good morning, america. new sanctions against russia as the war in ukraine enters its second year. could chinese president xi jingping start supplying lethal support to moscow? >> would that cross the line for you? >> i had a very frank conversation with president xi this past summer on this issue. >> president biden's newest comments on the war. plus, national security council spokesperson john kirby joins us live. wild weather. snow piling up in california. a blizzard warning for l.a., the first in more than 30 years. the powerful storm triggering a ground stop at l.a.x. l.a. streets flooded. our weather team tracking it all. inflation nation, prices on the rise.

the new government report that sent markets tumbling. what it means for your credit cards and mortgage. compelled to testify? abc news learning special counsel jack smith has asked a federal judge to order mike pence to comply with his subpoena. how the former vp may challenge it. facing a judge, "rust" armorer hannah gutierrez-reed making her first appearance in court. facing charges in the death of cinematographer halyna hutchins. taking the stand, alex murdaugh wrapping up testimony at his murder trial. what he admitted in court. >> i have lied well over a decade. >> did he help or hurt his case? star player controversy. growing calls for alabama's brandon miller to be benched after police say he brought his former teammate a gun that was later used to kill a woman. the new comments from his coach. new discovery on easter

island that no one knew existed before now. our michael strahan heading to the remote island. what we know about the find and its implications. ♪ it's going to be a good day ♪ making a difference, the utah teacher raising thousands of dollars for his students after going viral on tiktok, plus, the 9-year-old author battling bullies with a best-seller. good morning, america. for our viewers in the west, the war in ukraine entering its second year with no signs it's slowing down. >> and as new military equipment arrives to help the ukrainians in their fight, the u.s. announcing more aid. but president biden saying he's not willing to send fighter jets yet. the national security council coordinator for strategic communications, john kirby, with us this morning. but we start with the wild winter weather slamming the west coast this morning with heavy snow and flooding rains.

burbank setting a rainfall record with more than 4 1/2 inches of rain yesterday. we are tracking the storm and where it's headed next. abc's zohreen shah is in sherman oaks, zohreen, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, eva. you know when los angeles is being hit harder than where you guys are right now, there is really something off. this area has been pummeled by rain the last few days. you can see the l.a. river right behind me, those water levels much, much higher than they usually are and there is no end in sight. more than 30 million are bracing as treacherous weather batters parts of the country. in california thunderstorms leading to a ground stop at l.a.x. overnight. departures bound for parts of california, nevada, utah and arizona delayed. some arrivals diverted to ontario, california. and nearly 120,000 power outages across the state as heavy snowfall hit the ground. >> legit snow. like no joke.

you know, not just a little dusting, but legit snow here in the east bay hills, snow on the invasive eucalyptus trees. >> reporter: from big bear to lake arrowhead blizzard conditions making it nearly impossible to see. ice, snow and wind bringing down power lines, closing highways, drivers left stranded in the dangerous conditions. record rainfall in north hollywood trapped at least five cars in water, and powerful winds knocked down trees, one coming down on this home nge a baby, ived he and i'm ju gno one is hurt. >> reporte others crushed cars beneath them. the storm brought down power businesses in the dark.d - big rigs on icy roads flew off embankments. farther north in portland, oregon, the state seeing more snow overnight. a state highway worker injured after stopping to help a motorist. police saying the driver of the van hit ice crashing into the d.o.t. truck.

in michigan nearly 500,000 customers still without power this morning after an ice storm blanketed parts of the state wednesday with up to three-quarters of an inch of ice. and this weather has had a big impact on power outages. over in michigan there's nearly 470,000 customers without power. that's the most out of any state. here in california, nearly 120,000 customers without power. eva. >> that is crazy. so to give you an idea of how unusual this weather is, there it is. 30 million people wide scoping but by far as we saw for zohreen it's down there in southern california where we're really seeing the worst of the weather. check out the swirl on this system bringing in all that moisture into southern california, inches of rainfall on the way again today. that's a problem, the ground is already soaked, right? well, you'll see another two or three inches of snow with a

round today and another round a little further off to the north on monday and that is going to be a coast-to-coast system but a flood watch for l.a., pasadena up to santa barbara. mudslides are the big problem especially in spots that have seen wildfires, the camp fire burn scars, the fish fire burn scar, big concern there, and there is another system on the way that will go from coast to coast, and we'll be talking about that coming up, janai. >> thank you, greg. we'll check back with you in a bit. ukraine starts it's second year and china is encouraging peace talks but there's growing concern the country is considering whether to supply weapons to russia. first we start with patrick reevell on the ground in kyiv with the latest. patrick, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, whit. yeah, so far missile strikes that was feared russia might launch have yet to materialize. people are out and about here. western countries have used the occasion to announce fresh sanctions on russia but it seems like china is

