guilty again. amanda knox's murder conviction reinstated. an italian court says she did kill her roommate back in 2007. we have breaking news on this this morning, a lot of it, including the family of the slain woman responding to the verdict. we're live. president obama in a cnn exclusive this morning, set to announce a major initiative to get jobless americans back to work. and then, the south thawing out. cities crippled by an historic winter snowstorm slowly returning to normal, but there is new fury this morning over

the ice chaos that crippled the roads. who is now stepping up to take the blame? >> those pictures, i still can't get over that! good morning. welcome to "early start." it's friday. i'm christine romans. >> and i'm john berman. it's friday, did you hear? january 31st. 5:00 a.m. in the east. we begin this morning with breaking news in the amanda knox case. the family of the woman knox was just convicted again of killing in italy is speaking out just moments ago about the verdict and who they think was responsible. erin mclaughlin is live in florence for us this morning. erin, what is meredith kercher's family saying? >> reporter: hi, christine. well, meredith kercher's brother, lyle, and her sister, stephanie, gave a press conference this morning. they were present in court for the verdict reading last night. their attorney has long supported a conviction in this case. they told the media that nothing could bring meredith kercher back, but they are hoping for closure in this case. also, we are hearing from

italian authorities, this just breaking now from police in the italian town of udinay, which is located on the austrian and slovenian border. apparently, they're telling cnn that at 1:00 a.m. last night, they stopped amanda knox's fellow defendant, raffaele sollecito, who was convicted yesterday of meredith kercher's murder, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison, they stopped him at a hotel near the austrian and slovenia border on court orders. the court yesterday ordering that his passport be taken away, deeming him a flight risk. they found him in the hotel, they said with a woman. they brought him to the police station where he remains. he's apparently filling out paperwork. he has not been arrested. he says that he was not trying to flee the country. christine? >> that's a dramatic turn. i mean, this is something -- you know, amanda knox is in this country. she's in seattle. authorities obviously can't take her into custody, but he, he faces prison again.

>> reporter: absolutely, yeah, absolutely does. that is if italy's supreme court ratifies the decision that the court took yesterday. now, the decision, the court's verdict, they have 90 days to write that up, to create a written decision. from there, the defense has another 90 days to appeal that decision to italy's supreme court, but let's remember, that is the same supreme court that overturned the 2011 decision to acquit them. so, things at the moment not looking good for raffaele sollecito and amanda knox. christine? >> all right, erin mclaughlin for us in florence this morning. thank you. >> dramatic developments still going on right now. >> yeah, really. >> so, we'll check back in there in just a moment. meanwhile, happening overnight in atlanta, road crews are racing to tow the last remaining vehicles from the city's frozen interstates, a job that began overnight after many who had abandoned their cars at the height of this week's paralyzing storm returned on thursday to retrieve what they left behind. officials are hopeful that

today's morning commute will be nothing like what the city went through on tuesday and wednesday, when just a few inches of snow left many of these highways impassable. residents there still seething, and the governor of georgia told cnn's wolf blitzer he's sorry. >> that long delay and stalling of traffic was hard on everybody, and it is for that that i am most apologizing, because i don't want that to happen to any of our citizens. i think it's been a big wake-up call. i think it is going to cause all of us to be more aggressive in terms of declaring states of emergency, in terms of deploying our emergency personnel. >> now, the governor said he is not looking for a scapegoat. he also said the buck stops with him, but he implied that he was not given accurate information from forecasters about how bad the storm would be. the death toll from the storm stands at ten, many of them in alabama, where the highways remain a mess.

