Trump Calls For Iran’s ‘Unconditional Surrender’; Daylight Saving Time | NTD News Today March 6

Welcome to NTD News Today. Here are today's top stories. President Trump says there will be no deal with the Iranian regime except unconditional surrender. He also tells news outlets he wants to be personally involved in choosing Iran's next leader. The U.S. strikes a massive Iranian drone carrier, bringing the number of ships sunk or destroyed to over 30. And War Secretary Pete Hegseth says the U.S. is not expanding military objectives in Iran. Lawmakers reject a measure that would limit President Trump's military authority and cut short the war in Iran. A handful of Democrats break ranks to oppose the bill. Kristi Noem is out as Secretary of Homeland Security. Remarks from Senator Mark Wayne Mullen, who's been tapped by President Trump to take the position. And you're looking at a live shot of Beirut in Lebanon, part of our ongoing coverage of Operation Epic Fury. Today's Friday, March 6. I'm Stefania Cox. The U.S. is not expanding military objectives in Iran. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth says the U.S. knows exactly what it's trying to achieve. Hegseth also addressing concerns the conflict could spread across the Middle East. He says Iran's attacks on allied countries are pushing those nations closer to the United States and Israel, and that the situation is not expanding the conflict. Instead, he says, it clarifies what the U.S. needs to achieve and how to do it. NTD's Daniel Monaghan has more. Central Command says U.S. forces aim to sink the entire Iranian Navy. They released footage of an Iranian drone carrier, roughly the size of a World War II aircraft carrier, that was hit and caught fire. Over 30 Iranian Navy ships have been sunk so far. Navy Admiral Brad Cooper saying Iran's fighting capacity has been dramatically reduced since the start of the campaign. Ballistic missile attacks have decreased by 90 percent since day one. Drone attacks have decreased by 83 percent since day one. Cooper declaring that Iran's fighting power is weakening. Combat power is building as Iranian combat power declines. Our air dominance allows us to hit Iran's center of gravity with overwhelming power and reach. U.S. forces are striking inside the heart of Iran. In just the last 72 hours, America's bomber force has struck nearly 200 targets deep inside of Iran, including around Tehran. And in just the last hour, U.S. B-2 bombers dropped dozens of 2,000-pound penetrator bombs, targeting deeply buried ballistic missile launchers. Cooper says U.S. forces have also struck Iran's equivalent of Space Command, which he says degrades their ability to threaten Americans. The commander stating President Trump gave the military another task to destroy Iran's ballistic missile industrial base. So we're not just hitting what they have, we're destroying their ability to rebuild. And so as we transition to the next phase of this operation, we will systemically dismantle Iran's missile production capability for the future. Cooper saying U.S. and Israeli forces have relentlessly destroyed Iran's air defenses over the past few days. And they've continued hunting for more systems to kill. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth says U.S. forces are executing with unmatched skill and the mission is advancing decisively. Iran is hoping that we cannot sustain this, which is a really bad miscalculation for the IRGC and Iran. The war secretary saying this is the kind of no-nonsense, results-driven warfighting that America demands. The amount of combat power that's still flowing, that's still coming, that we'll be able to project over Iran is a multiples of what it currently is right now. Hegseth says many past wars had vague objectives with restrictive minimalist rules of engagement. The president and myself are maxed out. Our capabilities are overwhelming and gathering still, as are those of our Israeli partners. Our munitions are full up and our will is iron clad. The war secretary says there's no expectation for a wave of Middle Eastern refugees to the United States, saying there are a lot of countries in the region who would be capable of providing that kind of support if needed. Daniel Monaghan, NTV News. Iran's president says several countries have begun mediation efforts to end the war. He did not name the countries involved. President Trump says he wants unconditional surrender from Iran, adding there will be no deal otherwise. In a Truth Social post this morning, Trump writes, there will be no deal with Iran except unconditional surrender. He added, after that, and the selection of a great and acceptable leader, we and many of our wonderful and very brave allies and partners will work tirelessly to bring Iran back from the brink of destruction, making it economically bigger, better and stronger than ever before. Iran will have a great future, make Iran great again. The president also says he wants to see Iran's current leadership structure removed and