the first bills to land on President Trump's desk. It still needs final approval in the House. The bill allows states to sue the government for failing to enforce immigration laws. Volume 2 of Special Counsel Jack Smith's report on President Trump has been blocked. Judge Eileen Cannon ruled that releasing details about Trump's classified documents case to Congress could risk prejudice. While Trump's legal team sought to block both volumes, the first volume covering election interference was partially released.

Trump has dismissed the findings as a fake report. For the first time ever, parts of the Gulf Coast, including Louisiana, are under a blizzard warning as a powerful winter storm sweeps through the south. Heavy snow, ice, and dangerously cold temperatures are expected to crippled travel across multiple states, with officials urging residents to stay home. Louisiana officials warned they're unprepared for the snow. Here's Governor Jeff Landry warning residents about the conditions. Let me emphasize this. The state has been working for over eight days to do everything in its power to prepare for. for this winter storm.

And I urge you to please heed what we are saying and what your local officials are saying as well. It is extremely important to stay off the road, unless you absolutely need to be on the road, stay at home and stay warm. Thousands of flights have already been canceled as the storm is expected to persist through Thursday. And Ryan Corbett is back home with his family

after over two years in Taliban captivity. Daily Wire reporter Marita Lorty has the latest. Over the weekend, Morning Wire spoke with Ryan's wife, Anna, about the ongoing negotiations and how both the Biden and Trump administrations were approaching it. She told a bit about the conditions Ryan has been living in. He's lost a lot of weight. This is having a bad effect on his health, obviously. He's only 41 and having constant headaches, ringing in his ears,

fainting, discolored extremities. I mean, he's told me that I wouldn't recognize him. And our communication was very sparse for a long time now. But now he's home. Just hours after President Trump took office, a deal was reportedly struck in the final hours of Biden's presidency, which traded a convicted drug trafficker and terrorist for both Corbett and another American William Wallace McKinty.

Corbett's family said the following in a statement, quote, our hearts are filled with overwhelming gratitude and praise to God for sustaining Ryan's life and bringing him back home after what has been the most challenging and uncertain 894 days of our lives, unquote. Meanwhile, two more Americans remain in Afghanistan as Taliban prisoners. All right, those are your drive home updates this afternoon. To learn more about these stories, go to Dailywire.com and for more in-depth reporting on the biggest stories of the day. Tune in to our full episode of Morning Wire every morning.