Just after 2 PM, the jury in the “Whitey” Bulger trial in Boston revealed their verdict, and it appears as though the former Massachusetts Mob boss will be spending the remainder of his life behind bars.

Bulger was found guilty on multiple counts of racketeering and conspiracy, as well as number of murders… though not all of the murders he was charged with.

The first of the verdicts was reported at 2:03 PM on MSNBC and FNC, according to TVEyes, with CNN less than 30 second later just after 2:04 PM. CNN also brought in “Legal View” anchor Ashleigh Banfield to discuss the case. Banfield’s new legal-focused show started this morning at 11 AM. Martha MacCallum anchored for FNC, and Thomas Roberts was on MSNBC.

Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro was sentenced to life in prison without parole plus 1,000 years on two counts of aggravated murder this afternoon. The hearing has been followed closely throughout the day by the cable news networks, with Fox News, MSNBC, CNN and HLN all broadcasting the courtroom proceedings continuously from 11am-2pmET.

One of the more dramatic moments in the hearing came in the noon hour, when kidnapping victim Michelle Knight addressed the court. “I spent eleven years in hell, where your hell is just beginning,” she told Castro. “You deserve to spend life in prison.” Watch her statement, via Fox News, below:

Shortly after 1 PM, the verdict in the Bradley Manning trial came in from a military court in Ft. Meade, Maryland. Manning was prosecuted by the government for giving Wikileaks thousands of secret documents, including State Department cables. The most serious charge was “aiding the enemy,” which almost certainly would have had implications for all working journalists that cover the U.S. government.

Manning was found “not guilty” of that charge, but guilty on most other charges, including theft and espionage.

The three general cable news channels previewed the impending verdict at the top of the hour, with Fox News reporting the verdict at 1:05, followed by MSNBC at 1:08 and CNN at 1:09. No cameras were allowed in the courtroom, and journalists were unable to report the verdict until they were released from the room.

MSNBC host Al Sharpton and Fox News host Bill O’Reilly have continued their very public back and forth discussion on race on their respective programs. As we noted last week, Sharpton and O’Reilly dedicated segments on their programs to discussing race in the aftermath of the George Zimmerman verdict, and put each another in a critical spotlight.

CNN’s Don Lemon got involved over the weekend, when he said he agreed with the Fox News host, adding that he didn’t think O’Reilly “went far enough.” He was greeted on Twitter with people replying to him with racist comments.

During his “Talking Points” segment last night, O’Reilly once again focused on Sharpton, and said of Lemon that he was “honest” and “courageous” for speaking out.

While Sharpton and O’Reilly continue to trade barbs, Lemon seems to be taking the high road. We asked CNN if he would chat about the matter, and a spokesperson replied: “We are going to let Don’s reporting stand, so he will not be doing any additional interviews.”

The man who kidnapped Amanda Berry and other young girls in Cleveland pled guilty today, and cable news covered it live. HLN, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News and even Fox Business covered some or all of the hearing live.

Ariel Castro kidnapped and held Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight for years, with Berry giving birth to his child. With his guilty plea he will get life in prison with no parole, plus 1,000 years.

He will not get the death penalty, and the women he kidnapped will not have to testify.

“I knew I was pretty much going to get the book thrown at me,” Castro said, coldly, at the hearing.

The revelation of the kidnapping dominated the news cycle in May.

On “Good Morning America,” Robin Roberts showed her full interview with Juror B29, also known as “Maddy,” in the George Zimmerman trial. As we noted yesterday, Maddy was the only minority juror in the trial.

Maddy’s comments were starkly different than the comments made by Juror B37 to Anderson Cooper earlier this month.

“George Zimmerman got away with murder, but you can’t get away from God. And at the end of the day, he’s going to have a lot of questions and answers he has to deal with,” Maddy said. “[But] the law couldn’t prove it.”

WATCH:

Another juror in the George Zimmerman trial is stepping forward for an interview, and this time her identity will not be hidden by shadows.

ABC News “Good Morning America” co-anchor Robin Roberts interviewed juror B29 (her name is “Maddy) today, in a well-lit studio (see the photo to the left). “Maddy” was the only minority juror in the Zimmerman trial.

The new interview is in stark contrast to CNN anchor Anderson Cooper‘s interview of juror B37, whose identity was hidden in darkness earlier this month. Juror B37 also hastily announced and subsequently canceled a book about the trial.

Portions of “Maddy”‘s interview will air tonight on “ABC World news with Diane Sawyer” and on “Nightline,” with the full interview airing on “GMA” tomorrow morning.

President Obama made a surprise appearance in the White House Briefing Room this afternoon to expand on an earlier statement about the ruling in the George Zimmerman trial.

Fox News, MSNBC and CNN, as well as all three business networks, took the news conference live. David Muir anchored a special report on ABC that began at 1:47 p.m., just as Obama was finishing up his remarks. ABC aired an abbreviated version of the President’s remarks on tape.

“There are very few African-American men,” said the president, “who haven’t had the experience of walking across the street and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars. That happens to me. At least before I was a senator. There are very few African-Americans who haven’t had the experience of getting on an elevator and a woman clutching her purse nervously and holding her breath until she had a chance to get off. That happens often.”

Obama did not take questions, but said the administration would try to arrange for a press conference to take questions on other topics, including the economy and immigration reform, in the coming weeks.

>Update: NBC News covered highlights from Obama’s remarks in a special report at 3:01 p.m. anchored by Brian Williams with Chuck Todd.

The parents of Trayvon Martin, the teenager killed by George Zimmerman last year, are beginning to speak out publicly following Zimmerman’s acquittal last weekend.

This morning Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America”, NBC’s “Today” and “CBS This Morning”:

TVNewser hears that there was some behind the scenes drama with regard to the interviews. They were all to be pre-taped, but the parents stayed a bit long at ABC’s studios chatting with George Stephanopoulos. As a result, they didn’t get to the CBS Broadcast Center until 6:50, and weren’t able to leave for NBC until 6:59, which forced “Today” to scramble and shift segments to fill its A-block until they arrived.

Today, they will be appearing on a number of cable news programs, including MSNBC’s “PoliticsNation” and CNN’s “AC360.”

The juror in the George Zimmerman trial that spoke to CNN’s Anderson Cooper and (briefly) had a book deal has released a statement to CNN saying that “There will be no other interviews.”

The impetus for the new statement was a statement from four other jurors in the case, who co-signed a statement disputing B37′s account of deliberations to Cooper.

“We also wish to point out that the opinions of Juror B37, expressed on the Anderson Cooper show were her own, and not in any way representative of the jurors listed below.”

In her statement, Juror B37 also says the book deal announced earlier this week ended when she realized the media circus the trial had become. “The relationship with the agent ceased the moment I realized what had been occurring in the world during the weeks of my sequestration.”

Her full statement is below, courtesy of CNN.
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