chris jansing reports. at this hour, nikki haley s new hampshire blitz, will momentum after ron desantis quit the race propel her long-shot bid to the ultimate upset against donald trump? we re live on the campaign trail. plus, the potential for a primary day split screen, will donald trump be on the stand as voters head to the polls. we ve got the latest from the e. jean carroll trial. show of force, the former candidates, plural, who will join trump on the stage tonight for one last big new hampshire rally. and the phony recording that sounds an awful lot like joe biden, but it s really just, as he would say, a bunch of malarkey. what we know about a robocall telling supporters not to vote tomorrow. our nbc news reporters are following all of the latest developments, and we begin with the haley campaign, and our own ali vitali live from the trail. so ali, i understand nikki haley was at a bar pouring pints. what else did she have going on today? reporter: yeah, an
brace for a new storm with snow, rain, and ice. our weather team times it all out. the final countdown to the iowa caucuses. donald trump confident, saying the weather will have zero effect on the outcome. pundits say it s a race for second place between nikki haley who is gaining ground and ron desantis who vows to stay in the race. his supporters going door to door for votes. and our new poll, how electable are the republican candidates? rachel scott in iowa, rick klein at our big board to break down the numbers. shocking allegations. homeland security claims the texas national guard blocked federal agents from trying to rescue three migrants who drowned in the rio grande. one congressman says texas authorities have blood on their hands. tonight, texas officials tell a much different story. a showdown on capitol hill as congress nears a deal on short-term funding bills. but with no aid for ukraine, ammunition is running low. ukraine s top diplomat vows to fight russia
phoenix, arizona as we top a new hour, riley gaines, along with other female athletes, coaches, and parents, are set to rally to demand the ncaa ban biological males from women s collegiate sports teams. we ll be watching and keeping a close eye on developments from there. john: plus hear from riley herself when she joins us live and what she wants to hear from college athletic officials. stay tuned for all that. sandra: begin this hour waiting for a white house briefing as hunter biden is expected to be in a los angeles federal courtroom a short time from now where he will answer to nine federal tax charges just one day after his public stunt on capitol hill. and here we go. hello, welcome everyone, sandra smith in new york. great to be with you. john: good to be with you on this friday eve as we call it around here. this is america reports . hunter biden will likely plead not guilty to the tax crstacked against him, donald trump is just coming out of the courtroom to
-hey, your mom and i procreated to that song. oh, ew! i think you ve said enough. why don t we just switch to xfinity like everyone else? then you would know what year it was. i know what year it is. at this hour, fear is growing for a wider war in the middle east after the u.s. strikes dozens of targets in yemen. the threats now coming from iran-backed rebels. plus, the red sea ripple effect, how a tax in the region have shipping costs soaring. we re running the numbers. and the race for iowa heats up in the middle of a blizzard. will the extreme cold affect even the heartiest of iowa caucus goers. and it s not just an election we re tracking but a possible government shutdown, the pressure on speaker mike johnson as he balances demands from his right flank. our nbc news reporters are following all of the latest developments and we begin with those air strikes in yemen. the u.s. and allies targeting houthi militants after months of attacks in the red sea. nbc s raf s
direct action, president biden says the strikes were defensive, meant as a deterrent. the houthis are vowing to not back down and experts in the region believe them. is this the moment israel s war officially expanded into a regional war. if so, who else might get dragged in. turkish president erdogan slapped the u.s. and the uk for what he called a disproportionate use of force and so did iraq, warning such strikes don t deter but rather expand the scope of the war. like hamas and hezbollah, the houthis are backed by iran to which the white house issued another warning this morning. here was nfc s john kirby. we re not looking for conflict with iran, and there s no reason to escalate beyond what happened over the last few days by the houthis, they are the ones who have been escalating. we re not looking for conflict with iran. that said, we know that iran supports the houthis, we know that they supply them with the missiles and drones, the same things they have been using