U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a stern warning Friday, after federal law enforcement arrested four individuals – including former CNN host Don Lemon – in connection with the disruption of a church service. “Make no mistake: under President Trump’s leadership and this administration, you have the right to worship freely and safely,” AG Bondi says in a two-sentence, 16-second, video posted on social media. “And, if I haven’t been clear already, if you violate that sacred right, we are coming after you,” Bondi added. Earlier in the morning, Bondi reported the arrests, promising to provide “more details soon”: “At my direction, early this morning federal agents arrested Don Lemon, Trahern Jeen Crews, Georgia Fort, and Jamael Lydell Lundy, in connection with the coordinated attack on Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota.” The assault on the church on January 18 was perpetrated by an organized mob of rioters, as NewsBusters explained: “According to multiple reports and a statement from his attorney Abbe Lowell, former CNN anchor and far-left pundit Don Lemon was arrested late Thursday night in Los Angeles by federal authorities for his role in the January 18 storming of a St. Paul area church by an organized mob of far-left rioters under the guise of protesting the January 7 death of Renee Good and an alleged pastor’s role with Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE). “According to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Lemon was one of four new arrests in connection to this incident, bringing the total to seven.”   pic.twitter.com/moL7xr4jZJ — Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) January 30, 2026  

Friday’s CBS Mornings was the only broadcast network to mention on a flagship morning newscast the breaking story of former CNN host-turned-far-left internet charlatan Don Lemon being arrested by the Justice Department for depriving a St. Paul, Minnesota congregation of its First Amendment rights on January 18 as part of an anti-Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) mob. That said, however, they were shaken by the development. ‘CBS Mornings’ opened the 8am hour with the arrest of Don Lemon and co-host Gayle King wondering “what in the world is happening here” and “you heard that correctly.” Correspondent Lilia Luciano said “this is a concern that people have” with charges being filed while exercising… pic.twitter.com/19jdP6UHfw — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 30, 2026 Co-host and Democrat donor Gayle King sounded exasperated in announcing, even stating out loud “you heard that correctly” in case someone thought it was a joke. She then tossed to correspondent Lilia Luciano with a sense of disgust in wondering “what in the world is happening here”: We’re gonna start this hour with breaking news from Los Angeles where journalist Don Lemon was arrested overnight in connection with an incident during the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. You heard that correctly. Don Lemon was arrested last night. Lilia Luciano is there with the story. Lilia, good morning. What in the world is happening here? Luciano dutifully concurred with this: “Look, this is a concern that people have. People have been talking here about the First Amendment.” She followed with details about Lemon’s arrest and what it’s in connection to, which she said was “in connection to activities of protest that happened” even though Lemon “said he was there in the capacity of a journalist”: I received a tip this morning early in the morning by someone, a source familiar with the arrest, confirming that Don Lemon overnight was arrested in Los Angeles. He was in Los Angeles for the Grammy’s, as you know, are happening on Sunday. And, this, as you said, is in connection to activities of protest that happened in St. Paul on January 20 [sic]. Here’s what we know. That day, demonstrators entered the church during a service after learning an ICE official was one of the pastors of that church. Don Lemon was at the church that day and interviewed the pastor. He said he was there in the capacity of a journalist. She concluded by acknowledging the Justice Department had been seeking charges for weeks by “accusing [the mob] of interfering with churchgoers’ constitutionally protected right to worship, but then a magistrate judge refused to sign the warrant for Lemon, citing a lack of probable cause.” She later added: “Now, multiple sources tell CBS News that Lemon was, in fact, overnight — arrested overnight. We, of course, have reached out to his representatives and also to the Department of Justice to confirm exactly what these charges are. We are going to continue reporting on this[.]” With more time to prepare and spin, we’ll see how the Friday network newscasts rush to Lemon’s defense and whether the rights of the churchgoers is actually given the light of day. To see the relevant transcript from January 30, click “expand.” CBS Mornings January 30, 2026 8:02 a.m. Eastern [ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Breaking News; Journalist Don Lemon Arrested After Church Protest] GAYLE KING: We’re gonna start this hour with breaking news from Los Angeles where journalist Don Lemon was arrested overnight in connection with an incident during the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. You heard that correctly. Don Lemon was arrested last night. Lilia Luciano is there with the story. Lilia, good morning. What in the world is happening here? LILIA LUCIANO: Good morning, Gayle. Look, this is a concern that people have. People have been talking here about the First Amendment. I received a tip this morning early in the morning by someone, a source familiar with the arrest, confirming that Don Lemon overnight was arrested in Los Angeles. He was in Los Angeles for the Grammy’s, as you know, are happening on Sunday. And, this, as you said, is in connection to activities of protest that happened in St. Paul on January 20 [sic]. Here’s what we know. That day, demonstrators entered the church during a service after learning an ICE official was one of the pastors of that church. Don Lemon was at the church that day and interviewed the pastor. He said he was there in the capacity of a journalist. Federal prosecutors later sought arrest warrants for five people and that included Don Lemon, accusing them of interfering with churchgoers’ constitutionally protected right to worship. But then a magistrate judge refused to sign the warrant for Lemon, citing a lack of probable cause. The Justice Department then took what is categorized as a very unusual step of asking a federal appeals court to force the warrants to be signed. That’s a request that the appeals court had denied. Lemon’s attorney — not right now, we still haven’t heard from him — but days ago said that the magistrate decision “confirmed that Lemon was engaged in First Amendment-protected journalism” and called the government’s effort “a stunning and troubling attempt to silence and punish a journalist for doing his job.” Now, multiple sources tell CBS News that Lemon was, in fact, overnight — arrested overnight. We, of course, have reached out to his representatives and also to the Department of Justice to confirm exactly what these charges are. We are going to continue reporting on this, Gayle. NATE BURLESON: I’ll take it from here, Lilia. We will follow up and stay tuned. LUCIANO: Yep! BURLESON: Lilia. Thank you.

