01 19 26 Chad Bowar in for Jeana Gondek speaks with ABC's Steve Roberts about Trump's job approval rating

Happy birthday, America. It's time to celebrate and play your favorite Las Vegas casino games by American-owned SpinQuest.com. What's better than fireworks than American Pie? Hitting a black tech in the palm of your hand, and you won't lose your fingers. Over a thousand games, including slots and live dealers. And $30 point packs are on sale for 10. SpinQuest.com. Buy American players for American players. SpendQuest is a free-to-play social casino. Avoid where prohibited. Visit SpenQuest.com for more to tell. These days, it's getting harder and harder to trust what you're seeing. Who made it? Is it real? But with iHeart, everything you hear is guaranteed human. That's why 78% of listeners trust their favorite radio hosts product recommendations. And if you own or manage a business here or need to drive sales, that trust goes a long way in creating your future customers. Make iHeartMedia a part of your 2026 plan today. Visit iHeartadvertising.com. Again, that's iHeartadvertising.com. If you're someone who's tracking your sleep, your steps, and your macros, then you already know that what you eat is kind of everything. You should also know that Sprouts Farmer's Market can help make eating for longevity easier. Sprouts has all the high-quality, nutrient-dense, organic foods and cutting-edge supplements you need. So whether you're focused on protein, gut health, or optimizing how you feel day-to-day, it's all there. And here's what no other grocery store can offer. An in-store wellness expert to help you find exactly what you need. So whether you're after longevity or on any other health journey, it's easier at Sprout's Farmer's Market. Hey, this is Ryan Sechrest here, and I have discovered a fun new escape from the daily grind Chumba Casino. Chumba Casino has hundreds of social casino-style games and it's all free to play anytime, anywhere, with daily bonuses. So get to Chumbacasino.com. No purchase necessary. VigW. Boy, we're prohibited by law. See terms and conditions 21 plus. K-O-A and High Heart Radio Station.

Human. AOA news time is 5 o'clock. It is Colorado's morning news, Monday edition, 8.50 a.m., 94-1 FM and the IHeart radio app. I'm Chad Bauer in 4G. And today, Fox 31 pinpoint weather, some snow showers early this morning, and tapering off, eventually becoming sunny. Today's high 40. 22 tonight, warming up tomorrow. Tuesday's high 55. It is 24 in Denver. The Broncos have their AFC title game opponent. The Patriots will visit the Mile High City on Sunday after beating the Texans 28 to 16 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. With Broncos starting quarterback Bo Nix out with the broken ankle, head coach Sean Payton will rely on backup Jarrett Stidham to run the offense. One of the city's great strengths. is his mental aptitude and his progressions and understanding plays. Like, there'd be practices where, like, I'm looking advanced, like, getting pissed off because city's making our defense, you know, look bad. He's very accurate. He's got a lot to his ball. Stadium signed with the Broncos as a free agent in 2023. He began his NFL career with the Patriots. They drafted him in the fourth round in 2019 out of Auburn with Knicks out. New England has been installed as a five and a half point favorite. Our coverage Sunday morning begins at seven kickoff from Empower Field at one. Denver police are investigating the death of a two-year-old as a homicide. It happened to Alameda and Brain in southwest Denver yesterday morning. Officers responded to the home around 5.30 a.m. after a call about an unresponsive toddler, the child was pronounced dead at the scene. 38-year-old Nicholas Stout is being held for an investigation of first-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death. That's Fox 31's Kim Posey. It's not clear yet what relationships Stout had to the child. It's not business as usual at Wax Tracks Records at 13th in Washington. Security cameras caught a man outside the store lighting a trash dumpster on fire. It ended up damaging the store's power supply. Co-owner Pete Stidman tells Fox 31 this isn't the first time. It seems to be happening all over. We have a different person that did our Broadway fire. We know because we've got that on camera. We got this one on camera. So it's multiple people. The power won't be restored until tomorrow. Wax Tracks has been in business in Capitol Hill for 48 years and opened a second location on South Broadway in 2023.

