declaration about the war in ukraine. we ll have that for you in just a moment. also ahead special counsel jack smith responds to a request by donald trump lawyers to delay his trial in the classified documents case. they want to do that after the 2024 election. plus hollywood officially goes dark for the first time in over six decades as writers and actors are now together on the picket lines. good morning, and welcome to way too early on this friday, july 14th. i m ali vitali in for jonathan lemire. president joe biden wrapped up his five-day european trip to finland yesterday with nato s newest memberch it ended decades of neutrality in april when it became the alliance s 31st member. the country shares 830 miles of border with russia. president biden yesterday celebrated finland s membership and nato s united front against russian president vladimir putin. mr. president, at this critical moment in history, this inflection point, the world is watching to see will w
it was a late night in congress last night. the republican controlled house voted last night to approve dozens of controversial amendments to the national defense authorization bill. this isn t a spending bill that comes in the fall, but this one decides how the u.s. military can spend their money. now included at the behest of republicans, though, measures limiting the dod s diversity initiatives, bans on the military gender affirming care and tends to roll back support in accessing abortion care. far right republicans also tried to push proposals that would limit america s involvement in ukraine, but those failed. a full vote expected today, but democrats have pledged to oppose the bill because of those things, writing in a statement republicans have, quote, hijacked, it s always been bipartisan legislation to