Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Russian Shelling Overnight In Nikopol; E.U. Sanctions Against Russia; Blizzards, Ice And Flooding Across California; Murdaugh Admits Lying, Denies Killing; Americans Split On Ukraine Support; Nigeria Presidential And Parliamentary Elections. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired February 25, 2023 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR (voice-over): Welcome to all of you watching in the United States, Canada and all around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber.
Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, we're live in Kyiv as Russia's war in Ukraine enters its second year. The U.S. is pledging even more support with one important exception.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With the mud slides and the flooding, I think that's one of the biggest concerns as we're looking at the a lot of rainfall and snow. The snow will melt and the wind. And we worry about the mud slides.
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Millions of people on the U.S. West coast now under a flash flood warning amid one of the strongest snowstorms to hit the region in years. We'll look at where the wintry weather goes next.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): And Alex Murdaugh is back on the stand to defend against charges he killed his wife and son.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: Russia's war in Ukraine is beginning its second year with a barrage of Russian shelling overnight in the southern Nikopol district. No casualties are reported but Ukrainian authorities say numerous buildings and infrastructure were hit.
And we're hearing reports of large explosions in the Russian-held city of Mariupol. Russian forces now control less than 20 percent of Ukrainian territory in the east and south, far less than the early stages of the war. Ukraine is widely expected to be planning a counter offensive. On
Friday, they took delivery of the first battle tanks from NATO allies. Dozens expected in the coming weeks as tank crews complete their training.
The U.S. has announced new sanctions targeting more than 200 individual and entities that support the war. Tariffs will be increased on over 100 Russian metals, minerals and chemical products.
The European Union is also adding to the economic pressure on Moscow with a 10th round of sanctions. The E.U. is going after those who supply drones to Russia's military and help spread Russian propaganda and disinformation.
CNN reporters are covering this story in multiple locations. Melissa Bell is live in Kyiv with a look at where the war goes from here.
Salma Abdelaziz is in London with a look at the sanctions against Russia. Jeremy Diamond is at the White House looking at why the administration isn't sending fighter jets to Ukraine.
I want to begin with Melissa Bell in Kyiv.
First, bring us up to speed on the latest on those strikes. Then as we go into the second year of the war so many unknowables.
But any sense as to the realistic hopes from a Ukrainian perspective?
MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This first anniversary was a moment to take stock of where this war is one year on; 17 percent of the Ukrainian territory now in Russian hands.
That's significantly down from what we have seen at other points over the course of the last year. And the question is where it goes from here.
What appears to be happening is really the settling into this sort of grinding, not quite stalemate because there are advances and backward steps from the point of the Russians.
Of that front line, it has been fairly fixed with a great deal of fighting around specific towns that now lie in complete ruins. I'm thinking of Bakhmut and Soledar and the towns that have been focus of the fighting.
They lie along that line that has been so bitterly fought over, as Russian forces try desperately to move forward to take more of the Donbas. We know they hold Luhansk for now. Their aim is to take the whole of Donetsk.
If Bakhmut falls, they will be in better position. And this is why the Ukrainians have been so bitterly defending it.
What we have seen over the last 24 hours beyond the strikes that you mentioned is that familiar pattern, where there are artillery strikes supported by cruise missile strikes to try to move the lines forward. Russian positions really piling in men and mercenaries as they can to
try to move their positions forward. This was a moment to take stock of casualties.
[05:05:00]
BELL: This is why so much of what you heard yesterday and what President Zelenskyy and other officials have to say was not only that they are proud of what they have achieved but keen to defend their lines. But they also really want this to come to an end.
Have a listen to what President Zelenskyy had to tell foreign journalists gathered here yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: We started to free our land from Russian evil. We are in return of security to international relations. And you and I can make this year 2023 to be the year of the end of Russian aggression, the year of the return to peace, the year of liberation of our land and from Russian activity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BELL: It's optimistic and hopeful. One of the big differences is delivery of Leopard tanks, expected they will help Ukraine make a difference.
Will it be enough to push the Russians further back?
