your comments this week and those of our president have been pathetically weak. >> angry families make a statement in exchange of views and ideas on guns. marco rubio took a beating, but had the decency and courage to show up there. >> how many schools? how many children have to get shot? it stops here with this administration and me. >> families of several school shootings made their case at the white house. the president suggested arming teachers. an idea that is getting push

back from law enforcement. and a classic in the olympics. the shootout needed in the women's ice hockey. wait until you see the move that finished the game. welcome to "early start." i'm christine romans. what a game. >> i'm alex marquardt in for dave briggs. it was a powerful day yesterday of nationwide advocacy by survivors and families and gun control supporters following the florida shooting. the day was capped off by the emotional cnn town hall on gun violence. signs that some marginal change may be possible. florida senator marco rubio was the only republican willing to face his critics. he says he now backs raising the minimum age for owning a rifle from 18 to 21. >> in this country, if you are 18 years of age, you should not be able to buy a rifle.

i will support a law. traditionally i have not looked at looking at magazine clip size. after this and some details i learned, i'm reconsidering that position and i'll tell you why. i'll tell you why. because while it may not prevent an attack, but it may save lives in an attack. >> rubio defended his opposition to broader gun control and violence legislation. including an assault weapons ban. here is an exchange with fred guttenberg who lost his daughter jaime. >> if i believed that law would prevent this from happening, i would support it. i will explain to you why it's not. >> senator rubio, my daughter, running down the hallway at marjory stoneman douglas was shot in the back with assault weapon. the weapon of choice. it is too easy to get.

it is a weapon of war. the fact that you cannot stand with everybody in the building and say that? i'm sorry. >> rubio faced tough questions from stoneman douglas high school student cameron kasky. >> this is about making a difference to save us and people who are against it and prefer money. senator rubio, can you tell me you will not accept a single donation from the nra? >> the positions i hold on these issues on the second amendment are the views i hold as i entered office. the answer is i do support the second amendment and right and view of everyone to go to school and be safe. and i do support any law to keep guns out of the hands of any deranged killer. that is why i stood for --

>> you will take nra money? >> that is the wrong way to look -- first of all, people buy into my agenda. our goal -- >> hold on. in the name of 17 people, you cannot ask the nra to keep their money out of your campaign? >> i think in the name of 17 people, i will pledge to you i will support a law that -- >> i'm talking nra money. >> i have told you i support lifting the age from 18 to 21 of buying a rifle. i understand before i walked out here that the organization is not in favor of that. >> so many incredible moments. rubio has an a-plus rating from the nra. he is right about that. before the town hall, the nra says it opposes raising the age to buy an ar-15. the group sent a spokeswoman to the town hall. dana lash. she would not budge on nra

priorities and suggest local law enforcement missed crucial warning signs. >> i dobl believe thn't believe monster should have been able to obtain a firearm. he had already taken knives to schools. he assaulted other students. 39 visits. this was known to law enforcement. look, i'm not saying you can be everywhere at once. you have to follow-up on the red flags. >> cnn town hall followed an entire day of action across the country. at the florida state capital in tallahassee, busloads of students lobbied lawmakers. a number of lawmakers declined to meet with students. outside, protesters from around the state demanding lawmakers to curb sales of assault style rifles.

what you hear are chants of vote them out. aimed at lawmaker who make -- l who will not act. >> i felt supported. i felt he will make a change and he will help us and hopefully provide the safety for all of the other students. >> small steps count. he's really cooperating on participating with the small steps. >> students across the country walked out if sn solidarity in washington and arizona and minnesota and kentucky and illinois. students mash murched out of cl defying some school districts. students forming a heart in the middle of the football field to show support. >> amazing. before the cnn town hall,

president trump had a listening session with victims of school gun violence. he floated the idea of arming teachers and arming school staff. >> this would be obviously for people that are very adept at handling a gun and it would be concealed carry. a teacher would have a concealed gun on them. they go for special training. they would be there and you would no longer have a gun-free zone. >> the idea met with support from many in attendance there. not broward county sheriff scott israel. >> i don't believe teachers should be armed. i believe teachers should teach. >> on wednesday, the sheriff did order all deputies in broward county schools to carry rifles on school grounds. that move has the support of the broward school superintendent. as for the president, we get

more from jeff zeleny from the white house as the president is not done with the issue. >> reporter: president trump will have another listening session at the white house today with state and local officials. this comes one day after the emotional session in the state dining room of the white house on wednesday. listening to stories from six students from florida from shooting one week ago. parents sitting alongside parents of sandy hook and columbi columbine. the president stood and watched as he heard the story from one father. andrew pollack. his 18-year-old daughter, meadow, died last week. >> all the school shootings -- it doesn't make sense. fix it. should have been one school shooting and we should have fixed it. and i'm pissed. my daughter i'm not going to see again. she's not here! she's not here!