replaced with what he calls a good leader. Trump telling NBC News the United States wants to clean out everything and that Washington does not want a leader who could rebuild the current system. The president wants to be personally involved in selecting the next leader, as you heard, telling Axios the son of Ayatollah Khamenei is not an acceptable outcome. Also on CNN this morning, Trump saying that Iran's next leader will work like it did in Venezuela. And he commented on Cuba, saying the country is going to fall soon, the regime, the communist regime there is going to fall soon and that he'll send Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Speaking with NBC, the president stressing that a ground invasion of Iran is not under consideration. Iran's foreign minister telling the outlet that Iran is prepared for a possible U.S. or Israeli ground assault. Trump dismissed those remarks, calling them a wasted comment. He said Iran has already suffered a major, major losses during the conflict, including the destruction of much of its Navy. The president adding that the pace and intensity of military strikes will continue. And joining us now is retired U.S. Marine Colonel Mike Jernigan. He's a visiting fellow at the Allison Center for National Security at the Heritage Foundation. Colonel, thank you so much for your service. Thank you. You're welcome. And thank you for having me, Stefania. It's great to have you on. And we'll start with Secretary of War Pete commending the CENTCOM commander saying that Iran's military is being pummeled. Let's just watch that now. In just days of Operation Epic Fury, you and your team have delivered nothing short of devastating, precise strikes, taking out the better part of Iran's Navy, making it combat ineffective, neutralizing missile sites and launchers and establishing total dominance over the skies we fly over and seas we fly over. So, Colonel, how far along are we in degrading Iran's ability to launch strikes and destabilize the region? I think we're significantly far along, but also off to a good start. And I say it that way because we have done significant damage to their infrastructure. They've reduced their ability to launch ballistic missiles. They've reduced their ability to launch the drones. However, there's lots of little outposts all over the country with colonels probably in charge with missiles. So there's going to take some time to be able to go to pursue all of those targets. OK, now looking at the broader strategy, what is the realistic timeline for achieving President Trump's objectives in this operation? For a campaign like this, my experience would be probably five to six weeks. The last time that we completely destroyed a nation's military, the Americans completely destroyed a nation's military, was in the invasion of Iraq. And that was obviously with ground forces. And that took about three to four weeks. So without using ground forces, probably five to six weeks is a good estimate. All right. Now, President Trump told Axios that he believes he should be personally involved in selecting Iran's next leader. And he suggested that Ayatollah Khamenei's son should be off limits. What steps should the U.S. take to ensure that Iran's next leadership doesn't carry the torch for its predecessor? That question is probably best for the policymakers or the president's staff. OK. All right. Let's look at China. It's effectively served as a financial lifeline for Iran, buying a large share of its oil despite Western sanctions. Yet so far, Beijing really hasn't visibly stepped in during this conflict. What do you think is the CCP's priority right now? The CCP's priority is reputation control. They have a partner with Venezuela that they signed an all-weather security partner agreement with. And evidently, that didn't mean when it's sunny in Venezuela. They've been buying oil from Iran and supporting them, and they're not coming to their aid. So I believe that China has positioned itself to try to be a big brother in the region, and it's backfiring on them because they're not helping any of their purported friends. Now, within the last two months, the U.S. has taken out two of the CCP's closest allies, Maduro and Khamenei. Could this reflect a broader strategic approach by the Trump administration toward China's global alliances? I think it does. I think you're seeing the difference between facts and truth and bullying. And China, for many years, has been bullying smaller economies into trying to do what they want. And here they have an opportunity to put their money where their mouth is, and they're not doing it. Now, back to Iran more acutely, what will it take to stop that regime there from ever having nuclear missiles again? There's four things that really need to make sure that they can't do this again. Infrastructure, the buildings and the machines, the talent, the people, the brains, the technology, the science, the plutonium, but also the inventory. We have to make sure that they don't have anything