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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Chris Kyle's Killer Convicted; Syrians Kidnapped by ISIS; Snowy in the South, Arrest in Metrolink Train Crash

Aired February 25, 2015 - 04:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Guilty on all counts. The man who shot American sniper Chris Kyle and his friend convicted. We'll have reaction from the courthouse and see testimony from the trial for the very first time.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Christians targeted by ISIS. More than 100 kidnapped, being held hostage right now by ISIS in Syria. What does the future hold for these people? What is being done to rescue them? That's ahead.

ROMANS: And the Southern states can't seem to shake this winter weather. Another storm, another storm moving through. States of emergency in place. We're going to show you what areas can expect more snow and ice. The calendar almost says March, folks.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BERMAN: I'm John Berman. About 30 minutes past the hour right now.

And breaking overnight: the verdict in the American sniper murder trial. Eddie Ray Routh found guilty of the murder of Chris Kyle and his friend, Chad Littlefield. The jury clearly not persuaded by Routh's claim that he was not guilty by reason of insanity.

CNN's Ed Lavandera at the courthouse for the verdict -- Ed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, it was a swift verdict. They took the jury here in Stephenville, Texas, less than 2 1/2 hours to convict Eddie Ray Routh of the murders of Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield, rejecting his claims and his arguments that he was insane at the time of these murders back in February of 2013. This means that Eddie Ray Routh will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.

JUDY LITTLEFIELD, MOTHER OF CHAD LITTLEFIELD: We just want to say that we've waited two years for God to get justice for us on behalf of our son. And as always, God has proved to be faithful, and we're so thrilled that we have the verdict that we have tonight.

LAVANDERA: Eddie Ray Routh showed no emotion as the verdict was read. He just stood there and took it all in, which is basically the ways he's acted throughout most of this trial. There's been very little reaction from him. Most of the time in court, he's just sat there and taken pages and pages worth of notes.

But Eddie Ray Routh found guilty of the murders of American sniper Chris Kyle and his best friend, Chad Littlefield -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Ed, thanks for that.

You know, now that the trial has ended, the judge in this case has released hours of courtroom video. This morning, we can see moments we had only heard about like this one as Chris Kyle's widow describes the last time she saw her husband.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAYA KYLE, CHRIS KYLE'S WIDOW: Eventually we found each other in the hallway. You know, he just said -- he was inviting -- or he asked Chad to come along.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You said Chad had come to the house.

KYLE: Chad was at the house, wanted to have Chad, have an extra -- just to have an extra set of eyes. And then, he -- and then I said hey, maybe make sure that this guy knows that Chad can be trusted 100 percent, so that he's comfortable saying whatever he wants to say. Oh, yes, no, I definitely will.

And then just that we loved each other and gave each other a kiss and a hug like we always did. And you know, I left, and when I left, he was in the driveway still, trying to get more stuff in there and get going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: It must be so difficult for her even as this film is breaking box office records and her husband's killer on trial must be very, very difficult for her.

Thirty-two minutes past the hour.

Developing this morning, Syrian human rights advocates are raising the alarm. They say ISIS militants have stormed a Syrian village around the town of Tal Tamer -- this is in northeastern Syria -- kidnapping scores of women, children and the elderly as hundreds more members of this Christian group flee for their lives.

For the latest on the situation, I want to turn to senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman.

Some 700 families fleeing, and the group taking, seizing women, children, the elderly. What's happening?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We understand that yesterday morning, Christine, at about 4:00, a force of ISIS fighters entered these two Syrian Christian villages in the Hasakah province. Now, the village was only lightly guarded. The guards were overcome, and ISIS fighters burst into house after house. They took them away to the Syrian observation for human rights.

One hundred and fifty people, mostly women, children and the elderly, many of the men, we understand, are probably out elsewhere fighting against ISIS alongside the Kurds. Now, we don't know the fate of them, but certainly if you go from past experience, there's a very good possibility that some of them will end up being sold as slaves by ISIS to its members.

We also understand that 700 families fled from those two villages and are now taking refuge in the capital of that province, also known as Hasakah.

Now, just to explain to you where we are, we're in a valley north of the Kurdish city where Italian soldiers are training Kurdish fighters in the use of 80-millimeter anti-tank missiles. And elsewhere we've got Germans training the Peshmerga of small weapons.

We also saw, for instance, that Dutch fighters are showing them how to use or rather detect IEDs. Because according to the Kurds, 50 percent of their casualties and fatalities are caused by IEDs -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Ben Wedeman, thank you for that.

