what the audience at cpac is hearing. plus we have a stunningly quick verdict in the alex murdaugh murder trial. we ll get expert analysis on this case in just a moment. and also ahead secretary of state antony blinken meet briefly with his russian counterpart for the first time since the start of the ukraine war. good morning and welcome to way too early on this friday, march 3rd. i m jonathan lemire, thanks for starting your day with us. we ll begin in south carolina where a jury has found disbarred lawyer alex murdaugh guilty of murdering his wife and son. the state versus richard alexander murdaugh defendant, indictment for murder fc code 16-3 verdict guilty. the jury of seven men and five women deliberated for less than three hours before unanimously finding the 54-year-old guilty. murdaugh was also convicted of two counts of weapons possession. the defense and prosecution addressed reporters outside the courtroom. we re very disappointed with the verdict.
it s not me. we re not destroying our country. it s the president of the united states who is destroying our country. it s the u.s. senate that is destroying our country. it s the news media. it s the democratic party, academia, hollywood, wall street, and many of our big corporations. wow. florida senator rick scott starting his cpac speech with a light hearted and optimistic tone. whew. bulgaria. plenty of maga messaging at the conference, just as you can see. not a lot of people there to hear it. not a lot. that was dark. that was really dark. donald trump will take the stage tomorrow. very reagan esque. that s where he said oh, wait, he said we re a city shining on the hill. right, for all the world to see. no, that was not that. tone is a little different there, okay. incredibly different. anyhow, this trump appearance tomorrow is following a campaign announcement clearly influenced by florida governor ron desantis. we ll explain what s going on
been. i told president zelenskyy when we spoke in kyiv yesterday, i can proudly say that our support for ukraine remains unwavering. meanwhile, russian president vladimir putin is dialing up his rhetoric against the west, suspending participation in the last nuclear arms treaty with the u.s., even using the word war as he sends a clear message about what russia has long called a special military operation. translator: i would like to repeat, they started the war and we used the force in order to stop it. complicating questions about the future of this conflict, china s top diplomat is now in moscow this morning. live reports from russia, poland, and ukraine in moments. meanwhile, back here at home, a compounding crisis in ohio, the head of the epa is back in east palestine today as a clinic is set to open to address the community s health concerns following the derailment of the train with toxic chemicals on board. can they treat the mistrust building in the community
back to their habitat, because when you take them out of their habitats, they re kind of creatures of nature, so they need to be out in their habitat. good morning. i think this is a question that everybody has been asking, like, all of these animals disappearing in the cages being tampered with. what the heck is happening at america s zoos. we have two monkeys that went missing in dallas. 12 squirrel monkeys taken in louisiana and an exotic toucan stolen in florida. we re going to have much more on this. and this cnn exclusive, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu making several major headlines in his one on one sit-down with our very sewn jake tapper. was israel behind the mysterious attack on iran s sites and weapons program, and will netanyahu become a mediator between russia and ukraine as this war rages on? also this morning, we have new revelations in the brutal police beating of tyre nichols, as his family and the city of memphis is preparing to mourn today
alec baldwin officially charged in the rust shooting death. prosecutors detail what they say the actor did wrong the day the cinematographer died. and breaking news in the search for two monkeys missing from a dallas zoo. this is the cbs evening news with norah o donnell, reporting tonight from new york. brown: good evening to our viewers in the west and thank you for joining us on this tuesday night. norah is on assignment. i m james brown. tonight, former president donald trump pleads the fifth during his deposition, ahead of a $250 million fraud lawsuit filed by new york s attorney general. plus, alec baldwin has been formally charged with involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting on the set of his film rust, along with the movie s weapons specialist. but first, a massive winter storm system is targeting the nation s midsection with ice, sleet, and snow. winter storm alerts are spread across 14 states. officials are urging residents to stay off the roads and b