The following is an edited transcript excerpt from The Michael Knowles Show. * * * Since getting canned from CNN, Don Lemon has apparently decided to reinvent himself. Not as a journalist, but as some kind of YouTuber or “man on the street” troll. Whatever this is supposed to be, it’s Don Lemon wandering around with a microphone. After conspiring with a Left-wing mob to violate the FACE Act and interrupt a church service in Minneapolis, Lemon is now suddenly popping up on sidewalks questioning random people about illegal immigration. And he’s armed with the most childish, recycled Left-wing talking points imaginable. You’ve heard these lines before. Probably from your lesbian cousin or your purple-haired roommate, whichever liberal you love and tolerate in your own life. And Don Lemon delivers the greatest hit right on cue: crossing the border illegally is not a crime. Watch: Don Lemon: “Being here illegally is not a crime, it’s a misdemeanor.” Ordinary Citizen: “Isn’t a misdemeanor a crime?” ???pic.twitter.com/LTfDiHrTqH — Verbal Riot (@verbalriotshow) January 20, 2026 Credit: @verbalriotshow/X.com I love it. This woman Lemon is talking to is clearly not originally from here, she has a slight accent, and she seems to be taking Don Lemon at his word. Lemon keeps insisting that a misdemeanor is not a crime, which is already an insane thing to say. Then a guy off camera finally jumps in and says the obvious: “Yes it is. Ask him. Is a misdemeanor a crime?” Don Lemon scrambles. “It’s not a criminal act, no. If you get charged with a misdemeanor, it’s not a criminal act.” The woman then pauses and asks the most basic question imaginable: “So why charge them at all then, if it’s not a criminal act?” Now he’s backpedaling hard. “Because we have different levels of crime. Everything is not the same.” And that’s when she nails him. She calmly points out that if there are different levels of crime, then it is a crime—just a lesser one than a felony. Which means he just admitted the whole thing. Cue the nervous laughter. And that’s it. She completely humiliates him. It’s painful to watch. WATCH: The Michael Knowles Show This is the standard liberal script. They’ll say illegal immigration isn’t a felony, which also isn’t even always true, especially for repeat offenders. But let’s pretend it isn’t. They say it’s just a misdemeanor. The obvious response, which this woman delivered effortlessly, is that misdemeanors are crimes. Then comes the next dodge: well, lots of things are misdemeanors. Speeding really fast can be a misdemeanor. Certain drug offenses can be misdemeanors. Property crimes, vehicle crimes, whatever. Fine. Don’t even argue the comparison. Just ask the follow-up question. What’s the punishment? Different misdemeanors have different punishments, right? Okay. What’s the punishment for the misdemeanor of illegal immigration? Deportation. That’s it. That’s the punishment. And that’s exactly what’s happening. “But they’re not getting due process!” Yes, they are. The first step in due process is getting arrested. Then you get processed based on the offense. Then there’s adjudication — guilty, not guilty, released, or removed. That’s the system. So credit where it’s due. I don’t know this woman’s name, but she did a great job. She didn’t yell. She didn’t posture. She just followed the logic to its conclusion and Don Lemon couldn’t survive his own talking points.