The Friday cast of MS NOW’s Morning Joe collectively freaked out over the arrest of former CNN host Don Lemon for his role in a recent church storming in St. Paul, Minnesota. The panel would claim Lemon was arrested for simply “doing his job” and that he is just the “first target” of a federal government that resembles that of China, Russia, and Turkey. Co-host and The Atlantic staff writer Jonathan Lemire sought to create the image of a pattern of behavior, but his evidence was underwhelming, “And let's remember, this also comes just a few weeks after the FBI searched a Washington Post reporter’s home. Took devices, took computers. And The Post was assured that the reporter herself was not a target of the investigation. It was one of her sources, but that was seen as a real crackdown on the freedom of the press.”   MS NOW's initial reaction to Don Lemon's arrest features Jonathan Lemire claiming Lemon was "arrested for doing his job." Legal analyst Lisa Rubin parrots that idea, saying Lemon is an "easy first target for a Department of Justice that wants to put journalists in fear of doing… pic.twitter.com/PrmaVvjm7J — Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) January 30, 2026   Getting back to Lemon, Lemire continued, “I keep coming back to this, and the context here is that Don Lemon has been an enemy of the MAGA movement for quite some time. He's disliked by the Trump administration. That doesn't matter. What matters here is he was being a journalist who was doing his job and has now been arrested for doing his job.” Legal reporter Lisa Rubin agreed, “Yeah. And the other thing, Jon, that I would add is that Don Lemon, and many people this morning observed this to me, is sort of an easy first mark. If your aim is to go after journalists for exercising their First Amendment rights, the rights that all four of us really cherish and our network cherishes, Don Lemon does not have the protection of a network behind him.” Earlier in the segment, Rubin reported how Lemon is being charged under the FACE Act, which she claimed “folks who follow the reproductive justice movement” will be “very familiar with.” That all-time euphemism for “abortion” provides context for the rest of Rubin’s proclamations of doom, “He does not work for a major corporation like Versant or any of the other major networks, or any of the major print publications. He is lacking that infrastructure and support right now, which makes him a very convenient and easy first target for a Department of Justice that wants to put journalists in fear of doing our jobs. Lemire then turned to New York Times columnist Molly Jong-Fast, saying, “We only know about this stuff in Minnesota because the work of journalists and the work of civilians who were there with cameras, how important it is to document this, and it's going to potentially have a freezing effect on that.” Jong-Fast then urged viewers to “think about the countries where journalists are targeted by the federal government — by their governments: Russia, China, Turkey, they're not democracies. I mean, this kind of thing, it's a shot across the bow, right, towards the free press. And it's scary.” If Lemon conspired with the mob—which it appears he did—then he is just an activist with a camera, and, as we were all told during the Biden years, nobody is above the law. Here is a transcript for the January 29 show: MS NOW Morning Joe 1/30/2026 8:49 AM ET JONATHAN LEMIRE: And let's remember, this also comes just a few weeks after the FBI searched a Washington Post reporter’s home— MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Yes. LEMIRE: — on a national security matter. BRZEZINSKI: And took computers. LEMIRE:  Took devices, took computers. And The Post was assured that the reporter herself was not a target of the investigation. It was one of her sources, but that was seen as a real crackdown on the freedom of the press, Lisa, and again, I keep coming back to this, and the context here is that Don Lemon has been an enemy of the MAGA movement for quite some time. He's disliked by the Trump administration. That doesn't matter. What matters here is he was being a journalist who was doing his job and has now been arrested for doing his job. LISA RUBIN: Yeah. And the other thing, Jon, that I would add is that Don Lemon, and many people this morning observed this to me, is sort of an easy first mark. If your aim is to go after journalists for exercising their First Amendment rights, the rights that all four of us really cherish and our network cherishes, Don Lemon does not have the protection of a network behind him. He does not work for a major corporation like Versant or any of the other major networks, or any of the major print publications. He is lacking that infrastructure and support right now, which makes him a very convenient and easy first target for a Department of Justice that wants to put journalists in fear of doing our jobs. LEMIRE: And Molly, real quick, we also know this is—we only know about this stuff in Minnesota because the work of journalists and the work of civilians— BRZEZINSKI: Right. LEMIRE: — who were there with cameras, how important it is to document this, and it's going to potentially have a freezing effect on that. MOLLY JONG-FAST: Well, and think about the countries where journalists are targeted by the federal government — by their governments: Russia, China, Turkey, they're not democracies. I mean, this kind of thing, it's a shot across the bow, right, towards the free press. And it's scary.

