ABC World News Tonight Full Broadcast - Feb. 24, 2024

tonight breaking news as we come on the air The Showdown in the South Carolina primary the results just coming in Donald Trump versus Nikki Haley voters waiting in long lines the polls predicting another Triumph for Trump but Haley vowing to stay in the race as former president Trump is once again facing criticism this time over his recent comments claiming his criminal cases and mugshot are helping him win over black voters Nikki Haley calling it disgusting Rachel Scott with late reporting in S

outh Carolina and our political director Rick Klein at the maps with a reality check for Haley's path forward news tonight in the Israel Hamas War progress reported in ceasefire talks what's in the new framework and how it could affect the American hostages still in Gaza Israel's prime minister outlining his plans for when the fighting stops and what we're learning about new US air strikes against houthi Rebels Marcus Moore in Israel tonight an arrest in the murder of a nursing student at the Un

iversity of Georgia attacked attacked on her morning run and what police are calling a crime of opportunity it's the first homicide on that campus in decades what we're learning about the suspect a native of Venezuela and his brother who's accused of using a fake Green Card the future of invitro feralization some Republicans and Democrats both scrambling to protect IVF after an Alabama Court ruled Frozen embryos should be considered children the Chief Justice citing God's will in his opinion sev

eral clinics in the state suspending IVF treatments and what the Court's ruling could mean for other states the war in Ukraine now entering its third year once thriving cities reduced to Rubble by Russian attacks Ukraine's morale being tested its military and defenses stretch thin as American Aid remains stalled in Congress James Longman reports from Ukraine a daring rescue caught on video a building Up in Flames New York City Firefighters lowered by ropes making multiple rescues and America str

ong tonight the happy tales in this first grade reading program how the students and some Precious Puppies are helping each other from ABC News world headquarters in New York this is World News Tonight good evening thanks for joining us on this Saturday night I'm Whit Johnson we have breaking news as we come on the air former president Donald Trump and Nikki Haley facing off tonight in South Carolina's Republican primary and based on exit polls ABC News is projecting Donald Trump has won defeati

ng Nikki Haley in her home state voters waiting in long lines to cast their ballots tonight the race was open to all voters except for those who participated in the Democratic presidential primary earlier this month the former Governor and un Ambassador acknowledging an uphill battle in her home state As Trump maintains his unbeaten streak in the GOP primaries and now we're getting some preliminary exit poll data a glimpse of what was on voters Minds when they went to the polls when asked which

issue mattered the most in deciding how to vote immigration and the economy were the top two issues followed by foreign policy and abortion but when asked who they would trust more to handle border security and the economy voters overwhelmingly said Trump this coming as the former president is under Fire for some racially charged comments he made during an appearance before black conservatives how Trump's Rivals are now responding to those comments and what Haley is saying about her campaign pla

ns after tonight's primary we have Team coverage tonight ABC's Rachel Scott leads us off in South Carolina tonight Nikki Haley's challenge to Donald Trump falling short early results show the former president defeating her in her home state at polling locations long lines stretching the parking lots voters waiting to cast their ballot morning Haley showing up to the polls in Kwa island with her mother and two children there's a lot of excitement energy you could tell South Carolinians are passio

nate they're getting out of voting that's what we want Haley's campaign acknowledged her uphill battle in a state that elected her Governor twice poll show her trailing by 30 points the former president barely campaigned here spending most of today in Washington DC but tonight Trump is facing criticism for what he told supporters at a black conservative event Friday night these lights are so bright in my eyes that I can't see too many people out there but uh I can only see the black ones I can't

see any white ones Trump claiming his four criminal cases and even his mug shot are helping him win over black voters I got indicted a second time and a third time and a fourth time and a lot of people said that that's why the black people like because they have been hurt so badly and discriminated against in 2016 Trump won just 6% of the black vote in 2020 8% poll show the majority of black voters do not have a favorable view of trump but with President Biden's approval rating slipping Trump s

ees an opening I am pro- lifee and the borders need to be um secured so those are things that affect me not the words I mean I don't like it but those are words border needs to be secure the Biden campaign calling Trump's words insulting insisting it's moronic and just plain racist in a statement saying this is the same man who falsely accused the Central Park 5 questioned George Floyd's humanity and compared his own impeachment trial to being lynched and now Nikki Haley firing back too are thos

e comments except it's disgusting but that's what happens when he goes off the teleprompter that's the chaos that comes with Donald Trump some voters buying that argument Sherry Herring voted for Trump twice today she voted for Haley Trump's will lose Cannon and he could be in jail he's got so many and he's got problems he's got a lot of problems but even with that she says she would support him in the general election and if he is the nominee will you support him again I will you will I will I

won't vote Democrat seems like for you though that might be a pretty tough pill to swallow by what you just said it would be yeah it definitely would be Whit Nikki Haley says win or lose here in South Carolina she is staying in this race until super Tuesday on March 5th but she did admit today that she really hasn't thought through what comes after that and the reality is the more States Donald Trump wins the harder it will be for her to clinch the nominations Whit all right Rachel thank you and