Police now believe three teenage British girls who left home to join ISIS, they are no longer in turkey. They have made it into Syria.

Authorities in Britain and Turkey were hoping to locate these girls before they crossed the border, and the fate of the teens sparking a diplomatic flap between the two countries. Turkish officials questioning why British authorities waited three days before notifying them about the missing girls, and these girls are all minors. How were they allowed to get on a plane, leave their country in the first place without raising any alarms?

BERMAN: Where did they get the money?

ROMANS: Where did they get the money?

BERMAN: So many questions.

This morning, we are learning the Pentagon has been shipping millions of dollars worth of weapons and equipment to help the Iraqi army make its next move in the battle against ISIS. And that move is expected to be an attack to push the militants out of Mosul.

The Pentagon official tells CNN that the lethal aid includes 10,000 M16 rifles, thousands of helmets, Kevlar vests, 250 mine-resistant MRAP vehicles and 232 additional hellfire missiles.

ROMANS: Interesting much of the armaments ISIS is using right now used to belong to the Iraqi army that the Americans supplied. So, that irony duly noted. It may be the first of many. President Obama has promised to veto a Republican bill green-lighting the construction of the controversial Keystone oil pipeline. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell scheduled to override the veto next week. It's the first time in five years the president has exercised his veto power. With the GOP now in charge of Congress, this could just be the first shot and volley of White House vetoes.

BERMAN: The other big battle raging in Congress now is the possible shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security.

We get more now on that from White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John and Christine.

Right. So, now, we've seen the president veto the bill that would extend the Keystone pipeline, and next up is this fight over funding the Department of Homeland Security. Republicans have wanted to tie that to at the same time defunding the president's executive action on immigration, which Democrats oppose and which the president would also veto.

So, at stake for Republicans here is which is the lesser of two evils for them? Allowing things to go to a partial government shutdown or giving in to Democrats? So, it was surprising now to hear the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell say that he is open to what they're calling a clean bill, a bill to fund Homeland Security without the immigration piece and then voting on that later.

Now, there are many Republicans that are strongly opposed to that. So, it's unclear how long this wrangling is going to take, how long it's going to be before it comes up for a vote before DHS funding runs out on Friday.

The White House urged Republicans to do the responsible thing, to vote for a full year of funding for homeland security. And as the White House put it, not compromise our nation's homeland security over what they called a political fight -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Michelle Kosinski at the White House, thank you, Michelle.

No word on the fate of the American missionary kidnapped earlier this week in Nigeria. The Reverend Phyllis Sortor, a Seattle pastor, taken by five armed intruders from her school in Kogi state. Her kidnappers now demanding some $300,000 ransom for her safe return. What is not clear this morning is exactly who these kidnappers are. The region where Reverend Sortor was abducted is considered out of the reach of Boko Haram. BERMAN: A possible method right now for Iran to circumvent some U.S.

sanctions. This is according to "Reuters". The Iranians, they say, have smuggled $1 billion in bank notes into the country, much of it hand carried by couriers on flights through Dubai and Turkey. U.S. officials say they knew this was happening, but the $1 billion figure much higher than previous estimates.

ROMANS: A State Department official under arrest this morning after he was caught in a sex sting. Daniel Rosen accused of soliciting sex with a minor. Police say Rosen had been communicating online with a female detective posing as a minor. A State Department spokesman says they are suspending his security clearance and he will be placed on administrative leave.

BERMAN: Four students from Wesleyan University in Connecticut have been arrested in connection with an overdose involving the party drug Molly. Eleven people were hospitalized Sunday after taking an apparent bad batch of Molly at a party this weekend. Police say there may have been a mix of multiple designer drugs in that batch. The four students arrested have all been suspended from school.

ROMANS: All right. Another -- if I could hibernate, I would. There's something to be said for hibernation. Another round of brutal weather bearing down on the South. The governors of Georgia and Alabama have declared a state of emergency. Ice, sleet, snow -- you know the drill -- freezing rain across both states. In Atlanta, several school districts have canceled classes today.

BERMAN: I might be hibernating right now.

The relentless record-breaking cold and snow wreaked havoc on the region. In Tennessee, tens of thousands of residents are without power in six counties. The state has reported dozens of weather- related deaths in just the past week.

ROMANS: In North Carolina, snow and icy roads caused problems for commuters. Part of Interstate 85 in Rowan County closed after a pickup truck overturned. Several other vehicles crashed nearby. Officials say the driver of that pickup truck was not injured. I'm always amazed when you see a picture like that and there were no injuries.

