NewsNation Chief Washington Anchor and On Balance host Leland Vittert was a foreign correspondent for four years in Jerusalem. He gives you an early look at tonight’s 7 p.m. ET show. 

Can Haley Get It Back?

The two latest New Hampshire polls put Trump up either 14 or 17 points, giving Nikki Haley just a few days to regain the momentum she had at the beginning of January. 

This time of year in the NFL Playoffs, they say, “Win or go home,” and that’s Haley’s problem: South Carolina is home. 

Even if she pulls off the miracle of a New Hampshire victory, she has to go home, literally. And in her home state of South Carolina, Trump holds a 30-point lead. 

From Eliza Collins (@elizacollins1) and Cameron McWhirter (@cammcwhirter) at the Wall Street Journal, “‘South Carolina likes Nikki Haley but South Carolina loves Donald Trump,’ said Rep. Nancy Mace, a Republican from the Charleston area who hasn’t endorsed a candidate.”

Money talks: Haley loves to say the primary race is “a marathon, not a sprint”. While technically true, in this marathon, a candidate must hit certain goals along the way and most importantly prove they are worth a donor’s money. 

• Home Depot billionaire and Haley supporter Ken Langone told the Financial Times he may wait until after Tuesday’s primary to make a substantial contribution, saying, “If she doesn’t get traction in New Hampshire, you don’t throw money down a rat hole.” 

Starting tomorrow, we will be in New Hampshire talking to voters and the candidates. 

As the least churched state in the country, New Hampshire’s electorate is tailor-made for a more pragmatic Haley message. 

• BUT Trump won in 2016 by approximately 20 points. The second-place finisher (first-place loser) was Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who had a similar message as Haley.
• Thought bubble: Does anyone think the Republican electorate has become less “Trumpy” since 2016? 

Current forecasts for Tuesday show a snowstorm moving into New Hampshire around 6 p.m. It’s fair to say, based on Iowa’s results, the better the weather, the better the race will go for Haley.

“Alarming Parallels between Biden & LBJ” so says MSNBC

Joy Reid, an anchor for MSNBC, issued a warning to the White House with a long segment comparing 2024 to 1968. We said something similar Sept. 8. 

Yet she spent precisely zero time contemplating replacing a historically unpopular president with a Democrat who could win.

• Thought bubble: There are many Democrats who would trounce former President Donald Trump in a general election. 

Reid focused on comparing Trump and Nixon, even going as far as extolling Nixon’s virtues, but Republican personalities aside, she drew a stark comparison of young Americans’ anger at Vietnam to their view of Israel’s war in Gaza. 

Let’s look at the undeniable parallels:

• Economic dislocations causing increasing frustration among independents 
• A Democratic president who came to power during highly unusual times 
• A Democratic president who presided over radical social change that didn’t work as planned 
• An unpopular war abroad and feeling of general unease domestically
• An American population bitterly divided about change and direction of the country 
• A (likely) Republican nominee seeking to avenge a previous presidential loss 
• A DNC in Chicago that will show a fractured party 

Watch tonight: Democratic congressman and presidential candidate Dean Phillips will talk about why despite all that and the warnings the party refuses to even consider an alternative to Biden.

• Important question: What is first lady Jill Biden’s role in all this? 

Bonus coverage: Former first lady Michelle Obama keeps coming up. Cindy Adams in the New York Post writes about one of America’s most popular women who shouldn’t be counted out.

Just asking: Kamala Harris says she’s “scared as heck” about a Trump reelection. What the heck does “scared as heck” exactly mean?

China Virus

We heard from a lot of you on Instagram about our story on a new Chinese-engineered COVID virus that kills everyone:

• @aamiami305: It’s not the chinese, Is the americans with all there conspiracies. Stop blaming the chinese when we know who’s really behind it. It’s the Who organization that needs to be stopped.
• @oldwestontap: Perfect timing for another (honk! honk!) election.
• @nicsullispindi: Psychopaths not Scientists. How about we don’t mess with viruses anymore China. Wtffffffff.
• @janmar119: 100%……cab you say biological weapon
• @michonthemoon: Fear mongering. Turn this sh*t off.

We’ll have some answers to these tonight on the show. In the meantime, the problem is there are no good answers here, and as far as we can tell, there is zero interest by the American government to force answers and/or accountability from the Chinese. 

As reported by Caitlin Tilley (@caitlintilley) for the Daily Mail, the Chinese researchers are linked to the People’s Liberation Army. They “humanized mice” and then infected them with a COVID variant engineered to attack the brain. All the mice died. 

• Last night, Dr. Brett Giroir told us that none of the Chinese labs listed in the study are biosafety Level 4 labs, meaning they shouldn’t even be experimenting with these viruses to begin with. 

Watch tonight: A doctor will be on to discuss how difficult it would be for a virus like this to escape. 

American Exceptionalism 

Before you go: Spend 15 seconds and watch this video from Ukraine of a U.S.-made Bradley fighting vehicle decimating a Russian T-90 tank. 
Bottom line: Russia’s army ain’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Tune into “On Balance with Leland Vittert” weeknights at 7/6C on NewsNation. Find your channel here. 

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of NewsNation.