these pictures are from birmingham, where roads froze again overnight after much of the snow and ice had melted. officials are warning residents, don't travel today. do not travel today unless you have to. >> so, what is the state of the roads? what's the state of the freezing that may happen? indra petersons with a look at the forecast for today and heading into the weekend. >> good morning. >> good morning. it's getting a lot better. the temperatures already this morning, i can show you the comparison between today and yesterday, and you can see how much warmer it really is into the south, and it's only going to be improving each day here on forward. you can really see the temperatures starting to climb to even a good ten degrees above normal as we head in through the weekend. that's for atlanta, also through new orleans, they'll actually see some 70s. so, much improvement there. the entire east coast, in fact, starting to see temperatures climbing. the story really through the next several days is a couple series of storms here. first one, a little minor, kind of maybe out through des moines, through chicago today, but a system behind it will start to bring in heavier snow, really as we go through tomorrow, kind of stretching from the lower plains all the way in through michigan. and some of those totals will be pretty heavy out there. look at chicago. by tomorrow, it could be seeing

anywhere from 6 to even 10 inches of snow, so tough day for them. detroit about 4 to 6 inches. even through iowa, could see about 4 inches of snow. back through colorado, the system's kind of hanging around today, also some of the heavier snow. some of these rates 1 to 2 inches an hour. the big thing is we'll be watching whether or not we're going to see anything here for super bowl sunday. and let me tell you guys, this is tricky. these forecasts are so on the margin, there could be some scattered showers now right around game time, calling official forecast not during game time, but maybe before and after. it's tough. >> hmm. >> that's not good news, right? >> interesting. all right. all right, this morning, president obama set to announce a major initiative by some of the nation's biggest companies to hire the long-term unemployed. just one of the things the president revealed in an exclusive interview with cnn's jake tapper, talking about his state of the union pledge to take action with or without help from congress. >> one of the biggest problems right now on the jobs market is the long-term unemployed. >> yeah, they're having trouble -- people won't hire them because they've been

unemployed so long. >> because they've been unemployed so long, folks are looking at that gap in the resume and they're weeding them out before these folks even get a chance for an interview. so, what we've done is to gather together 300 companies just to start with, including some of the top 50 companies in the country, companies like walmart and apple and ford and others, to say, let's establish best practices. do not screen people out of the hiring process just because they've been out of work for a long time. we just went through the worst recession since the great depression. and so, i'll be convening a meeting where a number of these top companies will be coming in, agreeing to these best practices, and we'll have an opportunity to, you know, encourage more people to come in. >> much more of jake's exclusive interview with the president coming up just a few minutes from now on "new day," and this afternoon at 4:00 p.m. on "the lead" right here on cnn. and you know, the president's really on to something here. there are companies who advertise and head hunters who advertise for jobs, saying

current employees only need apply. >> yeah, so if you're unemployed, don't even bother. >> don't bother. if you don't have a job, they don't want you to even apply. >> this will be a welcome change, if these companies follow through with this promise. >> and if it's more than just symbolic. 7 minutes after the hour. this morning president obama is a step closer to having a new leader for the nsa. his pick is vice admiral michael rogers, who if confirmed, would also head up the u.s. cyber command. rogers is a navy veteran and trained fritologist in technology. general keith alexander steps down next month. due out today from the state department, a highly anticipated report that could decide the fate of the keystone xl oil pipeline. the analysis of the proposed alberta-to-texas pipeline expected to conclude. the project would pose little risk to the environment. president obama has opposed the pipeline but promised last summer he could get on board if the project does not contribute to carbon pollution. >> the president facing a huge amount of pressure from the left in his own party to oppose this,

but no one knows which way he's going to go here, so that will be very interesting to see. meanwhile, could now be the time for significant immigration reform? washington is waking up this morning to a new blueprint unveiled by republican house leaders on thursday. the plan, which includes providing legal status for 11 million undocumented workers, was reportedly met with sharp criticism from rank and file in the house, some who reportedly said they don't want to deal with this in an election year. still, some democrats, most of whom favor a path to citizenship, not just legal status, do see this as a possible new jumping off point for negotiations. >> some republican senators have said how can, with 12 million people unemployed and with the long-term unemployed, the president's concerned about how did you give legal status to all these other workers for the very jobs that out-of-work americans should have a shot for, too? that is an interesting angle in all this. all right, some low-level drug offenders in federal prisons today are encouraged to ask for clemency from the president. the justice department saying those whose crimes were