'The lowest number of roadway fatalities'

I don’t expect much from the Episcopal Church, but it still speaks volumes when a bishop refuses to condemn the invasion of a church service. Last weekend, a group of agitators invaded Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, taking over the sanctuary, terrifying children, and chanting, “Who shut this down? We shut this down!” It wasn’t a peaceful protest. It wasn’t a demonstration. It was a horde of Vandals entering the sanctuary and coopting it for their political agenda. Such an attack reminds me more of the sack of Rome than Martin Luther King, Jr. This is not peaceful protest. This is an invasion of a sacred space. Anti-ICE agitators disrupted Cities Church in the middle of service. Warning: the agitators on the Left are serious. The man who posted this video bragged about doing this—comparing it to Jesus flipping over… pic.twitter.com/BeeIdubpwM— Tyler O'Neil (@Tyler2ONeil) January 19, 2026 It doesn’t matter that the agitators claimed one of the church’s pastors is the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in St. Paul. It doesn’t matter that they claimed to be opposing ICE. There isn’t even evidence of that particular pastor’s presence at this service—and that wouldn’t justify agitators harassing him there, anyway. It certainly doesn’t justify them disrupting the First Amendment rights of others in the congregation. Law enforcement has arrested at least three of the ringleaders behind this invasion, and I pray that more arrests are coming—because activists need to learn that this is unacceptable. You don’t bring your political demands into the sanctity of a church in the middle of worship. I can’t believe that message even needs to be said, but apparently, it does. Sadly, they it seems won’t be hearing it from the leadership of the Episcopal Church. Episcopal Bishop Carries Water for Church Invaders On Friday, CNN’s Audie Cornish asked Craig Loya, the Episcopal bishop of Minnesota, how he responded to concerns about the invasion of Cities Church. “People are also looking at images of a protest in a church, people going in and saying look, the pastor’s affiliated with ICE or whatever they believe, and interrupting services,” Cornish noted. “Do you think that was the right thing to do?” When presented with this question, the very least a commonsense American can say is, “No.” I would argue that Americans, in the spirit of the First Amendment, are duty-bound to say more. I would argue that American religious leaders should full-throatedly condemn the invasion of a church service in pursuit of a political agenda. This is a house of God, and the agitators sought to turn it into a raucous protest. The “right reverend” Loya did none of that, however. Instead, he carried water for the agitators, suggesting that the invasion might have been justified because ICE has been deporting illegal aliens in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. “I think part of what you’re seeing in that protest speaks to the depth of pain that people are experiencing right now in Minnesota,” the bishop said. “And the, really, desperation and longing to end what ICE is doing in our communities and to many of us and our neighbors.” Episcopal ‘Logic’ Sure, these agitators harassed innocent Christians as they sought to worship God. Sure, they coopted a church service and bragged about shutting it down. Sure, they probably violated the law by depriving their fellow Americans of their First Amendment right to exercise their religion. But, you’ve got to understand the deep trauma they experienced at the hands of ICE. They’ve been whipped up into a frenzy by the legacy media’s lies about ICE detaining a 5-year-old or any of the long list of false accusations. They’ve been radicalized by Gov. Tim Walz’s suggestion that President Donald Trump is at war with Minnesota and that ICE is an “occupation.” They just can’t stand the fact that we have laws in this country, and the horrible thought that illegal aliens who broke them—especially when those illegals have also committed other crimes—should be deported. Never mind the pastor asking the agitators to leave, and facing a classic situation of trespass. Never mind the congregants who gathered to worship, but found themselves surrounded by shouting activists. Never mind the children who are holding close to their parents as radicals shout at them in the middle of a church service. All that “pain” is apparently inconsequential to this church “leader” who does not deserve the title of “reverend.” There’s nothing “right” about his willingness to carry water for this atrocity. I’ve said it before, and I expect I’ll be saying it again many times: Thank God I left the Episcopal Church. The post Episcopal Bishop Refuses to Condemn Church Service Invasion appeared first on The Daily Signal.

A Surprise Last Minute Reprieve Arises in Starmer's Chagos Island Treachery

Did ICE Use a 5-Year-Old as 'Bait'?

