Emily Dushinsky reports on February 4, 2026, detailing Minneapolis activist Jill Garvey's "Defend the 612" network, funded by the Hopewell Fund, which allegedly trained members to provoke federal immigration enforcement, contributing to the deaths of Renee Goode and Alex Predi. Simultaneously, authorities search for missing Nancy Guthrie after an unconfirmed Bitcoin ransom note threatens her life, while a federal judge blocks the Trump administration from ending Temporary Protected Status for 350,000 Haitians. NASA also delays the Artemis II moon mission to March due to hydrogen leaks, highlighting a day of escalating domestic unrest and space program setbacks. [Automatically generated summary]
I'm Emily Dushinsky, host of Afterparty and the Megan Kelly wrap-up show on SiriusXM Channel 111.
It's Wednesday, February 4th, 2026.
This is your AM update.
Those are the justifications for this aggressive targeting, but immigrants and other marginalized groups of people are just caught in the crosshairs.
Bombshell new reporting is pulling back the curtain on a radical anti-ICE network operating inside Minneapolis.
We got something in our email that looks like a ransom note for Savannah Guthrie's mother.
The search for Savannah Guthrie's 84-year-old mother continues as reports of a possible ransom note emerge.
A federal judge blocking the Trump administration from ending temporary protected status for an estimated 350,000 Haitians living in the U.S.
And NASA delaying the launch of the historic Artemis II moon mission after a leak was discovered during pre-launch testing.
All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM update.
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A new investigation from City Journal pulling back the curtain on a radical anti-ICE network operating inside Minneapolis.
Investigative journalist Christina Buttons going inside Ice Watch Group, quote, Defend the 612, named for the Minneapolis area code, which she describes as quote, the beating heart of the city's resistance to federal immigration enforcement.
Buttons gaining access to signal messaging chats, reviewing its training materials, and tracing its funding and organizational support to outside sources.
Buttons reporting, quote, members and related officials have encouraged protesters to impede law enforcement, pushed civilians toward legally and physically risky confrontations, and helped mobilize a counterprotest that turned violent.
Two civilians, Renee Goode and Alex Predi, fatally shot in January amid confrontations with federal agents as they participated in quote ICE watching, where trained agitators are encouraged to track ICE agents, film their activities, blow whistles, block traffic, and otherwise impede law enforcement.
Buttons uncovering a signal profile in Defend the 612 appearing to belong to Renee Goode.
According to City Journal, Defend the 612 runs frequent IceWatch trainings, teaching attendees how to, quote, identify, document, and alert others to immigration enforcement.
The journal identifying activist Jill Garvey as a prominent organizing advisor to Defend the 612.
In 2024, Garvey founding States at the Core, or STACK, which the journal reports, quote, is fiscally sponsored by the Hopewell Fund, a nonprofit, progressive advocacy group described as part of a, quote, dark money network.
Buttons posting one of Garvey's Zoom training videos to X, where Garvey lays out the worldview driving these efforts.
Why is it happening?
Is it because of immigration?
Is it because there's actually a problem with an invasion into the U.S. or because there's crime?
No, that's not it, right?
Those are the justifications for this aggressive targeting.
But immigrants and other marginalized groups of people are just caught in the crosshairs, right, of this escalation of authoritarianism.
So this has been happening throughout history.
It has happened throughout authoritarian movements, right?
It's this need to scapegoat vulnerable people so they can consolidate power and profit.
According to City Journal, Defend the 612's trainings go beyond identifying and documenting immigration enforcement, even encouraging protesters to get themselves arrested to divert federal resources away from their intended targets.
Minneapolis City Council member Dan Engelhardt describing the mission as to quote, slow law enforcement actions down and cost them money.
Instructor Lex Horan in a training video posted to X by Buttons advising participants on risk taking.
Within that every day, we also encourage folks to make their own personal risk assessments.
When we say risk assessment here, we mean checking in with yourself, checking in with your people.
What am I willing, what am I up for today?
What am I willing to risk at any given moment to protect what I love?
Our love for our neighbors is what brings us here.
And given that love, given that care, what am I up for risking?
And we encourage folks to stretch a little bit.
That stretch doesn't mean overriding our boundaries, but it means stretching a bit.
Organizers capitalizing on the deaths of Good and Pretty to boost recruitment numbers reports City Journal.
Quote, the evening Good died, Defend the 612 held an emergency vigil during which flyers were distributed directing attendees to join the group.
