>> welcome to "cbs evening news plus." i am john dickerson.

a transatlantic -- continues. president trump pushes ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy again, suggesting he will not be in power long. in europe, and emergency embrace during a summit held over the weekend in which nations found to increase in military aid ukraine. cbs's ramy inocencio is in london. mardi gras on high alert. for the first time, the festivities will get the highest threat level rating from the federal government. cbs's kati wiess reports from new orleans. stuck the landing. for the first time, a privately built spacecraft sets up camp on the moon. we will go in-depth on blue ghost's mission. ghost stories and more right after our news headlines. ♪ ♪ putting on the brakes: trucks carrying humanitarian aid into gaza are stopped by israel as it pressures hamas to extend phase one of the cease-fire, which ended last weekend. hundreds of trucks had been crossing each day. israel says it wants they return

of the remaining hostages the terrorist group kidnapped on october 7th. investigators in germany are trying to determine why a suspect intentionally drove into a crowd, killing at least two. security video capture the car speeding down the street of the town of mannheim. a 40-year-old german man is in custody. officials in the carolinas are warning about an elevated wildfire threat. fire crews are battling more than 100 fires. the largest, near myrtle beach, has scorched more than 1600 acres. there have been some forced evacuations, but so far no major buildings have been destroyed. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ we begin tonight with a diplomatic puzzle: can europe put a ukrainian peace deal back together again? two days after a calamitous white house meeting between president trump and ukrainian leader zelenskyy, u.k. prime minister keir starmer

called an emergency meeting with his european nato partners. the message is to warn ukraine, as it merges into its fourth year, it's time for the countries of europe to take security into their own hands. i am joined by foreign correspondent ramy inocencio. ramy, what were the big things that came out of this meeting over the weekend? >> reporter: john, good to see you. for starters, prime minister starmer announced 1.6 billion pounds for ukraine, about 2 billion u.s. dollars. that is to buy some 5,000 british air defense missiles. germany was in the news with a report that officials might be working on not one, but two funds to support ukraine. then, there's france. the government is floating a one month partial cease-fire in french media, but the u.k. says there's still many different plans being discussed. some of those include boots on the ground in ukraine. we are expecting more countries may make announcements on their own time.

>> john: and these proposals are -- they've been forced into them, presumably? >> reporter: frankly, yes, really out of necessity. the trump/zelenskyy blowup the world saw at the white house ended up being a wake-up call about american reliability. there are tw levels of security. one, it is not just about european nations helping bolster ukraine's security. it's also about european nations helping bolster europe's own security writ large. it's not like the u.k. and the rest of europe have an option. anger at trump, as we've already scene, would not likely get them far. they have to go with this flow, pressure, whether they like it or not. so trump -- a reality check for america's allies. >> john: so what is that in the larger perspective?

>> reporter: it's that the u.s., under president trump, might not be the ultimate backstop, if you will. it might not be the ultimate security guarantee against any future russian aggression against ukraine or europe. for example, ursula von der leyen, president of the european commission, be what you called a -- they must help ukraine be what you call a steel porcupine, and the e.u. writ large must rearm itself. take a listen. >> after a long time of underinvestment, it's now of utmost importance to step up the defense investment for a prolonged period of time. >> reporter: e.u. leaders are excited to unveil a package that excited to unveil a defense package that also includes ukraine and brussels. there are many questions. for one, how much assistance will they give? what weapons and potentially troop deployment if any? and, whether it will all be enough to counter russia, and john, possibly without the united states. >> john: ramy inocencio for us.

thank you so much, ramy. >> reporter: you bet. >> john: the reshaping of the u.s. j justice department continues, with more career prosecutors being fired or moved out of long-held positions. cbs news has learned nearly a dozen senior prosecutors who handled january 6th related cases were demoted last week. the move was at the direction of the acting u.s. attorney in d.c., ed martin. justice department correspondent scott macfarlane joins me now. what was the reason for these motions that was given? >> reporter: ed martin has made the argument on social media that echoes the claim from donald trump, that he believed the justice department is weaponized in previous years against political foes of donald trump's, and was not focused enough on reducing gun violence, or tackling violence issues in the district of columbia. ed martin has justified this by% saying he needs to reconfigure if not overhaul his office. this may space might be an obscure office: the u.s. attorney for the district of columbia, but this is sending shock waves across the justice

department. assigned critics say they are under the thumb of president trump moving forward. >> john: remind us again of who ed martin is. >> report: ed martin is one of those people who has a nickname he self proclaims. he calls h himself ed "legal" martin. he was part of the stop the steel movement after that election and was a generate sixth defense attorney appointed to the job after the inauguration of president trump. he was the one who disposed of those cases after the pardons were handed down. >> john: what has been the reaction to these demotions? and what are they being demoted to, by the way? >> report: some are being demoted to the position of handling this misdemeanor crimes. they were tackling the highest profile prosecution in america a american history a few months ago. there is a broad concern that fbi agents to prosecutors inside the department of justice, everybody is looking over their shoulder, worried and

