The Megyn Kelly Show - Walz and Frey Under DOJ Scrutiny, Trump Ups Greenland Pressure, Michael Cohen Flips: AM Update 1/19

Episode Date: January 19, 2026

Below-freezing temperatures in Minneapolis do little to stop coordinated agitators from interfering with ICE operations as federal agents continue targeting criminal illegal aliens across the Twin Cities. The DOJ is reportedly investigating whether inflammatory comments by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey crossed from political rhetoric into unlawful interference with federal immigration enforcement. President Trump escalates pressure on Denmark and seven allied European nations, threatening new tariffs as he pushes for U.S. control of Greenland. President Trump’s former fixer-turned-adversary Michael Cohen abruptly reverses course, now claiming he was coerced into testifying against Trump as he openly acknowledges seeking broader clemency for felony convictions. PureTalk: Cut your wireless bill to $20/month—switch to PureTalk now at https://PureTalk.com/KELLY Herald Group: Learn more at https://GuardYourCard.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Megan Kelly. It's Monday, January 19th, 2026, and this is your AM update. We're here to arrest a child sex offender, and you guys are out here honky. Below freezing temperatures in Minneapolis doing little to stop agitators from interfering with ice operations. This whole dynamic is deeply concerning because supposedly they would be coming for me and targeting me. The DOJ reportedly investigating whether comment. by Democrat Minnesota politicians, Governor Tim Walls, and Mayor Jacob Frye, cross a criminal line. President Trump escalates threats against the eight European countries most resistant to making a deal for the U.S. to take over Greenland. And President Trump's former fixer-turned-enemy, Michael Cohen, who said he would have to leave the U.S. if Trump won,

changes his tune again as he now tries to curry favor with the president. Not even kidding. All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM update. If your credit card balance is freaking you out after all the holiday spending, I mean, right? I have something that can save you money right now. You could cut your cell phone bill in half by switching to Pure Talk's Saver Plan. Just $20 a month for unlimited talk, text, and three gigs of high-speed data

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In Minneapolis, below freezing temperatures doing little to slow agitators seeking to disrupt federal immigration enforcement as ICE agents continued operations through a weekend marked by repeated confrontations. In video obtained by Freedom News, one agent delivering a blunt message to bystanders. We're here to arrest a child sex offender. And you guys are out here honking. No, we're pressing. That vehicle right there is honky and impeding our investigations while we're trying to arrest a child sex offender.

That's who you guys are protecting. Insane. DHS tasking ICE with targeting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens in the Twin Cities. ICE director Todd Lyons saying last week these efforts netting more than 2,500 criminal illegal aliens in the region since the beginning of the surge. Homeland Security Secretary Christy Noam, Sunday on CBS, with a staggering statistic on the criminal backgrounds of the individuals they've arrested. Every single individual has committed a crime, but 70% of them have committed or have charges against them on violent crimes

and crimes that they are charged with or have been convicted of that have come from other countries that are here illegally, first of all, and then they have committed a criminal act while they've been here or in their home countries as well. It's not 70%. Yes, it is. It absolutely is. 70% of everyone you have detained. You keep changing your percentage. You pick and choose what numbers you think work.

But that is the facts, is that 70% of the people that we have detained have charges against them or have been convicted of charges. And they need to be brought to justice. Agitators coordinating protest activity across the Twin Cities using so-called ICE watch rapid response networks to spot, report, and swarm federal agents. but those alerts are not always accurate. In some cases, these groups zeroing in on the wrong targets, falsely identifying ordinary civilians as undercover ice agents. Alpha News reporting on one such incident last week, a group of software engineers who say they were mistaken for ice officers

while eating lunch at a Minneapolis diner. According to one of the men, the group is politically mixed, including one who is anti-ice. The man receiving a message on an anti-ice signal chat he belongs, belongs to called SW Minneapolis Rapid Response, reporting that plain clothes ice agents were dining at that very restaurant. What he didn't realize, they meant him. Within 15 minutes, dozens of protesters arriving surrounding the diner and confronting the group. Here, a portion of the encounter obtained by Alpha News.

