right now on "america this morning" -- the fight to save the ancient sequoias. the out-of-control wildfire doubling in size in yosemite national park, now threatening trees that are 1,000 years old. the firefight coming as extreme heat grips a large swath of the country. more record-high temperatures expected today. about face. steve bannon, a top adviser to former president trump, now says he's willing to testify before the january 6th committee after defying a subpoena and facing criminal contempt charges. what's behind the decision and what to expect at the committee's next public hearing tomorrow. moments ago, the body of assassinated japanese leader shinzo abe arriving at a temple in tokyo. what we've learned about his alleged killer's motive.

the brewing legal battle between elon musk and twitter. after the billionaire said he's backing out of a $44 billion deal to take over the company. how much he could still have to pay. revenge of the sea lions. the moment they claimed this popular beach for themselves, sending the people scrambling. and a bad day at the ballpark when this major leaguer's glove breaks on a crucial play. ♪ had a bad day ♪ good monday morning, everyone. we begin with the race to save one of america's most famous trees. >> a wildfire burning out of control in yosemite national park is threatening a grove of iconic sequoia trees. some of them are thousands of years old. this morning, fire crews in yosemite national park are racing to protect some of the oldest and biggest trees in the world. >> they're not something to see,

they're something to experience. they just take everyone's breath away. >> reporter: the fire has scorched more than 2,000 acres since igniting last week. intense flames and heat sending debris hundreds of feet in the air. nearly hitting a firefighting plane. >> a branch went right over the top of us, pretty good size, so if we keep seeing that we might have to knock it off. >> reporter: firefighters are hoping to keep the flames away from the largest area of ancient sequoias in yosemite. >> it just goes -- the same one you would use for your lawn. >> reporter: a sprinkler system is now protecting the tree. it's 3,000 years old. >> we're watering that tree in case the fire comes to it and when the fire does come, fire behavior is going to drop down. the tree's going to be okay. >> reporter: smoke from the fire is expected to cause major problems for the surrounding area.

700 people staying at a nearby campground were told to evacuate. some plan to wait it out. meanwhile, a wildfire in northern utah nearly doubled in size yesterday, burning nearly 4,000 acres. smoke from the fire is now affecting air quality in the area, smoke and ash drifting across salt lake city. firefighters on the front lines battling the fire from land and from the air. a major development in the january 6th investigation, steve bannon who served as the top adviser to former president trump now says he's willing to testify before the january 6th committee, after being charged with contempt of congress. meanwhile, we're learning what to expect at the committee's next public hearing tomorrow. we have the very latest. jay, good morning. >> reporter: steve bannon's attorney said his client is prepared to testify before the january 6th committee after getting that okay from former president trump. this morning, steve bannon reversing course, telling the

january 6th committee he's willing to testify. bannon and the committee initially locked in a legal battle for months. the conservative fire brand and former trump white house strategist facing criminal contempt charges after refusing to comply with a congressional subpoena. he and former president you donald trump claiming executive privilege even though bannon left his white house job in 2017. but in this new letter, obtained by abc news, trump now clearing bannon to appear before the committee. >> i expect that we'll be hearing from him and there are many questions that we have for him. >> reporter: the committee maintaining there's evidence bannon knew about the capitol attack in advance, a day before the riot saying this on his podcast. >> all hell is going to break loose tomorrow. >> reporter: bannon's decision to testify coming days after the committee heard from former white house counsel pat cipollone, once the top white

house lawyer cipollone repeatedly mentioned by cassidy hutchinson. a former aide to trump's chief of staff. >> mr. cipollone said something to the effect of, please make sure we don't go up to the capitol. >> reporter: in a recorded interview, cipollone facing questions friday for eight hours. >> you'll see over the next couple hearings a little of what he said, but at no point was there any contradiction of what anybody said. >> reporter: in a letter to the january 6th committee bannon's attorney says his client wants to testify live. and in public. but one committee member said that might not be the case because of the number of questions committee investigators have for bannon. >> thank you. live coverage of tomorrow's january 6th committee hearing beginning at 1:00. people in japan are preparing to lay the longest serving prime minister to rest. shinzo abe's body arrived at a

