My Nikki Haley Theory  —  From the day she came in third in Iowa to her 20-point loss to Donald Trump on Saturday in South Carolina, Nikki Haley and her aims have been the subject of intense speculation.  Clearly, in the absence of a lightning bolt from the blue that strikes Donald Trump …

Trump Has a Hilarious New Excuse for Why He Can't Put Up Bond  —  Donald Trump is arguing that he shouldn't have to post the massive bond in E. Jean Carroll's defamation case against him ... because he's simply too rich.  —  Trump owes Carroll $83.3 million for defaming her in 2019 when she first accused him of sexual assault.

Senate GOP poised to block IVF protection bill  —  With assists from POLITICO's Congress team  —  SENATE GOP: WE SUPPORT IVF - BUT NOT FEDERAL PROTECTIONS FOR IT  —  Senate conservatives are signaling they'll block Wednesday's planned Democratic bid to enshrine protections for in-vitro fertilization …

Exclusive: Extremism is US voters' greatest worry, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds  —  Worries about political extremism or threats to democracy have emerged as a top concern for U.S. voters and an issue where President Joe Biden has a slight advantage over Donald Trump ahead of the November election, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll showed.

Pride flags would be largely banned in Tennessee classrooms in bill advanced by GOP lawmakers  —  The GOP-led Tennessee House has passed a bill that would largely ban displaying pride flags in public school classrooms  —  NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A bill that would largely ban displaying pride flags …

A Spike in Heart Disease Deaths Since Covid Is Puzzling Scientists  —  Mortality data of the past four years show a wave of deadly cardiovascular and metabolic illness.  —  Almost three weeks before Covid-19 was reported to be spreading in the US, Patricia Cabello Dowd dropped dead in the kitchen of her San Jose, California, home.

Controversial Ohio GOP congressional candidate considers dropping out (again)  —  House Republican leaders have been desperate to stop J.R. Majewski from winning the nomination to take on Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur, who defeated him in 2022.  —  J.R. Majewski, the controversial Ohio congressional candidate …

Apple to Wind Down Electric Car Effort After Decadelong Odyssey  — Executives tell staff to end work on endeavor known as Titan  — Employees on some car teams will move to Apple's AI division  —  Apple Inc. is canceling a decadelong effort to build an electric car …

Jack Smith Pounds Trump For His Unprecedented Conduct In MAL Case  —  A lot of things happened.  Here are some of the things.  This is TPM's Morning Memo.  —  No One Has Ever Done What Trump Did  —  Special Counsel Jack Smith unleashed a tight, targeted fusillade in the Mar-a-Lago case …

Trans Virginia lawmaker storms out of chamber after being called ‘sir’ by Lt Gov Winsome Sears  —  Virginia state Sen Danica Roem is state's first transgender legislator  —  A transgender lawmaker stormed out of the Virginia Senate chamber in protest after Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears referred to the lawmaker as “sir” on Monday.

Scoop: U.S. wants Israeli written assurances on using U.S. weapons in Gaza by mid-March … - It also stresses that a country that uses U.S. weapons in conflict areas needs to provide “credible and reliable written assurances” that it will “facilitate and not arbitrarily deny, restrict …

Two candidates for mayor of a Mexican city are shot dead within hours of each other  —  Candidates Armando Pérez and Miguel Ángel Zavala were found dead days before campaigning was set to formally begin.  —  MEXICO CITY — Two candidates for mayor in the Mexican city of Maravatio …

Monica Lewinsky urges shoppers to vote in new fashion collection  —  Women's clothing brand Reformation has tapped activist and author Monica Lewinsky to be the face of their latest voting campaign to get shoppers to the ballot boxes this November.  —  Reformation's “You've Got the Power” …

Former Australian PM: Trump acts like 12-year-old boy around Putin  —  Former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull described former President Trump's rhetoric around Russian President Vladimir Putin as an admiring “12-year-old boy.”  —  Speaking on Australian ABC's “Q+A” show …

US Army is slashing thousands of jobs in major revamp to prepare for future wars  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Army is slashing the size of its force by about 24,000, or almost 5%, and restructuring to be better able to fight the next major war, as the service struggles with recruiting shortfalls …

House Democrats fume at Mike Johnson as government shutdown threat grows … - “The odds of a government shutdown go up every hour that we don't see legislative text for a budget vote,” Rep. Wiley Nickel (D-N.C.) told Axios. … - “The Speaker has a day or two to decide who comes first …

Kroger's “nefarious bargain”  —  This is a special joint edition of Popular Information and Fingers, a newsletter about drinking in America by journalist Dave Infante.  Fingers is a must-read for anyone who cares about the business, culture, and chaos of booze.  Sign up HERE.

Megan McArdle: Google's Gemini AI Said the Quiet Part Out Loud  —  I tend to like Megan McArdle's takes on things so it's no surprise to me that her take on Google Gemini is pretty solid.  As she sees it, Gemini is a case of Google saying the quiet part out loud.

U.S. Launches Antitrust Investigation of Healthcare Giant UnitedHealth  —  Investigators have been interviewing healthcare industry officials who compete with UnitedHealth  —  The Justice Department has launched an antitrust investigation into UnitedHealth Group, owner of the nation's biggest health insurer …

In leaked audio, Supreme Court Justice John Devine railed against “brainwashed” GOP colleagues  —  Devine, a former anti-abortion activist, faces a heated primary challenge that has focused on questions about his ethics.  —  Speaking to a group of East Texas voters in September …

'The numbers right now aren't good.'  —  FOR YEARS, DONALD TRUMP'S CAMPAIGN STAFF struggled to get him to make donor calls and take fundraising seriously.  —  But that was before Trump faced an incumbent president and a primary opponent who was outraising him.

Vice president's SUV was partially ‘airborne’ during 2022 motorcade accident, records show  —  The Secret Service agent involved in the accident was allowed to avoid defensive driving training.  —  The back end of the vehicle carrying Vice President Kamala Harris “became momentarily airborne” …