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CNN This Morning

Pentagon Tracking Suspected Chinese Spy Balloon Over The US; 15M People Under Wind Chill Alerts; U.S. Stocks Drop As Strong Jobs Report Fuels More Rate Hike Fears; Pentagon Announces New $2.2 Billion Aid Package For Ukraine; Chinese Spy Balloon Moves Towards U.S. East Coast; Prosecutors Cite Alex Murdaugh's Financial Woes Motivated Killings. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired February 04, 2023 - 06:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[06:00:30]

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Good Saturday morning everyone and welcome to CNN This Morning. I'm Amara Walker.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Boris Sanchez. All eyes on the sky this morning as a Chinese spy balloon continues drifting over the United States where it's expected to go and why the White House has not ruled out shooting it down.

WALKER: And a brutal blast of dangerously cold air sweeping across the Northeast. In some places, it'll feel like 50 to 60 degrees below zero, where we are seeing the cold air and when things will start to warm up.

SANCHEZ: Plus, new developments in the Tyre Nichols case why another officer is out of a job and why some first responders are now losing their licenses.

WALKER: Plus important new testimony in the Alex Murdaugh trial the twist in the case and what it could mean for Murdaugh's defense coming up on CNN This Morning.

Hi, everyone, if you're not keeping track, it is Saturday, not time to go to work for most of you. February 4. Thank you so much for waking up with us. I'm Amara Walker in Atlanta.

SANCHEZ: And I'm Boris Sanchez coming to you from the nation's Capitol. It is a cold one out there for a lot of folks this morning. But we have to start talking about this balloon, Amara. This is one of the weirdest stories I've ever seen.

WALKER: Yes, and I in the sky is causing tension and concern on the ground. The U.S. is tracking that Chinese spy balloon making its way across the country. Now defense officials say the balloon could reach the East Coast of the United States and pass out to sea as early as today. And we're going to get our first look at where exactly this balloon is when the sun comes up. It was first spotted by civilians over Montana on Thursday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That thing is not the moon. The moon is right there. This thing is so weird. It's definitely moving.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The question of intense is pressing and Secretary of State Antony Blinken called this an irresponsible act by China who has denied that this was done with insidious intent. Blinken ultimately postponing his highly anticipated trip to Beijing.

WALKER: Yes, and defense officials have advised President Biden against shooting the balloon down at least for now. But that decision could change. China claims the balloon is a civilian airship but a weather balloon to gather research and that it was blown off course.

We're told that President Biden is getting constant briefings on the situation defense officials saying that balloon doesn't pose a threat right now. But they are watching it quite closely.

SANCHEZ: Let's bring in CNN Pentagon correspondent Oren Liebermann, who is live for us, Oren, the military has advised against shooting down the balloon. Apparently, it's still a possibility, though.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Correct. The military hasn't ruled that out yet. Neither has President Joe Biden or the White House. Right at the beginning of this when we started to get those updates, we learned President Joe Biden had asked for military options, excuse me, but had been advised against shooting us down but the top leaders from the Pentagon including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Mark Milley.

There is risk to people and property on the ground. If you blow something up at 60 feet, you have a risk of an incredibly large debris field over many, many square miles. So that's at least part of the calculation about why the U.S. decided not to shoot it down. And as long as the balloon is over the continental U.S. that risk remains in addition to the fact that the Pentagon has said this doesn't give China any spying options above and beyond the spy satellites it already has in low Earth orbit going constantly around.

For those reasons, the decision was made, let it go for now. But the Pentagon said look, if this risk increases, if they decide there is a risk, they could change that calculation, meaning they could shoot it down. And of course, what we're watching for is when this travels out over the ocean because then you no longer have a risk to the continental United States. And that's where the Pentagon can decide, OK, it's time to shoot this down.

There are already -- there is already pressure from Republicans on Capitol Hill to take that action. There hasn't been a specific response to that pressure coming from the Hill to shoot this down and take a more hard line against this.

