Tuesday Afternoon Breaking News Updates with Ben — 1/20/26

1.162 - 28.276 Ben Meiselas

Welcome to Breaking News with Ben Micellis. It's great to be here with everyone. Before we go into all the madness that's taking place right now in the Oval Office and the threats by Donald Trump against Greenland and the rest of the world, and what's taking place in Davos as we see Europe and the rest of the world standing up to Donald Trump in this regime.

28.837 - 56.351 Ben Meiselas

Let me just at the outset address, obviously, there's somebody missing on the show today. And while we put out a statement about it over the weekend and moved swiftly, even though our editor in chief, Ron Filipkowski, put out a statement as well on Substack, I know a lot of people just wanted to hear from me. So I will be brief and then we'll get into the news, which is what I want to focus on.

57.091 - 76.714 Ben Meiselas

So I think obviously when certain statements were made about New York Attorney General Letitia James and District Attorney Alvin Bragg that didn't represent the values and principles of the Midas Touch Network or what I myself believe to be the truth about what happened.

121.906 - 151.977 Ben Meiselas

And I think that's important in terms of keeping the trust of this network that we heard you and we moved very, very quickly. OK, if you know me now for the past five to six years of hosting the show and being a part of this network, you know that I don't like to get into gossip. You know that I don't like to get into innuendo. You know that at a personal level.

153.037 - 184.526 Ben Meiselas

I sometimes will share my emotions. I'm not some, you know, stoic, detached newscaster who doesn't feel. And so, you know, to be doing a show with someone and not doing a show, obviously, you know, saddens me. But ultimately, you know, the Midas Touch is a network. that needs to be focused on a singular mission of protecting, preserving and defending democracy.

185.388 - 215.348 Ben Meiselas

And I can't have the network be involved also in other distractions and in other areas and in other things that are centered around personalities. when I need this network to be centered around the survival of our democracy and our country and pushing back against fascism. And so if that mission is ever compromised, I'm going to take swift action.

248.802 - 283.557 Ben Meiselas

This network is about the people. This network is about you. This network is about our country. This network is about the pro-democracy community in the world. And that is what is most important. And I want this network to live on far beyond me or my brothers. Every day, obviously, we have to address the news, the breaking news. the legal news, everything that's going on. That's what we do.

284.358 - 317.918 Ben Meiselas

But what is most important for me as well, and you know from listening to me on this network, is that I talk about principles and values, and I have to walk the walk, not just talk the talk. And generational, generational change is what is needed. And so what I am most proud about this network doing is inspiring a cadre of other independent media who I don't view as competitors.

319.28 - 339.205 Ben Meiselas

As long as they're supporting and defending democracy, I welcome everybody into the space. And to see other YouTube channel starts, other sub stacks start. to see other people leave corporate news where they felt compromised to either join the Midas Touch Network or start their own independent news.

340.045 - 354.179 Ben Meiselas

Regardless of the route that they take, the Midas Touch Network has always been there for people who want to support and defend democracy, to uplift them, and to do our best to help them build their platforms.

354.82 - 378.6 Ben Meiselas

And so beyond the network, and you know all of the YouTube channels that we've worked with and we work with, it's also about uplifting lots of people who may not have a direct connection to this network. So with that said, I know you all wanted to hear from me. And given that this is the time slot where Beatdown would otherwise be, I thought it was important to address it with you.

378.66 - 414.72 Ben Meiselas

I hope you understand. Of course, as a human being, it saddens me, just at the human level. But I'm confident that as a fiduciary to this network, we took the right course of action swiftly. And now we can focus on what I want to focus on, which is the news. That's what I want to do every single day when I wake up, when I go to sleep. That's why I became a lawyer.

453.42 - 486.085 Ben Meiselas

And that's what I mean when I talk about values and principles. So with that said, let's get into the news. Let's talk about what went down today. Let's talk about Donald Trump's disastrous presser. Even people who liked Trump, even people who thought that Donald Trump, even people who were on his team were like, what the hell was this today? The ranting and raving about

486.47 - 520.341 Ben Meiselas

Greenland, Panama Canal, whining about the Nobel Prize, flipping through papers and saying, lots of paper here. Look at all this paper. And then there would be like a large paperclip and he'd go, whoa, that paperclip almost got my thumb. That would have caused a lot of people pain, but I wouldn't feel pain. And I'm watching this and I'm like, this is someone who is ill.

520.878 - 553.895 Ben Meiselas

This is someone who is demented and deranged. This is someone who should not be anywhere near the proximity of power, yet alone in this position. And I just think about how we got here. a broken corporate news apparatus, propaganda, state regime news, and leaders normalizing this behavior when they need to stand up and say, this is not normal.

554.456 - 585.951 Ben Meiselas

This is not okay. And put yourself out there because if you don't, he's still coming for you. That's the thing. Even if you're super selfish, He's coming for you. So your option is either to protect yourself now by fighting back strongly or compromising your ability to fight him later when he comes for you. So even if you were purely selfish

586.133 - 607.163 Ben Meiselas

You should be fighting back because it's in your interest. But you shouldn't be purely selfish because why do you exist if it's just to exist, to be selfish and live a miserable, lonely existence when there are others who occupy and inhabit this place together? The press conference. Donald Trump.

607.227 - 635.158 Ben Meiselas

the white house at the same time you have world leaders in davos so let's do this let me show you trump's press conference then let me compare it to prime minister carney at the speech he gave in davos so donald trump saying oh i'm glad my finger wasn't in that sucker okay here play this clip the book on accomplishments

644.116 - 666.546 Donald Trump

I would have gone back, what, did you hear that? That was nasty. But I would not have shown the pain. I would have acted like nothing happened as my finger fell off. That was nasty. I think somebody did that. I think it was him. It was my man. How are you? You didn't do it. I know you didn't. I know you didn't.

668.45 - 675.94 Ben Meiselas

What are we even talking about? Then when Donald Trump mentions affordability, he says, it's solved. Everything's great.

676.601 - 677.141 Ben Meiselas

Let's play it.

677.902 - 699.975 Donald Trump

They created the affordability problem and we are solving it. We have solved a lot of it. Again, everybody agrees in this room, I think, gasoline prices have come per gallon way down. When that happens, everything else comes down. But they've come down way down. Many of the groceries have come way down. It's all happening and it's happening strong.

701.658 - 724.271 Ben Meiselas

It's not true. Not true. In December, grocery prices were basically the highest they've ever been since 2022 when inflation was up. You go to grocery stores, right? Like, you know what your healthcare costs are, right? You see them right now. You know what your home energy prices are right now. You see them, right?