Good Friday afternoon. Alabama's attorney general is vowing not to pursue prosecutions over IVF after the recent court ruling on frozen embryos, a person of interest is being questioned in the death of a 22-year-old jogger on the University of Georgia campus, and Donald Trump’s legal team says phone records dispute claims Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis has made about her former relationship.
Friday, February 23, 2024 |
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Friday, February 23, 2024 |
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Good Friday afternoon. Alabama's attorney general is vowing not to pursue prosecutions over IVF after the recent court ruling on frozen embryos, a person of interest is being questioned in the death of a 22-year-old jogger on the University of Georgia campus, and Donald Trump’s legal team says phone records dispute claims Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis has made about her former relationship. Here is what’s in our Nightly Rundown. |
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Alabama attorney general vows no IVF prosecutions after embyro ruling |
Alabama's attorney general is vowing not to prosecute families seeking IVF treatments or providers, in the wake of the recent state supreme court ruling that recognizes frozen embryos as children. Attorney General Steve Marshall "has no intention of using the recent Alabama Supreme Court decision as a basis for prosecuting IVF families or providers," his office said in a statement. Donald Trump, the Republican presidential front-runner, voiced his support for IVF treatments today, and called on Alabama lawmakers to pass IVF protections. “I strongly support the availability of IVF for couples who are trying to have a precious baby,” the former president wrote on his social media site. Trump’s full-throated endorsement of IVF comes as some Republicans are struggling to find a stance on the Alabama ruling and its implications. At least three Alabama fertility clinics have paused IVF treatments this week over concerns about legal risk. |
Person of interest questioned in jogger death on University of Georgia campus |
Police are questioning a person of interest in connection with a 22-year-old woman found dead on the campus of the University of Georgia, a school spokesperson said. The victim was identified by school officials as Laken Hope Riley, a junior at Augusta University’s College of Nursing satellite campus in Athens. A friend reported Riley missing Thursday after she went for a run at UGA’s intramural fields and never returned, according to UGA officials. The body was later found in a wooded area near the fields with “visible injuries,” and her death is being investigating as a homicide, the officials said. |
Phone records dispute Fani Willis relationship timeline, Trump lawyers say |
Fulton County prosecutor Nathan Wade’s phone records contradict claims that he and District Attorney Fani Willis have made about their past relationship, according to a new filing from former President Donald Trump's lawyers. The data, subpoenaed from AT&T by a criminal defense investigator, appears to show Wade visited Wills’ home approximately 35 times over an 11-month period in 2021, according to the filing. Last week, both Willis and Wade testified that their romantic relationship did not start until after Willis hired Wade as a special prosecutor in the Georgia election inference case in November 2021, and more specifically that it began in 2022. The defense has called the relationship between the prosecutors a conflict of interest, and has accused Willis of financially benefiting from it, allegations she has denied. Neither Willis nor Wade has commented on the phone records. |
Biden announces more than 500 sanctions on Russia after Navalny death |
President Joe Biden has announced more than 500 new sanctions against Russia after the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in an artic penal colony, on the eve of the two-year anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine. These sanctions will target individuals connected to Navalny’s imprisonment as well as Russia’s financial sector, defense base, procurement networks and sanctions evaders across multiple continents, Biden said in a statement. “They will ensure Putin pays an even steeper price for his aggression abroad and repression at home,” he added. The sanctions are the single largest tranche of penalties since the war began on February 24, 2022, the administration said. |
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Haley’s campaign acknowledges “uphill battle” in South Carolina |
Nikki Haley’s campaign knows it has long odds of beating Donald Trump tomorrow in her home state of South Carolina's first-in-the-South Republican primary, but argued she has a better chance of beating Joe Biden in November. “We know that this is an uphill battle. We know that the road is difficult. We know that the math is challenging, but this has never just been about who can win a Republican primary,” Haley’s campaign manager Betsy Ankney said on a call with reporters. “The reality is no matter what all-caps rants Trump goes on on Twitter about the polls. He will not defeat Joe Biden in November,” Ankney added. Haley vowed this week that she will not drop out after South Carolina. “I’m not going anywhere,” she said. Trump has launched a barrage of attacks on Haley, calling on her to drop out of the race. He is expected to hold a rally tonight in Rock Hill, South Carolina. |
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What else we're watching: |
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Watch us this evening at 6:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. CT on NBC, or check your local NBC station listing. After the broadcast, access Nightly News video on NBCNightlyNews.com or the NBC News app. |
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