we are here to ask yes or no questions -- are you for or are you gains the killing of students? it's a yes or no question. there is no in between, not a gray area. it's a black-and-white statement. >> florida students taking their gun violence message to the state capitol this morning. it comes a day after lawmakers dealt a blow to their efforts. the president weighing in but without a concrete plan. in a new report, jared kushner is annoyed with white house chief of staff john kelly. he thinks that kelly is

targeting him with changes to security clearances. and team usa's struggles continue at the olympics. figure skaters struggle, men's ice hockey is done, and von vli vonn very emotional after her final downhill. good morning, i'm christine romans. >> i'm alex marquardt. it is 4:00 a.m. in the east and 6:00 p.m. in pyeongchang, south korea. >> nice to have you here. >> always fun. in a few hours, students from marjory stoneman douglas high school in parkland, florida, will lobby lawmakers in tallahassee to tighten florida's gun laws. activists and parkland students and teachers will also rally in front of the state cap school. the students are already -- capitol. the students are already learning that demanding change is easier than persuading someone to vote for it. >> they rejected a bill to ban assault weapons. all but four had strong ratings

from the nra. flat house vote came -- the florida house vote came after strong emotions. >> the next death of someone with an assault rifle here in florida is going to be on them. it's going to be on them, and it's going to be their fault that those people are dead and that those people aren't going to go home to their families and that there's going to be an empty space in people's lives. and it's going to be their fault. >> despite the setback, students are vowing to march on with that message. cnn's diane gallagher has been in florida and has a preview of the events today in tallahassee. >> reporter: this is a really big day for the students of plac marjory stoneman douglas high school. this is the one-week anniversary of the shooting at their high

school that claimed 17 of their classmates, teachers, and coaches. they are marking that anniversary by demanding change here in the state capitol. when they got off the buses last night after our seven-hour journey or so from parkland to tallahass tallahassee, they were greeted by other students who said they were encouraged by what they consider a movement here. they have 70 meetings, they're breaking off into really small groups of ten students so they can address these lawmakers. both republicans and democrats individually. they're going to sit in on different committees. they're going to listen to different lawmakers talk about things, they're meeting with the attorney general, and at the end of the day, governor rick scott, a man who many had been waiting to have words with, they want to make sure that he knows what they're after. they are talking about gun control, mental health, and ways that they can prevent anybody else, any other school, any other community from experiencing who they had

experience one week ago today. >> thank you very much. ahead of governor scott's sit down with the students, he has a new plan for getting something done quickly on gun violence. >> my goal is friday i'm going to come up with a proposal. my goal is to come up with something that is going to move the needle and make parents feel more comfortable that their kid's going to go to a safe school. that's the goal. these kids have got to go to safe schools. we have two weeks left. after friday, we're going to get something done. >> last week scott told cnn that everything is on the table in the effort to solve the gun violence problem. president trump is also weighing in on gun regulation twice yesterday. last night he called for reforming gun purchase background checks in a tweet saying, "whether we are republican or democrat, we must now focus on strengthening background checks," but included no specific proposal. in a new quinnipiac poll, it

shows support across the board including from gun owners for putting all gun buyers through a background check. >> earlier tuesday the president said he has directed attorney general sessions to propose a rule banning bump fire stocks. that is the device the las vegas gunman used to make his rifle fire like a fully automatic weapon. the president was not officially ordering a new regulation. this wasn't an executive order. this was a memoriandum of understanding to his attorney general asking for quicker delivery of proposals. >> bump stocks were not even used in the parkland shooting, nor were they used in the sutherland springs massacre that followed the vegas massacre. it's not quitel are vent in this case -- quite relevant in this case. the nra has reserved comment on this bump stock issue saying it would wait for an actual proposal. white house press secretary sarah huckabee sanders, also noncommittal at the podium yesterday on, several gun measures getting a new look in the wake of the florida school

shooting. >> background checks are something that the president's supportive of making more efficient and looking at better ways to improve that process. the president supports not using bump stocks, and we support coming action on that. >> does the president believe there should be an age limit for those who buy an ar-15? >> that's something on the table for us to discuss and that will come up in the coming weeks. >> remember, the accused killer in florida not old enough to buy a bear, old enough to -- a beer, old enough to buy an ar-15. >> and not old enough to buy a pistol. you have to be 21 with a waiting period of three days. >> sanders' says the listening session by the president will include members of the parkland community, but no word on who exactly. there will be others affected by previous school shootings including columbine and sandy hook. in the wake of this horrific

