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CNN This Morning

Zelenskyy Rallies Nation as War Enters Second Year; China Outlines 12-Point Peace Plan for Ukraine, Calls For Ceasefire; Alex Murdaugh Denies Killing Wife & Son, Admits He Lied to Police; Polls Close In Nigeria's Presidential & Parliamentary Elections; GA Grand Jury Foreperson Panel Recommended Multiple Indictments; Rare Blizzard Warning Issued For Parts Of Southern California. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired February 25, 2023 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Perhaps by the way.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks for being with us this morning. The next hour of CNN This Morning starts right now.

WALKER: All right, good morning. We're going to do this again. Welcome to CNN This Morning. It is February 25. I'm Amara Walker.

SANCHEZ: Good morning, Amara. I'm Boris Sanchez. We've been talking a little bit about everything this morning from insomnia to all the day's news, the weird weather we're seeing on the west coast and the spring like conditions we're seeing on the east coast. So let's get started with what we're watching on CNN This Morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't think he needs F-16s now?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, he doesn't need F-16s now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Number one, President Biden ruling out sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine and this morning, Russia continuing to hammer targets in Ukraine. We're going to take you there live.

WALKER: Number two, gripping testimony in Alex Murdaugh's murder trial.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CREIGHTON WATERS: Mr. Murdaugh, are you a family annihilator?

ALEX MURDAUGH: A family annihilator? You mean like did I shoot my wife and my son?

WATERS: Yes.

MURDAUGH: No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: CNN is inside the courtroom as Murdaugh takes a stand for hours, reason he says he lied to police, but maintains he had nothing to do with his wife and son's murder.

SANCHEZ: And number three, we alluded to it, a white out winter in California rare blizzard warnings up across parts of the state for the first time in decades. Your weekend forecast just moments away.

So this morning, Ukraine enters its second year of war with Russia with a defiant message from its president and the world.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, acknowledging the grim milestone speaking before his troops in Kyiv. He declared 2023 is the year of Ukraine's victory over Russia and expressed his confidence in his country's ability to fend off attacks.

WALKER: Ukraine's international allies showed their solidarity with tributes and announcements of new weapons and funding. The first shipment of heavy battle tanks arrived in Ukraine with much more advanced weaponry expected in the coming weeks.

And just days after a historic visit to Ukraine, the Biden administration announced a $2 billion security package and at the United Nations Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on the international community not to let Putin's crimes become our new normal. Melissa Bell joining us now from the ground there and Kyiv. Melissa sadly, you know, we are entering the second year today of this war, and we're seeing more attacks across Ukraine?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Specifically along the eastern front, Amara. And this is something that we were expecting or Ukrainians had warned might change over the course last 24 hours as they expected Moscow to mark this anniversary with more violence or more widespread violence.

Instead, what we've seen is an intensification of the fighting along that Eastern Front, it is a huge line, of course and there have been both from Ukrainian confirmations, but now from the Russian Ministry of Defense confirmation of some of those strikes and some of that violence along several of those parts of the frontline, specifically the Luhansk front but also around the town of Bakhmut that has been the subject of such fierce fighting over the course of the last few weeks.

We're also hearing, Amara, this morning, of strikes inside Mariupol. Now, these have been confirmed to Ukrainian authorities by resistance groups inside the Russian held at City and appear were believed to be the work of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

And that's important of course, because Mariupol has emerged since its occupation, since it felt fully addressed and hands is an important hub base for Russian troops and Russian military supplies as they seek to resupply their routes to the north of that. So that is the situation but the fact is that it tells us that one

year on what we have is an intensification it rises it falls along those many different points of a frontline that is essentially not moved very much for several weeks now.