One organizer reporting on a Zoom call that they received about a thousand new signups the following day.
Buttons writes, quote, this cycle reveals the core strategy of Defend the 612's leadership, using casualties as a catalyst for further escalation.
The search continues for Nancy Guthrie, 84-year-old mother of NBC host Savannah Guthrie, as authorities confirmed they are aware of a possible ransom note being sent to various media outlets.
Guthrie reported missing around noon on Sunday.
She was last seen on Saturday night.
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos at a press conference yesterday, declining to give a direct answer about whether authorities or anyone in the family had received instructions from a possible suspect, instead offering that investigators are, quote, following all leads.
Shortly after yesterday's press conference, TMZ reporting on a memo they received.
We got something in our email that looks like a ransomware.
It's written like a ransom note for Savannah Guthrie's mother, specifically certain amounts of money, very specific.
And also, they say at the bottom there are certain things they're saying about what she was wearing and damage to the house that they're clearly saying to verify that we're talking about here.
So we've contacted the Sheriff's Department and we want to get them this letter.
And we had a little trouble getting through to the right person, but the person we spoke with is now forwarding this to somebody in the Detective Bureau.
Again, we don't know.
We don't know if it's authentic or not.
But when you read it, they're acting as if, yeah, only we would know these things and we're serious and there's a dollar demand and an or else in there.
Other newsrooms reporting receiving similar letters.
KGUN in Tucson reporting the note, quote, makes a specific demand for several million dollars in Bitcoin by Thursday and threatens to kill her if payment is not received by Monday.
It also makes specific reference to two pieces of evidence at the crime scene, which we cannot authenticate as legitimate.
It is unclear if the deadline is referencing this coming Thursday.
The Pima County Sheriff's Office posting on X, quote, we are aware of reports circulating about possible ransom notes regarding the investigation into Nancy Guthrie.
Anything that comes in goes directly to our detectives who are coordinating with the FBI.
NewsNation yesterday capturing footage of what appears to be bloodstains on the tile floor outside of Guthrie's front door, as well as a missing ring camera.
Investigators are aware of the missing camera, telling reporters yesterday they're looking into it.
Sheriff Nanos saying investigators have finished processing the house as a crime scene and are awaiting reports from the DNA lab, hoping for hits on a possible suspect.
At this time, investigators are unaware if they are dealing with one or multiple suspects.
The search for Guthrie grows more urgent with passing time as authorities say her daily medication was left behind.
And without it, Guthrie's life is at risk.
President Trump yesterday from the Oval weighing in.
Have you been briefed on Savannah Guthrie's mom missing in Arizona?
I think it's terrible.
Would you commit to more federal agents like helping out on the surface?
Sure, with my penicolor later on.
I think it's a terrible thing.
I always get along very good with Savannah.
Very unusual situation, but we're going to find out.
Coming up, a federal judge halting the Trump administration's attempt to return about 350,000 Haitians to their native country.
And the Artemis II mission, set to send humans back into deep space, postponed the details next.
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Judge Halts Haitian Deportations00:05:38
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A federal judge on Monday blocking the Trump administration from ending temporary protected status or TPS for an estimated 350,000 Haitians living in the U.S., at least for now.
The ruling coming from Biden-appointed district judge Ana Reyes in Washington, D.C. TPS grants certain foreign nationals their legal right to live and work in the U.S., avoiding deportation if their home country faces war, natural disaster, or other extreme circumstances.
The Obama administration originally granting Haitians TPS in 2010 after a catastrophic earthquake.
The status renewed several times since, most recently by the Biden administration in 2024, amid political turmoil in the country.
DHS Secretary Noam announcing in November the administration would terminate the status for Haitians on February 3rd of this year.
The move challenged by a group of five Haitian TPS holders seeking a stay on the termination as the case plays out.
Judge Reyes writing the plaintiffs arguing, quote, Secretary Noam preordained her termination decision and did so because of hostility to non-white immigrants.
Judge Reyes finding, quote, this seems substantially likely.
The judge denying the government's motion to dismiss the case entirely, writing, quote, the government's primary response is that the TPS statutes gives the secretary unbounded discretion to make whatever determination she wants, any way she wants.
And yes, the judge continues, the statute does grant her some discretion, but not unbounded discretion.
The ruling is only a temporary stay, keeping TPS protections in place as the lawsuit works through the court system.
