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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Hernandez Guilty of 1st Degree Murder; Capitol Hill Security Scare: Aircraft Lands on Lawn; ISIS Advances in Iraq: Inside the Attack; Ask Putin Anything? Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired April 16, 2015 - 04:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:30:22] CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: An NFL star's fall from grace. Aaron Hernandez guilty of murder. What the jury had to say and why his legal problems are far from over.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Security scare at the U.S. Capitol, raising new questions about security. A pilot undetected by radar landing his craft just in front of the building. We're going to tell you the message he wanted lawmakers to hear and what happens to him now?

ROMANS: ISIS gaining new ground in Iraq. CNN crews have an exclusive look inside these new attacks. We are live.

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

BERMAN: Great to see you today. I'm John Berman. Thirty minutes past the hour.

Developing this morning, a steep plunge from grace from former NFL star Aaron Hernandez. He just signed a $40 million with the New England patriots, but now a convicted murderer, convicted by a Massachusetts jury in the 2013 slaying of his friend Odin Lloyd.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What say you, Madam Foreperson, is the defendant not guilty, guilty of murder in the first degree, or guilty of murder in the second degree?

FOREPERSON: Guilty of murder in the first degree.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: You can hear the emotion in the courtroom right there.

After the verdict, Judge Susan Garsh sentenced Hernandez to life in prison without parole. It's a mandatory sentence given the nature of his crime.

National correspondent Susan Candiotti was in the courtroom -- Susan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine and John, good morning.

Aaron Hernandez showed little emotion when the guilty verdict was read. He did lick his lips and rub his chin, something we often saw him do during the trial when things got tense. At this moment, he turned to see his mother and his fiancee in each other's arms weeping. He told them, "Be strong", and appeared to mouth of words "they're wrong".

And then we looked across the aisle to the mother of the victim Odin Lloyd. She pumped her fist in the air as if a sign of relief. Just before Aaron Hernandez was sentenced to life in prison, she addressed the court and said she forgave the people who are responsible and played a role in the death of her only son.

Afterwards, the jurors were asked, why did they take seven days to reach a verdict? Was that a long time? They said not in their opinion. They took a long time because they said they were very careful about all of the evidence they had to consider.

And then there was this from the jurors. They said that they only found out from the judge after the trial that Aaron Hernandez also faces a double murder case in Boston that has yet to come. He is also facing an accusation that he shot someone in the face. Someone they heard testimony from during this trial.

After the verdict was over and Aaron Hernandez was led from the courtroom to his prison, a source tells me that he told his jailors this, he said, "I didn't do it. They got it wrong."

Evidently, the jury disagreed -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: A May 28th start date for Hernandez's trial on the double murder has been canceled. That trial is expected to be rescheduled soon now that this case is over. As Susan said, members of the jury said when the judge told them Hernandez faces more serious charges, they knew then they had delivered right verdict.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: When you found out these things, the double murder, and the (INAUDIBLE) what was -- what was your reaction? After going all this and all that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We made the right decision.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

REPORTER: Pardon?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That we did the right thing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Outside the courthouse, Odin Lloyd's mother remembered him as the backbone of the family and man of the house whom she will never forget.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

URSULA WARD, ODIN LLOYD'S MOTHER: Just like God has left his footprint in the sand --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Take your time.

WARD: -- my baby's footprints is in my heart forever. He was my strength. I love him dearly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Remember, earlier in the trial, the judge instructed Ursula Ward, the mother, not to cry on the witness stand. Now after the verdict, she can display the emotion that any parent deserves after losing their child.

ROMANS: Her impact statement was really so heartfelt and beautiful, and she was emotional then.

[04:35:01] But it really conveyed just how important this man was to her.

BERMAN: She told people and reporters that in the witness statement, that she forgives the people responsible for her son's death.

ROMANS: She forgives all those who had a hand in his murder.

All right. Thirty-five minutes past the hour.

We are learning more information about the man who flew a gyrocopter on the U.S. capitol lawn.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is not good, people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: No, not good.