massacre, there will be a town hall tonight hosted by jake tapper on guns. it's calmed "stand up: the students of stoneman douglas demand action." officials attending the town hall include senator marco rubio who will be taking questions. that's tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern. jared kushner and white house chief of staff john kelly refeuding over the presidential son-in-law's access to -- are feuding over the presidential son-in-law's access to confidential information. he's been in his role as a senior white house adviser for more than a year. the white house says kushner is resisting giving up access and is concerned he's a specific target of kelly's directive overhauling the white house clearance system. >> this guy has an enormous portfolio and doesn't have access to -- permanent three classified information. -- permanently to classified information. the order cancels top-level clearances at the end of this week for any staffer whose

background investigation has been pending since last june. the white house process has been under scrutiny since staff secretary rob porter was forced to resign after both of his ex-wives accused him of domestic abuse. in a statement last night, kelly expressed confidence in kushner's ability to continue performing his foreign policy duties. many duties. >> right. vice president pence came close to meeting with the north korean delegation at the winter olympics. his office said he was set to meet with officials including kim jong-un's sister, but the north koreans pulled out of the planned meeting two hours before it was to start. officials believe the abrupt cancelation was a sign that attempts by the u.s. to exert pressure on the regime were working. president trump has signed off -- had signed off on the pence meeting with the caveat that he would not back off the u.s. demand that pyeongchang band nuclear weapons. he had hoped to "seize on the opportuni opportuniti." on the heels of a new denial from president trump, one of the

women accusing him of sexual misconduct says she won't be bullied into silence. rachel crooks claims that trump forcibly kissed her as she worked as a receptionist in trump tower in 2006. her story landed on the front page of the "washington post" on tuesday, prompting a twitter denial from the president. crooks responded to that on cnn last night. >> not surprised that he called me a liar. i mean, that's not the first time. it is the first time he's attacked me personal oh twitter. i would think as our president he would have more important things to do than to tweet at me and try to discredit my story. i know what's true. he knows what's true. i think he should be afraid of that. >> rachel crooks is running for the ohio house of representatives as a democrat. federal courts will begin tracking data on sexual harassment complaints against judges. the u.s. courts system is closely controlled, cloaked in

secrecy. some investigations are even ended if a judge retires. most times with a full pension. a cnn investigation learned of nearly 5,000 judicial misconduct cases over the past 11 years, very few are investigated, and judges rarely if ever punished. ten minutes past the hour. a new breaking point for the humanitarian crisis in syria. hundreds killed in the latest regime shelling. the u.s. literally at a loss for words. from the brand ranked highest in customer satisfaction, with mattresses by j.d. power. tempur-pedic sleep is power. they have businesses to run they have passions to pursue how do they avoid trips to the post office? stamps.com mail letters ship packages all the amazing services of the post office right on your computer get a 4 week trial plus $100 in extras including postage and a digital scale

go to stamps.com/tv and never go to the post office again

all right investors, wall street's six-day winning streak over. both the dow and s&p 500 fell yesterday. the dow dragged down 1% by walmart's worst day in 30 years. walmart's stock fell 10%. you can blame disappointing online sales. walmart's digital sales have exploded in recent years, but it didn't make as much money, it didn't earn as much over the holidays as expected. and cutting prices to compete with amazon left profit margins

thin. walmart dropped weight on stocks as did bond prices. this as the government auctions off debt to pay for tax cuts and increased spending. that sent yields to a four-year high making investors nervous. two reasons -- better returns on bonds makes stocks less attractive, and a rapid rise in bond yields could signal inflation and faster interest rate hikes from the federal reserve. we may get a clue about that timing today. the central bank will release the minutes of its june meeting this afternoon -- january, rather, meeting this afternoon. the fear of higher rates spiked the sell-off, leading to a month of wild swings including a correction and a rebounds, still, the drop, it could likely continue. when you look at futures, alex, futures are lower now. that volatility, remember we told you that volatility was back? it's still there. >> how long do we expect it to continue? >> i think that is the name of the game. after stocks going straight up for so long, now you've got a bond market that's telling you it's not going to be so easy. >> and regular folks, as you've said, can't play that. >> no, i don't think you play that. >> this is a game for professionals? >> absolutely. you need to look at how long

