Good morning and welcome to sunday today on this february 25th. Im willie geist. Former President Donald Trump took another big step toward the republican president ial nomination on saturday handily beating former South Carolina governor nikki haley in her home state. The former president , who spent very little time campaigning in South Carolina, looks past haley in his victory speech. Instead, turning his fire again on President Biden. Haley says she is not dropping out of the race anytime soon. Well have the latest in a live report from South Carolina and talk to Kristen Welker just ahead. Plus, our sunday focus on the uproar this week over the ruling from the Alabama Supreme Court that frozen human embryos are children. With ivf programs suspended in the state, what is the future of the revolutionary treatment that has brought the gift of life to so many families . Then, we will turn to our sunday spotlight on the effort to save the famous joshua trees of californias Mojave Desert with many lost to wildfires. And later a new sunday sitdown with the emmywinning star of the series Abbott Elementary, Sheryl Lee Ralph. Using her moment to highlight the work of teachers like the one she plays on her hit show. We are a great nation, and we deserve to do better by and for each other, especially our children and the people who educate them. Dont get me started, mr. Geist. Dont get me started. A sunday sitdown with Sheryl Lee Ralph, plus, another life well lived later in the show. Lets begin this morning in South Carolina where former President Trump dominated the states former governor, nikki haley, in her own backyard. Trump winning the South Carolina president ial primary by 20 points. But haley says she is staying in the race. Nbcs Garrett Haake is in columbia, South Carolina, for us. Garrett, good morning. Reporter willie, good morning. Trump didnt even mention haley, a sign after four straight wins he and his campaign are eager to pivot to a general election and a faceoff with joe biden in the fall. And i gladly stand up reporter donald trump declaring victory in South Carolina. Wow. That is really something. This was a little sooner than we anticipated, an even bigger win than we anticipated. Reporter the former president largely looking past his last republican opponent, nikki haley, instead, painting a dark picture of a biden presidency he hopes to end in november. Were going to look at joe biden, and were going to look him right in the eye. Hes destroying our country. Were going to say, joe, youre fired. Get out get out, joe youre fired reporter haley vowing to fight on, despite suffering a blowout loss in the sate where she once served as governor. I said earlier this week that no matter what happens in South Carolina, i would continue to run for president. Im not giving up this fight. Reporter earlier on saturday today arguing about a rematch in the fall. How many more times do republicans have to lose that maybe hes the one thats the problem . Reporter the former president creating new controversy with these remarks at a black conservative gala in columbia friday. The mug shot, weve all seen the mug shot, and, you know who embraced it more than anybody else . The black population. Its incredible. Its disgusting but thats what happens when he goes off the teleprompter. Thats the chaos that comes with donald trump. Reporter at polling places across the palmetto state, republicans stood by mr. Trump. I think hes the best man. You look at everything he said hes going to do and he did it. Hes for the American People not for foreigners. Reporter as for haley, shes back on the campaign trail today in michigan which votes on tuesday then starts to work her way across the country to those super tuesday states which vote in early march and could provide the next gut check moment for this primary campaign. Willie . Garrett haake starting us off in columbia, South Carolina. Garrett, thanks so much. Kristen welker is moderator of meet the press. Kristen, good morning. It is great to see you. As Governor Haley said, she has long promised she was in this for the long haul. She has the money to stay in. She will go through super tuesday at least. What is the rationale after a 20point loss in her home state . Willie, donors are standing by her. She says theres still a vast swath of voters who want to see her stay in, and shes looking at states like michigan, which garrett just mentioned, an open primary state where voters of any Party Affiliation can vote for the candidate of their choosing. Super tuesday, on march 5th, 11 of the 16 states are open or semiopen primaries, willie. That means she can get independent voters, democrats. The challenge there to win a republican nomination, you do need republican voters. So thats where this is incredibly uphill. Her campaign is cleareyed. She was defiant last night. She makes the case, she does better in a general election against joe biden than trump does, so she argues she wants voters to have their say heading through super tuesday. Now, willie, do you know who is watching all of this very closely, democrats. I had a chance to sit down exclusively with california governor gavin newsom, and i asked him, do democrats want haley to drop out of the race so that the general election can officially begin . Here is what he had to say. I dont know why democrats would want her out of our race. Shes one of our better surrogates, defining the opposition of trump effectively, making points im applauding every day about his temperament, his capacity, his unraveling in real time. So thats the view from the democratic side, but, willie, of course, not surprisingly, trump and his supporters have been ramping up their pressure on nikki haley to get out of the race. Again, unless donors start to abandon her, it seems like she is in this for the long haul. Now taking a step back, willie, one more note, nbc news was first to report that aides and allies to former President Trump want him to start pivoting to a general election message, spending less time on his personal grievances and more time on the real issues. Will he do it . Of course that remains to be seen. He is someone who has always gone by his own script, willie. Yeah, theyve tried to pivot many times over the years, and usually pivot back. Well see. Kristen, thanks so much. We will look for more this morning on meet the press when kristen is joined by californias democratic governor gavin newsom as well as president Bidens National security adviser, jake sullivan, and republican congressman Byron Donalds of florida. The United States military is assessing the damage a day after launching another series of air strikes against Houthi Rebels in yemen, in response to the ongoing threat from the houthis to commercial ships in the red sea. Good morning. Reporter willie, good morning. U. S. And British Forces with the support of six other countries firing back at Houthi Rebels for continuing to target ships in the red sea and gulf of aden hitting 18 targets in houthicontrolled areas of yemen including radars, a helicopter, and underground facilities where the houthis have been storing some of their weapons. This is now the fourth round of