European leaders trying to figure out how to respond to President Trump's threat to impose tariffs as he tries to acquire Greenland for the U.S. European nations facing a 10% tariff from the United States say the move undermines transatlantic relations and risks a dangerous downward spiral. President Trump says eight countries who oppose his attempts to take over Greenland, a self-governing part of Denmark, will face import taxes from next month. Greenlanders came out to protest at the weekend. I think it's a little bit silly and a bit sad. A threat again and again. I hope that the American people will get their eyes open. This is not a good way to treat anybody. President Trump says the U.S. needs Greenland for national security. Jonathan Savage, Fox News. The Pentagon reportedly is ready to deploy about 1,500 active duty troops to Minnesota. Multiple sources cite defense officials is saying the soldiers would be sent to Minneapolis if President Trump invokes the Insurrection Act as anti-ice protests continue in the city. Densions have been escalating in Minneapolis since last week's fatal shooting of an ice protester by an ICE agent. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey calls deploying federal troops a shocking step and vowed not to be intimidated. The World Economic Forum kicks off today in Davos, Switzerland. President Trump is said to make an appearance at the annual meeting of political and business elites for the first time in six years. The White House says Trump's Wednesday speech will emphasize that the United States and Europe must leave behind economic stagnation and the policies that caused it. Emergency crews have been at the scene of a train crash in southern Spain overnight. That's killed at least 39 people. A high-speed train came off its track, crashing into an oncoming train, killing at least 39 people, and injuring dozens of others. The death toll could rise further. One official calling it extremely strange because the derailment took place on a recently renovated stretch of a straight track, and the high-speed train was just a few years old. That's ABC's Hannah Bata. Snow showers across the Denver metro area overnight, but they won't last. It looks like the south side of town. We'll probably see some light snow linger or very early morning hours, so you early risers will get into a little bit of snow there. But for the most part, the snow will be moving out during the early morning hours here, and we'll start to see some sun returned by late morning and be a fairly sunny afternoon. That's Dave Bargenbrook with the National Weather Service. The MLK Jr. Marade kicks off at Denver City Park this morning, organizer, Vern Howard. It's about communities coming together, no matter what their economic status is, race, coverage, sexual origin, et cetera. The Marade will head west on Colfax before winding up at the state capitol. Martin Luther King Jr. today, many people are also celebrating Dolly Parton Day as Tennessee's governor made the proclamation that January 19th is Dolly Parton Day, recognizing the country music icon's 80th birthday today and her lifelong impact on the volunteer state.

Parton's influence on music, culture, and philanthropy spans decades, including her Dollywood Foundation and Imagination Library, which has given hundreds of millions of books to children worldwide. The Grand Old Opry marked the occasion over the weekend with its annual Opry Goes Dolly Show featuring tributes from Vince Gill, Lainey Wilson, Rhonda Vincent, and more. While Dolly couldn't be there in person, she sent a video message thanking the Opry family. It is 507. You are up to date on Colorado's morning news. Turning now to business and money news. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is defending President Trump's plan to impose tariffs on Denmark and its European allies who don't support the U.S. taking Greenland. Appearing on NBC's meet the press, Scott Bessent argued the tariffs are a matter of national security importance. It is a strategic decision by the president. This is a geopolitical decision, and he is able to use the economic might of the U.S. to avoid a hot war. His comments come as the European Union was sent to hold an merchant. meeting to discuss President Trump's Greenland tariffs. On Sunday, EU leaders warned in a joint statement that the tariffs undermine transatlantic relations, adding we will continue to stand united in response. I'm Mark Mefield. Colorado gas prices are on the rise. The current average is 251 a gallon, according to AAA, that is up 11 cents from a week ago. But compared to a year ago at this time, gas prices are 38 cents a gallon lower. Colorado's average gas price is still well below the national average of 282. A new poll shows a majority of Americans think the economy has grown weaker under President Trump. The poll released by the Wall Street Journal found nearly 60% of those surveyed rate the economy as not so good or poor. Less than 10% described the economy as excellent, while 33% described it as being good. Coming up in the business week ahead, there are no major economic reports on the calendar until Wednesday. That's when pending home sales data from December will be released. Weekly jobless claims are due Thursday, along with a revised third quarter GDP report. Things wrap up Friday with a look at consumer sentiments. A smaller version of the Las Vegas sphere is going to be built in Prince George's County, Maryland. Speer Entertainment Company announced a collaboration with the county, the state of Maryland, and a Peterson company to build a spear at National Harbor. We'll have about 6,000 seats as well as cutting edge technologies such as a 16K display and spear immersive sound. The effort will be supported by about $200 million in state, local, and private incentives. Our next updates coming up at 536. I'm Chad Bauer, K-O-A money news.

