Iowa entrance polls show MAGA fans turned out for caucus: Live updates
Donald Trump holds commanding lead over challengers Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy
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The 2024 Republican candidates are eagerly awaiting the results of the Iowa caucuses on Monday – though if polling tells us anything, it’s that Donald Trump has a predictable commanding lead over the other candidates.
In a survey, conducted by The Des Moines Register, NBC News and Medicom, 48 per cent of potential voters said the former president was their first choice of Republican presidential candidates.
Former UN ambassador Nikki Haley was behind Mr Trump with 20 per cent support followed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis with 16 per cent.
Vivek Ramaswamy had just 8 per cent while only 5 per cent of potential voters said they were still unsure.
Of the survey respondents more than half said they had their minds made up regarding who they would cast their vote for.
But for the 32 per cent who could still be persuaded to support a candidate, the presidential candidates are fighting hard to convince them to join their teams.
Haley says Trump ‘should have stopped’ Capitol attack much earlier
Nikki Haley’s balancing act over the issue of January 6 and the 2020 election continued on Sunday as she appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press and faced questions about the attack on the Capitol from Kristin Welker.
Ms Haley, a former ambassador to the United Nations under Mr Trump’s presidency, drove a careful edge between opposing Mr Trump’s actions before and during the riot as she warned that the former president would have to answer in court for his actions. She took no position on whether the former president was guilty of a crime for not calling off the mob after rioters began attacking and injuring police on the grounds of the Capitol, only calling it “questionable” and stating that the courts would decide the answer.
“I’m not a lawyer,” she insisted, after explaining: “I think he should have said something earlier. I think he should have stopped it when it started.”
“I am telling you: Having the rally was not a crime. To turn around and not stop people from breaking the law, when he had the opportunity to do that, is questionable. And that’s what I think the courts are going to have to play with.”
The former governor added that her opponent will “have to answer” for allegedly condoning “lawlessness” on the day of the attack. Ms Haley has also indicated, however, that Mr Trump would receive a presidential pardon for his actions were she to reach the White House, meaning that any potential punishment for his actions at the federal level would not be levied.
VIDEO: 2024 Election: ‘Super Tuesday’ just days away
Trump crowd goes silent as he confuses Biden and Obama again
The crowd of Trump supporters gathered in Richmond, Virginia to hear Donald Trump speak on Saturday night went silent as the former president appeared to mix up Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama yet again.
“Shortly after we win the presidency, I will have the horrible war between Russia and Ukraine settled,” Mr Trump said on Saturday.
“I know them both very well and we will restore peace through strength. Get that war settled. It’s a bad war. And Putin has so little respect for Obama that he’s starting to throw around the nuclear word,” Mr Trump added, seemingly in the false belief that Mr Biden’s former boss remains in charge.
There were plenty of moments during Mr Trump’s campaign events in Greensboro, North Carolina and later in Richmond when he appeared to struggle to deliver his speech or seemed to be confused.
US pharmacy chains will offer abortion drug as Supreme Court prepares to hear major post-Roe case
Major pharmacy retailers Walgreens and CVS will begin offering the abortion pill mifepristone as early as next week in stores across the US, a move that could significantly expand access to abortion care as the US Supreme Court once again prepares to hear a case that could radically restrict reproductive healthcare for millions of Americans.
Mifepristone is one of two drugs in a two-drug protocol for medication abortion, a procedure that accounts for more than half of all abortions in the US
The drug, which is only available with a prescription, was first approved for use by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2000. The pill blocks a hormone necessary for pregnancy development, and is followed by the pill misoprostol, which causes contractions to expel tissue.
That same regimen is also used in miscarriage treatment.
A phased rollout of the drug’s availability in two of the largest pharmacy chains in the US arrives just weeks before the Supreme Court prepares to hear oral arguments in a case from right-wing legal groups and anti-abortion activists seeking to revoke the FDA’s approval, part of a years-long campaign to outlaw abortion nationwide.
That case comes before the court less than two years after a decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned a constitutional right to abortion care affirmed in Roe v Wade nearly 50 years earlier.
Patchwork anti-abortion laws across the country have choked off abortion access or effectively outlawed abortion care entirely; mifepristone prescriptions from CVS and Walgreens will only be available in states where abortion is legal.
But “many women will soon have the option to pick up their prescription at a local, certified pharmacy – just as they would for any other medication,” President Joe Biden said in a statement on Friday.
