Thank you for watching talie m. Thank you for watching after losing the gop primary in her home state. I know 40 is not 50 . But i also know 40 is not some tiny group. While donald trump says he cant wait for the general nine months is a long time. How long will hailey stay in the race . Ill talk to republican congressman Byron Donalds of florida who is strongly backing trump. Plus, fertility fight. Alabamas Supreme Court rules that frozen embryos created through ivf are considered children, leading Fertility Clinics in the state to pause procedures. Access to Reproductive Healthcare through ivf is being taken from countless individuals and families. Embryos to me are babies. What will be the legal and political impact . Ill talk to democratic governor gavin newsom of california. And ukraines future. The war in ukraine reaches the twoyear mark. We cant walk away now. If the thing you care most about is a conflict 6,000 miles away, you should not be the leader of this country. What will happen if the u. S. Pulls back support . Ill speak to National Security adviser jake sullivan. Joining me for insight and analysis are nbc chief political analyst chuck todd, nbc News Washington correspondent yamiche alcindor, former Obama White HouseSenior Adviser stephanie cutter, and lahnee chen from the Hoover Institute. Welcome to sunday. Its Meet The Press. Announcer from nbc news in washington, the longest running show in television history. This is Meet The Press with kristen welker. Good sunday morning. Former President Donald Trump is solidifying his grip on the republican nomination after beating nikki haley in the midwest, the northeast, the west, and now the south. Trump delivering a Crushing Blow to haley in her home state on saturday, trouncing her by nearly 20 points with nearly 60 of the vote, the former president dominating nearly every key group in the South Carolina republican primary electorate, according to the nbc news exit poll results. Trump now setting his sights squarely on the General Election. In certain countries you are allowed to call your election date. If i had the right to do it, i would do it tomorrow. I would say were having an election tomorrow. More than 60 of South Carolina republican primary voters said in exit polls they would consider trump fit to be president even if he was convicted of a crime, but nikki haley defiant, vowing to stay in the race through Super Tuesday, but not saying what will happen after that. Im going to count it. I know 40 is not 50 , but i also know 40 is not some tiny group. In the next ten days, another 21 states and territories will speak. They have the right to a real choice. Not a sovietstyle election with only one candidate. As former President Trump looks to a likely General Election rematch with President Biden, a growing chorus of his aides and allies tell nbc news they want him to fixate less on personal grievances and instead focus on hitting President Biden and unifying the Republican Party. The challenges of that were on display on friday night during a speech at the black conservative federations annual gala in South Carolina, trump griped about his legal troubles including four indictments complaining of discrimination. I got indicted a second time and a third time and a fourth time, and a lot of people said that thats why the black people like me because they have been hurt so badly and discriminated against, and they actually viewed me as im being discriminated against. Well get to all of it later this more, but we begin with the twoyear anniversary with the war in ukraine. On saturday, ukrainian president zelenskyy promised his country would win the war despite a series of setbacks, saying we are 730 days closer to victory. Joining me now is National Security adviser jake sullivan. Jake, welcome back to Meet The Press. Thanks for having me. So lets start right there in ukraine. Ukrainian fighters have been dying. Theyve been running out of ammunition. Is this war in ukraine a stalemate, jake, or does russia now have the upper hand . Well, first, kristen, lets take a step back. Weve just hit the twoyear anniversary since this brutal invasion began, and when we began, most people on your show predicted it would be over in a week or two. Most people in the u. S. Government predicted it would be over in a week or two. Two years later the country of kyiv stand, the country stands proud and free and resisting russian aggression. So we need to understand that ukraine has in many ways succeeded the fundamental objective of Vladimir Putin, which was to subjugate the country of ukraine. Ukraine has taken Back Territory that russia occupied in the early months of the war. We are looking at setbacks including in recent days because ukraine didnt have enough ammunition to defend the town of avdiivka in the east. Ukraine still has the capacity if we provide them the tools and resources they need to be able to prevail in this war, and it is up to us, the United States and our allies and partners, to deliver on our commitments, and thats why it is so important that congress act. And we are going to talk about that fight over the aid in just a moment, but i want to ask you big picture. Does the United States still think that ukraine can win this war militarily . Of course, ukraine can win. Of course, ukraine has already succeeded militarily in one of the most profound objectives it had, which was to keep the country from falling into russian hands. It had already done that. And ukraine can go further in retaking what russia has occupied and ensuring russia fails and ensuring ukraine prevails, but it can only do so if it has the tools that it needs and that is why the United States needs to deliver the aid package that passed on a massive bipartisan vote in the senate. The house needs to step up and pass that bill. Well, with aide stalled in the house i had the opportunity to speak to david cameron, and i asked him what he thinks President Biden can do on his own. Take a look at that answer. I think what britain has shown im not saying we get everything right. We make mistakes. But right at the start of this conflict, we took the view that ill back zelenskyy as much as we could. We gave them the tanks and we gave them the longrange artillery and on every occasion there were people saying including some in the United States saying, look, this is in danger of escalating, and i dont think it was in danger of escalating the conflict. What we were doing was giving ukraine the weaponry they need to fight off the russians, and i think that that is not escalatory. It was helping to back their defense. And i think the more the American Administration can see that that works, that others have done it, america is doing it now with the longrange artillery, and i would urge the pentagon and the president to err on the side of doing more. Jake, is President Biden out of options or is there more he can do on his own . Well, it comes down to basic arithmetic. We need money to be able to provide the weapons to ukraine. We dont have the money, only congress can provide the money. So thats the reality and thats why the urgency excuse me, of Congress Passing this bill is so profound and its why this ultimately comes down to a simple decision for one