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Grim Milestone: One Year Since Russia Invaded Ukraine; Today: Biden Admin Expected To Announce $2 Billion Aid To Ukraine; Austin: Ukraine War Will "End With Some Sort Of Negotiation"; Today: Alex Murdaugh Faces Day Two Of Cross-Examination; CNN Gets Rare Access To Surveillance Flight over South China Sea. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired February 24, 2023 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Russia has declared Bill Browder a threat to its national security. What he can tell us about sanctions and Putin, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(GUN SHOTS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Focus. So on that way.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Put the driver as well, OK?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

CHANCE: Let's move down this way against the wall. Because you can't see this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. I need you to check how you (INAUDIBLE).

CHANCE: It's OK, it's OK. Keep, Joe (ph).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So that was our Matthew Chance and his team caught in an intense firefight on the outskirts of Kyiv, was one year ago today, as a matter of fact. In a year since missile strikes, bombings, and ground combat have killed more than 8,000 civilians with nearly 14,000 wounded. 14 million people were driven from their homes, according to the United Nations.

Officials call it Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II. And as this war enters its second year, one of Putin's fiercest critics says there is another way to help the Ukrainians win. In a Financial Times op ed, activist and financier Bill Browder says this, and I quote, "We have to fight Russia with banks as well as tanks. Western allies froze well over $300 billion of Russian central bank reserves in the first week of the war. This money should not just be frozen, it should be seized for the defense and reconstruction of Ukraine."

[07:35:20]

Bill Browder with us now. He was the largest foreign investor in Russia until 2005, when he exposed corruption in Russian's state-owned companies. He was declared a, quote, threat to national security and was denied entry to the country. Welcome. Thank you for joining.

BILL BROWDER, CEO, HERMITAGE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: Nice to be here.

LEMON: This morning, the Biden administration is announcing more sanctions on Russia. But you want them to seize the money that you discussed. How would that work, sir? Is that actually possible, Bill?

BROWDER: So, as far as the numbers go, there's about $350 billion of frozen Russian money. It's being held at the U.S. Federal Reserve, at the Bank of England, at the European Central Bank, and various other banks among allied countries. That money currently belongs to Russia.

But if we look at the whole situation, the amount of damage that's been done by Russia to Ukraine is estimated to be well north of $1 trillion, $1.2 to be exact. And so, before we start digging into our own pockets, it makes total moral, financial, and political sense for that money to be confiscated.

And is it legally possible? Yes, it's legally possible if we were to adjust the laws. People -- right now, Putin is hiding behind a law called sovereign immunity, which means that any assets that belong to the state can't be touched. But Putin has redefined international crime by killing Ukrainians, by bombing, by invading their country, we should be adjusting international law.

And so it would require some change to law in the United States and other countries, but I can't think of a more important and worthy reason to do it than to rebuild Ukraine after this terrible damage has been done.

LEMON: But this whole idea, unless you said we should do it with tanks and banks, you don't believe that we're giving them the United States and Western allies enough to win the war. You're giving them enough to fight the war, but not enough to win the war. Do you think that by giving them money, that Putin may see this as an act of aggression rather than ratcheting things down, or ratchet things up even more?

BROWDER: Well, everybody is always saying on the western side, the U.S. government and the European Union, we don't want to, in any way, provoke Putin anymore. We don't want to escalate. But Putin is the guy who's escalating. He's the one who is, like, you know, bombing the electricity grid. He's the one bombing children's -- children who are hiding out in Mariupol. He's the one whose soldiers are raping Ukrainian women.

There's no escalation. What we're trying to do is help Ukraine defend themselves, both with military hardware, but also with financial resources so that they can carry on, so they don't just capitulate because they were bankrupted or destroyed. And so, I don't see helping Ukraine as an escalation. I see helping Ukraine as just the moral and right.

LEMON: I want to get you on what is happening with because you predicted that we would be here a year from now, correct? And I think you predict that we will be here a year from now beyond if we don't do what you said. There is recent polling -- our Kylie Atwood was just on and we discussed, she calls it a softening in support for U.S. intervention in this war.

