>> todd: a fox news alert, house republicans could subpoena manhattan da alvin bragg and two former prosecutors from his office over the indictment of president trump this week in new york. you're watching "fox and friends first" on thursday morning, i'm todd piro. >> ashley: i'm ashley strohmier in for carley shimkus. republicans want to know why bragg's office handled the case against trump differently from other cases in the city and americans across the country want answers on issues that matter to them. >> the problem they've got is normal everyday americans sit down at the kitchen table and look at their family budget and the cost of gasoline and the disaster on the border. they worry about crime in their neighborhood, none of those things fit with the democrats wish they are focused on. if he strips away weaknesses they want to attack, democrats

have nothing to campaign on. >> ashley: brooke singman live with the latest. >> brooke: a source familiar says the house judiciary committee is seriously considering issuing subpoenas for bragg and two prosecutors who resigned last year from his team. the subpoenas would compel them to testify before congress. the prosecutors are mark pomerantz and carrie dunn. bragg suspended the case leaving pomerantz and dunn to resign. now a "new york post" report is revealing the charges against trump are rarely pursued as top counts in new york. bragg filed 117 falsifying business record charges since he became district attorney, eight times has falsifying business records been used as a top count like it is for the former

president. this leading to slam him for prosecutorial bias. he will go down as a disgraced da and will hurt his political and he is politically motivated, his democratic party. that's it, bottom line, period, the end. >> brooke: on tuesday, president biden asked if trump's indictment is politically divisive to the country and the white house continued to brush off the story dominating the news cycle. watch. >> does it bug president biden when former presidents suck up all the oxygen? >> what is important to the president is to continue to focus on the american people, that is important to the president. >> he's good to lay low for a couple news cycles? >> here is the thing, peter, we will speak to the fact, this is a president that has been able to get historic pieces of legislation done. >> brooke: stormy daniels, the

adult film actress whose alleged hush-money payments are at the center of the trump indictment sat down with piers morgan in an interview airing today on fox nation. back to you. >> ashley: we spoke to three survivors of china communist regime last hour, they warned about this. >> to those people, you are cheering for your own demise because yesterday, april 4, 2023, will be remembered as one of the darkest day in america, when the democrats made our country a republic, a banana republic. >> the woke culture is a dangerous repeat of china's culture revolution. if we don't stop that, america will be downgraded to a nation just like a culture revolution. >> absolutely, my grandfather was hauled away in the middle of

the night and murdered in front of my mom. it is one of those things, if this can happen in the united states, it can happen anywhere. >> ashley: next here hearing is -- middle of the republican presidential primary season. >> todd: not political in the least. to the sunshine state, florida season banning children from undergoing life altering gender surgery. ebo entsuah says other republicans should take note. he joined us earlier. >> mental health has been in such a big decline for children under 18. we are seeing decisions being rashly made, it is important, we have to do more for our families. florida should be the blueprint for what is right. >> todd: house bill prevents anyone under 18 from unde

undergoing -- to cover the operations. >> ashley: susan ruiz throwing a tantrum over her veto was overturned, the democrat standing up and screaming at her republican colleagues who are full of expletive, telling reporters she believes her fellow lawmakers voted against their own moral code and their own values. i think that is going to be very tough for them long-term. the decision makes kansas the 20th state to pass a transgender student athlete ban into law. president biden has waged war on the coal and fossil fuel industry and now building grain energy sites where those shuttered plants were. we're talking to a former coal miner next.

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>> todd: back with a fox weather alert. a tornado tears through missouri, devastating footage shows extent of the damage in glenallen caused by yesterday's twister. >> ashley: moving east targeting philadelphia and washington in the mid-atlantic later today. janice dean has the fox weather forecast. >> janice: devastating, incredible damage, third or fourth week svb seen severe weather and deaths from the severe weather. since tuesday, we've had a dozen reports of tornados and that deadly one in glenallen, missouri. crews will assess the situation and whether it is ef-4, ef-3, the damage you can see with your own eyes, it is incredible.