Let's go to the KOA Traffic Center with Jonathan Steele. Jonathan, when I got here a couple hours ago, the roads were definitely not very good. Have things improved at all in the last couple hours? You know, Chad, they have a little bit, as you mentioned. The snow's moving out, so that's good. We'll see some sunshine later. It's still wet. It's sloppy. It's slushy. It's icy. It's kind of a mixed bag out here, no doubt about it. And it's slow speeds. I'm looking at, you know, maybe average speeds for the most part, citywide on the highways, 40s and 50s, nothing. too much higher than that. We're not dealing with a lot of problems so far, although I'm just starting to see a little jamming on 225 north at Colfax, and then ahead of that on that flyover, getting on to I-70. Now, it could be because of the conditions, but possible problem. We'll check on that a little bit further. Just keep your speeds down, watch for the plows, allow some safe distance, get the early start. That's going to help, too. You know, it is a holiday. Certainly we'll probably have a better than average and lighter than normal drive. Now, the mountain roads are looking really rough. If you are heading up, Lots of fresh powder on those slopes, and I'm pretty sure, as it is a holiday, we'll see a lot of traffic heading that way. But it is snow-packed, and it is slow moving from here all the way to veil. In fact, I-70, just west of copper has been closed due to a crash. Hopefully they can get that reopened, but that's the one problem that's working right now. We'll keep you advised. Jonathan Steele on K-O-A-50 a.m. and 94-1 FM. Snap placement. Kick on the way. And Denver's going to the ASE championship game. Lutz from 24 yards out in an epic battle from a power field at mile high. The Broncos have climbed higher and they have found a way to win again coming from behind. They beat the Buffalo Bills this afternoon, 33 to 30. Dave Logan's final call is the Broncos beat the bills to advance to the AFC championship game. But the win quickly turned bittersweet as head coach Sean Payton returned to the podium about an hour after that field goal to deliver the news that quarterback Bo Nix suffered a fractured ankle a few plays before Will Lutz delivered the win. Nix will undergo surgery on Tuesday and miss the remainder of the postseason. The Broncos now turn to veteran backup Jarrett Stidham, who Peyton believes has... shown he's ready for the challenge. One of Stiddy's great strengths is his mental aptitude and his progressions and understanding plays. Like there'd be practices where, like, I'm looking at advanced, like getting pissed off because Stiddy's making our defense, you know, look bad. He's very accurate. He's got a lot to his ball. As for who the Broncos will face in the AFC title game. Blitz comes to your side. May, feeling it. He steps into it, he swings it deep right, one-on-one to the end, John!

That courtesy of Westwood won. In a game with eight combined turnovers, it's the Patriots who take down the Texans 2816 to lock in a date with Denver this Sunday at 1 p.m. with a trip to Super Bowl 60 on the line. On the NFC side, it'll be the one-seed Seahawks taking on their divisional rival, L.A. Rams with a tough loss at home, falling 110-87 to the Hornets, abs look to bounce back from just their fifth loss in regulation as they take on the capitals this afternoon at 2 o'clock. I'm Anthony Rodriguez for K-O-A. Colorado's morning news. K-O-A news time is 517. I'm Chad Bauer in for Gina this morning. Police are investigating a child's death in Denver. First responders were called to South Rain Street last night after a report that a two-year-old was unresponsive. The child was pronounced dead at the scene. Police are holding 38-year-old Nicholas Stout for investigation of first-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death. There won't be much city government business going on today in Denver. Most government offices closed for the observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Police, fire, and other emergency services personnel, of course, will be on duty. Denver Health also open today. City-owned libraries and recreation centers will be closed, but golf facilities will be open. Trash collection on its regular schedule. Parking at City meters is free today. Nike is honoring Martin Luther King Jr. with a new sneaker, the honor the king version of the LeBron 23 shoe. The shoe is the shade of teal taken from the exterior of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, where Dr. King was killed by an assassins bullet in 1968. Today, that building is the National Civil Rights Museum. The shoe will be released on Tuesday. Nike has faced criticism online for its decision to use the motel's color scheme. But a company spokesperson said design is subjective and the intent is to pay homage to Dr. King. I'm Tammy Trujillo. Coming up on Colorado's morning news, President Trump will mark one year in office tomorrow. We'll discuss that with ABC political analyst Steve John Roberts. First though, let's get another check. On traffic from the K-OA Traffic Center, here's Jonathan Steele. Yep, slipping in a slighting out here this morning. You've really got to take it easy. It's pretty treacherous in a lot of areas. And we do have a problem on that 2-25 northbound flyover ramp to westbound 70, big little semi-rig. And I believe probably at least three other cars are involved in a crash. It's got most of the ramp blocked. I mean, they're just barely getting by. It is backed up about halfway to Colfax. Not a lot of traffic out here just yet. But what traffic we do have is moving very slowly, and that is one of the problems that we have here. early on. In fact, there was a crash at Colfax also on 225, but they have already cleared that, which is good. We'll probably see a lot of these spin-out accidents. Off the freeway system, snow covered in some areas, but yeah, the highways are, like I said, very treacherous. The mountain roads are kind of tough with snowpack conditions. So I wanted to be extra careful, get the early start this morning. Watch for the plows. I know they're out in full force this morning. Jonathan Steele on K.8 at D.m. and 94.1 FM.