pushing to play a bigger role in the conflict. that's something president biden addressed in his interview with abc last night. this morning, ukraine saying it is repelling intense russian assaults on the eastern front line as the second year of war begins but western countries marking friday's anniversary by announcing a coordinated volley of fresh sanctions against russia. the biden administration issuing what they're calling one of its most significant sanctions actions to date against moscow, the new package targets more than 200 additional people and companies both in russia and from other countries accused of supporting its war like china. biden, zelenskyy and g7 leaders meeting friday promising to intensify their financial and military support to ukraine and to maintain it as long as it takes. a potent example of that, the first of the key leopard 2 tanks arriving in ukraine from poland, but concerns growing that china also may be preparing to provide lethal aid to russia to help its faltering war. president volodymyr zelenskyy saying it's his number one priority to ensure that doesn't

happen. sitting down with our own david muir, president biden saying he's warned president xi jingping of the risks. >> i know the state department and the pentagon now have both warned china not to offer lethal military assistance to russia in this war with ukraine saying the u.s. is concerned that china is considering providing lethal support to russia. would that cross a line for you? >> look, it's not in china's -- i had a very frank conversation with president xi this past summer on this issue, and i pointed out to him, the conversation went like this, i said, mr. president, this is not a threat, it's just an assertion, a statement of what i think the reality is, and i said, without any government prodding, 600 american corporations left russia from mcdonald's to exxon to across the board, and i said, and if you are engaged in this same kind of brutality by supporting

the brutality that's going on, i said, you may face the same consequence. >> reporter: the war has driven 13 million ukrainians from their homes, 8 million as refugees in europe. western officials estimate russia's army has suffered 200,000 casualties in the last year while ukraine is believed to have lost at least 100,000 troops killed or wounded. president biden in that interview was also asked if he would send f-16 fighter jets to ukraine, and he said for the time being he would not. he said, there is currently no military rationale for doing so. he said at the moment ukraine has more need for ammunition, artillery and air defense. >> patrick, thanks. joining us is the national security council coordinator for strategic communications, john kirby. john, good morning to you. it's always great to have you. let's start with the new round of sanctions from the biden administration as we enter the second year of this war. is there any evidence that these sanctions are actually working to deter russia?

>> oh, absolutely. we know, for instance, that mr. putin is having a hard time getting the micro electronics, the chips and components to build and to put into the field his cruise missiles, and he's run through a lot of cruise missiles over the course of this year and having a hard time replenishing them and why he's reaching out to countries like iran for drones and even asking potentially for missile capability, as well. we know they have a bite on his ability to continue to prosecute the war from a defense basis. in fact, if you look at a lot of the 200 entities that we sanctioned yesterday are in his defense sector, so we think they'll definitely have an impact. >> we heard president biden tell our david muir that he has ruled out sending f-16 fighter jets to ukraine for now. he says that they're not needed at the moment. so why are the ukrainians and president zelenskyy wrong in their assessment that they do, in fact, need them and need them urgently? >> well, you can't blame president zelenskyy for asking for as much as he can and as fast as he can.

i mean, his country has literally been attacked for a year now, and he's fighting for his very sovereignty, the very independence of his country and for his people, and we talk to the ukrainians every single day, and our military leaders have been advising them, the ukrainians as well as helping us inform our process of providing security assistance, and right now our senior military leaders really believe the things they need most right now are armor capabilities, artillery capabilities, air defense capabilities, and when you look at the packages we sent in the last couple of weeks, including yesterday, you'll see those are the articles that were prioritized because those are the things that we believe they're going to need in the weeks and months ahead as the russians prepare for renewed offensive operations. >> we've seen this play out over the last year, ukraine asking for more sophisticated weapons, asking for tanks then eventually getting them. is it possible that this position could change depending on conditions on the ground? >> i won't get ahead of where we

