Federal Workers Reinstated & Trump Tower Swarmed | Afternoon Update | 3.13.25

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Speaker 2 A judge orders the reinstatement of thousands of federal workers, anti-Israel protesters swarm Trump Tower, and a Connecticut woman is arrested for allegedly holding her stepson captive for decades.

Speaker 2 I'm Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Thursday, March 13th, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update.

Speaker 3 Thousands of fired federal workers are poised to get their jobs back, for now, after a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to reinstate them. The ruling by U.S.

Speaker 3 District Judge William Alsip follows a lawsuit from labor unions, arguing the mass firings violated federal hiring laws and administrative procedures.

Speaker 3 The ruling mainly applies to probationary workers across six government agencies. The Trump administration plans to appeal.

Speaker 2 21 Democrat attorneys general are seeking to stop what they call Trump's illegal and unconstitutional mass layoffs at the Education Department.

Speaker 2 The lawsuit, spearheaded by New York's Letitia James, claims the firing of over 1,300 workers at the department will hurt millions of students, especially those with disabilities and in low-income communities.

Speaker 2 It argues that the administration cannot, quote, unilaterally incapacitate a cabinet agency without congressional approval.

Speaker 2 The White House defends the move as a push for efficiency and to save taxpayer dollars.

Speaker 3 Protests erupted today inside Trump Tower as demonstrators called for Mahmoud Khalil, a detained anti-Israel activist, to be released.

Speaker 3 Dozens of protesters, organized by a group called Jewish Voice for Peace, occupied the building's lobby today, chanting things like free Mahmood and Free Palestine.

Speaker 3 NYPD officers arrested multiple demonstrators, removing them in zip ties. Khalil, a former Columbia University student and Palestinian activist, was detained by ICE over the weekend.

Speaker 3 The Trump administration calls him a national security risk, alleging he distributed pro-Hamas propaganda.

Speaker 3 A federal judge has temporarily blocked his deportation as protests continue across Manhattan.

Speaker 2 Russian President Vladimir Putin says he agrees in principle with a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, but insists that terms must be negotiated. Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce has the latest.

Speaker 1 Putin said that any truce must lead to lasting peace and address Russia's security concerns.

Speaker 4 Here's the Russian president at a news conference today: We agree with the proposals for the ceasefire,

Speaker 4 but our position is based on

Speaker 4 the assumption that the ceasefire would lead to a long-term peace,

Speaker 4 something that would remove the initial reasons for the crisis.

Speaker 1 Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff traveled to Moscow today for talks on the U.S.-brokered proposal.

Speaker 1 Russian demands for a ceasefire include blocking Ukraine from joining NATO and recognizing Russian claims to occupied territories.

Speaker 1 Meanwhile, Russian forces claim they've retaken a key border town in Ukraine while tightening control over Ukraine's foothold in the Kursk region.

Speaker 1 The Kremlin has yet to formally accept the ceasefire as both sides weigh the risks and potential advantages of a temporary truce.

Speaker 3 Trump has raised the stakes on the trade war with the EU.

Speaker 3 The president has threatened a 200% tariff on wine, champagne, and other alcohol imports from Europe after the EU announced tariffs on American whiskey. Here's Trump today.

Speaker 5 Take a look at the EU.

Speaker 5 We're not allowed to sell cars there. It's prohibitive because of their policies and also their non-monetary tariffs.

Speaker 5 They put obstacles in your way that you can do nothing about. But if you take a look at what happens, so we sell no cars to Europe.
I mean virtually no cars. And they sell millions of cars to us.

Speaker 5 They don't take our agriculture. We take their agriculture.
It's like a one-way street with them. The European Union is very, very nasty.

Speaker 3 Trump says the move will boost U.S. alcohol producers, but French officials vow to respond, calling it an escalation of the trade war.

Speaker 3 Meanwhile, industry leaders warned that tariffs could hurt American businesses, urging both sides to negotiate. This comes after the EU announced counter-tariffs on $28 billion worth of U.S.

Speaker 3 exports, which are set to take effect in April.

Speaker 2 The White House has revoked their nomination for director of the CDC, Dailywire Deputy Managing Editor Tim Rice explains.

Speaker 6 Former Congressman Dave Weldon's nomination was yanked just hours before his Senate confirmation hearing. Weldon had faced mounting criticism over past claims linking vaccines to autism.

Speaker 6 Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
reportedly told officials Weldon wasn't ready for the role.

Speaker 6 Meanwhile, doctors Jay Bhattacharia and Marty Makari have both advanced to full Senate floor votes. Bhattacharia's nomination to lead the National Institutes of Health in a 12-11 party line vote.

Speaker 6 Trump nominated Bhattacharia to lead the National Institutes of Health and Makari to head up the FDA. If confirmed, the two say they'll work very closely.

Speaker 3 A 55-year-old Connecticut woman has been arrested for allegedly holding her 32-year-old stepson captive for more than 20 years. Daily Wire senior editor Ash Short has more.

Speaker 7 Police say the man who had been held in the Waterbury home since he was 11 set the home ablaze last month in an effort to escape. He told police, I wanted my freedom.

Speaker 7 Investigators found the victim severely emaciated, suffering from prolonged abuse, starvation, and neglect.

Speaker 7 He had received no medical or dental care for decades and was given only minimal food and water.

Speaker 7 56-year-old Kimberly Sullivan was arrested yesterday and is facing multiple charges, including kidnapping, assault, and unlawful restraint. She is being held on a $300,000 bond.

Speaker 7 Waterbury's police chief called the case heartbreaking and unimaginable. Here's the chief in a press conference today.

Speaker 8 He lit that fire knowing he could very well die, but he'd been locked in that room for 20 years.

Speaker 8 And for 20 years, he's been trying to get out of that room.

Speaker 7 Meanwhile, an attorney for Sullivan has denied the allegations, saying Sullivan is blown away by the claims.

Speaker 2 And the Philadelphia Eagles are heading to the White House. The team has accepted President Trump's invitation to celebrate their Super Bowl victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.

Speaker 2 Creating Company co-host David Cohn has more.

Speaker 1 White House press secretary Caroline Levitt confirmed the visit set for April 28th.

Speaker 9 I know there was a lot of fake news about an invitation that wasn't sent or was sent. We want to correct the record.
We sent an invitation. They enthusiastically accepted.

Speaker 9 And you will see them here on April 28th.

Speaker 1 This marks a shift from 2018 when the Eagles were disinvited after some players opted out over Trump's criticism of Anthem protests. And they weren't the only ones.

Speaker 1 Several dozen major sports teams won championships during President Trump's first administration. Many celebrated at the White House, many did not.

Speaker 1 Of those teams that didn't, not all did so in defiance. Some had scheduling conflicts, some were not invited to begin with for various reasons.

Speaker 1 This time, many players on the Eagles, including lineman Lane Johnson, say they are honored to go.

Speaker 3 Those are your drive-home updates this afternoon. To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire.com.

Speaker 3 And in case you missed it this morning, we covered some big stories, including Trump escalates his tariff threats, the education department is gutted, and more than a thousand Christians and Shia Muslims are killed in Syria.

Speaker 3 Thanks for tuning in. We'll be back tomorrow morning with another full edition of Morningwire.