Are you concerned that international support for Ukraine will dry out the longer that this war goes on, even though you believe that we will be here a year from now if we don't use that $3 billion or so that you talked about?

BROWDER: Well, sadly, I do see a softening of support. It's just human nature that people grow tired of, you know, the conflicts that is less front-page news. We're starting to hear people in the far right of the Republican Party, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, saying, no money for Ukraine. And so this is a real problem.

And as time goes on, it will become even more of a problem. And this is kind of what Putin's banking on. So, in my estimation, neither side has a decisive military advantage to win the war. And so, it's going to drag out. And so Putin's only hope is that somehow America stops funding the war. And if that were to be the case, then Ukraine would lose. And so that is our big risk right now.

LEMON: Bill, I love having you. I got to ask you one more question before you go, and it's quick. I was -- wonder if you were surprised. Our -- my colleague Kaitlan Collins interviewed the Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. He says he believes that there will be a negotiated end to this war. Do you agree with that assessment?

BROWDER: I do not agree with that assessment. I don't think. Putin can't negotiate.

[07:40:00]

Negotiation for him is a sign of weakness. I've been fighting with Putin myself for 13 years. He's never compromised, never negotiated in any way, shape or form. And the Ukrainians, so many have been raped, killed, mutilated, tortured. They're not going to negotiate. This is not going to end with a negotiation.

LEMON: Bill Browder, pleasure as always. Thank you.

BROWDER: Thank you.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Raises a good point, a good question about if the Ukrainians do want to negotiate after everything. You know, Zelenskyy's talked about how do you trust the Russians.

LEMON: Yes, I don't think they -- I think they just want the Russians, obviously. They just want them gone. No negotiating, just get out of their country.

COLLINS: Yes.

LEMON: Yes.

COLLINS: Bill Browder knows very well.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

COLLINS: Great interview. All right, also next, what's happening in South Carolina in a courtroom? Tears, admissions, a forceful denial from Alex Murdaugh, on the stand in his double murder trial. He is set to go back on the stand in just a few hours from now.

CNN Senior Legal Analyst Laura Coates is going to share her takeaways and what she's watching today. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:45:08]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEX MURDAUGH, ACCUSED OF MURDERING WIFE, SON: I didn't shoot my wife or my son any time. Ever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: What a day. Yesterday in court, just hours from now, Alex Murdaugh is set to be back on the stand in South Carolina. The disgraced former attorney is set to face another round of cross examination in the murder trial of his wife and younger son.

Murdaugh decided to testify in his own defense yesterday, and it was a stunning move that legal experts note is really risky. He denied killing both of his family members, but he did admit to lying several times. Our Randi Kaye breaks down the stunning testimony.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MURDAUGH: I'm Alex Murdaugh, M-U-R-D-A-U-G-H. Good morning.

RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Alex Murdaugh sharing his story from the witness stand, telling the jury he didn't kill his wife and son.

JIM GRIFFIN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Just to be clear, were you anywhere in the vicinity when Paul and Maggie were shot?

MURDAUGH: I was nowhere near Paul and Maggie when they got shot.

KAYE (voice-over): And after more than a year and a half, Murdaugh finally came clean about this key piece of state's evidence against him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's got to burn his mouth. GRIFFIN: Mr. Murdaugh, is that you on the kennel video at 08:44 p.m. on June 7th, the night Maggie and Paul were murdered?

MURDAUGH: It is.

KAYE (voice-over): Over and over, Murdaugh had told investigators he hadn't seen his family since dinner and was not at the dog kennels around the time of the murders. But that video, extracted from his son's phone, was recorded just a few minutes before prosecutors believe the killings happened.

Murdaugh told the jury he had left the kennels right after the video was recorded and driven his golf cart to the main house on the property to take a nap.

MURDAUGH: There's no way that I had high velocity blood spatter on me.

KAYE (voice-over): During cross examination, Murdaugh clashed at times with the lead prosecutor.