KOA news time. It's 520. It's Colorado's morning news. Chad Bauer in for Gina this morning. And tomorrow marks one year of Donald Trump's second term as president. What do his numbers say when it comes to issues like the economy and immigration? Joining us to talk about that is on the KOA Common Spirit Health hotline as ABC News political analyst Steve Robertson, Steve. So how does the president's approval right now compare to a year ago when he was inaugurated? Well, it's dropping. You know, core basis support is still there. Maga Nation is still loyal. But Maga Nation, though, has always been about 35% of the American public. Trump got 49.8% of the vote. That means there's about 15% of Americans who voted to Trump, but are not hardcore loyalists. And that's where the decline is coming. That's where some of the splintering is happening. And CNN poll, 55%, 58% called Trump's first year a failure. 58%, 55% said he's made the economy worse, not better, and two-thirds. that he's not done enough to bring down the cost of living. Now, that's the basic numbers, and that this is why Trump got elected in the first place. People are not happy in the economy. They're still unhappy with the economy, and now they've transferred their hostility from Biden to Trump. But there's another thing happening, Chad. And that's the issue of immigration, which... was always one of the strongest elements of Trump's appeal. It's always been one of his best issues. But the tragic events in Minneapolis, the shooting of a 37-year-old woman, Nicole Good, has really penetrated the American public. More than 80% have seen those videos. And it's had a negative effect because... If you think about it, Chad, when Trump was running for office, the videos he, that were in his campaign commercials constantly were hordes of these faceless others swarming across the border, the Mexican drug dealers and the rapists. And it was very effective. But today, the images are of streets of Minneapolis. And the menace is not coming from the swarms of invaders. The menace, the sense of unease is coming from the ice agents. heavily armed, masked, menacing, patrolling American streets. They're not patrolling the borders. And there's been a very significant, very significant switch in terms of polling CBS. Three out of five Americans said Trump has been too tough in his immigration policies. And at the same time, people are also saying, issues that I don't care about. You know, whatever happens on the streets of Minneapolis does not affect anybody's budget in Denver. Nobody is affected by this, and certainly nobody is affected by what happens in Venezuela and in Greenland. And a growing number of Americans, only 36% told CNN, the president has the right priority. So the immigration issue is having two negative effects.

The menace is coming from ICE, but also it's distracting. A lot of voters say it's distracting from the things they most care about, which is their own lives, their own budgets, and their own kids. Now, Steve, how do you see this impacting the midterm elections? Will Republican candidates, at least some of them, try to distant themselves from Trump's policies and from Trump himself? It's going to be very dicey for Republicans. It's a good question, Chad, because you've seen a few Republican House members in marginal districts in states like New York and California try to distance themselves just a little bit from Trump, but he is vicious. When it comes to anybody in the Republican Party who strays, you had five Republican senators, broke ranks and supported a resolution that would have curbed some of his powers in Venezuela. And Trump thundered about these five. They should never be elected to office again. There's a senator from Louisiana. Bill Cassidy, a pretty loyal Republican vote most of the time. But occasionally he criticizes Trump. He's a physician himself. He's broken with Trump on some health issues. And Trump just this week announced that he would support a primary challenge against Bill Cassidy. Generally, he's a pretty strong, conservative, loyal Trump vote. So, you know, anybody who breaks with Trump... is going to face the very real possibility of his rap. And so it's going to be difficult for many Republicans to break ranks on this. ABC political analyst, Steve John Roberts, as always, thanks so much for your time. You too. Thanks, Chad. The news is next right after we get a check on traffic from the KOA Traffic Center. Here's Jonathan Steele. Yeah, it's a wintry drive out here, even though it's improving somewhat. There's areas that actually are just wet only, but others that have ice kind of build up on the lane lines around the edges. Certainly bridges, ramp, surface routes in general, can be a little tricky. We do have the one problem working, and it's turned into kind of a big delay at this point because they've closed the northbound 225 to westbound I-70 ramp. I'm not sure if that's official or not. Cruise got on the scene there, and they just shut it down. We'll see if they can get anything. open in there. But for right now, anyone coming out of Aurora, you're going to want to probably get over to Chambers or possibly Peoria to make your way to I-70. This is backed up. It looks like pretty solid to Colfax, where we actually had another accident, but they've moved that one off to the side. So 225 at I-70 on that ramp, northbound to westbound, is the big problem. Again, it's going to be an icy drive out here in some areas. It's going to be a little... trying, certainly a little nerve-wracking too, just keep the speeds down and mountain roads are kind of tough this morning. It's snowpacked all the way to veil. Jonathan Steele on K-A-Wa-8.50 a.m. and 94-1 FM.