nonviolent and have clean prison records should file the paperwork to have their sentences reduced. the federal bureau of prisons will even be telling inmates good the new opportunity. a deputy attorney general james cole says it's the best way of dealing with an exploding prison population. this morning the air force cheating scandal keeps growing. officials say the number of nuclear missile launch officers now under investigation has ballooned to 92. that's nearly a fifth of the entire nuclear force. 40 are suspected of actually cheating on a proficiency exam by getting answers in advance. the remaining 52 were allegedly aware of the cheating but failed to report it to their superiors. all right, wall street gearing up for another loss, i'm sad to say. dow futures down 70 points. no major news behind it. it's this generally negative sentiment we've been seeing all year. investors looking at more than just one trading day, they're looking at the entire month. and according to the january barometer, how stocks do in january predicts how they're going to do for the year. right now it's right about 90%

of the time. if it holds true again, 2014 could be tough. the s&p 500 is down nearly 3% this month, just this month. one big mover today, amazon down 5% premarket. amazon reported more than $25 million in sales over the past three months, but wall street isn't impressed. amazon thinking about raising prices for the prime membership service. >> uh huh. >> that's the headline for you. instead of $79, it could be $119. higher fuel and shipping costs. >> that's a big deal. a lot of people chose amazon prime for free shipping, 79 bucks. maybe not so much if it keeps going up and up. interesting to watch. all right, george zimmerman back in the news this morning, now planning to fight for charity. zimmerman telling radar online that he's agreed to participate in a celebrity boxing match. as of now, he doesn't have an opponent, but finding one may not be too difficult. the promoter says he's had some 8,000 e-mails from people who want in. zimmerman will not be getting paid for the fight, which will take place at an undisclosed

location and be streamed live online for pay-per-view. the fight is scheduled for march 1st. coming up, the final day to negotiate peace in syria. can anything be accomplished? we are live. and a fire department accused of standing by as a man died, helpless on the pavement. we'll have that story next. farmer: hello, i'm an idaho potato farmer. and our giant idaho potato truck is still missing. so my dog and i we're going to go find it. it's out there somewhere spreading the good word about idaho potatoes and raising money for meals on wheels. but we'd really like our truck back, so if you see it, let us know, would you? thanks. what? [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] you may be an allergy muddler. try zyrtec® for powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin®

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start a tax-free business at startup-ny.com. happening today, an end to this round of the international talks about the war in syria. the peace conference wrapping up today with little progress reported in both the government and opposition seemingly no closer to a deal to end the conflict that has been raging now for three years. that as attention turns to a different international summit in germany that will bring secretary of state john kerry and other world leaders together again. they still have syria on their minds. mohammed jamjoom with the latest on this. mohammed? >> yeah, john, what's come out of this conference so far is

mostly just frustration. to give you some example of just how difficult it's been to come to any kind of agreement, despite the fact there's been so much pressure in these talks put on both sides to come to an agreement about getting aid to the city of homs, where people there have been under siege for 600 days and are starving to death in some cases, even an agreement on that couldn't be reached, about how to deliver aid. we've seen so many amateur videos come out of homs this past week and spoken to so many residents, and they tell us the same kind of thing. we hear about men that are foraging through shelled-out buildings looking for fire wood that they can provide their family with. we've spoken to women who have talked about how they are trying to get their children to drink any kind of water they can find. most of the time, it's dirty and it has bugs in it. and we see pictures that are so dramatic that show neighborhoods that are laying there in ruins. there are injured people there that desperately need medical attention. at one point, there was talk of an agreement for evacuating

women and children. even that couldn't be accomplished this week in geneva. so, it really has been a disappointment and fraught with a lot of frustration. now we'll see what happens in munich. secretary kerry is going to be there. he's going to be talking with lakhdar brahimi, the arab league envoy to syria, with his counterpart, sergey lavrov from russia, but whether or not anything be achieved, and even though syria is expected to take up a lot of talking room there, well, at this point, there's not a lot of hopes. john? >> they leave these talks in geneva with nothing tangible, except for the fact that they spoke at all, and maybe, just maybe going forward that will count for something. mohammed jamjoom, thank you so much for being with us this morning. appreciate it. the death penalty is now on the table in the case against dzhokhar tsarnaev, the surviving boston marathon bombing suspect. he faces 30 charges in the case, and prosecutors are saying they plan to pursue the death penalty on more than half of them. tsarnaev has pled not guilty in the attack last april, an attack

