Nikki Haley attacks Trump and DeSantis but stays vague on abortion in town hall – live

Republican presidential hopeful refused to confirm whether she would sign a national abortion ban in CNN appearance

Good morning, US politics blog readers. We heard more from presidential candidate Nikki Haley at a CNN-hosted town hall last night, who, like all Republicans not named Donald Trump, has a tough hill to climb to overcome the party’s frontrunner for the nomination. She criticized both the former president (also her ex-boss, since she worked as his UN ambassador) and Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor who is viewed as the next-best contender. But in some ways, Haley is more like Trump than she lets on. Pressed about her stance on abortion, she wouldn’t say what sort of restrictions on the procedure she would support, only that she’d aim to get some sort of legislation through Congress. That sounds a lot like the former president, who has demurred on saying whether he’d sign a national ban. Expect to hear more reactions to Haley’s town hall appearance as today goes on.

Here’s what else is going on today:

Joe Biden will host Denmark’s prime minister Mette Frederiksen at the White House at 1.30pm eastern time, then Super Bowl Champions the Kansas City Chiefs three hours later.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will talk to reporters, who will talk back to her, at 1.45pm.

There were no survivors from a plane that crashed in Virginia on Sunday after flying over Washington DC’s restricted airspace, causing the military to scramble jets and a sonic boom heard across the region.