the trend is above average since beginning of the year and we expect that trend to continue over next couple weeks. on radar, no watches or warnings, we will see heavy rainfall and large hail, some damaging winds and isolated tornados for parts of the mid-atlantic. cold air behind us. we saw four feet of snow from the cold side of this storm with blizzard conditions across the northern plains and upper midwest yesterday. you see that cold front, the result is 36-degree difference in chicago from yesterday. i-95 warmth ahead of the cold front, warm from the south, 85 in dc, new york 74 today, philadelphia, and the front will move through and bring stronger storms for parts of the mid-atlantic toward the northeast. future track, we think the worsts of the storm will come

this afternoon with daytime heating into the overnight and flooding a potential there. the front is stalled across the southern states, as well, as you look at that, could see potential for heavy rainfall for texas, louisiana, mississippi, alabama, the front will stall out, area of low pressure develops and could see flash flooding across these neighborhoods. a lot to of coer, we will continue to do so, big risk is flash flooding employs foxweather.com, working hard to make sure everybody is safe. if you don't have the app, i highly recommend it. >> todd: especially as people travel for easter weekend. >> janice: busy travel weekend. >> ashley: thanks. biden administration spending 450 million dollars to support in former and coal towns. jennifer grantholm says this

will unlock new opportunities for energy communities that helped power our nation for generations. >> ashley: coal miner bo cofley joins us this morning. do you think this is the right way to save coal towns? they are praising it. >> they are going to praise anything they do, including putting most of us out of work when they vow to end the fossil fuel industry. they have to have something they can say they are doing to make up for that. it will not replace all the jobs we've lost already. honestly, i will say, any jobs that can come into this community or communities like the one we live in, we will be happy and excited for, it is making sure they follow through with that and hopefully we can find a way to put enough people back to work that have been displaced. >> todd: that is the issue, you heard grantholm say we will

unlock new opportunities, i understand hope for optimism, while you wait for new opportunities as coal plants are closed down, how do you feed your families in the meantime? >> a lot of people do what i've done, i'm no longer in the coal industry, i work for a home improvement company that provides energy efficiency for homes, insulation and other needs to help keep up with the way things have changed around us. i have to find a way to dependably feed my family regardless of who is in office and who is not. >> ashley: what does the process look like to switch over from a coal miner to someone working in green energy? there has to be training involved and it has to take time, right? >> absolutely. one of the knocks against me when i got to meet secretary clinton when she came through in

2016 was that i didn't hear the entirety of her interview, she said we can't leave those people behind. my rebuttal was, how long will it take to retrain us? you want to come in and flip a switch and turn everything off as far as what we do and how we make a living and provide for our families and you want to train us for five to six years to step into something now, how will we take care of our families in the five to six years in the meantime, big question we had, too. >> todd: biden has been in office two years, has anybody in your community received green energy training? >> none that i'm aware of, but again, i'm just a person living in a community. i don't know everyone in our area or in our state, but the majority of where i live, i've never seen any of them. like i said, if it is coming, i

hope it is. i hope it is something enough of us can use. i had a conversation with a customer yesterday that other than tourism, we don't have a lot in this area. to lean on other than coal. we're hopeful for anything we can get. we just hope it is enough to make due. >> ashley: you know, bo, i come from a very, very long line of coal miners in kentucky. i know how gruelling and gruesome the job is, we appreciate what you do and what you used to do and always do and we know how important coal is for america. bo copley, thank you for your time. >> thank you, i appreciate it. >> todd: i remember when i was doing diners for "fox and friends" during the trump administration, people were so excited, they pointed to a train and said, you hear that train, it is bringing coal and jobs.

look what's happened. >> ashley: that is all they know, that is all that has been around for so long, this administration is not taking that into consideration and it is infuriating. >> todd: police investigating brutal murder of mogull in cash app founder, the city has blood on their hands, what we just learned about the victim. >> ashley: the mayoral runoff in chicago, wondering how voters could replace lori lightfoot with someone with radical beliefs. we will ask a retired lieutenant what he thinks about his new mayor. s has a hotel for every type of stay. like a comfort with the kiddos. spacious! that's what they all say. stay twice and get a $50 gift card when you book direct at choicehotels.com. (wheezing) asthma isn't pretty. it's the moment when you realize that a good day...