That one of the big questions. At this stage, that's definitely a hopeful and optimistic assessment on the part of President Zelenskyy.
BRUNHUBER: Appreciate that look at the big picture. Melissa Bell in Kyiv, thank you.
The U.S. has marked the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine with another $2 billion in military aid and $10 billion of humanitarian help.
One thing the U.S. won't commit to is supplying military fighter jets. President Biden has been pressed again on whether or not America will send F-16 warplanes to the conflict. Our Jeremy Diamond is at the White House with the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Biden on Friday marking the first anniversary of the war in Ukraine by sitting down with the coalition of countries that have really held together the support for Ukraine as well as the crippling sanctions response aimed directly at Russia.
The president holding a virtual meeting with the leaders of the G7 countries as well as the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Along with that first anniversary, President Biden pledging continued
support for Ukraine for "as long as it takes" and also announcing a series of new actions from his administration, $2 billion of additional security assistance for Ukraine.
That includes munitions for those HIMARS rocket launchers as well as additional artillery shells, drones, counterdrone activity. But one thing that it didn't include was those F-16 fighter jets that the Ukrainian president has been asking for.
In fact, Zelenskyy asked Biden for those just days ago during their meeting in the Ukrainian capital. But President Biden on Friday, in a new interview, he says that he's ruling out providing those F-16s for now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: President Zelenskyy continues to say what he really needs are F-16s.
Will you send F-16s?
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Look, we're sending him what our seasoned military thinks he needs now. He needs tanks, he needs artillery, he needs air defense, including another HIMARS. But there are things he needs now --
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: You don't think he needs F-16s now?
BIDEN: No, he doesn't need F-16s now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DIAMOND: The Biden administration on Friday also unveiling what they're calling one of the most significant sanctions actions to date, targeting more than 200 individuals and entities.
And with a specific focus on Russia's efforts to evade those Western sanctions, targeting companies, including some in China, that have been helping to backfill Russia's defense production and keep its war machine churning there.
President Biden on Friday also weighing in for the first time on this new proposed Chinese peace plan. And President Biden doesn't seem to think a whole lot of it, saying that, if Putin is applauding it, how could it be any good?
The president saying that the very notion of China negotiating peace in Ukraine simply isn't rational -- Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Salma Abdelaziz has more now from London with more on the new European Union sanctions against Russia.
This is the 10th round of sanctions.
Explain what they are going after and what difference they are hoping it will make.
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The sanctions released on the anniversary of the one year since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. They released simultaneously with those U.S. sanctions that you heard about from the Treasury Department, from our colleague there, Jeremy Diamond.
We have a graphic to show you, to talk you through point by point what the sanctions are. They are targeted restricted measures against individuals and entities supporting the war, including those spreading propaganda or delivering drones to Russia during the conflict.
[05:10:00]
ABDELAZIZ: Measures against Russian disinformation and tighter export restrictions regarding dual use technology.
Now they are being described as some of the most forceful and far reaching sanctions by the E.U. since the start of the war. And it's intended to fill the gap, just as the U.S. sanctions as well did, to fill the gap from previous rounds of sanctions and really provide that support that Ukraine needs to win this war.
And you might ask what does a 10th round of sanctions really do at this stage?
European leaders say the sanctions are absolutely working. They might be slow but they are effective, particularly when it comes to the E.U. phasing out its use of Russian oil and gas. That's had a major impact, as the foreign policy chief told us yesterday. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSEP BORRELL, E.U. HIGH REPRESENTATIVE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS & SECURITY POLICY: Russia could cut a lot of money because of high prices of energy. And we're still very dependent on Russian gas imports.
But that's over. Europe is no longer consuming Russian gas. We were 40 percent dependent, now it's almost 6 percent dependency. No Russian oil. A cap on Russian oil.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABDELAZIZ: As you heard there, a significant reduction in the dependency of Europe on Russian oil and gas, from 40 percent to 6 percent.