temple in tokyo. funeral services are set for tomorrow. authorities say the suspect planned the attack for months before gunning down abe at the train station. according to police, the suspect believed abe was associated with a religious group that he blames for his mother's bankruptcy. authorities say they found several homemade guns at the suspect's home. now to uvalde, texas, where there are new calls to release video of the police response to the massacre at robb elementary school. the community is demanding transparency as the investigation takes a new step forward today. hundreds gathered in sweltering heat in uvalde, texas, sunday to honor those who lost their lives in the school massacre on may 24th. >> what i want no one can give me, i nty back. >> reporter: many are pushing for new gun safety measures. >> we're asking to change the gun laws, more background

checks, mental checks, please change our laws, so no more babies can be taken from us. >> reporter: many more are voicing outrage. >> we demand answers. we demand change. >> reporter: for more than a month families have demanded to know why it took police more than one hour to take down the shooter at robb elementary school where 19 children and 2 teachers were killed, but little has been officially revealed about the police response that day. >> from the mayor down, nobody's telling the people nothing. >> reporter: today the uvalde county sheriff is expected to testify before a state investigative committee. amid new calls to release video from the school hallway's surveillance cameras. so far only still images have seen. the mayor said he supports releasing the full video to help families understand what happened. he's disputing a report released last week claiming that an officer missed an opportunity to shoot the gunman before entering the school. because he was waiting for permission from his supervisor.

the mayor said the report "doesn't give a complete and accurate account of what happened." as for that video from the school hallway it's up to the district attorney whether to release it. there could be new hope for wnba star brittney griner and former u.s. marine paul whelan. as they remain held in russia. a source tells abc news that bill richardson is set to visit moscow to negotiate their release. he was previously involved in securing the release of former marine trevor reed in a prison swap. meanwhile, the wnba honored griner in their all-star game. an unusual scene in las vegas. check it out. a dust devil touched down at a pool at luxor resort. sending deck chairs flying. several people were knocked down by the strong winds friday and some injuries were reported. with that, time now for a look at your monday weather. a storm system moves into the

midwest today, the biggest threat for severe weather will be from illinois to michigan, damaging winds will be the biggest concern. meanwhile, extreme heat is gripping much of the west. all the way to the gulf coast. feel-like temperatures will top 100 degrees from northern california to kansas city, to houston. checking the high temperatures elsewhere, 80s in the northeast and northwest, 90s in both chicago and detroit. again, 93, kansas city. coming up, the dispute in the carpool lane as a pregnant woman argues that her fetus is a passenger. but first, the powerful avalanche caught on camera during a mountain tour.

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back with nature's fury in asia. ten tourists survived this avalanche, they were able to take cover before the ice, snow over-ran them. frightening moments as a landing gear of a spirit airlines's plane caught fire. flying from tampa to atlanta, just hit the runway when officials said its landing gear overheated. passengers were shaken. >> the first time i heard the boom, i'm like, what's going on? but nobody looked around at first and then, once we got -- that's when everyone saw the flames. >> passengers were told to stay in their seats as firefighters put out the flames. the stage is set for a major legal battle after elon musk abandoned his deal to buy twitter.