[06:05:03]

But we have seen the Pentagon already reject the Chinese claim that this was simply a weather balloon that was blown off course, by strong winds. The Pentagon saying, Look, this is a surveillance balloon. It has the ability to maneuver, it has the ability to loiter. That's what the Pentagon told us at a press conference yesterday. And that's what we're watching here as they continuously monitor this thing, as it goes from where we saw it on Thursday up over Montana, down through essentially the heart of the United States and out towards the east coast.

Two defense officials have told us they expect based on the track and the winds, it could pop out over the ocean somewhere over the Carolinas.

WALKER: All right, Oren Liebermann, appreciate your reporting. Thank you very much. All right, let's turn now to the northeast where the weekend is starting off with mind numbing temperatures literally more than 20 million people are under wind chill warnings and advisories. And Boris, aren't you lucky you are not out there (INAUDIBLE) I should say.

Freezing cold air combined with strong winds are making a one, two punch for people across the region creating conditions that could really prove deadly. At those temperatures frostbite can occur in just under 10 minutes.

SANCHEZ: Yes, no surprises. This weather has broken records overnight observers on Mount Washington in New Hampshire recorded a wind chill of minus 108 degrees. It is the coldest on record. And likely the coldest on record for any station, any weather station in the United States. We want to take you now live to Boston because CNN Athena Jones is out there braving the elements for us. Athena, what is it like?

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Boris. Well, it is very, very cold right now. The temperature -- the air temperature negative nine degrees, but the wind chill is making the feels like temperature negative 31.

Now I should mention the wind right now feels very similar to last night. The normal speeds around 20 miles per hour, but there are gusts of up to 36 miles per hour that's helping make things feel a little bit colder. And you'll remember it was -- we were forecast here in Boston to hit negative 36 with wind chill overnight. That did happened just a couple of hours ago.

But I can tell you the good news here in Boston is that by around 10:00, we expect the temperature to hopefully get up to zero that will be considered progress. Of course, as you mentioned, a number of records broken in the region. You mentioned a Mountain Washington but also here in Boston, according to the National Weather Service Boston, a new record set of negative eight that must be for last night and negative five in 1881.

Anyway, your point was that 20 million people remain under these wind chill warnings and advisories because this, these conditions are going to continue until at least late morning when they begin to move out.

We're told that high temperatures across the Northeast and New England will still remain 10 to 30 degrees below normal today. So, an improvement but not a complete improvement.

I can tell you that here in Massachusetts one of the concerns was power outages because of course you don't want to be without heat with these sorts of temperatures. The Massachusetts Emergency Management Authority said last night, there were about 45,000 people or customers I should say without power by later last night, that number had gone down to about 10,000. And so the work on that continues.

But bottom line here is all of the warnings that we were giving yesterday remain in effect today. As much as you can, you should stay inside. If you do go outside where many, many layers try to limit your time outdoors. Obviously, check on your neighbors, bring your pets inside and that sort of thing. Just to get through these next several hours of extreme cold. Boris. Amara.

WALKER: It doesn't sound right, Boris, when Athena says the temperature may go up to zero.

SANCHEZ: Yes, that sounds extremely, extremely painful. Athena, we hope that we are headed.

JONES: I can't wait.

SANCHEZ: We hope that you're headed someplace warm soon after we let you go. Thanks so much for the reporting.

Let's go now to Allison Chinchar. She's life worse in the CNN Weather Center. Allison, Athena mentioned that she's looking forward to the temperature is going up to zero degrees at some point around 10:00 .m. tonight, is the rest of the region also warming up on that timeframe.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, and I would say that a lot of other people are very much looking forward to also hitting zero degrees today, just because of how cold it already is. You've got wind chill advisories and windshield warnings out for numerous areas in the northeast and into New England.

Again, it's that combination of the actual temperature mixed with the wind creating that feels like temperature. These are the current wind chills right now. Burlington, Vermont, minus 36, minus 43 in Portland, Providence, Rhode Island minus 32, even New York feeling like minus 15. And yes, up on Mount Washington, minus 107. So we're only about a degree off from that record you spoke about just a few minutes ago.