Sixty-one-year-old letter carrier Doug Hughes landing his tiny craft right in front of the Capitol.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NORA NEUS, WITNESS: I saw out of nowhere a machine that locked like something from "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" coming straight at the Capitol building. It flew straight in towards the west face of the Capitol building, bounced once and just landed right there on the grass.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: When you land a gyrocopter on the lawn of the capitol, you are then arrested.

The gyrocopter was examined by the bomb squad. It was carted away. Law enforcement sources say the aircraft did not show up on radar, but Homeland Security officials said Hughes would have been shot down if he had come any closer to the Capitol building.

The Secret Service says it interviewed Hughes back in 2013 on a tip, concluding then he did not pose a threat. But Hughes' flight on Wednesday as not a surprise to everyone. He told "The Tampa Bay Times" all about his, plan and let the paper shoot a video in which admits it was a crazy stunt. He said, he told the paper he was willing to risk his life to protest what he called the corrupting power of money in politics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUG HUGHES, FLEW GYROCOPTER ONTO CAPITOL LAWN: I'm going to violate the no-fly zone, nonviolently. I intend for nobody to get hurt and I will land on the Capitol Mall in front of the Capitol building. I'm going to have 535 letters strapped to the landing gear in boxes. And those letters are going to be addressed to every member of Congress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Hughes has been transferred to D.C.'s central jail. He is awaiting federal charges.

BERMAN: Notice the Postal Service logo on the back of the gyrocopter. I'm sure the post office has interesting things to say.

Thirty-seven minutes after the hour.

ISIS on the rampage in Iraq's Anbar province. That's in the western part of that country. The terrorists overran three villages near the city of Ramadi. They are now advancing into the city, located just 70 miles from Baghdad. One Iraqi intelligence official describes the situation as critical.

I want to bring in senior international correspondent Arwa Damon who was there and had an exclusive look inside this new round of attacks -- Arwa.

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hi, good morning, John.

That news that ISIS overran three cities north of Ramadi took place over the weekend. Much more significant developments over the last 24 to 48 hours as ISIS managed to penetrate Ramadi from the north. And also yesterday, in the early hours of the morning, launch a very significant attack from the east. This resulted in a dire warning coming from the deputy province council based inside Ramadi through the day.

ISIS continues to advance to the city center. The last we are hearing is they are trying to breach the government complex. This deputy council head saying that if reinforcements do not arrive, they might be forced to withdraw effectively leaving the city to ISIS.

This most recent push by ISIS into Ramadi has caused upwards of 150,000 refugees to flee. We saw thousands of them trying to flee yesterday. We were at a vital bridge in al Anbar province. This bridge, you are not allowed to take your cars across. And therefore, refugees were pushing carts along with their belongings and filled with elderly, filled with children.

One woman burst into tears as we approached her. Another man described how ISIS fighters stormed into his home and commandeered his roof as a sniper position. These people stories just absolutely heartbreaking, underscoring just how critical it is that the Iraqi government sends reinforcements. Despite promises, that has not yet happened. Air strikes, Iraqi and coalition-led do begin to take place -- John.

BERMAN: No reinforcements arriving as of yet in Ramadi.

Arwa Damon, thanks so much.

ROMANS: Tensions flaring with two key allies in the Middle East. Iraq's prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, criticized the Saudis for launching air strikes against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. He said there is no logic to the operation. Saudi officials are firing back, insisting there is no logic to the prime minister's comments. The United States is really caught in the middle here, supporting both the Saudi air strikes in Yemen and Iraq's struggle to oust ISIS.

BERMAN: The president of Iran is not pleased with the compromised reached by the White House and Senate, which gives Congress the right to weigh on any possible nuclear deal between the United States, Iran and other countries of the world.

[04:40:09] President Hassan Rouhani dismissed the developments as nothing but American politics. He repeated his claim that there will be no deal unless all sanctions are immediately dropped once an agreement is signed.

In Israel, the Senate/White House compromise is being hailed by intelligence officials as a very important element in preventing a bad deal with Iran.