It is Colorado's morning news. Chad Bauer in for Gina this morning. It's a Fox 31 pinpoint weather alert day. Some scattered snow showers early this morning. Then those will taper off. The sun will eventually come out later this morning. Today's high, 42 tonight. Little warmer tomorrow. 55 for Tuesday. Some snow showers 24 degrees now in Denver. It will be the Broncos hosting the Patriots Sunday. The winner will... claimed the conference title and a trip to Super Bowl 60 at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara, California. That's the same site where the Broncos won Super Bowl 50 over the Panthers 10 years ago. Sunday's game, though, will pose an added challenge for the Broncos after Bo Nix broke his ankle and will be sidelined. Broncos head coach Sean Payton met with the media Sunday and immediately started game planning with backup Jarrett Stidham in mind. I think. The plan's always got to be built around the type and the skill set of the players you're playing with. And so are there certain things that Beau does differently than Stitty? Absolutely. And that's where the work begins tonight. Faiton said of Stidham, one of his strengths is his mental aptitude. That'll come in handy against New England. Steve Mark, K-O-A. Our coverage of Sunday's AFC title game begins at 7 a.m. kickoff from Empowerfield at mile high at 1. A 2-year-old child is dead. A man has been arrested for investigation of first-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death. Officers were called to a home near Alameda and Vrain early yesterday morning on a report of an unresponsive child. Police arrested 38-year-old Nicholas Stout. No other details were made available. A longtime Capitol Hill record store running on generators this morning after a man was seen on security cameras lighting a dumpster next to the building on fire. Cruz did prevent damage two wax tracks records at 13th in Washington. But the fire damaged the building's power supply. Co-owner Pete Stidman tells Fox 31 it's not the first time this has happened. I'm coming at this with love. You know, these guys are probably homeless or having mental issues or whatever. You know, and I think we need to, you know, get those people some help. We need to figure out who they are those because, you know, they're also putting other people's lives and livelihoods at risk. Similar vandalism has happened at Wax Tracks' second store on South Broadway. Excel Energy says repairs can't be made. Until tomorrow. President Trump says taking Greenland is necessary to protect the Danish territory from Russian threats. Trump has been threatening sanctions on NATO allies that refused to accept the U.S. acquisition of Greenland. There were major protests over the weekend on the streets of Copenhagen, and many were waving Greenland flag. They were holding signs reading and make America smart again and hands off. Not only that, but there were also demonstrators that braved the cold in Greenland. They were making their message.