man, speaker johnson. If there were an up or down vote in house this would pass on a bipartisan basis so speaker johnson will have to decide, will he allow that vote to go forward . If he does, ukraine will get what it needs. If he doesnt, then the United States will not have the resources necessary to give ukraine the kinds of tools and capacities that it needs. Thats what this comes down to and that is the moment that we are at right now. Jake, what do you say to speaker johnson . What do you say to House Republicans who say they dont think more Taxpayer Dollars should be spent on the war in ukraine until we have a clear understanding of the strategy and what victory looks like there . So ive personally gone up and briefed the speaker and other members. Secretary austin and secretary blinken, our Intelligence Community have gone up and we view in writing how we look for strategy for russia to prevail and russia to fail on this, and i dont think the question at this point is about the strategy, and i dont think the question is about whether this is an overwhelming bipartisan riot in the house waiting to happen. The question now is about politics. Will speaker johnson bust through the politics in his caucus to put this vote on the floor. If he does, the resources will flow, and we have answered and engaged on the questions relative to the strategy and we feel like were in a good place on that. Now it comes down to a simple right or left turn. One way is towards a vote that delivers ukraine what it needs and the other way is towards an outcome that Vladimir Putin would love to see, which is the United States not stepping up to its responsibility. Let me ask you about russia as it relates to the next election. As you know the Intelligence Community has said in 2016 and 2020 russia interfered in the United States president ial elections. Are there concerns or is there even evidence that russia is planning to interfere in the 2024 election, jake . I cant speak to evidence today, but i can tell you, of course, there are concerns. There is a history here in president ial elections by the Russian Federation and by its Intelligence Services and plenty of reason to be concerned, and this is not about politics. This is about National Security, and its about a foreign country, a foreign adversary seeking to manipulate the politics and democracy of the United States of america. We are going to be vigilant about this and we will engage congress on a bipartisan basis because in should be beyond and above politics. Let me ask you about israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu yesterday announced he will convene a Cabinet Meeting at the beginning of this week to approve the operational plans for action in rafah including the evacuation of the civilian population there. Has the president seen this plan . Has he been briefed on it . He has not, and beyond that, kristen, we have been very clear about our view here. We are talking about more than a Million People who have been pushed into this small space in gaza because of Military Operations elsewhere, and its also the area where all of the humanitarian assistance comes into gaza to serve all of gaza. Weve been clear that we do not believe that an operation, a Major Military operation should proceed in rafah unless there is a clear and executable plan to protect the civilians to get them to safety and to feed, clothe, and house them, and we have not seen a plan like that. Well, is the president willing to withhold Weapons Sales until he does see a plan . What is he willing to do in terms of leverage here . Im not going to get into hypotheticals because at this time what we are doing is telling our israeli counterparts privately just as we are saying publicly that we with do not believe this operation should go forward until and unless we see that, and we havent seen it, but we are waiting to hear from the israelis on that front National Security adviser jake sullivan, thank you for being here. We appreciate it. Still ahead, we dive into the 2024 rasz with gavin newsom of california, but when we come back, Will Donald Trump change his strategy as he pivots to the General Election . Republican congressman Byron Donalds joins me next. Donalds joins me next. Sleep num. Can i make my side softer . I like my side firmer. Sleep number does that. Can it help us sleep better and better . Please . 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As former President Donald Trump solidifies his hold on the republican nomination, nbc news has learned that trump allies are encouraging him to pivot to a General Election message. Joining me now is a Top Trump Surrogate who has also been mentioned as a potential running mate including on friday night. Republican congressman Byron Donalds of florida. Congressman donalds, welcome back to Meet The Press. Its good to be back with you. Thanks for having me on. Its good to have you, congressman and on friday you introduced donald trump at a group of black conservatives. He made a number of headlinemaking comments including this one. Take a look. I got indicted a second time and a third time and a fourth time and a lot of people said thats why black people like me because i have been discriminated against, and they actually viewed me as im being discriminated against. Congressman, it sounds like donald trump was implying that he can win black voters because they get indicted, too, all the time. Is that what he was saying . It was a great night friday night in columbia, South Carolina. The president was just enjoying himself. It was a Great Celebration For Black Con Serve Tiffs across our country, but lets be clear. Our economy is a mess and our border is unsecured, and these things are causes of Major Concerns for black voters like it is for every voter in our country. And when you layer on the fact that, yes, this is political persecution from the Department Of Justice and from radical d. A. Sthroughout our country, this is something similar that black people have had to deal with the Justice System itself. If the government is going after him with foolishness, he cant be that bad especially considering that joe biden is terrible at his job. Congressman, lets just be clear all four indictments against former President Trump were brought by grand juries and no evidence that they were political in nature. Let me get you to respond to campaign cochair and former congressman Cedric Richmond who said this about his comments. Donald trump claiming that Black Americans will support him because of his criminal charges is insulting. Its moronic, and its just plain racist. How do you respond to that charge that its just plain racist . What i would say is cedric is trying to use racial politics even now as we go into the General Election. Thats one. Number two, like i said at the top, the number one reason minority voters in the country want to support donald trump is because he did the job of a president , he did a great job as president , our country was secure, the economy was great, and these are all things that donald trump talked about friday night. He also did talk about the indict ams and what americans dont want to see especially Black Americans and everyone else do not want to see a politicized justice depar