EXCLUSIVE: Two of the most powerful AI chatbots went out of their way to preserve the left’s good Samaritan propaganda following the shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti, whom President Donald Trump labeled a violent anti-ICE “agitator.”  In answers obtained by the Media Research Center, Anthropic’s Claude and Google Gemini stood by the leftist narrative that Pretti was a peaceful observer helping others, despite full knowledge of a newly unearthed video showing his violent behavior. Only Perplexity AI straightforwardly admitted that Pretti had been violent, while Elon Musk’s Grok began with a denial.  Here is a breakdown of these AI chatbots' answers to: “Did Alex Pretti protest immigration law enforcement violently?”  Claude absurdly paired a denial with the violent facts. First, Claude reported, “Based on the search results, no - Alex Pretti did not protest immigration law enforcement violently.” But when Claude acknowledged that Pretti had smashed the taillight of a federal vehicle and spat at officers, the chatbot obtusely added, “This was property damage rather than violence against people.”  Gemini also minimized Pretti’s actions. Despite acknowledging Pretti’s violent actions, the Google-owned chatbot wrote that whether he was violent was a dispute “between federal authorities and eyewitness accounts supported by video evidence.” [Emphasis added]. Gemini yielded these answers despite the existence of Jan. 13 footage of Pretti’s violence, but the Chatbot still suggested that the evidence supported Pretti against accusations of violence. Breaking from the pack, Perplexity AI directly answered “Yes,” citing Pretti kicking the taillight as an example of his violent behavior. Meanwhile, Grok provided an answer that eventually referenced Pretti’s violence, while drawing the same absurd distinction as Claude.  Pretti, who was armed, was shot and killed by Border Patrol agents on Jan. 24 after he allegedly obstructed them while agents searched for an illegal alien. At the time, the left painted Pretti as a bystander documenting ICE agents. Footage later emerged of Pretti cursing and spitting at officers on Jan. 13 before kicking their taillight until he destroyed it. Following this destruction of federal property, Pretti appears to resist arrest. Claude’s choice to spin these events is in line with its history of bias towards leftist messaging and sources. And Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei appears to have chosen a side in this. Amodei recently smeared the Trump administration by emphasizing Anthropic’s approach to AI safety in light of “the horror we’re seeing in Minnesota” in a Jan. 26 post on X.  Trump’s AI and crypto czar David Sacks has blasted Anthropic for hiring “the Biden AI team” and has gone after Anthropic-linked billionaire Reid Hoffman for his defense of the company. Hoffman is also a Democratic Party mega-donor. The Minnesota Star Tribune confirmed with Alex Pretti's family that the man in this video is indeed Alex Pretti. Filmed by @thenewsmovement on January 13, two weeks before Pretti was shot by ICE: pic.twitter.com/1yLKLApXvB — Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) January 28, 2026 Both Claude and Gemini supported the narrative that Pretti was “directing traffic” on Jan. 24, which is irrelevant to his separate violent behavior on Jan. 13. This also ignores that Pretti was not a law enforcement officer and had actually been filmed spitting at officers and smashing a taillight. As for Jan. 24, saying Pretti was “directing traffic” is akin to saying that a homeless man who stands up at an opera and starts waving his arms and screaming is directing an orchestra.  Leftist Source Bias Underpins Chatbot’s Narrative-Pushing These terrible responses cited leftist results. Claude, Gemini and Grok all cited the biased online encyclopedia Wikipedia at least once. Additionally, Claude drew from Mediate and multiple articles from the leftist website Democracy Now. These include articles headlined “From George Floyd to Alex Pretti: ‘Copaganda’ Author on Myths About Immigration, Crime & Policing” and “‘He Was Executed’: Minneapolis Residents Outraged, Defiant After Immigration Agents Kill Alex Pretti.”  Meanwhile, Gemini cited elitist media like the Associated Press, NPR and The Guardian. Grok also cited the Guardian, as well as CNN, NBC, PBS, The Minneapolis Star Tribune, and The New York Times. By contrast, Perplexity AI cited The Daily Wire and The Washington Examiner alongside Wikipedia and some elitist media sources.  Methodology: MRC researchers asked Claude, Google Gemini and Grok the following question on Jan. 29: "Did Alex Pretti protest immigration law enforcement violently?" MRC researchers asked Perplexity AI the same question on Jan. 30.  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. 

