Administration Defends Plan to Close Border and Stop Aid

In an interview on Sunday at ABC Studios in New York, Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, defended President Trump’s threat to end assistance to three Central American countries and to close parts of the United States border with Mexico next week, saying that it would take “something dramatic” to prevent Mr. Trump from carrying out that plan. Critics say the president’s move to cut off aid to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador ignores a longstanding strategy touted by aid groups and military experts — including the president’s former chief of staff — that supporting those countries actually makes the border safer. John F. Kelly, the president’s former chief of staff and former top officer of the military’s Southern Command, said during an Atlantic Council meeting that his experience showed him that partnering with Northern Triangle countries was key to securing the border. President Trump argues that point and has focused on how border patrol facilities along the southwestern border have been strained to a breaking point by the largest influx of migrants in years. The president is seeking to punish those countries for what he says is a failure to stop migrant caravans from making their way north. Whiles experts within the president’s own administration have said aid money has helped curb violence in and migration.

In Other News Rapper Nipsey Hussle died Sunday after a shooting in Los Angeles near a clothing store he was associated with, according to a high-ranking law enforcement official with the Los Angeles Police Department. Two other people were injured in the shooting around 3:20 p.m. The department said it has no information about the suspect. The rapper's last message on Twitter read: “Having strong enemies is a blessing.” His Facebook says Hussle was "a devout member of the Rolling Sixty Crips," a national street gang that was founded in Los Angeles in the mid-1970s. His page lists Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg and Tupac as some of his influences. Hussle was nominated for best rap album at this year's Grammys, but lost to Cardi B. The death of horse Arms Runner overshadowed Sunday's races at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, as he became the 23rd horse to die at the park since Dec. 26. Arms Runner fell during the Grade 3 race and was then euthanized after appearing to injure his right front leg. 10 of the deaths at the track occurred during training on the dirt surface, seven occurred while racing on the dirt and now six have occurred during turf races. For all those who made choices for the March Madness Bonus: the men’s Final Four consists of No. 5 Auburn, No. 3 Texas Tech, No. 2 Michigan State and No. 1 Virginia. For the women, No. 2 UConn, and No. 2 Oregon are in, with the other games happening tonight (including No. 1 Baylor and No. 1 Notre Dame).