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Trump wins South Carolina; Nikki Haley is staying in against the odds
Former President Donald Trump scored a resounding victory against Nikki Haley in her home state of South Carolina last night, putting him in a position to clinch the Republican presidential nomination within the next month.
Trump’s victory speech openly touted a GOP unity message, one that a growing chorus of top advisers is urging him to pivot to in place of his personal grievances. One person involved in conversations around the potential shift, who doubts Trump has the discipline to execute on it, said the idea is to make the campaign “more about issues and less about personality.”
Haley, meanwhile, plans to stay in the race, but campaign analysts say she risks damaging her political future and brand if she presses on.
“She wants to go out the way she wants, which I guess is in flames,” said one Republican strategist, who argued her appeal to moderates, independents and Democrats risks damaging her brand with Republicans in the future.
Zelenskyy calls for weapons from allies as Ukraine marks two years of war
Saturday marked two years since Russian forces invaded Ukraine. And while Ukraine’s resistance surprised even its closest allies, the country finds itself once again on the back foot, with foreign support softening and its forces running low on equipment and ammunition.
On Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told NBC News that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to wage a war farther into Europe, and Ukraine urgently needs artillery and air defenses from its allies to continue defending itself.
When discussing the military’s recent loss of the key city of Avdiivka, Zelenskyy avoided directly blaming the retreat on a lack of ammunition from Ukraine’s key allies, but stressed the need to rearm and destroy Russia’s air fleet after the country dropped 3,200 bombs in the area.
“We count on our partners, and I hope that it’s not only words, that really it’s not about how to make Russians more weak, it’s about how to make us more strong,” he said.
Fears of famine grow in Gaza
As cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas are set to continue this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he will convene the Cabinet early next week to approve a planned ground offensive in Rafah.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on “Meet the Press” that the U.S. does not believe the military operation in Rafah should proceed “unless there is a clear and executable plan to protect those civilians, get them to safety, and to feed, clothe and house them.”
Meanwhile, in Gaza, aid groups say a dire food and water shortage is putting many at risk of infection and death.
“The level of desperation, of hopelessness, of despair is really shocking,” said Matthew Hollingworth, the World Food Programme’s regional director. “People are so scared because they don’t know where their next meal is coming from and they don’t know where they’re going to be sleeping tonight.”
Follow NBC News’ live coverage here.
On the U.S.-Mexico border, first responders struggle to cope with trauma
The crisis unfolding at the U.S.-Mexico border since last year has spilled over into the fire engines and ambulances of a small Texas town.
First responders in Eagle Pass say they are overwhelmed and increasingly traumatized by what they see: parents drowned or dying, their children barely holding onto life after attempting to cross the Rio Grande.
The emotional strain on firefighters and EMTs has grown so great that city officials have applied for a state grant that would bring in additional mental health resources for front-line workers.
“It’s an unprecedented crisis,” said Eagle Pass Fire Chief Manuel Mello. “It’s nothing close to what I experienced while I was on the line. It’s a whole different monster.”
Abortion rights advocates warn about more restrictions after IVF ruling
Abortion rights activists who have warned for years that the fall of Roe v. Wade would put other forms of reproductive health care on the chopping block say the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that has disrupted in vitro fertilization in the state was not a shock to them.
“This is something that we knew was coming,” Mini Timmaraju, the president of Reproductive Freedom for All, told NBC News. On “Meet the Press,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the Alabama decision is part of “a war on women” as his super PAC launches a new TV ad in Tennessee this week targeting “Trump Republicans” on abortion.
Advocates said they hoped the ruling would galvanize support for protecting access to abortion and other reproductive rights, and a coalition of groups formally launched an effort in Nevada to enshrine reproductive rights into law.
Meanwhile, doctors are warning that women using in vitro fertilization and their babies could face major health risks if fertility clinics stop using frozen embryos.
‘Meet the Press’
Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., defended Trump on “Meet the Press” Sunday after the former president’s comments about his support among Black voters.
During a speech at the Black Conservative Federation’s annual gala on Friday, attended by Donalds and other Black Republican politicians, Trump said, “I got indicted a second time and a third time and a fourth time, and a lot of people said that that’s why the Black people like me, because they have been hurt so badly and discriminated against, and they actually viewed me as I’m being discriminated against.”
Donalds said Trump is facing “political persecution” and argued, “This is something similar that Black people had to deal with — with the justice system themselves.”
Asked by Kristen Welker if he was offended at all by Trump’s comments, Donalds said he wasn’t. “He talked about all the reasons why minority voters want to support him,” he added.
You can watch the full interview here.
Politics in brief
Body positivity meets Ozempic
When Ella Halikas’ doctor suggested an off-label prescription of Ozempic to manage her polycystic ovarian syndrome symptoms, her first thought wasn’t about her health.
Halikas was more worried that her 267,000 followers on Instagram would be disappointed if she took the medication. She, like many other plus-size influencers, has built her brand around embracing body confidence at any size.
As more people — from WeightWatchers members to A-list Hollywood celebrities — embrace the new class of wildly popular weight loss drugs, some body positive influencers who have started weight loss journeys with the help of the medication have faced intense backlash from their followers.
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