The E.U. says that should continue through this year. You heard from Western allies during the past few days, as they marked the one year anniversary of this conflict. The promise that we have heard over and over again, which is to support Ukraine with whatever it takes for as long as it takes to win this war.
President Zelenskyy promising in return that victory will come this year.
BRUNHUBER: All right, appreciate that.
Parts of California, used to sunshine and mild temperatures, are instead watching snowfall and flood waters rise. The San Bernardino Mountains could see up to five feet of snow in the coming days with winds in excess of 60 miles per hour. People in the San Diego area are being told to avoid any unnecessary travel.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's pretty treacherous conditions up north. There's a lot of snow, a lot of ice. The visibility is pretty low up there. Right now we have heavy rain in the Cascade area and it's just a little bit difficult for motorists to try to get through there right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: And snow isn't the only problem the area is facing. Heavy rain is expected to continue through Saturday afternoon. Some 6 million people are under a flash flood warning that extends from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles. Forecasters say Downtown L.A. could see 5 inches of rain before the storm is passed.
(WEATHER REPORT)
[05:15:00]
BRUNHUBER: California isn't the only area that's feeling the blast of severe winter weather. Camila Bernal has more on the rough storms hitting other parts of the U.S.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Coast-to-coast storms across the country, impacting more than 15 million people, from New England where winter weather alerts are finally easing, to the West coast where storm conditions are now ramping up again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've never seen it like this in California.
BERNAL (voice-over): Snarling transit and stranding travelers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Semis were starting to roll backwards going up the grapevine, going up through the mountain. It's not safe to drive.
BERNAL (voice-over): More than 1,100 flights have been canceled, with thousands more delays on Friday. And nearly 1 million customers are suffering power outages nationwide, primarily in Michigan and other parts of the Midwest, where freezing rain and ice have knocked out power lines and damaged trees. Minnesota is now facing the twin hazards of snow and ice; Minneapolis
under a snow emergency, buried under more than 13 inches of snow in the last several days.
In southern California, extremely rare blizzard warnings, including the first-ever blizzard warning for the San Bernardino County mountains, coming on top of flooding, mudslides, power outages and high winds.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was crazy. There were like full branches falling down on the roof.
BERNAL (voice-over): Residents in northern California stunned by snowfall and sightings of snow on top of sand at local beaches.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just want to be ready for, again, kind of worst- case scenarios.
BERNAL (voice-over): The gusts in some parts of southern California are expected to reach up to 75 miles per hour.
And for Californians looking for a bright spot in the middle of back- to-back storms, a bald eagle, sheltering its eggs from the snowstorms in Big Bear, is streaming to thousands of viewers, waiting two eggs to hatch.
And some residents from Washington, D.C., to Jacksonville, Florida, are watching winter around the country while basking in the sun -- Camila Bernal, CNN, Lebec, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: It's been almost three weeks since Ohio suffered a toxic train derailment. Still, President Biden is making no plans to visit the site. His reasoning after the break.
Plus back on the stand, Alex Murdaugh confesses to stealing millions of dollars to feed a monstrous drug addiction and lying about his alibi.
Can he convince the jury he didn't murder his wife and son?
We'll have the latest on the trial just ahead. Stay with us.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:20:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
BRUNHUBER: The White House says President Biden has been briefed on the Ohio train derailment that caused a toxic chemical spill. But at this point, the president says he has no plans to visit the site and says the administration is doing all it can to respond to the disaster.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg visited the site but conceded he could have spoken out sooner. Former president Trump was there and criticized Biden's response to the disaster. Residents in the area are worried about exposure to chemicals. Officials are concerned politics will get in the way of the investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENNIFER HOMENDY, NTSB CHAIR: This is not a time for politics. Now is the time to talk about potential solutions that would really address this tragedy. Folks need to allow the NTSB to lead this investigation and to highlight the right solutions, not to go after the ones that would do nothing to prevent this from reoccurring.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: He admits to being a serial liar and being at the scene minutes before his wife and son were killed but he insists he isn't a killer. Alex Murdaugh was back on the witness stand on Friday, facing a second round of tough questioning. Randi Kaye was there and has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX MURDAUGH, ALLEGED MURDER DEFENDANT: I have lied well over a decade.
RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lies: that's what lead prosecutor, Creighton Waters was trying to expose with Alex Murdaugh on the stand.
MURDAUGH: I told a lie about being down there and I got myself aware to that.
KAYE (voice-over): For hours, Waters tried to box Murdaugh into a corner using cell phone data and timeline evidence from the night of the murders.
MURDAUGH: I'm still not absolutely certain exactly how they ended up at the kennel.
KAYE (voice-over): Murdaugh told the jury he drove his golf cart to meet his wife, Maggie and son, Paul in the kennels.
[05:25:00]
KAYE (voice-over): He says that was just before Paul Murdaugh recorded this kennel video. Murdaugh can be heard talking in the background.
MURDAUGH: It certainly could have been 8:47, before I left out of there.
KAYE (voice-over): Murdaugh estimated it is about a two-minute drive on the golf cart from the kennel to the main house, which would put him there at 8:49 PM, the very same time prosecutors say Maggie and Paul's phones ceased all activity suggesting they were dead.
Once back at the house --
CREIGHTON WATERS, PROSECUTOR: You lay down on the couch.
MURDAUGH: That's correct.
KAYE (voice-over): Keep in mind, Murdaugh's phone showed no activity from 8:09 to 9:02. He says he left it at the main house when he went down to the kennels.
WATERS: You would agree with me that from 9:02 to 9:06, your phone finally comes to life and starts showing a lot of steps and that's far more steps in a shorter time period than any time prior as you've seen from the testimony in this case.
So what were you so busy doing?
MURDAUGH: That's --
WATERS: Going to the bathroom?
MURDAUGH: No, I don't think that I went to bathroom.
WATERS: Did you get on a treadmill?
MURDAUGH: No, I did not get on the treadmill.
WATERS: Jog in place.
MURDAUGH: No, I didn't job in place.
And what I wasn't doing is doing anything as I believe you've implied that I was cleaning off or washing off or washing off guns, putting guns in a raincoat and I can promise you that I wasn't doing any of that.
KAYE (voice-over): Along with all the steps Murdaugh took, data presented in court shows he made a flurry of phone calls.
WATERS: Finally having your phone in your hand moving around and making all these phone calls to manufacture an alibi. Is that not true?
MURDAUGH: That's absolutely incorrect.
KAYE (voice-over): Meanwhile, Murdaugh's attempt to show he had been trying to cooperate with investigators backfired.
Other than lying to them about going to the kennel, I was cooperative in every aspect of this investigation.
WATERS: Very cooperative, except for maybe the most important fact of all that you were at the murder scene with the victims just minutes before they died.
KAYE (voice-over): The prosecutor did his best to prove to the jury no one other than Alex Murdaugh could have killed his wife and son.
WATERS: What you're telling this jury is that it's a random vigilante that just happened to know that Paul and Maggie were both at Moselle on June 7th, that knew that they would be at the kennels alone on June 7th and knew that you would not be there but only between the times of 8:49 and 9:02.
MURDAUGH: You got a lot of factors in there, Mr. Waters, all of which I do not agree with but some of which I do.
KAYE: Getting back to all those steps that Alex Murdaugh was taking around that key timeframe, he was also making a flurry of phone calls. The state says he was doing so to try and establish an alibi -- Randi Kaye, CNN, Walterboro, South Carolina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: In Florida a suspected gunman has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder after being accused of killing three people, including a journalist. A 19-year-old Keith Moses has been charged in connection with the fatal shooting of a 38-year-old woman on Wednesday.
He's expected to be charged in other shooting that occurred later that day, including the murder of this TV reporter and a 9-year-old girl.
Sources tell CNN the U.S. Justice Department wants to know how a box containing classified documents turned up at Donald Trump's Florida estate after several rounds of searches.
They reportedly held a handful of classified items among presidential schedules. Sources say an aide testified she moved the box while digitizing contents so it wasn't at Mar-a-Lago during multiple searches.
