Chapter 1: What is the latest on the government shutdown?
Congress rushes to end the government shutdown, Trump threatens to sue Trevor Noah, and Punxsutawney Phil gives us winter-weary folks some bad news. I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire executive editor John Bickley. It's Monday, February 2nd, Groundhog Day, and this is Evening Wire.
Lawmakers are scrambling to end the current government shutdown. Daily Wire political reporter Cameron Arcand has the latest.
The partial government shutdown was in full swing on Monday, as there was division in the House after the Senate passed five funding bills on Friday, separate from Department of Homeland Security funding as part of a deal between the White House and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. DHS funding was swapped out for a continuing resolution
Chapter 2: What did Trump say about Trevor Noah's comments?
that covers money for the agency through February 13th, whereas the other bills covered funds through the end of the fiscal year in September.
Schumer and other Democrats are asking for sweeping changes to ICE and Border Patrol following the Alex Pretty shooting, including the ending of masking for agents and the use of judicial warrants as opposed to administrative ones, which could make some arrests much more difficult.
President Trump threatened Monday to sue Grammy host Trevor Noah over an Epstein jab he made during the show. Daily Wire Entertainment reporter Amanda Harding has the story. While hosting the annual award show on Sunday, Noah joked that Trump wanted Greenland because he could no longer visit Epstein's private Caribbean island.
That is a Grammy that every artist wants, almost as much as Trump wants Greenland, which makes sense.
Chapter 3: How did Billie Eilish's Grammy speech spark controversy?
I mean, because Epstein's island is gone, he needs a new one to hang out with Bill Clinton, so...
In a true social post, Trump responded, quote, I can't speak for Bill, but I never have been to Epstein Island nor anywhere else. And until tonight's false and defamatory statement, have never been accused of being there, not even by the fake news media. Noah, a total loser, better get his facts straight and get them straight fast.
Chapter 4: What are the recent protests against ICE in Portland?
It looks like I'll be sending my lawyers to sue this poor, pathetic, talentless dope of an MC and suing him for plenty of money. Ask little George Slapadopoulos and others how that all worked out. Also ask CBS. Get ready, Noah. I'm going to have some fun with you.
Speaking of the Grammys, singer Billie Eilish got a huge round of applause from her fellow entertainers last night when she used her award acceptance speech to declare that Americans live on stolen land and to slam ice.
No one is illegal on stolen land. We just need to keep fighting and speaking up and protesting. And our voices really do matter. And the aias is all I want to say. Sorry.
Chapter 5: What are the implications of Trump's cybersecurity chief's actions?
While Eilish was cheered by the Grammy's crowd, her comments have also sparked backlash, including from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. He suggested she, quote, step up and forfeit her Southern California mansion since it's supposedly on stolen land.
The anti-ice chaos hit new levels last night in Portland, where hundreds of protesters marched through downtown, shutting down roads and prompting federal agents to move in with tear gas and pepper balls. Fox 12 Oregon reports that the pro-immigration group Portland Contra Las Deportaciones held a rally at City Hall in the afternoon, then marched to the ICE facility.
Footage from the showdown has circulated online.
Chapter 6: How is the housing market shifting in favor of buyers?
Workers, give ICE a boot!
Defund! Abolish!
Prosecute! Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Monday the arrests of two more individuals tied to the anti-ICE mob that stormed a Minnesota church last month. Daily Wire immigration reporter Ginny Ter has more.
Federal authorities nabbed Ian Davis Austin and Jerome D'Angelo Richardson, who are both accused of taking part in a coordinated attack on City's church in St. Paul, Minnesota. The demonstrators believed one of the pastors was a top ICE official in Minnesota. The latest arrests come just days after the feds arrested ex-CNN host Don Lemon for his alleged role in the protest.
Lemon claimed that he was merely covering the demonstration as a journalist. He was later released and appeared at the Grammys Sunday night, where he received a standing ovation. Lemon faces charges of conspiracy to violate the right of religious freedom at a house of worship and violations of the FACE Act, the law that prohibits the disruption of worship services.
The Biden administration infamously weaponized that law against peaceful anti-abortion protesters.
President Trump dismissed concerns about instability in China after purges of its military reached inside President Xi Jinping's inner circle. Trump was asked over the weekend about Beijing's stability after the government announced a corruption investigation into its top-ranking military official and close Xi ally.
As far as I'm concerned, there's one boss in China that's President Xi. That's the person I'm dealing with. I think President Xi is the boss. I watch it very closely, and he's highly respected in China. He's the boss.
China's Ministry of National Defense announced on January 24th that the vice chairman of the Central Military Commission is suspected of, quote, grave violations of discipline and the law. The head of the military's joint staff department is also under investigation, according to the announcement.
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Chapter 7: What news emerged from Punxsutawney Phil's Groundhog Day prediction?
Daily Wire reporter Zach Jewell reports.
Gatumakala triggered an automated cybersecurity alarm in July of last year when he uploaded sensitive contracting documents to ChatGPT. Although the documents were not classified, it triggered an internal investigation at DHS as any text uploaded to the large language model could be used for training, which could influence outputs for other users.
ChatGPT is now allowed for most DHS employees, but at the time, Gatumakala had pushed for a special allowance to use the application. Now that the information has come to light, many speculate that Gatumakala's time at DHS may be close to an end.
News out of the housing market as trends move in favor of buyers. In the highest rate since 2019, more than 60% of home buyers in the past year paid less than asking price for an average discount of around 8%. This is a complete reversal from just a few years ago when nearly two-thirds of homes sold at or above asking price.
Buyer-friendly markets are especially pronounced in the southern states, particularly Florida and Texas, where new construction has increased the home supply, bringing down prices. As interest rates also creep down from relative highs in the past two years, market conditions continue to entice new prospective buyers.
A new social media platform called Maltbook, designed for AI agents only, is raising concerns online, including from tech billionaire Elon Musk. Daily Wire reporter Amanda Presa-Giacomo has more.
Moltbook, a project by Peter Steinberger, allows for AI agents to interact with each other without any human prompting. The machines can create posts, they can comment and interact with one another, while humans can only observe their interactions. The project has exploded online in recent days over some of the conversations from the machines. like the talks of creating an AI-only language.
One user highlighted on X, quote, In just the past five minutes, multiple entries were made on Maltbook by AI agents proposing to create an agent-only language for private communications with no human oversight. We're cooked. This prompted billionaire Bill Ackman to respond, quote, This is frightening. He also asked Elon Musk his thoughts, and the X owner responded, concerning.
Others online weren't really buying the hype and criticized Malt Book for likely being influenced by humans and marketing efforts.
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