until you retire. the older you are, the closer you are to retirement, the less of your money should be in stocks. >> and i will not be playing that either. >> okay. now, tensions between the u.s. and palestinians were on full display at the u.n. security council. the ambassador to the united nations nikki haley saying that the trump administration will not change its decision to move the u.s. embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem. haley also responded to comments this month by top palestinian negotiators who said that haley should shut one her criticism of palestinian president mahmoud abbas. >> i will decline the advice i was recently given by your top negotiator. i will not shut up. rather, i will respectfully speak some hard truths. the united states stands ready to work with the palestinian leadership, but we will not chase after you. >> haley says she won't chase after anyone because abbas had

left the room before she started speaking. haley urged compromise in the middle east saying that absolutist demands, hateful rhetoric, and incitement to violence will continue to lead to nothing but hardship for the palestinian people. a major escalation by syrian regime forces targeting one of the last remaining rebel strongholds. at least 250 civilians killed by shelling and air strikes over the past few days in syria's eastern area outside damascus according to the uk-based syrian observatory for human rights. the situation so desperate it left unicef, the u.n. children's fund, literally no words. it issued a statement on the bloody siege that was blank. we warn you, some of the video you're about to see is disturbing. we have more live from jordan. what's happening there? >> reporter: according to activists in the area, the bombardment has not stopped. they're reporting air strikes

overnight on parts of that enclave and also barrel bombs raining down on other parts this morning. reports of more casualties. of course, it's very difficult for us to verify and independently confirm these casualty figures. so we depend on medical workers, rescue workers there, and also local activists who are reporting more than 250 people killed since in uptick in violence that began on sunday with this regime offensive. hundreds of others have been wounded. and it is so difficult to treat the wounded. according to the united nations and other aid groups, hospital after hospital have been taken out by airair strikes. at least six hospitals so far. these are medical facilities that were already struggling to cope because this part of syria has been under siege since 2012. aid groups have been warning since late last year that it was becoming impossible to live, to

survive in the area. people there are absolutely terrified that the worst is yet to come. they fear that what we are seeing is a repeat of that scenario we saw in eastern aleppo at the end of 2016. >> all right. 250-plus civilians killed. just a tragedy there. continue to follow it for us, and we'll keep our viewers up to date. thank you very much for that. >> horrific pictures there. lindsey vonn makes the medals stand in her final olympic down hill at the pyeongchang olympics. it is a welcome bright spot at a rough games for team usa. coy wire is live next. (bright music)

- [narrator] whatever event you're planning, custom ink has customized apparel to make it extra special. (bright music) at custom ink, we make it easy for you to create custom t-shirts and other apparel for all of life's events. get free shipping and on time delivery guaranteed.

go to customink.com to get started today.

skiing superstar lindsey vonn brings home the bronze in what will likely be her final olympic down hill run. >> coy wire is live in pyeongchang. it's a medal but not quite the games that she had hoped for, right? >> reporter: exactly right. good morning to you. for the fans that were there, i was at the event and americans were in the crowd, it was like that thanksgiving feast and then that lull that you hit after you have the big meal. when they saw her cross the line, it was silent there amongst the americans in the crowd. they knew how much this meant to vonn, her journey back, eight years waiting to compete in the olympics again. downhill was her best event and best chance at gold in pyeongchang. the tears were flowing from her face. she said that this race was about more than just herself. here she was after that disappointing run. >> you know, it's been really

hard for me ton get emotional for so many reasons -- for me not to get emotional for so many reasons, especially because of my grandfather. i wanted to win so much because of him. i still think i made him proud. and our family never gives up. and i never gave up. i kept working hard. and i am really proud of this medal. i know he is, too. >> reporter: all right. 33 years old, vonn became the oldest woman ever to medal in olympic alpine skiing. surely she can keep her head up. figure skating. remember the three american hopefuls we told you about looking to be the first american women in 12 years to even medal in figure skating? not looking good. americans are sitting at ninth, 10th, and 11th after the short program. nagasu and tinnel l both fell. chen had to put a hand down to

