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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Guilty Verdict in American Sniper Murder Trial; 100 Syrian Christians Kidnapped by ISIS; Dangerous Weather Freezes the South; Hit and Run Charges for California Truck Driver; Facebook Tops Best Internship List

Aired February 25, 2015 - 05:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight. Guilty on all counts. The man who killed American sniper Chris Kyle and another man convicted of murder. We have new reaction from the courthouse and testimony you have not seen or heard yet released from the trial for the first time.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: More than 100 Syrian Christians taken from their villages in northern Syria, abducted by ISIS, leaving what remains of their communities fearing the worst. We'll have the latest.

BERMAN: And bad weather -- dangerous freezing weather hitting so much of the south. An upset victory that CNN can even broadcast from the area today. We'll show you the areas hardest hit and where we can expect more of this weather to come over the next several hours.

ROMANS: Bears have the right idea. They sleep through all of this.

BERMAN: Hibernate. That's the key.

Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman.

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. 30 minutes past the hour.

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

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

(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)

BERMAN: Our thanks to Ed Lavandera.

So now that the trial has ended, the judge in this case, the American sniper case, has released hours of courtroom video and audio. So this morning we can see moments for the first time that we really had only read about, including this emotional moment as Chris Kyle's widow describes the last time she spoke to 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 -- 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. He said, 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)

BERMAN: So sad.

Developing this morning, ISIS targeting Christians. Syrian human rights advocates say that ISIS militants have stormed Syrian villages. Those are Christian villages in northeast Syria, kidnapping scores of women, children, and the elderly, as hundreds more Christians have fled for their lives.

Let's get the latest on the situation, turning to senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman. Ben, any sense now of where these captives, these hostages, have been taken? BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No idea, John.

That, of course, is the problem with ISIS. Within their dark kingdom, we have no idea where they take people. After this incident that happened at about -- began at about 4:00 in the morning yesterday, we understand from two organizations, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Syrian Human Rights Network, say that, at that time, this group of ISIS fighters approached these two villages in northeastern Syria. They overcame the few guards that were in that village and went from house to house, breaking in and dragging out around 150 people. According to the Syrian Observatory For Human Rights, those 150 mostly women, children and the elderly.

Now, what we know from past experiences, when ISIS takes over these areas, oftentimes minorities are simply sold as slaves, if not executed on the spot. Now, we also understand from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights that around 700 Christian families have fled from those two villages to the provincial capital of Hasakah, where they are taking refuge in a church.

Now, just to explain to you why I'm standing out in the middle of nowhere, we're in a valley north of the capital of the Kurdish region, Erbil, where a variety of groups from the anti-ISIS coalition -- the Germans, the Dutch, the British, the Italians -- are training Kurdish fighters in the use of small weapons, anti-tank weapons, IEDs, and medical treatment, because this is part of this coalition effort in Kurdistan as well as the rest of Iraq to prepare for a fight to come perhaps at some point in the coming months, the liberation of Mosul from ISIS. John?

BERMAN: All right, Ben Wedeman in northern Iraq, thanks so much. And we should say there are reports just in over the last several minutes that some of these Syrian Christian hostages have been taken to Raqqa, which is the effective capital of ISIS in Syria.

ROMANS: This morning, we're 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. That move expected to be an attack to push the Islamic militants out of Mosul. A Pentagon official tells CNN the lethal aid includes 10,000 M-16 rifles, thousands more helmets and Kevlar vests, 250 mine-resistant MRAP vehicles, and 232 additional Hellfire missiles.

BERMAN: This could be the first of more to come.

President Obama vetoed the congressional bill green-lighting construction of the Keystone Oil Pipeline. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell countered by scheduling a vote to try to override that veto next week. This is the first time in five years that the president has used the veto. It's only the third veto he's done since being in office, period. But now, with Republicans in charge of both houses of Congress, could be more to come.

ROMANS: Two possible scenarios now emerging that could end the stalemate over funding for Homeland Security. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell saying he will allow a vote on a clean bill to fund DHS followed by a separate vote to halt the president's executive actions on immigration. With a Friday midnight deadline approaching, a short-term spending bill to keep DHS operating into the fall is looking more likely.

BERMAN: No word on the fate of the American missionary kidnapped earlier this week in Nigeria. The Reverend Phyllis Sortor, a Seattle pastor, was taken by five armed intruders from her school. Her kidnappers are 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 to be out of the reach of Boko Haram.

ROMANS: All right, it looks like Iran has figured out how to circumvent U.S. sanctions. According to Reuters, the Iranians 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 already knew this was happening, but the $1 billion figure is a lot higher than previous estimates.

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

ROMANS: Four students from Wesleyan University in Connecticut arrested in connection with that overdose following -- involving a party drug, molly. 11 people hospitalized Sunday after taking an apparent bad batch of molly at a weekend party. Police say there may have been a mix of multiple designer drugs in the batch of molly. The four students arrested have all been suspended from school.

BERMAN: So a stinging blow for Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel, not to mention the White House. The mayor will now face an April runoff in his bid for reelection. He finished on top of a five-candidate Democratic primary field, but he was far short of the 50 percent vote needed to win outright. That despite a campaign appearance from President Obama just last week. Mayor Emanuel will now face Cook County Commissioner Jesus Garcia, who finished second. There is a runoff on April 7th. Six weeks of political intrigue now ahead in Chicago.

ROMANS: And he had firsthand help from his former boss, the president, and still came pretty close.

BERMAN: Five points away.

