just days before the iowa caucuses. the former new jersey governor declining to endorse any of his republican rivals, at least for now, even as he urges he supporters to choose a candidate with character. this comes as we re just now a few hours away from cnn s republican presidential debate later tonight, nikki haley and ron desantis about to come face to case for the final time before the iowa caucuses. it s a critically important test as both candidates try to close the gap with donald trump. i m wolf blitzer, you re in the situation room. announcer: this is cnn breaking news. it s major breaking news indeed, with chris christie suspending his run tonight. the race is on for other candidates as to try to pick up his supporters. kylie atwood is with us. the remaining campaigns are clearly interested in bringing voters over to their side. what are you hearing? reporter: they are indeed. there was a hot mic moment that wasn t actually included in that speech that we
cheering on the red sox soon. the lead with jake tapper starts right now. never do you see a federal court hearing involving donald trump, but today we heard every single word. the lead starts right now. challenging the order. the former president pushing back on federal judge who put limits on what trump can say and where he can say it. ahead, take you inside the courtroom and why today s hearing mattered so much. plus, anger in israel. the heated exchanges with families of hostages kidnapped by hamas. and protesting boss moves. hundreds of employees at tech giant openai threatening to quick over firing of their founder and face of the company. welcome to the lead everyone. i m in for jake tapper. we start with a remarkable day in one of donald trump s four criminal cases. federal courts do not allow live cameras, but today we got to hear live audio in the federal election subversion case. the former president facing charges that include conspiring to overt
that is tonight s the last word. the 11th hour with stephanie ruhle starts now. tonight, donald trump met his probation officer. we will look at a key step as sentencing approaches. the fate of hunter biden is in the hands of a delaware jury. nba legend steve kerr is here and why he speaking out about the stakes in the election as the 11th hour gets underway. good evening once again. we are 148 days away from election. today, one of the leading candidates for president met with his probation officer. donald trump brush off his guilty verdict set for a standard presentencing interview this afternoon, there was nothing standard about how this interview was held. trump got special permission to attend virtually from florida and to have his attorney todd blanche present. he s been complaining for months about it two tiered system of justice and he is right. is new public defenders pointed out today, most people do not get to login remotely from a resort in florida to talk
he seems to also be hinting that maybe nikki haley is hedging her bets, eyeing, you know, being number two on donald trump s ticket, being his vice president. i think that s one of the things he seeing and maybe leaves him not necessarily wanting to throw any support behind her in advance of new hampshire. we ll see if there s a direct face-to-face meeting between the two of them before new hampshire. potentially that could be significant if that happens. you expect him to endorse her? whether or not he does right away, i think remains to be seen. the question is, i think he s done a tremendous job. the reality is he s got high, unfavorable numbers. will that help? i think voters are smart. his voters will say let me make my own decision. where they stand on the issues, they are more naturally aligned
million in new hampshire for advertising hitting nikki haley alone. the campaign is no longer spending any money spending ron desantis, the super-pac is spending $1.3 million a week hitting nikki haley on immigration leading up to that primary. they do believe that he will ultimately take new hampshire, but this is a wrinkle. this idea of where not likely to go to donald trump, or at least a large swath if they end much with nikki haley that s yet another threat. that s important indeed, where those voters go, the chris christie voters now that he s suspended his campaign. thanks very much. we want to bring in some of our political experts into this conversation for some serious analysis, nitta malika henderson, how do you think