to a very special edition of outfront. the breaking news, chris christie drops out. the bombshell coming just two hours before cnn s gop debate, the last debate before the first votes of the 2024 election. i m erin burnett in new york, and welcome the our viewers here and around the world. and i m anderson cooper in des moines, iowa. behind me, the stage is set for the debate tonight between nikki haley and ron desantis. and christie s surprise announcement just raised the stakes here in a big way. here is chris christie in his own words. it s clear to me tonight that there isn t a path for me to win the nomination. which is why i m suspending my campaign tonight for president of the united states. the question, of course, who will christie endorse. conventional wisdom says nikki haley. but christie was caught on a hot mic right before his announcement saying this about haley. she s going to get smoked. and you and i both know it. she is not up to this. well, obvi
the latest on that case and why prosecutors are opting not to charge the shooter with a hate crime. plus, florida governor ron desantis making a personal bid to try and pry conservative lawmake areas way from donald trump. could today s event in d.c. break the dam and give other republicans the green light to defy the former president? and american reporter evan gersh gershkovich, denied bail this morning and ordered to stay in the same russian prison that specifically is designed to cut off inmates from the rest of the world. but we start in kansas city, and an extraordinary scene taking place just a short time ago. hundreds of students marching to declare their love and support for 16-year-old ralph yarl the teenager shot for simply going to the wrong house we love you, ralph. we love you, ralph we love you, ralph that march happening as members of yarl s family and their attorney are demanding accountability for 84-year-old andrew lester, the man accused of pulling t
night. gusts of winds reaching up to 114 miles per hour. when you are standing for our values, you come under assault. florida governor ron desantis speaking out against woke ideology in the sunshine state publicly sparring with disney. you have these woke taking over institutions. grammys giving rihanna one for money. now shining bright like a diamond. some critics suggesting they outperformed rihanna. thank god i got my friends i don t even want to know what i did without them he could get lost. ainsley: that is old orchard beach, maine. if you are going out on the beach take your coat because it s 6 degrees. teams like negative 5 now. i hear we are getting snow in new york city today. griff, pete, so great to have you all here. pete: it s great to see you as always and great to see my buddy griff. griff: great to be on the couch. i wonder if there are any surfers out there. looks like a little ripple in the water. there is a colonel there. pete: i bel
soon. putin s speech comes with new reporting this morning on china s growing concerns about russia s weakened status on the world stage. meanwhile, we will hear from president joe biden later this morning as he is in poland now to meet with allies following that historic trip to ukraine. also ahead, the maga members of congress staying on brand, criticizing the president for visiting ukraine. we ll go through some of their comments. good morning and welcome to morning joe. it is tuesday, february 21st. with me here in new york, way too early host and the white house bureau chief at politico, jonathan lemire. at the table with joe in washington, pulitzer prize-winning columnist at the washington post, eugene robinson. former white house press secretary now msnbc host jen psaki. editor for the washington post, david ignatius. also with us, founder of the bulwark, charlie sykes. joe, incredible, staggering, historic scenes yesterday of president biden walking th
at wisconsin and a grocery store in new york and a flee market in texas,and what should be safe spaces but instead the sites of four mass shootings over the weekend. and then kim jong-un calling in the military to help with covid. live from cnn center. this is cnn newsroom with rosemary church. good to have you with us. we begin with a seismic shift for european security as russia faces its consequences on the war in ukraine. on sunday, finland s government formerly announced it intends to join nato and then hours later sweden followed suit. they are widely expected to endorse the nation, and nato leaders said the approval process could move very quickly. sunday s announcement mark an historic policy change for two countries that remained neutral for decades, and it s likely to anger vladimir putin who has long-time considered nato expansion a threat to russia. finland s ambassador said russia has changed the calculous. the situation has changed rather profoundly, and