“I encourage all pharmacies that want to pursue this option to seek certification,” he added.
Legislation to legalize, tax skill games in Virginia heads to governor
Virginia lawmakers passed legislation Friday that would legalize skill games, the slots-like betting machines that proliferated in businesses around the state before an on-again, off-again ban took effect.
If signed by GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin, the bill would tax and regulate the devices, which are also known as gray machines because of the murky area of the law in which they previously operated.
The legislation was supported by a well-organized coalition that involved skill game developer Pace-O-Matic and business owners who have hosted the games and shared in their profits. Even critics said they were moved by the testimony of the business owners, many of them first-generation Americans, who said the machines had been a lifeline for their establishments, especially during the pandemic.
“For years, thousands of small businesses throughout the Commonwealth have come to rely on the supplemental, sustainable revenue provided by skill games. This victory will solidify their presence in Virginia and give thousands of small business owners peace of mind knowing they can keep their doors open, create jobs, and support their local communities,” said Rich Kelly, a restaurateur and president of the Virginia Merchants and Amusement Coalition, which formed to advocate for legalization of the machines.
The arcade-style games, which other states are also grappling with, look similar to slot machines but involve an element of skill, according to their manufacturers.
Netanyahu rival to meet with VP Harris in White House as US grows impatient with Israeli prime minister
A top Israeli minister and political rival of Benjamin Netanyahu is visiting Washington this week for a series of meetings that have already earned a stern reprisal from the Israeli prime minister.
Benny Gantz is set to meet with Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, on Monday while also holding meetings with top congressional leaders on Capitol Hill. The official agenda for his meeting with Ms Harris differs little from the readouts of Mr Biden’s own past interactions with Prime Minister Netanyahu.
But it’s Mr Gantz’s status as a centrist rival to Mr Netanyahu in the latter’s coalition government that has caused his trip to DC to rankle the prime minister and his allies. Mr Netanayhu himself issued a stern rebuke on a phone call with Mr Gantz this weekend, according to media outlets, while ordering officials with the Israeli embassy in Washington not to join the former defence minister for his meetings.
One source close to the prime minister was quoted by multiple media outlets as saying that Mr Netanyahu had “made it clear to Minister Gantz that the State of Israel only has one prime minister”.
VIDEO: Katie Britt to deliver response to Biden’s State of the Union address
Protester grabbed by crowd members at Jill Biden event after calling for Gaza ceasefire
A protester was violently grabbed and pulled by the crowd at an event with First Lady Jill Biden event after the protester called for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Dr Biden spoke in Las Vegas, Nevada and in Tuscon, Arizona on Saturday and it was at the Fox Theatre in Tuscon that multiple protesters were removed from the premises after interrupting the first lady’s speech.
The first lady focused on Republican efforts to curb abortion rights in her speech, which was interrupted at least four times during its 15 minutes, according to USA Today.
“Jill, when are you and the President going to call for a ceasefire in Gaza?” one protester asked before she was pulled down by the audience and subsequently dragged out by security.
The activist group known as the Answer Coalition shared a video of the incident:
Kamala Harris says there must be an ‘immediate ceasefire’ in Gaza
Vice President Kamala Harris called for Israeli officials and leaders of Hamas to accept a deal that would begin a six-week ceasefire in the Gaza Strip on Sunday as she spoke in Selma, Alabama, on the anniversary of the civil rights march later known as “Bloody Sunday”.
She also delivered one of if not the sternest condemnations of Israel’s failure to allow humanitarian aid to citizens of the Gaza Strip, remarks that came after Israel’s military was widely condemned for opening fire as Palestinians swarmed an aid truck carrying flour.
“[G]iven the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire — for at least the next six weeks, which is what is currently on the table,” said the vice president.
Kamala Harris demands ‘immediate ceasefire’ in Gaza: ‘The condition is inhumane’
Vice President Kamala Harris was met with cheers when she demanded an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza.
She addressed the recent killing of more than 100 Palestinians when Israeli troops opened fire on people rushing to an aid convoy in Gaza City.
“Our hearts break for the victims of that horrific tragedy and for all the innocent people in Gaza who are suffering from what is clearly a humanitarian catastrophe,” she said. “The conditions are inhumane.”
Harris is currently in Selma, Alabama to mark the anniversary of Bloody Sunday.
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