Democrats Demand Agents Take Off Their Masks, and Judge Says ICE Violated Nearly 100 Court Orders

0:02From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Thursday, January 29th. Here's what we're covering.

0:13This is not border security. This is not law and order. This is chaos created at the top and felt in so many of our neighborhoods. Top Senate Democrats, led by Chuck Schumer, are demanding new restrictions on federal immigration agents in exchange for averting a government shutdown. Funding for multiple federal agencies is set to lapse tomorrow night, unless at least a handful of Democrats join with Republicans to push through a spending package. Democrats, however, are calling for the Senate to split off funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE, so they can vote on that separately and negotiate for restrictions on agents' behavior.

0:57We want masks off, body cameras on. No more anonymous agents, no more secret operatives. The Times has learned that as of last night, Schumer and President Trump seem to be moving toward a possible agreement, though officials with knowledge of their discussion said a lot of hurdles remained. There's expected to be a test vote on the spending package, with DHS funding still included in the Senate this morning. Meanwhile, in Minnesota, the Trump administration's facing growing pushback from the courts over its aggressive immigration enforcement operations. The chief federal judge there lambasted ICE yesterday, saying the agency had violated nearly 100 court orders and had disobeyed more judicial directives this month alone than some federal agencies had in their entire existence.

1:51That included things like ignoring court orders to let ICE detainees challenge their detention or be released. After attaching a rundown of the orders he said ICE failed to follow, the judge wrote, this list should give pause to anyone, no matter his or her political beliefs, who cares about the rule of law. And another federal judge ordered agents in the state to stop detaining and deporting refugees. Agents have swept up at least 100 people so far, even though they'd already been carefully vetted. Some of them were shackled, flown to Texas, and held for days, then released with no way to get back home.

2:31The judge wrote that people with refugee status have a legal right to live peacefully in the U.S.

2:42Now, three other quick updates on the administration. President Trump has sharply intensified his threats against Iran, saying the U.S. could attack soon with, quote, speed and violence if the country doesn't agree to a set of demands. Trump didn't outline what those demands are, but the U.S. has been pushing for Iran to wind down its nuclear program and stop supporting proxy groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, among other things. The threat comes as the U.S. Navy has moved ships, including an aircraft carrier, into striking distance of Iran. And Trump explicitly compared the buildup of forces to what he ordered near Venezuela before U.S.

3:25troops captured its president. Iran's foreign minister recently warned the U.S. that an all-out confrontation would be messy and ferocious. Also, in a hearing on Capitol Hill yesterday... They will submit every month a budget of this is what we need funded. We will provide for them at the front end what that money cannot be used for. And they've been very cooperative in this regard. In fact, Secretary of State Marco Rubio gave new details about how the Trump administration is exerting control over Venezuela. He said the White House will oversee the sale of Venezuelan oil, then decide what revenue from that goes back to the country.

4:03He said the money will come by way of an account managed by Qatar. I understand it's novel, but it's the best we could come up with in the short term. Rubio said the third-party account was necessary because of U.S. financial sanctions on Venezuela. But Democratic senators questioned the legality of the arrangement and criticized the administration's open-ended involvement in the country. You are taking their oil at gunpoint. You're deciding how and for what purposes that money is going to be used in a country of 30 million people. I think a lot of us believe that that is destined for failure.

4:36And I know that you're telling us today just to be patient. And last update, in Fulton County, Georgia, yesterday, FBI agents executed a search warrant at an election center in an attempt to seize ballots from the 2020 election. It's the latest sign that the Trump administration is doubling down on the president's baseless claims that the election was rigged. Fulton County, which voted overwhelmingly for Joe Biden, has been at the center of those conspiracy theories. and it's where Trump himself was criminally charged with election interference. The warrant said the FBI was investigating the possible destruction of election-related records, among other things.

5:16A Democratic commissioner in the county, however, accused Trump of trying to create chaos before the midterm elections, saying, quote, This is all about November 2026.

5:31Over the last year or so, news about the price of gold rising and rising has become common. Just this week, gold hit a record high, surging over$5 ,000 an ounce. But now, silver is surging even faster, with some analysts calling it gold on steroids. To be clear, it's not worth as much as gold. The price of silver just crossed$100 an ounce, but it is rising at breakneck speeds. Some of that momentum likely comes from the waves of instability that have been sweeping the globe. Trade tensions, wars or the threat of wars, rising debt, etc. When things get bumpy, investors look for safe places to park their money.

6:14But there are other factors at play. China has been cracking down on silver exports this year. And silver has a lot of very in-demand industrial uses right now. Because of its ability to conduct electricity, silver is used in everything from solar panels to the data centers that power AI. Still, some market forecasters are warning that silver's rally may be getting ahead of itself. Bank of America gave silver the highest ranking on its recent list of investments that have, quote, bubble-like asset dynamics.

6:56And finally, there's a new documentary opening in theaters this weekend. Documentaries, of course, are not typically blockbusters, but this one has a$35 million marketing budget behind it, complete with a trailer that ran during the NFL playoffs and a giant ad in Times Square. Here we go again. It is Melania. The film follows the first lady in the days leading up to Trump's inauguration last year. Hi, Mr. President. Congratulations. Did you watch it? I did not. Yeah, I will see it on the news. The documentary has drawn controversy ever since it went into production. It was directed by Brett Ratner, who hasn't made a film since 2017, when multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct.

7:44More eyebrows went up when the documentary was sold. Amazon paid Melania Trump's production company$40 million for the film's rights. That was$26 million more than the next highest bidder. In a statement, Amazon said, We licensed the film for one reason and one reason only, because we think customers are going to love it. But many in Hollywood have questioned the company's motivations, since Amazon is unlikely to recoup its massive investment. One former senior employee at Amazon's film division called it a blatant attempt to win over the Trumps. He said, quote, how can it not be equated with currying favor or an outright bribe?

8:27For comparison, if you look at another political documentary, the 2018 Oscar-nominated film RBG about the life of the Supreme Court justice, it had a total promotional budget of about$3 million, less than a tenth of what's being spent to push Melania. Those are the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow with the latest and the Friday News Quiz.