EWTN News Nightly | Tuesday, March 5, 2024

I'm Tracy Sable tonight on ewt newsly super Tuesday a possible turning point in the race for the White House as voters in more than a dozen states head to the polls for primaries we have analysis from Philip Crowther with the Associated Press Following the Leader with Senator Mitch McConnell stepping down a look at the Republican lawmakers lining up for his leadership role prayer and fasting how church leaders in France are responding after the Catholic country puts abortion in the Constitution

and music to his ears an organ donation saves the life of a priest in Pennsylvania will explain these stories and more tonight from EWTN the global Catholic Network this is EWTN news nightly thank you for being with us on the Feast of St John Joseph of the cross our top story tonight the race for the White House reaches a key Milestone today super Tuesday represents the the largest number of primary elections across the country more than a dozen states at one territory are all casting presidenti

al ballots White House correspondent Owen Jensen begins our team coverage tonight Owen Tracy today's elections stretch from Alaska and California to Vermont and Virginia Virginia is where I voted today got my little sticker right here to prove it now hundreds of delegates are at stake making this the biggest hall for either party on any single day and the eventual winner in member of course gets to come here to the Oval Office President Joe Biden skips the campaign trail on super Tuesday instead

holding an economic event at the White House he's courting Americans with his plan to lower costs prices are still too high and they shouldn't be this High that's why we're going to do everything we can to keep lowering costs for working hardworking families earlier President Biden did encourage voters by tweeting now is the time to make your voice heard and across the country that is what we're seeing today voters in North Carolina are among those going to the polls and in Arkansas governor Sa

rah hucke Sanders cast her vote this is a head-to-head matchup at this point between Joe Biden and Donald Trump Real Clear Politics currently shows former president Trump with an average two-point lead over President Biden but that is within the margin of error meaning either candidate could still win in November my poll numbers the last five polls you guys don't report I'm winning five five in a row and former Governor Nikki Haley continues campaigning for the Republican nomination seeking supp

ort Monday in Texas now is the time we have to have a leader who has moral [Applause] [Music] Clarity we need someone who knows the difference between right and wrong between good and bad haey promised to stay in the presidential race at least through today but her path forward continues to narrow with Trump expected to sweep super Tuesday States I want to win based on my policies are better we're going to cut taxes we're going to get interest rates down you're going to be able to buy homes agai

n I mean you can't buy a home today the interest rates are so high and today press secretary Karine Jean Pierre said that President Biden continues to prepare for his State of the Union speech this Thursday night she says one of the topics he'll cover is in her words quote reprodu Freedom end quote the president will then hit the campaign TR after his address as the election kicks into high gear at the White House Owen Jensen EWTN news nightly and joining us now to talk more about super Tuesday

is Philip crowler International affiliate correspondent for the Associated Press he is in Charleston South Carolina where Haley's campaign is based Phil great to see you as always so what is the mood there at the Haley camp today well it's been pretty quiet but admittedly she has been campaigning a lot over the last week in most of those super Tuesday States at least those where she thinks she might have a chance of getting some delegates maybe even winning a state uh here or there uh but essent

ially all we've heard from the Nikki Haley camp today was a text message sent out to voters encouraging them in super Tuesday states to head to the polls with a video that again showed one of her basic messages that a Donald Trump presidency would bring more chaos more scandals more legal problems as she has said repeatedly uh on the campaign Trail there hasn't been a particularly defiant message from her today as you've heard there have been promises to stay in this race until super Tuesday whe

ther it's going to be past Super Tuesday we'll have to wait and see because these could be 16 losses for her in 16 contests on this super Tuesday she's by the way not holding an election night event as tends to be the case for the main candidates this is in Star contrast of course to what is happening in Mara Lago and in Florida where Donald Trump will be holding what he expects is going to be a victory party feel any chance that she could pull off an upset here today yeah no not really uh the m

ost likely outcome here is that the former president Donald Trump is going to win everything that means 15 primaries or rather 15 contests in US states and one contest in a territory that's American Samoa he is the favorite in all of them maybe Nikki Haley can spring what would be a huge upset frankly by winning in the likes of Vermont or Virginia for example where there are more moderate Republicans but it is very very unlikely indeed the momentum is simply not with the former governor of South