as you noted Nikki Haley is vowing to stay in the race so let's get right to ABC's political director Rick Klein for a reality check here and a look at the map but Rick it is a difficult road ahead for the former South Carolina governor yeah with that's exactly right after tonight the campaign basically goes National Michigan's primaries in 3 days a week after that is super Tuesday 15 states Nationwide Coss the coast voting on that night but here's the thing the haly campaign is only realistica

lly targeting about seven of those States in most of the other places including huge California the rules are written in a way that makes it almost inevitable that Donald Trump is going to win all of the delegates and after super Tuesday it becomes almost impossible for a candidate to catch up things have started slow but by super Tuesday almost half of the delegates will have been selected so if Donald Trump wins tonight he will probably be on a Glide path to the nomination Haley will be in a p

osition of just kind of picking up delegates here or there where she can but mostly it will be a campaign about becoming a backup plan in case something dramatic happened to Donald Trump or his campaign Whit Rick thank you we appreciate it and stay with us for a continuing coverage of the South Carolina primary both on ABC and streaming on ABC News live turning over seas now to the Israel Hamas war and some encouraging signs from the ceasefire talks underway in Paris word tonight that Israel has

agreed to an updated framework for a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza what's in that potential deal and where the negotiations Go From Here ABC's Marcus Moore is in Tel Aviv tonight new sign of progress in negotiations tonight for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that could release six American hostages from Gaza ABC News has learned that Israeli negotiators have agreed to an updated framework that would include a six-week ceasefire in Gaza and the release of 40 hostages among them women

the elderly injured and sick but no male soldiers or bodies of the Dead in return Israel would release up to 400 Palestinians from jail Israeli officials say they're waiting for a response from Hamas which could take a couple of days this week prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu proposing plans for Gaza after the war including security buffers and local governance but the US said it must meet basic principles it cannot be a platform for for terrorism there should be no isra reoccupation of Gaza uh

the size of gaza's territory should not be reduced and as Netanyahu commits to additional military action in Rafa world leaders and a groups have expressed grave concern for the 1.4 million Palestinians taking Refuge from the fighting there many of those families struggling tonight just to find basic food and Medicine in his message prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said that only a combination of military pressure and firm negotiations will lead to the release of their hostages with Marcu

s Moore for us tonight thank you and staying oversees a multilateral coalition led by the US launching a new round of air strikes against 18 houthi Targets in Yemen today those targets included under ground storage facilities for weapons and missiles this in response to a surgeon attacks by the Iran backed Rebels on ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aiden next tonight an arrest in the tragic death of a 22-year-old nursing student in Georgia lak in Riley's body was discovered on the University

of Georgia's campus police say there is no known relationship between the victim and suspect calling this a crime of opportunity we're learning new details about the suspect who made his first court appearance earlier today here's ABC's Morgan Norwood tonight the suspect charged in the killing of nursing student Lake and Riley on the University of Georgia's campus going before a judge Jose iara charged with malice murder aggravated assault and kidnapping and what authorities called the first ho

micide at ug in nearly 30 years this court is not authorized under Georgia law to set bun in light of these charges we're also asserting his writes under the Fifth Amendment um to remain silent Riley went missing on Thursday her friends calling police after the former High School cross country star never came back from her morning run officers finding her body hours later near the running trails at ug where she used to go to school police say security camera footage and Community tips LED them t

o iara Who police say is a 26-year-old non-resident from Venezuela without an extensive criminal history the investigation suggest that they had no relationship uh he did not know her at all um I think this was a crime of opportunity tonight a stunned Community honoring lak and Riley her nearby College Augusta University describing her as a promising future nurse her heartbroken sister writing on Instagram this isn't fair and I will never understand it but I know you are in heaven and with aar's

brother Diego who Authority say is undocumented is facing separate charges of his own tonight police say they approached him because he the description of a homicide suspect and when they asked him for ID they say he presented a fraudulent green card with some disturbing developments in this case all right Morgan thank you next tonight some Alabama lawmakers from both sides of the aisle scrambling to protect IVF treatments those treatments now paused at nearly half of the state's fertility clin

ics after a bombshell State Supreme Court ruling that Frozen embryos are children the issue now front and center on the campaign trail with politicians trying to to clarify where they stand here's ABC's zorine sha tonight Alabama lawmakers on both sides of the AIS now scrambling to pass legislation that would protect access to IVF treatments House minority leader Anthony Daniels a Democrat filing a bill just days ago after his State Supreme Court ruled that Frozen embryos are children triggering

half of Alabama's fertility clinics to Halt the procedure we have to do something about this immediately and I hope that the Republicans will work with me Republican senator Tim melson already pushing a new measure that says embryos are not viable until they are implanted in the uterus until it's implanted in the uterus there potential life and that people shouldn't be criminalized or or be held harmful for things that happen they should be heal Harless and now Republican presidential candidate