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accountability. tweeting outrage at lawlessness. chesa boudin allowed lawless san francisco for years, has bob's literal blood on his hands, take action. bob's friend says he fled the city and did comment on san francisco deteriorating, which is why he relocated to miami. police have not made an arrest yet. the investigation into the death is underway. >> ashley: such a sad story, progressive mayor elect brandon johnson will take office after lori lightfoot. for starters, listen to what brandon johnson had to say about defunding the police. people are not feeling safer, communities have not transformed

by putting more money into the police. i am confident we will respond and react to the global movement calling for redirecting money away from policing and militarized police forces. >> ashley: a retired police lieutenant who served 32 years on the force joins us. it doesn't look like much will change in chicago. what did you think when you heard this news? >> you know, chicago voters never fail to disappoint unfortunately. we had a million voters stay home, said they don't care about crime in our city, they don't care about increase in taxes. they don't realize these things need to be a priority and should be a priority. we love to -- when the new guy comes in, you want to give them an opportunity and chance to see what they are going to do.

the problem is, this is the same old story, it sounds worse. the rhetoric, video after video of his position on police and he is product of the chicago teachers union who has never been a fan of the police department. it will remain to be seen what he does and who he puts in for leadership to see if he makes changes. several officers are waiting and put their papers in yesterday to retire. >> ashley: you don't by chance have the numbers of house minority leader put their paperwork in, do you? >> not overall, i know of three officers that reached out toy m moo -- to me. >> ashley: what does this mean for policing in chicago? brandon johnson comments were from 2020, it was a campaign policy issue for him. this can't be good for the

future of policing in chicago. >> no, no, not at all. like i said, we hope it is just campaign rhetoric and hope once he's in office and realizes importance of the police department and funding the department, hopefully something will change. the problem is, we don't hold out a lot of hope right now, just based on the things he said and the actions of the chicago teacher's union toward the chicago police department, it doesn't look good. >> ashley: here is five more ways that the mayor johnson will do, raise taxes, illegal immigrants with vote, protect abortion rights. the one fund social workers, instead of cops.

i heard another network talking about how they need to send people that can deal with the mental health crisis with the domestic violence calls. i don't think people realize domestic violence calls are one of the most dangerous calls a police officer can go to. if a police officer can't deal with it, why do they think social worker can deal with it? money is going to the wrong place. >> right. this idea of taking money from the police budget, they feel there is a lot of money there. if you want to send counselors out, that is fine, you still have to send police officers. by reducing number of police officers, you can't send social workers out on their own. like you said, domestic is the most dangerous call we go on. you can't think that is going to

work. it sounds like campaign rhetoric. we are down 1700 police officers in chicago now, over 1000 officers retired last year, we are on track for another 1500 officers that will probably leave this year and they are leaving and going to other departments. some are retiring, lots are going to other departments, because of the toxic work environment here. >> ashley: i had a female cpd officer reach out to me yesterday and say, as if it can't get any worse. they are trying to do their job, they probably will not stay. john garrido, thank you for your time. to fox news alert, bipartisan group of u.s. lawmakers wrapping up meeting with leaders in taiwan overnight. >> todd: michael mccaul has a stern warning for china as ccp sends a fleet through the taiwan

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carry those off, i don't know. i think it would be unfortunate on the part of the chinese communist party. >> todd: lucas tomlinson is here. lucas. >> lucas: good morning, china has three aircraft carriers in their entire fleet. there are three, that is all of them. bipartisan delegation arrived in taiwan, the island china considers renegade provence. here is michael mccaul. >> being here sends a signal the united states helps taiwan and we will harden taiwan and we want them to think twice about invading taiwan. >> lucas: list of the official party joining michael mccaul includes two democrats. outraged over visit by taiwan's

leader in california to meet house speaker kevin mccarthy. >> china can never tell us what to do, as speaker of the house, we will meet with whoever we want with whatever country. we need to speedup weapon sales to taiwan. let them defend themselves, deter ability of china to enter taiwan. we need to foster greater democracy and freedom and work together economically from chip manufacturing and others. >> lucas: three separate occasions, president biden pledged to defend taiwan in case of invasion. karine jean-pierre did not appear interested to say anything more than that, here is her exchange with our colleague, peter doocy. >> is president biden committed to putting u.s. boots on the ground in taiwan? >> we've answered this multiple times, i have nothing else to share.