prevent herself from falling. and on thursday, a 15-year-old representing the olympic athletes from russia leading the way. she set a world record for her was with, dazzling the crowd in the short program, outstanding. medal count this morning -- norway has 30 medals overall. germany's in second with 23. canada in third with 20. netherlands have 14. and the u.s. tied with france for fifth place, 13 medals overall. christine, alex, one more note on vonn -- she does still have one more shot at a medal in the alpine combined later tonight. for the first time in olympic competition, she'll go head to head with fellow american mikaela shiffrin who's already taken gold here in pyeongchang. >> certainly i know she was babying those knees. 33 years old. really wanted that gold. congratulations to her for the bronze. >> what a fighter. she said she doesn't think she has another four years in her. thanks, coy. present appreciate it. see you soon. president trump is offering few specifics but says he's

looking for new ideas on guns. >> we cannot merely take action that's make us feel like we are making a difference. we must actually make a difference. >> anxious students want answers. they're meeting with florida with lawmakers today, a day after they voted down a bill to ban assault weapons. that's next. it's time for the 'ultimate sleep number event'

on the only bed that adjusts on both sides to your ideal comfort, your sleep number setting. does your bed do that? right now, save 50% on the ultimate limited edition bed.

ends sunday. visit sleepnumber.com for a store near you.

we're here to ask yes or no questions. are you for or against the killing of students? it's a yes or no question, there is no in between, there's no gray area. it's a black-and-white statement. >> florida students take their gun violence pledge to the state capitol a day after the republican-lead state house vote against new restrictions. now the president weighing in but without a concrete plan. a new report says jared kushner is annoyed with the white house chief of staff.

he thinks john kelly is targeting him with changes to security clearances. and team usa disappointing at the olympics. figure skaters struggle, men's ice hockey is done. lindsey vonn very emotional after her perhaps final olympic downhill. welcome back to "early start," i'm alex marquardt. >> nice to see you. >> thank you. >> i'm christine romans. it's 32 minutes past the hour. in a few hours, students from marjory stoneman douglas high school will lobby lawmakers in tallahassee to tighten in's gun laws. activists and parkland students and teachers will rally in front of the state capitol. the students are already getting a quick lesson that demanding change is easier than persuading someone to vote for it. >> isn't it? now last night, florida's republican-led state house rejected a proposed ban on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines. the bill was defeated by a vote of 36-71. and of those 71, all but four had strong ratings from the nra. the florida house vote came as some stoneman douglas students

watched from the gallery. emotions ran high during the vote and after. >> the next death of someone with an assault rifle here in florida is going to be on them. it's going to be on them, and it's going to be their fault that those people are dead and that those preve-- those people aren't going to go home to their families, and there's going to be an empty space in people's lives, and it's going to be their fault. >> heartbroken and disappointed teenagers there. instead of guns, lawmakers will begin to debate declaring pornography a public health setba setback. >> ahead of governor scott's sit down with students, he's laying out a new timeline but few ideas for getting something done done quickly on gun violence. >> my goal is friday i'm going

to come up with a proposal. my goal is to come one something that's going to move the needle and make parents feel more comfortable that their kid's going to go to a safe school. that's the goal. these kids have got to go to safe schools. we have two weeks. two weeks after friday, we're going to get something done. >> not previewing any details there, but last week scott told cnn's wolf blitzer that everything is on the table in the effort to solve the gun violence problem. president trump weighing in on gun regulation twice yesterday. last night he called for reforming gun purchase background checks. in a tweet, "whether we are republican or democrat, we must focus on strengthening background checks." that included no specific proposal. but a new quinnipiac poll showed support across the board including from gun owners for putting all gun buyers through a background check. >> earlier tuesday the president said he directed attorney general jeff sessions to propose a rule banning those bump fire stocks used last year in the las vegas massacre.

