The Daily Moth 2-3-2025
It is Monday, February 3, 2025.
Ready for top stories from the weekend? I’ve got plenty of news to cover. You may notice that I’ll be leaning over to click on a keyboard here to change the PIPs. Ready for news?
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Medical flight crashes in Philadelphia
On Friday night, a medical transport plane carrying six people crashed in Northeast Philadelphia and exploded. All six perished and a seventh person, who was in a vehicle on the ground, died due to the crash and explosion. 22 people were injured in the crash, which damaged multiple homes and businesses.
Fox 29 Philadelphia explained that the six people on the plane were all Mexican citizens — a 11-year-old pediatric patient, her mother, and four crew members.
News reports said the plane crashed only about a minute after taking off from a airport.
Audio recording from air traffic operators showed workers saying they have a “lost aircraft.”
NTSB investigators said they found the “black box” at the impact, 8 feet deep. It will help them understand what caused the crash.
https://www.fox29.com/news/philly-plane-crash-investigation-enters-third-day-after-7-killed-19-more-injured
https://nypost.com/2025/02/03/us-news/philadelphia-plane-crash-patient-11-and-others-idd-as-investigators-find-black-box-buried-8-feet-in-the-ground/
https://www.tmz.com/2025/02/01/audio-philadelphia-plane-crash-final-moments-air-traffic-control/
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Third helicopter crew member in DC crash identified
The Army released the name of the third crew member of the Black Hawk helicopter that crashed after hitting the American Airlines flight near D.C. last week.
Her name is Rebecca Lobach and she was a captain. She was 28 years old and became an active-duty aviation officer in 2019.
Fox News explained that Lobach’s family initially wanted her identity to be withheld because of unsubstantiated accusations that DEI was a factor in the crash.
President Trump was the one who said DEI initiatives was what contributed to the crash but he did not explain why he said that — he said it was based on his common sense.
This is from me — maybe Trump thought that Lobach was not qualified to fly the helicopter because she was a woman.
Army officials said Lobach had more than 450 flight hours and was certified as a pilot in command. She was undergoing her annual evaluation flight.
The other two pilots were Andrew Eaves (39), who was the flight evaluator, and Ryan O’Hara (28).
All three soldiers were on a training flight from a military base in Virginia that is south of D.C.
The crash is under investigation we should expect a preliminary report in a few weeks. Some updates are that the plane’s nose came up just before the collision, which may mean it was trying to avoid the helicopter.
Defense Sec. Hegseth said the helicopter may have been flying too high at an altitude of 300 feet instead of the supposed 200 feet altitude. There are some questions on whether the helicopter crew wore night vision goggles and whether it affected their perception. There are also questions about the air traffic control tower and whether it was appropriate for only one controller to be working that night.
Many family members of the 67 victims of the collision visited the crash site A NTSB official said all of them are just hurt and they want answers.
This morning, a crane on a barge pulled up a jet engine from the wreckage in the Potomac River. The wreckage recovery process is expected to take over a week because crews will pause whenever they find human remains. There are still some victims whose remains have not yet been positively identified. The jet’s fuselage was split into three parts and is upside-down in the water. The helicopter is also still underwater.
https://www.npr.org/2025/02/01/g-s1-46002/washington-dc-airport-potomac-crash-black-hawk-military-crew
https://www.foxnews.com/us/third-soldier-black-hawk-helicopter-involved-dc-mid-air-collision-identified
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/02/us/politics/dc-crash-helicopter-pilot.html
https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/03/us/washington-dc-plane-crash-recovery/index.html
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Canadians jeer at Trump tariffs
ESPN reported that there is a new trend of Canadians booing the National Anthem when it is played at NHL or NBA games in Canadian cities in reaction to President Trump’s 25% tariff on Canada.
Fans at a Toronto Raptors game booed the song during a game on Sunday. NHL fans did the same in games in Ottawa and Calgary.
