Wednesday morning news: March 6, 2024

SOUND: [Voting machine]

Super Tuesday » Machines counted ballots in Denver last night. Colorado, one of 15 states to cast their primary votes yesterday, in what was the biggest day yet for the Trump campaign.

TRUMP: They call it Super Tuesday for a reason. This is a big one.

GOP rival Nikki Haley won Vermont, but when the clock struck midnight, that was her only Super Tuesday win and her first state victory — after winning the District of Columbia this week.

Trump held a victory party last night at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida telling supporters he’s ready for a likely rematch with President Biden.

TRUMP: We’re going to straighten it out. We’re going to close our borders. We’re going to drill baby drill. We’re going to get the inflation down.

Trump won most of the nearly 900 delegates on the line Tuesday. He is well on his way to the roughly 1,200 delegates he needs to win the nomination.

Sinema will not seek reelection » Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona has announced that she will not seek reelection. She said her relatively centrist brand of politics isn’t popular in a polarized political climate.

SINEMA: The only political victories that matter these days are symbolic, attacking your opponents on cable news or social media. Compromise is a dirty word.

Sinema left the Democratic party more than a year ago and has no clear path to reelection as an independent.

Gaza cease-fire talks » The White House is still holding out hope for reaching a cease-fire deal in Gaza, even though the talks appear to have reached an impasse.

Hamas has agreed to remain at the bargaining table for a third day in Egypt. And President Biden told reporters:

BIDEN: It’s in the hands of Hamas right now. The Israelis have been cooperating.

Under the agreement, Hamas would get a six week reprieve from Israel’s offensive in exchange for releasing remaining hostages. The deal would also allow a substantial increase in humanitarian aid into Gaza.

HAMDAN: [Speaking in Arabic]

But a Hamas spokesman insists that the terror group will only settle for a permanent cease-fire. And he called the negotiations a farce.

FBI hunts for Iran’s would-be assassin » The FBI says it is on the hunt for an Iranian spy who investigators believe is involved in plots to assassinate U.S. government officials, both current and former. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin reports.

KRISTEN FLAVIN: The bureau says 42-year-old Majid Farahani has been leading efforts to exact revenge for a U.S. airstrike that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in 2020. Iranian leaders vowed revenge for that strike.

And the FBI assesses that Farahani is acting under the authority of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence.

He is known to travel between Iran and Venezuela and has also recruited allies for operations inside the United States.

The U.S. government has assigned security details to multiple former members of the Trump administration.

The bureau believes an assassination plot targeted former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo among others.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

Ukraine sinks Russian ship / never asked for troops » Ukraine says it has sunk another Russian warship in the Black Sea using high-tech sea drones.

The Ukrainian military intelligence agency said a special operations unit destroyed the large patrol ship which can reportedly carry cruise missiles.

Leaders in Kyiv say they have successfully dented Moscow’s ability to launch missile attacks from the Black Sea.

Meantime, at the White House, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby reiterated on Tuesday,

KIRBY: There’s not going to be U.S. troops in the ground fighting inside Ukraine … and you know what, President Zelenskyy isn’t asking for that. He’s just asking for the tools and capabilities. He’s never asked for foreign troops to fight for his country.

French President Emmanuel Macron recently caused a stir when he said NATO shouldn’t rule out sending troops into Ukraine.

Sen. Menendez facing new charges » Embattled Sen. Bob Menedez is facing additional charges accusing him and his wife of obstruction of justice. The New Jersey Democrat was already facing corruption charges alleging he accepted bribes for political favors.

The senator says he’s done nothing wrong and has defied calls, including from his own party, to resign from Congress.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Avoiding another government shutdown on Washington Wednesday. Plus, new churches after a split.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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