this trial is happening in erath county population less than 40,000. you know this area well.t's it like to try a case in a small texas county town? >> well there's good news and bad news. the good news is you're always going to be able to find a parking spot and eat in the courthouse square. the bad news is i guarantee you that district attorney alan nash knew a bunch of the jurors that came in on that jury panel. why? because in a small town and a county like erath, their kids play little league together they go to walmart together and the home court advantage that any prosecutor has in any criminal case becomes that much more dramatic in a small town and small county. >> i'm going to have to leave it there. don't forget faith, mashed potatoes don't mean gravy. brian wice and faith jenkins, thank you for your time tonight. >> thanks, rev. >>> coming up would you pay $100,000 to have dinner with jeb bush? even some on wall street are shaking their heads. >>> and did this really happen? did that really happen? sadly, it did. jon stewart is leaving the"the daily show." that's a

. >> reporter: it's hard to find anyone in erath county texas, who hasn't heard of chris kyle. the welsh family lived across the street from him. >> kept asking, chris, what are you going to do the rest of your life? you going to be a cowboy the rest of your life? he said, no, i'm going to join the navy and be a navy s.e.a.l. >> reporter: kyle served four tours in iraq earning the title america's deadliest sniper. what is now the top grossing war movie of all time sold out for weeks in stephenville. in 2012 kyle sat down with lester holt. >> if i could figure out a number of people i'd saved, that's something i would brag about. >> reporter: one year later kyle and close friend chad littlefield took former marine eddie ray rout to a shooting range. they wanted to help him cope with post-traumatic stress, but rout turned on them. that night routh confessed to killing both men. here he is today inside a stephenville courtroom charged with capital murder, expected to plead not guilty by reason of insanity. 800 people were summoned to court for routh's trial including clifford sext

. >> this will be the biggest trial that erath county texas has ever seen, it's just a few hours drivef dallas where the crimes occurred. in fact the accused gunman's attorney has requested a change of venue because of the high-profile nature of this case. now the trial against the 27-year-old now planned to begin next week. his attorney arguing that he suffers from ptsd. chris kyle chris kyle's wife says ptsd does not cause someone to just go on a killing spree. >> to use itn excuse for anything heinous, in my opinion is hogwash, to use a nice word. i don't buy it. i don't think it's appropriate. i think it's a very lame excuse for horrible behavior. >> jury selection started today with a pool of about 800 people, 14 total will make the cut, 12 jurors, two alternates. one of the questions may will be asked is have they seen the movie. if folks have seen the movie or read the book, we're told that they're not automatically disqualified, but clearly the goal here is to get a fair and impartial jury, something that the attorney for the gunman says he will not because of the high profile

the barricades and stepped up security is a clear indication it's anything but normal monday at the erath courthouse. >> the judge is going to extraordinary measures to select a pool. >> a pool of 800 jurors in this small farming community has been whitted to 263. now 12 jurors and two alternates will be pulled from that group to decide the fate of eddie routh accused of killing chris kyle and his friend. kyle is the former navy s.e.a.l. whose best selling autobiography turned into the hit movie "american sniper." >> the book and the movie have made it really big. >> reporter: publicity that led routh's defense team to request a change of venue. it was denied. >> the issue is not whether potential jurors have seen the movie and heard about it, it's whether they can put that aside and evaluate the evidence as it comes in fairly and impartially and make a decision a verdict. >> reporter: jury schleck is expected to wrap up in the next couple of days. if all goes as planned, opening statements in the case will start on wednesday. jay gray nbc news stephenville, texas. >>> new information in

piece and shell casing by shell casing describing exactly what he found at the shooting range here in eraths south of fort worth. the interesting thing is there were probably a dozen guns that the two men were using with eddie ray routh. they also had their own personal firearms on them. the firearms still had the safety on so they did not even use the weapons. they didn't know the danger that eddie ray routh post that had evening. tamron. >> also, as you pointed out, hearing more from the wife. at least yesterday we heard from thea kyle regarding her sense and her feeling about the sense she got from her husband, that what she picked up from him that there was something awry. >> right. she made a phone call that afternoon to chris crime, and she said on the stand that she could tell something just wasn't right. he was more quiet. >> i think we've lost the audio to charles hadlock, we apologize for that. let me bring in legal analyst lisa green, author of "on your case." let's pick up a little bit what have this tranger is doing. as charles pointed out, he's setting the stage and explaining

barricades and stepped up security are a clear indication it's anything but a normal monday at the erath county courthouse. >> the judge is going to extraordinary measures to select a jury in this case. >> reporter: a pool of more than 800 potential jurors in this small farming community has been whittled to 263. now 12 jurors and two alternates will be pulled from that group to decide the fate of former marine eddie rey routh, accused of killing chris kyle and his friend chad littlefield. kyle is the former navy s.e.a.l. whose best-selling autobiography was turned into the hit movie "american sniper. ". >> the book and movie have made it really big. >> reporter: publicity that led routh's defense team to request a change of venue in the case which was denied. >> the issue is not whether the potential jurors have seen the movie or have even heard about it. it's whether they can put that aside and evaluate the evidence as it comes in fairly and impartially and make a decision a verdict. >> reporter: jury selection is expected to wrap up in the next couple of days. and if all goes as plann

this is the largest trial that this rural texas county has ever seen. 800 erath county residents weref narrowing down that field to 12 jurors and two alternates. eddie ray ruth is facing capital murder charges for the shooting death of chris kyle and chad littlefield. the fame of chris kyle has skyrocketed in recent weeks with the release of the hit movie, "american sniper." he was considered the most lethal sniper in u.s. military history after leaving the service in 2009. he spent part of his civilian life working with other veterans and that is why he was at a texas gun range two years ago with his friend chad littlefield, and eddie ray routh. his attorney will show insanity defense. he'll show he was suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder. the prosecution meanwhile said it will not pursue the death penalty against him but rather live in prison without parole. back to you. >> dan godwin reporting live from windy texas today where jury selection starts. brian? >> from encouraging companies to hire felons to handing out diapers as rewards for not smoking, big government give aw

. >> pam: eight hundred jurors were screened in erath county, texas. the two men were killed.sen to serve. >> pam: more drama in the murder trial against former n-f-l player, aaron hernandez. >> pam: a second juror has been dismissed from the case. >> pam: the judge says it was for personal reasons. >> pam: the first juror to be evidence in the case. >> pam: alternate jurors will be randomly selected to fill in. >> pam: aaron hernandez is accused of killing a man who was dating his fiancee's sister. >> pam: john stewart's surprise announcement has sent shockwaves around the entertainment world. >> pam: coming up at 5:45. the impact stewart has had on pop culture and what's next for his career. >> pam: and a live look at the commute over the san mateo bridge. >> pam: next. how police cracked down on distracted drivers. >> pam: stock markets were essentially flat after a quiet day of trading. the dow lost nearly seven (vo) at jennie-o, we heard of a place in iowa where every thursday people ride ten miles for tacos. we thought we'd show up and surprise them with a better kind of