BERMAN: Crazy, right?

The question is how long is this all going to last? Because Atlanta, where CNN is headquartered, cannot handle it.

Let's get to meteorologist Pedram Javaheri for an early look at the forecast -- Pedram.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, good morning, guys.

The southern United States going to deal with quite a lot of weather across the next 24 or so hours. Mainly Dallas eastward, already seen its fair share of wintry weather, over 40 million people dealing with this into the next 24 to 48 hours. But it could get a couple inches out of Dallas. Mostly the slushy variety. Get towards Atlanta, two to four a possibility, especially north of town. Into the Carolinas, western mountains of North Carolina on into, say, northern North Carolina could easily pick up a foot of accumulation.

But Dallas, here's what you have in store for you throughout the morning into the early afternoon hours. Notice the temperatures want to hover right around the freezing mark. So yes, the flakes are going to be large. They're going to be wet.

And it's going to be slushy into the afternoon hours. It will warm up into the 40s as we head into late afternoon and evening hours. So melting certainly going to be occurring there.

Here you go, a pretty narrow band of snowy weather across the northern portions of the southern United States. And the storm system quickly skirts off the eastern seaboard. Not much left for the Northeast.

Good news for you, but unfortunately northerly flow back behind the system brings in your temperatures down pretty quickly. So Washington, you go from the 40s down into the low to mid-30s in New York. Enjoy it. Thirty-six degrees, you'll have to take it. It's going to cool off into the mid-20s by week's end.

ROMANS: All right, Pedram, we don't blame you.

Let's get an early start on your money this morning. U.S. stock futures pulling back from a record day yesterday. Stocks have never been this high, boys and girls.

The Dow and the S&P 500 both closing at records. The NASDAQ closing in on its previous record set in 2000. Remember the dotcom bubble?

BERMAN: Ah, the bubble.

ROMANS: The NASDAQ at 5,000, it's almost back there. Who gets the credit? The Federal Reserve chairman, Janet Yellen. Her testimony before Congress yesterday.

The key word in her testimony, patience -- "patient" to be precise. Yellen promised the Fed will be patient when raising interest rates. A message Wall Street liked. She stressed the economy has improved. It's almost ready to stand on its own, but she's still troubled by economic issue as broad, low inflation and meager wage growth.

She said the word progress. In her prepared testimony, she said the word "progress", I think, four times. She used the word patient twice, which is key. I mean, she wanted to make it clear that patience was on the top of their mind and Wall Street liked to hear that.

BERMAN: Interesting stuff.

All right. A truck driver in California is facing felony charges this morning. His truck was hit by a train. The question this morning, how did that vehicle end up on the tracks? New information ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Police in Oxnard, California, are arresting the driver of a truck that was hit by a Metrolink commuter train. The 54-year-old driver charged with a felony hit-and-run for allegedly abandoning his pickup truck after getting stuck on the tracks. At least 30 people were injured in this fiery crash. Four of them are in critical condition this morning.

Let's get more from CNN's Kyung Lah.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Police say this very well could have all started as a mistake. A driver in the early morning hours, mistaking the railroad tracks as the roadway. He took a wrong turn, and his vehicle got stuck. 54-year-old Jose Ramirez was taken into custody, now being held on felony hit-and-run charges for causing injuries. Why? Police say what distresses them most is that he left the scene.

After the collision, as the disaster was unfolding, he left on foot. He was found about 45 minutes later about a mile and a half from this disaster. People were injured. A disaster, again, was being seen and experienced by this community, and the driver left.

Authorities say they do not believe that this was a deliberate act, but the end result is the same -- John, Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Those pictures just horrible. Again, no fatalities. A lot of that could be due to new technology put in place after some fatal crashes there in 2008.

ROMANS: Meant to absorb some of the energy when these cars all ram together.

BERMAN: Look at the rails right there, all twisted. Crazy.

All right. Forty-seven minutes after the hour. Now, we would never encourage you to avoid paying taxes, but now might be the right time.

ROMANS: No, you have to pay your taxes!

BERMAN: The IRS scaling back the number of audits that it performs.

ROMANS: Did you just recommend --

BERMAN: I didn't. I specifically did not recommend it, but you have to stay and watch this next report, after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel now faces an April runoff in his bid for re-election. Emanuel finished on top in a five-candidate Democratic primary field. But he was short of the 50 percent vote needed to win outright. Despite a campaign boost from his former boss, President Obama. He will face Cook County Commissioner Jesus Garcia who finished second in the runoff. He faces him on April 7th.

BERMAN: It's going to be an interesting six weeks.