>> lucas: china launched record number of fighter jets simulating attack and potential invasion. experts would like to see taiwan spend more on their own defense. the chinese government said it will stop and inspect vessels in the taiwan strait. taiwan said it will not be participating. >> todd: we will monitor that. the bricks collective is taking steps to devalue the u.s. dollar and counter america's dominance in global trade. >> ashley: cheryl casone is here with more. good morning. >> cheryl: good morning, troubling thing china and india are do, they want to trade in their own currency, meaning not use the u.s. dollar. the u.s. dollar, for as long as we can remember, it is the currency of the world. they want to take that power away. we have seen developing countries and developing economies, the bricks, and this is brazil, russia, india and

south africa, they were developing countries and the g7 had more power, now we are seeing that dynamic shift when it comes to global gdp. now bricks have overtaken g7 with the gdp. the united states, uk, japan, germany and canada. what we are seeing with the u.s. dollar has investors nervous. listen what larry said about this. >> goes down and prices of goods and services the dollar buys, will go up. middle income people, lower income people will suffer the most, because nesesities of life will deteriorate because prices will be skyrocketed and no way wages can keep up with that. >> cheryl: the currency issue,

it is china that is biggest driver of the bricks, getting globally more dominant than in the past. that flip happened in 2020. >> todd: their attempt at taking the united states down is full-throated and so many aspects. we have tiktok, let's not lose sight of this one, this is the big one as far as i'm concerned. >> cheryl: china wants to be the dominant power from military standpoint and economic standpoint. >> todd: speaking of dominating, i'm worried about this ai stuff, now the ftc is getting involved. >> cheryl: they are stepping up to the plate, volunteering to be reg later of artificial intelligence and sure, elon musk says we should pause ai six months and steve wozniak said

the same thing. i disagree, the chinese will not take a pause, i don't think so. ftc wants to do this now, here is what sam levine says, we are prepared to use tools, enforcement to challenge harmful practices in this area. my pushback on government regulation is how do you regulate something you may not fully understand. >> todd: i hate this stuff. you raise a good point. >> ashley: i hate it, too, we are stuck between the two. i don't agree with anyone doing it. >> cheryl: there are good uses and tools in ai, it can make medical technology better. yes, there will be bad actors and other than cans, i'm a proponent of ai. >> ashley: like what elon musk said, they stop listening to

humans. now to nike. >> choosing dylan mulvaney as new face of workout gear, these are paid sponsorships. influencers can get 50 grand for posts. they chose to pay her, was a him, now identifies as her, and a lot of upset about this. london, who began detransitioning is asking why not pay a real woman? i read and the criticism is dylan mulvaney, i didn't know a lot about dylan mulvaney, had his, her face changed to look more feminine. there are amazing athletes i rather see nike put money behind. london, flannigan.

as a woman who wears nike, i would like to see other women wearing the clothes. >> ashley: you are not the only one. a democratic lawmaker is leaving her party and joining the gop because she is sick of where our country is heading under the left's leadership. >> modern day democratic party has become unrecognizable to me and many others throughout the state and this country. >> todd: north carolina newest republican here live to share her message and tell us how she's planning to bring american values back to her state. ♪