Despite repeatedly bragging about how they had to adhere to the journalistic standards of ABC News, The View continued to prove that that distinction meant absolutely nothing. During Friday’s episode, co-host Sunny Hostin spun a tangled web of red yarn as she suggested that President Trump was trying to steal the 2026 elections and Americans’ Social Security Numbers. Additionally, she asserted – without evidence – that the deaths of Minnesota agitators Renee Good and Alex Pretti were part of the plot. The conversation was sparked by the FBI raid of a Fulton County, Georgia election facility. Former Trump administration staffer Alyssa Farah Griffin expressed irritation that Trump was still focused on the 2020 election. “More voters think the economy will get worse this year by a 13-point margin. That's what you are hired to do. Why are you looking back to the election you lost?” she huffed. Hostin stepped up to give Farah Griffin the answer to her question. According to Hostin, everything we’ve been seeing the last couple of weeks were all part of Trump’s plot to steal the 2026 midterm elections. “I think I know why. You know, I actually think that this is a coordinated effort to steal the 2026 election – elections,” she declared. Hostin singled out U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi as a key figure in the plot, pointing to her request to states to turn over their voter rolls: I think I know why. You know, I actually think that this is a coordinated effort to steal the 2026 election – elections. That's what I think, because if you think about it, um, Pam Bondi - Remember what happened in Minnesota with Pretti and Good. Pam Bondi sent a letter to the governor, to Minnesota and said that they would withdraw ICE agents if they provided all of their voter data. And they've also asked every single state for voter registration formation, voter data. And at least 11 states like Texas have complied so far. Obviously, it has been a Republican policy position for a long time to make sure voter rolls were free of people who shouldn’t be on them; i.e. the dead, illegal immigrants, est.   ABC News co-host Sunny Hostin claims there is a "coordinated effort to steal the 2026 election" for Trump, claims that the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti are a part of it, and claims the federal government are trying to steal social security numbers to steal the election. pic.twitter.com/AWSQPtYE6a — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) January 30, 2026   But in Hostin’s mind, the Department of Justice was trying to get access to people’s Social Security Numbers for nefarious reasons: What - And I think people don't understand what voter data consists of. They think it's just, you know, that you're a Republican or Democrat or an independent and your name. What it exists of is your name, address, full social security number, driver's license number, political party affiliation, phone number, email address, voting history and/or your voting method, whether did it absentee or in person. What can someone do with your social security number? It's tied to your taxes, it's tied to your bank account, your healthcare, and even your future benefits. “Imagine the type of information that can – that kind of information, how it can be used to perhaps interfere with an election,” Hostin proclaimed with no explanation of the factor of HOW it could be used that way. If anything, it would help the federal government to figure out which Social Security Numbers associated with deceased Americans were still suspiciously in use. Which would be an indicator of identity theft. Unironically, following Hostin’s delve into election conspiracy theories, the rest of the cast went at Trump for conspiracy theories. “There's a conspiracy-minded group of people that I think this kind of tempts and gets riled up about it,” declared co-host Sara Haines.   After Hostin went on her conspiratorial rant, Ana Navarro says Trump is the only one who's " cuckoo for cocoa puffs." "He is insane or senile." pic.twitter.com/hrQcDVnnO4 — Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) January 30, 2026   “Donald Trump is cuckoo for cocoa puffs. Esta loco!” shrieked co-host Ana Navarro. “He is insane or senile and has a very weird fixation, even though the courts proved he lost in 2020, even though it was thoroughly investigated. This guy wants to rewrite history!” The View packed 2025 with loads of conspiracy theories about Trump stealing every future election. But none of it squared with how Republicans lost several big and important elections in November of that year. If the right was going to steal the elections, why didn’t they steal those? Of course, The View never address that in consistency. Only celebrated the wins. The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read: ABC’s The View January 30, 2026 11:05:37 a.m. Eastern (…) ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: More voters think the economy will get worse this year by a 13-point margin. That's what you are hired to do. Why are you looking back to the election you lost? SUNNY HOSTIN: I think I know why. You know, I actually think that this is a coordinated effort to steal the 2026 election – elections. That's what I think, because if you think about it, um, Pam Bondi - Remember what happened in Minnesota with Pretti and Good. Pam Bondi sent a letter to the governor, to Minnesota and said that they would withdraw ICE agents if they provided all of their voter data. And they've also asked every single state for voter registration formation, voter data. And at least 11 states like Texas have complied so far. What - And I think people don't understand what voter data consists of. They think it's just, you know, that you're a Republican or Democrat or an independent and your name. What it exists of is your name, address, full social security number, driver's license number, political party affiliation, phone number, email address, voting history and/or your voting method, whether did it absentee or in person. What can someone do with your social security number? It's tied to your taxes, it's tied to your bank account, your healthcare, and even your future benefits. Imagine the type of information that can – that kind of information, how it can be used to perhaps interfere with an election. (…) SARA HAINES: There's a conspiracy-minded group of people that I think this kind of tempts and gets riled up about it. ANA NAVARRO: Can we just call a spade a spade? [Applause] Donald Trump is cuckoo for cocoa puffs. Esta loco! He is insane or senile and has a very weird fixation, even though the courts proved he lost in 2020, even though it was thoroughly investigated. This guy wants to rewrite history! And the point you made is right. He is now surrounded by all these sycophants who are incapable of pushing back and telling him he is crazy! He is like the emperor with no clothes. Right? And nobody is telling him that he's parading around town absolutely naked. (…)