strikes since january by the u. S. And uk against the houthis who have conducted nearly 60 attacks on commercial and naval ships since midnovember. The iranianbacked group claiming their actions are in protest to israels Ground Invasion of gaza. While defense Officials Say their monthslong aggression is threatening the regions security, harming international economies, and even causing environmental damage. Despite these repeated air strikes, houthi attacks have only increased in recent days. Defense secretary lloyd austin now vowing continued consequences for the houthis if they do not stop their illegal attacks. The houthis say they wont be deterred. Willie . Allie raffa at the white house, thank you so much. With the Academy Awards two weeks from tonight, saturdays Screen Actors Guild award gave us another window into who may win. Oppenheimer scooping up top honors. A full wrapup of a night in hollywood. Good morning. Reporter good morning, for the first time the ceremony was streamed live globally on netflix meaning no commercials or time limits for speeches but it came with a few fbombs amid the grateful speeches. It was all glitz and glam at the annual sagaftra awards show. Dont say anything you wouldnt say in front of oprah. Okay . [ bleep ] reporter with everyone from margo robbie, stunning the cameras, epic reunions of some of hollywoods biggest hits from the cast of breaking bad, modern family, and the devil wears prada. Dominating in the best actor and actress categories and the bear taking home lead spot for a comedy series. Oppenheim won three of the five movie categories. While Lily Gladstone took home another win for her performance in killers of the flower moon. Keep speaking up truth and keep speaking up for each other. Reporter an actors statute for best supporting actress in the holdovers. Your life can change in a day. Reporter this year Barbra Streisand was honored with a Lifetime Achievement award, recognizing her work as a trailblazer especially for women in the industry. I wanted to be in the movies, even though i knew i didnt look like the other women on the screen. Reporter the night also included several mentions of sagaftras historic months long strike that halted production across hollywood costing thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in revenue. Your collective dignity and perseverance to stand up and say, we deserve better because we are better. Reporter one interesting thing about the sagaftra awards is its proven to be a pretty good predictor of who will take home an oscar. Last year every actor who won a sag award went on to win an oscar, so that could mean good news for Lily Gladstone and the cast from oppenheimer. Well have to find out if that trend holds true or if there are a few surprises in a few weeks. Willie . Looking like a very oppenheimer themed oscar. Good morning. Its 6 12. Were checking in with skies over san jose. Mostly clear this morning. Into the bay bridge, still trying to wake up and get that sup rise to peek through into oakland and San Francisco. Temperatures, mainly in the 40s, some 50s on the board. 55 in San Francisco, and down into the santa clara valley, chilly. Beautiful sun rise over dublin with temperatures in the 60s. Rain is on the way. Straight ahead, the highs and lows of the week including an early candidate for viral video of the year. A giant balloon, a leaf blower, and a beautiful bouncing dad. Well explain what on earth is going on here. And beyonce making history on the country charts with a catchy song that already has launched 1,000 hits. Up next our sunday focus on the Alabama Supreme Courts ruling this week that embryos are babies. Why doctors and hopeful parents are worried now about the future of ivf. Its all com vo what does it mean to be rich . Maybe rich is less about reaching a magic number. 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Because of tiktok, ive created a community where people can feel safe asking questions about spirituality. I try to provide a really accessible way of them learning about religion and spirituality, thats not intimidating. Somebody in the comments said, i have no idea how i got on nun talk, but im not mad about it. Im going to teach you how to pray. Im going to teach you how to meditate, how to connect with a higher power, because we need that. We need strength and comfort. On wednesday the university of alabama at Birmingham Hospital system suspended its treatment of in vitro fertilization over concerns doctors and patients suddenly could Face Criminal Charges after a ruling by the Alabama StateSupreme Court that has caused an uproar across the country by threatening ivf. Over the years the revolutionary medical breakthrough has brought the gift of children to millions of parents who otherwise could not have them. So what now is the future of ivf in alabama and beyond . Nbcs Priscilla Thompson has our sunday focus. Reporter rachel and alex jackson live in birmingham, alabama, and desperately want to have a baby. My husband and i have been trying to start our family for about five years now. Reporter the jacksons were set to begin ivf treatment in march. When you got that date, march 25, what was that moment like for you. We were so excited. Ivf is one of those things that has such a high success rate you feel like thats your answer. Thats your miracle. Reporter that date now on hold after the Alabama Supreme Court ruled frozen human embryos are considered children, meaning discarding the embryos could lead to legal or civil consequences. The university of alabama, where the jacksons were seeking treatment, suspending all ivf services in response. We were just heartbroken to have your entire, not plan a, plan b, this is probably everyones last see sort, and then to have that taken away from you is literally impossible at that point. Reporter around 2 of babies in the u. S. , more than 80,000, are born each year using assisted reproductive technology, usually ivf. The worlds first test tube baby reporter since the first socalled test tube baby louise brown was born in england in 1978, more than 8 million babies have been conceived that way worldwide. They now have the child they wanted. Reporter ivf involves the extraction of a womans eggs which are then fertilized with sperm from a partner or donor and grown in a lab. The resulting embree so is implanted into the mothers uterus. The treatment is done in cycles and can take several attempts. Unused embryos are frozen for later use or discarded. If we know theyre never going to use this embryoembryo, is discarded. At best we know its half that will implant or twothirds. Reporter at the heart of the alabama ruling, the courts chief justice invoking his Christian Faith in his opinion writing, human life cannot be wrongfully destroyed without incurring the wrath of a holy god. Experts say if the ruling were to stand, it would be a disaster for couples trying to conceive. Infertility is a disease, and just like cancer is a disease and everyone deserves access to timely treatment, the same goes for fertility. Reporter rachel and alex now in limbo hoping the law wont get in the way of having a family. Weve been together over ten years