news app on your cell phone or connected tv. i'm shanelle kaul, cbs news, new york. it's it's friday, february 24th, 2023. this is the "cbs morning news." dramatic testimony. alex murdaugh takes the stand in his own defense. the lie the disgraced lawyer fessed up to the night his wife and son were murdered. wild winter weather. slamming areas coast to coast. some places seeing unprecedented snow totals, and it's not over yet. ukraine on high alert. the u.s. warns russia could take action to mark one year of the invasion. we'll take you to kyiv. good morning, and good to be with you. i'm anne-marie green. we begin with dramatic testimony after alex murdaugh took the stand in his murder trial. the disgraced south carolina

lawyer yesterday adamantly denied gunning down his wife an to police about being at the scene of the crime just before the killings. >> once i lied, i continued to lie. yes, sir. >> why? >> you know, what a tangled web we weave. >> murdaugh also said he stole money from his legal practice. prosecutors argue he committed the murders to distract from his financial misdeeds and sought to poke holes in murdaugh's credibility. >> you had to sit down and deal with these people and convince them that you were telling them the truth in order to steal this money. correct? >> i can't say that. i can say i did wrong. i stole money that wasn't mine. and i shouldn't have done it. >> his surviving son who testified that alex murdaugh was a loving dad sat with other relatives in court. cross-examination in the case is expected to resume this morning. and winter storms are again making life miserable for

millions of americans. portland saw its second snowiest day ever. parts of the southern california are under rare blizzard warnings. and snow, gusty winds, and ice continue to impact the northeast. jarred hill is in new york with more as all of this. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. you mentioned portland, oregon. the roads there were so bad that some drivers spent the night in their cars. others abandoned them altogether. that's not the only travel headache we've seen from these storms. >> it's not the way that you want to go down that hill. >> reporter: near record snowfall of almost 11 inches in oregon left drivers stranded for hours. >> called the tow truck and they said it might be ten hours before we get you. >> reporter: further south in san jose, families played in rare snow flurries. the san diego national weather service office issued its first blizzard warning for san bernardino county where one group of teens made their first snowman. >> it's usually just green and pretty, but never snowy.

>> reporter: parts of los angeles were pummelled with hail, including the famous hollywood sign. >> my mother told me get out, do all your errands early because friday and saturday the weather is going to be terrible. >> reporter: snow blanketed the upper midwest with folks in minnesota digging out from as much as 21 inches of snow in some areas. >> unbelievable. it's quite a load here. my snowblower's not keeping up very well. >> reporter: tragedy in michigan. a volunteer firefighter there died after coming into contact with a downed power line. hundreds of thousands of residents in that state still don't have power. icy conditions also brought down power lines and trees in buffalo, new york, and travelers at the local airport faced cancelations and delays. >> tired. i've waited an hour on the plane. >> reporter: according to flight aware, more than 1,100 flights in the u.s. were canceled yesterday. more than 7,000 were delayed. i want to go back to southern california for a second here.

they're not just talking about the snow, but there's a major flood risk from rain and runoff when that snow melts which could be as soon as this weekend. there are some severe weather concerns for other parts of the country also as the system moves east over the next couple of days. what did the groundhog say about the end of winter because, you know -- >> groundhogs lie. yes, they do. thank you so much. so the head of the ntsb says the toxic train derailment in ohio earlier this month was 100% preventable. federal investigators released a preliminary report yesterday. it found norfolk southern's crew tried to stop the train after receiving a critical alert about an overheating wheel bearing just before the crash. those findings came as transportation secretary pete buttigieg visited the site for the very first time yesterday. he vowed to hold the rail company accountable. >> we're going to be here day in, day out, year in, year out, making our railroads safer and

making sure norfolk southern meets its responsibilities. >> the ntsb report says there is no indication the crew did anything wrong. ukraine is on high alert as u.s. officials warn that russia could mark one year of its invasion with a barrage of missile and drone strikes. this morning president zelenskyy praised ukrainians for their resilience and pledged victory in 2023. charlie d'agata was in ukraine one year ago when the war broke out and reports from kyiv. >> reporter: ukrainian troops withstood relentless russian bombardment south of bakhmut which has been reduced to smoldering ruins after months of heavy battle. this is what russia's lightning advance has come to -- a grinding crawl. a far cry from a year ago when u.s. intelligence predicted the capital, kyiv, would fall within 96 hours.