that left three dead and injured 260 others. this morning changes are coming to new york city's controversial stop-and-frisk program. the new mayor, bill de blasio, announcing that the city has given up its appeal of a judge's ruling and will accept reforms, including an independent federal monitor. now, this is a major change from the last mayor, michael bloomberg, who insisted the program was legal and did not unfairly target minority groups. this morning in washington, d.c., a firefighter and a fire lieutenant are on administrative leave as authorities investigate whether a man died outside a fire house because firefighters refused to help. it happened on saturday when 77-year-old cecil mills collapsed across the street from a fire station. those with him called 911 and ran to the door, begging for help, but they were told fire crews couldn't do anything unless they were dispatched. >> it's hard, and that's how i felt, because the person stood there and watched the entire thing and did nothing to help. i even ran to the curb and said,

"are you going to help me or are you going to let my dad die?" >> firefighters routinely go into danger. they don't wait to be called. they respond. and so, that's what's troubling about this. this goes against what firefighting is all about. and that's one of the reasons that it's so troubling. >> a police officer eventually flagged down an ambulance for the man. he later died. washington officials are calling the entire episode unacceptable. >> a shame. a marine who served his country in afghanistan is back home with his family this morning. this was a big surprise for his kids, who did not expect him back for another six weeks. so, when gunnery sergeant robert clement showed up at their high school during an assembly on thursday, his 12-year-old daughter was shocked. his 9-year-old son was stunned. and everyone, everyone in the school was sobbing. [ cheers and applause ] >> i'm just happy.

>> my number one value, you know, is family. so, definitely being reunited with them is -- i've just been waiting. it really is. >> just the most amazing things to see. he could not possibly squeeze his son tighter and his son squeezing him back there. oh, my goodness! the marine, this guy thanks his wife, who hatched the whole idea with a lot of help from the school. she was also crying, as you can imagine, saying her eyes were watering so much. she had trouble using her camera. >> oh, wow. super bowl smackdown. the big game just two days away. the trash talk between the teams, whoo-hoo-hoo! andy scholes live from super bowl boulevard, right after the break. [ garner ] there's a lot of beautiful makeup out there

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so, i don't think there's anything going on this weekend. >> nothing at all. i haven't heard of anything going on this weekend. >> two days away from the super bowl. the trash talk between the two teams is really getting entertaining. >> that's why we have andy scholes live on super bowl boulevard with the "bleacher report." good morning, andy. >> reporter: hey, good morning, guys. you know, so, we keep hearing about this year's super bowl. it's got the number one offense in the league, the denver broncos, taking on the number one defense in the seattle seahawks, and the matchup to watch when those two units are on the field is going to be peyton manning versus richard sherman. these two actually had a little fun with each other this week. sherman said, "peyton's passes, while they're on time and accurate, look like ducks flying

through the air." now, peyton fired back at that yesterday, but he definitely did have some fun with it. >> i believe it to be true as well. [ laughter ] i think that's a real reach what he's saying there. i do throw ducks. i've thrown a lot of yards and touchdowns ducks, so i'm actually quite proud of it. >> all right, rachel nichols is going to have a special episode of "unguarded" tonight right here from super bowl boulevard. she's going to sit down with john elway, and he's going to talk about getting the broncos back to the super bowl. >> you know, as a player, this is the biggest game of your career, and you know, especially as a quarterback. there's, you know, a lot of things that ride on this game because of the fact of the attention that the game gets. and so, being with a coat on, you're a lot more in the background, which is a little bit more enjoyable.

>> and you can catch that interview tonight at 10:30 eastern right here on cnn. all right, trending on bleacherreport.com today, animals around the world are making their super bowl picks. hailing from montana, ozzie the grizzly bear, he went with the denver broncos peanut butter cake. now, buffett, the manatee in florida, agreed with ozzie, also went broncos. and you're going to want to take buffett seriously. he's got a six-game winning streak going in the super bowl. but hold on a second! eli the ape in utah, he has a six-game winning streak going as well, and he picked the seahawks. so, guys, it's a dilemma for gamblers everywhere. who do you go with? do you go with eli the ape or do you go with the manatee and the grizzly bear? >> i've got to talk to the wildebeest to break the tie or something. >> i know, i know. i need to ask where they think he's going to end this year because i need some real good information. they might be the people to turn to. >> the manatee is not the bear. the bear is the bear. >> i know, be the bull in that

