Transcripts For CNNW EarlyStart 20130829

0 forget it, get a good decorator to make your house pretty. >> thank you, pat robertson. you are a true crusader. and we did consider changing this to the pat robertson list. it does a have a certain ring to it. that's it for us. thanks for watching. "early start" starts now. have a great day. red line. president obama confident that syria used chemical weapons to kill hundreds of its people. what will the united states do about it? we are live. >> he broke a law. he confessed and he got to walk away. >> a mother's fury when the man who raped her 14-year-old daughter is sentenced to just 30 days in jail. the judge behind the sentence explaining himself. >> worms in the water? worms in the water. an oklahoma community warned not to drink from the tap. good morning, everyone. >> welcome to "early start." what a thought to begin the show with. >> it is 5:00 a.m. in the east. up first, president obama says there is no doubt syria used chemical weapons on its own people and that cannot go unpunished. how the u.s. will respond is unknown. the white house plans to release the evidence that points to the assad regime. military assets are in place for a syrian strike. we have more from cnn concerned barbara starr. >> reporter: president obama hasn't decided what to do but is determined to hold syria accountable. >> we want the assad regime to know using chemical weapons against women, infants, against, children, you are not only breaking international norms and standards of decency, but you are also creating a situation where u.s. national interests are affected. that needs to stop. >> reporter: in his interview with the pbs "news hour," he left no doubt with who ordered the attacks. >> we have concluded the syrian government, in fact, carried them out. >> reporter: intercepts of syrian commanders discussing the movement to the area of attack provided by israel yan attacks. it put the u.s. with direct odds with russia. >> we do not believe the syrian regime should be able to hide behind the fact they should block action. >> reporter: behind the scenes, the u.s. may not wait for the united nations to act. the u.s. military is strengthening their position in the eastern mediterranean with the addition of two more submarines. the syrian regime is also getting ready. >> we are preparing ourselves for the worst scenario. >> reporter: why did assad do it? it might have been retaliation for a failed assassination attempt of perhaps the regime was planning a smaller attack but something went wrong and this became a major incident. barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. >> with the u.s. seemingly on the verge of a military strike against syria, what is going on inside that country? fred spent the last few days in the syrian capital monitoring developments from beirut, lebanon. fred, bring us up to speed. >> reporter: hi, christine. i left that country an hour and a half ago. you can tell how the rhetoric toned down a lot over the past couple days. a couple days ago they would have said we are going defend ourselves and stand-up to america. now it sounds more subdued. a lot of people are trying to leave the country now. i wouldn't say it's an exodus but for a couple days, we are going try to leave syria and come back when things turn down a little bit. we were out on the streets of the syrian capital to gauge the mood of people. they are nervous. let's have a look at what some people had to say. even with u.s. warships ready to strike off syria's coach, it's certain they used chemical weapons on their people. at first glance, damascus doesn't appear to be on the edge. this man is with the police force and says he's not afraid of u.s. air strikes. this is my country, i believe we are winning. others counting on help from above. this doesn't scare me, she says, i believe in god so much i know the usa can't do anything. the war is never far away with plumes of smoke constantly rising up from the outskirts of the capital. at damascus university many students are loyal to bashir assad and say they don't believe he used the gas against civilians. i believe chemical weapons were used in some way, he says, but i don't think the government did it because they know what the results would be. dig down and you find a sense of unease. the historic market is empier than usual. syria's economy is in a state of crisis. many fear things could get worse. it's a strange mood. people seem unsure what the future will bring with the american air strikes looming. few people talk about it openly. some bought additional food, canned foods, just in case. christine, there were rumors and reports that came out yesterday that apparently the syrian military was moving the top brass out of the headquarters and moving some of the artillery pieces that were used to pound the subs. it's hard to confirm or deny that. we did see less artillery shelling when we were there last night. >> what the response will be, clearly, syrians are preparing. thanks so much, fred. the u.s. military is beefing up its presence in the gulf. the uss harry truman is being moved in place. it joins the nimitz. it's prudent planning and does not suggest they would play a role in strikes in syria. in iraq, a wave of sectarian violence in baghdad. dozens wounded. the bombs targeting shia neighborhoods during rush hour increased tensions between them in iraq led to the rising violence. sentenced to death. a military jury deliberated less than two hours before deciding hasan deserved the death penalty. hasan acting as his own attorney during the court-martial and offered no defense. he could become the first american soldier to be executed in more than half a century. due to the lengthy appeals process, it could be years or decades before he's sentenced to death. the woman accused of sending ricin laced letters to president obama pleaded not guilty wednesday in court. she told the fbi her husband sent the letters, initially. 30% containment now on the fire lines in northern california. the wildfire in and around yosemite national park has burned through 192,000 acres. the fire continues to grow, but it is not spreading as quickly. a drone joined the fight from the air. it will likely take three weeks before crews can get that enormous blaze fully contained. >> unreal how big that fire is. that there's 30% containment is progress. let's get the latest on the weather out west. indra petersons has that. >> the good news is we do not have the red flag warnings. the temperatures in the 70s. the biggest threat today is the dry lightning. we are going see winds 15 to 20 miles per hour. the big problem in that area is the terrain. we are talking the steep cliffs out there. it's difficult for firefighters to get in where they need to get. you can see the white here, it's the afternoon thunderstorms popping up here and there. with that, the threat of dry lightning. the other thing we are watching is the tropical moisture move sboog the area for the weekend. remember what we saw last weekend, heavy storms in the area. we have tropical storm juliet. all the moisture making its way in could mean one to two inches of rain. it doesn't