This is a live look at Mount Washington. Again, it's still pretty dark there but all you really see is the camera shaking from the wind and a lot of snow that's been on the ground there for quite some time. Mount Washington topping out at 108 as you mentioned, but Cadillac Mountain and Maine getting the minus 62.

[06:10:00]

The Frenchville airport in Maine topping out at minus 61, even Waterford, Vermont, getting to minus 52.

And we talked about it that those extreme temperatures are just that they're extreme. The Weather Service calling it's a once in a generation event. And it's thanks to the polar vortex. Now under normal circumstances, the polar vortex is pretty stable and keeps all of that extremely cold air trapped up by the North Pole.

But when you start getting disturbances in the Jetstream that allows that cold air to pull down pretty far south, way farther south than it normally would be, and that's what we're experiencing is those extremely cold temperatures into the Northeast.

But the good news is, we are finally going to start to see that change as we head into the day tomorrow. So a pretty quick rebound Boris and Amara, for a lot of folks in the Northeast.

WALKER: All right, Allison Chinchar, I'm just cold listening to your report. Thank you so much.

SANCHEZ: So just a moment ago, you saw those pictures from Mount Washington. Later this morning we're going to take you there to chat with someone who's braving these conditions. It feels like negative 100 there right now. We'll see where we are in just a bit later this morning.

WALKER: What does that even mean? Feels like negative 100. Can you feel anything at that point?

SANCHEZ: No.

WALKER: I mean, what. Well, I have this hour, a jaw dropping jobs report. The labor markets smashing expectations last month, when we're seeing those huge, where we're seeing those huge job gains is up next.

SANCHEZ: Plus the U.S. sending another $2 billion in aid to Ukraine why this latest aid package could be vital to Ukraine survival amid new waves of Russian attacks. We'll be right back.

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[06:15:45]

WALKER: So it was a strong week on Wall Street despite stocks falling yesterday after the better than expected January jobs report sparking more concerns that the Federal Reserve may need to keep raising those interest rates for a while longer.

A whopping 517,000 jobs were added in January. And revisions take the 2022 job performance to a remarkable 4.8 million jobs created and the hiring was widespread in leisure and hospitality in offices, labs, hospitals, schools, and on construction sites.

President Biden however, is praising the labor market growth saying that the State of the Union and the state of the economy is strong.

Here with me now is Errol Louis, political anchor for Spectrum News. Good morning, Errol. All right. So the strong jobs report came soon. It seemed like a huge shock to economists. So this puts the brakes on a recession anytime soon. Right? How is Biden going to use this to his advantage?

ERROL LOUIS, POLITICAL ANCHOR, SPECTRUM NEWS: Good morning, Amara. The President, of course, in his State of the Union address on Tuesday is going to tout all of these numbers and really explore what they mean. I mean, if you think about it, there are 11 million available jobs at this point. They're almost two jobs available for every person that is seeking a job. That is a remarkable performance by any measure.

It caught a lot of the economists off guard, it caught a lot, of the Wall Street says speculators and investors off guard. And it's good news. So we'll hear him talk about that at great length and take as much credit for it as the public will allow him to take.

WALKER: What more expect from the State of the Union, because as you know, the parents of Tyre Nichols, you know, will be in attendance next week State of the Union address as guests of the Congressional Black Caucus, which by the way, met with President Biden and vice president Harris to urge the White House to renew efforts to get these police reforms passed through Congress. Do you see that there will be an appetite for this law in the current Congress?

LOUIS: The President is going to have to try for a lot of different reasons, including the fact that the Democratic base that he relies on has a number of members of the Black Caucus, frankly, who are leaders from that faction of the Democratic Party that includes his vice president, Kamala Harris.

Yes, they're going to try and revive some version of it, not clear that it's going to go anywhere, there's a lot of opposition to it. If the House doesn't choose to take it out, then it really won't get very far.

The President has already done by executive order, though some of what the Black Caucus has asked them to do. You know, a database for police who are engaged in misconduct is a good idea. But you want to make it a legislative move, not just an executive order. It's a good idea to try and ban chokeholds, at least as far as a lot of criminologist are concerned.

