This is just before the judge in boston will be giving Dzhokhar Tsarnaevs formal sentence. It was april 1th when he was officially sentenced to death, this is a formality. Ive got danny cellos with me and also cnn Law Enforcement analyst tom fuentes. Danny, first to you. How rare is it to even have this convicted terrorist addressing the courtroom. It actually happens in both federal and state cases. A defendant has an absolute right of allocution and as much as Defense Attorneys tell you have that right but for appeal purposes i recommend you not exercise it ultimately that choice is always always the defendants and not the attorneys so defendants can do just about anything they want although statistically i would imagine they usually do not exercise that right to address the public so ultimately what to keep in mind here is that this defendants absolute right to address the public and address the members of the courtroom. Let me jump in because obviously weve got people inside the courtroom, federal courthouse so cameras arent allowed. Let me read what we have from some of our crews communicating with us outside. We know that he is now finished addressing the court, began by recognizing ramadan and gave thanks to allah and thanked his attorney and thanked the jury and then he said hes sorry. Let me quote Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. I would like to now apologize to the victims and the survivors. He said if there is any lingering doubt i did it along with my brother. I am sorry for the lives that i have taken. Im not quite if this is it all he said. The final thing he said i ask allah to have mercy on me and my brother and my family. As we mentioned, hes been sentenced to death. Danny, can you just paint the picture before we talk to our crew who has been inside this courthouse. We know victim impact statements were given again today so presumably these victims or family members are in this courtroom hearing these words. Paint this picture for me. The sentencing in cases like this is always very very emotional, and even in a case where as you said there is virtually nothing legal left to be done. Our system because we focus on punishment and retribution, allows for victims to come in and address the defendant, and you have to imagine they have been thinking about this day and also whether or not they would ever have that opportunity because theres always a chance of a not guilty however slight but they have been thinking about this day and crafting their words. I find and i think a lot of Defense Attorneys and prosecutors will tell you that even though victims have thought about this for so long, when that day ultimately comes often its too much and they have to decline. Someone else maybe reads a letter from them because its just too emotional. I cant imagine many dry eyes in this courthouse especially based upon that sentencing hearing and what we heard from those who were in attendance. Danny, stay with me. I want to bring in joey jackson who is on the phone and also one of our legal analysts. Joe, you know danny brought up the point that at the end of the day with the formality with the sentencing hearing like this, where this defendant in any case is given the opportunity to speak, its clearly up to ultimately the defendant in this case this convicted terrorist instead of an attorney. Are you surprised he took a moment to address the courthouse . Well good afternoon. I am surprised for a few reasons and ill tell you why. Number one, understand that you know he called the shots. Theres no question about that but theres an appeal here certainly. That will be undertaken and with respect to you know addressing the court at all you dont want to do that because it doesnt impair your appeal in any way. Certainly just apologizing to the family doesnt do that but you always listen to the attorney in terms what he might say or whether he would go rogue, you know, certainly making gestures to allah and that type of thing. You have some concerns about what hes saying and then the second concern with regard to him going rogue what he would say, something that may be antagonistic to the victims, so you know today he did not which is a good thing, but the third reason i would be really concerned about him and really what he said defying conventional wisdom in that he spoke at all is his fate is sealed. The judge has no discretion here. Result of the jury making a conclusion that he should be sentenced to death no matter what he would say. It would not affect that ultimate decision that hes going to die so im very surprise that had he took the opportunity to say anything although certainly, you know the families and the lives that he impacted they absolutely deserve an apology though that does nothing at all to change the history of what occurred here. Yeah. Im not sure having spoken with so many of these survivors, what an apology from this man really even does. Got a little bit more color handed to me so let me read this to all of you who are listening as far as Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. He said, actually stood in this boston federal courthouse and said he was sorry, and ultd matly owned. It said yes, my brother and i did this. Mentioned allah and acknowledged ramadan and also apparently he was stand and speaking from the defense day. Were told he spoke quietly and faced forward while he was speaking so im not sure if he looked at all around the courtroom or made eye contact with the jurors or victims or victim family members and the last note he had an accent of some type. Ive got Ashleigh Banfield who said down with me and toward this with me when it happened two years ago all the way through the proses and, again, im getting everyones reactions for the first time hearing from this man speaking saying, again, i would like to now apologize to the victims and survivors. If there is any lingering doubt, i did it with my brother. Im sorry for the lives i have taken. What do you make of it . So i always wondered i never thoutsis ter Helen Prejean was a liar and couldnt imagine what she was saying is true. He said it in open court. Does not mitigate whats