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amanda knox guilty again, terrified after an italian court finds she killed her roommate. will she be forced to return to prison? new this morning, the victim's family weighs in. we are live. and details about the ex-boyfriend, detained. president obama in a cnn exclusive, telling us about his new plan to get jobless

americans back to work. >> mounting security threats at the olympics as american athletes arrive for the games. we are live in russia. >> just one week to go now until the olympics. >> i know. almost there. >> welcome back to "early start." great to have you here, i'm john berman. >> i'm christine romans. it's 30 past the hour this morning. lots of breaking news in the amanda knox case. a day after she was convicted again in italy of murdering her roommate, we are hearing this morning from the family of meredith kercher, speaking out about this retrial and the potential that knox may have to return to prison. there's a lot of other news going on in this case also. erin mclaughlin live in florence this morning. erin, tell us the latest. >> reporter: hi, john. well, meredith kercher's brother and sister were present in court last night for the verdict. their attorney has long argued for this conviction. they gave a press conference this morning. take a listen to what lyle kercher had to say. >> no matter what the decision

and when it is finally upheld or not, you know, nothing's, of course, going to bring meredith back. you know, nothing will ever take away the horror of what happened to her. the best we can hope for is, of course, finally bringing this whole case to a conclusion, you know, and a conviction, and everybody can then move on with their lives. >> reporter: stephanie and lyle kercher also saying that should it come to an extradition order for amanda knox, should italy's supreme court make that ruling, that they would support her extradition from the united states. we're also getting an update on amanda knox's co-defendant, raffaele sollecito. he was found guilty of meredith kercher's murder last night, sentenced to 25 years in jail. we understand from italian police in the northern italy city of udinay, which is located near the border of austria and slovenia, the police detained him at 1:00 a.m. last night. they found him inside a hotel.

he had checked in with another woman. they brought him to the police station. they had been following him, they said, because of police orders to seize his passport. those orders given by the court because he was deemed a flight risk. he's currently still at the police station, we understand, filling out paperwork. john and christine? >> i can see why detained at the border must raise a serious amount of concern for the police as they try to keep him in the country while this legal process continues. >> reporter: absolutely. and this legal process is not over. we are still waiting for the written decision from this court in florence. they have 90 days to issue that. once that has been given, then the defense has another 90 days to appeal this decision to italy's supreme court, the very same supreme court, however, that overturned the 2011 acquittal decision. so, at the moment, things are not looking good for sollecito and knox.

>> erin mclaughlin in italy this morning, thank you so much. in atlanta this morning, road crews finishing up a monumental task of moving the last remaining vehicles from the city's frozen interstates. a job that began overnight. tow trucks pulling cars off the roads, cars not retrieved on thursday by drivers who had to leave their vehicles behind at the height of this paralyzing storm. officials are hopeful today's morning commute will be nothing like what the city went through on tuesday and wednesday. it was just a few inches of snow, but it left many highways impassable. residents are seething, and the governor told cnn's wolf blitzer he's sorry. >> that long delay and stalling of traffic was hard on everybody, and it is for that that i am most apologizing, because i don't want that to happen to any of our citizens. i think it's been a big wake-up call. i think it is going to cause all of us to be more aggressive in terms of declaring states of emergency, in terms of deploying

our emergency personnel. >> the governor said he's not looking for a scapegoat and the buck stops with him, but he implied that he was not given accurate information from forecasters about how bad the storm would be. >> the death toll from the storm stands at ten, many of these in alabama, where the highways remain a mess this morning. these pictures from birmingham, where roads froze again overnight after much of the snow and ice that was there melted and refroze. officials continue to warn residents, do not travel today unless you absolutely have to. >> indra petersons watching the forecast. and i'll tell you, it has been quite a week for the south. what can they expect now? >> it's unbelievable. of course, it's the morning hours that it's below freezing that it's difficult out there, but each day the forecast is getting better. you can see in the morning hours almost a ten-degree warm-up from just yesterday and in the afternoon we'll continue with that trend as the temperatures warm, so much so that in atlanta, they're going to see above-normal temperatures by sunday, 66 degrees. you go out towards new orleans,