If you're not with us, then you would get that. Do I look like an ice agent? Yeah, you look like a fucking ice agent. I don't support ice either. It's unclear. I'm just trying to enjoy my wife. If you're not, get out of it. It's unclear how long the encounter lasted. President Trump so far holding off on making good

on his threat to invoke the Insurrection Act, which would allow him to send in the military to control agitators and protect federal agents. On Friday, Mr. Trump telling reporters, quote, I don't think there's any reason right now to use it, but if I needed it, I'd use it. And indeed, a U.S. official telling

Fox News, 1,500 troops from the Army's 11th Airborne Division have been given prepared to deploy orders. Amid the highly coordinated unrest, Governor Tim Walsh Saturday, mobilizing the Minnesota National Guard, not to deploy, but to stand by and prepare to assist local law enforcement, with state officials stressing, the Guard remains off the streets and simply, quote, is ready to help support public safety. The Minnesota National Guard X account posting a picture of two guardsmen with the caption, quote, if our members are activated, they will be wearing reflective vests as pictured here, to help distinguish them from other agencies in similar uniforms. In other words, please, try not to assault the ones in the reflective vests if you can help it.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frye Sunday on CBS News, doubling down on his anti-ice rhetoric amid the threat of further federal forces, surging into Minneapolis. You said occupying force. Don't you think that's a, it's a bit much? I mean, look, you can go through whatever rhetorical flourish you want, but when you have 3,000 ice agents and border control come to the city, when you've got this supposed threat of 1,500 military coming to the city, yeah, that's very much what it feels like. When you outnumber local police officers five and six to one, that is the vibe. And so the bottom line is, if the goal were safety, this is not how you get there. If the goal is safety, I can give you a very

antidote to some of the violence that we're seeing is have them leave. Acting ICE director, Todd Lyons, yesterday on Fox, suggesting one quick and easy way for Mayor Fry to get ICE out of Minneapolis. The one thing we say all the time is, you know, desensatory jurisdictions, you would not see this many ICE agents and special agents on the street focused on the criminal illegal alien mission, if they would just turn people over to us. That's the key. These local law enforcement agencies have already deemed these individuals of public safety threat and arrests of them. Why not work with federal partners turn them over to us and let us get them out of our communities?

The DOJ, now investigating Democratic Minnesota officials, including Governor Wals and Minneapolis Mayor Fry, to determine whether their public statements crossed from policy disagreement into unlawful interference with federal immigration enforcement. A grand jury reportedly authorizing subpoenas last week, according to CNN, after several weeks of escalating clashes between federal agents and local agitators in Minneapolis. A U.S. official telling CBS News the inquiry is predicated on a federal statute, making it illegal for two or more people to conspire to prevent federal officers. from carrying out their official duties through force, intimidation, or threats. Over the last several weeks, as the Trump administration surges agents into the Twin Cities to round up violent criminal illegal aliens, federal agents repeatedly met with dramatic, obstructive, and at times violent resistance from local agitators.

Governor Walson, Mayor Frye, employing inflammatory rhetoric, especially in the wake of the fatal shooting of trained agitator Renee Good, who accelerated her vehicle toward an ICE agent whom she hit with her car as she fled the scene. That incident sparking larger protests, which both leaders publicly defend and encourage as protected speech. Subpoenas allow federal investigators to compel records and testimony as part of a criminal inquiry. While the exact scope of the subpoenas is not yet clear, here some examples of waltz and fries provocative comments. To ICE, get the fuck out of Minneapolis. We do not want you here.

The desire to get out in protest and to speak up to this administration of how wrong this is, that that is a patriotic duty at this point in time. I've seen conduct from ice that is disgusting and is intolerable. If it were your city, it would be unacceptable there too. And if you see these ice agents in your neighborhood, take out that phone and hit record. Governor Walsh has encouraged residents to film ICE officers while reminding them to, quote, remain peaceful, all while ramping up the rhetoric and a clear hate campaign against ICE. He has called ICE the modern-day Gestapo. He says they are pursuing a campaign of organized

brutality that has nothing to do with immigration enforcement, that they are guilty of atrocities, that President Trump wants more violence on the streets of Minneapolis. Does that amount to a campaign to stop ICE through threats or intimidation? CNN's generally solid legal analyst, Ellie Honig, a former federal prosecutor, does not think so. Absolutely not. This is core protected First Amendment political speech. And you can even tell watching that clip of Todd Blanche that he doesn't believe it because he hedged himself very lawyerly. He said, well, it's close to obstruction. If you have public officials, as we do here, making political speech, even if it's explosive, inflammatory, aggressive, and then that

causes people to protest or to call 911, that is simply not obstruction of justice. If they bring an indictment for obstruction, I promise you they will lose. Mayor Frye yesterday on CBS reacting to reports of the investigation. We have not received any official anything at this point. And so I can't comment on what I don't know about. That being said, this whole dynamic is deeply concerning because supposedly they would be coming for me and targeting me for something that is core and critical to,