In related news, Canadian PM Trudeau, who is in some of his last months as Canada’s leader, said Canada would impose 25% tariffs on many U.S. imports starting Tuesday.
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/43667795/raptors-fans-continue-trend-booing-us-anthem-canada
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/canadas-trudeau-announces-counter-tariffs-2025-02-02/
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/canadas-trudeau-announces-counter-tariffs-2025-02-02/
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U.S. and Mexico agree to delay tariffs for one month
The Trump administration said it would delay a 25% tariff on all Mexican imports for one month because Mexico agreed to beef up security at its border to try and stop fentanyl from entering the U.S.
Mexican President Sheinbaum said she would be sending 10,000 members of their national guard to the border.
NBC News said stocks fell on Monday due to tariffs imposed on Mexico, Canada, and China, but that they rebounded after the agreement with Mexico. Mexico is the No. 1 importer of goods into the U.S.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/economics/mexicos-president-says-tariffs-will-delayed-one-month-rcna190433
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Musk’s DOGE taking aggressive action on federal payments; USAID
Elon Musk, who is working in a unique role in the Trump administration in the new “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), did two major things in recent days.
The first: Musk/DOGE gained access into the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, which makes all the payments for the federal government. He was granted access by the new Treasury Secretary Bessent.
The Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS) processes over a billion payments annually, including SS and Medicare benefits, tax refunds, payments to federal employees and contractors, and thousands of other things.
A BFS official, who worked for the Dept. of Treasury for over 30 years, announced he was retiring after a dispute with Musk’s team over BFS access.
Musk posted on X that he’s finding that Treasury officials are breaking the law every hour of every day by approving payments that are fraudulent or do not match the funding laws passed by Congress. Musk said he is trying to stop fraud and waste of taxpayer money. He posted on X a lot of allegations that Democratic lawmakers and leaders were corruptly collecting money. It’s a lot of things he posted or shared.
Sen. Wyden (D-Oregon) said he is disturbed by Musk’s actions and warned that if the BFS’ ability to make payments is compromised, there could be severe damage to our country and the economy. Wyden said he’s alarmed that Musk/DOGE could try to withhold payments to programs to carry out a political agenda.
The second aggressive action from Musk/DOGE is trying to shut down the U.S. Agency fr International Development (USAID).
USAID was founded in 1961 during the Kennedy administration and is the U.S. government’s humanitarian arm. It gives out billions of dollars annually around the world to help poor regions, treat diseases, and provide support during times of famine and natural disasters. USAID also supports nonprofits, independent media, and other social initiatives.
President Trump said “radical lunatics” have been running USAID and supports Musk’s actions against USAID.
Musk said USAID has been supporting “radically left causes” around the world and are “anti-American.” Musk said USAID needed to die because it is a criminal organization.
There was a confrontation between DOGE workers and USAID security members when they tried to enter USAID headquarters and DOGE was able to get in.
It’s obvious that Musk/DOGE wants to see USAID be shut down. If it is shut down, it would be bad news for its workforce of 10,000 employees and the 130 countries around the world who receives U.S. foreign assistance.
Several Democratic leaders wrote a letter saying if USAID is dismantled, it would put our nation at risk and damage American credibility around the globe. They said USAID is providing energy assistance to Ukraine, support to Afghan allies, and gives the U.S. the ability to compete with China, Russia and Iran. They said USAID is critical to maintaining the U.S.’ edge in great power competition.
CBS News said foreign aid overall accounts for less than 1% of the federal budget.
The latest is that Sec. of State Rubio is now the acting administrator of USAID and that USAID would be merged into the State Department.
https://www.axios.com/2025/02/03/musk-doge-government-payments-treasury-fiscal-service
https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/letter_from_senator_wyden_to_secretary_bessent_on_payment_systemspdf.pdf
https://www.axios.com/2025/02/03/elon-musk-federal-agencies-doge
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That’s all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.