they're looking for 70s. so, that's the good news. if you're in d.c. and new york city, same thing. we'll start to see these temperatures going up. we actually feel the difference out there this morning. it feels so much better. keep in mind, in the upper midwest, you're not as fortunate. a series of storms will be making their way through. colorado already seeing 6 to 10 inches possible from the system. eventually going into saturday, that will spread all the way into michigan. 6 to 10 inches of snow possible, detroit, 4 to 6 inches with gusty winds. as the system makes its way through, the second one on saturday will produce a little icing from the ohio valley back to the southern plains. it will bring some showers in through saturday in the northeast. the big thing is, though, super bowl sunday, that forecast -- we have different weather models -- makes it clear for super bowl sunday, but here's another model, the european model, and notice we get a little bit of scattered showers around the area at game time. so, notice showers above, showers to the south. it's just so hard to call at this point in time. i mean, we check every hour and the forecast is changing. it's difficult. >> it's interesting, because

they would prepare for the game differently if they knew the weather was going to be bad, if it was going to be raining. >> right. >> interesting that they can't tell right now. >> at least it won't be bad, bad, but whether or not you'll get anything at all, hard to call. >> thanks, indra. this morning we're hearing from president obama in an exclusive cnn interview. the president is outlining a major initiative by some of the nation's biggest companies to hire the long-term unemployed. the program is officially to be announced today, but first, the president sat down with jake tapper to outline one way that he's taking action with or without help from congress. >> one of the biggest problems right now on the jobs market is the long-term unemployed. >> yeah, they're having trouble, people won't hire them because they've been unemployed so long. >> because they've been unemployed so long, folks are looking at that gap in the resume and they're weeding them out before these folks even get a chance for an interview. so, what we have done is to gather together 300 companies just to start with, including some of the top 50 companies in the country, companies like walmart and apple and ford and

others, to say, let's establish best practices. do not screen people out of the hiring process just because they've been out of work for a long time. we just went through the worst recession since the great depression, and so, i'll be convening a meeting where a number of these top companies will be coming in, agreeing to these best practices, and we'll have an opportunity to encourage more people to come in. >> there's a huge amount from this interview that is fascinating. we will have much more of jake's exclusive interview with the president coming up in just a few minutes on "new day," and then again this afternoon at 4:00 p.m. on "the lead," right here on cnn. >> you know, companies don't do things for the goodness of their heart, out of the goodness of their heart. they do it to return shareholder value, so the president has to convince people, it's good for america, good for their business to hire -- >> but the president can apply pressure. ceos have to listen when the president calls them out. >> absolutely. the nsa close to having a new chief. vice admiral michael rogers is the president's nominee to head

up the nsa. he'll also be in charge of the u.s. cyber command. rogers is a 30-year navy veteran and a trained cryptologist. that's the study of secure technology. if confirmed, he'll take over the helm next month when the current director, general keith alexander, steps down. >> so, expected to be released today, a crucial state department report on the environmental impact of the k keystone xl oil pipeline. the analysis of the proposed alberta-to-texas pipeline is expected to conclude that the project would pose little risk to the environment. so, the president has so far hedged on whether he will support this project or not. he has been waiting for reports like this environmental impact report to make a decision about whether he will support this pipeline. he's facing enormous pressure from the left in his own party to oppose it. however, he has said if there is no environmental impact, that could influence his decision. on immigration this morning, hopes for a deal in congress unclear now that republican house leaders have unveiled their blueprint for reform.