are right now, whit. the president spoke about this yesterday with david and said he has no plans right now to move in that direction, but, you know, we have tried to evolve the capabilities with the war as the war has changed over time and in the first couple of weeks it was all about javelin anti-tank missiles and stingers and, of course, now air defense and artillery, armored capabilities, those are the things that are most in need by the ukrainians, and they observed that for themselves. they're the ones who asked for some combined arms training, so we're taking battalions of ukrainian soldiers out of the country right now, getting them that training so they can fight in a more integrated way in open terrain. >> china's role in this. china is urging a cease-fire between ukraine and russia, and now president zelenskyy says that he would like to meet with china's president xi. is that likely to happen, and could it be productive? >> i don't really know. i think only president zelenskyy could know when he might be able to meet with president xi. i think it's important for

president zelenskyy to continue all over the world, and he does that very convincingly, certainly, you know, that would be his decision to make. >> what does year two of this war look like? >> i wish i knew. we all wish we knew, and there's just no way to get ahead of it to understand exactly how much longer this is going to go on. i hope, whit, that you and i are not talking a year from now about a second year of war, we all would like to see this end and, frankly, it could end today if mr. putin would pull his troops out. that doesn't seem to be very likely, so what we are preparing for and helping the ukrainians prepare for is the kind of fighting they'll see in the months and weeks ahead. we believe the russians as the weather improves will try to conduct new offensive operations and need to make sure ukrainians are ready to defend themselves against that but also to be able to conduct their own operations inside their country. again, we think it's going to be the kind of integrated fighting that you would see in open

terrain. that's why we're training them with armored vehicles and with artillery capabilities and air defense so they can be ready for that kind of fighting. how long it will go and where all these offensives will happen we just don't know right now. >> sadly it appears there is no end in sight at least for now, john kirby, thank you for your time this morning. we do appreciate it. the latest on inflation that sent wall street into a spin. prices on many of the items we buy went up more than expected last month raising fears over what the fed may have to do next. abc's elizabeth schulze is at the federal reserve with more this morning. elizabeth, good morning, inflation is red hot. >> reporter: no doubt about it. good morning, janai. this report made very clear that inflation is still too high. the news sent the dow, the s&p 500, and the nasdaq tumbling to end the week as the federal reserve here is now under even more pressure to bring down the prices that we pay. so the fed's preferred index for inflation rose 5.4% in january from a year ago. that was more than expected, and

even when you take out rising food and energy prices, it accelerated 4.7% after cooling for several months. now, the reason why this report is so closely watched is because it reflects americans' spending as they're facing these higher day-to-day costs, and it shows that consumers are resilient buying products like cars, appliances and tvs even as price tags have gone up. the problem, janai, the fed is actually trying to slow down spending and trying to do the opposite of that in order to cool off high prices. >> so when they meet next month it means they'll have to be more aggressive. >> reporter: right, so the federal reserve is now likely going to have to take a more aggressive stance as it tries to tackle this stubborn inflation, so that means that if you're trying to buy a new home, pay off your credit card balance, the cost of borrowing money could get even more expensive. mortgage rates are alread ticking up. if you're trying to take out a fixed 30-year, $350,000 loan, you're going to be spending about $560 more every month

now than at this time last year. the good news is that those higher interest rates mean that you could be earning more on your money in the bank, especially if you have a high yield savings account, whit. >> all right, elizabeth, thank you. now to the special counsel investigation into former president trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and the new request to a federal judge to compel testimony from former vice president mike pence. abc's ike ejiochi is in washington with the latest. ike, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, whit. the grand jury's subpoena is asking for documents and testimony from former vice president mike pence, a request both trump and pence's attorneys are gearing up to fight. now, sources tell us special counsel jack smith has filed a motion to compel. it essentially asks the court to enforce a request of information relevant to a case, in this instance former vice president pence's sworn testimony. now, pence's lawyers aren't expecting to challenge the subpoena on executive privilege, rather, they're trying to make a separation of powers argument. during congress' certification

vote on january 6th, pence was acting as president of the senate, which is why his lawyers argue that he's covered by the speech or debate clause, which shields congressional officials from testimony related to their work. conservative retired judge michael luttig publishing an op-ed in "the new york times" labeling pence's defense a dangerous gamble saying it'll likely not work. as for pence running in 2024, he mentioned he'll have a decision about that by the spring. on the one-year anniversary of russia's ukraine invasion, the former vice president also taking aim at what he calls apologists for russian president vladimir putin within the gop saying, there's no room for them in the party's leadership. now, as the political world awaits his next big move, pence has been traveling to several primary states with a message largely focused on social issues. eva. >> ike ejiochi there for us, thank you so much. well now to the first court appearance for hannah gutierrez-reed, the armorer on

