end is now looking at life behind bars without parole. after nine days of testimony and less than three hours of deliberation, the jury has convicted eddie ray routh of capital murder. the former marine watched quietly as jurors announced their unanimous decision and the defense argued that routh, who is diagnosed with psychosis and schizophrenia, was not guilty by reason of insanity. kyle considered america's most lethal sniper in history, and chad littlefield, were shot and killed by routh during a trip to a shooting range in 2013. little field's mother wiped tears from her eyes as she praised the verdict. >> 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. >> meanwhile, chris kyle's widow, taya left the courtroom during closing arguments and wasn't around for the verdict, but emotional testimony's been released of her describing the last time that she saw her husband. >> when did you last see chris that day? >> we were at the house and we were both trying to hurry and get to where we were supposed to go. and so he had gone around the house one way to try to find me and i, you know, the comedy, eventually, we found each other in the hallway. just said we loved each other and gave each other a kiss and a hug, like we always did. >> jurors also saw chilling video of the troubled veteran admitting to police that he had murdered kyle and little field. >> going to kill a man today.

it wasn't a want to or a need to. it was a need. i had to. >> how many guys did you kill today? >> two. i knew if i did not take down his soul, he was going to take mine. >> routh's attorney say they will appeal the verdict. turning to washington now, where barack obama's made good on his promise to veto a bill authorizing the keystone xl pipeline. in a message to the senate, the president wrote that the bill attempts to circumvent "the long and proven processes for determining whether or not building or operating a cross-border pipeline serves the national interest." it's just the third veto of the obama presidency and it drew swift and harsh criticism from republicans in congress. house speaker john boehner called the veto a "national embarrassment." and in a "usa today" op ed boehner and senate majority leader mitch mcconnell say the president caved in to special

interests. they write, "the allure of appeasing environmental extremists may be too powerful for the president to ignore but the president is sadly mistaken if he thinks that vetoing this bill will end this fight. far from it. we are just getting started." mcconnell says the senate's going to attempt to override the vote the veto no later than march 3rd. funding for the department of homeland security runs out friday night, and congress still has a long way to go to make sure that agency stays funded. mitch mcconnell's now proposed a two-vote solution to tackle the impasse, one vote to fund homeland security followed by one to stop the president's executive actions on immigration. >> i don't know what's not to like about this. this is an approach that respects both points of view and gives senators an opportunity to go on record on both both funding the department of homeland security and expressing their opposition to what the

president did last november. >> not surprisingly the deal wasn't immediately embraced by house republicans, who are expected to hold a closed-door meeting this morning to talk about it. also, not surprisingly senate minority leader harry reid jumped into the fray saying that before democrats agree to support mcconnell's plan they want assurances from speaker boehner that the house will pass a clean dhs bill. >> to have senator mcconnell just pass the ball over to the house isn't going to do the trick. i'm waiting to hear from the speaker. we have to make sure that we get a bill to the president, not that we send a hot potato to boehner. >> all this comes as president obama heads to miami today for a town hall event in which he's expected to talk about immigration and the funding standoff. well the president and internet activists won a big victory tuesday, as republicans gave in to no net neutrality rules.

federal communications commission's expected to approve the proposed open internet policies that would regulate internet service. safeguarding users' ability and access to the web is something the president says he's been pushing for. and without the favoring or blocking of particular sites. south dakota senator john thune led republicans who strongly oppose the internet measure, and waves of demonstrations have ignited across the nation in recent months expressing support for internet traffic regulations and more government protections. a vote on fcc chairman tom wheeler's proposals is scheduled for thursday. the white house is pushing back against multiple reports that there was a breakthrough in nuclear talks with iran. press secretary josh earnest says it's just not true that the u.s. and other world powers were negotiating a ten-year nuclear freeze with iran. that, of course would have been less than the 20 years that u.s. officials pushed for initially. and over on capitol hill secretary of state john kerry