And that of course is part of what was behind President Zelenskyy's yesterday's calls over the course of those commemorative events, including the press conference in front of so much of the foreign press gathered here for that anniversary yesterday. That they need more help, more weapons, more determination still on the part of the international community to see this thing through. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE: 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 the liberation of our land, and our pillow from Russian captivity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[08:05:18]

BELL: It was also, of course, a moment to take stock of the huge cost of this war, Amara and Boris. And we're talking about hundreds of 1000s of dead according to the latest American assessments on both sides and specifically 40,000 civilians on the Ukrainian. That is the human cost of the war one year on and it was about mourning them, taking stock of that cost. And, of course, that is behind President's Zelenskyy calls as well.

But what we're seeing when we look at that 2 billion aid package announced by the United States and there will be other weapons shipments by other NATO allies is that whilst there is a determination to back Ukraine, there is a reluctance to escalate. And this has been one of the threads that we've seen over the course of the last few years.

And there's protests to where we are today essentially, more or less frozen, frontline in the east and a wish on the side of the Ukrainians to push further forward. And a determination on the Russian side to get as far as they can. But increasingly, the world looking on and wondering when it's going to be time to sit down and negotiate Amara and Boris.

SANCHEZ: A war of attrition right now on the eastern front. Melissa Bell, thank you so much, reporting live from Kyiv.

We want to get a closer look at the supply of weaponry headed to Ukraine, and specifically what the White House will not sent. For that, let's go to Wilmington, Delaware, and CNN's Jasmine Wright is there. She's been traveling with President Biden who announced billions in new funding for Ukraine. Jasmine, but there is one weapon, he said would not be headed to Eastern Europe? JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, that's right, Boris. That is the F-16 fighter jets. President Biden did not include it on the series of things that he announced yesterday, really to mark the first-year anniversary of the war in Ukraine.

President Biden started his day in D.C. where he virtually met with G7 leaders, of course, that group Western allies that have committed to support Ukraine, both giving them things that they need to assist them in the war, but also punishing Russia with sanctions on President Biden he committed his enduring support to Ukraine for as long as it's needed.

He announced that very large security package $2 billion in security assistance that really included a lot of things that Ukraine has asked for include, including more munition as it really continues this war.

Now that included HIMARS rocket launchers as well as additional artillery shells, drones and counter drone activity. But of course, those F-16s were not included on that list. Now, of course, we know President Zelenskyy of Ukraine who attended that G7 leader in the morning yesterday -- or G7 -- G7 leader meeting in the morning yesterday.

We know that he's asked repeatedly for these fighter jets from President Biden including when Biden was in Ukraine on Monday. But Friday in an interview with ABC, President Biden said that he is ruling get out for now. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Zelenskyy continues to say what he really needs are F-16s. Will you send F-16s?

BIDEN: Look, we're sending him what are seasoned military things you need to know. He needs tanks. He needs artillery. He needs air defense, including another HIMARS, there's things he needs now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't think he needs F-16s now?

BIDEN: No, he doesn't need F-16s now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WRIGHT: So, of course, that is a sentiment that President Zelenskyy does not agree with, I'm sure we'll hear more in the future about more F-16 fighter jet requests.

Now, of course, an additional thing that President Biden unveiled yesterday to mark that one-year anniversary was sanctions and what the administration is calling one of its most significant packages of sanctions to date here and it because it includes targeting about 200 individuals and companies really trying to narrow in on companies that have allowed Russia to really evade these Western sanctions.

So it targets things like the military supply chain, mining materials, but also it focuses on ounce companies outside of Russia, like in China that have also utilize ways to prop up the Russian war effort. So that is what the White House was touting yesterday, as it really continued to pledge its enduring support to Ukraine for as long as it needs it. Boris, Amara?

SANCHEZ: Jasmine Wright reporting live from Delaware. Jasmine, thank you so much for that.

We should point out in the midst of all of this, it's not just the West that's supporting Ukraine on the other side of this conflict, Russia's allies are also coming out in support of the Kremlin and the President Biden has rejected a new 12 Point peace plan that was proposed by China.

WALKER: Yeah, the Chinese have signaled its willingness to play mediator but Beijing has yet to condemn its ally Russia or even use the word invasion especially in that peace plan. CNN's Mark Stewart has more.