the set of the movie "rust," this as we are seeing new impacts of alec baldwin firing guns on set. abc's phil lipof is here now with details. good morning, phil. >> reporter: good morning to you, eva. hannah gutierrez-reed was responsible for firearms on the set of "rust," and she actually loaded alec baldwin's gun. through her attorney in a virtual hearing she maintained her innocence. gutierrez-reed can be seen in this screen grab of the hearing released by the court. her lawyer also asked for and the judge granted her permission to possess a firearm at home saying she has had some threats. gutierrez-reed and baldwin are facing charges of involuntary manslaughter. that's in the death of cinematographer halyna hutchins. each could be sentenced to 18 months in prison if convicted. baldwin also pleaded not guilty but waived his first court appearance. days ago prosecutors downgraded the charges against both. significantly reducing the possible prison time. then there is this new video surfacing overnight from local california station kob-4, they say it has exclusively obtained four videos taken from baldwin's

phone by investigators appearing to show baldwin on the set of "rust" weeks before hutchins' death. the station says on the video, baldwin can be seen exiting the church, turning and firing on either side of the person recording. abc news has not been able, though, to confirm the video's authenticity, and we are also learning that producers of the film plan to resume production in the spring in montana. the film has been on hold since hutchins' death in october of 2021. >> that new video certainly set to raise more questions. phil, thank you. it is time now to get a check of the weather with greg dutra in the building from our chicago station wls, and, gre, you are tracking a lot out there. >> a lot of lot, yeah, and a system that hasn't even moved all the way onshore yet that will go from coast to coast bringing severe weather and potentially a rain/snow mix in new york city. this is the l.a. viaduct. the l.a. river runs through it. it's usually dry like 99% of the time. i mean, they shoot movie scenes

in this and it's just completely inundated with water. this is good. that's what it's designed for. here it is moving onshore bringing more rainfall. we talked about that in california. severe storms through the southern plains and possibly some scattered tornadoes in northern texas and into oklahoma, and this continues out off to the east, and it'll bring rainfall for chicago, for the monday morning commute, another round of rain and not snow, and speaking of areas that are hurting for snow, well, they're going to get some. boston, two feet below where they normally are for snowfall. they're going to get some out of s

a lot dad energgog on. informed us. e rse ener. othe desk, dad energy, we'll take that. right? exactly. >> absolutely. >> it's always good to have you here. >> great to be here. >> we do love having you. >> thank you. we have a good story we want to share with you this morning. turning to a middle school teacher who is being hailed as a hero this morning after pulling a man named john and his wheelchair from a burning car, heather jumped into action when she saw a man hanging out of a smoking vehicle as she was pulling onto a ramp on interstate 384 in connecticut. moments later manchester fire rescue responded to the scene where that van was fully engulfed in flames. thanks to healthary quick thinking, john is now home, and he is safe. >> heather's quick thinking and courage, my goodness. >> yes. >> wow. well still coming up on

"gma," alex murdaugh finishing testifying in his murder trial. what he admitted on the stand and whether it could help or hurt his defense. plus, growing calls for a star alabama basketball player to be suspended after police say he played a part in events leading to a deadly shooting. and the new discovery on easter island. atchge he played a role in that find. we'll be right back. come here! you know why people are always looking at their phones? they're banking, with bank of america. see cousin jimmy over there? his girlfriend just caught the bouquet so... he might need a little more help saving. for that engagement ring... the groom's parents. you think they're looking at photos of their handsome boy? they're not! she just saw how much they spent on ballroom dance classes... won't be needing those anymore. digital tools so impressive, you just can't stop banking. the peppadew pepper on panera's new green goddess caprese melt. digital tools so impressive, it's a small detail. but when enough of those details are melted together... they become big. try the new toasted baguettes from panera.