my job as mayor, and that is speaking for my residents and my constituents, that we are at a place right now where the Department of Justice or the federal government could be coming after senators and governors and mayors simply for speaking for their respective constituencies and disagreeing with this federal administration. I mean, this kind of thing happens in other countries. This cannot happen in America. It is unclear if Governor Walsh has received a subpoena yet. Mr. Wals on Friday posting a statement on X, quote, two days ago, it was Alyssa Slotkin. Last week it was Jerome Powell. Before that, Mark Kelly. Weaponizing the justice system against your opponents is an authoritarian tactic. The only person not being investigated

for the shooting of Renee Good is the federal agent who shot her. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche yesterday on Fox, stressing that elected officials are not shielded from laws against impeding federal law enforcement efforts. You saw the governor and the mayor actively encouraging, encouraging criminals to go out on the street and impede ice. That is not allowed under our law. When a federal officer is out doing their job, they have to be allowed to do their jobs. And the fact that we had to stand up and tell a mayor,

that we had to stand up and tell a governor to stop encouraging the folks that are out there running around trying to stop ICE, to stop encouraging them, when what they really should be doing is helping their fellow federal officers is something that's horrible. But listen, no matter who, you are, whether you're a governor, a mayor, or somebody out there on the streets assaulting ice, you cannot, under federal law, you cannot impede a federal officer doing their job.

And that's what we're looking at. And I'm not going to talk about the investigation, but American people can see what the mayor has been saying, they can see what the governor's been saying, and it's obvious that that has to stop. Coming up, President Trump threatening the eight European countries most ardently resisting his campaign to acquire Greenland with a new round of tariffs. And former Trump fixer turned sworn enemy of Donald Trump, Michael Cohen, appears to be switching sides again in a stunning reversal. Our sponsor at the Electronic Payments Coalition says Washington politicians are always getting

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and consider telling Congress to guard your card. President Trump on Saturday ratcheting up the pressure on eight European countries in his push to acquire Greenland. A longstanding goal, he argues, is critical to U.S. national security and Arctic dominance. Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the U.K., the Netherlands, and Finland dispatching dispatching small military contingents to Greenland late last week. Moves the countries say were planned in advance, following talks between U.S., Danish, and Greenlandic officials about the future of the semi-autonomous territory that ended without

any resolution. In a lengthy truth social post over the weekend, Mr. Trump writing, quote, we have subsidized Denmark and all of the countries of the EU and others for many years by not charging them tariffs or any other forms of remuneration. Now, after centuries, it is time for Denmark to give back. World peace is at stake. China and Russia want Greenland, and there is not a thing that Denmark can do about it. Mr. Trump then announcing that beginning February 1st, the eight nations will be subjected to a new 10% tariff, with the rate set to increase to 25% on June 1st, quote, until such time as a deal is reached for the complete and total purchase of Greenland. President Trump calling the eight countries military exercise a, quote, very dangerous game,

a description the eight nations rejected in a joint statement, writing that they, quote, pose no threat to anyone. The statement continuing, quote, We stand in full solidarity with the Kingdom of Denmark and the people of Greenland, warning the tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant yesterday on NBC, arguing Europe is not equipped to manage long-term threats to Greenland. If we look for years, for over a century, American presidents have wanted to acquire Greenland.

And what we can see is that Greenland is the essential to the U.S. national security. We're building the Golden Dome. the missile system. And look, President Trump is being strategic. He's looking beyond this year. He's looking beyond next year to what could happen for a battle in the Arctic. We are not going to outsource our national security. We are not going to outsource our hemispheric security to other countries.

In Trump 1.0, President Trump told the Europeans, do not build Nord Stream 2. Do not rely on Russian oil. And guess what, Kristen, guess what is funding Russia's efforts against Ukraine? European purchases of Russian oil. So America has to be in control here. Morton Halperin, foreign policy expert and senior national security official in the Johnson, Nixon, and Clinton administrations, and also Mark Halperin's dad, appeared on MKMedia show next up with Mark Halperin last week, the elder Halperin explaining about Greenland that the U.S. has a lot of. always thrown its weight around with NATO countries, making clear that when we need something,

we expect to get it in exchange for our outsized role and responsibilities in NATO. At the end of the day, our alternative is not to use military force. Our alternative is to leave NATO. And our position has always been, we will tell you what we need to remain in the alliance. And you will tell us whether you're prepared to do that. And if you're not, we won't be able to stay in the alliance. That's perfectly recent. President Trump said to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos later this week, where he is likely to come face to face with several of the European leaders involved setting the stage for direct confrontations over Greenland. President Trump's former fixer turned nemesis Michael Cohen once again changing his story when it