But again, you want to do it through legislation, it's going to be very, very tough, but the President is going to show that he's fighting for that faction of the Democratic base. Politically, that's what matters most for him.

WALKER: You know, perhaps by Tuesday, the fate of this surveillance balloon will be known who knows if and when it'll be shot down. And as you know, Republicans have been taking shots at Biden, you know, lashing out at him saying that, look, this is just this shows the fact that President Biden hasn't been tough enough on China.

There have also been calls to shoot this huge balloon, is it the size of three buses, I believe, of course, there are concerns about, you know, potential debris falling and injuring people. How is all this playing politically?

LOUIS: Well, look, the balloon itself is not terribly important, other than as a symbol of the growing cold war between the United States and China. There are a number of different trade conflicts, military disputes, or I should say, defense concerns over the status of Taiwan. All of those are coming to my head, and this sort of crystallizes it.

So if the Secretary of State does get back on track, he recently just suspended it a planned meeting to go to China.

[06:20:03]

If they can get that back on track, the conversations can continue. The war mongering talk, you know, in some ways, it's what you would expect from politicians. But certainly, we don't want to start World War III.

So I think what we're going to hear from the White House is that they're not going to start World War III, they're not going to talk about shooting down this balloon. But they are going to talk about tough sanctions, where necessary, they're going to reintroduce questions of human rights abuses, they're not going to back down from the questions of the status of Taiwan and defending it. And so, you know, know things are quite tense enough without talking about military action against this mysterious balloon.

WALKER: All right, Errol Louis, we're going to have to leave it there. Thank you so much.

LOUIS: Good to be with you.

SANCHEZ: And speaking of the Chinese spy balloon, the United States is still tracking it as it makes its way across the country what we're learning and what China is saying about it next.

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[06:25:09]

SANCHEZ: Turning back now to our top story, that Chinese balloon hovering over the United, excuse me, rough --

WALKER: Water.

SANCHEZ: -- that --yes, that Chinese balloon that's hovering over the United States, which China says is just a weather balloon.

WALKER: Yes, but whatever it is, it is raising diplomatic and of course, national security concerns. CNN senior international correspondent Will Ripley joining us now live from Taipei with more.

I mean, Will, you know Beijing very well, you you've covered China for many years. It is interesting to hear China's response, its admission and expressing regret. That's quite rare, right.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, admitting to a mistake is something I haven't heard China do in nearly a decade of reporting out here in Asia. That said, this explanation about this being a weather balloon, most experts agree is pretty dubious at best. Weather balloons in the United States certainly aren't the size of three buses 90 feet long, you know, visible from the ground when they're at an altitude of, you know, 60 plus 1,000 feet.

But what China says, actually occurred, weather balloon explanation aside is actually plausible. A lot of experts say saying that it is being blown by the westerly winds, you know, the jet stream, basically, that it has limited ability to steer itself, and that it seriously deviated from this scheduled route. In other words, this was a mistake in accident, China admitted that.

And when you look at this in the greater context of what China has been preparing for, for months, literally months since President Biden met with President Xi of China, back at the G20 in Bali in November, China has been very much looking forward to these meetings in Beijing.

And it seems highly unlikely, according to every expert, I've talked to that the day before that meeting, they would fly this giant orb, you know, through the American heartland, including over Columbia, Missouri, where I went to college, there's not a whole lot of valuable intel that they would gain by hovering a balloon, you know, across the Midwest that they don't already have from their vast network of spy satellites.

So, China, well, admitting this is a mistake. They're also accusing some American politicians and media of blowing this whole thing out of proportion, using it to attack and discredit China, which is basically what China says every time they're criticized.

But just the fact that they came out and acknowledged an error is very significant, very rare, and indicates just how important this Blinken meeting is to them, which notably has been postponed but not canceled because the U.S. and China, Boris and Amara, have a lot to talk about Taiwan, the tensions here one major issue but also semiconductors human right, the laundry list goes on. The balloon, not near the top of the list, but unfortunately, that's what everyone's talking about right now. So they're going to postpone this meeting.

WALKER: Yes, the balloon would obviously dominate the talks if Blinken were still to go. Will Ripley, thank you very much.