s seeking to clarify their positions I didn't say that I agreed with the Alabama ruling what the question that I was asked is do I believe an embryo is a baby I do think that if you look in the definition an embryo is considered an unborn baby we want to make it easier for mothers and fathers to have babies not harder but Trump's team not making it clear where he stands does he think an embryo is a child I will not get ahead of the president on that either I let him speak on that specific moral

issue the White House blasting Trump saying he is responsible for the Court's ruling back in Alabama Hillary Hogle warns that the decision has real consequences she's now expecting a baby girl through IVF this thing would have happened n months ago you know we wouldn't be pregnant and women across the country who want to be pregnant could also have reason to be concerned 12 States introduced what they are calling fetal personhood bills that could have similar implications if passed with zorin sh

a reporting for us tonight thank you now to Russia's invasion of Ukraine entering its third year Ukraine's president zalinsky and Western world leaders marking the occasion with a wreath laying ceremony in keev and these stunning before and after images revealing the full scale of the devastation in a key eastern city as funding for Ukraine remains stalled in Congress ABC's James Longman reports from Ukraine Russia's war on Ukraine enters its third year tonight with a series of strikes on Odessa

a 70-year-old man was killed in his wife among those critically injured in a drone attack on their apartment building and Ukraine's air defenses and ammunition for the ground war both running out there are just a lot of guys dying one soldier says we're sitting here with nothing and we can't do anything everyone has friends and friends are dying that's the most painful thing Alexandra OVA is on the team of lawmakers negotiating military aid with Congress where the $60 billion Aid package is cur

rently stalled we're losing the war Russia's occupation of the Eastern city of advika a sign of what may lie ahead these images show the city at the start of the war and then today well unfortunately AA is only the first stab and we see that this is the first clear sign that if you don't have munition if you don't have the means to fight you cannot win a war you're going to lose the war the pressure is on Congress to ACT earlier I spoke with US senator Majority Leader Chuck Schumer leading a del

egation here he's calling on Republicans in the house to approve Aid to Ukraine but isn't that the Republican strategy stop this from going through long enough so that in November they're betting on a trump presidency and that deal happens well most Republicans know how important it is to do now if we were to wait a year it would probably be too late meanwhile President Biden's massive package of sanctions on Russia more than 500 measures against individuals and Military institutions unlikely to

restrain Putin whose War economy is now being fueled in part by munition production and with those sanctions are also in response to Alexi nal's death tonight his team say Russian authorities have finally returned his body to his mother Whit James Longman our thanks to you tonight we're following new details about that small high altitude balloon spotted flying over the Western us NORAD saying it was likely a hobbyist balloon and is now out of us airspace the balloon was intercepted some 40,000

ft over Utah on Friday this coming one year after that Chinese surveillance balloon was spotted over the us there is still much more ahead on world news tonight this Saturday including the deadly National Guard helicopter crash the two victims now identified and the daring rescue in New York firefighters lowered by rope to take victims to safety next tonight rare and daring rescues caught on video an apartment building engulfed in flames in New York's Harlem neighborhood three people were rescu

ed when a firefighter was lowered from the roof to bring them to safety the department says those three and two other victims are critical condition one person was killed in the fire the cause still under investigation tonight Mississippi's Governor has identified two National Guard troops who were killed in a helicopter crash yesterday Chief Warrant Officer Brian zck was 36 years old Chief Warrant Officer Derek Abbott was 42 the two were on a routine training flight and were killed when their A

pache helicopter went down in the woods near Booneville when we come back the frightening scene when a small plane went down in the waters off Miami to the index now an investigation into what caused a sea plane to crash land off the Port of Miami video shows the plane going down in the water on Friday then tipping over boers and police sped to the scene seven people were rescued with no injuries reported when we come back America strong the teachers Little Helpers for boosting reading scores fi

nally tonight America strong puppies in the classroom and the mutual benefit for kids and pets they play with us their family the first graders at Hanby Elementary School in Wilmington Delaware have a few extra classmates last he took a nap in the alley Foster puppies joining the kids for reading time now fondly known as puppy time for our reading centers today it's all part of a bold idea by teacher Brook hes I started fostering puppies during the pandemic everyone was coming back from Co every

one was having a hard time transitioning and I just kept thinking about all the wonderful benefits that it could bring to a school all right let's go to library come on Friends partnering with rags to Rich's animal rescue in Pennsylvania Brooks Foster Tales program started over a year ago the puppies spend nights and weekends with students their families and other teachers typically for a couple of weeks until the rescue helps place them in forever homes so far 51 Foster puppies have been adopte

d through the program and it's also making a big difference in the classroom I left my T outside the kids who were the most reluctant for reading they are the first ones that want to volunteer for puppy time and so we've noticed a huge increase in their reading scores because of it be a great place for the puppies and kids are helping each other with joy in their hearts if you're having a hard day the puppies kind of just lift your spirits give you a puppy kiss say good job and we've fostered ma

ny puppies in my house house great to see the kids jumping in to help out I'm wh Johnson in New York have a great night thank you for making World News Tonight with David mure America's most watched newscast