Transcript of Minneapolis Fuels Unrest & Trump’s Iran Plan | 1.12.26

As investigations into the Minneapolis ICE shooting continue, anti-government protests spread into other cities across the US.

I wish we would talk factually about what we see every day from these protesters, how they chant over and over, kill ICE, attack law enforcement, how they're trained to perpetuate violence against them.

I'm Daily Wire executive editor John Bickley with Georgia How. It's Monday, January 12th. This is Morning Wire.

President Trump weighs his options in Iran as the government cracks down with deadly force on anti-regime protests.

I've made this statement very strongly that if they start killing people like they have in the past, we will get involved. We'll be hitting them very hard where it hurts.

Will the US carry out more strikes? And is Cuba now in the President's crosshairs?

Thanks for waking up with MorningWire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.

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Nationwide protests continued to spread this weekend following a deadly ICE-involved shooting in Minneapolis.

Daily Wires Senior Editor, Cabot Phillips, is here with The Latest Hey, Cabot. So the story out of Minneapolis continues to dominate the headlines. Lots of video footage streaming in. Where do things stand now in the city?

Yeah, you mentioned video footage coming in. Alpha News actually obtained the cell phone footage taken by the ICE agent during last week's shooting, and it does give a much fuller picture of what transpired. As the agent approaches 37-year-old Renee Good, who is sitting in the driver's seat, he's first haunted by Good's wife. Have a listen. You want to come at us? You want to come at us?

I said, Go get yourself some lunch, big boy.

Seconds later, as other agents demand that Good get out of her car, her wife yields, Drive, baby, drive. You can then see Good appearing to look directly at the officer in front of her car before revving her engine and accelerating. We're not going to play that part, but you can hear the officer let out a panicked scream as he is seemingly hit by the vehicle. You can also hear that on the video before three shots ring out. Now, Republicans felt that footage further vindicated the officer and showed that this was a justified case of self-defense. But many on the left continued to double down and claimed that this was murder. Congresswoman Iyana Presley, for example, demanded that the entire agency be abolished, while Democratic congressman Adam Schiff claimed the victim was not even taking in any protest, but was simply caught up in the crowd. Now, obviously, that is just a false claim. Renee Good and her wife were acting as so-called legal observers, which typically applies to protesters attempting to document and often disrupt ICE operations. Elsewhere, Democratic rep Ilhan Omar, who represents Minneapolis in Congress, spoke at a rally there.

We are going to make sure that these people pay for what they have done to us.

She later appeared on CBS and then went on to basically blame the ICE agent for being in the way of a moving car.

They are saying that he has 10 years on service and is trained. He should know that you shouldn't be trying to get in front of a moving car.

Some of those claims, pretty remarkable to listen to. Tell us more about these mass protests that we saw really take over the city over the weekend.

Yeah, tens of thousands of people gathered in Minneapolis and cities and towns across the entire country. This was part of a highly organized, what they called, Ice Out For Good movement. A number of these protests, many of which were outside ICE facilities, did turn violent, prompting a number of arrests and forcing police to deploy tear gas. Other groups like Freedom Road, Socialist Organization, and the People's Forum also provided resources and other support to demonstrators.

Now, on the other side of the country, we saw another ICE involved shooting over the weekend. Tell us about that.

Right over in Portland, immigration agents were conducting a targeted traffic stop on two individuals when, according to the DHS, agents identified themselves to the vehicle occupants. The driver weaponized his vehicle and attempted to run over the law enforcement agents. One of those agents opened fire in self-defense and struck both occupants. Within hours, law enforcement confirmed that both victims not only had lengthy rap sheets, but were also affiliated with the Violent Trend DeAragua Gang. In a remarkable press conference, Portland Police Chief Bob Day actually broke down in tears when he confirmed that news.

It saddens me that we even have to qualify these remarks.

As you can imagine, the Trump Whitehouse quickly pushed back on that video. For example, here's ICE director Todd Lyons giving a strong response to those comments. Have a listen.

I have no idea what he's crying about. I would think he would be happy that we take these criminal elements out of his neighborhoods.

More broadly, it's worth noting just how much of an uptick in attacks on ICE agents that we've seen this year alone. So according to the data from DHS, in 2024, there were two vehicular attacks against ICE agents. But in the last 12 months, there have been, get this, 66. Secretary Noem and the White House say that perpetrators should be treated as domestic terrorists.

Right. The department has been very consistent on that front. Kevin, thanks so much for your point.

Absolutely.

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President Trump is reportedly weighing action in Iran as the regime cracks down on protests that have roiled the country since late December.

Daily Wire reporter Tim pierce is here to discuss the latest with Iran, as well as new noise out of Washington about Cuba. Tim, we've been tracking these protests in Iran that have ramped up over the last few days. What's the latest with those protests?

Yeah, they've really exploded across the country. The Iranian government shut down Internet access and banned international phone calls late last week. Since then, we've seen many grave reports that suggest a severe crackdown on the demonstrations. Over the past few days, the estimated death toll has risen from a few dozen to hundreds or maybe even thousands killed by Iranian security forces, which have been bolstered by some of Iran's terror proxies from outside the country. Here's exiled Iranian Crown Prince Riza Palavi on Fox News yesterday.

In the last 48 hours, Iranians have suffered more casualties that America did after the 9/11 attack. This is a moment that is defining.

Despite Despite being completely cut off from the world, Internet shutdown, and for a regime that is massacring its own people, this is an opportunity to liberate that nation.

Remember, the same thugs that hate America also hate their own people.

