Good monday morning, everyone. It is 8 00 a. M. Here on the east coast, 5 00 a. M. Out west. So happy to have Victor Blackwell with me this week. Glad to be here. Good weekend . Very good. We have a lot to get to. Breaking overnight, helicopters collide while fighting wildfires in california. Three People Killed including a fire chief. An investigation now underway. Plus, thousands of beyonce concertgoers forced to take shelter as severe storms swept through d. C. How much her tour spent to keep metro trains running. And simone biles is back. Blowing away the competition after a twoyear hiatus. This hour of cnn this morning starts right now. This is where we begin this morning. Donald trump just hours away from a crucial deadline in the 2020 election interference case. A federal judge has ordered him to respond to special counsel jack smiths request for a protective order by 5 00 today. Smith is trying to block trump from disclosing evidence and making Public Comments that could intimi
this is american voices. as the battle of control of congress heats up before the 2024 election, republicans are showing us how they plan to governor govern if they win. case in point, they re attacking civil rights under the guise of military readiness. on thursday, the house passed a new defense spending bill, going after anything they deem as quote, woke. republican amendments to the bill include ending diversity training, limiting health care for trans service members, that bill would also rollback a pentagon policy covering travel expenses for military members. who must now travel out of state for abortion access, following the overturn of roe v. wade. this legislation made possible by a far-right faction of the house that demanded these controversial amendments to negotiations with house speaker kevin mccarthy. and this week could be a preview of the battle over government spending this fall. the new york times writes quote, mccarthy s to the right is a gambl
with a partner that puts you first. godaddy. coming up this hour on fox & friends. nikki haley s fox news town hall digging into the issues. and even getting some laughs in iowa. i think i m going to out myself here at the beginning saying i voted for trump in 2016 and 202020. me too. [laughter] ainsley: she says being a good mother and being a good wife helped her succeed. steve: we have highlights coming up. and get ready to flip out over. this flippy, the robot cook is working overtime as the world s first artificial intelligence powered restaurant gets ready to open in california. would you go? brian: wow. plus generosity no mystery. james patterson is here this morning after donating $300,000 to independent bookstore employees. so, remember, to get dressed, the second hour of fox & friends starts right now. and, remember, mornings are always better with friends. steve: all right. we re going to begin hour two of today s fox & friends with a flashb
all right. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world, i m christine romans. this is early start. we begin with ukrainian forces struggling to hold on in the eastern city of bakhmut, as russian troops close in from three sides. ukrainian officials say the situation in bakhmut has grown much tougher. they say their forces may need to retreat to avoid being trapped by encircling russians. cnn s scott mclean is tracking this story for us from london. and, scott, what are the chances the ukrainians will be able to turn this around? and if they can t, does that mean russia is back on the offensive. so, christine, good morning. it really depends on who you ask. because last week there were plenty of indications that the ukrainians may in fact be forced to withdraw from that area. a drone reconnaissance university has been ordered to retreat from the area. you also had a key bridge by the russians kiting off the ukrainians final supply routes in and out. a