This is the Jan. 8, 2026 edition of “The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe” newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered straight to your inbox Monday through Friday.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wasted no time yesterday slandering a dead woman — identified as 37-year-old mother Renee Nicole Good — falsely calling her a “domestic terrorist” before investigators had even collected the shooter’s shell casings.
That story quickly fell apart.
Witnesses and multiple videos instead reveal a chaotic scene: Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents swarming the young mom’s SUV, barking conflicting orders, yanking at her door, then firing three shots at point-blank range — two after the shooter had appeared to move safely to the side of the woman’s Honda Pilot.
And what did ICE officers find in the “domestic terrorist’s” blood-splattered glove compartment? Stuffed animals presumably belonging to the dead mother’s 6-year old son.
Sadly, this is not a one‑off. It is instead the predictable outcome of Noem’s confrontational approach — green‑lighting thuggish street tactics and then politically laundering the consequences as “terrorism” when tragedy strikes.
In a damning indictment of the decaying culture inside Noem’s department, only one administration voice refused to do what Noem did in slandering the victim. Border czar Tom Homan told CBS News’ Tony Dokoupil it would be “unprofessional” to comment and called for the investigation to play out.
Today, expect the gaslighting to begin — with a presumably healthy ICE shooter shoved into a hospital to set up the false alternative narrative that the shooter was the victim.
But despite how the White House tries to spin this tragedy, the facts are clear: A mother is dead, a city is on edge, and Kristi Noem should be fired — today.
“Folks, amateur hour is over. You don’t speak on behalf of this U.S. senator or the Congress.”
GOP Sen. Thom Tillis slamming top White House adviser Stephen Miller for “stupid” and “insane” comments that Greenland ought to be part of the U.S.
AN END TO THE WAR ON “SATURATED FATS”
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. unveiled new dietary guidelines for Americans, proclaiming an end to the “War on Saturated Fats.”
What’s in: Red meat, full-fat dairy, healthy fats (beef tallow is the example cited), and cheese
What’s out: Highly processed foods, added sugars, and artificial flavorings, dyes, and preservatives
Kicker: The guidelines on alcohol call for limited intake but stop short of imposing specific daily caps. Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said: “Alcohol is a social lubricant. Just don’t have it for breakfast.”
CONWAY FOR CONGRESS?
Former operator inside the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy George Conway is running for Congress as a Democrat in a crowded New York City primary.
Conway — a veteran lawyer turned fiery Trump critic — stopped by the set of “Morning Joe” to outline his campaign agenda.
A CONVERSATION
With Gov. Kathy Hochul
Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York is announcing a sweeping plan to fund universal child care — a statewide initiative expected to cost roughly $15 billion per year.
The proposal comes as the Trump White House has frozen billions of dollars in federal funding for child care subsidies supporting low-income families in several Democratic-led states, including New York.
Gov. Hochul joined “Morning Joe” to discuss the funding freeze, her universal child care proposal, and the potential political fallout of the administration’s actions.
Mika Brzezinski: Governor, the Trump administration is freezing child care funding in Democratic-led states like yours — even for programs that Congress and the president once expanded with bipartisan support. Why is this happening now?
Kathy Hochul: The president is at war with kids. He’s singling out some of the largest states that happen to be run by Democratic governors, thinking he’s screwing us. But what he doesn’t realize is that in a state like New York, these child care and social services funds are administered by the counties — and 47 of my 62 counties are red.
Joe Scarborough: How will freezing these funds hurt children?
KH: This is a reimbursement program that covers child care for almost 200,000 kids in New York. The money is now suspended.
JS: So these kids are going to go without child care?
KH: The state will have to step in, at least for now. But in a letter we received two days ago, the administration warned that unless we produce massive amounts of information going back years — much of it held by the counties — the funding will be permanently suspended in just two weeks.
JS: And these are counties that voted for Donald Trump. Like GOP Medicaid cuts, won’t these funding freezes disproportionately hurt his own voters and their children?
KH: Yes. They think they’re hurting Democratic governors, but they’re really hurting children. And they’re hurting their own Republican members of Congress — because these families are their constituents.
JS: You’ve said this is part of a broader pattern. How so?
KH: Just two months ago, they stopped feeding kids. Then they moved to stop vaccinating kids and went after kids’ health care. And now they’re taking away child care.
JS: Why is this administration appearing to wage a war on kids?
KH: Because they’re stupid.
MINNESOTA MOM GUNNED DOWN IN ICE COLD BLOOD
A day after a Minnesota mom was gunned down by ICE, details that led to yesterday’s fatal shooting are as mysterious as an ICE agent covered by a face mask sans ID.
But today, there’s no shortage of experts picking apart the eyewitness videos from the scene — pixel by pixel — to help explain how this 37-year-old Minnesotan got shot at point-blank range.
In one scene, two ICE agents approach the driver’s side of a red SUV. One of them pulls the handle repeatedly. The car backs up, then moves forward.
Seconds later, another ICE agent fires his weapon repeatedly, killing the driver.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed the dead woman had used her car as a weapon during an immigration-related operation. She bizarrely called it “an act of domestic terrorism.”
The FBI is now investigating. Former special agent Rob D’Amico talked to us about whether this use of deadly force was justified. He believes agents made tactical errors.
“You do not put yourself in a position where, if something happens and you have to employ deadly force where it wouldn’t have been required,” D’Amico said.
Shortly after the shooting, a large crowd gathered at the scene in protest.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, raw with emotion, didn’t hold back when speaking about the shooting.
“To ICE, get the fuck out of Minneapolis.”
But expect ICE agents to stay in the area for the foreseeable future, as protests grow by the hour across the Twin Cities — all while ideological warfare continues predictably to spread online.
EXTRA HOT TEA
Uncle Sam Wants You … to Get Married and Have Kids
Americans are marrying later and having fewer children — and the Heritage Foundation thinks Washington should step in to your baby-making affairs.
In a new policy blueprint, the conservative think tank lays out an aggressive agenda to reverse demographic decline and “save the American family” by rolling out marriage boot camps — discouraging the use of dating apps and incentivizing marriage through tax credits.
Among the paper’s more striking proposals:
- A $5,000 bonus for couples who marry and stay together through the end of a government-backed “boot camp,” funded by private donors and foundations
- Making abortion more costly by “enforcing existing laws prohibiting the mailing of chemical abortion drugs to states that prohibit abortion”
- Ending no-fault divorce, requiring couples to show “proof of fault” to legally separate
- Providing free or low-cost FCC airtime on public television and radio to religious institutions
“The federal government generally doesn’t control family law, and so to the extent the idea is we’re going to use the federal government to ‘restore the American family’? That’s a very bold claim,” Joanna Grossman, a law professor at Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law, told The Washington Post.
“What they’re really getting at is they want to change the way people think and behave.”
ONE MORE SHOT
On a clear day, you can still see Paris. Ms. Hilton and her little dog draw attention — for no apparent reason — while strolling yesterday in New York City.
SPILL IT!
In the coming weeks, actor and comedian Sean Hayes will join us to discuss his new off-Broadway show, “The Unknown,” and actress and writer Jeanette McCurdy will join us to talk about her new novel, “Half His Age.”
Have a question for them? Ask here, and we may feature your question on the show.
CATCH UP ON MORNING JOE
Former Rep. Joe Scarborough, R-Fla., is co-host of MS NOW's "Morning Joe" alongside Mika Brzezinski — a show that Time magazine calls "revolutionary." In addition to his career in television, Joe is a two-time New York Times best-selling author. His most recent book is "The Right Path: From Ike to Reagan, How Republicans Once Mastered Politics — and Can Again."