MURDAUGH: And Mr. Waters, just to try to get through this quicker, I admit --

CREIGHTON WATERS, PROSECUTOR: I know you want to get through it quicker, but we're not, so answer the question.

KAYE (voice-over): Evidence presented in court also shows Murdaugh drove to his mother's house at 9:06 p.m. that night and paused briefly in her driveway. He explained he was simply trying to locate his phone in his car.

GRIFFIN: Were you, during that minute, or however long it was, were you disposing of murder weapons, Alex?

MURDAUGH: No.

GRIFFIN: Were you disposing of bloody clothes?

MURDAUGH: No.

KAYE (voice-over): And what about that blue rain jacket recovered from his mother's house? One state's witness said it had a substantial amount of gunshot residue on the inside. The state suggested Murdaugh used it to wrap up and dispose of the murder weapons.

GRIFFIN: This blue rain jacket, have you ever seen that before?

MURDAUGH: Never seen it before, never touched it, and don't know anything about it.

KAYE (voice-over): Several times during cross examination, the prosecutor accused Murdaugh of being a bit too rehearsed with his responses.

WATERS: How many times have you practiced that answer before your testimony today? Because you've keep repeating the same one over and over again.

MURDAUGH: I've never practiced that answer.

KAYE (voice-over): Still, in between the evidence, Murdaugh found some openings to share how much he says he loved his wife and son. And in gruesome detail, he described for the jury how he says he found Maggie and Paul at the kennels after returning from his mother's home.

MURDAUGH: I was on the phone with 911. I was trying to attend to Pawpaw (ph). I was trying to attend to Maggie. And I just went back and forth between them. I know -- I mean, I know I tried to check him for a pulse. I know I tried to turn him over. Me and my boy's laying face down. He's done the way he's done. It was the way it was. I could see his brain laying on the sidewalk.

KAYE (voice-over): Randi Kaye, CNN, Walterboro, South Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: For more on what we saw yesterday, I want to bring in CNN's Senior Legal Analyst Laura Coates, who is a former federal prosecutor. Laura, I am definitely not a former federal prosecutor, but I wonder what you make of the idea that he actually took the stand. Is that often advised by one's attorneys?

LAURA COATES, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: I mean, it's only advised if you, as defense attorneys, are scared that there is some hole, some question that can only be answered by your client. You know, there are times when defense doesn't even present a case, Kaitlan. They will look at what the prosecution has done.

The prosecution will rest, and they'll say, you know what? There's no need for us even to come here and talk because you have not met your burden of proof. Fact that they even are putting on a defense is signaling something. But the fact that he himself took the stand, extraordinary.

Especially because, Kaitlan, he had to answer the questions that multiple witnesses raised for the jury, which was, why is it that he lied about being at the kennels that night, seemingly moments before the murders took place?

[07:50:08]

And why was he consistently lying to the prosecutor -- to the police officers about that very notion? He has to answer that. And, of course, the idea of all those financial crimes, Kaitlan, he answered for those as well.

COLLINS: Yes, openly admitting that he stole money from his law firm, from his clients. Today, though, and what the bottom half of yesterday was, was the cross examination. The prosecutors getting their chance. What did you make of how they did or, you know, what do you think they need to get at further today when he's back on the stand?

COATES: Well, a perfect cross is one where your witness is only answering yes or no because you want the actual attorney's voice to lead, to create that narrative, to talk about what it is you want that jury to know -- the faults, the shortcomings, the blaring and gaping holes.

The fact that he was able to answer in broader terms is indicative of the fact that he was probably very well-rehearsed and coached to know. You don't let the momentum and that train keep going. You got to slow him down.

As for the questions, though, there is an Achilles heel for the prosecution here. While Murdaugh is saying akin to, I shot the sheriff, but I did not shoot the deputy. I'm a liar. I am somebody who was addicted to opioids, but I never committed murder, certainly not my wife and children. The prosecution has to still try to bridge a gap for this jury, which is the why.