defended the talks with iran before a senate committee. and he appeared to take a swipe at israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, who is one of the most outspoken critics of the negotiations. >> the president has made clear -- i can't state this more firmly -- the policy is iran will not get a nuclear weapon. and anybody running around right now jumping in to say, well we don't like the deal or this or that doesn't know what the deal is. there is no deal yet. and i caution people to wait and see what these negotiations produce. >> meanwhile, the israeli prime minister has declined an invitation to meet with senate democrats during his upcoming trip to washington. you'll remember they sent a letter to invite him yesterday. but in a letter from netanyahu obtained by reuters, the prime minister responded to the invite

by senators dianne feinstein and dick durbin by saying this -- "though i greatly appreciate your kind invitation to meet with democratic senators i believe that doing so at this time could compound the misperception of partisanship regarding my upcoming visit." upon the invite of congressional republicans, netanyahu's going to be talking to congress on march 3rd. two weeks before israeli elections, and amid ongoing nuclear discussions between the u.s. and iran. supporters of the prime minister have warned of political consequences for democrats who are thinking about skipping his address to congress. well new polls out this morning. the latest round of 2016 polling shows that wisconsin governor scott walker is trying to break away from the rest of the crowded gop field. walker now stands at 25% in the latest ppp poll, a 14-point surge from last month. ben carson a political novice still holding on and holding on

strong at 17%, up three points. jeb bush not far behind at 17%. and he's followed by mike huckabee, governor chris christie and senators ted cruz rand paul and marco rubio. certainly no question that senator cruz is much more popular in his home state. the latest snapshot from texas republicans puts him at the front of the pack with 20%. again, scott walker proving to be a strong political force nationwide right now, right behind him at 19%. but former governor rick perry didn't perform so well in his home state. he just got 8% support. well in his 2016 budget blueprint, governor chris christie's proposing to pay back $1.3 billion into new jersey's pensions system. back in 2011 christie overhauled the state's employee pension, celebrating what he called a fixed problem. fast forward to monday when a superior court judge said that governor christie broke a law by

slashing the promised payments and ordered the money to be restored. but as "the new york times" points out, the framework of christie's new plan mimics the old one, with workers giving up benefits and the state vowing to pay in full. the republican governor who's eyeing a 2016 presidential run called his proposal a roadmap for hard-working taxpayers. >> by putting forward new solutions to an age-old problem like this we are creating a national model. back to you to washington, where veterans affairs secretary robert mcdonald has the backing of the white house as he looks to move past criticism after he falsely claimed that he served in the special forces. mcdonald, an army veteran who served with the 82nd airborne division, spoke to reporters yesterday in front of the department's headquarters. >> in an attempt to connect with that veteran, to make him feel comfortable, i incorrectly

stated that i, too, had been in special forces. that was wrong, and i have no excuse. my biggest motivation was to connect with the veteran. it was a misstatement. it was a misstatement. >> mcdonald was also asked if he considered resigning, and he responded only by saying he wants to serve veterans and prove that the va can work. if he does that he's got a big road ahead of him. the united states has closed its investigation into the shooting of 17-year-old trayvon martin, and that of course was a shooting that occurred almost three years ago. the justice department said tuesday it found insufficient evidence to pursue federal civil rights charges against zimmerman. and now he has been acquitted of all charges in the shooting death of martin. he was acquitted of second-degree murder and manslaughter in 2013 saying he acted in self-defense. and in a statement, attorney general eric holder said "this young man's premature death

necessitates that we be unafraid of confronting the issues and tensions his passing brought to the surface. we as a nation must take concrete steps to insure that such incidents do not occur in the future." martin's family also released a statement. it read in part "we remain poised to do everything in our power to help eradicate senseless violence in our communities. because we don't want any other parent to experience the unexplainable loss that we have endured." now let's turn to business. it was a strong close for the markets tuesday following testimony from fed chair janet yellen. we've got cnbc's geoff cutmore with us live from london. and geoff, what did yellen have to say about interest rates? >> reporter: well this is the interesting thing, and that's why we saw the markets rally here. there were lots of hawks on the interest rate front who were expecting her to say with a million american jobs created over the last four months it is time for us to start moving on