The Big Four News Apps just completely ignored the March for Life in a blackout so intense that even the pro-life marchers couldn’t find significant related coverage. MRC researchers found that Apple News, Google News, MSN and Yahoo News all ignored reporting on the 53rd annual March for Life on the morning of Jan. 23. Instead, these digital gatekeepers reported on anti-ICE protests and an incoming winter storm stories from featuring leftist and elitist media like Buzzfeed, HuffPost, Salon, The Daily Beast and The New York Times. MRC Free Speech America, along with MRC Video, spoke with some marchers who braved the cold to stand to protect the unborn, asking them whether their Apple News or Google News apps presented users with articles about the March. Not one person who MRC spoke with found coverage of the March for Life prominently featured on the Big Four News Apps. Just one person found any coverage of the event at all, but only after laboriously scrolling through the curated list of articles.  Google News was particularly egregious as it pushed the elitist media narrative about Minnesota businesses’ anti-ICE “protest,” while the other three apps also covered Minnesota protests. The Big Four News Apps largely determine which stories and outlets Americans see first when they open a pre-installed news app on their phones, check their email or do a search.  MRC Free Speech America Director Michael Morris responded to the Big Four News Apps burying the March for Life. “If the news apps, some of which cater to user preferences, won’t even show coverage of the March to passionate pro-life activists on the day of the March for Life, it’s likely that they are not showing that coverage to anyone,” Morris said.  The Big Four News Apps treated massive crowds speaking up for the millions of slaughtered American babies in the heart of America’s capital as not newsworthy. President Donald Trump even addressed the marchers remotely, while Vice President J.D. Vance and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson showed up to speak in person, and yet the Big Tech digital gatekeepers offered zero coverage about the largest human rights demonstration in the world.  Methodology: The Media Research Center tracked the home pages of news aggregator websites Apple News, Google News, MSN and Yahoo News at 8:30 on Jan. 23. Researchers analyzed the top 20 results for each aggregator. Later that day, researchers spoke to attendees at the March for Life.  Conservatives are under attack! Contact your representatives and demand that Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment while providing transparency, clarity on hate speech and equal footing for conservatives. If you have been censored, contact us using CensorTrack’s contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.

Media Research Center President David Bozell joined The Derek Hunter Show on WMAL Friday evening to dissect the elitist media’s handling of ICE enforcement and the alarming consequences of its coverage. From selective outrage to misleading reporting on a 5-year-old child, Bozell illustrated how the press’s bias against ICE both misinforms the public and incites dangerous behavior.   Citing a recent NewsBusters study, Bozell exposed the media’s bias against ICE: “93%, to put a number on it—of coverage of ICE is negative,” Bozell explained. “Less than 2% of all of the coverage even dares to mention the underlying crimes that ICE is arresting these people for.” He focused on the Washington Post’s breathless reporting of a 5-year-old boy allegedly used as a “stage prop,” by ICE agents, revealing the crucial missing context: the father had abandoned the child. “To suggest ICE went and grabbed a 5-year-old to use him as a prop is a bold-faced lie,” Bozell said. “The father ran away. He put his own rear end ahead of his son. … That kind of coverage encourages a nut to take a shot.” Derek Hunter added, “Somebody’s going to get hurt, and the Democrats are perfectly seemingly fine with that.” The segment underscored a pattern the MRC has consistently documented: biased media spin that misleads the public and fuels calls for violence. Bozell’s warning was blunt: media bias doesn’t just misinform; it can put people at risk.

A Republican congressman from Texas pre-empted criticism from Democrats on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in his district after Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) announced that she would visit to oversee operations. Crockett said the Dilley Detention Center near San Antonio was in her crosshairs after reports indicated that a 5-year-old was being sent to the facility after being used as "bait" by ICE agents. 'Democrats are doing everything they can to spin the truth against law enforcement.'The Department of Homeland Security has vehemently denied the claims and said that the boy had been protected by agents after his father fled from an immigration enforcement operation. An attorney for the family said the boy's father had a pending asylum claim, but Vice President JD Vance contradicted that claim and said he was an illegal alien. Democrats have used the media framing of the issue to hammer away at the administration. "I am aware of reports that this precious 5-year old, Liam Ramos, who was kidnapped by ICE as he returned home from preschool in Minneapolis may be in San Antonio, Texas," wrote Crockett Friday on her social media account. "I will be visiting the Dilley Detention Center in San Antonio next week to conduct oversight and will demand answers on the whereabouts and well-being of Liam. If it were up to me, we’d be at the Dilley Detention Center RIGHT NOW getting answers. But let’s be clear about what’s really happening here: The Trump Administration is illegally blocking Members of Congress from conducting lawful oversight," she added. "We have an absolute right — under federal law and the Constitution — to enter detention facilities, unannounced, to ensure the safety and well-being of people in government custody," Crockett continued. "I am outraged. My heart aches for Liam’s family. We will get answers." Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas posted a video of the facility to undermine any possible suggestion from Crockett that Ramos might be maltreated. "In the coming days, you’ll see a lot of grandstanding by politicians at the Dilley ICE Center in my district, #TX23. It’s all for show," he wrote on social media. "I've been there & seen the state-of-the-art facilities & protocols that @ICEgov follows," he added. "Our ICE agents & CBP personnel are doing their jobs, & yet again, Democrats are doing everything they can to spin the truth against law enforcement." RELATED: Trump admin blasts Ilhan Omar over 'vile lie' accusing ICE of using autistic child as baitIn the coming days, you’ll see a lot of grandstanding by politicians at the Dilley ICE Center in my district, #TX23. It’s all for show. I've been there & seen the state-of-the-art facilities & protocols that @ICEgov follows. Our ICE agents & CBP personnel are doing their… pic.twitter.com/9fEAOEEyIW— Rep. Tony Gonzales (@RepTonyGonzales) January 23, 2026 Among those on the left who have pounced on the story is failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. "Enforcing the law is one thing. Terrorizing a population, using children as pawns, is another. My heart aches for Liam Ramos and his family," she wrote. Clinton and her husband could face contempt of Congress charges after refusing a subpoena related to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Italian Ministry of CultureOne of the elite tombs discovered at the archaeological site in Parco delle Acacie. The center of Rome is known for its rich historical sites, from the Colosseum to the Forum. But during excavations in the eastern edge of the city, archaeologists uncovered an incredible set of ruins from the Roman Republic period — including a shrine, tombs, pools, and an ancient road. These new discoveries promise to add illuminating new detail to the history of the Roman Republic. The Roman Tombs And Shrine To Hercules Found At Parco Delle Acacie In Eastern Rome Special Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape of RomeSome of the ruins that have been uncovered at the Parco delle Acacie since excavations at the site began in 2022. According to a statement from the Italian Ministry of Culture, these ruins were discovered during a preventative excavation project at the Parco delle Acacie in the Pietralata district on the eastern side of Rome, in preparation for a development project. During the excavations, which began in 2022, archaeologists uncovered the ruins of an area covering about two-and-a-half acres that was occupied from the 5th or 4th century B.C.E until the 1st century C.E., and then periodically during the 2nd and 3rd centuries C.E. One of the most compelling discoveries at the site is the ruins of a shrine, which archaeologists suspect was once connected to the cult of Hercules. Set close to an ancient road, the shrine is a small quadrangular building, roughly 15 feet by 18 feet. In the center of the building, aligned with its entrance, archaeologists found a small white-plastered tuff (a kind of volcanic rock) that was likely once used as an altar. At the back of the building, archaeologists also found what appears to be the base of a cult statue, and further excavation of the building revealed that it was built over a votive deposit. Here, archaeologists found terracotta heads, feet, and female figurines, as well as two terracotta cattle. Ancient bronze coins found nearby furthermore suggest that the Hercules shrine was constructed between the late 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C.E. Special Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape of RomeA terracotta figurine’s head that was found at the site of the Roman ruins in Pietralata. Nearby, archaeologists also uncovered two impressive tombs. Dating to the 4th or 3rd century B.C.E., the two chamber tombs were carved into the tuff slope which descends down from the nearby Via di Pietralata. The first has a “monumental entrance” with a stone portal. Within the tomb, archaeologists found a sarcophagus and three urns, as well as two vases, two black-glazed cups, a ceramic jug, and a mirror. The other tomb, which was built slightly later, has benches on either side, and contains the remains of a man who seemingly underwent surgical trepanation. And that’s not all that archaeologists found at the site. The Enormous Pools And Ancient Road Also Uncovered In Pietralata In addition to the Hercules shrine and the two Republic-era tombs, archaeologists also uncovered the remains of an ancient road and two monumental pools. The road, constructed in the mid-Republican period (around the 3rd century B.C.E.) was seemingly used up until around the dawn of the Roman Empire, in the first century C.E. By the 2nd and 3rd centuries C.E., at least 200 years before Rome fell, the road had begun to fall out of use. The two pools, meanwhile, were seemingly built in the second century B.C.E. Archaeologists aren’t entirely certain what the pools were used for, however. They’ve speculated that they served a religious purpose, or were perhaps used “for some type of productive activity.” Italian Ministry of CultureOne of the two large pools that were found amid the ruins, and which may have played a religious role of some kind. Though questions about the site remain, archaeologists are thrilled with the discovery. It proves that Rome’s ruins can be found far beyond the center of the city, and that there’s still much left to discover in its outlying regions. “It is precisely in contexts like this,” said Daniela Porro, Special Superintendent of Rome, “apparently distant from the most famous sites of the ancient metropolis, that elements emerge that enrich the narrative of archaeological Rome as a sprawling city and that have contributed significantly to its development. The modern suburbs thus reveal themselves to be repositories of profound memories, yet to be explored.” After reading about the Roman ruins that were found in Parco delle Acacie, learn the full story of why Rome fell. Then, discover the fascinating story of the Roman catacombs that snake beneath the city. The post Archaeologists Preparing For Development In Eastern Rome Happened Upon Ancient Tombs And A Shrine To Hercules appeared first on All That's Interesting.