Carolina she's only won that one primary so far that was in Washington DC the good thing for her is she can now say that Donald Trump is not going to win the whole sweep of primaries heading toward the Republican party uh convention but it gave Donald Trump the possibility to call her the queen of the swamp by winning in Washington DC and winning that primary alone so far Bill explain us why super Tuesday why it matters so much for both parties well it's just because of the sheer size and the n

umbers involved here in super Tuesday it tends to be a very important day in the election calendar it is again by the Numbers alone the number of states that are voting 16 altogether if you're looking at Democratic party and Republican party uh primaries and then the one US Territory also voting it's also about the delegates of course up for grabs those party officials who will be representing those votes at the party conventions come the summer it is over a third of delegates that will be up fo

r grabs uh in both camps in both the Republican Party primaries and in the Democratic party primaries not enough though by the way for us to be talking of a presumptive nominee at the end of tonight even if Donald Trump wins everything even if Joe Biden wins everything they still will not have got over that threshold for us to be able to say that they're definitely going to be their respective parties nominees quickly we're almost out of time but how is this super Tuesday how is it different fro

m in years's past if at all tell you what it makes you a little bit nostalgic because usually a super Tuesday where there is no incumbent is much more exciting the last one was in 2016 and remember that the candidates then or rather the nominees at the end were Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump but they were still fighting it out in their respective parties to become the nominees on super Tuesday that of course is not the case here I think this is a race that we can call more or less done and dus

ted at this point and I think we certainly will be able to do so by the end of the night all right Philip Crowder in Charleston South Carolina for us tonight thank you so much all right now to the war in the Middle East an Israeli air strike killed at least 17 people in southern Gaza smok a scene on the Gaza Skyline amid reports that the talks on a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas ended without a breakthrough officials had hoped for a truce to be in place in time for the start of Ramadan next

week today prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will do everything it can to preserve freedom of worship during the Muslim holy month in a new interview the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem repeats his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza Cardinal Pierre Batista pizzala says both sides need to make compromises the White House also remains helpful that a truce between Israel and Hamas can be reached the hostage deal is in the hands of Hamas right now okay because there have been an offer

rational offer the Israelis have agreed to it and uh waiting to see what the Hamas does and for analysis we turn now to Bianca dare professor at the Catholic University of America and an expert on the Middle East Dr dare good to be with you again uh first tell us your thoughts on the negotiations in k and what part the upcoming start of the holy month of rameda what part that plays in these discussions if at all uh thank you first off for having me this evening Tracy and uh Ramadan is an interes

ting period of time because I've read recently most people are very concerned about hamas's previous calls for violence during Ramadan but I want to highlight there are really some terrific opportunities for Ramadan coming with respect to potentially the release of the hostages if the United States uh will reach out and talk with Saudi Arabia and Egypt there may be a way to talk with Hamas to have them follow what is a tradition a Ramadan tradition of releasing hostages and releasing prisoners a

nd that would be a real sign of Goodwill that could potentially build a little bit more trust uh between Israel and Hamas as much trust as you can build in light of what happened after October 7 or during October 7th and then uh immediately thereafter so Ramadan has some opportunities and there's there's some hope mixed in there yeah another story uh that's also making headlines is the White House visit of Benny gance an Israeli War Cabinet member and political rival rival that is of Netanyahu c

an you take us through the invitation by the Biden Administration and what's the significance here well that invitation is one that's a little bit politically dangerous um the way that the Middle East works when it comes to politics is it operates in signs signs and deeds and in this case this is a sign to Benjamin Netanyahu that the administration's not particularly happy with his leadership and they prefer to talk to gance gance is as everyone knows a a he is considered a war hero he is also v

ery close to the security establishment so the invitation that came and the the decision to talk to gance is a signal to Israel specifically to Netanyahu and it's done a period of time that's a little bit Dangerous by virtue of the fact that there's a lot of questions about what's going on in Gaza and the current push into Rafa by the Israeli forces so that decision to invite him had to have been done intentionally to send that signal because you have many people in the administration that have

been working Middle East for quite some time but it is one where the United States has to be a little bit careful Netanyahu one cannot count him out he has often come back when no one thought he would uh in periods of time leading to his leadership now so gance while he is a good leader and certainly um has promise and is polling very high in Israel the US has to be careful not to meddle too much in the politics of the only democracy in the Middle East yeah and finally before I let you go where

do you see or do you see an an Insight anytime soon when it comes to the Israel Hamas war and do you think an an agreement can be reached soon to be honest I don't see an end in sight um then the reason is Israel is dealing and having the the the worst type of opponent and that is a terrorist organization that infused itself into the entirety of the Palestinian Society so that means that Israel truly has to eradicate it and Israel needs its allies the United States included behind it to be able