email will pop up in a few minutes that they have been moved or have lost their jobs. it's hard to function as a professional when you are worried about that every few minutes. >> scott macfarlane on the justice beat in washington. thank you so much. mardi gras celebrations achieve their high point in new orleans tomorrow. for the first time in history, fat tuesday's security designation will be as high as the super bowl. cbs's kati wiess is in the big easy and reports on the increased security. ♪ ♪ >> the big easy, the top tourist destination for american mardi gras elevations. after the new year's eve attack on bourbon street that killed 14 people, the city is operating at the highest special events assessment rating the federal government can assign. it also means hefty security resources from hundreds of state officers and federal agents, including bearcat patrols and bomb-sniffing dogs. it's the first time in the

nearly 200 years of new orleans mardi gras parading for the city to see this level of support. >> the january 1st attacks changed everything for this city. >> steven stavinoha is the director of field operations for customs and border protection in new orleans. because mardi gras season started in january, his team has been here since before the super bowl. what are some of the things you are looking for? >> we are looking for that lone wolf, an individual that may be trying to do something with an automobile. we are also looking for people who may have ieds in the backpacks, as well as people with weapons that are around the parade ground. >> reporter: cbp is also looking for threats by water. traffic that seems out of place. >> report: matt valzania is a marine interdiction agent for border customs and protection. he is keeping watch on the water. >> coast guard is out here, border patrol is out here. louisiana official wildlife. a large event like this, it's an

all-hands-on-deck kind of thing. [technical glitch, no audio] >> -- since that attack, including stronger barriers, and also stronger pedestrian access here in the historic french quarter. we are also going to be seeing this cbp team behind me after patrolling the parades all evening, they are going to be starting bright and early in the morning to make sure folks are able to party safely. >> john: kati wiess in new orleans, thank you. here are three things to know. melania trump went to capitol hill today to speak out against a revenge porn, the posting of intimate sexual images online. the first lady parted for a measure called the "take it down asked," which would require consent to put up those images and would require platforms to remove them quickly.

if you are kicking yourself for falling for an online scam, you are not alone. a report from the consumer financial services company bank rates is one in three american adults claim they experienced financial fraud in the past year or. baby boomers were the largest group to be targeted. but, half of the younger folks -- gen z -- say they lost money. there was a different kind of sting at boston's logan airport. a woman was stung by a scorpion while picking up her luggage had customs after flying in from mexico. she was treated at an area hospital. no word on her condition. officials have not said with a scorpion might've come from. they are mostly found in desert regions, which does not include baggage claims, no matter how long it takes to get your bags. still ahead on "cbs evening news plus," what happened after the supreme court ruled race couldn't be used in college admissions? the answer might surprise you. and, this story. >> what does it feel like to be on the lunar surface, to operate on the lunar surface? all that data will inform when

we return humans to them. >> the latest lunar landing, and what it means for humans' eventual return to the moon and beyond. huge news. you can get a son of (bass) for just 3 bucks. wait... i said son of (bass). son of (bass). son of (bass). look at the words. son of baconator is three dollars. ogh thank you. for bacon that just won't quit, gotta be wendy's.

>> >> john: were all told to shoot for the moon, but over the weekend, a texas aerospace company actually hit it, making it the first fully successful landing on the moon by a private firm. it's the second private mission to the moon, but you might recall that first lender toppled over after touchdown. for our in-depth report, mark strassmann looks at the mission behind the historic feat. >> we are all set to land on the moon. [cheers and applause] >> reporter: the landing? flawless. [cheers and applause] the first pictures? stunning. firefly's blue ghost lander casting a shadow across the lunar surface. in the distance, the earth -- and all of us -- 240,000 miles away. >> i'm so proud of that lander and the team that built in. it's incredible. >> this is the spacecraft program director at firefly aerospace. >> all right, go ahead. >> we first met her at her company's blue ghost lunar lander three months ago. 6 feet tall, 11 feet wide, with

four landing legs not touching lunar dust. >> so, there are cameras distributed basically all the way around the landers. >> ignition. lift off. >> launched in january, blue ghost cameras captured its journey from earth to lunar orbit. its mission? deliver ten payloads to the lunar surface for nasa. >> if you look down, you can see that. that's the drill. it will deploy down and go into the wonder surface. >> this drill will try to penetrate 9 feet below the surface to measure temperature. another experiment will vacuum up loose lunar rock and dust. >> are payloads are collecting data so we can figure out what does it feel like to be on the lunar surface, operate on the lunar surface. all that data will inform when we return humans to the moon. >> really does open up a new way for us to get science to the

space and to the moon. >> blue ghost should survive about two weeks -- or one lunar day -- until the sun sets and its batteries drain. >> its nervous to think about. >> until sunday, the moon seemed so far away. not anymore. >> you imagine that's where it's going to be, but now you know it's there. that's a totally different feeling. the next full moon, i just want the next full moon, i just won't sleep. i'll just stare at it all night. >> one moon landing at a time. space companies now firefly now proved that they have the right stuff. >> college admissions are no longer affected by the policy known as affirmative-action. or, are they? the mixed signals, when we come back. ion. or, are they? the mixed s

