and this cnn it s monday, february 26. right now on cnn this morning, donald trump, closer to clinching the republican nomination cruising into michigan with momentum. and the message of unity ahead of tuesday s primary, nikki haley trounced on her home turf than finding out one of her biggest financial backers cutting her off. and a critical test for president biden, will michigan voters punish him for his handling of the war in gaza all right it is 05:00 a.m. here in washington. you are looking live at capitol hill still on this monday morning, good morning, everyone. i m kasie hunt. it s wonderful to be with you on the eve of the michigan primary, donald trump is dominating and nikki haley is soldiering on as her future in the nomination fight becomes increasingly grim. trump, riding a wave of momentum after trouncing haley by 20 points in her home state of south carolina, because republican party continuing to fall in line the number two senate republican john thune
a lot of the water needs to be pumped up hill at leaks there. but something to pay attention to john and a warmer world. bill weir, great to have you this morning. thanks so much, my friend a prisoner swap in its final stages. and one that would have included alexei navalny, what his teen is now revealing was in the works the day before navalny die. all right. breaking this morning, ukraine pulls back from a city in the east, a new retreat. what does this mean? and president zelenskyy tells cnn he cannot understand how donald trump can be on the side of russian president vladimir putin. and on the eve of the michigan primary, nikki haley vowing to stick it out despite two big losses, her home-state primary and her biggest donor. does she have any chance at all in michigan? break down the final polls for you. i m sara sidner alongside john berman and kate baldwin and this is cnn news central new this morning, a top aide to alexey navalny. now he says they were in t
united states and all around the world. you re watching cnn newsroom, and i m rosemary church. just ahead, america marks its independence day, but the fireworks and parties give way to gunshots and mourning amid a wave of mass shootings. plus, israel strikes gaza, hitting what it says are hamas weapon sites. a live report on the escalating violence in the middle east. and japan plans to release a million tons of waste water from the fukushima nuclear plant. experts say the water is treated and safe, but not everyone agrees. we re live in tokyo. live from cnn center, this is cnn newsroom with rosemary church. thanks for being with us. we begin here in the united states where cities across the country are dealing with the fallout from mass shootings over the holiday weekend. indianapolis police are investigating the death of a 16-year-old girl who was killed in a shooting during a block party late monday evening. further south, in texas, three people are dead after
a 60 day state of emergency was issued in ecuador on monday. will grant reports from guayaquil. viewers in ecuador watched in disbelief as masked and armed gang members entered a state tv channel and held staff hostage all of it televised live. translation: they shot one of our cameramen in the leg. | broke the arm of another one. they were shooting bullets inside the studio. the police were called and came in minutes. the gang was soon arrested and the hostages released, but the tv station ambush was just part of the descent into chaos. panic as gunmen stormed guayaquil university, explosions around the country, schools and businesses shut down and widespread rioting inside ecuador s prisons. in response, president daniel noboa called a state of emergency and imposed a curfew. by decree, he designated 22 gangs terrorist organisations and ordered the military to, as he put it, neutralise them. translation: we are practically living - in a state of war against terrorism. the