it includes providing legal status for 11 million undocumented workers, reportedly with sharp criticism from many house republicans, some of whom apparently said an election year is not the time to deal with this issue. democrats are saying they see the blueprint as a jumping off point for negotiations. a lot of disagreement among republicans over whether there should be a probationary status for the illegal immigrants or whether there should be a pathway to citizenship. >> and democrats on the side of citizenship. however, they say the fact that there are some republicans who will respect legal status, that's a point where they can start talking. 40 minutes after the hour now. there is new hope this morning for some low-level drug offenders in federal prison. the justice department is now encouraging them and their lawyers to ask for clemency from the president if they were convicted of nonviolent drug crimes and have clean prison records. the federal bureau of prisons will even be telling inmates about this opportunity. deputy attorney general james cole says it is the best way of dealing with an exploding prison

population. another down day on wall street and dow futures now are down about 90 points. it follows a 100-point gain yesterday. so, look, everything you gained yesterday given back in futures this morning, propelled by news the economy growing at a pretty solid pace. still, it will be the dow's seventh drop in nine sessions. let's look at asia right this minute, the nikkei down modestly. europe, stocks down. a big day for ben bernanke and janet yellen. bernanke bids adu to the federal reserve today. >> i love when you -- >> today's his last day on the job after eight years as fed chief. very uneventful term. janet yellen takes over on monday, the first woman to lead the central bank in its more than 100 years. as for bernanke, many credit him with preventing a recession that could have been much worse. he used unprecedented measures to prop up the economy, but some are worried about the consequences of those actions, like a possible stock bubble that needs to be popped? emerging market bubble that then turns into problems for us?

i think the legacy has not been written yet for the last eight years. >> no, but after this eight years, i hope he gets some rest, takes a big, long nap. >> i hope so, too, gets to read as many economic textbooks as he wants now. >> which is always relaxing. coming up, the opening ceremonies in sochi are just a week away. wow! and as americans arrive, the questions remain, will these games be safe? we are live from russia with the latest, next. the day we rescued riley was a truly amazing day. he was a matted mess in a small cage. so that was our first task, was getting him to wellness. without angie's list, i don't know if we could have found all the services we needed for our riley. from contractors and doctors to dog sitters and landscapers, you can find it all on angie's list. we found riley at the shelter, and found everything he needed at angie's list. join today at angieslist.com there's nothing like being your own boss! and my customers are really liking your flat rate shipping. fedex one rate.

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we are now just one week away from the start of the winter olympics in sochi. russia is insisting these games will be safe. thousands of police and soldiers are on guard in and around that city. and american athletes begin to arrive. ivan watson is live in sochi this morning. ivan, what are you seeing? what are the concerns there now as athletes are actually coming to town? >> reporter: good morning, christine. today we're broadcasting to you from the port of sochi. now, many people may not know this, the city and port of sochi

are actually about a half hour's drive away from the main olympic park where the ice skating's going to be taking place, the opening and close ceremonies and a lot of the events, the sports venues and the olympic village are. they're quite far apart. the russians are saying the sports, the winter olympics are going to be the safest ever, and this week, the head of the u.s.'s counterterrorism center, matthew olson, he also said that he believes these very well fortified olympic venues will be safe. his concern, he said, are softer targets, like the city of sochi itself, where i am, and the outlying areas where there simply aren't the same fortifications. he said to congress that "there is a substantial potential for a terrorist attack in some of these places." of course, the athletes are going to be very far from these. they will be behind the russian so-called ring of steel.

when it does come to those russian security measures, we've seen firsthand, christine, some of the tens of thousands of russian soldiers and police and undercover police that are out there. they're searching the roads. there are, i do have to say, these olympic venues are very well fortified. we can't get into them right now because we don't have olympic accreditations. it would be very difficult to penetrate them to pose some kind of a threat. the more dangerous area for ordinary russians and tourists who may be outside of those areas, staying in hotels and areas like this. >> so-called soft targets. >> reporter: christine? >> all right, thank you so much. nice to see you. this morning victims are reacting toward the boston marathon bombing suspect, dzhokhar tsarnaev, will face the possibility of the death penalty. attorney general eric holder made the decision public on thursday. and for those who were hurt that day in april, they say this was the right call. >> i think what he did to a lot

of people that day, especially the ones that he killed, i think he deserves it. >> tsarnaev's mother tells cnn she loves her son and the family is sickened over their child. tsarnaev faces 30 charges in the bombing that killed 3 and injured 260 others. he has pleaded not guilty. all right, 48 minutes past the hour. let's look at what's coming up on "new day." kate bolduan joins us now. happy friday. >> good morning, guys. happy friday. we have a big day, a lot going on today. two huge exclusives this morning. first, president obama going one on one with jake tapper in his first interview since the state of the union address. what the president says about his new push to get the long-term unemployed, unemployed americans back to work. and wait until you hear his surprising comments when asked about security at the sochi games. and also, he talked about the issue of marijuana and the comment that he made to "the new yorker." you don't want to miss that. and then in a very different exclusive, a "new day" exclusive, chris is sitting down, going face to face with