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senate voted to confirm >> john: this afternoon, the senate voted to confirm linda mcmahon as education secretary. before she gets in the door, the department is making moves, ordering colleges and universities to end diversity initiatives or risk losing federal funding. the demand stems from the supreme court banning the use of race in admissions in 2023. in a report for the atlantic entitled "the race-blind college admissions era is off to a where to start," writer's rose horowitch says the impact has been mixed. we asked her why for tonight's interview. rose, i want to start with the headline of the story, which is that the race-blind college admissions era is off to wear to a weird start. what makes it weird? >> it's weird, because prior to the supreme court ruling, almost everyone thought that universities would see a big decline in their share of black and latino students.

at some places, that's what's happening, but there are these notable exceptions where they've seen an increase in black and latino students after the end of affirmative-action. that was a really weird finding. >> john: let's start with the ones that did drop. that was the story everybody was expecting, right? >> yes. schools like mit saw -- i think a 60% decline in their share of black students, compared to the years before the decision. harvard, which was the school at the center of the litigation, also saw big changes. there were certainly a lot of schools that this did happen. >> now today more interesting part of the weirdness, which is those elite schools where there was not this fall off what explained that? >> that's led to these dueling theories. one is that universities are able to maintain racial demographics without explicitly considering race, and the other

is that they aren't following either the letter or spirit of the supreme court ruling. >> let's go to the possibility of cheating. that is essentially -- what is the argument and who is making it? >> the argument is that none of these other explanations fully explain how the universities got the results, because they haven't been shown to get rid of legacy admissions or these donor preferences, and because they aren't allowed to just give advantages, say, to an african american student who writes about overcoming adversity. they'd also have to give it to an asian student who work right about that expense. their argument is that the universities haven't asked why and how they are made numbers, even as i have been accused of cheating. the people making it -- the most well-known one is edward bloom, the leader for students of fair omissions which brought the case against harvard.

he has written in letters to yale, princeton, duke. he has argued that they need to explain how they got their results, or else he will have no other recourse. >> rose, we have this weird disparity. it's only one year in. what are the experts, what are you looking for the next couple of years that would give us the signal about which way this story is going? >> it's interesting to watch if one of these cases do make it to the court, where do they come down. i also think we are going to see the schools -- they are under a lot of pressure on both sides. schools that saw big declines in black and latino students are going to be under pressure to make those up, and these schools that didn't see big declines, they may come under increased scrutiny from the federal government. >> john: rose horowitch on the weird race blind college

admissions story, thank you for being here. >> thank you for having me. >> today is read across america today. i will be reading to you for my for all those making it big out there... ...shouldn't your mobile service be able to keep up with you? get wifi speeds up to a gig at home and on the go. introducing powerboost, only from xfinity mobile. now that's big. xfinity internet customers, cut your mobile bill in half vs. t-mobile, verizon, and at&t for your first year. plus, ask how to get the new samsung galaxy s25+ on us.

♪ ♪ >> john: i'm going to try your patience. can you stick with me to the end of this essay about national and across america day? read across america day?

oh, no, there go some of you already come up deciding this topic can't be interesting enough to stick with, especially when there are videos on your phone of cute d doxens that you can watch. for those of you who have stayed, i'm guessing you are readers. not because that's the topic, but because reading has conditioned you to tolerate moments that are not constantly filled with stimulus. developing focus is one reason we dedicate a day to promote reading for young people. beyond building concentration, reading excites the imagination and teaches us to manage complex ideas. one study found that reading about experiences activates the same brain regions as actually having those experiences. another study showed that imagining fictional characters' journeys improves your ability to understand real people's emotions and perspectives. fewer of us are reading these days. a majority of the country does not read a single book in a year. reading and the quality of experience has been in decline for a while, because smartphones steal our attention. this means reading is now a defiant act, revolt against the

forces from commerce to politics, who thrive on keeping us in a partial state of attention. a revolt against the forces to a revolt against the forces who installed that itchy feeling that makes you open an app, look at it, close it, and then open it again seconds later without thinking. we used two only do that with refrigerators. read across america day coincides with dr. seuss' birthday. designed for students, it does what most of the seuss work did: remind adults what is important in their lives of constant distraction. thank you for watching "cbs evening news plus." i am john dickerson in new york. good night. we >right area. ght >> she has created a culture of fear and retaliation. >> deputies like elliott want their boss out. they say the sheriff has abused her power

time and time again. >> sheriff corpus would do anything possible to disrespect the people who work here. >> now the high stakes decision is in front of voters. rv dwellers facing an ultimatum turning their lives upside down. >> 100% total like an earthquake. >> we take you inside the safe parking site about to be closed and introduce you to a man navigating his next move. >> i don't want to lose any of them. one way in and one way out when lightning sparked wildfires. >> we really had to push to make sure we could use this as a second way out. >> meet the residents who found their own solution. >> they know us. we're easy to find. they haven't come to us for anything. and this women's history month meet a bay area boss who battled the stereotypes. >> because when you think about cpr, what