SANCHEZ: Thanks, Will. Still to come, the U.S. just announced billions of dollars in new security assistance for Ukraine as Russian drone and missile attacks on civilian targets ramp up across that country. The very latest analysis next.

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[06:30:00]

SANCHEZ: The Biden administration on Friday announced billions of dollars in new security assistance for Ukraine. And for the first time, the U.S. will equip Kyiv with longer-range missiles in addition to anti-aircraft guns, precision-guided rockets and medical supplies.

This new aid package comes as Russian drone and missile attacks on civilian targets are ramping up across Ukraine ahead of the war's one year anniversary. We want to get some perspective now with retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. Colonel Leighton, always great to have you bright and early on a Saturday morning, appreciate the time as always.

First, these longer-range missiles included in the aid package, they can hit targets more than 90 miles away. Clearly, something has changed on the battlefield that's pushed the U.S. into supplying those longer-range missiles at this point in the war.

CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, that's right, good morning, Boris. One of the key things here is that they're finally looking at this as a war that you would have to go after, the place where these missiles, these Russian missiles and rockets originate from. And that's what's been missing really from the whole aid equation that we've had up until this point.

So, the one thing that you are looking at in terms of the actual weaponry, you're looking at these ground-launched small diameter bombs that are a part of that effort. They could be used as part of the HIMARS system, and they are the ones that have a range of up to around 95 miles. That can then really impact on Russian forces as they are launching missiles into places like Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Kramatorsk, all those areas.

And so, this could potentially -- if the Ukrainians get enough of them and get them in time, could make a big difference for the Ukrainians in the war effort. And that's going to be, I think a key component to the next phase of this war, especially if they're looking at an offensive operation on the part of the Russians.

SANCHEZ: Yes, and there is consensus that there's likely to be a renewed push from Russia into Ukraine, right? There are key signs, forces being amassed in certain locations. There isn't consensus though over exactly where Moscow might focus that push.

[06:35:00]

Where do you see the most vulnerability, the most vulnerable points for Ukraine? Where do you think the Kremlin is most likely to try to advance?

LEIGHTON: So we see a lot of -- around Bakhmut, which is in the east, kind of in that northeastern quadrant of Ukraine. That is an area where it's possible. But it seems to me that the Russians may move forward in the southern area around the Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, parts of that front.

That could be the place where they may move forward very quickly. We've seen them trying to soften up targets by launching major artillery barrages and rocket barrages against Kherson, against Zaporizhzhia areas, and that is going to be, I think, a place where they could advance.

They've certainly dug themselves in, but they have one big geographical boundary that they have to cross, that's the Dnipro River. And that of course, would mean a re-offensive into areas that the Ukrainians took over this past Fall.

SANCHEZ: And colonel, while we have you, we have to talk about this Chinese surveillance balloon. I imagine there are a lot of considerations that go into play when you think about shooting something like that down because it's not a balloon that just pops. There is a lot of heavy machinery on it, right?

LEIGHTON: Yes, and that's one of the things, Boris, it's very interesting about the balloon because, you know, if it continues to fly at the altitude of around 60,000 feet, then there is a problem because fighter jets for example usually don't fly that high. There are some that can reach that ceiling. But for the most part, they are at 50,000 feet or below.

So, it's not easy to use a fighter jet to shoot it down. You could potentially use a system like the patriot or something like that, but that would be a huge expenditure of munitions for something that is, you know, fairly small target in that sense. And so, it is -- you know, it is a bit of a challenge to bring something like this down.

And to bring it down in a controlled way where you really want to -- what you really want to do is, you want to get this device or the devices, the sensors on board this balloon, and explore, to see what they really can do, what they're capable of and how much of a surveillance platform this balloon actually is.

SANCHEZ: And potentially leave no doubt that it is a surveillance balloon which China to this point is denying. They said that it's a weather balloon. We'll be watching it closely, we hope you'll come back on to break down what happens with this. Colonel Cedric Leighton, always a pleasure.

LEIGHTON: It's always good to be with you, Boris, thank you so much.