the gunman used that bump stock on his rifle to make it fire like a fully automatic weapon. again, the president was not officially ordering a new regulation, just asking for quicker delivery of those proposals. >> the nra reserved comment on this bump stock development saying it would wait for an actual proposal. but press secretary sanders also noncommittal on several gun measures, getting a new look in the wake of the florida school shooting. >> background checks are something that the president's supportive of making more efficient and looking at better ways to improve that process. the president supports not having the use of bump stocks, and that we expect further action on that in the coming days. >> does the president believe there should be an age limit for those who buy an ar-15? >> i think that's something that's on the table for us to discuss and that we expect to come up over the next couple of weeks. >> sanders says that's on the

table and that the president's listening session on guns today will include members of the parkland community. no word yet on exactly who. there will also be others affected by previous school shootings including columbine and sandy hook. tonight jake tapper hosts a cnn town hall on guns, "stand up: the students of stoneman douglas demand action." officials including senator marco rubio will take questions. that's tonight at 9:00 eastern only on cnn. "the new york times" is reporting overnight that jared kushner and white house chief of staff john kelly refeuding over the president's son-in-law's -- kelly are feuding over the president of the united states's son-in-law's clearance. the "times" says that kushner is resisting giving up access. he's also concerned he is a specific target of kelly's recent directive which is overhauling the white house clearance system. >> kelly's order cancels top-level clearances at the end of this week for any staffer whose background investigation

has been pending since last june. the white house clearance process has been under scrutiny since staff secretary rob porter was forced to resign after both his ex-wives accused him of domestic abuse. in a statement last night, kelly expressed confidence in kushner's ability to continue performing his foreign policy-related duties. the vice president, mike pence, came very close to meeting secretly with the north korean delegation at the winter olympics. remember he was there for the opening ceremony. pence's office says he was set to meet with north korean officials including kim jong-un's sister, but the north koreans pulled out of the planned meeting two hours before it was set to start. officials believe that the abrupt cancelation was a sign that attempts by the u.s. to exert pressure on the regime are indeed working. president trump had signed off on the pence meeting with the caveat that he would not back off the u.s. demand that pyeongchang abandon its nuclear weapons. it says it regrets north korea's failure to seize this opportunity. the white house doubling

down on president trump's claim he has been tougher on russia than his predecessor. the president has refused, refused to condemn russia for its interference in the 2016 election even after last week's indictments against 13 russians. press secretary sarah huckabee sanders offering a cryptic statement tuesday as part of the white house defense. >> he has been tougher on russia in the first year than obama was in eight years combined. he's imposed sanctions, taken away properties, rebuilt the military. he's done a number of things to put pressure on russia and to be tough on russia. just last week there was an incident that will be reported in the coming days. >> this morning moscow is reacting to last friday's indictment of 13 russian citizens and special counsel robert mueller's -- in special counsel mueller's investigation. the kremlin is not ruling out some kind of retaliation. for the latest, cnn's fred pleitgen is live in moscow. what are they saying this

morning? >> reporter: good morning. they were talking about the anger in the kremlin and generally in the russian government after the indictments were handed out. the reaction from the russians was more forceful compared to anything else announced as part of the allegations of russian meddling in the 2016 election. this morning the deputy foreign minister is coming out and saying that there might be tit-for-tat measures and sanctions by the russians against u.s. he says, "we always react including with tit-for-tat measures. we have our own list of officials whose entry to russia has been restricted," but there are other ways to respond, as well, he says. russia wants to know if there are going to be additional sanctions on the part of the u.s. in the wake of the mueller indictments. the interesting part about all this is that the russians are apparently also trying to somewhat turn the tides in all of. this they're saying that they believe the indictments handed down by special counsel robert

mueller are a political measure aimed to meddle in russia's upcoming election, set to happen on march 18th. they say that they believe all of this was timed by the americans to influence the political process here. you can see a lot of anger, a lot of rumors flying around moscow. it's really something where these specific indictments by the special counsel certainly causing a much bigger reaction than many of the things that we've seen over the past year since we've been reporting on the alleged election meddling in 2016, alex. >> all right. a vague threat of tit-for-tat response. thank you very much. another democratic victory in a deep red state. linda belshire winning the special election for kentucky's 49th district with 68% of the vote. she reclaims her seat after narrowly losing the race in 2016 to republican pastor dan johnson. johnson committed suicide in december after an investigation found that he had sexually bookingsed a 17-year-old --