interest rates. in the event she did not say that at all, and she did not remove this key word "patience," from the terminology of the fed's statement. and that was something else that the hawks were disappointed about. so, equities rallied, bond yields fell and the dollar got a little bit weaker. so we are still on watch here for the first move on interest rates. i just want to tell you about jpmorgan interesting news from this bank. they are under pressure from regulators. a lot of them think that jpmorgan should be broken up at over $200 billion. this bank, they say, is too large. the bank itself is doing some of that work it seems. they're shuttering 300 retail branches over the next two years, and they've also said they're going to give back about $100 billion in deposits. go figure. that sounds strange, but it's all about the regulations. if they can give that money back, it will make life a little easier for them when it comes to

their position with regulators on capital requirements. being a little smaller will make it easier for them to hit their capital requirement target. it sounds technical. it's not that difficult to understand, but it really just means jpmorgan has to get a little smaller for regulators to breathe easier at night. back to you. >> geoff it really is fascinateing to see how things have gone since 2008 september 15th 2008. there was a time that jpmorgan was considered to be one of the strongest banks out there. obviously, that's changed a good bit. i wonder what are investors watching as markets open this morning? and what impact will that have on jpmorgan's stock? >> reporter: yeah it's been fascinating. ever since that janet yellen appearance, of course on the humphrey testimony. we have seen the markets push forward to new highs and european markets making new highs. and i think it's europe, really

that will guide u.s. trade for the day. mr. draghi at the european central bank is set to make a key speech today. greece appears to be settling down as an issue. but i think there will be some focus on what mr. draghi has to say and whether europe can finally start joining the united states economy as an engine of growth for the planet. we'll have to wait and watch on that one. back to you. >> all right. thanks so much geoff. greatly appreciate it. and still ahead on "way too early," game on in chicago after mayor rahm emanuel fails to get enough votes to avoid a runoff. how something that never happened before in the windy city happened last night. plus taylor swift shows her love for the big apple in a big, big way. what the pop star has done for kids in new york city. and speaking of which check out these pictures of the hudson river. manhattan encased in ice as the south braces for even more snow. bill karins is here with the latest on the winter's wrath,

straight ahead. the incoming scud or the debris from it wrecked a two-story building that was housing u.s. soldiers setting off a huge fire. again, at least 12 are dead. there are supposedly many many injured. pentagon has confirmed that a missile has landed at what they called a military barracks just outside of duran.

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commissioner, received 34%. garcia, who called mayor emanuel "mayor 1%" and accused him of ignoring the however and middle class, seemed energized by his strong showing. but emanuel expressed optimism and the runoff will be held april 7th. let's go to sports now. a couple of big names in the news. lebron james hitting a new milestone last night against the pistons, this time passing scottie pippen to become the nba's all-time assists leader as a forward. the cavs beat detroit 102-93. and bad news for the bulls. back to chicago, where star guard derrick rose will need surgery after an mri revealed a torn meniscus in his right knee. that's the same injury that sidelined rose in november of 2013. he's going to have to wait until after the procedure before doctors can determine when he might return. now let's get a check on the weather from nbc meteorologist bill karins. bill, it ain't getting better. >> it's not. >> actually it's going to warm

up little bit -- >> slightly. we're going to get teased and then -- >> but i'll tell you what in my home region in the south, they are getting pounded. >> it's going to be quite the winter storm. we could get 8 inches of snow in raleigh. >> wow! >> that's a lot of snow for raleigh. and atlanta's a big question mark. dallas is going to get it this morning. let me take you through the overview of the storm. there is a lot of moisture available coming out of the gulf of mexico. and of course, to the north of it, we've got all the frigid air we'd ever ask for this winter. so, the northern edge is the snowy part of this storm, and it could go through atlanta, it could go right through charlotte, the norfolk area raleigh, asheville definitely and even northern portions of alabama and mississippi. it may even snow in northern portions of louisiana by the time we're all done in this. here's where we are. winter storm warnings are up now from shreveport to norfolk, so a huge area is under winter storm warnings. a lot of schools are going to be out today, even though the snow doesn't start until later in the day for many of these regions. the timeing of it, right now rain is changing over to snow.