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bill a better bay area moving forward finding solutions. this is abc. seven news. good morning, everybody. i'm lose quarry it's developing overnight , a large fire broke out at a dock on lake berryessa in napa county. cal fire says the fire burned a mix of 10 to 20 boats, houseboats and jet skis. officials say they stopped

forward progress of the fire, but the burning portion of the dock had detached and was floating on its own. no word on what may have caused the fire and lisa, rj and good morning to you. obviously this week's been a pretty wild weather. whatndhe w?emhat is winding dowe light rain santa rosa a little bit of rain, snow mix upper elevations, but it is milder. this morning, mid thirties to low forties this afternoon. mostly cloudy if you sunny peaks and another level one system tomorrow, liz. all right, lisa. thank you. and thanks for joining us. the news continues right now, with good morning america, and we'll see you ♪

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♪ it's me, the og funk bandit who's that, the b to the r-a-t ♪ ♪ and, in fact, if you ain't heard of me, take a seat, lay back and listen ♪ kick up your feet and relax your feet. welcome back to "gma" on this saturday morning. there is da brat singing her song, "give it 2 you," and this morning we are talking to the rapper about her next chapter, motherhood. da brat opening up about her pregnancy at 48. that's coming up -- >> was that you trying to drop some bars there? >> i did, and i bombed it, and i was hoping we could just roll through and you wouldn't call me out. >> i didn't want to say anything. all right. >> i even wrote it down here, and i bombed it. >> i appreciate the effort. more on that ahead. first a look at the top

stories we're following this morning including the first lady in nairobi, kenya. this morning, dr. jill biden is visiting an organization giving tracker owners and farmers for a sustainability event and met at the statehouse with the country's first lady. a top world health organization official is calling the recent spread of bird flu and human infection, quote, worrying. dr. sylvie grand, the w.h.o.'s director for epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention making the remarks after the death of an 11-year-old who was infected with bird flu. they're in close communication with the cambodian authorities to understand more about this outbreak. now this morning, an update on a missing florida 2-year-old. the sheriff's department announcing joshua rowland, who goes by j.j. was found after 24 hours. officials say j.j. was found by volunteer searchers in a wooded

area near his home, and he's doing well. he went missing on thursday morning. authorities believe he left his home while his parents were asleep. >> certainly an encouraging update there. and we start this half hour with the question swirling around a college basketball star and his role in events leading to a fatal shooting. there's growing outrage over whether alabama's brandon miller who allegedly brought a gun to a now former teammate should be allowed to play as the season heads into march madness. abc's reena roy is here with more. reena, good morning. >> reporter: whit, good morning to you. that's right. alabama is considered one of the top basketball programs in the country, and the team is just weeks away from a potential title run in the ncaa tournament, but now many are questioning if their star player should even be allowed to play. this morning, alabama basketball star brandon miller at the center of a growing controversy after delivering a gun police say was used in the killing of a young mother. miller set to hit the court later today facing off against arkansas, but calls for the star

to be benched now echoing across the country. >> it would have been apropos. you need to sit out this game until we acquire even more reporte tollege freshm a highest ranked nba prospect even met with some boos at wednesday's night game against south carolina a day after police revealed his role in last month's fatal shooting of 23-year-old jamea harris. officials say miller delivered the gun that night bringing it to now former teammate darius miles after miles asked him to do so via text message. miles handed the weapon off again before it was used to kill harris according to authorities. >> there are many who think, hey, brandon has done nothing wrong here, but then there are those others who say, hey, it doesn't matter if he was firing the weapon or not, he should be punished. >> reporter: miles, the owner of the gun, taken off the team and charged with capital murder along with michael lynn davis who according to investigators fired the weapon. miller has not faced any

consequences, and alabama head coach nate oats says he's taking thindentusly inisrogram h donemiern rlr theeek oatsac sponse. backla f >> y ctr ery anyboddo oside of practice. brandon hasn't been in any type of trouble, nor is he in any type of trouble in this case like in the wrong spot at the wrong time. >> reporter: oats later walking that back. >> i used a poor choice of words making it appear like i wasn't taking this tragic situation seriously. i sincerely apologize for that. >> reporter: alabama saying in part that ua athletics continues to cooperate fully with law enforcement in the ongoing investigation of this tragic situation, and that based on all the information we've received, brandon miller is not considered a suspect in this case, only a cooperative

witness. miller's attorney is stressing that he was not involved with that final gun exchange right before the shooting claiming miller never even touched the gun and never knew that illegal activity involving the gun would occur. guys. >> reena roy for us, thank you. let's switch gears and get a check of the weather and head it back over to greg dutra and the double dose of dad energy we got going on this morning. >> now i have to come up with a dad joke. >> we resemble that remark, right? >> yeah. now i got to come up with something while i do weather. but, hey, taking a look outside and this is at big bear lake, two feet of snow has already fallen. they're going to see more in the next three, four days, possibly up to five days, a lot of snow falling there. here's that system bringing in all the moisture. again, more than two or four feet of snow in the san gabriel mountains. as you head to higher elevations in the sierra nevada, two to three times the normal