They unknowingly uploaded photos of classified items to the cloud and then downloaded them to a laptop.
This is CNN NEWSROOM. Coming up, we're having a look right now, a live look, where millions of people are going to the polls to pick new a parliament and a new president in Nigeria's general election. CNN is on the scene, asking voters what they want.
Plus how political divisions over support for Ukraine are playing out as the U.S. heads toward a presidential election year. Stay with us.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:30:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you in the United States, Canada and around the world. This is CNN NEWSROOM. Americans are far from united when it comes to whether their country
is doing enough to help Ukraine. On Friday, Washington pledged another $2 billion in military assistance to Kyiv in addition to $10 billion in humanitarian aid.
A recent poll found 40 percent of Americans feel the U.S. is doing just about enough to help Ukraine; 30 percent say it's too much; 22 percent say too little. Republicans are most likely to be in the too much category, while a majority of Democrats say the effort is about right.
CNN senior political analyst Ron Brownstein joins me from Los Angeles.
Thank you for being here with us. So U.S. support hasn't wavered from a foreign policy point of view. But that doesn't seem to be true of the American public at large. As we heard, it's still broad and strong but it does seem to have softened slightly. Talk to me about how it's evolved over the last year.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Almost inevitably, when you're in a long commitment in a military engagement, even without U.S. troops being directly involved, I think most public opinion on national security would not be surprised to see an erosion of support around the edges.
I don't think this is eroding in a way that's going to put significant pressure on Biden to change direction or to retrench the U.S. commitment.
It's eroding in a way that's going to increase the tension in the Republican Party between those in a position to stand up to aggression and those more in the Trump populist umbrella that are more skeptical of what we're doing there.
BRUNHUBER: You talk about this natural erosion.
Going into the second year of the war now, how long do you think that support can last?
BROWNSTEIN: I think as long as there's broad support in the opinion leadership, it can last awhile. I think it will erode but I don't think it's going to collapse. Usually what really undermines traditionally support for an American engagement are increased American casualties.
[05:35:00]
BROWNSTEIN: Political scientists used to do formulas about wars like Vietnam and how many casualties and how much support would erode.
I think what's happening is there's a feedback loop going on in the Republican Party, as there often is, on issues where you have more loud voices or questioning whether with we should be doing this.
It's being reflected in polls showing decreased support and more politicians feel like they have to hedge their bets and move away from it on the Republican side.
I think as long as the president himself is comfortable defending this, I think he will hold support for it among the voters who he realistically has a chance at winning in the first place. So that's why I don't think he's going to feel a lot of pressure or Democrats in Congress are going to feel a lot of pressure to move away.
I think what you're going to see instead is the sharpened divide between Nikki Haley, Mike Pence, Mitch McConnell, who are more supportive of this, and then Marjorie Taylor Greene and many of the FOX hosts and even Ron DeSantis, who has moved in a Trump way toward being skeptical of what we're doing.
BRUNHUBER: You don't think this will actually -- even though Democrats no longer control the House, you don't think it will affect policy?
Maybe even not just the House Republicans withdrawing support or limiting support but maybe holding it hostage and using it as collateral to get concessions on a different issue.
BROWNSTEIN: I do think there is going to be growing pressure in the Republican Party because of the base, in part because of the voices in the conservative media ecosystem that they listen, to take a hard line on this.
You saw Marjorie Taylor Greene's tweet saying basically that the people who are -- the president is trying to lead us into World War III and we have to look at this much more skeptically.
I think that's probably the dominant position in the Republican conference in the House. But whether it's 218 votes in the House is another issue. I do think Republicans will put pressure on our commitment there and as you say may try to leverage it for other issues.
But I think there's going to be a point of enormous conflict within the party because there's still a substantial wing, especially in the Senate, that says we have -- this is exactly the kind of aggression that the U.S. has to stand up to.
You can see the divide already emerging in the 24 Republican field. You can see it between Mitch McConnell, who has been resolute in supporting this, and Kevin McCarthy, who as, on many issues, is really giving lead to the right flank of his conference.