left. So get rid of their ability to rebuild it, break up the buildings, break up the science, break up the people, and then break up the bombs. And what do you think might be Iran's next likely move in this war? I think that they are running out of options rapidly. They've been irritating all their neighbors. It appears to me that they've shot at everybody in their neighborhood except Pakistan. So maybe that happens this weekend or something. But they seem to be not getting friends in the world. And the only thing I think they can hope to do at this point is try to extend their war and try to elicit some sort of world opinion to have the United States stop. And I don't think that that's going to be very effective. We're certainly watching it closely. Thank you so much for your time today, Colonel Mike Jernigan. Thank you for having me. The Israeli military says it's moving from the surprise strike phase to the next phase of operations against Iran. Israel now launching a broad wave of attacks on regime infrastructure in Tehran. The Israeli military saying it dismantled a military bunker belonging to Iran's late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. About 50 Israeli fighter jets were involved in the strike. The IDF earlier saying it struck six ballistic missile launchers just minutes before missiles were set to be fired. Officials say 60 percent of Iran's missile launchers have been destroyed so far. Israeli forces are also counting out airstrikes on Beirut targeting infrastructure linked to the Hezbollah terror group. The military warning residents to evacuate the entire southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital. Meanwhile, several Gulf nations reporting attacks from Iran. Saudi Arabia says it shot down three ballistic missiles aimed at Prince Sultan Air Base home to U.S. military personnel. Tahrir says it intercepted a drone targeting the U.S. Al Udeid Air Base, the biggest military base in the Middle East. Coming up, lawmakers reject a measure that would limit President Trump's military authority and cut short the war in Iran. A handful of Democrats break ranks to oppose the bill. Nearly 24,000 American cities have citizens have safely returned to the United States from the Middle East. Some passengers took a charter flight on a plane belonging to the New England Patriots. Welcome back. We are looking live at a live feed of Tel Aviv, Israel in our coverage of Operation Epic Fury. According to the State Department, nearly 24,000 Americans have safely returned to the United States from the Middle East. Some passengers took a charter flight on a plane belonging to the New England Patriots. That flight landing in Washington, D.C. this morning, the State Department says many Americans have safely relocated to other countries. Others have departed from the Middle East, but are still in transit back to the U.S. More flights are scheduled for the coming days, depending on the security situation. The Department is urging American citizens in need of assistance in Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Israel to fill out a crisis intake form. Once completed, American citizens in those countries will receive information about upcoming charter flights and ground transportation options. The dignified transfer of the six U.S. soldiers killed in action during an Iranian drone strike is taking place tomorrow at Dover Air Force Base. The White House says President Trump will attend the transfer, and Iowa Congressman Zach Nunn says he also plans to be there. All six soldiers were part of the same Army Reserve Command in Des Moines, Iowa, before their deployment to Kuwait. Meanwhile, Democrats on Capitol Hill this week failing to cut short military operations in Iran. Both chambers rejecting a war powers resolution the Republicans described as dangerous. NTD's Melina Weiskopf reports. On the sixth day into President Trump's Operation Epic Fury, lawmakers rejected a measure from Democrats that would have limited ongoing military operations in Iran. This needs to continue. It would have been a very dangerous gambit to take the commander-in-chief's ability away to complete this mission. It would have been a very serious misstep by Congress, and I'm grateful that that resolution failed. Two Republicans, Thomas Massie and Warren Davidson, joined with most Democrats to stop the operation. Democrats have expressed concerns about the operation evolving into an endless war, a notion the Pentagon has repeatedly rejected. The mission of Operation Epic Fury is laser-focused. Destroy Iranian offensive missiles, destroy Iranian missile production, destroy their Navy and other security infrastructure, and they will never have nuclear weapons. Why? Because they have proven that they are an imminent threat, and they will use it every single chance that they get. Four Democrats joined with Republicans to shoot down the measure, one of them emphasizing that pulling troops out mid-operation is not good policy. To me, this is a no-brainer. They had