>> eclipse it. >> oh, dear. >> oh. >> greg, even i hurt for that one. >> i got a pass. >> we got the doublemint dads and even one of them isn't -- thank you. >> man. >> for the record we love the dads of the world. >> whit is not even -- >> the dad jokes, i'm in on most of them. [ laughter ] >> still coming up here on "good morning america," we still got a lot of news coming up. alex murdaugh taking the stand in his own defense. at his murder trial, what he told the court about his prescription drug addiction. and "gma" on easter island, the surprise discovery and why it may have stayed hidden for centuries. ter island, the

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of his wife and son. answering questions about the night he found their bodies and detailing a serious addiction to prescription drugs. alex murdaugh in the hot seat for hours, prosecutors grilling him about the murders of his wife and son. >> mr. murdaugh, are you a family annihilator? >> a family annihilator? you mean like did i shoot my wife and my son? >> yes. >> no. >> reporter: the prosecution playing parts of a video showing murdaugh inside a police cruiser that night recounting the moment he says he found his wife and son dead. >> i pulled up, and i could see them, and, you know, i knew something was bad. i ran out. i knew it was really bad. my boy over there, i could see. >> reporter: the state drilling down on murdaugh's lies and his changing alibi. murdaugh admitting he was with paul and maggie on that video from the dog kennels minutes before they were shot to death.

>> but you never told them all this new story that you constructed in light of this trial, is that correct? >> i did not tell them that i went to the kennel. i lied about that. >> reporter: prosecutors pressing him on that tight new time line questioning how according to murdaugh he could have gone back to the house, dozed on the couch and left for his mom's less than 20 minutes after that video at the kennel. the prosecution pointing to data from his cell phone indicating calls and hundreds of steps during that time. >> well, the real reason, mr. murdaugh, is you as a lawyer and prosecutor are up at 9:02 finally having your phone in your hand moving around and making all these phone calls to manufacture an alibi, is that not true? >> that's absolutely incorrect. >> reporter: the state suggesting murdaugh changed his story to fit the evidence confronting him with his litany of lies to law partners, friends and family. >> you lied to maggie, didn't you? >> i did lie to maggie.

>> you lied to paul? >> sometimes. >> you lied to your father? >> i'm sure i did at some point. >> reporter: murdaugh admitting to each one. >> i have lied well over a decade. >> joining us is abc news legal contributor and managing partner of the cochran firm, channa lloyd. thank you so much for being with us, channa. so let's just get right to this. alex murdaugh's latest appearance on the stand, do you think it helped him or hurt him? >> honestly, eva, his testimony hurt him substantively and his testimony he had to admit that he lied to law enforcement. he lied about certain aspects of the investigation and he had to admit to the effects of his addiction, which affecte continue to lie. so substantively i believe it hurt him, however, he did make some emotional points that could go over and be sympathetic to certain jurors.

his issue with suicide, his issue with substance abuse, sometimes those issues can cause jurors to identify. >> murdaugh was pretty calm the first day of testimony. he's basically on the stand for two days. do you think that was part of the state's strategy with him? >> absolutely. i think they were intending to get under his skin and to show the other side that they believe alex murdaugh has, and they were hoping to get that out and to show that to the jury. >> the defense saying they have four people left to call then the state gets rebuttal witnesses, but we heard the lawyers talking about possible closing arguments happening as early as wednesday. what do you think both sides need to do at this point to win their cases >> at this point the defense needs to hammer home that although he may be a liar, although he may have lied about his substance abuse issues, he is not, in fact, a murderer. they are going to advance their alternate theories that there was another shooter and that there was a revenge shooting potentially, that it was not him. the state continues to hammer

home the fact that he's had all of these other issues, financial crimes, and he's committed these crimes in order to avoid responsibility, and they need to take that home to the jury. >> these jurors have been in court every day now for weeks. how do you think that will affect their deliberation when it goes to them? >> you know, sometimes a longer trial means that when jurors head into the deliberation room, they already have very concrete ideas, and then it's going to be about whether or not they can all agree on what ideas they already have. they've already made the points, the things that are important to them are going to be clear in their minds, and after type of length of time, they'll want to resolve this as quickly and efficiently as possible. >> we'll have to wait to see what they decide. channa lloyd, thank you so much for being with us. >> it's always a pleasure. coming up on "good morning america," "gma" on the remote easter island as it yields brand-new secrets just uncovered. any secrets just uncovered. this man needs updated covid protection. so does she. yup, these guys too.