sound like a lot. the ground is so dry, a half inch of rain in vegas last weekend produced flash flooding. in the southwest a different picture. they are not used to as much rain as we are in the east. it doesn't look like it's cooling down much. >> look at des moines. >> you know what that feels like it is hot. >> flat and hot. >> a lot of red on that map. thanks, indra. he thought he hooked a big one. a texas fisherman realized he was the bait. there was a 200 pound shark on his fishing line and it dragged him and dragged his kayak miles into the gulf of mexico. >> i didn't know it was a shark at the time. my line bent in half. i was so happy. i was like yes, this is great. the thing is, i set the drag tighter. all of a sudden, my kayak is going deeper and deeper into the ocean. i thought holy smokes, this is unbelievable. this is crazy. >> holy moses. >> let go of your fishing line. >> he says he hoped to reel in the shark but his line snapped. that is quite a fish story. i love a good fish story. >> he was being fished. >> isn't that a reversal of roles? my goodness. >> he got out alive. it's an important end to the story. we are going take a quick break. a teacher given 30 days behind bars for raping a 14-year-old girl. the judge in that case now speaking out. >> he wants to brush our teeth with warm water. >> a water warning in an oklahoma town. we are going to have that for you when we come back. 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the sleep number bed costs about the same as an innerspring, but lasts twice as long. so if you want to sleep sounder and deeper, or find relief from back pain ... call now. sleep number: it's comfort individualized. call this number for your free information kit with dvd, catalog and price list. call and you'll receive a $50 savings card just for inquiring about the sleep number bed. ask about our risk-free 100-night in-home trial. call this number for your free information kit and a free $50 savings card. call now. good morning, welcome back to "early start." this case has triggers national outrage. a former teacher in montana getting 14 days in jail for raping a girl who later committed sue said. he said the girl looked older than his age. the judge is apologizing for his words but standing by the 30-day sentence. we have more. >> reporter: this was to be a moment of justice. the teacher was charged with raping his student 14-year-old. he was 49 at the time. prosecutors wanted a 20-year sentence. instead, the judge gave him just one month for the crime. >> i was floored. i thought there was a minimum sentence. i don't know. i'm -- my faith in the justice system is gone. >> reporter: especially says her mother when you hear the details. the 14-year-old was a freshman in high school. prosecutors say he seduced her and began a month-long sexual relationship. police found out. he was charged. as it lagged through the justice system, she was shy of her 17th birthday, committed suicide. with the victim dead, prosecutors struck this deal. confess to one rape, complete sexual offender classes and stay away from children. he violated the deal. the judge still only gave him 31 days, minus one day served in jail. why? in court, the judge said she seemed older than her chronological age. later, he told cnn that was not the best choice of words adding it was not a violence, forcible, beat the victim rape like seen in the movies, but it was a rape and should not have happened. the judge calls the man treatable and will be a free man in less than 30 days. >> just a heart breaking story. the judge is apologizing for his words, but not the sentence he issued. >> what i said was demeaning to all women. not what i believe in. and irrelevant to the sentencing. i owe all or fellow citizens an apology. >> protesters calling for the judge to resign and the teacher's 15-year prison sentence to be reinstated. >> you might recall three 15-year-old boys beating and stomping another boy in florida. the bus driver too afraid to intervene. the older boys are in court today facing battery charges. authorities recommended probation. the 13-year-old victim survived with a broken hand. his grandmother says it outcome could have been much worse. >> children, for lack of a better term have to realize they could be up on murder charges right now. they could have killed him. as i said, by the grace of god, they didn't. >> she goes on to say her grandson is having trouble sleeping and is too afraid to ride the school bus. the beating happened after they tried to sell him marijuana at school, he refused and told a teacher. the doctor testifying in the michael jackson trial says the singer asked for propofol 15 years before his overdose. she refused his request. the injury heard from a nurse practitioner who says jackson asked her for propofol in april, 2009 and she also said no to the star. zimmerman's wife pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge. she was sentenced to a year's probation and 100 hours of community service for lying about their finances as her husband's bond hearing. she agreed to the plea deal, but the attorney says she could have won a trial. >> she stood by her man, like tammy wi net says. she shouldn't have. that's it. she did what was right for her. i think legally, she could have won. >> prosecutors claim taped phone calls of them speaking in code to hide the dollar amounts. george zimmerman was acquitted for the murder of trayvon martin. first there were snakes on planes, now worms in the water. red worms ranging from a half inch to inch long showing up in the water supply in colcord, oklahoma. it was found in the filtering system, which was cleaned. residents are warned not to use the water. there's no health threat here. how the worms got there remains a mystery. >> i kind of don't want water right now. another story i want to tell you about in new jersey. an appeals court ruling could have an impact on future cases involving texting and driving. the court ruled someone who sends a text to a driver is not liable if they get into an accident. that changes if the person sending the text knows the recipient is driving and is likely to read the message. that's the interesting change. in that situation, the person sending the text could be held liable for the accident and sued for damages. >> that's an interesting twist. why being one of america's highest paid ceo's could come at a price. money time is next. ♪ turn around ♪ every now and then i get a little bit tired ♪ ♪ of craving something that i can't have ♪ ♪ turn around barbara ♪ i finally found the right snack ♪ ♪ then you'll love lactose-free lactaid® it's 100% real milk that's easy to digest so you can fully enjoy the dairy you love. lactaid®. for 25 years, easy to digest. easy to love. and now hot pink toes. seems tough for a tough dog like duke. but when it has to do with gwen, he's putty in her hands. for a love this strong, duke's family only feeds him iams. compared to other leading brands, it has 50% more animal protein... ...to help keep his body as strong as a love that can endure any fashion trend. iams. keep love strong. now you can keep love fun with new shakeables meaty treats.