a window of opportunity to take out very specific military assets in order to defang the Iranian regime. He was joined by Congressmen Jared Golden, Henry Cuellar, Juan Vargas, and John Fetterman in the being the few Democrats that support the president's action in Iran. Reporting from Washington, D.C., Melina Weiskopf, NTD News. Oil prices are surging as the conflict in the Middle East disrupts global energy supplies. Crude is on track for its strongest weekly gain since 2020 during the COVID pandemic. Brent crude jumping nearly 22 percent this week, with U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate climbing close to 27 percent. The rally began after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran. Tehran then halted tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route that carries about one-fifth of the world's daily oil supply. President Trump says rising gas prices are not his main concern, adding that the military operation remains his top priority. The International Energy Agency today is advising against looking to Russia for gas supplies. Given the bitter experience Europeans had with Russia, given the very fact that there will be a lot of LNG anyways coming to markets, and the gas markets turning from the markets of sellers to buyers, I think to look at Russia as an alternative option for getting gas will be economically and, in my view, politically wrong. The EU is under mounting pressure from industries and governments to step in to try to curb high energy prices. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has promised to draw up options for EU leaders to consider at a summit later this month. NATO is raising its ballistic missile defence posture after intercepting a missile from Iran heading toward Turkey. It says the posture will remain in place until the threat from Iran's continued attacks across the region subsides. NATO says the missile defence response was carried out in less than 10 minutes. Service members detected the ballistic missile and launched an interceptor that destroyed the threat before it could reach Allied territory. NATO officials said the interception in Turkey was perfectly executed. Despite the incident, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte says the alliance does not plan to invoke its Article 5 clause. It states that an attack on one NATO country is an attack on all. While many people across the world are taking to the streets to celebrate the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, the Chinese regime is working against that support with paid protests. NTD's Washington correspondent Jack Bradley has more. Celebrations are sweeping major U.S. cities this week as crowds thanked President Trump for strikes that eliminated Iran's top regime leaders. But CCP propaganda is pushing back, with groups tied to the Chinese regime organizing counter-protests against the strikes. Those include the Party for Socialism and Liberation, Answer Coalition, the People's Forum and Code Pink, recognized by Congress and the State Department as being linked to Beijing. That the protests are not grassroots. These NGOs are financed by a millionaire who lives in Shanghai, who has very close contacts with the Chinese Communist Party. Some are also connected to Neville Roy Singham, a Marxist businessman with ties to the CCP. Neville Roy Singham donated over $20 million to the People's Forum through shell companies. Following the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, China's economy is taking a major hit. Beijing already slashing growth targets, with experts doubting any real growth ahead. But it's probably going to be negative, and especially because China's in a deflationary period. The conflict has choked oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz, where China buys about 80 percent of Iran's sanctioned crude. China's authorities have now ordered major refiners such as Sinopec and PetroChina to halt signing new export contracts. Gas prices in China up 11.0 percent. Diesel up 13.5 percent. And the National Development and Reform Commission is telling refiners, don't export anything and cancel contracts if you can. This fuel crunch may even slow China's AI race. Two of the biggest AI contractors in China are Huawei and ZTE. They both have huge contracts in Venezuela and Iran for which they are now not going to be paid. And, you know, we're talking about tens of billions of dollars in contracts of revenue that they were expecting to get that they weren't getting. They were doing a lot of AI testing in these countries. While many cheer the blow to a terror-sponsoring regime, China faces a double blow, lost allies and skyrocketing energy costs that could derail its economy. Reporting by Jack Bradley, NTD News. Hong Kong pro-democracy publisher Jimmy Lai will not appeal the conviction that led to his 20-year prison sentence. His legal team confirming the decision today. His team did not comment on why they won't appeal. The Apple Daily founder and critic of