she's -- in north -- king cemetery. that's where i see her now. >> reporter: he called for some change. the president said it would be different if school officials and teachers were armed. that prompted a mother of sandy hook child to say that is not the solution. the problem is clear. the solution is far from it. the president is committed to making some type of change here. we have seen this happen so many times before. this feels different. the president says he is engaged on this. this will be an incredible test of his leadership. christine and alex. >> jeff zeleny at the white house. thank you. the reigniting gun debate taking an ugly political turn when claudia tenney who represents one of the most

competitive district in the country. the majority of gun victims come from the inner cities according to the host of the radio program. tenney said this. >> it is interesting, so many of the people who commit the mass murders have been democrat. the immediamedia doesn't want t about this either. >> tenney is a gun supporter. she said we know the perpetrators have a wide variety of views, my comments are in response about the failure to prosecute illegal gun crime. i will stand up for citizens smeared by anti-gun liberal elitists. the u.s. has warned russia not to interfere with the mid terms elections. they have taken direct action to address the meddling going forward. cnn's frederik pleitgen in

moscow. fred, the russians say this never happened in the first place. how tough is the u.s. being at this point? >> reporter: you are right, christine. saying this never happened in the first place. russians planning not to meddle in the mid terms. something they say they never have done and wouldn't do in the future. the administration says there are signs of meddling coming up in the 2018 mid terms. the signals are clear. nevertheless, russians don't people the administration is being tough on them. one of the things we keep hearing from russian officials is they feel the american bureaucracy like the cia and congress are being tough on them, but the president certainly isn't. it is interesting. one of the things the russians are looking at is the recent tweet that came out from president trump where he said why aren't dem crying?

and then saying ask jeff sessions. ripping into his own attorney general. that also plays into that narrative that we have been hearing from the russians. it may be u.s. officials that are putting pressure on russia, but they think president trump wants better relations with the russians. christine. >> fred pleitgen and the plot thickens. nice to see you. coming up next, big drama on the ice in pyeongchang. the u.s. and canada go to shootout in the women's hockey finals. even that wasn't enough to settle the gold medal. coy wire is live in pyeongchang next. rick blomquist thought he had comfort all figured out. but then, he laid on a serta and realized his life was only just sorta comfortable.

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welcome back. team usa taking the gold medal in women's hockey. beating canada in a thrilling, thrilling shootout. >> didn't you say it was 38 years to the day since miracle

on ice? coy wire was there and has more from pyeongchang. >> hey, coy. >> good morning, alex and christine, usa! canada! that's what we heard in the arena. incredible match with the powerhouses in women's olympic hockey history going head-to-head again. canada with the last four olympic gold. last two taken with victories over the u.s. the game through overtime and shootout and sudden death shootout. score stalemated at 2-2. then it was american davidson with the freaky move with the incredible score to put america up by one. she grew up in north dakota with her teammate and twin sister moniq monique. then all eyes to mansdison roon. barrelling down to the net and

madison rises to the occasion. denying the goal and securing gold as american women capture olympic gold for the first time since 1998. after the win, born in the usa was blasting through the speakers. this epic game was coming to an end. lindsey vonn had one more chance at olympic gold in the alpine combined. she was in first place after the downhill portion, but then disaster. missing a gate. running off course in the slalom. helpi hoping to end the career with gold. afterwards, she says she is all out of tears after failing to medal yesterday as well. > americans had something to celebrate. mikaela shiffrin took silver adding to the gold she won earlier in pyeongchang. mikaela has already matched

lindsey vonn in terms of olympic medal count. two goldis, a silver and bronze. immedia medal count. norway in first. germany in second. usa jump up to fourth. a grenade at the u.s.

