Monday morning news: July 17, 2023

Ukraine » Has the war in Ukraine turned into a stalemate? White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan answered that question on Sunday.

SULLIVAN: It has not. You’re seeing Ukrainian forces, in fact, make progress both in the east and the south. We said before this counteroffensive started that it would be hard-going, and it has been hard-going. That’s the nature of war. But the Ukrainians are continuing to move forward.

That from ABC’s This Week.

The United States recently started supplying cluster bombs to Ukraine, which Russia has been using all along.

While Ukraine is wielding powerful Western-supplied weapons. Russian troops spent months digging in before the counteroffensive started.

Some Republicans insist Kyiv’s forces could have hit harder, faster, if the Biden administration had acted more quickly.

Pennsylvania Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick serves on the Intelligence Committee:

FITZPATRICK: If this stuff would have been brought in a year ago, this war would be over long ago.

Ukrainian forces are making steady progress in the wrecked city of Bakhmut, which Russia has largely held since May.

But they’re making minimal gains on other battlefronts, like Zaporizhzhia.

DAA » Meantime, in Washington lawmakers are wrestling over U.S. defense spending, including support for the war in Ukraine.

House Republicans narrowly passed a defense bill on Friday. The vote was largely down party lines. That’s because Republicans want to eliminate what they call left-wing social engineering within the Biden Defense Dept.

The debate this week shifts to the Senate. GOP Senator Tom Cotton:

COTTON: You never quite know how it’s going to work out. I hope all these measures stay in there, because again, the military should not be paying for abortion tourism or diversity consultants or sex change operations. They should be buying the weapons that we need to defend our nation and to support our troops.

Democrats accuse Republicans of politicizing defense funding by seeking to strip funding for left-of-center social policies.

GA shooting » Police in Georgia on Sunday shot dead a man they believe gunned down at least four people yesterday in a neighborhood south of Atlanta.

Police identified the suspect as 40-year-old Andre Longmore.

Hampton Police Chief James Turner:

TURNER: Mr. Langmore shot and killed four residents of the City of Hampton all four victims are adults. There were three males one female

Police exchanged gunfire with the suspect twice before firing the fatal rounds.

PA flash flooding » In southeastern Pennsylvania, at least five people are dead and others are missing after torrential rains triggered flash floods near Philadelphia.

Upper Makefield Fire Chief Tim Brewer:

BREWER: I can tell you tragically. We are looking for two children from the same family. One boy who is nine months. One female who's his older sister who is two. We are attempting to locate one more female adult at this time.

Severe weather has battered other parts of the northeast while forcing airlines to cancel hundreds of flights.

Actors/writers strike »

SOUND: (Chanting) “The jig is up! The jig is up!”

Hollywood has largely ground to a halt.

Actors joined the picket lines last week where writers have been staked out since May.

They say it's time for studios to change the way they pay writers and actors in the digital streaming era with royalty payments down sharply in recent years.

Actor Chris Gorham:

GORHAM: It’s driven to the point where your your everyday actor can't make a living doing this anymore. The only way to be able to raise a family here like we have is if you're a series regular on a TV show or a movie star. But the fact is you can't make TV shows and movies with only the series regulars and the movie stars.

This is the first time the two Hollywood unions have picketed together since the 1960s.

Box office » But that strike was far from view at movie theaters over the weekend as audiences flocked to see the latest Mission Impossible flick.

SOUND: [MI-Dead Reckoning trailer] The world is changing. Truth is vanishing. War is coming.

Dead Reckoning Part One set a Mission Impossible franchise record with an $80-million-dollar five-day opening. Over the weekend itself, it brought in $56 million.

SOUND: [Sound of Freedom trailer]

Running a very respectable second place was the faith-based drama Sound of Freedom.

SOUND OF FREEDOM TRAILER: It is the fastest-growing international crime network that the world has ever seen. We’re Homeland Security, you know we can’t go off rescuing Honduran kids in Colombia. God’s children are not for sale.

It hauled in another $27 million in ticket sales. The film is expected to eclipse the $100-million-dollar mark soon.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: religious liberty at work on Legal Docket. Plus, remembering the Tylenol tampering case.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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