China's Communist Party was found guilty in December. The charges were a conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and conspiring to publish judicious articles. The case has drawn international criticism of Hong Kong's national security law imposed by Beijing. Amnesty International calls his 20-year sentence a cold-blooded attack on freedom of expression. Lai was among the first high-profile figures arrested under that law. It was introduced in 2020 in response to pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. Several Apple Daily journalists were also detained and the newspaper shut down in 2021. Coming up, the February jobs report showing an unexpected job loss. More on the numbers and reactions from National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett. Plus, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is on her way out. We have remarks from the senator who President Trump tapped to replace her. Welcome back. A surprising jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. economy unexpectedly losing jobs last month while the unemployment rate edges up. New government data shows jobs dropped by 92,000 in February. This comes after January's better-than-expected performance of 126,000 new jobs. The unemployment rate edged up to 4.4 percent from 4.3 percent. Economists forecast nearly 60,000 new jobs and a jobless rate holding steady at 4.3 percent. Here's White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett. There have been so many strong indicators this month that it's something of a surprise. But there's some weather, there are strikes on the West Coast. And I think that we also have this birth-death model, the change in the procedure at the BLS. And so I think what we need to start doing with these jobs numbers, at least on the payroll side, is take the average over a few months. And if you take the average over a few months, we had a surprisingly positive one last month and a surprisingly negative one this one. But on average, it's about what we expect to be seeing. The issues that gained jobs include social assistance in hospitals. Industries that hit hard by job losses include health care, information services, manufacturing, transportation, warehouse and federal employment. Hassett is projecting optimism, saying, as you heard, the U.S. economy remains strong, and saying job creation is on a net positive. And also that he expects the GDP to grow by 4% this year, saying a fast-moving economy will support job finding. And a major change in the Trump administration. Secretary Christy Noem is set to leave the Department of Homeland Security. Trump's pick to replace her is Senator Mark Wayne Mullen. Here's that story. A shakeup at the Department of Homeland Security. President Trump says he's replacing Secretary of Homeland Security Christy Noem with Mark Wayne Mullen, a senator from Oklahoma. Mullen spoke to reporters at the Capitol Thursday following the announcement. I've got to be honest with you, I wasn't expecting the call today, but super excited. He said he was going to speak to Noem and praise her for her work, while also outlining his plan going forward. And we're going to get Department of Homeland Security making sure that we stay focused on protecting the homeland. No matter if you support me, you don't support me. I'm going to be laser focused on getting that done. In a post on Truth Social Thursday, the president said Noem will move to become special envoy for the Shield of the Americas, the Trump administration's new security initiative in the Western Hemisphere. Trump thanked Noem for her service, saying she achieved numerous and spectacular results as secretary. In a press release, the Department of Homeland Security said under Noem's leadership, the U.S. recorded its lowest border crossing totals in history. It also made note of drug seizures made during Noem's tenure, saying Customs and Border Protection seized more than 600,000 pounds of illicit drugs nationwide over the past year. The department says Noem oversaw the deportation of more than 3 million illegal immigrants, most of which it says were self-deportations. It also says ICE and CBP arrested hundreds of thousands of criminal illegal immigrants in cities nationwide. In a post on X, Noem thanked Trump for her new role as special envoy for the Shield of the Americas. She said she's looking forward to working with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth praised Noem's leadership at the DHS. We all serve at the pleasure of the president. I'm sure Mark Wayne Mullen will do a fantastic job. He's been a friend of mine for a long time. But Christie did a great job setting this up for success. So I don't have any concerns about whether or not the homeland will be covered down on. Rubio says Noem will be a tremendous asset to their team. Noem's departure comes amid mounting criticism over her leadership, including from some Republican lawmakers. And the DHS is at the center of a funding battle in Congress over immigration