[08:10:12]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARC STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We have China trying to portray itself as a neutral peace broker. This despite its no limits pledge with Russia. On Friday, China released a position paper a 12- point document, which among other things, call us for a resumption of peace talks with China continuing to play a constructive role, yet there are no specifics on what that would look like.

In addition, China has avoided calling the conflict in Ukraine invasion. The paper also calls for an anti-unilateral sanctions and resolution to the humanitarian crisis. It also says nuclear weapons should not be used and nuclear wars must not be thought yet the document fails to acknowledge Russia's violation of Ukrainian sovereignty. Here's the view from a top State Department official, a Chinese role.

VICTORIA NULAND, UNDER SECY. OF STATE FOR POLLICAL AFFAIRS: It can't simply be a cynical ceasefire that allows the Russians the time to go home rest, refit and return. If Xi Jinping can get Putin and his army out of Ukraine, I think we'd all applaud and give a peace prize.

STEWART: As far as reaction, Ukraine's charged affairs called the paper a good song that added -- we'd like to see China do more to end the war. This Paper comes as officials from the West have raised concerns that China may be considering providing Russia with lethal military force with NATO's chief warning that would be a big mistake. Marc Stewart, CNN, Tokyo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Our thanks to Marc Stewart for that reporting. Let's discuss this Chinese peace plan aid going to Ukraine on the somber anniversary with CNN Military Analyst and Retired Major General James "Spider" Marks. And Atlantic Staff Writer, Anne Applebaum. She's also a Senior Fellow at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and the author of Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism.

Thank you both for joining us this morning. Anne, a year into this conflict. Who is winning this war?

ANNE APPLEBAUM, STAFF WRITER, THE ATLANTIC: By all accounts, the Ukrainians are winning the war. The Russians believe the war would be a three day, maybe a three-week event. They were -- they were prepared already to conduct parades in Kyiv. They had -- they arrived with their dress uniforms.

Since then, they've had to completely readjust their wargames repeatedly. The Ukrainians have pushed them back have held them to the line and are now preparing a new offensive. We don't know exactly what that will look like or when it will take place. But the momentum remains on the side of Ukraine.

SANCHEZ: And General, curious to get your thoughts, where do you think -- where do you see things as they stand now?

MAJ. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, clearly Ukraine is doing a magnificent job at the tactical level of engagement from a military guys perspective. They are -- they are engaging the Russians very aggressively, incredibly creative use of manpower of the forces that they have. I mean, this is innovative warfare that even the United States military is learning some lessons from.

I agree with Anne, but at the strategic level, Russia has not departed. Russia's goal is to try to wear down the will of the Ukrainians to resist, that has not happened yet. But we are seeing from the words of President Zelenskyy that 2023 is the year of victory or peace as he indicated.

So unless the Ukrainians can get more of what they need and faster, the operational maneuver peace, you've had the tactical fight, but you've got to tie it together and achieve operational momentum.

That won't be achieved unless they can get more faster this year. So you move down the path of what is the likelihood of some negotiated settlement, is that possible? Zelenskyy has said, it's not. But you need to look at it realistically and think maybe that is a possibility. But that's up to the Ukrainians to determine.

SANCHEZ: Anne, to a degree, I recognized in President Zelenskyy's comments, an urgency that this could be or the year the war ends, in part because Ukrainian officials have kind of been irked by the suggestion from the West that they'll be there helping as long as they need to be, their fear is that as a war of attrition, delaying more aggressive push against Russia means ultimately defeat for Ukraine. So where do you see that line for aid? Stopping should the United States give them those F-16s for example?

APPLEBAUM: So the F-16s won't make a difference in the next few months, because it takes a long time to learn how to use them.

[08:15:02] So in that sense I think it's a little bit of a red herring that that issue, far more important are, you know, is ammunition, as well as long range weapons that will enable Ukrainians to hit long range targets behind the lines. Some there was -- your reporters this morning said that some targets had been hit in Mariupol overnight. That's good news. That could mean, that could mean that they're beginning to get the technology together to do that.