Now, motive does not have to be proven by prosecutors, Kaitlan, but it's a 10,000-pound gorilla for every jury in the room as to why, especially because the videos beforehand showed some sort of obviously a close relationship. There was some laughter about a bird in the dog's mouth and beyond, a tree that was arcing, if you remember that video with the son, Pawpaw (ph), and his father.

So why did it happen at that time, is really what the prosecution has got to bridge. And they have said it's because he was trying to distract from financial crimes. But finally, Kaitlan, if that's the case, I wonder if jurors are asking themselves, hold on, he needed to distract from financial crimes that he openly has now admitted under oath in court with a trial ahead. Does that make sense to the jury? Only they will know.

COLLINS: Fascinating. Also fascinating to watch him kind of address the jury head on. Laura Coates, I know that you will be watching it today. We will hear --

COATES: Yes.

COLLINS: -- as well. Be sure to watch CNN for the continued cross examination coverage of Alex Murdaugh. The court is going to resume at 9:30 this morning. Thank you, Laura.

LEMON: Yes, and I'm going to do a --

COATES: Thanks.

LEMON: -- Wolf Blitzer here and make sure you tune in to Laura Coates every single night here on CNN --

COLLINS: Yes.

LEMON: -- 10 and 11:00 p.m., where she is holding it down for CNN tonight.

Just ahead on CNN This Morning, we are getting a rare bird's eye view of the South China Sea. CNN's Ivan Watson is standing by at the U.S. base in Okinawa, Japan. IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Don, that's right. I just returned from a flight aboard this U.S. Navy reconnaissance plane through the South China Sea, where the plane was closely shadowed by a Chinese fighter jet. And I'll have more on that story after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:57:11]

LEMON: This morning, U.S.-China relations are at a historic low over issues like trade, technology and the spy balloon, and Taiwan as well. Now, CNN is getting rare access on board, a US. military surveillance flight over the South China Sea.

Ivan Watson, our correspondent, live at a U.S. based Okinawa, Japan, with more. Hello to you, Ivan. What did you learn on this surveillance flight?

WATSON: Well, Don., we flew past Taiwan and into the South China Sea. These are both regions that China claims basically for itself. And Washington argues this is international airway and waterways, and that's why the Navy operates in these areas. And as we approached the Paracel Islands, which China occupies, Chinese officials over the radio warned this plane away.

And moments later, a Chinese fighter jet, a J-11, it's a two-seater armed with air-to-air missiles, flew along the western -- the left side of the wing here for more than a quarter of an hour. So close, you could see the pilots moving around in the cockpit. And repeated warnings for the U.S. plane to leave.

The plane made an eventual turn and went to other parts of the South China Sea. We overheard the Philippines Navy warning Chinese ships out of Philippines water. The Philippines is an ally of the U.S. We also saw this plane descend to an altitude of just 1,000 feet over very stormy seas to look at two Chinese guided missile destroyers that repeatedly warned the plane's crew to move away, saying that they felt threatened.

And the plane crew responded, saying they were operating at a safe distance and they were not threatening those warships. It's part of a cat and mouse game between the militaries of the world's two richest economies, again in a very hotly contested part of the world. Don?

LEMON: And also the size of their forces. Because China now has the world's largest Navy. How can the U.S. keep up, Ivan?

WATSON: That's a tough question. And in fact, the Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, he says that China has an advantage. It has more shipyards. He's calling for modernization of the U.S. Navy for improvement of the shipyards. But again says that the U.S. is at a disadvantage when it comes to China's shipbuilding capacity.

That said, China's aggressive posture is pushing countries in the region, Japan, to dramatically increase its defense spending. The Philippines is asking the U.S., is making a deal to expand U.S. military presence rotating through the Philippines bases. That is a way of force projecting acts add to that, a U.S. deal to build nuclear submarines with the U.K. and Australia. That maybe a way to try to keep pace.

LEMON: Ivan Watson, Okinawa, Japan. Thank you very much for that, Ivan. I appreciate it.

CNN This morning starts right now.