enforcement and has been shut down for 21 days. Mullen will replace Noem on March 31st, pending Senate confirmation. And the House has voted and the Department of Homeland Security funding bill has cleared the chamber. Republicans warn the shutdown threatens key security agencies, while Democrats say the bill lacks oversight for immigration enforcement. NTD's Chris Bobb has the details. The House has voted and the Department of Homeland Security funding bill has passed 221 to 209, with four Democrats joining all Republicans. Republicans say the shutdown is putting critical security agencies at risk. Democrats say the bill lacks needed oversight of immigration enforcement. Here's a look at the debate. Now, especially with conflict in the Middle East is not the time to block funding for the Department of Homeland Security. We could be under attack by Iran. Republicans say the DHS funding bill isn't about ICE or CBP, which already received $75 billion from the one big, beautiful bill. ICE is already funded for years. CBP is already funded for years. But the funding that comes from that bill funds our Coast Guard, our TSA, our cybersecurity professionals. Some lawmakers say the fight over DHS funding has become political, leaving frontline personnel and their families in uncertainty. Right now we're playing politics with something like the Department of Homeland Security funding. I don't need my active duty members to be worried about the safety and security of their families that they've left here in the homeland. When asked about what reform she would support from Democrats, Congresswoman Lisa McClain said. Is the party of masks, right, all of a sudden wants to unmask all the ICE agents. Just look at the contradictions. You should ask yourself why we're in this situation to begin with. If 20 million people didn't cross our borders, we wouldn't be having the situation and we wouldn't be having. One of the demands that's been communicated was that they wanted ICE to cease operations or to not operate within proximity of voting locations. What does that tell you? Democrats and Republicans debating a DHS funding bill in the Senate, the measure failing to reach 60 votes needed for cloture, leaving lawmakers at an impasse over oversight of immigration enforcement. Democrats do want to ensure that TSA and CISA and FEMA and other important agencies are funded. We will not cut a blank check funding without reforms for ICE and Border Patrol. Democrats claim they are no longer for open borders. Their proposal completely defunds the Customs and Border Protection. HSI is responsible for capturing these men, child pornographers, child predators, sex traffickers, drug traffickers. Reporting from Washington, D.C., Chris Bobb, NTD News. And Congressman Tony Gonzalez of Texas announces he will not seek reelection. The move comes after GOP leaders urged him to abandon his bid. That followed revelations of an affair with a former aide who died by suicide. Gonzalez says he will continue serving the remainder of his term. House Republican leadership said Gonzalez was asked to withdraw amid very serious allegations and an ongoing House Ethics Committee investigation into his conduct. A Navy veteran and three-term lawmaker admitted to a lapse in judgment, but he said he had no contact with the aide since June 2024 and had nothing to do with her tragic death. He says he was reconciled with his wife and pledged to cooperate with the ethics inquiry. The U.S. is restoring diplomatic relations with Venezuela after seven years. Comes as interim authorities govern Venezuela following the capture of former dictator Nicolas Maduro. The U.S. State Department says the move will promote stability, support economic recovery and advance what it calls political reconciliation in Venezuela. Maduro cut diplomatic ties with the U.S. in 2019 after Washington refused to recognize him as the country's president. Venezuela's interim government says it's committed to entering a new phase of constructive dialogue grounded in what it called the sovereign equality of states. The latest U.S. official in Venezuela was Doug Burgum, Secretary of the Interior. He says the U.S. is very pleased with the direction the country is going in. We certainly talked about a positive future for this country. And there's a number of things that are happening, again, under the current leadership that are very positive for everybody in this country. And I think you're seeing that in the laws that are being passed. They're, again, creating a framework that is going to be more peace, more stability and more prosperity for the people of Venezuela. Burgum said Venezuela's government is giving security assurances to nine mining companies interested in investing in the country. Mineral-rich areas have long been controlled by guerrilla groups and gangs. Shell Oil Company says it's entering into agreements with the Venezuelan government from offshore natural gas and onshore oil and gas opportunities. Still to come, Savannah Guthrie