the president clear, you know, saying they're not interested in being Americans. That's ABC's Selena Wang. The U.S. has launched a strike in Syria that killed an al-Qaeda leader tied to last month's ISIS attack. That attack killed two American service members and an American civilian interpreter. U.S. Central Command says the leader was connected to the shooter who opened fire on the Americans. The front range got a dose of snow showers overnight since you early this morning. Kind of interesting how this particular event is unfolding. Some of the west side of town actually has not seen a whole lot of snow and we'll probably only see maybe an inch in a few areas, maybe even less than that. It looks like the main chunk is... Snow is actually organizing kind of in the, just to the south and southeast of the Denver metro area. National Weather Service meteorologist Dave Bargenbrook says, although we haven't gotten much measurable snow from the system, it's good to get some moisture in a thus far dry winter. We will warm up near 40 today and into the 50s tomorrow. Hundreds of people will honor the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. today in Denver, marching in the annual Marade. The Marade is a march, which means to demonstrate. and a parade, which means to celebrate. Organizer Bern Howard says this year's theme is I and the Dream, inspiring participants to ask what they've done for others. Raid ceremonies begin in City Park at 10. It steps off at 1145. They'll head west down Colfax, ending at the state capitol. The MLK holiday means most government offices are closed. Police fire and other emergency services personnel are on duty. Denver Health is open. City-owned libraries and rec centers closed, but golf courses are open. Trash collection will be on its regular schedule. Parking at City meters is free today. A new arts center focused on dance has opened in Denver's five points neighborhood. The Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Center for the Healing Arts officially opened at the intersection of North Washington and Park Avenue on Saturday. Robinson has been teaching dance in the area for more than 50 years but has never had a permanent home for her dance ensemble. The new facility contains three dance studios and a small theater for performances. It is 537, and you are up to date on Colorado's morning news. Snap placement, kick on the way, and Denver's going to the AFC championship game. Lutz from 24 yards out in an epic battle from a power field at mile high. The Broncos have climbed higher, and they have found a way to win again coming from behind. They beat the Buffalo Bills this afternoon, 33.

To 30. Dave Logan's final call is the Broncos beat the bills to advance to the AFC championship game. But the win quickly turned bittersweet as head coach Sean Payton returned to the podium about an hour after that field goal to deliver the news that quarterback Bo Nix suffered a fractured ankle a few plays before Will Lutz delivered the win. Nix will undergo surgery on Tuesday and miss the remainder of the postseason. The Broncos now turn to veteran backup Jarrett Stidham, who Peyton believes has shown he's ready for the challenge. One of Steadies's great strengths. is his mental aptitude and his progressions and understanding plays. Like, there'd be practices where, like, I'm looking at JD Vance, like, getting pissed off because City's making our defense, you know, look bad. He's very accurate. He's got a lot to his ball. As for who the Broncos will face in the AFC title game. Blitz comes to your side. May, feeling it. He steps into it, he swings it deep right, one-on-one to the end zone. That courtesy of Westwood won. In a game with eight combined turnovers, it's the Patriots who take down the Texans 2816 to lock in a date with Denver this Sunday at 1 p.m. with a trip to Super Bowl 60 on the line. On the NFC side, it'll be the one-seed Seahawks taking on their divisional rival, L.A. Rams with a tough loss at home, falling 110-87 to the Hornets, abs look to bounce back from just their fifth loss in regulation as they take on the capitals this afternoon at 2 o'clock. I'm Anthony Rodriguez for K-O.A. Business and Money News coming up next right after a check on traffic from the KOA Traffic Center and Jonathan Steele. Yeah, unfortunately, you've got this ramp closure that's really tying up the drive out in Aurora. This is going to be northbound to westbound. That's 225 to I-70. It's already backed up. It actually is real heavy all the way through the Aurora area coming up from Mississippi, but it really tightens up in the area of Colfax 6th Avenue because you can't get through. They've closed the ramp completely. It's a semi and numerous other vehicles. You could use Chambers or Peoria. That's your best bet. Just use the surface routes to get off the highway if you can. You can get off at 17th if you're stuck in that. jam or at Colfax or at 6 and take, you know, like I said, Peoria or Chambers. That'll help out anyway. And we do have some slowing out here, but we don't have a lot of traffic just yet. It is a holiday. We'll see how much volume we actually get on the roadways. But what traffic is moving, it's a little bit slower than average, 40s and 50s early on this morning. There are other areas where actually the speeds are up in the 60s plus, and that's just because the roads are only wet. It's kind of a mixed bag as far as those conditions go. But anyway, that's the only problem there, 225 and I70 so far. Jonathan Steele on Kway 8 at the a.m. and 94-1. In K-OA Money News, the U.S. Treasury Secretary says he has no issue with the Justice Department investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent answered criticism that President Trump wants to rein in the Fed's independence and setting interest rates by saying on NBC's meet the press. Independence does not mean no oversight. Secretary Scott Bessent also reacted to reports he told the president he was unhappy that the Jerome Powell investigation happened. If I said that.