going to happen to him. Sentence has been passed down. What i am fascinated by is the potential of the appellate process. I wonder federal he was going to waive his right to the nonessential appeals. If you get a Death Penalty, youre getting one appeal whether you want it or not but you could be like Timothy Mcveigh and fight all the the subsequent appeals and march right to the Death Chamber like he did in terre haute, indiana. I didnt think this man would do anything different than mcveigh. So im and he didnt. I think im a little surprised at that as well. Yeah. Back to this federal courthouse and again give these impact statements and again, to share oxygen in a courtroom with this man and to hear him actually address people and say he was sorry i suppose there is some power in that, but to me if i was his family members i would be thinking they are just words. Theres so much human drama that plays out in a courtroom. We think its such a stalwart procedural event. It isnt. There are people whose lives are forever changed. They are looking for something. They are looking for justice. They dont even really know. There are people like you and me. They have joined this unfortunate club unwillingly and when you get to that point and you see these things, sometimes its pretty hollow. Sure he said sorry, but what if he hadnt . Would it have changed their lives any . Probably not. I think they i think from what i gather from what their writings are, their interviews i think those victims family members, loved ones and friends all say the same thing is i wish he would just go away. I wish the focus would no longer be on him and what he did and instead be on us moving forward. As far as the tick tock the formalities in the courtroom, danny, let me just ask you, because i believe were waiting for this judge to address the courtroom. What will the judge say as far as we know he will be sentenced to death. So whats the procedure here . In fed court there really is a script. They will add their own sort of personal touch but as weve talked about in this case he will not be doing what happens in a lot of federal cases which is calculating the guidelines figuring out the range of years. There is none of that calculation or none of that calculus or math to be done here. Its a very simple thing so other than reading the standard short form script this judge might keep it very short, or he might take the opportunity to make a more a more direct statement about what this defendant did and how it affected not only the community but our country and the world. The country. And then at what point does Dzhokhar Tsarnaev go on to terre haute, indiana and await his death . Typically what happens in the federal system you go to a first location a first place to be processed, and believe it or not, that takes a lot longer than might think, weeks, maybe even months and then eventually hell be transferred most likely to terre haute unless they have some special process for this particular defendant. Once you are sentenced, make no mistake about it. You become property of the federal bureau of prisons. In fact the sentencing judge, a misconception that the judge even has any power to dictate where the defendant does his time. At best that judge can make a recommendation, but its very important for people to understand that one sentence you leave the jurisdiction of the District Court and you are now property or cargo of the bureau of prisons. Ashleigh banfield interesting the point you made. Even though one is sentenced to death, theres one automatic appeal but after that he could not fight it. Oh, yeah. I mean thats what Timothy Mcveigh did. He was three years from the incident to his death, three years. Thats pretty quick. Its remarkable. I mean death penalties often take on average 20 years to carry out and theres a reason for that. If you are going to take someones life be damn sure you didnt make any mistakes and we afford an incredible appeals process for someone sentenced to death. I dont know whether or not hell go to terre haute. I know thats where you go to die. Hes a dangerous offender a terrorist, who has to be kept from communicating with other inmates which is often the case with these terrorists who are sentenced. He has to be kept from communicating with the outside world and that usually happens at florence in the super max. I dont know whether hell be held at both of these institutions doesnt need to be at terre haute right away. Just joining us were covering for the fact that for the first time were hearing from the convicted terrorist, boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev addressing the federal courthouse in massachusetts today, standing at the defense table. Were told he spoke quietly, faced forward and keep in mind the people in the courthouse victims, victims families and i can only imagine the emotion swirling in this sort of environment today. This is a formality and when the judge will officially formally sentence Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to death, and, again, just to quote him and joey jackson, coming to you next because i have a question for you. We know he acknowledged ramadan and acknowledged allah. He said i would like to now apologize to the victims and the survivors. If there is any lingering doubt i did it along with my brother. I am sorry for the lives that i have taken. Joey what do you make of the fact that he brings his brother into this . Im sorry, brooke can you repeat that. What do you make of the fact that he mentioned his brother in this statement today, that he brought his brother, his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev he brought him into this. I mean its troubling. Obviously thats an understatement. The first thing, of course is the defense. Think about how the defense really predicated what they were doing in their whole argument that was about his brother and the influence of his brother and his brother made him do it and his brother is a manipulator and so certainly, you know when you bring his brother into it it conjures up images of who influenced him, where was his heart when he did this and, in fact what was