plans to return to NBC's Today show. She made an off-camera visit to the studio for the first time since her mother Nancy's disappearance. And the clocks are set to tick forward this weekend as daylight saving time takes effect. Some say the time change is outdated. Welcome back. Savannah Guthrie plans to return to work at NBC's Today show at some point. NBC said Guthrie stopped by the Today show studios for the first time since her mother's disappearance more than a month ago. Guthrie made an off-camera appearance to thank colleagues for their support since her mother Nancy went missing. She spent several weeks in Arizona helping with the search before recently returning to her home in New York. Exactly when she might return to the show is not clear yet. The network says she remains focused right now on supporting her family and working to help bring Nancy home. FBI agents were seen yesterday investigating a house directly west of Nancy Guthrie's Arizona home. The Pima County Sheriff's Office says they've traced DNA from the gloves found near Guthrie's home to a local restaurant employee. The office says that individual is not part of the investigation. Lab analysis on other DNA evidence is ongoing. A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to begin issuing more than a hundred billion dollars in potential tariff refunds. NTD's Arlene Richards has the details. In a three-page order on Wednesday, federal trade court judge Richard Eaton, the judge with exclusive jurisdiction over the Trump tariff cases, ordered the administration to pay back all imports eligible for automatic court-ordered refunds. Or in other words, those that are still within the legal window to challenge the tariffs charged or have already filed lawsuits. The ruling follows the Supreme Court's February 20th opinion that President Trump's sweeping global tariffs were unconstitutional. A six to three high court majority said the president didn't have the authority to impose the tariffs under an emergency powers law. They left open Trump's ability to impose tariffs under different trade laws. But it's still unclear how the refund process will play out. The current order is silent on a deadline for the refunds to be paid or whether there are any reporting requirements. It also doesn't say whether or not the administration must pay interest. And as dozens of new cases continue to come in, the court is temporarily placing them on hold. The Trump administration is expected to quickly challenge the refund ruling. Judge Eaton has scheduled a hearing in the case for Friday. Arlene Richards, NTD News. A major Supreme Court decision this week in a case challenging California's secret gender transition policies in public schools. In a landmark six to three decision, the high court restored a statewide injunction blocking the practice. NTD's Danny Monahan spoke with the Supreme Court and appellate litigation chief about the case. In Mirabelli versus Bonta, parents and teachers challenged California policies requiring schools to keep information about a student's gender transition confidential from parents unless the student consents. The court says the practice likely violates both the First Amendment's free exercise clause and the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause. The ruling reverses a Ninth Circuit decision that had paused a lower court injunction protecting parental rights. The justices ruled that such secretive policies are not just administrative decisions, they are constitutional harms to parental liberty that cannot be brushed aside by lower courts. It's been long established and the court has numerous opinions in the past few years really honed in that it's a long established right under the substantive due process clause that parents are able to control the upbringing of their children and that includes the education of their children and medical decisions involving their children. So, so long as a parent is a fit parent, then the parent has that constitutional right and that constitutional right trumps the ability of a young child to say, you know, I don't want my parents to know about this. Erin Marcino, vice president and chief of Supreme Court and appellate litigation at Advocates for Faith and Freedom, says even one of the state's own defense witnesses acknowledged the problems created by keeping parents in the dark. So, it's strange for the child to be called one pronoun at school and then a different pronoun at home and so for that not to be cohesive is actually damaging to the child. The high court also pointed to a decision it issued last June, Mahmood versus Taylor. That 6-3 ruling sided with Muslim, Catholic and Ukrainian Orthodox parents in Maryland who argued their religious rights were violated when elementary students were required to be exposed to LGBT themed books. The court was very clear that the protections that they carved out in Mahmood are broad and that they applied to gender transitions and other things that are happening in the school