ROMANS: Yes, it is.

BERMAN: The attorney for the family of Trayvon Martin says it is a bitter pill to swallow. The Justice Department has decided not to charge George Zimmerman with a federal civil rights violation. Of course, Zimmerman fatally shot the unarmed teenager after a confrontation in Sanford, Florida, back in 2012. Zimmerman was acquitted in a state trial. Thursday does mark three years since Trayvon Martin was killed.

ROMANS: Fifteen people injured by a natural gas explosion that leveled a New Jersey home. Look at this. Watch carefully.

BERMAN: That's amazing.

ROMANS: Utility crews were called to the scene Tuesday morning. They were getting reports of a strong gas odor from the neighbors, 90 minutes later that powerful blast followed by flames. Seven utility workers and six firefighters were among those hurt. Many of them suffering concussion-like symptoms from the explosion.

BERMAN: You know, you remember the explosion that happened in New York City up in Harlem.

ROMANS: Yes.

BERMAN: A year ago. They reported a gas smell there also. I think this just goes to show, if there is something like that and you do call in, get to safety just in case.

ROMANS: I've actually called in one of the before. We had a gas leak in the road in front of my house. When I think of the utility responders and police officers and firefighters who were there, there were a lot of people who respond to something like that. So you can see why there were so many injuries.

BERMAN: Got to be very careful.

All right. Fifty-two minutes after the hour. Your chance of an audit from the IRS dropped to the lowest level in at least a decade last year, and your risk of an audit is even less this year. The Feds audited just over 1.2 million individuals in 2014, 162,000 fewer than the year before. The IRS commissioner warns that that number will keep declining because of cuts in funding.

ROMANS: And the commissioner also saying he's worried it's going to corrode faith in the tax system.

BERMAN: Pay your taxes. Pay what you owe. That's my message to Americans this morning.

ROMANS: No, you did not. That's not what you said earlier. You said, hey --

BERMAN: That was a tease. That was different. I wanted people to watch.

Vice President Biden is trying to laugh off that awkward moment from last week. He was attending a black history reception to Washington last night. The vice president poked fun at himself for his personal space/photography issues.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So, I just want to say enjoy the evening and I hope you'll stick around. And I just want you to know that I will not be offended if you don't want to, but I'm going to be in that room if anybody wants to photograph. I would not blame you if you didn't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Back rubs are optional.

BERMAN: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

BERMAN: The vice president is referring to that picture right there. He got awfully up close and personal with the wife of the new defense secretary, Ash Carter. It's like that uncle you never want to visit. It's just sort of --

ROMANS: But you know what? This is -- people make fun of Joe Biden, but this is what makes him such a good retail politician, right? He works the room. He knows people. I think the personal space issues look a little more severe when it's on camera.

BERMAN: He'll fight for you in Congress and rub your shoulders. It's a good platform.

ROMANS: All right. "Consumer Reports" has a new list of the best cars on the U.S. market. Are you in the market for a car? Because I'm going to tell you what tops the list of best cars. We'll get an early start on your money, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Let's get an early start on your money this morning. U.S. stock futures down a bit. They're coming off a record -- a record day yesterday. Stocks have never been this high, folks. The Dow and the S&P 500 both closing at records. The NASDAQ closing in on its previous record all the way from back in 2000 during the dotcom bubble, 5,000, the level we're looking at now on the NASDAQ.

This woman is the reason why. The markets getting a boost from the Fed chairman, Janet Yellen, her testimony before Congress. She stressed the Fed will be patient when it comes to raising interest rates. American cars are on top. "Consumer Reports" ranks the Tesla Model S

as the best car overall for a second year in a row. And the electric car, one of the three American models to earn that spot. That car right there, the Buick regal came in ranked -- is ranked the best sports sedan and the Chevrolet Impala, the best large car. Overall, "Consumer Reports" finds Lexus the best brand and Fiat the worst.

For the second year in a row, Facebook is the best place to get your foot in the door. That's according to Glass Door's list of 25 best internships, based on intern feedback about the experience. Chevron is number two. Google slides down to number three. About half of the top 25 are tech companies, of course.

Those internships are really hard to come by. But they come with good pay and perks like free food and flexibility. They pay really well, actually. And once you intern someplace like that, you have a pretty good shot of a good job.

BERMAN: One of my college roommates had an internship at Enron. Apropos of nothing. It made me think about that. So, you know, looks good right now.

ROMANS: It's at least a conversation starter.

BERMAN: Looks good right now. Just sayin'.

EARLY START continues right now.

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