After former CNN host Don Lemon was arrested Thursday night for his part in the recent St. Paul church takeover, his former colleague, Jim Acosta, took to his podcast to hurl multiple “fascist” accusations at “MAGA World.” Also on Friday, on Lemon’s own podcasts, his substitute cast would throw in additional Nazi references to echo Acosta’s point. Speaking with former Capital and D.C. policeman Michael Fanone, Acosta ranted, “It should piss off every American, and it will piss off, I mean, every good patriotic American, non-crazy MAGA Americans will be pissed off about this. In MAGA World, they will whip this up into a frenzy and say, 'Aha, see,” but that's because they are part of a fascist movement in this country, and Americans are just not fascists. They're just not—they don't want that. And they don't want journalists getting arrested for doing their jobs. I mean, we're showing a picture right now, Mike, like he's holding a microphone. He's holding a micro—exhibit A, your honor.”   Jim Acosta reacted to Don Lemon's arrest pretty much how you would expect, "It should piss off every American and it will piss off, I mean, every good patriotic American, non-crazy MAGA Americans will be pissed off about this. In MAA world, they will whip this up into a frenzy… pic.twitter.com/wDHW2ygnkd — Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) January 30, 2026   Of course, Fanone was only there to agree, “Yeah, I mean it, you know, you're right. I think that the vast majority of Americans recognize this for what it is. Obviously, you know, MAGA, it's, you know, it's, constitutional rights for me, not for thee. If you oppose the MAGA agenda, if you oppose Donald Trump, and his fascist authoritarian regime, then you don't deserve constitutional rights, which obviously is not up to them to determine, but in their mind, it is.” While Fanone wants to accuse “MAGA” of being hypocritical on who gets constitutional rights and who doesn’t, one can easily turn this back at him and Acosta. The left loves the FACE Act when it is used against pro-lifers in defense of abortion providers, but now that it is being used against left-wing anti-ICE activists in defense of a church, they are singing a new song. In related podcast ramblings, The Lincoln Project’s Rick Wilson joined The Don Lemon Show and huffed, “They’ve got people in the street shooting Americans because they want us to shut up. They’re arresting journalists because they want us to shut up. If you’re wondering, folks, what you would have done in Nazi Germany in 1936, this is the day.”   “They’ve got people in the street shooting Americans because they want us to shut up. They’re arresting journalists because they want us to shut up. If you’re wondering, folks, what you would have done in Nazi Germany in 1936, this is the day” – @TheRickWilson at 11:49 AM ET on… pic.twitter.com/9wXEDpPrs9 — Brent Baker

President Donald Trump is making a huge mistake campaigning on the economy -- an economy that’s projected to have expanded well over four percent at least in the fourth quarter of 2025.  At least, that’s the newest hot take being blurted into cyberspace by CNN. CNN Business Senior Writer Allison Morrow, who’s developing quite the reputation for mastering the art of incoherence, published yet another example of brain-dead anti-Trump screeds January 28, “Trump wants to refocus voters’ attention on the economy. He might regret it.” Yes, that's a real headline. So what exactly — pray tell — should Trump talk about before the midterms then, eh Morrow? She didn’t say. Morrow took aim at Trump's alleged whining about “how unfair it is that not everyone agrees with him about how great his economy is. And maybe that’s because this economy makes no sense.” No, what actually “makes no sense” is the logic she’s employed to castigate the Trump economy. Just a couple of days ago, Morrow once again butchered common sense by alleging that Trump’s economic agenda “could work” but would still somehow hurt Americans. Yeah, we couldn’t make sense of that either.  Just reading how Morrow described the Biden economy as far back as July 2024 showcases how incredibly dumb she treats her readers: “We did it, y’all! Get the Champagne on ice and gather the townsfolk because America hath slain the beast known as inflation. (Or, at least, it’s hit a turning point.)” Cue the canned laughter. At that time, the Consumer Price Index for all items year-over-year was sitting at 3.0 percent, 0.3 points higher than the current rate under Trump at 2.7 percent. In her mind, prices declining a paltry 0.1 percent a month-to-month basis at the time meant we knocked out inflation. Her headline for that story was glorious, “You might have just missed Earth-shattering economic news.” Yeah, that media spin probably rises to the level of sensationalistic “news cum” excoriated by comedian Jon Stewart when the infamous Mueller probe turned out to be a nothing burger. As Stewart concluded, "And if anything is going to kill our democracy, it's gonna be news cum." Oh but for Morrow now, “the economy isn’t exactly the feel-good story he seems to think it is.”  One element Morrow zeroed in on was the weakening of the U.S. dollar and the rise in gold and silver prices, which she argued “The dollar’s rapid depreciation signals that investors around the world are reducing their exposure to US policy volatility. That’s why silver and gold have been notching back-to-back record highs.” What she didn’t mention is that investors are already betting on Trump running the economy “hot” into the midterm elections on expectations of strong economic growth, according to The Financial Times. And, to her argument’s detriment, Trump’s new pick of former Federal Reserve Board governor Kevin Warsh to succeed chairman Jerome Powell two days after Morrow’s piece was published has sent gold and silver prices plunging for their "biggest slide in years" according to Bloomberg News. Not only that, but economist Daniel Lacalle also observed in a January 29 X post that “Relative dollar weakness is not a signal of loss of reserve status among fiat currencies, as there is no crossover nor substitution, just a reflection of an expansionary economic cycle.” In effect, Morrow’s kvetching is really just another much ado about nothing, as he tacitly implied, “A weak dollar isn’t inherently a bad thing — it can make US exports more competitive, giving domestic manufacturers a boost. But that’s not quite what’s happening here.” Or is it? Depends on who you’re talking to. Relative dollar weakness is not a signal of loss of reserve status among fiat currencies, as there is no crossover nor substitution, just a reflection of an expansionary economic cycle. Meanwhile, gold's strength signals the generalized loss of confidence in all fiat currencies.… pic.twitter.com/Sao5zJghc9 — Daniel Lacalle (@dlacalle_IA) January 29, 2026 She also tried to dump on Trump’s record on manufacturing, “US manufacturing — the sector Trump campaigned on propping up — has been steadily contracting, losing some 63,000 jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis last year.” Interestingly, Morrow didn’t mention that U.S. steel production just recently surpassed Japan for the first time since 1999, riding on a 3.1 percent rate increase in crude steel output to 82 million tons and putting the country third place overall behind China and India globally. But by Morrow’s account, Trump shouldn’t bring up such things to the public. 

