10 things you need to know today: January 23, 2024

Nikki Haley campaigns in New Hampshire

(Image credit: Matias J. Ocner / Miami Herald / Tribune News Service via Getty Image)

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1. Haley barnstorms in bid to upset Trump in New Hampshire
2. Supreme Court backs US over Texas in border fight
3. New Hampshire investigates fake Biden robocall
4. Arab states prepare proposal for postwar Gaza
5. Biden announces contraception, emergency abortion protections on Roe anniversary
6. US commander says Iran 'directly involved' in Houthi attacks
7. Judge delays Trump defamation trial after juror falls ill
8. Dow, S&P 500 set fresh records
9. Suspect in suburban Chicago killing spree kills himself in Texas
10. Dexter Scott King dies at 62

By Harold Maass, The Week US

published 23 January 2024

1. Haley barnstorms in bid to upset Trump in New Hampshire

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley dashed from one campaign event to another Monday before voting got underway early Tuesday in New Hampshire's Republican primary. Political observers say the New Hampshire primary could be her last chance to prevent former President Donald Trump from sealing the nomination. "Do we want more of the same or do we want a new generational leader?" Haley said. Some polls showed Trump extending his lead after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, once considered his main rival, dropped out and endorsed him. A tracking survey released Monday by Suffolk University showed Trump ahead 57% to 38%. Trump suggested Haley should drop out, too, and rally behind him in his expected rematch against President Joe Biden. The New York Times, New Hampshire Union Leader

The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 on Monday that the U.S. Border Patrol could remove concertina wire that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) ordered installed as part of his broader fight with federal government over immigration authority on the U.S.-Mexico border. The decision reversed a federal appeals court order for Border Patrol agents to stop removing the wire on a small stretch of the Rio Grande. The ruling was a temporary blow to Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton but their underlying lawsuit will continue. "This fight is not over," Paxton said. The Biden administration's lawyers argued the appeals court decision turned the Constitution's Supremacy Clause, giving federal laws precedence over state laws, "on its head." The Dallas Morning News, USA Today

The New Hampshire attorney general's office said Monday it was investigating fake robocalls impersonating President Joe Biden urging New Hampshire residents not to vote in the state's primary on Tuesday, claiming it "only enables the Republicans in their quest to elect Donald Trump again." The message begins with a term Biden has used many times — "What a bunch of malarkey!" It ends with a phone number belonging to Kathy Sullivan, a former New Hampshire Democratic Party chair running a super PAC urging voters to write in Biden's name in the primary. Biden won't appear on the ballot because New Hampshire Democrats defied the national party's decision to make South Carolina its first primary this year. NBC News

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Arab countries are developing a proposal that would create a pathway toward a Palestinian state in exchange for Saudi Arabia's recognition of Israel after the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza ends, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday, citing Arab officials. The proposal was passed on to Israel by the United States. Five Arab states are jointly working on the plan's final terms. Israeli officials made no immediate comment. President Joe Biden's top Middle East adviser, Brett McGurk, arrived in the region Monday to join the talks on the war and the fate of Israeli hostages held by Hamas. Israel sent Hamas a proposal through Qatari and Egyptian moderators offering a two-month pause in its Gaza offensive as part of a deal that would include releasing the remaining hostages. The Wall Street Journal, Axios

The Biden administration marked the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade — the Supreme Court decision that protected abortion rights nationwide for half a century — on Monday by announcing several measures aiming to ensure access to contraception, abortion medication and emergency abortions at hospitals. Vice President Kamala Harris warned of what she called "the horrific reality that women are facing every single day" since the high court, with a conservative majority expanded under former President Donald Trump, overturned the landmark decision 18 months ago. "He intended for them to take away your freedoms," Harris said. "And it is a decision he brags about." Trump said at a recent Fox News town hall he was "proud" to get "Roe v. Wade terminated." The Washington Post

Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, head of the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet and the Navy's top Mideast commander, told The Associated Press on Monday that Iran is "very directly involved" in Houthi rebels' attacks from Yemen on ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. Cooper stopped short of accusing Iran of directing individual missile and drone attacks, but said the strikes demonstrated clearly that Iran's belligerence was expanding across the region. Houthis have launched at least 34 attacks on ships traversing the important trade route since Hamas attacked Israel in October, sparking the Gaza war. The U.S. and Britain launched the latest in a series of attacks on Houthi missile sites on Monday. The Associated Press, NBC News

Judge Lewis Kaplan on Monday delayed the trial in writer E. Jean Carroll's sexual abuse defamation lawsuit against former President Donald Trump until at least Wednesday. Kaplan didn't give a reason for the decision, but it came after a juror fell ill. Trump, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, had requested a postponement until after Tuesday's New Hampshire primary. Trump has been alternating between appearing at the trial and on the campaign trail, although he has also combined both activities by complaining outside court that he is being unfairly persecuted, The New York Times reports. Trump's lawyer said in court that her client wanted to testify but couldn't do it Tuesday because of the primary. The New York Times

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 climbed to fresh record highs on Monday, adding to gains from a Friday rally fueled by surging technology companies. The Dow rose 0.4% to close above 38,000 for the first time. The S&P 500 rose 0.2%, reaching a new high mark after Friday's record close, its first in roughly two years. The tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.3%. Stocks ended 2023 strong but retreated at the start of 2024 before rebounding, thanks partly to a strong start to the earnings season and new data showing the economy remains strong as inflation cools. The Wall Street Journal

A man suspected of killing eight people in the Chicago suburb of Joliet, Illinois, fatally shot himself in Texas after a confrontation at a gas station with federal and local law enforcement agents. U.S. Marshals and other agencies caught up to the suspect, 23-year-old Romeo Nance, near Natalia, Texas, after the Medina County Sheriff's Office received a call about a person fitting the suspect's description heading into the area on Interstate 35. Seven of the victims in Joliet were found in two homes. Those victims, who have not been publicly identified, are believed to be from the same family. Nance did "know the victims," although investigators are still trying to determine a motive, Joliet Police Chief Bill Evans said Monday. The Associated Press, CNN

Dexter Scott King, the third of the four children of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, died Monday after a "valiant battle with prostate cancer," the King Center announced Monday. He was 62. Dexter King was 7 years old when his father was assassinated. He "turned that pain into activism, however, and dedicated his life to advancing the dream Martin and Coretta Scott King had for their children" and others, the Rev. Al Sharpton said. Dexter King's life was enmeshed in his parents' civil rights legacy. He served as chair of the nonprofit King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, cowrote "Growing Up King: An Intimate Memoir," and portrayed his father in the 2002 film "The Rosa Parks Story." The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Associated Press

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.