to do its job while trying to protect Palestinians and those two things things are so difficult right now it seems unlikely to me that that war is going to end anytime soon well Dr ad always good to be with you and get your insights we appreciate it God bless God bless you too thank you Tracy well a busy week on Capitol Hill the race is on to pass Six spending bills by Friday to avoid a partial government shutdown meanwhile Senate Republicans are already jocking for leadership roles inside the p

arty after Mitch mcconell announced his plans to step down as the Senate's top Republican come November Capital Hill Court correspondent Eric Rosales joins us now with the very latest Eric well good evening Tracy now for the second time in as many weeks lawmakers are scrambling to avoid another partial government shutdown the threat of it after months of averting shutdowns with 11th Hour short-term funding gaps over the weekend negotiators have finally reached a critical compromise a shutdown is

a loser for the American people top lawmakers working to pass Six bipartisan appropriation bills rolled into one the package will fund the military and Veteran Affairs Transportation energy housing and the wick program providing needy families with assistance house Speaker Mike Johnson celebrated the cuts to agencies like the FBI and EPA this is a bipar in agreement in the end but it sticks to the numbers uh the agreement on spending it does not go above that it will increase a bit defense spen

ding but there will be uh real cuts to uh non-defense uh discretion spending conservative House Republicans and even Democratic Leadership are skeptical a deal can be reached in time the second group of of bills um could be you know difficult and problematic especially as Republicans in the house continue to uh insist on policy writers that erode um women's reproductive Freedom meanwhile the race is on to replace leader Mitch McConnell who says he's stepping down in November as we look at a new

generation of um cons consistent principled uh conservative leadership in the United States Senate that empowers uh our Senate Republicans that puts a check and balanced against the the Schumer uh what has been a very liberal Schumer Biden agenda uh I'm prepared to lead that effort besides th Senator John Corin of Texas announced his intentions in a statement quote I am asking my Republican colleagues to give me the opportunity to succeed leader McConnell I built a track record of listening to c

olleagues and seeking consensus while leading the fight to stop bad policies but others want a clean slate is it time for new leadership uh I thought so start this Congress okay so my answer to that is an obvious yes Wyoming Senator John baraso was also thinking of throwing his hat into the ring as leader but he ended up deciding that he wants to go for the whip position currently held by Senator th now back to the funding of the government talks continue on the second group of funding bills tho

se include money for defense Health and Human Services intelligence and much more lawmakers have until March 22nd to pass that deal and keep the government funded for the rest of the fiscal year Tracy well Erica uh Switching gears here some big news regarding Arizona senator Kirsten Cinema announcing today that she is not seeking re-election did this come as a surprise no you know not really up here to a lot of people up on Capitol Hill we kind of suspected this the independent Senator had made

a video on social media platforms known as ex saying that she is leaving the Senate only after one term she says America remains very divided and compromises not always a solution up here on Capitol Hill and it was time for her to move on It's All or Nothing the outcome less important than beating the other guy the only political victories that matter these days are symbolic attacking your opponents on cable news or social media compromise is a dirty word well although she was an independent she

worked very closely with the Democratic party and you may recall that she was even part of the group that worked for months on the immigration reform when senators of Republican James Langford and even Democrat Chris Murphy they worked out a deal but it was later thrown out after house conservatives including speaker Johnson rejected it now looking into 2024 the future this race between now Republican candidate Carrie Lake and also the leading Democrat in the race Congressman Ruben gyo it's goi

ng to be much more important to watch for control of the US Senate come 2024 Tracy okay thank you so much Eric and we have a lot more still to come here on EWTN news nightly including Terror at the airport another round of gang violence in Haiti targeting more government sites and the Vatican responds to France putting abortion into the country's [Music] Constitution welcome back another round of violence in Haiti as heavily armed gangs tried to seize control of the country's main International

Airport gang members exchanged gunfire with police and Soldiers the goal was to prevent the Prime Minister from returning to the country his whereabouts are currently unknown the violence began after gangs attacked the country's two biggest prisons and released thousands of inmates we return now to Stephen desen executive director of the partnership for church reconstruction he joins us now from Haiti Stephen good to be with you today uh so tell us what you are seeing in Haiti um what's life lik

e right now um things are very um difficult um to the point where we can say that the countries like not been the country but the West department is in state of emergency which was declared by the government yesterday um right now um you know after that uh suspicious attack that happened to AR Bishop to Bishop Duma and um last week um the situation has deteriorated after that due to the fact that um Bishop dma was very vocal about the situation in Haiti um so with the uh deterioration that happe

ned it became a state where the gangs have taken control of pretty much 80% of the capital Stephen how are you doing right now I mean do you feel safe um right now um not really um It's a situation that's really deteriorating within the capital um I right now I really don't feel safe it's just that the situation where in the area that I'm at right now is not really attacked however um with 80% of the capital being um under the control of the gang the situation have deteriorating um very much so