I was wrong. Financial markets, stock market went up, bond yields went down. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell claimed earlier this month, not following the preference of the president on interest rates, brought about the DOJ probe. Gernal Scott, Fox News. The World Economic Forum kicks off today in Davos, Switzerland. President Trump set to make an appearance at the annual meeting of political and business elites for the first time in six years amidst economic threats to allies over his desire to claim Greenland. Trump told the credit card industry it has until tomorrow to comply with his demand for a 10% cap on interest rates for at least one year. New York Republican Congressman Mike Lawler suggests the president needs to find a balance on credit card interest limits. We have to tackle the issue of credit card interest rates. They are absurdly high, but putting an arbitrary cap in it, my concern is what you're going to end up doing is limiting the flow of credit. to frankly Americans that need it most. Banks argue that such a plan would hurt poor people the most at a time of economic concern by curtailing or eliminating credit lines and driving them to high-cost alternatives like payday loans. And Avatar Fire and Ash continues to dominate the box office, remaining in the top spot for the fifth straight week, made another $13 million, now $1.3 billion globally. It claimed the top spot over 28 years later, the Bone Temple, which underperformed, making $13 million. I'm Chad Bauer. K-O-A money news. Colorado's morning news. AOA News time 547. I'm Chad Bauer in for Gina today. Denver officials say an alert about a barricaded suspect was mistakenly sent to a wider area than intended. It was sent Saturday night as police worked to contact a suspect near the University of Denver campus. It was only meant to cover a two-block area. But the police department reported the suspect in custody early yesterday morning. The alert was sent out citywide by a mistake, being blamed by a mistake at the city's emergency communications department. And Aurora City Councilman facing charges after being pulled over by police. Rob Andrews pulled over on South Chambers around 9.30 Saturday night. He has been charged with suspicion of DUI, driving with excessive alcohol content. Changing lanes went unsafe and making a left turn from the wrong lane. He was held overnight to release yesterday. He took responsibility for his arrest on social media, offering an apology to his family, his constituents, and everyone who expects better from me. Coming up on Colorado's morning news, we will talk about some controversy among the CU Board of Regents. First though, let's get a check on traffic from the K-OA Traffic Center. Here's Jonathan Steele. Yeah, we do have some traffic out here, a little bit more coming out onto the roadways now. And unfortunately, a big closure out east on 2-25 northbound, the ramp to westbound 70, has traffic tied up. No one's getting through right now. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if they're going to be able to get a lane open here anytime soon. It was the right side that was open initially, but once all the...

You know, EMTs fire, and everyone arrived on the scene. They had to shut it down. So we're looking at the big back up there. Consider Colfax or Peoria to get north and way up to I-70. Penny is running a little slow, and I think that's just because of icy conditions. It is wet and sloppy. It's really a mixed bag out here. Snow covered off the freeway system, icy around the edges and on those lane lines too. So it will keep the speeds down. Certainly just want to be extra careful and allow some safe distance. The plows, they seem to be out in full force. I'm watching them run down. on some of the highways and on the ramps at two and three at a time. So just watch for those guys. Jonathan Steele on K.A. 8.50m. and 941 FM. KO.A news time 515. Now on Colorado's morning news. Controversy with who is in charge, the CU Board of Regents. Jimmy Sangenberger, a frequent fill-in host here on KOA, wrote a column about the issue in the Denver Gazette. And joining us now on the KOA Common Spirit hotline is Jimmy Sangenberger. And before we get to the controversy, What are the duties of a CU regent and how are they selected? The CU Board of Regents is a constitutional office created when the state was established. So this goes back a very long time. And their job is to oversee the university leadership and how things are implemented on the various CU campuses in the state. They're elected by the voters in all eight congressional districts. and with one at-large seat, making for nine total members. And interestingly, unlike school boards, this is a partisan board in the sense that they run as Democrats or Republicans. And there is a five-seat majority of Democrats compared to a four-seat minority of Republicans. And so now the controversy is on who the next chairperson of the regents says. Tell us a little bit about how that all came about. A year ago, as I understand it, the CU regions had come to their own understanding that they would bring to the chairmanship, Ken Monterra, who's a Republican, who's been... the vice chair of the CU Board of Regents for the past several years. In fact, he was elected six months. after being appointed by Governor Jared Polis to fill the position in the 5th Congressional District and has been reelected unanimously three times since. Deep ball down the field, the ball is. He was going to become the next chair of the body, whereas before that, for the past three years, it has been Callie Renison, a Democrat.