the real extent of his brothers influence, or did he act on his own and was it something that he really felt in his heart he wanted and should do . And i think were left with the conclusion that certainly, although his brother could have influenced him, as any brother him, that his actions were those that were of a person who was thoughtful, reflective and knew exactly what they were going to do. Brooke again, im very surprise that had he did address the court as he did, but i just want to address one other thing, if i could. Sure please. We talk about the appeal process and talk about what could happen from here and many people are saying you know as many people did, that he wouldnt speak and did speak and i was one of the people who said i didnt believe he would, but on the issue of appeal you know we cant presume that hes going to be on death row for years and years and years. If you relate this case for example, to mcveigh. Timothy mcveigh the Oklahoma City bombing, tragic incident so many people died and injured in that particular, you know terrorist act, it happened in 1995 brooke. He was actually indicted and went to trial in 1997 and actually in 97 thereafter when he was convicted and sentenced to death he died in 2001 because he told his lawyers, you know what . I dont want any more appeals and thats it and so who knows whether, you know dzhokhar would do something similar to this. The conventional wisdom is now that hes actually being sentenced to death and now that this is the day of reckoning, there will be appeals but we dont know hell be on death row for many years to come. It could very well be as mcveigh he could die relatively quickly. I wouldnt even want to speculate about that. Right, right, that was precisely the point Ashleigh Banfield was making, and if you recall one of the three, youngest of the three victims who died that day on boylston street, Martin Richard, his parents came out writing the oped in the boston globe saying essentially we didnt want him to die because they didnt want to be dragged through. Imagine the emotional woundings for years to come being dragged through the appeals process so hopefully for these families there will not be much appeals to come. Let me just jump in with this. We just learned that he has now been formally sentenced, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been formally sentenced let me read this to you. As the defendant stood, the judge here judge George Otoole sentenced him to death on charges which the jury had earlier returned this death verdict. On the other count tsarnaev was sentenced to multiple life terms, quote from the judge now today. Whenever you name your name is mentioned what, will be remembered is the evil you did. This is the judge speaking just know talking to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. What will be remembered is you murdered and maimed innocent people. Joey jackson, and actually danny let me go back to you because you were bringing up the point how will this judge, in this case judge otoole, address him, and he spoke directly to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and reminded him what he did. Again, he did and its his prerogative. Again, federal judges thats a lifetime appointment. Its a pretty secure job so in a way its more surprising that more federal judges dont take opportunities like this and in this case no surprise. Certainly within reason for him to address this defendant and deviate slightly from the script and tell him what the court thinks of this defendant and what the public thinks of this defendant, just as appropriately as the other members of the public or victims come forward and address this defendant. Again, there isnt a whole lot of legal sentencing going on today. It is a formality, but within that formality is a very important part of our im mixing up the word but our theories of punishment the ideas that victims get to address defendants and so too, does the court, and this is not out of the normal at all. Its certainly within judges powers and its certainly based on each individual judges style, but in this case its no surprise that with a defendant and an act as horrific as this that a federal judge might have an opinion and might express it to this defendant. Just a couple more notes. This is from kevin colon, phenomenal writer from the boston globe who is sitting in that courtroom and hes quoting the judge, i sentence you to the penalty of death by execution. On other counts i sentence you to life in prison. No monetary fines are imposed. Dzhokhar tsarnaev has hands clasped listening, looking down from kevin colon. The judge says you have the right to appeal. Its that we ask all the marshals to take the defendant into custody. For first time Dzhokhar Tsarnaev today in court is handcuffed arms behind his back in presence of his victims and jurors who sentenced him to death. Ashleigh . So, again, i go back to the sense in this courtroom and well be talking to debra feyerick and family members and victims all sitting in there and i cant remember from the sentencing. Didnt he have some family members investigatetestifying on his behalf. Some flown in from russia. So tears today, i would imagine. Its a weird moment but i think the significant thing that you just heard from kevin colon was that he was asked to stand and he was handcuffed. Theres something a lot of people miss i think in a lot of the drama that happens in a courtroom and a jury jurors who passed on that sentence were allowed to be there, didnt have to be but could be there if they wanted to be they never once saw that man in jailhouse garb or in cuffs or leg irons. Hes presumed innocence. You cant taint the view. The optics are critical when youve got a defendant at table, hes got to look like everyone else. For the first time he looks like the murderer that he is and thats kind of dramatic. I mean its its awful, its silent and its dramatic and its not lost on those in the courtroom either. But lets not forget that were still in the middle of the crisis of the Death Penalty in this country. He may be sentenced to death, brooke but i dont know if the Death Penalty will outla