back to the original brief saying the refusal to provide full and equal wedding cake services constituted discrimination based on sexual orientation in violation of the unrue civil rights act but also religion is a protected characteristics and her attorney argues the agency has chosen one right over another. the california state agency supposed to protect kathy miller from religious discrimination and hate crimes like this is actually the same agency that has been prosecuting her for six years. the california appeals court will likely rule on miller s case in 2025, but she said her and her attorneys say they are prepared to take the case all the way to the u.s. supreme court if necessary. sandra: a live look inside that atlanta courtroom where any moment now a hearing could shed light on communication between d.a. fani willis s office and the federal government, including the biden white house. that is set to begin a short time from now. hello, welcome, i m sandra smit
oh, you guys. i know you like wrestling, so we got you some vip tickets. you have made an impact. so have you. for you guys to be out here doing something like this, it restores a lot of faith in humanity. you are live in the cnn newsroom, i m jim acosta. this just into cnn. law enforcement officials in florida say multiple people have been injured in the paddock mall after police responded to an active shooting situation earlier today. officials report the mall has been evacuated, but add there is no longer a threat at this time. authorities also said the suspect has fled the scene. police did not say how many people were injured or they did not comment, we should also note, on the severity of the injuries, but this is something we re following closely at this hour. it s a continuing, developing story, and as more information comes in, we ll bring that to you, as it develops, so, stay with us for all of that. in the meantime, we begin the hour, as well, with justice po
questioning today in the aleck murdaugh double murder trial, and closing arguments could come within days. we re learning more about what the feds are now doing to help the people of east palestine, ohio, the scene of that toxic train derailment, and now health concerns are spreading beyond ohio. we ll explain. plus, the department of energy says it found the likely source of the covid outbreak, but the intelligence community still doesn t agree about the origins of covid. and new reporting this morning on how child migrants are being dangerously exploited working brutal jobs in factories that made products we use every day. we ll talk to the journalist behind this new york times investigation. this morning 56 million americans remain under winter storm alerts as huge parts of the country are recovering from a weekend of extreme weather. right now tens of thousands are still in the dark after a string of storms caused destruction in the heartland with nine tornad
one jet flew underneath the drone, and kipped the pro-feller on the back of the mq-9. because of the damage, we were in a position to have to essentially have to crash it into the black sea. reporter: but russia denies the two aircraft collided. the russian ambassador to the u.s. trying to calm tensions after the biden administration summoned him to the state department. we prefer not to create a situation where we can face unintended collisions or unintended incidents between the russian federation and the united states. reporter: with u.s. and russian aircraft operating over the black sea, the invasion of ukraine drags on, and so do the chances of a dangerous miscalculation. we know that the interception was intentional. it was also very unsafe and unprofessional. the actual contact of the russian fighter with our uav, the physical contact of those two, not sure yet. reporter: russian aircraft have had other dangerous confrontations with the u.s. in the black se
invaded another country since world war ii nothing like that has happened. things have changed radically and we have to milwaukee sure we change them back. president joe biden once again promising to protect eastern europe against russian aggression. it comes as vladimir putin pulls out of a nuclear arms treaty. plus the forewoman for the georgia grand jury on election interference has been getting a lot of face time this week, and her media tour may add some complications to the investigation itself. and also ahead tim scott s not so subtle stop in iowa, and when the south carolina senator might make a decision on a presidential campaign. good morning and welcome to way too early on this thursday, february 23rd. i m jonathan lemire. thanks for starting your day with us. president joe biden is back at the white house this morning following a historic and successful trip to eastern europe. yesterday the president met with the leaders from the eastern flank of nato, a gro