ROMANS: All right. Time for an early start in your money. U.S. stock futures are barely moving.

But yesterday, the Dow gained 75 points yesterday. NASDAQ closed above 5,000. Markets very near record highs. Dow 1 percent away from the record. The NASDAQ and the S&P even less than that. So, one good rally, put you right there on record territory.

Wall street has a lot to think about, though. Corporate earnings coming out big time, big players like Citigroup and Goldman Sachs report later today. Overall, earnings of the S&P 500 expected to fall 3 percent this quarter. That hasn't happened since 2009.

And a big day for Etsy, the Web site where you buy vintage goods. It will trade on the NASDAQ. Pricing its initial public offering at $16 a share. Etsy now worth nearly $1.8 billion.

BERMAN: All right. Some breaking news overnight, explosive allegations about the Oklahoma volunteer deputy who shot and killed an unarmed man all on camera. The Tulsa World" is reporting that Deputy Robert Bates did not earn his job on the force. Sources tell the paper that supervisors in the sheriff's office were ordered to falsify Bates' training records, giving him credit for field and firearms training that he never earned.

Now, as of yet, CNN has not been able to independently verify the claims. "The Tulsa World" reporters who broke the story will be on "NEW DAY" at 6:00 a.m.

This is an alarming development. So many questions about what that man was doing out on a sting, a gun sting in the first place.

ROMANS: If true, if true, what those reporters are reporting is true, it paints the picture of someone playing cop, playing cop with real citizens on the other end of the gun. >

Forty-two minutes after the hour.

Hillary Clinton wrapping up her listening tour in Iowa, but did she he get her campaign off to a good start? Details next.

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[04:45:58] BERMAN: This week, Iowa, next week, New Hampshire. Hillary Clinton wrapped up the high profile low key kickoff to the 2016 presidential campaign. The former secretary of state got up close and personal with voters and key Democratic officials during her initial swing through Iowa.

Let's get more now from famed former Iowa reporter, CNN's Jeff Zeleny.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Christine.

Now, Hillary Clinton is waking up for a third straight morning in Iowa. Her first trip as a 2016 presidential candidate there is coming to an end. She is planning to return to her home base to New York later today. This time, by plane, not a road trip.

But this first campaign stop there was more than simply a drive-by visit. She intentionally lingered with voters and key elected officials to show she is serious about fighting for the Democratic nomination.

When she walked into the Iowa statehouse on Wednesday afternoon for a closed-door meeting, people lined up to see her. The Clinton campaign believes this trip was a successful one. But it's only the beginning of a long campaign.

She is expected to travel to New Hampshire early next week, the state that holds the first primary of the 2016 fight. Of course, unlike Iowa, she won that state during her first presidential campaign.

As she begins to layout the principles of her candidacy, she intentionally did so before scripted and friendly crowds. Of course, the real test of this candidacy will come when she starts taking tough and unscripted questions from those discerning voters in both states -- John and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. New this morning -- thanks for that, Jeff.

New this morning, the Clinton Foundation is announcing plans to change its policy on accepting foreign donations. A spokesman says, going forward, the foundation will accept large money donations from a limited number of foreign governments.

The family foundation has been criticized for the vast donor network which includes some countries considered if not hostile, at least complicated as far as U.S. interests are concerned, like Saudi Arabia. Hillary Clinton has resigned from the board of directors while she runs for president.

BERMAN: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in New Hampshire with his tell it like it is town hall tour. More on that on tap for today. At an event in the town of Londonderry, the governor addressed the issues and perhaps his political future.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: When anybody is asking to be considered for high office, whether it's the governor of New Jersey or an even bigger job, issues will change and move over time. What you need to know more than anything else is who is that person?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Interesting. He got ribbed pretty hard, he went into a diner. And essentially, a dude made fun of him for the bridgegate scandal, really interesting write up for "The New York Times" today.

Lots going on, Jeb Bush and Rick Perry, two other currently undeclared Republican candidates, or I would say semi-declared. They make stops today in New Hampshire.

