The Daily Moth 3-13-2025
(Rough transcript)
Hello it is Thursday, March 13, 2025.
Remember, I’m not in my studio this week as I’m on a spring break trip, but I’m still doing news nightly. I wanted to do LIVE but due to tech issues, I’m just going to record and upload the videos. Here are today’s top stories.
BLOOD MOON TONIGHT
There will be a “blood moon” tonight to American viewers because the Earth will pass directly between the Sun and the moon in a total lunar eclipse. The moon will darken and become reddish because there will still be some light coming from the sun and hitting the moon. Sounds scary? Not really. NASA said the light that manages to go through Earth’s atmosphere, through the eclipse, are longer wavelengths of light, which are red, orange, and yellow. The lunar eclipse will start around midnight tonight and the darkest and reddest part will be between 2:30 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. I’ll be sleeping for sure, but it’s cool to think that the moon will be red. Maybe some of you will stay up to see it. You can expect social media to be full of pictures of the blood moon tomorrow.
PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTESTERS ARRESTED AT TRUMP TOWER
About 150 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested after they staged a sit-in at the Trump Tower in New York City to protest the ICE arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University pro-Palestinian activist.
The New York Police Department said they arrested 98 of them for trespassing and obstructing governmental administration.
CBS News said the protest organizers are the “Jewish Voice for Peace,” an anti-Zionist Jewish group. Some protesters said Khalil’s arrest was an attack on freedom of speech.
The Anti-Defamation League, a major Jewish organization that fights antisemitism, said the “Jewish Voice for Peace” does not represent the mainstream Jewish community.
Khalil, a green card holder who is married to an American citizen, is currently detained in Louisiana while a court battle plays out on whether his First Amendment rights were violated. The Trump administration says Khalil needs to be deported because his activities aligns with support for Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization.
DEMOCRATS SAY THEY’LL VOTE TO KEEP GOVERNMENT OPEN
The Senate’s Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, changed his mind to say he’ll support the Republican-led funding bill so that there won’t be a government shutdown tomorrow night. Just yesterday he said he wouldn’t support it. Schumer said it’s because there are no winners in a government shutdown and he didn’t want to see President Trump get even more power in the chaos of a shutdown.
JUDGE ORDERS FEDERAL AGENCIES TO REINSTATE PROBATIONARY EMPLOYEES FIRED
A federal judge in California ordered six federal agencies to reinstate probationary employees who were fired last month, saying the terminations that were carried out by the Trump administration were unlawful.
Probationary employees are those who were hired within the past year or for Schedule A hires (persons with disabilities, including deaf people), those who were hired within the past two years.
The order covers employees at the Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior, and Treasury.
The judge had harsh words, saying the government fired good employees and lied by saying it was based on performance while they wanted to avoid following requirements under law.
The White House Press Sec. Leavitt criticized the decision, saying a single judge is attempting to unconstitutionally seize the power of hiring and firing from the executive branch. She said the Trump administration would fight back.
TRUMP ASKS SCOTUS TO HELP END BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP
The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to allow President Trump to move forward with ending birthright citizenship for children who were born to parents who are illegally in the country (undocumented) or to parents who are on temporary visas. Two federal judges in lower courts said the idea is unconstitutional. Our Constitution says anyone who is born in the U.S. is guaranteed citizenship, but Trump and other conservatives have argued that immigrants who are in the country illegally shouldn’t be covered because they’re actually under the jurisdiction of their native homeland. We’ll see if the Supreme Court takes this case. If they decline, then the lower courts’ decisions will stand.
PUTIN SENDS MIXED SIGNALS ON CEASEFIRE
Russian President Putin said today he does support the idea of a 30-day ceasefire with Ukraine, but he’s not fully on board because he feels that the “root causes” of the crisis needs to be removed. Putin also expressed concern that Ukraine could use the 30-day ceasefire to regroup and rearm. A Russian official said Ukraine must recognize Russia’s annexation of multiple eastern regions and pledge to never join NATO. So Putin is not eager to do a ceasefire and making a lot of demands. President Trump said he wants to make this happen fast and said it shouldn’t be complicated. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said Putin is being manipulative.
That’s all the top stories for today. Good night, and no blood moon for me. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
Blood moon: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-causes-blood-moon/
Trump Tower protests: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-tower-protest-mahmoud-khalil/
Schumer: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/chuck-schumer-vote-advance-gop-funding-bill-democratic-divisions-rcna196306
Federal agencies: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/judge-reinstatement-federal-agencies-probationary-employees/
Birthright citizenship: https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/13/politics/birthright-citizenship-trump-supreme-court/index.html
Russia ceasefire: https://www.npr.org/2025/03/13/nx-s1-5327108/russia-putin-trump-ukraine-ceasefire-talks