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it's a drone! i know. find your phone easily with the xfinity voice remote. one more way comcast is working to fit into your life, not the other way around. welcome back. security is being ramped up at u.s. embassy in the country of mond montenegro. officials are saying the grenada peers to have just gone off as it was thrown.100 feet from the embassy wall. no injuries and no damage have been reported. another major blow to embattled israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. a second close confidant of his agreeing to testify in the corruption investigation swirling around him and inner

circle. cnn's oren liebermann is live in jerusalem. >> reporter: christine, since these investigations went public a year ago, this may be the biggest blow to prime minister benjamin netanyahu. he keeps a notoriously tight inner circle. his key witness in one of wiof investigations in the prime minister circle. meanwhile, netanyahu speaking last night and on his social media facebook account trying to portray normalcy. he will lead israel and expecting to be back next year. implying nothing is wrong as the investigations get closer and closer. >> oren liebermann, thank you. president trump is now

suggesting arming teachers to stop school shootings. that idea had little support at the powerful town hall on guns. senator marco rubio was the only senator on hand. ♪ promise we will be stronger ♪ we will not let you win ♪ we are putting up a fight ♪ together we will shine a light ♪

your comments this week and those of our president have been pathetically weak. >> angry families make a statement in exchange of views and ideas on guns. marco rubio took a beating, but had the decency and courage to show up there. >> how many schools? how many children have to get shot? it stops here with this administration and me. >> families of several school shootings made their case at the white house.

powerful, powerful words. the president suggested arming teachers. an idea that is getting push back from law enforcement. and a classic in the olympics. the u.s. and canada needed a shootout to settle the gold medal in women's ice hockey. welcome to "early start." i'm alex marquardt. >> i'm christine romans. it was a powerful day yesterday of nationwide advocacy by survivors and families and gun control supporters following the flooz -- florida school shooting. the day was capped off by the emotional cnn town hall on gun violence. signs that some marginal change may be possible. florida senator marco rubio was the only republican willing to face his critics. he says he now backs raising the minimum age for owning a rifle from 18 to 21. >> in this country, if you are 18 years of age, you should not be able to buy a rifle. i will support a law.

traditionally i have not looked at looking at magazine clip size. after this and some details i learned, i'm reconsidering that position and i'll tell you why. i'll tell you why. because while it may not prevent an attack, but it may save lives in an attack. >> rubio defended his opposition to broader gun control and violence legislation. including an assault weapons ban. here is an exchange with fred guttenberg who lost his daughter jaime. >> if i believed that law would prevent this from happening, i would support it. i will explain to you why it's not. >> senator rubio, my daughter, running down the hallway at marjory stoneman douglas was shot in the back with assault weapon. the weapon of choice. it is too easy to get.

it is a weapon of war. the fact that you cannot stand with everybody in the building and say that? i'm sorry. >> rubio faced tough questions from stoneman douglas high school student cameron kasky. >> this is about making a difference to save us and people who are against it and prefer money. senator rubio, can you tell me you will not accept a single donation from the nra? >> the positions i hold on these issues on the second amendment are the views i hold as i entered office. the answer is i do support the second amendment and right and view of everyone to go to school and be safe. and i do support any law to keep guns out of the hands of any deranged killer. that is why i stood for --

>> you will take nra money? >> that is the wrong way to look -- first of all, people buy into my agenda. our goal -- >> hold on. in the name of 17 people, you cannot ask the nra to keep their money out of your campaign? >> i think in the name of 17 people, i will pledge to you i will support a law that -- >> i'm talking nra money. >> i have told you i support lifting the age from 18 to 21 of buying a rifle. i understand before i walked out here that the organization is not in favor of that. >> rubio is right about that. he has an a-plus rating from the nra. before the town hall, the nra says it opposes raising the age to buy an ar-15. the group sent a spokeswoman to the town hall. dana lash. she would not budge on nra priorities and suggest local law

enforcement missed crucial warning signs. >> i don't believe this insane monster should have been able to obtain a firearm. he had already taken knives to schools. he assaulted other students. 39 visits. this was known to law enforcement. look, i'm not saying you can be everywhere at once. you have to follow-up on the red flags. >> cnn town hall followed an entire day of action across the country. at the florida state capital in tallahassee, busloads of parkland students lobbied lawmakers although lawmakers declined to meet with the students. outside, protesters from around the state demanding lawmakers to curb sales of assault style rifles. >> vote them out! vote them out!