Matt Humpage/Northern Rogue StudiosAn artist’s 3D rendering of what Prototaxites looked like. In the mid-19th century, scientists examined the prehistoric fossil of a strange life form dubbed Prototaxites, meaning “early yew.” At roughly 400 million years old, these organisms predated trees. They stood 25 feet tall and towered above the Lilliputian plants, mushrooms, and bugs that dotted the landscape. But the question of exactly what these spire-shaped objects were has remained a mystery. Now, a new study published in Science Advances could explain why Prototaxites have been so difficult to categorize: They may have been an entirely unique form of life altogether. The Challenge Of Categorizing ‘Prototaxites’ G.J. Retallack/Wikimedia CommonsA Prototaxites fossil found in New York. Over the decades, researchers have tried to group Prototaxites into pre-determined categories like conifers, fungi, and algae. However, a recent comparison with fossil fungi from the same prehistoric rock deposit where a Prototaxites specimen was found shows that Prototaxites had a completely different chemistry and cellular structure, meaning it cannot be classified as a fungus. This new study argues that these organisms were an entirely unknown type of multicellular life on equal footing with plants, animals, fungi, protists, bacteria, and archaea. “It feels like it doesn’t fit comfortably anywhere,” researcher Matthew Nelsen of the Field Museum of Natural History told Scientific American. “People have tried to shoehorn it into these different groups, but there are always things that don’t make sense.” Superficially, Prototaxites somewhat resembled fungi. The organism was composed of interwoven tubes like fungi, but that’s where the similarities end. Whereas the tubes that make up fungi are orderly and thread-like, the tubes that made up Prototaxites branched wildly. The specimen also contained no trace of chitin, a polymer found in the cell walls of all fungi. What’s more, some of the tubes seen in the Prototaxites specimen had banded walls resembling structures found in modern vascular plants. “In the books and books of anatomy written about living fungi, we never find structures like that,” Alexander Hetherington, one of the study’s authors, told Science. An Entirely New Form Of Life The key characteristics of Prototaxites are its trunk-like structure with concentric rings, a tissue structure similar to fungal mycelium, growth patterns that resemble both plants and fungi, and evidence that suggests it consumed other organic matter rather than photosynthesizing. Most remarkably, these would have been the largest terrestrial organisms of their time. It’s easy to see why they have captivated researchers. Public DomainA view of the microstructure of Prototaxites. Even if Prototaxites had turned out to be a fungus, though, it still would have independently evolved into a unique form of complex, multicellular life. But the more researchers study this strange organism, the more it differentiates itself. According to Nelsen, “it is just a really wild thing that refuses to fit neatly into any group.” It may seem like splitting hairs, but if the researchers can fully rule out the notion that Prototaxites was a fungus — even a weird one — then they can focus on other questions, like how this organism grew so large in a world that was otherwise dominated by ankle-high plants and little organic matter. “Simply acknowledging that we don’t know is a big step forward,” Hetherington said. “Then we can turn our attention to the more exciting ecosystem questions.” After learning about this strange new life form, read about the oldest fossils ever found on Earth. Or, discover the evidence scientists have found of life on Mars. The post Scientists May Have Identified A New Form Of Life That’s Neither Plant Nor Fungus appeared first on All That's Interesting.