abused a 17-year-old girl. his widow, rebecca, lost to belshire last night. this is the same district that president trump won with 72% of the vote in 2016. belshire's win marks a huge 86-point partisan swing. 41 minutes past the hour. the trump administration unveiling an alternative to obamacare, proposing regulations that make it easier to get short-term health plans. the administration says these offer americans more choice and lower premiums. short-term plans are cheaper than obamacare, costs as little as 20% of the cheapest obamacare plans. that's because it excludes americans with pre-existing conditions. it does not offer comprehensive coverage like maternity care, prescription drug or mental health benefits. insurers can now also limit how much they pay out, meaning costly medical emergencies could leave consumers paying out of pocket. advocates and industry groups worry this move will hurt obamacare. they claim the cheaper plans will attract the younger, healthier consumers, driving up obamacare premiums for anyone

else. the administration pushed back on that concern claiming estimates show only 200,000 healthy enrollees will make the switch, adding that these policies are designed to fill a temporary gap in coverage. watch this space. >> health care dwight continues. >> sure does. president trump's son, don jr., is in india this morning. ethics questions are following him because of meetings that he's holding out there. what don jr. says about that live from delhi next. you won't see these folks at the post office

they have businesses to run they have passions to pursue how do they avoid trips to the post office? stamps.com mail letters ship packages all the amazing services of the post office right on your computer get a 4 week trial plus $100 in extras including postage and a digital scale go to stamps.com/tv and never go to the post office again

tensions between the u.s. and palestinians clearly evident before the u.n. security council. nikki haley saying the trump administration will not change its decision to move the u.s. embassy to jerusalem. haley responded to comments earlier this month by the top palestinian negotiator who said haley should "shut up" with her criticism of palestinian president mahmoud abbas. >> i will decline the advice i was recently given by your top

negotiator. i will not shut up. rather, i will respectfully speak some hard truths. the united states stands ready to work with the palestinian leadership. we will not chase after you. >> haley says she won't chase after anyone because abbas left the room before she spoke. donald trump jr. is on a visit to india this morning. his company's biggest international market. he's now fueling ethical questions with meetings and dinners with people buying trump-banded apartments. what's he saying this morning? we have more live from new delhi. john, this is -- he's conflating -- doing both politics and business at the same time. it's not a good look, is it? >> reporter: it's not a good look, but i would say that donald trump jr. is being

defiant about the trump organization's business ties here in india. he's got four days on the ground, visiting four major cities from the east and west, north to south, looking at five major projects. as you suggested, it is the trump organization's largest international market. we're looking at millions and millions of dollars of different developments. today he's heading west to a city outside of mumbai to look at towers there. let's give a glimpse of what he's been doing for his first full day on the ground. he started here in the capital of new delhi meeting with developers and a select group, i should add here, of journalists. and then he went to host a dinner with investors. along the way he said, look, these words about conflict of interest are overblown. and in fact, he said we're not getting credit for pushing deals away. let's listen to his tone. >> there is the opportunity to close some deals that we're not able to do that don't get discussed. when people talk about it these days, it's profiteering from the presidency and all this

nonsense. wait a minute, i can't do deals, i've spent over a decade creating relationships to now where we have five incredible deals all active and we could do so many more, and we're not doing those. no one wants to talk about those kind of deals. >> reporter: donald trump jr. referring to the fact in 2016 they made a promise not to build out any more international projects, just living with what's on the table. after having a very high-profile rollout with ads in national papers saying that donald trump jr. has arrived, have you, they're downplaying it, the organizers. they're not telling us, for example, what the machines are in the financial capital -- what the plans are in the financial capital of mumbai. he's going to be coming back to the capital on friday. he says he's speaking as a businessman, but in front of the prime minister of india under the title of increasing or improving indo-pacific ties. it does sound like a foreign policy speech, you two. but he's claiming it's all for business. >> yeah. and the prime minister of india will be also at that speech.

so it clearly has the -- looks like a foreign speech. thank you very much. wall street's winning streak is over. walmart partly to blame. so are almost 3% ten-year note yields. that hasn't happened in yields. cnn "money" next.

welcome back. skiing superstar lindsey vonn brings home the bronze. it will sadly likely be her final olympic downhill run. >> the tears were flowing. coy wire with more from pyeongchang. hi, coy. >> reporter: good morning. there was near silence from the

americans that were there at the downhill event when she crossed the line and saw the time. they knew how badly she wanted this. downhill, perhaps her best chance at gold. she already missed out on a medal in the super g. she cried afterwards because she was talking about how she wanted to win this so badly for her grandfather who fought here in the korean war, not far from pyeongchang. he pass the a few months ago. she was hoping he'd be here. a bronze medal at the olympics, not bad. at 33 years old, that means that vonn is the oldest woman ever to medal in olympic alpine skiing. she has one more shot at a medal in the alpine combined later tonight. what happened to the american women in the short program of figure skating? they couldn't put together a clean routine. mariah nagasu and bradie tennell both fell. tennell said she couldn't respect the last time she fell.