>> vote them out is the chants for lawmakers who won't act. >> i felt supported. i felt he will make a change and he will help us and hopefully provide the safety for all of the other students. >> small steps count. he's really cooperating on participating with the small steps. >> students across the country walked out in solidarity in washington and arizona and minnesota and kentucky and colorado and illinois. students marched out of class defying some school districts. coral springs high, students formed a heart in the middle of the football field to show their support. that one gets me. >> amazing. before the cnn town hall, president trump had a listening session with victims of school gun violence. he floated the idea of arming

teachers and arming school staff. >> this would be obviously for people that are very adept at handling a gun and it would be concealed carry. a teacher would have a concealed gun on them. they go for special training. they would be there and you would no longer have a gun-free zone. >> the idea met with support from many in attendance there. not broward county sheriff scott israel. >> i don't believe teachers should be armed. i believe teachers should teach. >> teachers should teach. on wednesday, the sheriff did order all deputies in broward county schools to carry rifles on school grounds. that move has the support of the broward school superintendent. those are trained law enforcement, not teachers.

as for the president, we get more from jeff zeleny from the white house. >> reporter: president trump will have another listening session at the white house today with state and local officials. this comes one day after the emotional session in the state dining room of the white house on wednesday. listening to stories from six students from florida from shooting one week ago. parents sitting alongside parents of sandy hook and columbine. certainly shootings etched into our collective american memories. the president stood and watched as he heard the story from one father. andrew pollack. his 18-year-old daughter, meadow, died last week. >> all the school shootings -- it doesn't make sense. fix it. should have been one school shooting and we should have fixed it. and i'm pissed! my daughter i'm not going to see again. she's not here! she's not here!

she's -- in north -- king david cemetery. that's where i go to see my kid now. >> reporter: the president flashed a thumb's up to the father calling for that change. the president said it would be different if school officials and teachers were armed. that prompted a mother of sandy hook child to say that is not the solution. the problem is clear. the solution is far from it. the president is committed to making some type of change here. we have seen this happen so many times before. this feels different. the president says he is engaged on this. this will be an incredible test of his leadership. christine and alex. >> jeff zeleny at the white house. thank you. the reigniting gun debate taking an ugly political turn on wednesday and comments from claudia tenney who represents

one of the most competitive districts in the country. the majority of gun victims come from the inner cities according to the host of the radio program. tenney said this. >> it is interesting, so many of the people who commit the mass murders have been democrat. the media doesn't want to talk about this either. >> tenney is a gun supporter. she stood by the remark that mass murderers are mostly democrats. she said we know the perpetrators have a wide variety of views, my comments are in response about the failure to prosecute illegal gun crime. i will stand up for citizens smeared by anti-gun liberal elitists. turning to russia. the trump administration says the u.s. has warned russia not to interfere with the mid-term elections. they have taken direct action to address the meddling going forward. cnn's frederik pleitgen in

moscow. fred, i can't imagine what effect this would have for the 2018 mid terms? >> reporter: alex, i don't think it will have an effect. they are not leaving an impression in moscow. one thing we hear from the kremlin, but other russian ministries is we never immedime in the u.s. election. they are flat out denying it. they don't feel evidence has been provided. despite the indictments handed down by the special counsel just last week. it is interesting to see the new statement from the administration however saying all of this could have negative consequences. they are seeing a pattern before the 2016 election. we heard from that the cia. we are hearing it from the cia official again. it is interesting if the white

house will take action on it. that is the other thing the russians say. they believe there are people in the administration who are tough on russia, but they don't believe president trump is one of them. one of the things that leads them to believe that is the latest tweet of the president where he asks why dem crimes are not expected. a lot of the meddling happened under the obama administration and nothing happened. then ask jeff sessions. that is one of the things the russians have been playing on. president trump says one thing. others in the administration say something different. while there pay be somebody -- while there may be some in the administration may get tough, they believe president trump is trying to improve relation was the russians. alex. >> a gap with president trump and his intelligence chief as we go into the mid terms. thank you, fred pleitgen. big night for the u.s. in

women's hockey final. even the shootout wasn't enough to settle for the gold medal. coy wire is live in pyeongchang next. e rew spin, flawless... ...his signature move, the flying dutchman. poetry in motion. and there it is, the "baby bird". breathtaking. a sumo wrestler figure skating? surprising. what's not surprising? how much money heather saved by switching to geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more.

the biggest companies in tech are once again spreading conspiracy they'ories. they are suggesting that david hogg is an actor. hogg was trending on facebook. others suggesting the other false information. hogg denied the claims. facebook removed the contest. youtube took down the video. this is not the first time this happened. after the mass shooting in las vegas, that prompted both companies to use humans to

moderate content. facebook plans to hire 20,000 people, but it has 2.1 billion users. that is like having one cop for 100,000 people. it does not have enough employees to monitor them all. at one point yesterday, the ten top videos on youtube, one cnn video in the middle that was news. cbs one. the rest was fake garbage about this 17-year-old kid who survived the mass shooting only to be taken down by nuts. >> we keep talking about inserting humans in the process. there are so many an policies, but nothing changes. -- apologizes, but nothing changes. team usa beating canada in the incredible game last night which ended in a thrilling shootout. >> we have coy wire with more from pyeongchang.