um we have like about 13 projects which were under construction and out of the 13 projects 12 have been on hold and the kidnappings of the religious sisters brothers and some priest and and some cases and also some Innocent by standards that have been putting the situation in a in a tough uh in a tough uh corner where we feel like we're heading towards a dead end um we've also have Looting of homes that have been abandoned by people who are running away from the gangs and also we have the Lootin

g of the um Hospital of SE Sal which is a hospital that has been rebuilt after the earthquake and that also has been re um looted which is very terrible due to the fact that we don't have that much hospital and also we also have the attack that happened in the main prison where out of 4,000 um detained prisoners we have right now about 98 detained men left um which causes a major issues so you have over uh 3,000 um some detained some also already uh convicted out in the streets and it's causing

really a dire stress on the main system of the government and um we've also have attacked on uh the the the airport which is the main airport in the capital where right now all in andout flights commercial flights have been cancelled so right now we're looking at a situation where the international intervention is uh mandatory due to the fact that if we want to avoid like a Bloodshed we definitely need some intervention that happen as quick as possible yeah and Stephen I was going to ask you esp

ecially what's happening um at the airport if people wanted to leave could they could they even get out of the country right now there's no possible ways to leave the country because of the airport being um all and commercial flights being cancelled um and all the main roads in and out of the capital which is on the main road National Number One National number two national number three all of them have been controlled by gangs so the capital is pretty much like surrounded by gangs and there's p

rotic in the way out what a tragic situation um Stephen Before I Let You Go what else would you want people to know about what can we do I think right now I would call for the uh folks that are outside the country to pray for Haiti and second to manifest uh the will to for the International Community to help because right now we're at a situation where without the external help um the country will fall into a a state of Beyond emergency um we need to avoid the Bloodshed um those that are influen

ce that have influence within other government outside the the Haiti need to definitely intervene and ask for the troops that we're already um approved to definitely come and stabilize the country because right now the situation is dire we we are asking the help this is a motary situation in order to avoid more Bloodshed well Stephen we thank you for speaking to us about all this um especially considering the situation we're praying for you and everyone in Haiti right now God bless you thank you

very much for the opportunity up next on EWTN news nightly protecting life the Vatican responds after France votes to enshrine abortion into its Constitution plus a priest in Pennsylvania receives a life-saving [Music] gift on Friday French president Emanuel macron will inscribe the right to abortion into the country's Constitution following the passage of the amendment yesterday the country's Catholic Bishops are calling for fasting and prayer and they called on the faithful to pray that fello

w citizens will ReDiscover The Taste for Life the Vatican also condemned the vote EWTN Vatican bureau chief Andreas tonhauser explains as France made the decision to include abortion as a right in its Constitution the Prime Minister declared your body belongs to you and no one has the right to control it in your stad Tracy I believe this could be a good time to also advise our viewers a little bit more on what the church really teaches God Alone we read in donam Vita is the Lord of life from its

beginning until its end and no one can under any circumstance ever claim for himself the right to destroy an innocent human being and just last week also the French Bishop's conference stressed that abortion remains an attack on life it should not only be regarded from the perspective of women's rights in a statement of support the pontifical academy for life here at the Vatican also agreed Archbishop vinent zalia he's the president of this Academy in his statement he reminded us of the univers

al Declaration of Human Rights which protects life at all stages and also France is of course a signatory to this declaration citing the words of Pope Francis back from March 2020 the academy statement explains how the defense of life for the church is not an ideology defending life is a reality for Christians a human reality which involves all of us Tracy and it's also connected to an attitude of solidarity care and acceptance that's what Pope Francis said and which we are all responsible for h

anding down to the Next Generation that is the official statement for now we'll bring you any new comments from the Holy Father as soon as they become available and from past instances we know that Pope Francis has always been very straightforward and direct when it comes to the protection of life in Rome Andreas tonhauser EWTN news nightly and finally tonight a priest in Pennsylvania receives the gift of life from one of his parishioners father Timo solam of St Ephraim Catholic Church was on di

alysis for 5 years he mentioned in the parish bulletin last fall that he was in need of a Kidney donor but none was found then the 46-year-old brother of a parishioner died the woman looked on her brother's ID and saw that he was an organ donor father o solivan received both kidneys and is no longer on dialysis he hopes to offer mask again in April and we thank you for watching tonight remember you can follow us on social media Facebook X and Instagram at ewt news nightly I'm Tracy Sable good ni

ght and God [Music] bless n