The other important point to make I think, is that, you know, this is also a psychological war of attrition that both sides are waiting for the other to give up. This is why it was so important that President Biden went to Kyiv.

It's so important that a number of Republicans have been clear their support for Ukraine, because Putin's goal is to make it seem like it's never going to end and that he will always get weapons, and he's never going to leave. And are we have to demonstrate that we won't be leaving either. So those things I think are a little bit more important than whether Biden makes an announcement about F-16s.

SANCHEZ: And General, obviously, a big concern now, is China's role in all of this. The Biden administration putting forth this intelligence that Beijing is considering supplying lethal aid to the Kremlin? How could that change the dynamic on the battlefield?

MARKS: Well, if they chose to do it, it would depend upon what they provide. And again, what's the amount of the support that they're providing? Look, Russia's way of war is to put young men that essentially are not very well trained into the fight.

This is a slaughterhouse in many cases, without being flippant, my concern would be the Ukrainians are going to run out of ammunition because they have so -- it's so target rich, you're going to see Russian bodies continue to get piled up. But that is not an incentive for Russia to stop.

I think what China is going to do is it will continue, behind the scenes, to provide support to Russia, in terms of its position not to acknowledge that Russia did anything wrong. But China views the world through a financial transactional lens. This war in Ukraine is bad for business. This is -- you don't -- you don't reinforce success.

I mean, you reinforce success, you don't reinforce failure, and the Russians are failing in Ukraine, there's no reason, there's no incentive for China, to reinforce and to support Russia militarily in this way. And also, China wants to have a vibrant and fulsome and rich relationship with Western European countries.

It also wants to try to do that with the United States, albeit it's starting to cool a little bit in terms of U.S.-Chinese relationships. So there's every reason for China not to do this. If they were, it would be a big mistake. It would be a big mistake for the long-term. And I think China would then get wrapped up into this ganglia of this mess in Ukraine and they don't want to part of it.

SANCHEZ: It does seem by putting out this plan, though, that China sees itself as a world power that can shape the future of this conflict. For example, got to leave the conversation there. Retired Major General James "Spider" Marks and Anne Applebaum, thank you both so much.

MARKS: Thank you, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Of course. We do have a quick programming note to share with you. Be sure to join Clarissa Ward as she takes an in depth look at Ukraine one year after the war began. Watch the CNN Special Report, The Will to Win: Ukraine at War tomorrow night at 8 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

WALLACE: Alex Murdaugh takes the stand in his own murder trial and immediately admits that he lied to police about where he was on the day, members of his family were murdered, why he opted to testify and what prosecutors are trying to prove.

Plus, Nigerians are at the polls this morning in the largest democratic exercise on the African continent. We're going to go live to Lagos as Nigeria picks a new president.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:23:02]

WALKER: This morning, new revelations in the Alex Murdaugh double murder trial after the disgrace lawyer was grilled for hours on the witness stand Friday by prosecutors.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, Murdaugh was testifying for six hours mostly under cross examination. And he did something you typically don't see defendants do. He admitted to lying to investigators about where he was on the night of the murders. Though he insisted that he did not kill his wife and son. CNN's Randi Kaye has the details for us from South Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEX MURDAUGH, ACCUSED OF MURDERING WIFE, SON: I have lied well over a decade.

RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: 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 with to that.

KAYE: 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: Murdaugh told the jury he drove his golf cart to meet his wife Maggie and son Paul at the kennels. 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: Murdaugh estimated it's about a two-minute drive on the golf cart from the kennel to the main house, which would put him there at 8:49 p.m. The very same time prosecutors say Maggie and Paul's phones ceased all activity suggesting they were dead ones back at the house.

CREIGHTON WATERS, CHIEF PROSECUTOR: You lay down on the couch?

MURDAUGH: That's correct.