This, of course, raises the question of whether President Trump will follow through on his threat to take action to protect the lives of Iranian protesters. There have been some reports of high-level talks about options for a potential strike, and a Sunday report in the Wall Street Journal says that will be briefed on specifics for a strike on Tuesday. Meanwhile, videos of some protests have made it on social media and show sometimes crowds of thousands of people at a single demonstration. This has only increased speculation about whether the regime will, in fact, continue to hold on or whether we could see it toppled after nearly 50 years of authoritarian rule, which we will hear more about in the next segment.

Right. Meanwhile, President Trump is reportedly considering another strike. What's the reaction to that, Ben?

So inside Iran, the Islamic regime has threatened payback for any outside involvement. When it comes to the US, a spokesman for Iran's parliament said that potential targets include US military bases and shipping lanes in the Middle East, as well as Israeli military bases. In response to that, Israel said that the Israeli military is prepared for anything. But a potential US strike is also receiving resistance from inside Washington, too. Here was Democratic Senator Mark Warner on Fox News on Sunday. If we take a kinetic strike, does that actually unite the Iranian people in a way that the regime has not been able to. The last time we intervened in Iran in a major way was 1953, when the CIA overthrew the Iranian regime to protect Iranian oil for the West.

Many historians would argue that led to the the Ayatola.

Now, back in the Western hemisphere, Trump is reportedly interested in making a deal with Cuba. What does Trump want out of that deal?

That's not really clear. Unlike Venezuela, Cuba doesn't really have any natural resources and any significant quantities that the United States needs. Although Cuba has been a useful pond for Russia and Chinese influence in the Western hemisphere. It was very close with Venezuela, and Maduro, specifically. Venezuela sent cheap oil to Cuba, and Cuban Special Forces helped protect Maduro's hold on power. Now, without that easy source of energy, Cuba's government may be on the edge of collapse as well. Trump's Truth Social Post on Sunday suggested that Cuba needs to make a deal with the US for protection since it no longer has Venezuela's support.

Well, they're in dire straits without that oil. Tim, thanks for reporting. Good to be on. The uprising in Iran could get even more bloody, but it also presents the possibility of a more stable democratic Middle East.

Joining us now to discuss is Binham Bin Taliblu, the Senior Director of the Iran program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Binham, thank you for coming on the show.

Pleasure. Great to be with you.

Iran's protest crackdown has already killed hundreds, and the regime is taking increasingly drastic action. What have you heard about what things are like on the ground there?

Well, I got to tell you, there has been an escalating Internet blackout in Iran. And if past this prolog, it's Iranians who die in the darkness. The regime is, first and foremost, doing this Internet blackout to sever the ability of Iranians to communicate and organize with one another. Second, to be able to cut that very important bridge between external opposition and internal revolutionaries and internal protesters. And third, to be able to allow US President Donald Trump, as well as the international media, to turn a blind eye and say they didn't see the crackdown. And I got to tell you, there's nothing worse than having to imagine what a crackdown looks like based on text and reports. Just earlier today, I was looking on Persian language social media. There was reports of Iranians waking up to having to see regime workers having to power wash blood off the streets with very big hoses.

Like you said, hard to imagine. How do these protests compare in scale and organization to past uprisings in Iran?

Sure. I've looked at a heck of a lot of protests against the Islamic Republic, and certainly, as long as there's been an Islamic Republic, there's been some level of street activity against it. This most recent iteration is the most significant battle for power in Iran between the street and the state, and also, I would say, the most important challenge to the regime's legitimacy from the street in the past 46 years.

If there is regime change, what would you expect to take its place?

Well, I know what the ideal is, because certainly more than ever before, Iranian protesters have been chanting the name and even the family of the son of the late Shah Khan, Crown Prince Reza Fadlevi, who lives in America. The most important question is not if and when the regime falls, but how the regime falls. What role the West plays, what role Washington plays, how the regime falls will tell you if there's there's evolution, if there's devolution, or if there's revolution.

Any chances that a new government would see more democratic elements?

Certainly if you have the trajectory go your way, which also happens to be the way that's in the national interest of America, the national interest of Israel, and most importantly, in the national interest and in the popular will of your average protesting Iranian. Iranians want a more representative government. They've had one of the oldest constitutional revolutions in Asia. So this is not particularly alien to them. And that's why for Washington and American audience, I say there's a difference between foreign-imposed versus foreign-supported regime change. But again, that how question, the help that the liberals and the Democrats and the secularists and the nationalists in the Middle East get will be critical to achieving a post-Islamic Republic future that looks better. Because otherwise, if it's left alone, if it's just the hard military men who come in, if it's another regime figure, that would be a setback, in my view, and certainly would be a setback for the century-long quest representative government by the Iranian people.

Do you expect the US to get involved? You've mentioned the role outside support could play. Do you think strikes are in the works here, or will the US provide other means of supporting an uprising?

Well, I think President Trump has everybody where he wants them, which is both allies and adversaries having to guess as to what he's going to do. No doubt there's a psychological element there. But I will also say, given the repeated number of times the President has reupped his threat against the regime, it can go from putting wind behind the of Iranian protesters, which his very historic statement did, to ultimately, unfortunately, being a prop by the regime against the three to say, Aha, you see, the West never really would bail you out anyway. And then that paved the way for an even more grotesque crackdown. So Certainly in terms of options, President Donald Trump against this regime who had a horrible year in 2025, economically, environmentally, politically, and certainly militarily. President Trump has all the cards. But I would say that the Islamic Republic would be making a bad bet. If they think the guy who just a few days ago robbed the regime of its sole state ally in South America, I would say they would be making a very bad bet that what he would not do is something not lethal.

Indeed. As you've said, the record makes that clear. Benham, thank you so much for joining us.

It's been a pleasure.

Really good to see you, and thanks for having me. Thanks for waking up with us. And for those of you listening to the show, now you can watch for free on Daily Wire+. We'll be back later this evening with more news you need to know.