A look inside the last hours of Ron DeSantis’ doomed presidential bid. India comes to a halt as Modi inaugurates a controversial new temple. And Jason Kelce steals the show at the Chiefs-Bills playoff matchup.
Here’s what to know today.
The final hours of Ron DeSantis’ ill-fated campaign
Yesterday morning, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis summoned his closest advisers to the Governor’s Mansion in Tallahassee for a final conversation about the future of his presidential bid, according to a person familiar with the discussion. DeSantis and his wife, Casey, decided that with no reasonable path forward, he would suspend the campaign.
The decision was the culmination of conversations between DeSantis and his advisors that began after he placed a distant second to former President Donald Trump in the Iowa caucuses. His campaign and its allied super PACs couldn’t raise enough to replenish the tens of millions to dollars they spent trying to win in the Midwest.
In the hours before he announced his decision, DeSantis canceled planned appearances on Sunday television shows, including NBC’s “Meet the Press”, which led many to conclude he was on his way out. Polls showed him in single digits ahead of Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary, positioned to finish far behind both Trump and Haley, and South Carolina didn’t look much better. “Everyone wanted to stay in until South Carolina, but raising money became so hard, and it was not going to get easier,” a DeSantis adviser said.
The denouement didn’t come as a surprise to DeSantis allies, but the timing did. DeSantis couldn’t overcome a series of strategic, tactical and rhetorical mistakes.
Read more:
- Ron DeSantis sought to position himself as an alternative to Donald Trump, but was unable to peel away enough of his support.
- Nikki Haley greeted the news of DeSantis’ dropping out of the race by wishing “may the best woman win.” Yet, Several Republicans said it won’t boost her much.
- Here’s why Ron DeSantis’ presidential bid was doomed from the start.
- NBC News joined Americans for Prosperity Action, a pro-Nikki Haley conservative group, to witness its door-knocking efforts for her in New Hampshire.
Hostage talks at impasse after Israel rejects Hamas’ demand for IDF withdrawl from Gaza
American, Qatari and Egyptian officials are pushing for an agreement that would free an estimated 130 hostages believed to remain in Gaza, most likely hidden underground in tunnels or in private homes. A Hamas official said in an interview with NBC News that the group won’t move forward with anything until it has a promise that all Israeli troops will leave Gaza and that the war will stop. Israeli officials say their efforts to secure the release of the hostages have never stopped, but they balked last week at Hamas’ demands for a permanent cease-fire, according to a senior Israeli government official.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly dismissed Hamas’ demands saying, “If we agree to this, we will not be able to guarantee the security of our citizens. We will not be able to return the evacuees safely to their homes, and the next Oct. 7th will only be a matter of time.” Netanyahu is facing growing domestic pressure, with members of his own war cabinet urging him to agree to a deal, and hostages’ families rallying outside his Jerusalem home. Follow live updates.
More on the Israel-Gaza war:
- Tawfic Hafeth Abdel Jabbar, a teen was born and raised in Louisiana, had gone out for a picnic with friends when he was shot in the West Bank.
- Take a look at the underground tunnels where Israeli hostages were held.
Republicans worry they have no achievements to run on in 2024
When Congress began the new year, Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs gave a television interview and made a startling confession: House Republicans have done nothing they can run on.
The interview captured a dynamic that looms over Republican lawmakers heading into the 2024 election: They’ve passed little legislation since winning the majority in 2022 and struggled to manage the basics of governing with a Democratic-led Senate. Instead, their first year was marked by fractiousness and chaos, complicating the party’s pitch to voters this fall. The challenge is accentuated by likely GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump making “retribution” against his enemies, rather than shared policy goals, the centerpiece of his comeback bid as he continues to spread fabricated claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
Republicans still have a few chances to salvage what has been a historically unproductive congressional session and pass new laws in the divided government.
India’s Modi makes political hay with controversial temple opening
India came to a halt today as Prime Minister Narendra Modi presided over the opening of a grand Hindu temple on a contested holy site that has become a symbol of religious tensions in the world’s largest democracy.
The $217 million Ram Mandir honors Lord Ram, the most revered deity in Hinduism, and is transforming Ayodhya, a city of about 3 million people northern India, into a tourist hub that officials hope will be a Hindu version of the Vatican. The temple was built on the site of a mosque dating to the 16th century that was destroyed by Hindu nationalist mobs in 1992, setting off riots across the country that killed about 2,000 people, mostly Muslims.