dennis rodman for the first time since his explosive outburst right here on the show. they're going to be live from rodman's rehabilitation center, the facility that he's at. he -- has time changed rodman's mind, his view on his visit to north korea and what he said while over there. also, they'll be talking about an issue that many americans struggle with, addiction. rodman's going to talk about his very personal fight, where he is on that struggle on his road to recovery, where he is today. we'll have all the answers that you have been waiting for. chris is going to be there this morning. >> some huge, huge news, big stories coming up. >> wow. >> we have one big story here, kate, i should tell you. it's christine romans's birthday today. >> what? >> so, we did get her a cupcake. >> i did not know! >> we couldn't light it on fire because the flame wasn't in the budget, but here -- >> that's obvious. insurance is tough. christine, 30? your 30th birthday. i'm so proud of you. >> oh, i'm 32. >> oh, christine -- >> tell cuomo he expensed it. >> it's very hard to expense a

cupcake. >> talk into my mike. >> that's all he got you was a cupcake? >> we'll see you coming up. >> bye, guys. >> go away. >> chris cuomo got the dense rodman interview. you got me nothing. >> exactly. don't worry about chris. >> all right, happy birthday. >> thank you. that was so sweet. coming up next, shocking allegation against firefighters who refused to help. firefighters accused of turning a blind eye, possibly leading to a man's death. we have this story and a lot of questions next. mine was earned in korea in 1953. afghanistan, in 2009. orbiting the moon in 1971. [ male announcer ] once it's earned, usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection. and because usaa's commitment to serve current and former military members and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve.

it's hard to describe, because you have a numbness, but yet you have the pain like thousands of needles sticking in your foot. it was progressively getting worse, and at that point i knew i had to do something. once i started taking the lyrica the pain started subsiding. [ male announcer ] it's known that diabetes damages nerves. lyrica is fda approved to treat diabetic nerve pain. lyrica is not for everyone. it may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, changes in eyesight including blurry vision, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or skin sores from diabetes. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. ask your doctor about lyrica today. it's specific treatment for diabetic nerve pain.

this morning in washington, d.c., a firefighter and a lieutenant are on administrative leave as authorities investigate whether a man died outside a fire house because firefighters refused to help. this happened on saturday when 77-year-old cecil mills collapsed across the street from a fire station. those with him called 911 and then ran to the door of the fire

house begging for help. but they say they were told fire crews couldn't do anything unless they were dispatched. >> that's how i felt, because the person stood there and watched the entire thing and did nothing to help. i even ran to the curb and said "are you going to help me or are you going to let my dad die?" >> firefighters routinely go in to danger. they don't wait to be called, they respond. and so, that's what's troubling about this. this goes against what firefighting is all about. and that's one of the reasons that it's so troubling. >> a police officer eventually flagged down an ambulance for the man who later died. washington officials are calling it unacceptable. coming up, microsoft close to finding a new leader. only the third ceo of microsoft since 1975. we're about to find out who! the details in "money time," next.

two minutes to the top of the hour. welcome back to "early start." it's "money time" this friday morning. a rotten month for stock investors, payback after a spectacular year. right now dow futures down 80 points, nearly wiping out yesterday's gain. european stocks are down. asia has wrapped up the week now with the nikkei in japan closing down just shy of one percentage point. and on the last day of the month, the s&p 500 is down 3% this month. all right, big news for microsoft. the quest for a new ceo may be over. microsoft reportedly on the verge of naming satya nadella as its new ceo. it has been a long search. current ceo steve ballmer is retiring and the guessing game of who will take over has been

frenetic. in dwrael nadella is a 22-year veteran of microsoft. the focus has been on outsiders potentially coming in. we'll look for confirmation that it will be an insider instead to be only the third ceo

we have that exclusive interview with president obama, but first, we want to get to major headlines.