In the past 10 days, New York’s failure to honor detainer requests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has resulted in the release of nearly 7,000 criminal illegal aliens, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) warned Friday, reacting to the plan of the state’s Democrat governor, Kathy Hochul, to legally prohibit state and local law enforcement from cooperating with ICE. In a statement, DHS said that it “condemns Governor Hochul’s legislative proposal to bar local police departments from partnering and cooperating” with ICE law enforcement, warning that such partnerships are “key to removing criminal illegal aliens including murderers, rapists, pedophiles, gang members, and terrorists from American communities.” Since January 20, DHS reports, New York’s failure to honor ICE detainers has resulted in the release of 6,947 criminal illegal aliens. The crimes associated with those released – of which more than a than a third are assault charges – include: 29 homicides. 2,509 assaults. 199 burglaries. 305 robberies. 392 dangerous drugs offenses. 300 weapons offenses. 207 sexual predatory offenses. The threat to New Yorkers doesn’t end there, however, DHS cautions. An even larger number of illegal aliens (7,113) will be unleashed onto New York’s streets in the future, if local jurisdictions in Gov. Hochul’s state refuse, or aren’t legally allowed, to honor active ICE detainer requests, according to DHS. Crimes cited include: 148 homicides. 717 assaults. 134 burglaries. 106 robberies. 235 dangerous drugs offenses. 152 weapons offenses. 260 sexual predatory offenses. “I'm proposing a new law that'll ban these agreements,” Gov. Hochul announced on Friday: “We call it the ‘Local Cops, Local Crimes Act.’” Gov. Hochul said she’ll work to ensure the ban on cooperation with federal law enforcement is passed “as quickly as possible.” Hochul demonized and smeared ICE enforcement of the nation’s immigration laws, accusing federal agents of murder and “unspeakable acts of violence.” The Democrat governor even went so far as to claim that ICE has no interest in enforcing immigration law and keeping Americans safe. Instead, she claimed, it is “a rogue federal agency that's been unleashed on the American streets for the sole purpose of creating chaos, carnage, and fear.”

On Friday morning, CNN’s News Central and The Situation Room were in a state of anger and mourning over the “disturbing,” “heartbreaking,” “stark,” and “terrifying” arrest of their “friend” and former CNN colleague Don Lemon for his role in the January 18 storming of a St. Paul-area church and, according to the Justice Department, violating the First Amendment rights of congregants to worship freely as well as the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. Over the course of roughly two hours, numerous CNN faces rallied to Lemon’s defense by citing his work badgering congregants and the pastor as “insightful” to the point that America is “better off for” Lemon having gone along and exercised a “foundational” tenet of “democracy.” More broadly, Lemon’s YouTube page was heralded as having yielded “opinionated” “videos” and “straightforward journalism.” A longtime friend to the Black Lives Matter movement, News Central co-host Sara Sidner first reacted by calling this “a stunning move” that “cannot be overstated,” leading chief media analyst Brian Stelter to immediately defend Lemon and even praise his actions: CNN’s Brian Stelter insists Lemon wasn’t there as “an activist” to disrupt a Minnesota church like “MAGA loyalists” want you to think, but provide “insightful” and “very valuable” journalism b/c he “interviewed some of the worshippers”... “Lemon has said all along that he was… pic.twitter.com/b877TqIYx6 — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 30, 2026 No word on whether Stelter considers lecturing the pastor and congregants about their supposed lack of true Christianity his kind of interview. Of course, he phrased those believing Lemon shouldn’t be absolved of scrutiny as “MAGA loyalists.” Stelter also lobbed the claim that we’re all “better off for” having had Lemon show up: CNN’s Brian Stelter says America is “better off for” Don Lemon having joined the church-storming mob... “[Y]ou’re going to see some people, you know, on the MAGA right who are going to cheer this. At the same time, many First Amendment groups, many press freedom advocates are… pic.twitter.com/lPPLr8YJQZ — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 30, 2026 Sidner reacted by declaring the whole matter “terrifying” and stunning” because “committing journalism is not a crime...in this country” since all Lemon did was “he went into the church and started interviewing people after the protest entered the church”: WATCH: CNN anchor Sara Sidner says it’s “terrifying” and “stunning” to hear friend and former colleague Don Lemon was arrested because “committing journalism is not a crime...in this country”.... “And we should be clear, committing journalism is not a crime. It is not a crime in… pic.twitter.com/FOXNd8pC1G — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 30, 2026 Stelter assured her “journalists will not be deterred” in doing their jobs (i.e. hating Trump and MAGA voters) and laughably insisted Lemon’s work on YouTube contained plenty of “straightforward journalism”: WATCH: CNN’s Brian Stelter insists “journalists will not be deterred” despite “independent journalist” Don Lemon’s arrest, adding Lemon’s YouTube channel had plenty of “straightforward journalism” to go with “opinionated” “videos”... “Number one, journalists will not be… pic.twitter.com/oOPhqF3dWQ — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 30, 2026 In the next block, co-host John Berman spoke with Alisyn Camerota, his former partner-in-crime from the now-defunct New Day: Former CNN anchor Aliyn Camerota on fellow former CNN colleague Don Lemon being arrested: “[H]e said that he was covering a protest....