from Boulder with Ken Monterra as vice chair. So there's been a bipartisan arrangement, Democratic chair, Republican vice chair. This time now, as of Thursday morning, it's been flipped. Ken Monterra is now the chairman of the board and Callie Renison, the vice chair, which, by the way, is not something new. It's actually fitting with the precedent that happened in the past. For example, in 2012, 2013, and 2016, when Republicans had majority control of the board and voted Democrats to lead it. In your column, you mentioned some of the reaction from the State Democratic Party. What are they saying about the flip to the Republican chair of the CU Board of Regents? It was pretty shocking to see the chairman of the Democratic Party, Shad Marie, but last week go ahead and do two things in a statement. One, he said... oh my gosh, let's say, well, he threw the Trump card out basically and said, if we have Ken Monterra as the chairman, a Republican as the chairman of the board, then they will be stewards of MAGA, which in my view couldn't be further from the truth in many respects. But the second thing that he did was really target, the Democratic Party targeted the now former chair, now current vice chair of the. CU Board of Regents, Callie Renison, attacking her directly to try in, at the time, intimidate her, it seemed, from voting in favor of Ken Monterra to be the chairman. But she stuck to her position and the commitment that she had made previously to do this and didn't change in that regard. But it was stunning to me to see that Colorado Democrats actually make a partisan issue out of who's going to be the chairman of a board that traditionally and most recently has worked in a very bipartisan fashion. Now, Jimmy, has anybody from a CU administration wait in on this issue, or do they stay pretty agnostic when it comes to the Board of Regents? I haven't seen anything, and my understanding is they always do stand very agnostic, as you said. particularly because the regions oversee the university, which means they oversee the leadership of the University of Colorado system. So probably wouldn't be appropriate for them to make a comment on whether they view one person or the other as the best choice. Is there anything else our listeners should know about this issue? I think the bottom line here is that despite the Democratic Party's attempt here in Colorado to make a partisan issue, out of the leadership of the CU Board of Regents. The Regents have really served as a model of bipartisanship that, frankly, Colorado's vast middle craze. Remember, we've got 50% of the voters in this state as unaffiliated. That Polly Renison and Ken Monterra, Boulder Liberal, and a Colorado Springs conservative, worked together so well for the betterment of CU, I think exemplifies that fact.

And we should all cheer that they would make Ken Monterra the chair of the Board of Regents. I think this is going to be good for CU. You can read Jimmy's column that's titled A Partisan Pot Shot at the CU Regis at Denvergazette.com. Jimmy Sangenberger, thanks for joining us. Hey, everybody, Lady Luck here, and we're celebrating America's 250th birthday. Now, all summer long, I'm going to be celebrating by playing on SpinQuest.com, which is an American-owned social casino. It obviously features over a thousand slot games and live blackjack, live craps, live bubble craps. Head on over to SpinQuest.com. Get yourself a $30 coin pack for just $10. SpenQuest is a free-to-play social casino. Voidware prohibited. Visit SpenQuest.com for more details. These days, it's getting harder and harder to trust what you're seeing. Who made it? Is it real? But with Iheart, everything you hear is guaranteed human. That's why 78% of listeners trust their favorite radio hosts product recommendations. And if you own or manage a business here or need to drive sales, that trust goes a long way in creating your future customers. Make iHeartMedia a part of your 2026 plan today. Visit iHeartadvertising.com. Again, that's iHeartadvertising.com. If you're someone who's tracking your sleep, your steps, and your macros, then you already know that what you eat is kind of everything. You should also know that Sprouts Farmer's Market can help make eating for longevity easier. Sprouts has all the high-quality, nutrient-dense, organic foods, and cutting-edge supplements you need. So whether you're focused on protein, gut health, or optimizing how you feel day-to-day, it's all there. And here's what no other grocery store can offer. An in-store wellness expert to help you find exactly what you need. So whether you're after longevity or on any other health journey, it's easier at Sprout's Farmer's Market. Hey, it is Ryan Sechrest here. Want to bring a little Hollywood excitement to your day? Take a few spins with Chumba Casino's brand new game. Ryan Seacrest's 10K ways. It's free and features 10,000 ways to play, giving you nonstop action, including thrilling bonus re spins and cascading reels. Every spin brings something new. So step into the spotlight. Enjoy the excitement. And play today at chumbacasino.com. Chumba. No purchase necessary. VGW Group. Voidware prohibited by law. CTs and Cs 21 Plus. Sponsored by Chumba Casino.