twitter has reportedly hired a top law firm to force musk to uphold the agreement. musk claims that twitter failed to provide enough data on spam accounts on the twitter. aggressive tactics as it expanded around the world. a group of journalists reports that uber forced to write labor laws. a uber acknowledged making mistakes in the past. texas woman is fighting a traffic ticket by arguing her unborn baby counts as a passenger in her car, she was pulled over for driving alone in the carpool lane, she argues that the state's abortion law now recognizes a fetus as a person. however the department of transportation's legal code does not. the officer gave her a $275 ticket which she now plans to

fight in court. >> i'm not trying to make a huge political stance here, but do you understand that this is a baby? and he kind of just brushed me off and asked me to go to the other officer to get my citation. >> legal experts say the case exposes unique legal questions and could raise further questions like can pregnant women claim child support for their unborn baby. what we're learning about amber heard's request for a mistrial in her defamation case mistrial in her defamation case against johnny depp. you're pretty particular about keeping a healthy body. what goes on it. usually. and in it. mostly. here to meet those high standards is the walgreens health and wellness brand. over 2000 high quality products. rigorously tested by us. real world tested by you. and particularly kind...

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storming back with protesters in sri lanka refusing to leave the presidential palace, and the prime minister's home until they officially resign. the crowd splashed in the president pool, and took over the palace grounds, furious of the economic crisis gripping the country. both leaders have said they will step down. >> some encouraging news about gas prices, they are falling at a historic pace, now averaging $4.68 per gallon nationwide, that's a drop of $.30 in the last month. one reason is falling global demand for oil, the prices are still about a dollar 60 higher than last year, oil prices are expected to be one topic of discussion when president biden visit saudi arabia this week, he's facing criticism for the

visit due to the crown prince is reported involvement in the murder of journalist jamal khashoggi. biden claims his trip will strengthen ties between the countries. returned to amber heard's new legal battle, she wants a legal trial [ indiscernible. ] and now deb appears to be unleashing new criticism of his ex-wife. here's abc. >> reporter: this morning a new twist in the legal drama between johnny depp and amber heard. the team is now demanding a retrial in there defamatin case, claiming one of the jurors shouldn't have been there. >> do you find that mister depp has proven all the elements of defamation, answer, yes. >> reporter: her lawyer say two people with the same name live at the address where the summons for juror number 15 was sent. a 77-year-old, and a 52-year- old. the older person was called to be on the jury, but heard's lawyers claim the younger one showed up to court. >> once people are summoned to jury duty, they need to sign in by phone and they need to use

their date of birth. >> reporter: the nation watched as the star exes battled it out during the six week trial. >> it's insane to hear heinous accusations. >> reporter: jurors found amber heard guilty of three defamation claims last month, and was ordered to pay $10.3 million in damages. heard countersued and was awarded $2 million for one of her claims. >> i don't blame the jury. i don't blame them. i understand. he is a beloved character. >> reporter: depp hasn't responded to the request for a mistrial, but the actor possibly giving insight to his feelings through his music by writing a new album titled 18. the daily beast reports aligning one song says, you're sitting there like a dog with a seven year itch. depp reportedly sings in another track, if i had a dime, it would reach your hand. heard's legal team is asking for the $10.3 million

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phone out right now. they're pretty fast on land. i was surprise zbld no reports of any injuries. today, president biden is set to unveil the first color photo from the world's most powerful tell cope. >> that's right the james webb telescope has been capturing the far reaches of the universe for the past six months, found new stars and glows of the galaxys. scientists said the images have brought them to tears. >> after the president's reveal the rest of the images will be released tomorrow morning. # nofirmt. next, a thunderous star for thor. >> he proved his worth at the box office, immaterial raked in an estimated $143 million in the u.s. during its opening weekend and more than $300 million worldwide. but there's one thing about the film that star chris hemsworth's wife doesn't like the muscle and he got ripped for the role.

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some of the oldest trees on earth. the smoke something a air advisory here in the bay area. >> the new state funding to help them fight wildfires. >> it is expected to be the hottest day of the week. >> good morning, everyone. get to see you guys. drew: today is even warmer than yesterday. it is the hottest day of the week. we will have widespread 80's and 90's. part of the reason, live doppler 7 showing very limited fog along the immediate coastline. we will see a lot of sunshine as that sun gets up in about an hour. you can see how we are sitting in the upper 50's to the mid 60's right now. we are 57 in the city.