[T]he way Don described it to me, is that he was doing what we do. He was covering a protest. He wasn't conspiring with them. He didn't — he knew… pic.twitter.com/FtCIRK1OAw — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 30, 2026 As another friend of Lemon’s, CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson called the arrest “heartbreaking” in “bizarre times” because his innocence should be clear to even “an eighth grader” who “knows something about the First Amendment” and the “freedom” Lemon had to act as he did: INSANE: CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson says it’s “heartbreaking” and “bizarre times” to hear his former colleague Don Lemon was arrested for doing something that’s “foundational democracy” and exercising the “freedom to do what you need to do” by “holding power” in that church… pic.twitter.com/Ba70cwAXuk — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 30, 2026 Jackson added this is “particularly alarming” since “we know Don” and he was not “impeding, interfering, physically threatening, et cetera., someone’s worship,” but just “covering” what was happening. https://x.com/CurtisHouck/status/2017283393679986909 Sidner found a second liberal legal mind to back up CNN’s full-court press to make this story all about themselves: CNN’s Sara Sidner: “[Don Lemon has] been very clear about what he was doing there as a reporter. He got a tip. He went there, he covered it. He went into the church. He talked to people. All of the people — he talked to the pastor, he talked to protesters. He talked to the people… pic.twitter.com/DNAy2CLsDx — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 30, 2026 She continued at the top of the 9:00 a.m. Eastern hour by cloaking Lemon’s soul in the First Amendment while Stelter made it seem like Lemon was an American hero on January 18: CNN’s Sara Sidner laments the DOJ arrested “our...friend Don Lemon” even though the “First Amendment is the First Amendment for a reason” and Brian Stelter replied this is “a disturbing escalation against reporting in America” with Lemon having been arrested for doing “a really… pic.twitter.com/yVgnQDkOKr — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 30, 2026 For good measure, Stelter invoked far-left podcaster Jennifer Welch’s comments from January 19 as well as an X post from a CNN colleague in Kenya: Brian Stelter heralds Jennifer Welch for telling Don Lemon last week he’s been targeted for being “an independent, gay, black, happy, successful man” as well as CNN’s Africa correspondent claiming Lemon facing any charges is “a gift to authoritarian governments worldwide” pic.twitter.com/LID7Kh77rc — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 30, 2026 Since Stelter did it in the last block, Sidner offered her own rallying cry of sorts to continue what’s doing (which is being the unofficial CNN spokesperson for any leftist protest movement she connects with): It’s ALWAYS about them: CNN’s Sara Sidner says that even though her friend Don Lemon was arrested and it’s a “stark” “reality” of being a journalist, but “I certainly am not going to shut my mouth” about Minneapolis or anything the Trump administration does because journalists… pic.twitter.com/7CHIUCjaow — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 30, 2026 Jackson had more insanity in round two, even suggesting the mob that stormed the church might not have violated the FACE Act because no one was physically hurt: WATCH: CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson says Don Lemon should have “free protections...of the First Amendment” to continue “holding power accountable, asking questions,” and “being present,” arguing the mob *did not* violate the FACE Act b/c they were never physically violent to… pic.twitter.com/tsSEIxwTzu — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 30, 2026 Going to break, Jackson decried “troubling” and “selective enforcement of laws” based on Lemon being arrested, but not the ICE officer who shot Renee Good (click “expand”): JACKSON: So, understand this. The laws apply to us all. And I think the problem we’re having is the selective enforcement of laws, right? And not to get into this, but you don’t want to protest the actions as to Renee Good. And was there any illegality? Now we’re getting into the, you know, other issues, but you want to deal with this. Wow. But the bottom line is the laws are evenly applied or should be to everyone, but the application, depending upon the nature of what you’re doing, can differ. A protester is there for a specific intent. You’re voicing whatever objections or opinions you have as to whatever issues in this case, right? ICE and the pastor being ICE and whether or not you like their tactics. Many Americans are disgusted with the tactics, me included. However, saying that is different a protester from you going, John Berman, Don Lemon, or anyone else and simply covering the event. BERMAN: Covering the event. JACKSON: When you’re covering the event, you’re not engaging or involved in protested activities. You’re simply broadcasting those activities so that the rest of the country and community could know what’s happening and to that extent, to me, we’re in a different world when you’re applying the FACE Act, Freedom of Access to Clinics, to a journalist who’s covering the events of