hey, coy. >> i have the most difficult assignment in all of cnn. i had to be there for the incredible epic victory. the canadians have absolutely owned team usa. it was 1998 was the last and only time americans have won gold in olympic games. all four olympics since, the canadians have won. the last two were over usa. a third olympics in a row. this went through overtime and shootout and into sudden death shootout. the score was 2-2. the last skater for each side with the try. american davidson says take that. incredible move. it puts team usa up by one. the girl who grew up skating in north dakota with her twin sister gives the u.s. the lead. all eyes turn to madison rooney. team usa's goalie. four-time olympian from canada tried, but denied.

that was it. victory. elation. celebration. others were there celebrating the first olympic gold in 20 years. ending in epic fashion. americans taking gold and silver in the halfpipe. david wise repeating. he is 27 years old. a husband and father of two. he has overcome a lot since sochi. he was there for his sister who lost a leg in a boating accident. his son malakai had a near-death experience. he celebrated with his family. he said this was the best run of my life. u.s. women making history in pyeongchang. history made when 27-year-old jamie anderson took silver in the first ever big air come pe he ti -- air competition. she became the first ever to win two silver in the olympics.

a ruptured spleen and broken bones in her career. christine and alex, she is a yogi and nature lover and literal tree hugger. she centers herself by hugging a tree before competition. one of the incredible journeys that is sabis able to celebrate medals. >> the olympics are fun to watch. >> we forget the skiing halfpipe. winner looking like a young shaun white. >> coy, nice to see you. twitter cracking down on spam bots. details on cnn money 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, our queen c2 mattress is only $699, save $200. ends sunday. visit sleepnumber.com for a store near you.

welcome back to "early start." another major blow dealt to israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. a second close confidant of his agreeing to testify in the corruption investigation swirling around him and inner circle. we have oren liebermann here from verizjerusalem. oren, how much of a problem could this pose to him? >> reporter: it would be the biggest problem he faced yet since the corruption investigations were made public. the man we are looking at is the former right hand man and few members of the inner circle. he knows the workings in and around netanyahu. the case in which he agreed to work with prosecutors, netanyahu has not been named a suspect. but the testimony has the potential to change that. we will see what comes out of

the agreement he signed with state prosecutors. netanyahu and members facing five probes. netanyahu has been named a suspect in one. in the others, the members of the inner circle. he could make netanyahu a suspect in the next probe in the embattled corruption case surrounds the prime minister. one of his former chiefs of staff signed agreement to turn state's witness here. netanyahu continues to portray confidence. speaking last night. he will continue to lead and see everyone next year at another conference. netanyahu hanging in for now. alex, he has the coalition partners support. >> threatening to bring netanyahu down. thank you, oren liebermann. maamerica's pastor billy graham will be laid to rest on

march 2nd in charlotte, north carolina. his son will deliver the eulogy. all of the living presidents will be invited. graham died wednesday. his doctor said he just wore out. he was 99 years old. let's get a check on cnn money. the low interest rate era is over. that is shaking markets. global stocks are down. u.s. stocks were higher most of the day. the federal reserve released the minutes. the new fed chief is optimistic. invevestors worry about faster interest rate hikes. higher rates may scare wall street. what about main street? borrowing costs? auto loans and mortgages increase. ford's north american president is out over quote inappropriate behavior.

raj nar violated the code of condu conduct. he joined ford back in 1987 and has been the head of the north america division since 2017. the coulture is under scrutiny. twitter cracking down on spam bots. twitter will limit coordinated posts across multiple accounts. it suspended thousands of suspected spam bot accounts. many lost thousands of followers blaming twitter for a lockout. twitter denies it adding it regularly suspends suspicious accounts. it will reconfirm them once they know a human being is behind the account. >> many believe not enough.

"early start" continues right now. >> your comments this week and those of our president have been pathetically weak. >> angry families make a statement in an exchange in the florida town hall meeting. how many schools? how many children have to get shot? it stops here with this administration and me. >> families of several school shootings made their case at the white house. the president suggested arming teachers. an idea that is getting push back from law enforcement. and a classic in the olympics. the shootout needed in the women's ice hockey. wait until you see the move that finished the game.