KAYE: 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 start showing a lot of steps and there's far more steps in a shorter time period than -- than any time prior as you've seen from the testimony in this case. So, what were you so busy doing? Going to the bathroom?

MURDAUGH: Now, I don't think that I go to the bathroom.

WATERS: Get on the treadmill?

MURDAUGH: No, I didn't get on a treadmill.

WATERS: Jog in place?

MURDAUGH: No, I didn't jog in place. And what I wasn't doing is doing anything. As I believe eve 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: 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: Absolutely incorrect.

KAYE: Meanwhile, Murdaugh's attempt to show he'd been trying to cooperate with investigators backfired.

MURDAUGH: Other than lying to them about going to the kennel, I was cooperated 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 die?

KAYE: 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 7, they knew that they would be at the kennels alone on June the 7th, they 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: And 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 is suggesting that he was doing so to try and establish an alibi. Looking ahead to the week, we could see the defense rest as early as Monday and closing arguments sometime later in the week. Boris, Amara?

WALKER: Randi Kaye, thank you for your reporting. Let's talk more about the drama that we saw play out with civil rights attorney Areva Martin.

Areva, glad to have you on this morning. I mean, just watching the several hours of testimony, to me it seemed like Alex Murdaugh was really trying to use his experience as an attorney to his advantage, especially the way that he was parsing, you know, his explanations and his responses. Do you think him taking the stand appealing directly to the jury may ultimately benefit him?

AREVA MARTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, it definitely Amara, was a calculated risk. And I think he had no choice once ten or so witnesses came forward and said that was definitely his voice on that TikTok video that was photographed, filmed right before Paul and Maggie were killed.

He had to explain how it is that his voice is on a video at the kennel when he had told the police for months that he was not at the kennel, that he was at home, taking a nap around the murder time. So I don't think he had a choice if he wanted to be acquitted or to have a reasonable chance of being acquitted.

But it's always risky when a defendant takes the witness stand because what happened over the last two days is what we expected to happen which was a grilling, a really difficult and harsh grilling by the prosecutors over and over again telling the jury that Alex Murdaugh is a liar and that he lied to police about being at the murder scene. And he's basically lying on the witness stand about not killing his wife and his son.

WALKER: You mentioned Murdaugh admitting to lying to police that he wasn't at the crime scene the -- the dog kennels. But when you look at the timeline that the prosecution repeatedly brings up, right, 8:45 p.m. there's a cellphone video that you mentioned, that places Murdaugh at the scene, or at least audio of his voice.

And then four minutes later, his son and wife's cell phone lock, basically forever suggesting that this is around the time they were murdered. That's a very short timeframe for someone else to come in and commit this double murder and this is what Creighton Waters kind of laid out there. How significantly will these holes are these inconsistencies the questions about the timeline play in the trial and the jury's decision, you think?

MARTIN: Well, I think the timeline is going to be critically important, but it's not clear for which side the timelines will benefit because as you said, Amara, it's a short period of time for some stranger to enter this property and to kill Paul and Maggie, but it's also a short period of time for Alex Murdaugh to kill them, dispose of the clothing, dispose of the weapons, and it's important to note they've never found the actual murder weapons, and they've not found any clothing that would have been splattered with blood in the way that you would expect, given the gruesome nature of both of the shootings that took place with Paul and Maggie.

[08:30:05]

So I think jurors are going to have to grapple with this issue of this short time period and wonder if the time period is indeed accurate. The prosecutors' whole case really lies on, as you said, the time period that those cell phones go dead. But you have to think about four minutes isn't a long period of time for anyone to do anything, including trying to dispose of two possible murder weapons.

WALKER: So what is this going to come down to, obviously, difficult to get into, you know, the jurors heads? But is it going to be about sympathy versus credibility? I mean, this is a man who has admitted to lying, to defrauding so many people out of millions of dollars and opioid addiction. What's the defense strategy?

