The Daily Moth 2-19-2025
It is Wednesday, February 19, 2025. Here are today’s top stories.
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Indiana man arrested for posting death threats against Elon Musk
Indiana State Police said they arrested a 28-year-old man for allegedly posting death threats towards Elon Musk on X (Twitter). The man’s name is David Cherry. Police said they started an investigation and found the man in Clarksville and arrested him. A search warrant at his home in Palmyra discovered an AR-15-style rifle, a handgun, ammo, and a ballistic vest. Cherry was charged with felony intimidation.
https://www.wave3.com/2025/02/18/southern-indiana-man-arrested-alleged-death-threats-towards-elon-musk/
https://cbs4indy.com/indiana-news/indiana-man-charged-with-threatening-elon-musk-on-x-arrested-for-felony-intimidation/
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A$AP Rocky found not guilty in shooting trial
Musician A$AP Rocky was found not guilty in his trial on two felony counts of assault with a firearm. A former friend said A$AP shot at him in 2021 and grazed his knuckles.
Rocky’s defense team said he was acting in self-defense and that his friend was the aggressor and wanted financial gain. The defense also said Rocky was carrying a prop gun (not a real firearm).
Rocky maintained his innocence and rejected a plea deal. If he was convicted, he could have gotten a lengthy prison sentence.
When he was acquitted, he immediately hugged his partner, Rihanna, in the courtroom gallery. The couple has two children.
A$AP Rocky was in the news in 2019 when he was charged with assault in Sweden and was jailed for a month there. Trump was president at the time and intervened in the case. Rocky was found guilty but served no jail time and was able to come back to the U.S.
https://apnews.com/article/asap-rocky-trial-relli-fashion-prosecution-rihanna-4baadd88dfb38d385d7e46561cdc4cd4
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Trump says Ukraine started war; Zelenskyy says he is in “disinformation” space
Things are getting more heated between the Trump administration and Ukraine. Trump blamed Ukraine for starting the war with Russia and the Ukrainian president said Trump is living in a “disinformation” space.
The U.S. is currently engaging with Russia in high-level talks in Saudi Arabia to end the war and have excluded Ukraine from being a part of the talks.
After the Ukrainian President Zelenskyy criticized the U.S. for excluding them from the talks, Trump said last night at Mar-a-Lago that the war should have never happened in the first place. Trump said President Biden failed to stop Putin from going in Ukraine. Trump also said Zelenskyy has low approval ratings among his people in Ukraine and called on the country to hold elections, which they haven’t in a while due to martial law. Trump called Zelenskyy a “dictator.”
Zelenskyy said he would like for Trump’s team to be more truthful. He challenged a U.S. official to go to Kyiv and ask Ukrainians if they trust Zelenskyy or Putin.
Putin said he’s very pleased with the U.S.-Russia meeting and said the U.S. officials now are without bias and without any condemnation of what was done in the past. Putin said he expects Ukraine to be involved in future negotiations.
https://apnews.com/article/us-russia-rubio-lavrov-ukraine-saudi-arabia-94bc4de5ecc86922d6ea4376e38f1cfd
https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-kellogg-zelenskyy-437f4c8fa4531059007dd3ab00c23458
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/18/world/middleeast/ukraine-trump-russia-war-peace-talks.html
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Illegal border crossings drops to low levels
Texas said there were 218 apprehensions of people suspected of illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border on Monday, which is much lower than about 1,800 apprehensions on the same day a year ago.
CBS News said the Customs and Border Protection officials credit the drop to President Trump’s executive actions. There are 85% lower border patrol apprehensions in Jan. 21 - Jan. 31 compared with the same time last year. The CBP said numbers are at the lowest level in nearly five years.
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/illegal-border-crossings-at-lowest-level-in-5-years/
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[Sponsored Video from Sorenson: www.sorenson.com]
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Elon Musk open to idea of sending $5,000 checks from DOGE savings
On X (Twitter), someone suggested to Elon Musk that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) should send a $5,000 tax refund check to every tax-paying household if DOGE is able to save the U.S. government $2 trillion. This person wrote a proposal that said Americans should get the money that was “wasted.”
Musk said he would “check with the President.”
Others on the X thread debated that this is a bad idea because it would cause inflation or that the money should go towards paying down our national debt.
DOGE is far from saving $2 trillion, though. DOGE said it’s saved $55 billion so far but Bloomberg analyzed that the actual number is $16 billion.
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1891967592048611532
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/19/elon-musk-will-check-with-trump-on-idea-for-tax-refunds-from-doge-savings.html
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Apple announces iPhone 16e for $599
Apple announced it is offering an iPhone 16e that is more “affordable” at $599. The device includes Apple’s AI system called “Apple Intelligence.
The New York Times said Apple is in a “critical juncture” with its iPhone business in a bit of a slump with sales down 2% compared with their peak of $205.5 billion in 2022.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/19/business/apple-iphone-16e-ai.html
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Trump’s executive order on IVF
President Trump signed an executive order yesterday to “expand access to intro vitro fertilization (IVF).”
IVF is a fertility treatment that allows those struggling to become pregnant to have a baby through a process where eggs are retrieved from the mother and fertilized in a lab before it is placed into the mothers’ womb. It is a very expensive process and can cost about $20,000 per cycle.
The order directs policy recommendations to protect IVF access and reduce out-of-pocket and health plan costs for treatments.
Trump made a campaign promise last summer that he would require insurance companies or the federal government to pay for IVF costs, but this was not mentioned in the executive order.
The order asked for policy recommendations to be presented within 90 days. So there could be changes in the future.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/02/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-expands-access-to-in-vitro-fertilization-ivf/
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/19/us/politics/trump-ivf-executive-order.html
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That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.