The inauguration of the temple, which is still far from complete, comes as Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party prepare to run for a record third consecutive term in elections this spring. The BJP had been advocating for the temple for decades as a way to celebrate Hindu identity after centuries of Mughal and British rule.
Young students deciding on colleges weigh state politics in their decisions
This spring, high school seniors will weigh school rankings, academic specialties and campus life as they decide where to commit to the next chapter of their life. For some, they are also looking at state laws.
Grace, a high school senior in South Carolina, is concerned by the idea of living in a state with limited access to abortion. “I’m not comfortable with being in a state that doesn’t value who I am or value my rights as a person,” she said. A Gallup survey conducted in 2022, after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, showed 73% of unenrolled young adults say reproductive health laws are a factor in their decision on where to enroll in college.
A wide range of political concerns including abortion and LBGTQ+ rights are affecting students’ decisions on where they want to attend college and some are willing to make big sacrifices in order to leave conservative states.
Indiana man describes surviving 6 days in car's wreckage
A man who survived six days trapped in a pickup truck that crashed under an overpass recounted how he survived. Matthew Reum, 27, was discovered trapped in the mangled truck in a shallow creek in Portage, Indiana, on Dec. 26 by a man and his son-in-law, who were looking for a fishing hole along Interstate 94.
Reum was in life-threatening condition. He had suffered a broken hand, a broken leg and ended having his other leg amputated above the shin, he said. “I get in the helicopter, and my brain’s like, you made it — you’re alive,” he said in an exclusive interview after his release from the hospital. “It still took me a couple days even after that to realize the full reality of everything, you know.”
Today’s Talker: A shirtless Jason Kelce stole the show…
…as he cheered on his brother Travis, Kansas City Chiefs’ tight end, when he made his first touchdown of the game against the Buffalo Bills. Despite the below-freezing temperatures at Highmark Stadium in Buffalo, Jason Kelce ripped his shirt off to celebrate the scoring drive. Travis Kelce blew a kiss and made a heart with his hands, appearing to signal the TD was scored for his girlfriend, Taylor Swift, who was watching in a box from above.
Politics in Brief
State politics: A coalition in Colorado kicked off an effort to place an amendment on the November 2024 ballot that would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution.
Abortion rights: President Joe Biden is expected to hold a meeting today to discuss reproductive health care on the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade ruling.
New Hampshire primary: Donald Trump is holding one of his last major events in Rochester, and the city has mirrored the GOP statewide primary results since 1952.
Staff Pick: Murder-for-hire and a one-way ticket
Donna Adelson’s daughter was in the middle of an ugly custody fight when her ex-son-in-law was killed in his driveway. Her son was convicted in the murder. Then, Adelson booked a one-way flight to Vietnam. As she was heading out of the country, officials closed in and arrested her. The twists in this deadly family drama keep unfolding, and Tim Stelloh and the “Dateline” team untangle them with exclusive reporting and an interview with Adelson’s attorney.
— Jamie Knodel, news editor
In Case You Missed It
- Two U.S. Navy SEALs who were lost in nighttime seas during a raid on a small boat off Somalia were declared dead after a 10-day search and rescue mission.
- The FAA has reccommended visual inspections of Boeing 737-900ER planes because they have similarities to the model involved in the midair emergency on an Alaska Airlines flight.
- Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer became the winningest coach in college basketball history.
- Search-and-rescue teams brought 23 skiers and snowboarders who got lost in the frigid Vermont backcountry to safety.
- HPV-related cervical cancer is increasing in women in their 30s and 40s, according to a new report.
- A 6-legged dog underwent surgery to remove extra limbs, and now she’s adjusting to life on four paws.
- A couple in Kansas has been charged with fraudulently collecting more than $215,000 in retirement benefits on behalf of a dead relative while they concealed his body inside their home for six years.
Select: Online Shopping, Simplified
Pulling a pore strip off your nose and seeing all the gunk that sticks to the strip is oddly satisfying. But one dermatologist warns they can do more harm than good. Instead, experts recommend these effective alternatives to pore strips.
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