On the version of Hot off the Wire posted Jan. 16 at 7 a.m. CT:

Former President Donald Trump has won Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis coming in second. Trump’s victory on Monday night gives him a strong start in the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination as the contest moves to New Hampshire, which votes in eight days. And DeSantis’ runner-up finish over former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley gives him a badly needed dose of momentum. With an estimated 10% of ballots remaining to be counted, DeSantis leads Haley by approximately 2,300 votes, or about 2 percentage points. With votes reported in all but one of Iowa’s 99 counties, Haley isn’t doing well enough anywhere to catch DeSantis, based on the number of outstanding votes.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Dangerously cold temperatures are affecting much of the Rockies, Great Plains and Midwest, with wind chills below minus 30 degrees being recorded in many parts of the central U.S. More than 85,000 U.S. homes and businesses were without power early Tuesday, the bulk of them in Oregon after widespread outages that started Saturday. Classes were canceled Tuesday for students in Portland and other major cities including Chicago, Denver, Dallas, Fort Worth, Texas, across New England and in the Washington, D.C., region. The storms and frigid temperatures affected everything from air travel to NFL playoffs games to Iowa’s presidential caucuses, and were also the cause of several deaths around the country.

JERUSALEM (AP) — U.S. Navy SEALs seized Iranian-made missile parts and other weaponry from a ship bound for Yemen’s Houthi rebels in a raid last week that saw two of its commandos go missing. That's according to a U.S. military statement Tuesday. The raid marks the latest seizure by the U.S. Navy and its allies of weapon shipments bound for the rebels who have launched a series of attacks now threatening global trade in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden over Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The seized missile components included types likely used in those attacks.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A trio of shows, led by the HBO drama “Succession,” have dominated the 75th Emmy Awards. “Succession" won six awards, including best drama series. FX’s “The Bear” won best comedy and won several acting honors, while the Netflix limited series “Beef” won five trophies at Monday’s ceremony. “Beef” stars Steven Yeun and Ali Wong made history for Asian American performers, while Quinta Brunson’s win for comedy was the first for a female Black actor in more than 40 years. The Emmys celebrated its 75th edition with numerous cast reunions and nostalgic cues throughout the night, with host Anthony Anderson and his mother keeping the show moving briskly toward an on-time ending.

Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy is suspending his 2024 Republican presidential campaign and endorsing former President Donald Trump. His exit comes after finishing a distant fourth in Iowa's caucuses, behind Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. Ramaswamy had previously called Trump the “best president of the 21st century” even as he tried to convince Republican voters that they should opt for “fresh legs” and “take our America First agenda to the next level.” The wealthy political outsider also modeled his own bid after Trump’s 2016 run. His decision to drop out is the latest confirmation that the former president still dominates Republican politics.

The NFL Divisional playoffs are set for next weekend after the Bills and Buccaneers, Bill Belichick interviews with the Falcons, and Draymond Green returns for the Warriors. 

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Southern California quarterback Caleb Williams has entered the NFL draft. The Heisman Trophy winner is leaving USC after two prolific seasons. Williams is widely considered the favorite to be the No. 1 selection in the draft, which begins April 25.

ATLANTA (AP) — Communities across the nation have been celebrating the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday with acts of service, prayer services and parades. But with the November presidential election as a backdrop, some events on Monday took on an overtly political turn. In Atlanta, Liz Cheney spoke at the the annual commemorative service at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King served as pastor. The former U.S. Representative who served on the U.S. House Committee that investigated the Jan. 6 insurrection, had especially harsh words for Trump. She referred to him only as “a former president” and said he “threatens the foundations of our nation and everything Dr. King persevered to save.”

Iranian sniper rifles. AK-47s from China and Russia. North Korean-built rocket-propelled grenades. Anti-tank rockets secretly cobbled together in Gaza An Associated Press analysis of more than 150 videos and photos taken in the three months of combat since Hamas launched its Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel shows the militant group has amassed a patchwork arsenal from around the world – much of it smuggled past a 17-year blockade aimed at stopping just such a buildup. Hamas declined to discuss who has been providing its weapons or how they were snuck into Gaza but acknowledged it has scoured the globe for the means to fight Israel.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says he's eager to return to the Pentagon after being released from a hospital where he was treated for complications from surgery for prostate cancer he kept secret from President Joe Biden. Austin was released Monday and is expected to work from home as he recovers. The 70-year-old Austin was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Dec. 22 and underwent surgery to treat cancer detected earlier that month. Austin developed an infection and was hospitalized Jan. 1. Biden found out Jan. 4. Austin's lack of transparency has triggered reviews on procedures for when a Cabinet member must transfer decision-making authorities to a deputy, as Austin did.

CHICAGO (AP) — A plane taxiing for departure clipped another aircraft at Chicago O’Hare International Airport on Sunday evening, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. No injuries were reported, both planes were of Boeing design, and the FAA will investigate the incident. The left wing tip of Flight 11 from All Nippon Airways, a Japanese airline, struck the rear of Delta Air Lines Flight 2122 on Sunday around 6:30 p.m. Boeing is facing increasing scrutiny following mechanical failures and the subsequent grounding last week of its Boeing 737 Max 9 model — a different model than the planes involved in Sunday's collision. It was not immediately clear what caused the incident on Sunday and whether it was related to a manufacturing flaw.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Houthi rebels have fired a missile, striking a U.S.-owned ship just off the coast of Yemen in the Gulf of Aden. Monday's attack on the Gibraltar Eagle came less than a day after Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired an anti-ship cruise missile toward an American destroyer in the Red Sea. The Houthis later claimed the attack that further escalated tensions gripping the region after American-led strikes on the rebels. The rebel group's attacks have roiled global shipping, amid Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, as they target a crucial corridor linking Asian and Mideast energy and cargo shipments to the Suez Canal onward to Europe.

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — The anti-poverty organization Oxfam International says the world could have its first trillionaire within a decade. The group on Monday released an annual assessment of global inequalities timed to the World Economic Forum's gathering of political and business elites at the Swiss ski resort of Davos. Oxfam says the fortunes of the five richest men have spiked by 114% in real terms since 2020, when the world was reeling from the coronavirus pandemic. They are Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Bernard Arnault and his family of luxury company LVMH, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Oracle founder Larry Ellison and investment guru Warren Buffett. By contrast, Oxfam says nearly 5 billion people have been made poorer since the pandemic.

REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — Iceland’s president says the country is battling “tremendous forces of nature” after molten lava from a volcano consumed several houses in the evacuated town of Grindavik. President Gudni Th. Johannesson said in a televised address late Sunday that “a daunting period of upheaval has begun" on the Reykjanes Peninsula in the southwest. A volcano on the peninsula erupted for the second time in less than a month on Sunday. Authorities had ordered residents to leave the fishing town of Grindavik hours earlier. Scientists said Monday that the eruption appeared to be subsiding. But it was too soon to declare the danger had passed. Iceland’s Meteorological Office said “it is difficult to estimate how long this eruption will last.”

—The Associated Press

About this program

Host Terry Lipshetz is managing editor of the national newsroom for Lee Enterprises. Besides producing the daily Hot off the Wire news podcast, Terry conducts periodic interviews for this Behind the Headlines program, co-hosts the Streamed & Screened movies and television program and is the former producer of Across the Sky, a podcast dedicated to weather and climate.

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