ROMANS: Christie does well, though, in the town hall format. That's where he really does -- BERMAN: The question is how many will he do in New Hampshire? I

mean, doing 10 or 20 in New Hampshire isn't that many. I mean, McCain did like 100.

ROMANS: Wow.

All right. Forty-eight minutes past the hour.

The Boston jury that convicted Dzhokhar Tsarnaev reconvenes next week to decide whether Tsarnaev will be sentenced to death or life in prison for the marathon bombings.

Members of Tsarnaev's family are now speaking out. His family telling "TIME" magazine that the trial tore them apart, and that they tried in vain to have his defense lawyers dismissed. They still hope to convince Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to fire his legal team and seek to overturn that verdict on appeal.

BERMAN: Will the Kremlin be an open book this morning?

ROMANS: Sort of.

BERMAN: President Vladimir Putin taking questions from the public. Two million submitted so far. Will he answer them all? We have the answer for you live in Moscow, next.

ROMANS: Matthew Chance is doing the same thing for hours.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:53:16] BERMAN: It's one of the few chances for the Russian people to question their leader. President Vladimir Putin will speak with the public today in an annual question and answer call-in session.

CNN's Matthew Chance is in Moscow live for us monitoring this epic event.

Good morning, Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. There has been 2.2 million questions submitted to Vladimir Putin. Hopefully, he won't get to all of them, but it is expected to be a marathon Q&A session. Last year, he than went on for three hours and 56 minutes. The year before, four hours, 48 minutes. So, even the Kremlin this year is saying it is very brisk and interesting 12 months.

And there's a whole range of topics they could be looking at, particularly the conflict in Ukraine, the U.S. and European sanctions over the Russia alleged involvement in Ukraine, the country's sinking economy. All of these are part of the conversation that Putin will be I suppose leading from his parapet on that very slick set of Russian television.

A lot of anticipation around the world, but in Russia as well. Russian television is just running a countdown, it's going to be four minutes, the Q&A session begins, they're running a countdown clock just that in the minutes before the Q&A session starts.

So, a lot of anticipation and excitement ahead of this event.

BERMAN: Excitement. Over 2.5 million questions and counting.

Matthew Chance, you will monitor every single one of them and tell us what they are. Thanks, Matthew.

ROMANS: A bunch of retailers have raised minimum wage to $9, some to $10. Nope, 15,000 people take to the streets yesterday and say, still not good enough. Raise the minimum wage even higher.

We've got that after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Let's get an early start on your money this Thursday morning. The big story this morning: bank earnings and oil prices. Oil rose sharply yesterday. And today, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs report their profit for the quarter.

Also big day for Etsy, the Web site where you buy handmade stuff and vintage goods. John Berman sells lots of stuff on Etsy. It starts trading today on the NASDAQ, pricing its initial public offering at $16 a share. Etsy is now worth $1.8 billion.

BERMAN: Popcorn ornaments.

ROMANS: I would say (INAUDIBLE)

BERMAN: That's it.

ROMANS: About 15,000 low wage workers marched across the country yesterday, 15,000 of them, they're demanding at least $15 an hour. These are workers in fast food, in retail, home care, health care aides. In the last several months, big employers like McDonald's and Walmart, they had raised wages to $9 or $10 an hour. It starts but these protesters say the increases are not enough, still not livable.

Now, we want to tell you this story of loss and student, a heartbreaking story of loss and student debt. This is Rhea Shannon. When CNN Money first met her, she told us how she couldn't make payments on the $54,000 in student loans without her dad's help. Her father co-signed for those loans and died while on active duty in Afghanistan.

BERMAN: Wow.

ROMANS: Hours, just hours after CNN Money told her story, the Survivor Network moved quickly to erase every penny of that debt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RHEA SHANNON, NO LONGER HAS STUDENT DEBT: I was at my desk on the phone and tears were coming down, because I was like, is this really happening? Now I know I have to work on my credit. You know, so I can do the things my father taught.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: He wanted her to have an education. He co-signed for those loans. Rhea said, for the first time since she lost her dad, she can look forward now, get her finances together to invested. She wants to buy a house somebody.