SANCHEZ: Thanks.

WALKER: All right, coming up, we are learning new details in the murder trial for disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh and millions of dollars worth of settlement money he allegedly hid. We're going to have the very latest on that next.

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[06:40:00]

WALKER: Another Memphis police officer has been fired following the violent arrest and death of Tyre Nichols. Police say Preston Hemphill can be seen on body camera footage tasing Nichols and later heard saying, quote, "I hope they stomp his ass." His attorney says he disagrees with the termination, but will continue to cooperate with the investigation. Meantime, the Tennessee Emergency Medical Services Division is

suspending two first responders for failing to render aid to Nichols. The medical services division says that Robert Long and Jamichael Sandridge waited 19 minutes to provide even basic aid to Nichols. Long and Sandridge were already fired from the Memphis Fire Department after an investigation.

SANCHEZ: Meantime, it is week two of the Alex Murdaugh murder trial, and it wrapped in South Carolina with prosecutors calling key witnesses. The disgraced attorney is accused of murdering his wife and youngest son at the family's property back in June of 2021.

WALKER: Now, outside the presence of the jury, prosecutors brought in witnesses to testify about Murdaugh's alleged financial crimes, hoping to present the evidence as a possible motive for the killings. They also brought in a ballistics expert, attempting to link weapons at the family's home to the crime scene. CNN'S Randi Kaye with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL GREER, FIREARMS EXPERT, SLED: This is an example of a 223 Remington. This is the one that you may be more familiar with. I will show you now side by side, this is the 300 Blackout.

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Paul Greer is a firearms expert for SLED, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. He examined shell casings found at the murder scene and elsewhere around Alex Murdaugh's property. Greer told the jury that some of the casings found at the scene were fired from or ejected by weapons used before at Alex Murdaugh's home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And all these items are of the same model and manufacturer, is that correct?

GREER: Yes sir, they all appeared to have the same head stamp information and information on the side of the shell and their case construction all appears to be consistent.

KAYE: Prosecutors say Maggie Murdaugh was shot five times with a 300 Blackout rifle, and their son, Paul, was killed with a shotgun. According to testimony, both of those were often used by the Murdaugh family.

GREER: This shotgun was determined to be Benelli model Super Black Eagle 3 semi-automatic shotgun and 12 gauge.

KAYE: Here is why this expert's testimony is key. By telling the jury that shell casings scattered around the property where the Murdaughs live, and shell casings found at the murder scene match firearms from the home, the state is making the case that the guns used to kill Maggie and Paul had been fired many times on the Murdaugh property, and were owned by the Murdaughs.

Remember this witness, John Bedingfield(ph) said he built three 300 Blackout rifles for Alex Murdaugh. And Paul's good friend, Rogan Gibson testified this week about shooting the 300 Blackout with Paul just a couple of months before the murders.

[06:45:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you and Paul were together hunting with that Blackout, did you usually have the gun and shoot, or did Paul usually have the gun and shoot?

ROGAN GIBSON, PAUL MURDAUGH'S FRIEND: They just depend.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who had the gun more?

GIBSON: Probably Paul.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One guy is driving, the other guy is looking?

GIBSON: That's correct.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that something you all did frequently?

GIBSON: A good bit, yes sir.

KAYE: The state's goal convinced the jury the murder weapon was familiar to the Murdaugh property and eliminate the possibility that the killer could have come from the outside with a weapon that hadn't been used on the property before. The defense tried to pour water on his findings by pointing out the murder weapons have never been officially identified.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are not offering an opinion that item 22 shotgun was used to murder Paul Murdaugh, correct?

GREER: My result was inconclusive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you're not here to tell this jury in your opinion that this 300 Blackouts laying on the floor here was used to murder Maggie Murdaugh, correct?

GREER: The results of the comparisons of those cartridge cases items 237 with test fires from that item 33 rifle were also inconclusive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: And come Monday, we do expect to hear much more from investigators, from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division about what was found at the murder scene. Also we can expect to hear more about Alex Murdaugh's alleged financial schemes, and we could learn from the judge as to whether or not he will allow the jury to hear those details. Amara, Boris?