we are on the balcony of our safe house in kyiv at around 5:00 a.m. when russian president vladimir putin announced the start of a special military operation. moments later, thunderous explosions echoed throughout the country. the russians had launched air strikes across the nation and ground offenses on multiple fronts.en rus faded for the capital, hundreds of thousands tried to flee. >> we tried to stop the panic in our streets. people will be fleeing to the border, and it will be the obstacle for our armed forces to move quickly. >> reporter: on those streets of kyiv president volodymyr zelenskyy made it clear he was staying put. instead he urged citizens to take up arms which they did by the thousands. hastily erected barricades and checkpoints went up everywhere, manned by jittery volunteers

with guns drawn. overnight the lives of millions of ukrainians changed forever. and the global repercussions of russia's invasion now extend far beyond the battlefields of ukraine. ukrainian president volodymer zelenskyy expressed his gratitude to president biden during his unannounced visit here this week for america's support and weapons. but frontline soldiers tell us they're running out of ammunition in the face of a new russian offensive. charlie d'agata, cbs news, kyiv, ukraine. well, the u.s. is sending more troops to taiwan. the "wall street journal" says 100 to 200 additional troops will be deployed to the self-ruled island in the coming months to bolster a training program for taiwan's military. u.s. officials say that's up from roughly 30 there a year ago. now it comes amid increasing

tensions with china which claims taiwan as its own territory. american officials say the expansion was planned well before the u.s. shot down a chinese spy balloon earlier this month. and there's a new development in the special counsel investigation into the january 6th attack on the capitol. cbs news was first to report that federal prosecutors asked a federal judge to compel former vice president mike pence to comply with a grand jury subpoena to testify. lawyers for former president donald trump are claiming executive privilege to prevent pence's testimony. and coming up, philadelphia shooting. seven people were wounded including a 2-year-old girl. the search for the gunman. and alec baldwin enters a plea. what's next in the "rust" shooting investigation. this is the "cbs morning news." s morning news." (vo) if you've had thyroid eye disease for years and your eyes feel like they're getting kicked in the backside, it's not too late for another treatment option. to learn more visit treatted.com.

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not guilty to involuntary manslaughter charges in the deadly shooting on the set of the movie "rust." baldwin was holding a gun during a rehearsal in 2021 when it fired killing the cinematographer. the movie's weapons specialist is expected to also plead not guilty to involuntary manslaughter charges. they each could face up to 18 months in prison if convicted. there are new allegations in the tyre nichols case, and there was a mass shooting in philadelphia. those are some of the headlines on the "morning newsstand." "the philadelphia enquirer" reports seven people including a 2-year-old girl and five teenagers were shot near a school. police say gunfire erupted last evening. one of the teenagers was shot twice in the chest, and the mom of the 2-year-old girl was also shot. all of the victims were taken to nearby hospitals. police are looking for three males in connection with the shooting. a motive is unclear. "usa today" says the victims of a shooting near orlando have been identified. body cam video shows deputies

arresting the suspect, 19-year-old keith melvin moses, on wednesday. he's accused of killing 38-year-old natacha augustin, then returning to the scene hours later and shooting a tv news crew. 24-year-old reporters dylan lyons was killed. a photographer was critically injured. authorities say moses then killed 9-year-old tyonna major and wounded her mother at a nearby home. investigators say moses has a long criminal record. >> he was uncooperative, but the deputies secured him at the scene. we recovered a glock 40 semiautomatic handgun from inside his pants.e guwas l t e rounds left in the weapon. >> authorities say they do not know the motive for the shootings. and cnn reports the inaction of two memphis fire department employees may have contributed to the death of tyre nichols. that's according to a state board. documents from a board meeting

reveal the two emts did not examine nichols for the first 19 minutes they were on the scene after he was severely beaten by police last month. nichols died three days later. the two first responders have been fired. five former police officers have been charged with second-degree murder. still to come, new crypto charges. the founder of ftx was hit with additional charges. details in cbs "money watch." hey! did you hear? there are new covid-19 booster shots designed for recent omicron variants. thank you. pfizer. the more you want to do, the more we want to do. schedule yours at vaccines.gov. ♪♪ (vo) at the tidy cats innovation lab. schedule yours at vaccines.gov. we live to solve litter issues.