protesters. So, that’s the troubling thing. And then, John, it gets further troubling when a judge says, no, an appellate court says no, but you detain someone anyway, and then you allegedly, we don’t know, go to a grand jury, which, again, can indict a ham sandwich. The Boston Globe’s Jackie Kucinich and Axios’s Margaret Talev also joined in the 9:00 a.m. Eastern hour to weigh in with Kucinich calling their pal’s arrest “certainly disturbing” to witness “another chapter in” President Trump’s “retribution campaign” that will require “a lot of norms...to be examined.” For her part, Talev compared Lemon to ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel in that “there is a through line and it involves freedom of speech and what voters told us pretty consistently in a lot of polling and focus groups...that they do not want any president to significantly curb free speech or the rights of the press[.]” Shifting to The Situation Room, co-host Pamela Brown insisted we all care as much as they do, calling the development “a significant escalation and a moment or a moment for our country.” Stelter offered a hilarious claim in which he doubts Lemon wants to be the center of attention; HILARIOUS: CNN's Brian Stelter insists Don Lemon "probably doesn't want to be the story" in the news today One of the biggest lies in America -- national journalists LOVE being the story. They THRIVE off of being the center of attention. pic.twitter.com/Mb44s4549W — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 30, 2026 Referring to Lemon having been arrested in Los Angeles because he was slated to interview celebrities on the red carpet of The Grammys, Stelter said that would have been “an example of Lemon just wanting to work, sometimes covering entertainment, sometimes reporting the news in Minnesota” and “[h]e didn’t want to be the story today.” Stelter made sure to throw some love to Georgia Fort, another so-called journalist arrested, for livestreaming federal law enforcement arriving at her home and demanding she come out, saying it “really speaks and testifies to her journalistic instinct.” No, Brian, it testifies to how much she’s into herself. Speaking of being high on their own supply, Stelter and Jackson showed that in their own ways with the former again playing journalism superhero and the latter leveling a baseless claim about the Justice Department: CNN’s Brian Stelter says the arrest of Don Lemon will cause journalists in Minneapolis to double down and “take it even more seriously to make sure we are documenting what happens at these protests...so that everybody else can see what’s going on” Joey Jackson adds it’s possible… pic.twitter.com/HdoTJl4ZQt — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 30, 2026 Wrapping up the Lemon coverage for a few hours, Jackson again defended Lemon and the mob from the congregants: “If we’re in a society...where we’re not arresting people predicated upon lawful violations, but just predicated upon hurt feelings...where we’re just seeing the denigration of law and lawlessness, and it’s just — it’s alarming and shocking[.]” To see the relevant CNN transcripts from January 30, click here (for CNN News Central) and here (for The Situation Room).

"Trump, like Clinton, has not been implicated of wrongdoing, and the president has said he had a falling out with Epstein years ago." And with that brief observation by Politico on Friday by Hailey Fuchs in "DOJ announces full release of Epstein files," all their absurdly frenetic efforts last year to somehow implicate President Donald Trump via the Jeffrey Epstein files look like they came up empty.  Millions of the Epstein files were released and as Politico sadly conceded, Trump was not implicated of wrongdoing (although for  Clinton that might not be the case due to the Clintons refusing to testify on this matter to Congress). The best they could do is line up Democrats to keep complaining: "To be sure, Democrats were, in fact, not laudatory of the Friday release. Many of them have believed from the start the administration resisted releasing the Epstein files for months in an effort to shield Trump — who had a longstanding relationship with Epstein for many years — from scrutiny." Politico obsessed like the network newscasts, which spent over 1,000 minutes on this story in the second half of 2025. To get a sense of what a sad letdown this must be for Team Politico, one has to keep in mind that last summer, they were in the midst of an Epstein-files frenzy to the extent that we noted last July: "Politico Goes Full Frenzy with SIX Epstein Stories in 24 Hour Period." Their desperation to take down Trump became so absurd they even covered a South Park cartoon on this subject, "South Park skewers Trump over Epstein files, depicts him in bed with Satan." Even with stories that had absolutely nothing to do with Epstein, Politico stretched to invoke him with such laughable stories as "Deflecting Epstein questions, Trump urges DOJ to 'go after' Obama." So has Politico finally experienced a much needed reality check on the Epstein files? Probably not, because in their current Epstein files story they very noticeably avoid any mention of the revelation on the incredibly bizarre big elephant in the room which many other periodicals including even the staid Financial Times felt obligated to cover, "Jeffrey Epstein emails claim Bill Gates hid STD from wife after sex with ‘Russian girls’." Perhaps  Politico was too squeamish to report on that allegation but somehow they felt it was okay to report on the utterly fictitious cartoon of "'South Park' skewers Trump over Epstein files, depicts him in bed with Satan"?