BRUNHUBER: Fascinating. Ron Brownstein, thank you so much. Appreciate it.
BROWNSTEIN: Thank you for having me.
BRUNHUBER: Just a quick programming note. Clarissa Ward speaks to Ukrainians from all walks of life on how the past year of war has changed their lives. Watch her special report, "The Will to Win: Ukraine at War," Sunday at 8:00 in New York. And replay is on Monday at 9:00 pm in London, here on CNN.
Coming up, millions of Nigerians are voting. CNN's Larry Madowo is live for us in a moment.
Plus Turkiye has begun rebuilding homes after this month's catastrophic earthquake. Why some engineers say the government is moving too fast. A live report from Turkiye when we come back. Stay with us.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:40:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
BRUNHUBER: This is the scene live right now, where voting in Nigeria's general election is underway. There's a crowded field of contenders vying for president but three main candidates have emerged as the front-runners.
Security has been tight ahead of the election with armed guards keeping a close eye on voting machines and polling stations. The main issues are security, corruption and the crumbling economy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) Things are not going well. From the (INAUDIBLE) sector, agriculture, transportation, all sectors in Nigeria are not going well. So I believe (INAUDIBLE) we have voice. (INAUDIBLE) our voice. So we have to vote to try to make things change (INAUDIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: And CNN's Larry Madowo is live for us.
What could decide this election?
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There seems to be quite a bit of excitement. The voters we have been speaking to are excited to vote, because this is an interesting election.
For the first time, none of the candidates running for president is a former military leader or an incumbent. For the first time also, it's not the two established political parties; there's a third force.
This has excited a lot of young people. A record number of them have come out to vote. This election of 93 million, it's a logistical nightmare. It's bigger than election in the rest of West Africa countries combined.
It's one of the biggest democratic exercises in all of Africa. So this poll unit is one of about 140,000 across the nation. Lagos has the largest number of registered voters. When polls close, then the counting exercise begins.
Angela, how are you doing? ANGELA, NIGERIAN VOTER: Very well, thank you, Larry.
MADOWO: What are you coming to vote for today?
What's an important issue in this election?
ANGELA: Everything in the country, from the economy to the state of the nation. That's what we're voting for.
MADOWO: How have you felt about the campaigns and what the politicians the candidates have been offering?
ANGELA: Interesting. So I think for the first time we actually have options in this election. For too long, it was between the deep blue sea and a hard rock.
But right now there are good people on the ballot so...
MADOWO: The past couple weeks have been really difficult for a lot of people with the fuel shortage and more recently, the narrow redesign have led to a lot of chaotic scenes outside banks. People trying to find currency.
Has that been on the back of your mind?
ANGELA: Not really, no. It hasn't been an issue. I think it was necessary. It was important for the country to actually go through this at this time. Just to ensure, as the president said votes will not be purchased. I think that's going to happen. People will actually come out and vote the issues and not for their pockets or for their bellies.
MADOWO: One analysis says it all comes down to ethnicity and religion.
[05:45:00]
MADOWO: How did you feel about that?
ANGELA: I don't share that opinion actually. I think for the first time, people are looking beyond ethnicity and religion and actually looking to what the candidates can deliver.
I think for too long, we've stayed on things that don't really matter and haven't translated to development. I think at this time, it's important that we all look. And I think a lot of people have come on. That's why turnout is quite high.
People are looking beyond the things that -- the pivotal importance to now competence and what you have to offer to the nation and how this nation will be managed back to a place of productivity and growth.
MADOWO: Angela thank you so much.
So at the last election, only about a third of the people turned out to vote. If this happens this year, that will maybe determine who becomes president. BRUNHUBER: I like when she said, we have hope on the ballot. Very
poignant. Larry, thank you so much. Appreciate that.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
BRUNHUBER: It's been nearly three weeks since that powerful earthquake hit Turkiye and Syria and the death toll keeps rising. On Friday, the number of lives lost past 50,000 across both countries. Nearly 6,000 victims were in northern Syria, the vast majority were in Turkiye.