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back now on "gma" as we take you to the remote easter island, famous for its massive stone statues carved so many centuries ago. well, now archaeologists are excited about a brand-new find just as we prepare to broadcast from this land of wonder. this morning, a first look at a stunning discovery on easter island, one of the most remote inhabited islands in the world, a new moai, a large stone statue carved from volcanic rock was discovered this week marking an archaeological milestone. >> there have been no moai that have been found in the dry bed or in what was previously a lake, so this is a first. [ speaking non-english ]

>> translator: for the rapa nui people it's very important because it's here in the lake. >> reporter: more than 2,000 miles west of chile, the moai found after the lake rano raraku dried up over the last two years. the moai are what brought fame to easter island and have deep significance to e rapa nui people. >> they represent the polynesian tradition honoring your ancestors. >> reporter: they were carved eight centuries ago and while the total number is not known, more than 961 have been cataloged so far. it is so cool that our producers were there, got the first and only look at this. don't miss michael on "gma." he will be there this week straight from easter island starting on tuesday. i am obviously fascinated and hope you are too. we'll be right back with our "play of the day." with our

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we are back now with our "play of the day," and janai just called me an old dog, which is perfect for this next story right here because we are talking about very cute dogs. how about this, a helping hand or a helping paw deserves another, right? these two pups trying to play the escape game here. the husky manages to reach the handle on the door and open it. nice move, but it's a smaller dog that's got more spring in hs step and then makes that getaway. he's wondering where his partner in crime is and then returns to see if he can be of any help. yep, there you go, together they make it work. the little guy -- >> you are a basketball play caller. >> yeah, yeah. >> you sound like it. >> this is a good play. there they go. both of them get through. >> it looks like they've clearly gotten out before because why else would they push that in front of the door. >> you need a friends sometimes to get you through. >> just waiting to happen. >> yes. coming up on "gma" in our second hour, new firepower for

ukraine coming on the heels of the first anniversary of that russian invasion. and our "gma" cover story, "real housewives" alum bethenny frankel opens up about her ongoing health struggles. stay with us. bethenny frankel opens up about her ongoing health struggles. stay with us. bill a better bay area moving forward finding solutions. this is abc. seven news. good morning, everybody. i'm liz kreutz. popular san francisco radio dj is missing, and he and police say he is considered at risk. geoffrey van der graf, toast the jv show on wild 94 9 every morning the station says they're working with police and his wife to help find him.

vandergrift hasn't been seen since thursday night when he was home. he's 54 years old. six ft . tall £180 with tattoos on his arms and above his right ear. if you see him, police say to call them and let them know. in the south bay. more than 15 warming centers are now open in santa clara county county officials are urging people to protect themselves against the cold weather and go to the centers. they are scattered from palo alto to his far south as gilroy . for more information you can head to the county's website, prepare scc dot org and it sure is cold. lisa good morning. good morning. it sure is liz. and so we still have those snowy peaks and a little bit more snow to come, is level one system is winding up. but in the north bay around st helena highway, 12 some rain snow mix and there's rain from american canyon to crockett. and as we go westward along the coast here, inverness looking at some wet weather level one system slippery roads , scattered showers with that rain snow mix and look at mount tam. yes, still looking very wintery 41 downtown 42 in santa

clara. it's in the upper thirties for half moon bay and look at sfo a little bit of sun there so not everyone seeing the rain 38 santa rosa 39 in livermore. so this all winds down within the 9 10 o'clock hour. we're left with mostly cloudy skies if you sunny breaks and a break until today. morrow. then we're going to see another level one system. this will be bringing a rainy sunday, maybe a third of an inch and more rain for monday list. lisa thank you . the news continues with good morning america and we'll see you in a half hour for another news update. have a

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logo scratches on test. good morning, america. it's our second hour. the world marking one year since the start of the war in ukraine as the u.s. doubles down on russian sanctions. president biden in an abc news exclusive vowing support but rejecting ukrainian president zelenskyy's plea for f-16 fighter jets. >> we're sending him what our seasoned military thinks he needs now. he needs tanks. he needs artillery. he needs air defense. >> plus, the latest on china relations after shooting down that spy balloon three weeks ago. >> there should be a direct open line of communications. also this morning, bethenny frankel setting the record straight, speaking out about her