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ten people were burned. the company says the wire connections can overheat, and customers are urged to contact cosori to receive a replacement or another product. the founder of ftx was hit with new criminal charges, and "money watch" report. >> reporter: u.s. stocks climbed thursday with the s&p 500 breaking its longest losing streak of the year. the dow gained 108 points. nasdaq up by 83. the s&p 500 gained 21 points. mortgage rates in the u.s. have climbed for a third straight week. the average 30-year fixed rate mortgage was 6.5% this week, up roughly 6% from the week before. experts say inflation concerns are making rates more volatile. disgraced ftx founder sam bankman-fried has been indicted on new criminal charges including campaign finance violations. the four new charges were unsealed thursday.

federal prosecutors allege he was involved in a billion-dollar fraud by misusing customer money to bolster a sister hedge fund, making venture investments, and trying to buy influence with u.s. politicians. and check your drawers, wallets, and purses, new data now reveals americans have a collective $21 billion in unspent gift cards. credit summit says half of those who have one tucked away will lose it before they use it. that's your "money watch" report for this friday morning. i'm shanelle kaul, cbs news, new york. next, a career milestone. director steven spielberg receives a new honor and explains why he's not ready to retire. ♪ zyrteeeec...♪ works hard at hour one and twice as hard when you take it again the next day. so betty can be the... barcode beat conductor. ♪ go betty! ♪ let's be more than our allergies! zeize the day. with zyrtec.

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here's a look at the forecast in some cities around the country. ♪ ♪ baby this is what you came for lightning strikes every time she moves ♪ rihanna will be performing at this year's oscars ceremony. she's set to sing her nominated song "lift me up" from "black panther: wakanda forever." she recently returned to the spotlight after headlining the super bowl halftime show earlier this month.

and we're getting a look at robert de niro's new comedy, and a treat for "survivor" fans. dina demetrius has your "eye on entertainment" report. ♪ my father has an old italian saying -- family isn't one important thing, it's everything. >> reporter: robert de niro plays a recently widowed dad who's brought along on a trip to meet his son's fiancee's family in "about my father." >> hello. >> what are you doing? >> serenading her pet peacock. i love you. >> these people are strange. >> reporter: the wnd t intoulture cla comedian sebastian maniscalco stars as the son. thrsiadaweekend. welcome to "survivor 44." >> reporter: go inside the latest episode and behind the scenes of "survivor" with host jeff probst in the new podcast "on fire with jeff probst."

it debuts march 1st following the premiere of "survivor's" 44th season on all podcast platforms. new episodes air each wednesday after "survivor" airs on cbs and paramount plus. and director steven spielberg has received the berlin film festival's lifetime achievement award. spielberg's credits include some of the best loved and highest grossing films in history including "jaws," "et," "jurassic park," and "saving private ryan." >> i feel alarmed to be told i've lived a lifetime because i'm not finished. >> reporter: spielberg's latest film "the fabelmans "is semi esll insre mical. young people to get fma. dina demetrius, cbs news, los angeles. coming up, actor eugene levy joins us in the times square studio to discuss his new docuseries called "a reluctant traveler." i'm anne-marie green. this is the "cbs morning news."

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crash downed trees and snow. we're watching the showers that are still falling in widespread number across the bay. where's the snow falling exactly and what about the rain? that's what the majority of us will experience this morning. that's coming up. there's no warm water. and there's no -- all the food in the -- is not good in the refrigerator. >> this morning, three days later, thousands of people in the peninsula are still in the dark. families lawmakers are taking aim at pg&e. who the company is blaming for the first time. well, good morning, cold winter blast has us calling for another first alert weather day. images like these look like they were shot in tahoe. the images right here. there we go. images like these right here, this is napa county last night and it's not just snow. the bay area is getting a little