Nada Bashir has more from Turkiye.
So much need for housing but it's something they need to get right.
Has the massive rebuilding effort already started?
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's certainly pressure on the government here in Turkiye to begin that process. We are learning excavation work has begun in two districts in a province in south Turkiye for more than 800 new homes for those that have been displaced.
There's also plans in the works for the construction of more than 30,000 new apartments across southeast Turkiye, which are set to begin in March. We can already see this process getting underway.
But this has also drawn some criticism. We heard from the union of architects and engineers here in Turkiye, this is simply too hasty. There still needs to be more work to prepare for the construction of these buildings. More geological investigations needed to ensure these new buildings set to be constructed will be safe.
That's because this country is still seeing aftershocks on a daily basis. This region in southeast Turkiye has seen more than 8,000 aftershocks since that earthquake three weeks ago. That's the same amount of tremors in normal circumstances in about four months.
So you can imagine the apprehension, the concern that many have when they are hearing these buildings are already beginning to be set up and construction work is underway.
But there's a huge amount of pressure on the Turkish government because thousands of people, hundreds of thousands of people, have been displaced by this earthquake. At least 900,000 people are already living in tents across camp this is this region.
We have visited some of the tent cities across this region as well as areas that were among the hardest hit by this. When you see the destruction on the street, it feels like a ghost town.
It's eerily quiet because the vast majority of residents have been forced to leave their homes, either completely destroyed or the building is too unsafe to return to. Another result, you have all these families now living in these tents, unsure of when they will be able to move into more permanent residence. There's others that haven't been so lucky. We have met families who
are still homeless three weeks on. You can imagine the pressure that the Turkish government is under. But that concern that this may be moving too quickly, that more preparation needs to be done.
BRUNHUBER: Nada Bashir, thank you so much.
To help, go to cnn.com/impact. You can find a list of organizations working on rescue and relief efforts.
A year ago, few believed Russia would actually invade Ukraine. Coming up, hear what people have to say about it now, as Ukraine marks the first anniversary of the deadly conflict.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:50:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
BRUNHUBER: One of the hottest singers in country music is teaming up with an unexpected source to remind us what we all have in common.
(VIDEO CLIP, "SAME HERE")
BRUNHUBER: As you might have guessed, that was Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy adding his voice to Brad Paisley's new song, "Same Here." Paisley spoke with Alisyn Camerota about the collaboration, saying he wanted to make a point that there are people in Ukraine fighting for freedom.
Showing us what it looks like to crave the things we sometimes take for granted. Proceeds from the song will go to charity.
Before we go, we want you to hear three prominent voices as they reflect on what one year of war has meant for Ukraine, for Russia and the world.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENSKYY: We started to free our land from Russian evil. We are in the return of security to international relations. And you and I can make this year 2023 to be the year of the end of Russian aggression, the year of the return to peace, the year of the liberation of our land and our people from Russian captivity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[05:55:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Day after day of Russia's atrocities, it's easy to become numb to the horror, to lose our ability to feel shock and outrage.
But we can never let the crimes that Russia is committing become our new normal. Bucha is not normal. Mariupol is not normal. Irpin is not normal. Bombing schools and hospitals and apartment buildings to rubble is not normal. Stealing Ukrainian children from their families and giving them to people in Russia is not normal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONIO GUTERRES, UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL: They are not merely words on paper. They are at the core of who we are. And they reflect the driving mission of our United Nations. And they exist precisely to address any grievance, whatever it may be.
One year ago, I sat in this council and urged, and I quote, "In the name of humanity, do not allow to start in Europe what could be the worst war since the beginning of the century, with consequences not only devastating for Ukraine, not only tragic for the Russian Federation but with an impact we cannot even foresee in relation to the consequences for the global economy," end of quote.
I said then that we must give peace a chance. But peace has had no chance. War has ruled the day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. "CNN THIS MORNING" is next in the U.S. For others, it's "LIVING GOLF."