that parents should be allowed to know about. They should be notified and given an opportunity to opt out. Marcino says the decision could reshape how lower courts handle similar cases. And the Supreme Court hadn't really taken a case in this area in quite some time and here they're saying we really did mean what we were saying back when we decided these cases you know back you know many many years ago and here we're reinforcing it now and so I think that the Supreme Court made it very clear that the First Amendment rights of parents should be protected, that parents should be involved in the upbringing of their children and that schools can't keep these sorts of major decisions secret from parents and that's really what this case is about. The court's ruling means that for now no school district in California may conceal a child's gender transition from parents, facilitate social transitions at school without parental knowledge or compel teachers to mislead families. Daniel Monaghan, NTD News. Thank you Daniel. And the Trump administration is pushing for more nutrition education in medical schools. It's part of an effort to address chronic disease. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says dozens of schools are now committing to expand that training. NTD's Christina Corona tells us more. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says dozens of medical schools are committing to expand nutrition education for future doctors. On Thursday the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Education announced that 53 medical schools across 31 states plan to increase nutrition training. Beginning this fall these schools will require every medical student to complete 40 hours of comprehensive nutrition education or competency equivalent before graduating. More than 30,000 physicians each year will now graduate equipped with nutrition education to help prevent, treat and reverse chronic disease. Kennedy says the U.S. spends about 4.5 trillion dollars a year on health care with roughly 90 percent going toward treating chronic disease. Kennedy made the announcement alongside Education Secretary Linda McMahon and leaders from the American Medical Association and the Association of American Medical Colleges. It's a privilege to recognize the dozens of medical schools stepping up to strengthen nutrition education because to make America great again we must first make it healthy, healthy again. The administration also says the National Institutes of Health will provide five million dollars in funding to help medical schools develop nutrition coursework and training programs. Meanwhile Kansas, Ohio, Nevada and Wyoming are among the latest states moving to restrict snap purchases of items like soda, energy drinks and candy. Joining several other states implementing limits on purchases of so-called junk foods with food assistance benefits. Christina Corona, NTD News. And the clocks are set to tick forward this weekend as daylight saving time takes effect. For many the time change means lost sleep and maybe an adjustment to bedtime routines. NTD's Andrew Thomas has more on an effort to keep daylight saving time year round. Whether you're a night owl or an early to bed early to rise person everyone will lose an hour of sleep on Sunday. When the clock strikes 2 a.m. time will leap forward an hour marking daylight saving time. Daylight saving time began in the United States during World War I as an effort to save the fuel required to produce artificial light. Lock the Clock founder Scott Yates believes the change is an outdated tiresome exercise. Like so many people I was just frustrated having to change the clocks twice a year. I didn't like losing an hour of sleep in the spring. So Yates started Lock the Clock in 2016. I thought somebody was probably leading some sort of movement to fix it and I looked around and there really wasn't anybody and I didn't really envision myself as the leader of the movement I just thought I would write some blog posts about it. Since then at least 19 states have passed laws to stay in daylight saving time if Congress allows it. I started having legislators contacting me saying hey you know you've got all these good resources can we put this in can I and then can you come and testify can you help us out and so it's kind of just grown in that way. Hawaii and Arizona are the only states that don't change the clocks but Yates's work has led others to consider sticking to a regular schedule. Andrew Thomas NTD News. In Washington cherry trees will be in peak bloom from March 29th to April 1st. The National Park Service says its projection could change depending on the weather. It says the blossoms usually stay on trees seven to ten days bringing millions of visitors. The annual tradition dates back to Japan's gift of 3,000 cherry trees in 2019-12. That's all we have time for this hour but we'll have more coverage of the U.S. Israeli strikes on Iran and more news in just a moment. I'm Stefania Cox. Thanks for watching.