From the desk of Rich Stephens
News for the week ending 1-31-26
Below find the expanded text from tonight’s broadcast. For corrections or additions, contact Rich directly.
Current Events
TSA and Real ID
Beginning today, February 1, 2026, TSA will require that any state issued ID used for travel be Real ID compliant. The government moved quickly to implement the Real ID act. Passed in 2005, it only took 20 years to enforce the law passed as a result of the 9/11 commission report. But don’t worry, if you don’t have a Real ID compliant state ID, you can use a passport, permanent resident card, or even a Canadian provincial driver license. Don’t have one of those? You can go online and pay $45. When you arrive at the airport, simply show the TSA your receipt and they will perform a real-time background check based on…nope, they didn’t explain that part. I feel safer already.
$45 Work Around If You Don’t Have Real ID
Tom Homan In Minneapolis
Thursday January 29’ border tzar Tom Homan spoke on his first three days on the ground in Minneapolis. He said ‘jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities are sanctuaries for criminals. Sanctuary cities are sanctuaries for criminals and endangers the residents of the community’. He noted that the Minnesota state prison system under the department of corrections has been honoring detainers and expressed appreciation. He expressed how much easier and safer it is to bring a person into ICE custody from a jail or prison than to get them from the street. He spoke about funding and organized protests and promised to prosecute crimes related to attacks on law enforcement. He was questioned about prioritizing violent criminals over people who’s only crime is being in the country illegally. In response, he said that while targeted operations are focused on aliens who have committed additional crimes, anyone who is in the country without authorization is on the table.
Tom Homan Full Press Conference
Alex Pretti
Staying in Minneapolis, a new video of ICE protester Alex Pretti has been released. A week before he was fatally shot by border patrol agents, video shows Pretti cursing and spitting at agents before kicking out the tail light of one of their vehicles. The agents then exit the vehicle and engage in a brief, physical altercation with Pretti before letting him go.
Don Lemon
Friday, January 30, Don Lemon was arrested for his participation in the disruption of a St Paul Minnesota church service. Lemon entered the church with a group of anti ICE protesters. Despite being asked to leave by the pastor, the group shouted, standing in the aisles and not allowing the service to continue. Many online were critical of the arrest, citing first amendment rights. I can’t get the original indictment doc from the court because I still don’t have access, but I included someone else’s copy in case you want to try it.
Indictment (not primary – From Nick Sorter)
Nurses Behaving Badly
Thursday January 28, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced that the state’s surgeon general pulled the license of a nurse in the state. The labor and delivery nurse posted a video saying she hoped Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt suffers catastrophic injury giving birth. That video went viral around the same time that a separate series of videos of a nurse at Virginia Commonwealth University. In them she suggested attacking ice with syringes of paralysis drugs, poison ivy water, or catfishing them into dates to put laxatives in their food. VSU released a statement that she had been fired.
NTSB Hearing On DC Plane Crash
Tuesday, January 27, the NTSB held a board meeting to discuss the midair collision between PSA airlines and a military helicopter in DC last year. Their report blames systemic failures, citing airspace design and risk management by both the FAA and the Army. They noted that neither aircraft was equipped with collision avoidance technology capable of effective alerts at such a low altitude. Had the airplane been equipped with a better system, the crew would have had 59 seconds to avoid contact with the helicopter. The NTSB issued 33 safety recommendations to the FAA and 8 to the Army.
Catherine O’Hara
Friday, January 30, Canadian actress, comedian and screenwriter Catherine O’Hara passed away. She starred in Home Alone, Beetlejuice, the sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and Dick Tracy. More recently she starred in 80 episodes of Schits Creek. Catherine O’Hara was 71 years old.
Politics
Amy Klobuchar To Run For Governor
Moving over to Politics, Thursday, January 29, senator Amy Klobuchar announced that she will run for governor of Minnesota when Tim Walz vacates the position a year from now. In a video posted to X she vowed to end fraud in the state and work with republicans to get things done. Her republican opponent and current speaker of the Minnesota house Lisa Demuth released her own video. She asserted that Klobuchar would be the same as a third term for current Governor Tim Walz and built a website walzthirdterm.com
Florida Federal Education Freedom Tax Credit
Wednesday, January 28, Florida Governor Ron Desantis announced that Florida will participate in the Federal Education Freedom Tax Credit Program. Created as part of Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, this law is a brain teaser. If your state opts in like Florida did, you can personally donate to any Scholarship Granting Organization, or SGO. Your donation, up to $1700 is then returned to you in the form of a tax credit. This is different than a deduction and if you’d like a video about how federal income tax works, let me know in the comments. You can’t earmark the money, pay private school tuition or direct the money to a specific school. Anyone may donate this money, essentially transforming tax liability into a donation to scholarship programs. The scholarships themselves are available only to students from households earning 300% or less of the median income in the county. For what it’s worth, as convoluted as this is, the federal government is going to give you back up to $1700 in donations to scholarship programs, so if you can float that money until you file your tax return, you are essentially redirecting that money away from the federal government and into a scholarship program in your state.