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>> modern day democratic party has become unrecognizable to me and to so many others throughout this state and this country. the party wants to villainize anyone who has free thought. if you don't do exactly what the democrats want you to do, they will try to bully you. they will try to cast you aside. >> todd: tricia cotham ditching the democrats and joining the

republicans. look who we have, tricia cotham joining us along with speaker of the house tim moore. thank you for being here, representative, what was the final straw for you? >> the final straw has been a lot of different things, but last week, after i voted my conscience on something i believed and did not push a button that the party and governor wanted me to vote, the attack ads came out calling for my resignation and asking me to apologize. the thought of being an independent thinker has taken over the democratic party and they do not want anyone who has free thought and who is here to govern and improve our state. >> todd: they complain you had a flag and you had prayer emojis, which seems like something most americans do. what are other ways the

democratic party has become unrecognizable to what you once joined? >> some of my own personal examples. i'm a strong woman of faith, that is important to me, i display that loudly and proudly and i've prayed several times in our beautiful chamber and had comments about please do not do that, please do not pray to jesus. i was told if i wear cammo, i was not a real person and a real democrat and the list goes on and on. this is when you have extremists take over the party with radical groups that also help to control the party, this is what happens. i will not be bullied, i'm a free thinker and i stand firm on that, we have freedom in this country and i have the right to free thought. >> todd: i believe they called you an amo-sexual, one i had not

yet heard. this gives you super majority, allow you to override any vetoes, what policy can you push through thanks to the super majority? >> i will tell you, even before she switched parties, we had a governoring super majority, we have a handful of centrist democrats who have demonstrated willingness to vote with us on many bills. low regulation, low tax state that is focused on education, economic development and moving away from this wokeness from the silliness out there and making north carolina the top state in the country for business. representative cotham has been a part of that, even before becoming a republican. i talked to a number of

democratic representatives and they feel the same as tricia cotham. i've seen the social media attacks she's had before she switched parties because she would vote on things and more intense afterward, even threatening children. the far left, they are absolutely nuts and the fact they want to take that away is driving people who are just common sense, middle of the road folks, driving them away. the republican party is strong enough, i'm a conservative, but we have members of all thoughts and that helps because we have a strong governing majority and we're glad she is part of it and looking forward to great results this year. >> todd: many on the left are asking for representative cotham to resign, my guess is you will not do this. this is beautiful example of tolerant left on displaywhen

they do not get their way. representative tricia cotham and tim moore, republicans, we appreciate it. sports with ashley. >> ashley: university of iowa women's basketball team turns down first lady jill biden's invitation to the white house. the team suggesting should visit iowa following their loss in the national title game against lsu. angel reese responded to the first lady and believes her taunting gesture a caitlin clar played a role. >> are you saying that because of what i did? stuff like that, it bothers me temperature is hard to see things like that and not comment back on it. i had the platform where i can speak out. >> ashley: reese says lsu didn't

let first lady jill into their locker room because president joe biden didn't have the tigers going far on his march madness bracket. >> todd: insanity. professional golf used to be golf, now it is not. masters won't be short on liv golf drama. harold varner iii says his fellow liv golfers are only in it for the money, telling reporters, they are full of blank, growing their pockets. you didn't come here to grow the game. fred ridley confirming liv commissioner greg norman was not invited to this year's tournament. we did not extend invitation to mr. norman, i want the focus on masters competition and great players that are participating, greatest players in the world. >> todd: augusta national is not

breaking protocol since greg norman never won a green jacket, the club invited him in the past. sportscaster jim gray downplaying the drama. >> it has been a peaceful week, everybody putting their best foot forward, not a lot of controversy. the media is speaking about it quite a bit. fred is trying to keep the focus on the golf course and on the masters. >> todd: the action, scottie scheffler, who is really good at golf, aiming to repeat as masters champ. tiger woods, back competeing and rory mcilroy looking to complete career grand slam by winning his green jacket. we will be watching. former president john f. kennedy's nephew is throwing his hat in the ring for the 2024 election and getting less than

warm reception who are calling him anti-vaccine activist. >> ashley: here is steve doocy with what is coming up on "fox and friends." good morning. >> steve: coming up on "fox and friends" in nine minutes and 10 seconds, bipartisan group of lawmakers arrived on the island of taiwan following house speaker kevin mccarthy's meeting with the taiwanese president in california. we will discuss what it means for china and american relations, not good right now. plus, 50 million people under severe weather threats as the storm system that killed five in missouri, shifts to the east. janice dean and our weather team are tracking it all so you know what you need to know on this thursday. also, while manhattan da alvin bragg went after former president donald trump, house minority leader career criminals did mr. bragg cut sentences for? the terrifying rap sheets of the