MARTIN: Well, we clear that the prosecutors want the jurors to believe well, this is a liar. And he lied about something as significant as not being at the murder scene. He lied when he stole money from his clients and from his law firm. And if he lied about all of that, he is lying now. He's lying about not killing his wife and his son.

Counter to that, the defense is saying, look, yes, he lied about that but he would never commit a crime so gruesome, as blowing his -- you know, the brains out of his son. I think one piece of evidence that's going to be critical, and that's the testimony of his son Buster. Buster came in supporting his dad saying, look, my dad was distraught on the night of the murders. And I think that's going to resonate with a lot of jurors.

WALKER: Very interesting. Areva Martin, thank you so much for breaking that down for us. Appreciate your time. Thanks.

MARTIN: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Still ahead today, a critical election in Nigeria. Polls closing just moments ago after voters cast their ballots for the nation's next president. We have a live report next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:35:55]

SANCHEZ: This morning in Nigeria, polls closing in a crucial presidential election with three different front runners vying to be the country's next leader.

WALKER: And security has been tight while ballots were cast with armed guards keeping a close eye on voting machines and polling locations. CNN's Larry Madowo is live this morning in Lagos, Nigeria. Larry, do tell us what issues are driving people to the polls.

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At the very top of their minds, Amara, Boris, is insecurity. There's a huge amount of people who worry about whether they'll get home safely at the end of the day because of kidnapping and lots of other banditry around the country. So that's on top of their minds.

The economy has taken a beating in the last few years in the administration of President Buhari so that's on top of their minds as well. And in more recent times, there's been a huge cash and fuel shortage that's led to chaotic scenes at banks and gas stations.

Polls is closed here in Nigeria, across the nation. We still see people here who are voting because some of the voting started late. These are the votes that have been cast today. Senator has a representative and presidential election. That's a crucial one, because there's 18 people running for president in Nigeria, but only three men have a realistic chance of winning.

It's the most hotly contested election since Nigeria returned to democratic rule. And there's a lot of people here waiting, some of them already voted. Some are still hoping that they'll get a chance to vote. And then got their votes. But I want to hear from one of the voters here, Lawrence who lives in this neighborhood. What is the most important thing, a different thing about this election, Lawrence?

LAWRENCE AMADI, VOTED IN NIGERIA ELECTIONS: So very different this time around. We have a lot of youths that have just realized this is important. Four years is big deal. So they've all come out and mass. We've got some food around just to help everyone participates. And you see, a lot of participation is peaceful. Very calm. No one's making trouble. And we believe that it's time to participate a lot more.

MADOWO: Lawrence, thank you very much. Nigeria election is the largest democratic exercise in Africa. There are 93 million registered voters in this exercise. That's more than the remaining 14 West African nations combined. And there's more than 140,000 polling units like this one I'm at.

I want to show you something that's a uniquely Nigerian take on elections. There's a barbecue here that's completely for free. So anybody, it's a good way to get the vote out. It looks sumptuous. I feel like --

(Speaking Foreign Language)

I feel like -- listen, guys, I'm going to eat some of this. And I'm going to throw it back to you as I enjoy my little barbecue here.

WALKER: What is that? Grilled chicken?

SANCHEZ: Is that chicken? Yes.

MADOWO: Grilled Chicken. Yes, grilled chicken. Can I ask them some for you?

SANCHEZ: Please, please, Larry, send us some this way. I love that.

WALKER: Even though it will be cold when it gets here, thanks.

SANCHEZ: Still good. I love that celebratory atmosphere. I wish we had something like that in the United States.

Larry Madowo from Lagos, thank you so much.

Still much more ahead this morning, including a Georgia judge who oversaw the special grand jury investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election, clarifying what jurors can and can't talk about after the jury's foreperson went on a media blitz.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:43:32]

SANCHEZ: This morning a judge in Georgia who oversaw the special grand jury in the Trump probe is clarifying what jurors can and can't say.