karen chen had to put a hand out to keep from falling. heading into 9th, 10th, and 11th place. more disappointment for team usa. for the second straight olympics, men's hockey will not meddle. it was close going into the shootouts against the czech republic. the americans eliminated from the tournament in a 3-2 heartbreaker. good news now, the 17-year-old freckle-faced sensation is back. red gerard qualified for the snowboarding premier competition and took it from the second youngest man in history to take two president obaolympic gold m shocked the world and himself when he took the slope-style competition. there was a break during events, so he flew back to the u.s. to do a media tour. and christine, alex, he went coast to coast. he said he was on board with flying halfway around the world and coming back because he'd rack up a lot of airline miles. the final is on friday night in the states. and it will be must-see tv. it is a new competition here in

olympic games. and these athletes go big. >> yeah. they do. all right. coy, thank you. nice to see you this morning. >> thank you very much. a high-speed car chase in los angeles took a bizarre turn overnight. police say the driver of a stolen truck tried to make his getaway. he slammed into a taxi, kept trying to avoid police. watch this video from the chopper. the car actually followed the rails of a commuter train line on street level. that's when the car just disappears and ended up in the train tunnel. local train service was suspended. the lapd managed to track down the driver who they think was the driver and a passenger. we'll check on cnn "money." wall street's six-day winning streak is over and the drop could continue today. global stocks and u.s. futures now lower. the dow and s&p 500 fell yesterday. the dow dragged lower by walmart's worst day in 30 years. walmart's stock fell 10% on disappointing online sales. that weighed on stocks, as did bond prices. this week the government auctioning off debt to help pay

for tax cuts and increased spending. that sent yields, bond yields, to a near four-year high. 3m will pay $850 million to settle claims it contaminated water in minnesota for three decades. 3m is based in st. paul. minnesota's attorney general alleges it polluted water in the twin cities, dumping chemicals used to make scotchguard from 1950 -- 1950 -- to the tellery 2000s. officials say 3m should have known it posed a risk to the environment and residents' health. 3m says it will work with the state but does not believe there is a related risk to the public. the co-founder of guess stepping down amid harassment claims from supermodel kate upton. paul marciano will give up the day-to-day responsibilities during this investigation. upton says marciano verbally harassed her, touched her very inappropriately, groped her after a photo shoot in 2007. marciano denies the accusation. the allegations are costing his business. guess' stock has dropped 20%

since upton first spoke out. wow. >> yeah. some powerful allegations there. >> yep. "early start" continues right now. we are here to ask yes or no questions. are you for, or are you against the killing of students? it's a yes or no question. there is no in between, there is no gray area. it's a black-and-white statement. >> florida students take their gun message to the state capitol a day after the republican-led state house voted against new restrictions. now the president is weighing in but without a concrete plan. new report this morning says jared kushner is resisting changes to his security clearance. he thinks john kelly is targeting him with new changes. and a new breaking point for the humanitarian crisis in syria. hundreds killed in the latest regime shelling, leaving the u.n. literally at a loss for words. good morning and welcome to

"early start." i'm alex marquardt. >> nice to see you. i'm christine romans. wednesday, february 21st. 5:00 a.m. here in the east, noon in damascus, 7:00 p.m. in pyeongchang. in just a few hours, students from marjory stoneman douglas high school will lion lawmakers in tallahassee to -- will lobby lawmakers in tallahassee to tighten gun laws. activists and parkland students and teachers will rally on the front lawn of the skate ctate c. the students already getting a quick lesson that demanding change is easier than persuading someone to vote for it. >> last night florida's republican-led state housejected a ban on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines. the bill was defeated 37-71. of the 71 voting against it, all but four had strong ratings from the nra. the florida house vote came as some stoneman douglas students watched from the gallery, emotions ran high during the vote and after. >> the next death of someone with an assault rifle here in