Hi there everyone, it's 4 o'clock in New York, a peak behind the curtain.

On our part we're watching several big developing stories today.

The first is President Joe Biden heading to Monterey Park, California.

That is of course the site of a tragic and devastating mass shooting earlier this year.

The President will deliver remarks on gun safety.

We're also following a developing situation under Ukraine, involving a U.S. intelligence

aircraft that was forced down by Russian warplanes.

But we start today with the race to the bottom.

In the nascent Republican primary, the leading contenders for the presidential nomination

making clear that they will not stand with the fledgling democracy and ally of the U.S.

in the face of Russian aggression.

A statement from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in response to a questionnaire from none other

than Fox News host in America's most prominent Putin defender, Tucker Carlson reads in

part, quote,

While the U.S. has many vital national interests, securing our borders, addressing the crisis

of readiness within our military, achieving energy security and independence, and checking

the economic, cultural, and military power of the Chinese Communist Party, becoming further

entangled in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia is not one of them.

And from the disgraced ex-President, no surprise, he will not be outdone by Ron DeSantis.

He agrees.

His statement to Tucker Carlson reads in part, quote,

Our objective in Ukraine is to help and secure Europe, but Europe isn't helping itself.

...