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Good Wednesday afternoon. Donald Trump is now the presumptive Republican nominee for president after Nikki Haley dropped out of the 2024 race, New York’s governor is deploying the National Guard to combat subway crime, and millions in the Northeast are under flood watches.

Here is what’s in our Nightly Rundown.

Haley drops out of presidential race, does not endorse Trump

Nikki Haley announced today she is dropping out of the 2024 presidential race, ceding the Republican nomination to former President Donald Trump, but declining to endorse him.

“It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him. And I hope he does that,” Haley told supporters in Charleston, South Carolina.

Haley's announcement comes after she lost every state except for Vermont in Super Tuesday's primary contests.

Her departure now sets the stage for a general election rematch between Trump and President Joe Biden.

Trump responded to Haley’s announcement on his social media site. “Nikki Haley got TROUNCED last night, in record setting fashion,” Trump wrote, adding an invitation to her supporters to join his campaign.

For more on Super Tuesday, here are five major takeaways.

McConnell endorses Trump after denouncing him for January 6th

In another sign of Donald Trump’s tightening hold on the party, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell endorsed the former president today after years of animosity between the two men.

“It is abundantly clear that former President Trump has earned the requisite support of Republican voters to be our nominee for President of the United States. It should come as no surprise that, as nominee, he will have my support," McConnell said in a statement.

The two had not spoken since the January 6th attack. In the aftermath, McConnell called Trump “morally responsible” for the insurrection.

Trump has also made racist attacks on McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao, who served as his transportation secretary before resigning in the wake of the Capitol riot.

Last week, McConnell announced he will step down from Senate leadership in November.

Biden urges Haley voters to join his campaign, Dean Phillips drops out

President Biden, who is preparing to give his State of the Union speech Thursday night, praised the “courage” it took for Nikki Haley to “speak the truth about Donald Trump,” and urged her supporters to join his re-election effort.

“Donald Trump made it clear he doesn’t want Nikki Haley’s supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign,” Biden said in a statement.

After Biden cruised to victory in last night’s primaries, one of his few rivals for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination decided to drop of the race.

Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota announced today he’s suspending his long-shot campaign and endorsing Biden.

New York governor deploying National Guard to subways to combat crime

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced she is sending the National Guard into the New York City subways to patrol the train lines and conduct bag checks, after a rise in violent crime along the system.

The deployment will include 750 National Guard members and 250 New York State and MTA police officers at subway stations across the city.

“Let me be very, very clear. These brazen, heinous attacks on our subway system will not be tolerated,” Hochul said. “This will not stand — not on my watch.”

The announcement comes a day after Mayor Eric Adams said the NYPD would resume and enhance bag checks at some subway stations beginning this week.

Flood watches in Northeast, South facing severe storm threat

More than 30 million people from New Jersey to Maine are under flood watches today, including New York City, Hartford, Providence, and Boston.

The I-95 corridor could see some scattered flash flooding as the storm moves in tonight. New York City will see the heaviest rain during the evening commute, and Boston could experiencing flooding rainfall and gusty winds overnight.

Across the South today, isolated strong storms are possible over parts of the Florida Peninsula, South Carolina and west-central Texas. There is also a slight tornado risk along the southeast coast of Florida through this evening.

What else we're watching:

We've now learned the date the Supreme Court will hear arguments over former President Trump's claims of immunity in his federal election interference case.

A ballistic missile launched by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels hit a commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden, killing two crewmembers, a U.S. defense official said, in the first deadly attack since the Houthis began targeting shipping routes in response to the Israel-Hamas war.

A Russian missile reportedly struck near Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s motorcade as he was accompanied by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Odesa today.

Fires reignited at a Michigan business, a day after a massive explosion destroyed the building and killed a 19-year-old bystander.

The trial over handwritten lyrics to “Hotel California” and other Eagles hits that were allegedly stolen came to an unexpected end today.

The future of air travel?: The TSA has debuted its first self-service screening checkpoint, for a trial run in Las Vegas.

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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