We spoke to executive president of America First Policy Institute, Ashley Hayek, who says Judge Reyes is a partisan actor.
Judge Reyes has a very radical left background.
When she was in private practice a while ago, she worked on cross-border legal issues, taking on pro bono cases to represent asylum seekers and refugee organizations.
She was part of a legal team that challenged the Trump administration's restrictions on refugees entering the U.S. through ports of entry.
That was back in 2018.
So this woman has a very long history of being a total activist on immigration issues.
It's completely ridiculous because President Trump and Secretary Noam have had the same policy since day one, and it's to follow the law.
She has been the one who's constantly challenged immigration law in her own private practice for decades, Biden appointee or Biden autopin appointee and real judicial activist.
Judge Reyes, in her opinion, citing the State Department's travel advisory warning to U.S. citizens not to travel to Haiti as evidence contradicting DHS's conclusion that Haitians can safely return.
Hayek tells us that reasoning is irrelevant in this case.
It was concluded that Haiti had no longer met the temporary protective status statutory requirements.
A safe return is actually possible.
And so TPES was ruled back lawfully, just as it was done with Venezuela.
And DHS followed the statue.
It is different.
Remember, a lot of these people were granted TPS because of a hurricane in Haiti.
So if they need to seek asylum, then there's a different process for that.
But a lot of these folks have been funneled in through the Biden administration under the guise, and even long, long before that, due to other circumstances.
So therefore, if they want to come back into this country, there are other ways in which they can do that.
The administration declaring it intends to appeal the order.
DHS Assistant Secretary Trisha McLaughlin posting to X, quote, Supreme Court, here we come.
This is a lawless activism that we will be vindicated on.
Hayek says the Trump administration has had a similar case in front of the high court with success.
We saw that when the Department of Homeland Security announced TPS terminations for Venezuelans for 2021 and 2023 designations, that also had court challenges that temporarily halted those terminations.
When that went to the Supreme Court, they did allow termination of the 2023 and 2021 designations.
And I think you'll see the exact same thing here.
Hayek says this ruling is just the latest in a long list of activist judges inserting themselves where they don't belong.
We've seen this at least six times in this administration.
And it's just a pattern of judicial intervention during the Trump administration.
Despite there is clear statutory prohibition, the federal district courts have been issuing injunctions blocking TPS terminations for various countries.
And so ultimately, the courts are going to be overruled.
There could be something done by Congress.
Congress moves very slow.
But that would probably be the other way to reform any sort of TPS status.
Artemis II Moon Delay00:02:09
NASA delaying its next crewed Artemis mission to the moon, now targeting March for the earliest possible launch.
The Artemis II mission initially anticipating liftoff as early as February 8th.
But NASA says issues discovered in a pre-launch test on Monday forced the delay.
The mission is set to take off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Artemis II will send four astronauts into deep space for the first time since the Apollo program ended more than 50 years ago, where the crew will fly around the moon before returning to Earth.
Astronaut Reid Wiseman, the commander of Artemis II, describing the mission on CBS.
We're going pretty far past the moon, actually.
We're going to be quite a bit further.
Apollo was in low lunar orbit.
They were about 60 miles off the surface of the moon.
We're going to be 3,000 to 6,000 miles off the surface of the moon.
So the moon's about that big out the window.
You can see the whole thing, North Pole to South Pole on the far side.
And I will tell you, when Earth set in the simulator that we did last week, when Earth set, it was magnificent.
But when Earth rose, it stopped us all in our tracks.
The delay coming after multiple issues, including hydrogen leaks, were detected in a pre-launch dress rehearsal.
The Artemis 1 facing similar delays in spring of 2022 before eventually going on to complete a successful mission.
Artemis II is a key step toward returning humans to the surface of the moon and eventually sending astronauts to Mars and beyond.
As launch day nears, crew member Victor Glover tells CBS, faith is a key part of success.
Before I jump in at T38, I say a prayer.
I say a prayer and I say I love you to my wife and daughters every time.
And so I would just love to invite people into, you know, we know that what we do comes with risks.
And, you know, if folks are willing, I would love to encourage folks to the thoughts and prayers.
You know, that's a great time, like right then, until we get back in contact with Earth.
That'll do it for your AM update.
I'm Emily Dushinsky, host of Afterparty.
Catch the Megan Kelly Show live on SiriusXM's The Megan Kelly Channel 111 at Noon East on youtube.com/slash Megan Kelly and All podcast Platforms.