Another brutal new round of weather -- a new round of brutal weather bearing down on the south. The governors of Georgia and Alabama have declared states of emergency with ice, sleet, snow, freezing rain expected across both states. In Atlanta, several school districts have canceled classes today.

ROMANS: The relentless record-breaking cold and snow really causing so many problems in that region. Here, let's look at Tennessee -- tens of thousands of residents without power in six counties there. The state has reported dozens of weather-related deaths in the past week.

BERMAN: North Carolina suffering from these problems, too. Part of Interstate 85 in Rowan County was closed after a pickup truck overturned. Several other vehicles crashed nearby. Officials say the driver of that pickup truck right there amazingly was not injured.

ROMANS: So how long until things return to normal for the southeast, just a normal, plain vanilla winter?

Let's bring in meteorologist Pedram Jahaveri for an early look at the forecast.

PEDRAM JAHAVERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, good morning, guys. The southern United States going to deal with quite a lot of weather across the next 2 or so 4 hours. Mainly Dallas eastward, and Dallas has already seen a fair share of wintry weather. Again, over 40 million people dealing with this into the next, say, 24 to 48 hours.

But could get a couple of inches out of Dallas, mostly the slushy variety. Get your way towards Atlanta, two to four a possibility, especially north of town. And get 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 hours 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. And it will warm up into the 40s as we head into late afternoon and evening hours so melting certainly going to be occurring there.

But 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 storm 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. 36 degrees, you'll have to take it. It's going to cool off into the mid-20s by week's end.

ROMANS: All right, we'll take it. Pedram Jahaveri, Thanks for that.

Let's get an EARLY START on your money. U.S. stock futures pulling back slightly from a record day yesterday. Stocks have never been this high. The Dow and the S&P 500 both at records. The Nasdaq closing in on 5,000; that's the record set in 2000 during the dotcom bubble. The markets got a boost from Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen's testimony before Congress. The key word there, patient. Yellen promised the Fed will be patient when raising interest rates, a message Wall Street cheered. She stressed the economy has improved, is almost ready to stand on its own, but she's still troubled by economic issues abroad, low inflation, and meager wage growth.

She said the word patient two times in her prepared testimony, John. It was prepared testimony that was almost 2,000 words. Twice she said the word patient. That was what Wall Street wanted to hear.

BERMAN: You have to check out the Romans numeral, which is a new thing on CNN Digital. We'll have much more on that later today. A new feature worth seeing.

ROMANS: Thank you.

BERMAN: So how did that truck driver in California end up on the tracks before being hit by an oncoming train? The driver did get out of the truck but now faces felony charges. We'll have the latest.

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

Let's get the latest from CNN's Kyung Lah.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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 VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: All right, Kyung Lah, thank you for that.

Let's look at what's coming up on "NEW DAY". Alisyn Camerota joins us this morning. Hi Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": Hi, guys. Good morning. So we will be covering the breaking news overnight, that guilty verdict in the American sniper murder trial. We'll tell you how long Eddie Ray Routh will be in prison. And we'll also take a look at why the jury did not believe that Routh was legally insane.

Plus, we're following the latest act of horror from ISIS, the terrorists abducting about 150 Syrian Christians from a Syrian village, most of them women and children. What will happen next?

Meanwhile, we have an update on the whereabouts of those British girls believed to be trying to join ISIS. So we will bring you all of that when Chris, Michaela, and I see you at the top of the hour. ROMANS: All right, thank you so much, Alisyn.

BERMAN: So you get the sense that Vice President Joe Biden -- Vice President Joe Biden taking some cues from Christine Romans here. He knows he's got some personal space issues. He knows that people are talking about them. We'll tell you more next.

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BERMAN: 15 people were injured by a natural gas explosion that leveled a New Jersey home. You have to see this. That's just stunning. Utility crews were called to the scene Tuesday morning after getting reports of a strong gas odor. 90 minutes later, that powerful blast. Seven utility workers, six firefighters were among those hurt. Many of them suffered concussion-like symptoms. You can imagine with the power of that blast.

ROMANS: Vice President Joe Biden trying to laugh off an awkward moment from last week. Attending a reception last night, Biden poked fun at himself for a recent photo gaffe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE 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 if you didn't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Biden, of course, referring to this picture of him getting a little too up close with the wife of new Defense Secretary Ash Carter.

BERMAN: Yes, not part of the job. Not part of the confirmation process, shall we say.

So what's the best way to get your foot in the door? A new list of top internships is out. Where's the best place to look? We have an EARLY START on your money next.

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ROMANS: Let's get an EARLY START on your money this morning. U.S. stock futures barely moving, but they're coming off a record day yesterday. The Dow and the S&P 500 both closed at records. The Nasdaq closing in on its previous record set in 2000 during the dotcom bubble. Markets got a boost from Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen's testimony before Congress. Now, she stressed the Fed will be patient, 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 the second year in a row. The electric car one of the three American models to earn a top slot. The Buick Regal came in 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.

OK, let's talk about internships. For the second year in a row, Facebook, the best place to get your foot in the door. That's according to Glassdoor's list of the 25 Best Internships based on intern feedback about their experience. Chevron is No. 2. Google is No. 3. About half of the top 25 are tech companies. Those internships, they're really hard to get, but they come with good pay and perks like free food and flexibility. And once you have that network, once you've worked at that company and you have that network, you're kind of golden.

BERMAN: Internships are like what we used to call jobs, though. You get paid now and it's really your first step in the door.

All right, the man who killed American sniper Chris Kyle headed to prison for life. That decision coming overnight. The breaking news on that verdict and new information from the trial itself. "NEW DAY" picks up the story right now.