we could see heavy snow right now in dallas. by 6:00 p.m. it's in alabama, north of atlanta. and early tomorrow morning it exits virginia. so, how much snow are we talking? again, this is 3 to 6 inches over a large area of the northern portions of the southern half of the country. and as far as totals go 4 charlotte, 5 asheville, 8 raleigh, 7 norfolk. ash southern portions of atlanta could have none. the northern portion could have 4 inches so they're right on that line. >> i'll tell you what if they get those 2, 3, 4 inches the commute in from northern atlanta is going to be absolutely brutal. >> oh, yeah. yeah. >> all right. thank you so much, bill. well, he's been busy lately but jon stewart finally weighing in on vice president biden's touchy-feely moment with the wife of a man who runs the most powerful military in the world. we'll get mr. stewart's take, next.

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to talking about that wonderful moment touching moment of course between the new secretary of defense's wife and himself. let's get the latest from mr. hollywood himself, louis bergdorf. louis, welcome back! >> thank you, joe. good to be here. we all remember last week when vice president biden

particularly got friendly with the wife of defense secretary ashton carter. jon stewart weighed in with his take last night on "the daily show." >> left his hands on stephanie carter's shoulders for an estimated 28 seconds. [ laughter ] >> you seem tense. is it the stress of me groping you for 28 straight seconds? geez, 28 seconds, that's like three decades in groped on camera years. we've already seen that remorse about lady touching is the one thing joe biden will not feel. >> we both have something in common. we both married up. you come in here, get right in the middle. it's just that you're beautiful. hi emily, how are you? i hope you have a big fence around the house. there you go. could i get one just alone? >> dad's going to stand pretty close.

>> let's get a picture. [ inaudible ] [ laughter ] >> ahhhh! i can still see it! ahhhh! what could you possibly be saying to her? >> what louis, are you saying? >> stewart goes through the highlight reel there. >> oh, my word! >> jason jones announced he will be leaving "the daily show" after nearly a decade starring in a show on tbs. now, the series finale of one of america's most beloved tv shows. >> one last ride for the parks and rec gang. who's in? >> yeah! >> the "parks & rec" series finale satisfied die-hard fans with a flash-forward look at what the future holds for the show's cast all the way up to year 2035. it was all positive joe. i think it's the only show on

television that would be able to do that. >> yeah. >> now i know you're a big fan of taylor swift, joe, so this one's for you. >> well if you have an 11-year-old daughter you have to be. >> you have to be. the grammy winner has made good on a promise to donate $50,000 to the new york city public schools. >> all right. >> now, let's bring in mika for a preview of what's coming up next on "morning joe." >> he always does that joe. what is it? he jumps lines. >> that's great. >> it's all right. >> no, that's great news about taylor swift. >> uh huh. >> we have a huge show coming up. >> yeah, we do. >> tom hanks is going to be on! >> oh, my god, louis, did you hear? let me give you a sense of what's coming up on this wednesday edition of "morning joe." much more on the "american sniper" trial verdict, including on-the-ground reaction and full legal analysis of the case. plus as washington battles over the funding of the department of homeland security we're going to speak with democratic congressman joaquin castro and republican darrell issa. also he has written the scripts for the movies "game change" and "the butler." danny strong will be here to tell us about his latest project, the fox series

"empire." >> fantastic. >> and as you said joe, in our 8:30 half hour a lot going on there. hillary clinton's message to professional women in silicon valley last night and why it might be a preview of an upcoming campaign theme. and we'll be joined by tom hanks and tom brokaw. their latest efforts to remember and honor the greatest generation and the award the two men received last night for their work. that and much more coming up straight ahead right here. >> fantastic! stick around. "morning joe" coming up. ♪ ♪ welcome to new york, welcome to new york ♪ ♪

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