what a story to start our day. thanks, andy. thanks for joining us. i m john avlon. cnn this morning starts right now. good morning, everyone. so glad you re with us. i m poppy harlow with phil mattingly in new york. there s a lot going on on this monday, december 18th. happening right now defense secretary lloyd austin is back in israel, his visit part of the international pressure campaign for israel to change its tactics in gaza and restart the truce talks, pressure growing after the killing of three hostages by soldiers. republican front runner donald trump using darker more extreme rhetoric in that final sprint, the white house slamming trump for what it calls fascist rhetoric. right now storms gusting up the east coast and the travel delays it could cause this holiday week. cnn this morning starts right now. we begin with defense secretary lloyd austin meeting right now with israel s defense min minister. pressure is growing on israel to change its tactics
aleck murdaugh trial. after hours of intense questioning over two days, the prosecution today zeroing in on murdaugh s newly changed story about where he was when his wife and younger son were killed. we re live at the courthouse, and we will break down key moments with our team of lawyers. worldwide commemoration and condemnation as ukraine marks one year since the russian invasion. the u.s. giving $2 billion more in aid as ukraine s president vows 2023 will be the year of victory. i ll talk with a key zelenskyy adviser. and new signs of cracks in the donald trump base, a washington post reporter joining me with compelling new information on how republican voters view the former president and the times, they are a changing. but we start in south carolina where the stakescould not be higher for alex murdaugh. the once powerful attorney taking the ultimate gamble testifying in his own double murder trial of his wife and son. today the prosecution dissecting his opioid
presidential trapper. available at walgreens. some republicans are jumping on the discovery of classified documents at president biden s private office, equating it to former president trump s large stash of government material stored at mar-a-lago. apples to oranges, really. we re going to go through the differences and play for you president biden s first comments on the matter. house republicans creating a special committee for gop grievances and what they call the weaponization of government. what could possibly go wrong for republicans there? yeah. meanwhile, a republican lawmakers calling out her own party for being tone death on the re-elections. plus a significant development. dozens of soldiers coming to the u.s. for weapons training. good morning. welcome to morning joe. it is wednesday, january 11th. go to have you with us. we have san sfrin politico and host of way too early white house bureau chief at politico jonathan lemire. by the way, shoc
here on fox and friends. brian: right. steve: meanwhile. brian: if we oversleep. steve: that s right. today is the 20th day of january. that means 11 more days of january, 11 more days of dry january. ainsley: yeah, that s right. i m proud have you you ve actually done it. i ve done damp january. steve: damp january. ainsley: i had an event with a bunch of my friends in the mountains last weekend and i said for that, it s a big trek, i really want to have. steve: just a drink. ainsley: some wine with them 11 more days. you know how many americans are participating. take a guess. ainsley: 50%. steve: five 0%. ainsley: 40%. steve: 35% of us legal adults skipped alcohol for the entirety of january 2022, up 14% from two years earlier, three years earlier so you have to figure even more have skipped it for 2023. brian: i want to support the bar industry i will not fall into that trap. a team of nine former u.s. and canadian service members will be out h
and the growing concern that women that order those pills could be tracked with their internet ip address. rachel scott traveling the country. and tonight, the new ruling now from the supreme court involving religion and public schools. in a 6-3 ruling, conservative justices siding with a high school football coach praying at the 50-yard line following games, often with players by his side. some parents concerned, what about players who might not want to pray? the pressure put on them. some asking, what happened to the notion of separation of church and state? terry moran standing by at the supreme court. the war in ukraine and the horrific scene still unfolding at this hour, after russian missiles slam into a shopping mall. the concern at this hour about the people who were inside. and did air raid sirens save many others? james longman is live on the scene for us. to russia and news tonight on wnba star brittney griner, handcuffed in court in moscow today. russia exte