Monday morning news: February 26, 2024

GOP primary race » Donald Trump and Nikki Haley are campaigning in Michigan ahead of tomorrow’s presidential caucuses.

DONALD TRUMP: Michigan’s coming up. We’re doing great. The auto workers are going to be with us 100 percent … because they got sold out by this country.

Trump heard there after his victory in South Carolina Saturday night. He won 60 percent of the vote to Haley’s 40 percent. He’s won every state thus far, and Haley faces increasingly long odds. But she told supporters, “It ain’t over till it’s over.”

NIKKI HALEY: We’re heading to Michigan tomorrow. And we’re heading to the Super Tuesday states throughout all of next week.

The former South Carolina governor again vowing to fight on, saying voters deserve an alternative to President Biden and former President Trump.

SOUND: [Fighter jet]

New U.S., UK strikes against Houthis » American F-18 fighter jets launched from the deck of the U.S.S. Eisenhower over the weekend.

SOUND: [fighter jet]

As U.S. and British forces struck 18 Houthi targets in Yemen, targeting missiles, launchers, rockets, drones and air defense systems.

The latest strikes were an answer to a recent surge in attacks by the Iran-backed terror group on commercial ships in the region.

Netanyahu on Rafah plan » Still no deal on a new temporary cease-fire between Israel and Hamas as Israeli forces gear up for a major offensive in the city of Rafah, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls the last remaining Hamas stronghold.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: If we have a deal, it will be delayed somewhat, but it will happen. If we don’t have a deal, we’ll do it anyway. It has to be done, because total victory is our goal, and total victory is within reach.

And he said the victory is only weeks away, once the Rafah offensive begins.

But U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan Sunday again expressed serious concerns about deepening a humanitarian crisis. He said Rafah is home to more than a million people:

JAKE SULLIVAN: Who have been pushed into this small space in Gaza because of military operations elsewhere. And so we’ve been clear that we do not believe that a major military operation should proceed in Rafah unless there is a clear and executable plan to protect those civilians, to get them to safety and feed, clothe and house them.

Israel says it has been working on a plan to minimize harm to civilians in Rafah, but the U.S. officials say they’ve not yet seen that plan.

Russia sanctions » Sullivan also said a new round of sanctions against Russia will help prevent the Kremlin from getting the goods it needs to build weapons and will slow down the Russian economy. And he added that more sanctions will be added going forward.

SULLIVAN: Inch by inch, we believe that will reduce Russia’s capacity to wage war and threaten its neighbors, and that is our intent.

President Biden announced a new round of sanctions on Friday, a week after Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died in an Arctic penal colony.

Ukraine 2-year mark, troop deaths, funding plea » It is now year-3 of the war in Ukraine. Saturday marked 2 years exactly since Russia launched its full scale invasion of Ukraine.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY: [Speaking Ukrainian]

And President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have tragically died in the war.

ZELENSKYY: [Speaking Ukrainian]

But Kyiv says that’s only a fraction of the number of troops Russia has lost.

Zelenskyy says Ukraine does have a realistic plan to win the war, but that it “depends” on continued help from the West.

Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova echoed those remarks, telling CBS’ Face the Nation:

OKSANA MARKAROVA: We see on the battlefield that this war is still very winnable if we have supply of weapons and support. But also it’s a war that unfortunately can be lost if the support is not there, we run out.

And British Ambassador to the United States Karen Piece said Sunday:

KAREN PIERCE: If President Putin isn’t stopped in Ukraine, the world will become a more dangerous place, and ultimately, that will threaten all of us. So it’s very vital that they get this aid.

Ukraine funding » Meantime in Washington, a group of House lawmakers is still working to drum up support for a House bill that would provide that aid to Ukraine. GOP Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick:

BRIAN FITZPATRICK: What this bill does is it combines border security with this foreign aid, both existential. And we are forcing this bill to the floor to make sure that everybody acts, because as President Zelenskyy said, they have weeks, not months to get reinforcements on the front lines.

Unlike the recently passed Senate bill, the House legislation would fund only military aid, not economic or humanitarian help.

It also calls for the return of the Trump-era remain in Mexico policy at the southern border.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Telling the whole truth on Legal Docket. Plus, the Monday Moneybeat.

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