Minneapolis daily life takes a turn and the Fed expected to unveil unchanged interest rates: Morning Rundown

In today’s newsletter: Residents in Minneapolis say daily life has changed since some 3,000 federal agents arrived. All eyes are on the Fed as it’s expected to release unchanged interest rates amid a shaky labor market. And social media lawsuits could set a precedent for holding tech giants accountable for how children interact with their platforms.

Here’s what to know today.

How daily life in Minneapolis has transformed since federal agents flooded the streets

A protester clashes with federal agents outside the Whipple Federal Building on Jan. 12, 2026, in Minneapolis.Jeff Wheeler / The Minnesota Star Tribune via Getty Images file

The fallout from the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti and the unprecedented immigration crackdown has transformed Minneapolis.

Volunteering has exploded, with many people going to Immigration and Customs Enforcement sightings to record or prevent apprehensions. Others form human chains surrounding the city’s schools, carrying walkie-talkies and whistles. Some spend their nights delivering groceries to undocumented families who are afraid to leave their homes.

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Since December, more than 3,000 migrant apprehensions have created what the Department of Homeland Security has called “the largest immigration enforcement operation ever.”

“When I go to the grocery store now, it’s like, this all feels so weird to be doing normal things when we feel like we’re under attack,” Ann Cary said as she handed out doughnuts to people around the site of Pretti’s killing.

The fallout from the ICE operation has also led to further school and street disruptions.

The Minneapolis Public School District and Saint Paul Public Schools have started offering online class alternatives or canceled classes entirely in some cases due to falls in attendance.

Read the full story here.

Read more politics news:

• A man attacked Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar during a town hall meeting and sprayed her with an unknown substance.

• Sens. Thom Tillis and Lisa Murkowski called for Kristi Noem to step down as DHS secretary, becoming the first GOP members of Congress to do so.

• The “No Kings” nationwide demonstration is planning to stage a marquee march in Minnesota in the coming months in the wake of the ICE crackdown.

• A federal judge put a temporary block on removing a 5-year-old Ecuadorian and his father, who were detained by immigration authorities in Minnesota last week.

As a political firestorm rages, the Fed is expected to keep interest rates steady

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference following a Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in Washington, DC, on December 10, 2025. Saul Loeb / AFP – Getty Images

The Federal Reserve is set to hold interest rates steady today as policymakers weigh the state of the labor market and inflation.

After the labor market contracted by 173,000 jobs in October, only 56,000 jobs were added in November and 50,000 in December. Still, inflation remains well above the Fed’s 2% target.

“Chairman Jerome Powell is likely to emphasize that the [Federal Open Market Committee] has just delivered three cuts that should help stabilize the labor market,” said one economist.

The decision will likely be under a microscope, as Powell and the Fed are targets of a criminal probe led by allies of President Donald Trump. The probe is just the latest development in a long-running pressure campaign from the president to push for lower interest rates.

Read the full story here.

Landmark social media lawsuits head to a trial that could put CEOs on the stand

Anna Barclay / Getty Images

Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat are heading to court in a wave of landmark trials that will determine whether their platforms are responsible for harming children.

More than 1,600 plaintiffs — including over 350 families and more than 250 school districts — accuse the companies’ owners of knowingly designing addictive products harmful to young users’ mental health. They allege the social media platforms “have rewired how our kids think, feel, and behave.”

The verdict for the first plaintiff could mean the companies face damages and be forced to change the design of their platforms. It could also set the tone for whether the tech giants choose to fight or settle the oncoming cases.

Matt Bergman, founding director of the Social Media Victims Law Center — which is representing hundreds of plaintiffs — said he is eager to hear CEOs testify about “why their profits were more important than our kids’ lives.”

Read the full story here.

Read All About It

• The deadly midair collision near D.C. that killed 67 people followed years of ignored warnings about traffic, investigators say.

• Amazon slashes another 16,000 jobs across the company in its second round of large-scale layoffs in months.

• People who naturally stay up late are likelier to have poor heart health than those with more traditional sleep-wake schedules, one study shows.

• Measles in South Carolina has spread to at least 789 people, surpassing the West Texas outbreak.

• Trump delivered his first midterm election campaign speech in Iowa, warning attendees he’ll be impeached if the GOP loses control of Congress.

Staff Pick: Could alcohol make us less lonely?

Justine Goode / NBC News; Getty Images

There’s a brewing divide in how Americans view alcohol. On the one hand, young adults are drinking less compared to past generations.

Alcohol-free social clubs are popping up in cities. And sober influencers are gaining popularity on TikTok.

On the other hand, sociologists say alcohol might be a tool to get people off their phones and encourage real-life connections. Beer companies have also embraced that thinking in their advertising campaigns.

The tension came to a head earlier this month, when Dr. Mehmet Oz referred to alcohol as “a social lubricant.” In defense of the new dietary guidelines, which vaguely suggest that people “consume less alcohol,” Oz suggested that bonding with friends over a beer might in fact be healthy. The sober-influencer community loudly pushed back.

I reached out to experts to find out whether the physical health risks — cancer and liver damage — outweigh the social benefits of helping strangers connect.

— Aria Bendix, health reporter

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