WALKER: Randi Kaye, thank you. Joining me now is CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Joey Jackson. All right, a lot here to unpack. So we heard part of that testimony from the firearms expert that those shell casings found near Maggie Murdaugh's body and around the scene match firearms from their home, but they were found to be inconclusive as murder weapons.

So what do you make of that and does that introduce enough doubt to halt -- help Alex Murdaugh?

JOEY JACKSON, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, great questions, Amara, good morning to you. And so, you have two battling narratives as you would in any particular trial, from the prosecution perspective, they're trying to put the weapon in his hand. They are trying, that is the prosecution, to establish that, listen, we examined shell casings around the property, we examined the particular firearm, we determined based upon that examination that the shell casings were very similar, right?

Identical to the ones around the property. And therefore, who else could it be? Says the prosecution through the expert witness. However, on cross-examination you hear that, you know, at the end of the day, it's inconclusive and we don't know. And so, the issue is going to be, Amara, which type of narrative this jury buys? Are you saying as we look there at all of the rifles, there are -- will the jury accept that?

Listen, it seems pretty odd, right? And there are really coincidental that shell casings examined by an expert were all over the property and they seem to be very similar to the one used in the weapon, but then again the firearms instructor said or expert said it was inconclusive.

What do we do? So inconclusive, the defense will yell, scream and shout, means reasonable doubt, the prosecution will say, you know what? It's not a coincidence, it was him. Let's see what the jury buys ultimately.

WALKER: Yes, you know, the last time we spoke, you talked about there being a lot of circumstantial evidence, right? And there is -- there seems to be so much material especially when it comes to this really complicated web of tragedies and alleged fraud and schemes that is connected to Alex Murdaugh. What -- so, is the defense strategy going to be about just painting doubt?

JACKSON: So without question, the defense will paint doubt. And I have to tell you, Amara, that initially, I was in the doubt column very much. So in terms of the reasonable doubt existing and potentially there was an acquittal. I think since the last time we've spoken, the prosecution has made significant head-way.

Remember, it's not just about the shell casings that potentially matched, that could be him. It's a lot more in terms of circumstantial evidence. We also heard the issue, right? This week in terms of putting him there, putting who there? The defendant Alex Murdaugh who is on trial. We heard about cellphone data this week.

We heard about the fact that he apparently, his voice was detected at that particular scene in surveillance and identified by a family friend -- two family friends that would put him at the murder scene at around the time the murders happened.

He said that he was napping. Which one is it? So the bottom line is that, you have to put together all of the circumstantial evidence. Generally, people who commit murders don't commit them in the light of day, they try to conceal them. The jury knows that. So what the jury has to do is match all of these pieces of the puzzle and make an assessment as to beyond a reasonable doubt, could it have been him?

[06:50:00]

And I think the prosecution has done a very good job putting him at the crime scene, putting the gun in his hand and suggesting to the jury that he's guilty.

WALKER: Right, and the prosecution is also trying to paint this bigger picture of his motive, right? Allegedly being -- a way to distract attention from these financial schemes that he was allegedly running. And the judge has yet as we heard from Randi Kaye, has yet to make a ruling on whether or not to allow testimony or evidence about Alex Murdaugh's various alleged financial crimes and schemes. How do you expect the judge to rule on this?

JACKSON: Yes, you know, Amara, I believe that the defense has a very good argument here with respect to relevance. The defense is saying that how is that relevant to whether or not he committed murder in terms of whatever financial shenanigans that he was engaged in or up to.

We heard, of course, testimony outside the presence of the jury concerning those financial shenanigans, concerning him handling apparently with his housekeeper of 20 years. That personal injury case with a friend because she slipped and fell, and him not disclosing that with Murdaugh, that is to the family, that he had reached financial settlement.

We heard about the fact that he stole his firm's money again outside the presence of the jury. The defense is saying OK, he is a dishonest person potentially, but does that make him a murderer? On the other hand, the prosecution is showing that, listen, his family could have turned on him as a result. You don't know what internal discussions they had in that regard.