comes to his former boss. Cohen now claiming he was coerced by New York State Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg into testifying against Mr. Trump, this in a substack post late Friday night. Cohen's relationship with President Trump dating back to the early 2000s when he began working for the Trump organization, Cohen worked as a fixer for Mr. Trump handling any issues that came up that might reflect poorly on his number one client. The relationship collapsing in 2018 when Cohen entered guilty pleas in federal court over his role in the 2016 documents case involving payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Cohen's legal trouble expanding well beyond those payments, ultimately including tax evasion,

bank fraud, campaign finance violations, and a separate guilty plea for lying to Congress. He was sentenced to three years in prison beginning in May of 2019, though he was released on house arrest in 2020 due to COVID. Prior to reporting to prison, Cohen appearing before the House Oversight Committee to publicly rebuke President Trump. Never in a million years did I imagine when I accepted a job in 2007 to work for Donald Trump, that he would one day run for the presidency, to launch a campaign on a platform of hate and intolerance and actively win. I regret the day I said yes to Mr. Trump. I regret all the help and support I gave him along the way.

I am ashamed of my own failings and publicly accepted responsibility for. for them by pleading guilty in the Southern District of New York. I am ashamed of my weakness and my misplaced loyalty of the things I did for Mr. Trump in an effort to protect and promote him. I am ashamed that I chose to take part in concealing Mr. Trump's illicit acts rather than listening to my own conscience. I am ashamed because I know what Mr. Trump is. He is a racist.

He is a con man. and he is a cheat. Cohen's attacks on Mr. Trump continued throughout the lawfare against Donald Trump, with Cohen appearing in the New York State criminal case against Donald Trump, as well as the Tish James Civil Fraud case against him. In the James case, Cohen testifying that President Trump inflated asset values to secure better loans from banks and that he reduced asset values to reduce his taxes. James calling Cohen as her star witness,

securing a civil fraud judgment against President Trump, in February 24 to the tune of $454 million, including interest. In August 2025, an appeals court tossing the fine, Mr. Trump still seeking to have the judgment tossed in its entirety. Cohen also cooperating with DA Alvin Bragg's criminal business records case involving the Stormy Daniels payments against Donald Trump. That case in 2024 landing a 34-count felony conviction against Trump. In November, a federal official appeals court ordering the lower court to reconsider the request from Mr. Trump to move that case to federal court. That issue remains ongoing. When not collaborating with Tish James and Alvin Bragg,

Cohen running to every media outlet that he could to trash talk his former client. Cohen also penning not one but two books, a 2020 memoir titled Disloyal and 2022's Revenge, how Donald Trump weaponize the U.S. Department of Justice against his critics. Cohen also hosts two shows, political beatdown and Mayacopa. His entire public persona centering around his death match with President Trump. At least it was until Friday night. Cohen now suddenly portraying events very differently. Writing quote, there are moments when silence becomes complicity. When letting the record stand without context, feels less like restraint and more like consent. This is one of those moments. This guy. Cohen now attempting to recast his role in the prosecutions of President Trump,

arguing that his cooperation was the result of pressure and coercion. Cohen acknowledging his cooperation was driven out of a desired lesson his own prison sentence, but going on to accuse James and Bragg of only being interested in testimony, quote, that would enable them to convict President Trump. Cohen writes of James and Brad, quote, both used their platforms to elevate their profiles to claim the mantle of the officials who took down Trump. In doing so, they blurred the line between justice and politics,

and in that blur, the credibility of both suffered. We know. The rest of us have been saying this for years. You were on the other side, sir. The progressive Midas Touch network quickly moving to drop, Michael Cohen's podcasts from its company after his latest 180. In a follow-up post, acknowledging the loss of his platform, Cohen's motivations coming into sharper focus as he writes, quote, Some have claimed that my Friday post was motivated by a desire for a pardon. Let me be honest.

Of course, I would welcome the erasure of a felony conviction. Who wouldn't? But the request I have before the White House is far larger than me. The ever, benevolent Cohen than going on to describe an executive order, he and Jesse Jackson, Jr. are pushing to grant clemency to nonviolent felons who have served out their sentences. Good luck with that, sir. And that'll do it for your AM update. I'm Megan Kelly. Join me back here for the MK Show live on SiriusXMs, the Megan Kelly channel 11 at noon east on YouTube.com slash Megan Kelly and on all podcast platforms.