worst offenders, repeat offenders in new york city coming up and joni ernst and stuart varney of fox business join us live on a busy holy thursday morning. so buckle your seatbelts, we'll be joining you in eight minutes and five seconds on the channel you trust for morning news. todd and ashley back in a couple, you are watching "fox and friends first." get g oing by treating my skin and joints. along with significantly clearer skin, skyrizi helps me move with less joint pain, stiffness, swelling, and fatigue. and skyrizi is just 4 doses a year after two starter doses. skyrizi attaches to and reduces a source of excess inflammation that can lead to skin and joint symptoms. with skyrizi, 90% clearer skin and less joint pain is possible. serious allergic reactions

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♪ >> todd: robert f. kennedy jr. the nephew of former president john f. kennedy becoming the second democrat to throw his hat in the ring for president in 2024. >> comes as fox news polling showing president biden polling falling to a record low ahead of his expected re-election bid. >> todd: grace joins us now. what do you make of this

announcement? >> well, i'm not surprised. i think there is a real opening here, especially like you just mentioned when you look at those approval numbers because as divided as we are as a country on a lot of fronts, when you see polls like this, you realize that on the key issues, you know, foreign policy, national security, a lot of us still agree and we're not happy with the job that joe biden is doing. we're not happy with the way he is handling things. i think another factor that plays in here for candidates who are starting to throw their hats in the ring is that for the president, a big part of the job, even if you can't fix the problems, which i think he is in part responsible for creating a lot of these problems. even if you feel you can't fix the problem, it's showing the american people that you care about the problems. that you understand how they're feeling. and we are not getting that from joe biden. he laughs, he brushes things off. he is not the empathizer in chief that he was billed as. i think for a lot of these candidates they are seeing this opening where they could maybe appear more compassionate, more

likeable and probably going to take it. >> ashley: any shock that the media is already trying to villainize him as an anti-vaxer even with forbes saying he stands little chance. when i hear anti-vax. okay they will give you the right to choose whether you wants it or not. >> yeah. none of this surprises me as far as demonizing these candidates. we saw it with marianne williamson she put her hat in the ring and a hit piece came out shortly thereafter that she is an evil boss and very mean. these are the kind of things that happen in politics, no matter what. especially when you have a media and a democrat party that is so hell bent on making sure that joe biden is the only person in the ring and does end up winning that presidency. >> todd: as a boston gal you sure well know the kennedys used to be the democrats and boy has that changed. before you go i want to get your thoughts on this. after former president trump's arrest earlier this week, house oversight chair james comer says president biden may be up next.

listen. >> i had two calls yesterday. one from a county attorney in kentucky and one from a county attorney in tennessee. they want to know if there are ways that they can go after the bidens now. and they have opened up a can of worms. they set precedents now that we can't go back on. >> todd: grace, how scared should the bidens be now that da alvin bragg has opened up a pandora's box of presidential prosecutions? >> you know, this is funny, because i have been talking to a lot of my listeners about this and a lot of people say grace, you keep saying this opens up pandora's box and the new rules are being set but republicans never actually do it. republicans never actually play ball with the new rules. and this is showing me that actually this could be a very dangerous road that we are about to go down and that maybe republicans are starting to have a backbone and they are going to fight back. and when it comes to joe biden. when it comes to the biden family. as comer has been showing time and time again. is he doing an excellent job with that oversight committee, there is plenty of material

there to dig into. >> todd: you betcha. vice president it traveling to ukraine to push energy production in 2014 just after hunter joined the board of burisma that's interesting. grace, thanks so much have. great holiday weekend. >> ashley: thanks, grace. with that, "fox & friends" starts right now have. a good day. >> todd: bye-bye. ♪ >> steve: all right, 6:00 a.m. here in the east and we start this "fox & friends" on this thursday with a fox weather alert. five people dead, dozens hurt after tornadoes tear through southeastern missouri. heart breaking storm victims now working to pick up the pieces as the sunrises shortly. >> our house got hit. you know, lives were lost. it's heart breaking. >> my ears popped. and i could feel it on my skin. it felt like somebody opened