He was concerned about them closing in and therefore got rid of them. I don't particularly buy that as a motive. The wife has a spousal privilege, does not have to testify against her husband. The son, right? I mean, why would the son testify against his father? So that's not a particularly compelling motive.

The judge has to decide whether to allow that in, so the jury can hear it and make a decision as to whether it could have been a motive here, not the strongest motive in my view.

WALKER: Well, it will be interesting to see what more is unveiled about what was found -- what more was found at the scene when the trial continues. Joey Jackson, good to see you. Thank you.

JACKSON: Always, thanks, Amara.

SANCHEZ: Still ahead, basketball star Kyrie Irving's time in Brooklyn may be over by this time next week. Your "BLEACHER REPORT" is up after a quick break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:55:00]

SANCHEZ: Basketball star Kyrie Irving's time in Brooklyn may be over by this time next week. According to multiple reports, the eight-time All-Star has requested a trade preferably before Thursday's deadline.

WALKER: Carolyn Manno joining us now with more in this morning's "BLEACHER REPORT". Good morning, Carolyn.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. You know, wherever Kyrie goes, controversy just seems to follow. I mean, this news that he wants out of Brooklyn coming just a week after being voted as a starter in the upcoming NBA All-Star game with his team sitting in fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

But just when things are so great, they're smoothing out in Brooklyn, something else drops. And according to those reports, he told the team, he does want to be traded within the next six days before that deadline on Thursday, or he's going to leave in free agency in July. The eight-time All-Star is in the final year of that four-year $136.4 million contract, but he has certainly had something of a tumultuous run with the Nets who rescinded a four-year $200 million extension offer in October of 2021 after he refused to meet New York's COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

He ended up playing in just 29 games last season. And then 3 months ago, many people remember that he was suspended by the team for failing to disavow anti-Semitism in the wake of tweeting a link to a film that feature anti-Semitic troves. Kyrie eventually apologizing for that. He completed a list of team-issued tasks and then returned after missing eight games.

CNN has reached out to the Nets and Kyrie's agent for comment on this most recent development. There are some rumors now that he could be headed to L.A. potentially to meet up with LeBron James who is in pursuit of the NBA's all-time scoring record, that is set to continue today when the Lakers travel to New Orleans to face the Pelicans.

LeBron now just 63 points away from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's record. But he would need to have a career-high performance to take the top spot in this game. His highest scoring effort 61 points while with the Miami Heat way back in 2014. There is also a chance that King James won't even play. He's recently been experiencing left ankle soreness.

But we do know that, that record is very much on his mind. By the way, Kareem has held that record for nearly 39 years, and set the all-time scoring mark in 1984, that was 8 months before LeBron was even born.

Elton John singing "Saturday Night's Alright". For fighting, where Friday night was good enough for the Orlando Magic and the Minnesota Timberwolves. Keep an eye on the top of your screen here. Minnesota guard Austin Rivers and 7 foot, 231 pound Magic center Mo Bamba getting into it in front of Orlando's bench. And then things just going from bad to worse. It got ugly in an all-

out brawl, punches being thrown, when it was over, five players were ejected. The Magic ended up winning an ugly one, 127-120, the final there. And there is a lot of demand, guys, for Tom Brady memorabilia ever since he announced his second retirement for good, we think earlier this week.

That apparently includes sand. Somebody found the exact location where the seven-time Super Bowl winner recorded his good-bye message to football, and listed the sand for sale on eBay. So the incredible part of all this is as of Saturday morning, the bidding for the bottle has reached nearly $100,000 with more than eight days until the auction closes.

Of course, it remains to be seen if the winning bidder will actually pay that kind of money, but the fact that there has been 124 bids is just the latest example of how popular the quarterback is. You guys spend a lot more time on the beach than I do, a $100,000 for a jar of sand, it seems crazy to me --

WALKER: No --

MANNO: But sports --

SANCHEZ: No --

MANNO: Fans are crazy.

SANCHEZ: Listen, I got a deal. I'll give it to you for a 100 bucks.

(LAUGHTER)

I have so much Tom Brady sand.