Mamdani and Adams Feud Over Budgets
Wednesday, January 28, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani held a press conference on the city budget. He alleged that the city has a $12B deficit, that former mayor Eric Adams did it intentionally, and that the people of New York City were deceived about it. He also blamed Andrew Cuomo for a $21B difference between what city residents pay in taxes to the state and what the city receives back in funding. Eric Adams pushed back, saying that budgets passed by his administration went through the city council. He also said that when he was mayor, the city’s credit rating was the highest in history. He maintained that he left $8B in cash reserves. He blames Mamdani’s campaign promises of more free services in New York City.
Mamdani Press Conference / Adams Rebuttal
Eric Adams Follow Up Statement
SAVE Act
The Senate did not pass the SAVE act this week. They passed some of the funding bills, but the one related to DHS was not passed. Instead, the Senate passed a 2 week continuing resolution to re-negotiate the details of DHS and ICE funding.
World
In World News, Monday, January 26, the Israeli Defense Forces announced that the last hostage held in Gaza has been recovered. Ran Gvili was a 24 year old police officer who was killed during the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023. On the following day, events were held for holocaust remembrance day. Ambassador Mike Waltz spoke to the UN saying that antisemitism is on the rise and the UN must to more to combat it.
Iran
On January 13, the American Embassy in Iran urged any Americans to leave the country. 10 days later, on the 23rd, the State Department announced that it is imposing sanctions on 9 Iranian vessels. On Thursday, January 28, President Trump posted to X and Truth Social announcing that an American armada is moving into waters near Iran. He referenced Operation Midnight Hammer and urged Iran to make a deal.
Finance
Fed Meeting Announcement
In Finance, Wednesday, January 28, Fed Chair Jerome Powell spoke following the board’s 2 day meeting. He said that the economy expanded at a solid pace last year and comes into 2026 on a solid footing. Job gains remain low, but the unemployment rate has shown signs of stabilization and inflation remains somewhat elevated. The board chose not to move interest rates this cycle after two previous reductions. He said that consumer spending has been resilient and business fixed investment has expanded while the housing sector remains weak. Donald Trump took to truth social to push back saying that with the influx of tariff money and the lowered inflation risk, the Fed should be cutting rates more aggressively. If you’d like me to do a video about how the fed works and what the fed rate really is, drop me a note in the comments.
Trump Accounts
Wednesday, January 28, President Trump held an event to speak about the Trump Accounts for children. The tax advantaged accounts allow up to $5000 / year in contributions from parents, but no limit for philanthropists who wish to donate to the program. Michael and Susan Dell donated $6.125B to assist the first 25 million accounts. The government will seed the account with $1000, and a number of companies have pledged to augment or match that contribution. Bank of America, Chipotle, Steak & Shake, and Nvidia are on the list.
Markets
Markets were mixed. The dow jones industrial average and nasdaq continued a gradual slide with the dow losing 206 points, falling to 48,892. The NASDAQ fell 40 points, closing at 23461. The S&P500 added 24 points, ending the week at 6939. Gold futures – traded on the stock market – continued to climb, closing the trading week out at $5,067 / ounce. However, on the spot market, where you can buy and sell the metal itself, both gold and silver fell sharply Friday. Gold dropped $489 and silver, which had climbed to an all time high of $115 / ounce feel $85 by the end of the day I use kitco.com for real time spot prices.
Sports
NCAAM
And in Sports, Thursday, January 29, rookie NBA players and former college teammates Cooper Flagg and Kon Kneuppel faced off in a highly anticipated game. Flagg scored 49 points to break the record for the highest single game points total by a teenager in NBA history. But it was Knapple’s 34 points and tough defense late that helped him lead the Charlotte Hornets to a 121-123 win over Flagg and the Mavericks.
And finally, at the Australian Open finals this weekend, Elena Rybakina beat Aryna Sabalenka to win her second grand slam title. Born in Russia but representing Kazakhstan, Rybakina has twice lost in the finals to Sabalenka in recent years. On the men’s side, Carlos Alcaraz overcame Novak Djokovic in 4 sets to win the Australian Open. He’s now the youngest player to ever complete a career grand slam.
Like it or not, that’s what happened
Rich Stephens
The Cold Take