WALKER: Yes, this after the foreperson in the case went public about the report. CNN's Sara Murray explains the judge's decision.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Boris and Amara, it has been an eventful week in the saga of the special grand jury here in Georgia investigating efforts by Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election. The foreperson Emily Kohrs went on a media blitz with CNN and others suggesting the special grand jury recommended roughly a dozen people for indictments.

Although she didn't name names, but her disclosures cause some backlash, particularly among Donald Trump's attorneys. We sat down with Judge Robert McBurney, who was overseeing the special grand jury and he made clear that the grand jury complied with its charter and abided by Georgia's laws.

As for whether Kohrs may have stepped over the line of what special grand jurors are allowed to divulge, McBurney said it was not up to him to assess. He made clear the grand jurors were not allowed to talk about deliberations, discussions they had in private, but they were free to talk about essentially anything that happened in the room when witnesses were present, or when prosecutors or the district attorney was present.

Now ultimately, what happens next is up to District Attorney Fani Willis. She decides whether she's going to go to a regular grand jury and pursue charges against the former president or any of his allies. Back to you, guys.

WALKER: All right, Sara, thank you.

Former U.S. Attorney Michael Moore joining me now here in studio. And please let's start with that foreperson and the Georgia grand jury speaking because she's obviously dropping really strong hints --

MICHAEL MOORE, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: Right.

WALKER: -- about the panel's recommendations, including one on if they recommend charges against former President Trump. Let's listen to what you had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[08:45:18]

EMILY KOHRS, FOREPERSON, GA SPECIAL GRAND JURY IN TRUMP PROBE: We definitely heard a lot about former President Trump, and we definitely discussed him a lot in the room. And I will say that when this list comes out, you wouldn't -- there are no major plot twists waiting for you.

WALKER: Yes, that -- she -- look, she said a lot, right?

MOORE: Right.

WALKER: What do you make of these really unusually candid revelations and this unexpected media tour?

MOORE: Well, I'm glad to be with you. This -- it's unprecedented, really. And part of that is because we don't use the special purpose grand juries. But you certainly don't have grand jurors coming out, typically, because the judge tells him, you know, don't come out and talk about your deliberations. And that's usually what a criminal grand jury does.

And this is different, but she's coming out talking about witnesses and who they heard from and what kind of ice cream popsicles she was eaten --

WALKER: Yes.

MOORE: -- and what they did. But I didn't think she told us trying to be maybe a little too cute. And that is we're going to see indictments on Trump and maybe a list of other people. And the only list that I can sort of think about, maybe some of those folks who were the fake electors, who were part of the plan. She seemed to be particularly enamored with Rudy Giuliani, so I don't know if she'll get that far if the grand jury is going to go that far. But, you know, indictments are coming.

WALKER: Do you think -- so you don't think she violated the secrecy of the special grand jury, right, because she because she spoke about the evidence that they saw and heard, but she didn't talk about the discussions that the grand jury had? MOORE: Yes. And that might be a distinction without really a difference. I think the Judge McBurney has tried to sort of parse it out to say, well, deliberations I can't talk about but anything else you can't really talk about, you know, talk about anything that goes on without really getting into deliberations. It'd be like trying to describe, you know, the clouds in the sky without using the word blue or something. I mean, you just can't do that. And so she did go, I think too far from a mapping.

WALKER: OK, but could there be an impact legally that could hurt the forthcoming indictments from Fani Willis because we're already hearing from the attorneys of some of the witnesses and also from Trump's attorneys who are saying, look, you know, that the credibility of this grand jury has been damaged, we've got to throw out these indictments if they come.

MOORE: Remember, this grand jury is basically just an advisory panel.

WALKER: Right.

MOORE: They could have written this down on a sticky note and stuck it on Fani Willis' door, and it has about the same effect, as they reported that she has total discretion to move forward on whatever charges she wants to do against, guess whatever -- whoever defendants she wants to indict. But she'll be doing that with a separate grand jury.

