THE WAR ROOM: President Joe Biden is ramping up his opposition to how the war in Gaza is being conducted by Israel without calling an outright halt to the fighting. Biden joined other international leaders urging Israel to drop plans for an all-out military assault on the city of Rafah, in southern Gaza. 

  After meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah at the White House Biden said: “A major military operation in Rafah should not proceed without a credible plan for ensuring the safety and support of more than one million people sheltering there.”

  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “Those who say that under no circumstances should we enter Rafah are basically saying ‘lose the war’.”

   Biden sent CIA director William Burns to Cairo for talks about the release of hostages from Gaza in exchange for a pause in fighting.

  Amidst increasing concern around the world about the number of civilians getting killed in Gaza, a court in the Netherlands ordered the government to stop shipping parts for American F-35 fighters to Israel. That country hosts a warehouse used to store parts for allied countries.

  A court of appeals in The Hague said, “The court finds that there is a clear risk that Israel’s F-35 fighter jets might be used in the commission of serious violations of international humanitarian law.” 

    The decision was the result of a lawsuit brought by Oxfam and two other humanitarian organizations. It is unlikely to have immediate effect on the war effort.

JUST PEACHY: An Atlanta judge says he will hold a hearing later this week on the romantic relationship between Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and the lead prosecutor she hired to run the election interference case that includes Donald Trump as a defendant.

  Defense lawyers arguing conflict of interest have said Willis and Nathan Wade should be disqualified. They probably don’t care about the romance, but this is a way to delay the case. “It’s clear that disqualification can occur if evidence is produced demonstrating an actual conflict or the appearance of one,” Judge Scott McAfee of Fulton County Superior Court said during a hearing yesterday.

ORANGE ALERT: Lawyers for Donald Trump yesterday asked the Supreme Court to make a ruling that would delay the former president’s federal election subversion trial until the court decides whether Trump has presidential immunity from criminal prosecution. Any delay would push the trial into the middle of the election campaign and possibly even past election day in November.

A federal appeals court rejected Trump’s claim of immunity. Unless the Supreme Court pauses that ruling while it decides the ultimate question of immunity, the election trial can proceed.

  Trump has argued all along that, as long established in Supreme Court precedent, he cannot be prosecuted for official acts taken while in office The question to be answered is whether his efforts to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 election can be considered “official acts” rather than crimes committed by a disappointed candidate. 

  The lower court said Trump became an ordinary citizen subject to prosecution once he left office. In their filing yesterday, Trump’s lawyers said, “President Trump’s claim that presidents have absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for their official acts presents a novel, complex and momentous question that warrants careful consideration on appeal.” 

  Also yesterday, Trump sat in on a five hour meeting in which his lawyers tried to convince Judge Aileen Cannon that they should have access to the highly classified materials that federal prosecutors have cited as potential evidence. Special Counsel Jack Smith has argued that the content of the materials has no relevance to Trump defense. The only issue, he argues, is that they were secret and Trump should not have had them. 

THE SHOOTING GALLERY: The woman killed after opening fire Sunday in a popular suburban Houston megachurch has been identified as 36-year-old Genesse Ivonne Moreno, who is reported to have a long criminal history and possible mental illness. Her seven-year-old son was hit in the head in an exchange of gunfire with security officers and is in critical condition.

  Moreno is reported to have entered the church bearing a legally purchased assault rifle with the word “Palestine” written on it. 

THE OBIT PAGE: Bob Edwards, the host of National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition” for 24 years and the baritone voice millions of Americans woke up to, has died at age 76. The cause was heart failure and complications of bladder cancer, according to his wife.

  Edwards joined NPR in 1974 during the Watergate hearings. Before long he was named co-host of “All Things Considered,’’ NPR’s evening newsmagazine, and in 1979 was made host of the spinoff, “Morning Edition” in 1979. He sat at the microphone for many years alongside co-host Susan Stamberg.

  Bob Edwards had a reputation of trust … he was the Walter Cronkite of radio. But he was ousted in 2004 and replaced with a team of younger hosts. He attributed it to ageism … he was 57.  

THE SPIN RACK: Sunday’s Super Bowl was the most watched broadcast in television history. CBS says that had 123.4 million viewers. — Comedian Jon Stewart returned last night for the first of his Monday appearances on “The Daily Show.” He said he’s going to spend a lot of time with an election coverage segment, “INDECISION 2024, ELECTILE DYSFUNCTION.”

BELOW THE FOLD: The Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl, but here are some of the headlines in major newspapers:

– NY Times: “At the Super Bowl, Taylor Swift Gives a Fashion Week Brand a Boost”

– NY Times: “The Chiefs Won the Super Bowl. Will Taylor Swift Visit the White House?”

– Washington Post: “After the hype, the ‘Taylor Bowl’ was still just the Super Bowl

– NY Post: “Inside Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s Super Bowl 2024 afterparty that ended with chicken fingers at 5 a.m.”

– Kansas City Star: “Could Taylor Swift show up at Chiefs Super Bowl Parade in Kansas City?” 

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