So this grand jury gathered some information, she could take it or not, she can listen to this. She can take some political cover from it if she wants to. But now she starts the process if she wants to have an indictment of going through a criminal grand jury.

WALKER: Right. But if she does move forward with the indictments, does -- what this Emily Kohrs, foreperson did, does that -- does it trash these cases moving forward?

MOORE: No, it doesn't give them a real legal problem. I mean, they're going to be motions filed about it, no question they're going to litigate it.

WALKER: Yes.

MOORE: I think good defense lawyer would. It gives her a perception problem. We kind of went from what I'm called was -- what gave the appearance anyway of a serious investigation to maybe, you know, a reality TV show. And so that's a problem for as she moves forward.

WALKER: Right.

MOORE: And nobody wants that she didn't want that, I'm sure is the face of the case.

WALKER: So then why not just release the full grand jury report?

MOORE: I think that's a great argument. And frankly, I think that the media organizations arguments just got better because of this rollout. I mean, somebody should have gotten a hold of this grand jury early on, or the grand jury body and said, do not talk. I mean, I realized they want to talk.

But I mean, this is the kind of thing that I think the DA could have probably implored them to, you know, we want to keep our investigation confidential right now, please don't go forward. You'll have a chance to do that. If you want to talk to people or give interviews, everybody's going to want to talk to you. But this is why we're doing this. And so we just asked for your cooperation.

You know, there probably been too -- there's been too much media about the case.

WALKER: Yes.

MOORE: When you think about some of the interviews that were given early on and the investigation and things that were going to happen, you know, it's sometimes it's better just to keep your head down and plow forward. And the show up on the courthouse steps with an indictment.

WALKER: Yes. Too bad we're out of time. I had so many more questions but that's what happens when you come in studio and you're here with face to face.

MOORE: Well, it's always fine. Thanks for having me.

WALKER: It is. Michael Moore, thank you.

SANCHEZ: Still ahead, the West Coast getting hammered and not in like a fun weekend way in a rare late February snowstorm. Some areas even seeing several feet. Your latest forecast straight ahead.

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[08:53:52]

SANCHEZ: A slow moving winter storm is bringing blizzard like conditions up and down the California coast including the first ever blizzard warning in effect for the San Bernardino County mountains in Southern California. Residents there could see up to 5 feet of snow.

WALKER: Yes, this is wild and in the valley, it's the flooding risk. Roads shut down in Los Angeles, leaving car stranded as flood waters rose. Look at those pictures. CNN's Britley Ritz joining us now with more. I mean, tell us more about these. I can't believe we're talking about California when I say blizzard like conditions.

BRITLEY RITZ, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I know and for L.A. and San Bernardino, I mean some of these the first time just as you mentioned for San Bernardino mountains but at the L.A. office has issued it only one time before back in 1989. And look at this impressive low, all of that moisture getting pushed up as it moves south up into Southern California this morning and notice the snow through the higher elevation. Some of these areas over 4,000 feet can pick up up to 5 feet of snow when it's all said and done. Again in the valleys, the flooding risk is that heavy rain continues to push on to shore this morning.

[08:55:03]

We have blizzard warnings, winter weather alerts all across the southwest part of the country as this whole system continues to track further east. But again, the flooding risk also holds the moisture thankfully starting to taper back a bit as we roll into Sunday, but still holding on to heavy snowfall through parts of the city or a mountain range.

Notice the darker peaks, that's 18 to 24 inches. Purple showing you, that's about 36 inches of snowfall. But again, the flooding risk one of the bigger concerns to the valley and then the severe weather risk as we roll into the upcoming 24 hours across the Great Plains. Boris, Amara?

SANCHEZ: A lot to look out for. Britley Ritz, thank you so much for that.

And thank you so much for being with us on CNN this morning. We still have some more time starting at about 10:00 a.m. on CNN Newsroom, but we're going to take an hour off.

WALKER: Yes. We're going to take an hour off, but I think we'll be back or at least I will be. Boris is a wildcard here. We'll see you in one hour.

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