eventually you realize these things need to be determined by the public, not by somebody who was simply hired by the government. >> i'm john king in washington. thanks for spending time with us. breaking news coverage continues with fredericka whitfield at the cnn center. fred. >> hello, john. thank you. i'd like to welcome our viewers throughout the world. these stories top iping this ne. nsa leaker edward snowden is on the move. he's in russia and wikileaks, who is helping him, says he is headed to south america. we have reports around the world coming up. one day away from the statements in the george zimmerman murder trial, accused of shooting and killing trayvon martin, coming up, what you can expect to hear in the courtroom. some of paula deen's fans are not giving up on her despite her racial comments. we'll tell you what they're saying.

let's start with the breaking news. the man behind the nsa leaks, edward snowden, is heading to c ecuador. the organization helped snowden get from hong kong to russia today. he landed in russia this morning and said he is heading to ecuador and tweeted he has requested asylum there. there are reports snowden will get there by way of cuba, possibly. there is also speculation he might head to venezuela. the u.s. said today it is asking all of those countries not to led snowden in. and a course is telling us that the u.s. has revoked snowden's passport. there are also reports snowden could spend the night in moscow before he goes anywhere. to phil black, live for us now at the moscow airport. what is happening there, if anythi anything? >> reporter: well, fredericka,

we know the flight edward snowden was aboard flew in five hours ago we haven't seen him since. one witness on the aircraft, one person got onto the tarmac, into a car and his baggage was put into that car. they assumed it was snowden and seems pretty likely. he has not emerged from the north american nal so we believe he is in there waiting to connect with a flight to his next destination. as you say, it has been affirmed he is applying for asylum. here in ecuador, we have seen a number of diplomatic vehicles from ecuador's ambassador. we have not seen the ambassador but his car has been parked here the better part of the day. we assume he is within the airport, within a secure area, talking, meeting with edward snowden. at some point within the next 24 hours or so he will take a connecting flight to get him to ecuador. the theory is he will go to have

vanna, cuba, the most straightforward way to go and will be looking to catch a flight around tomorrow afternoon local time. fredericka. >> phil, the u.s. says snowden has a revoked u.s. passport and that the u.s. is asking any countries, whether it be russia, whether it be cuba or perhaps even ecuador, not to let snowden travel any further. is there any official response coming from russian authorities there as to whether they're going to apiece the u.s. with those requests in any way? >> reporter: no. there has been no statement, no reaction from russian government at all regarding snowden's presence in this country now. so we don't know what their view is. we don't know precisely what appeals have been made by the united states to russia, if any. these countries have no existing extradition treaties or formal agreement for this situation. we don't know if these things are being done unofficially. we don't know what the russian view is. we have no way to believe russia

has tried to intervene in any way. a slight complication is given ecuador's diplomatic involvement, given the fact it would appear snowden is receiving some sort of diplomatic assistance, perhaps cooperation and cover, does that in some way limit what russia can do in these circumstances? i would say russia can ultimately do whatever it liked in this situation. if president putin, the kremlin decided it was in russia's interest to intervene and detain snowden here or send him to the united states or anything in between, they would do so. at the moment it is unclear what their intention is or how they will react to snowden's presence the next 24 hours or so. >> keep us posted. thanks so much out of moscow. in the u.s., they're trying to stop snowden in any way, revoking the passport. yesterday, we heard the u.s. ask hong kong to detain snowden and

now with snowden in russia and moving to ecuador, the u.s. could be looking at a real diplomatic nightmare, to say the very least. listen to what senator chuck schumer had to say about this with candy crowley on state of the union. >> what's infuriating is prime minister putin of russia aiding and abetting snowden's escape. the bottom line is very simple. allies are supposed to treat each other in decent ways. putin always seems almost eager to put a finger in the eye of the united states, whether it is syria, iran and now, of course, with snowden. that's not how allies should treat one another. i think it will have serious consequences for the united states-russia relationship. >> jill doherty, joining us now. give us an idea what the state department is thinking on this. might it be thinking russia

might have provided snowden a passport, was he able to leave hong kong? if this paperwork was sent to hong kong and if indeed his u.s. passport was revoked? >> let's say, if his passport was revoked we believe it was, the u.s. passport, when he got to moscow, there's a big question, like how -- what happens? how did he get into the country? how did he leave hong kong? what do the russians do? according to what cnn understands, the russians, if he did not have a passport, could send him back to the country of origin, to the united states, or it could send him back to the country from which he came. however, you're right. if he's given another passport, be it a russian passport or perhaps and ecuadorian passport at the airport, that's another issue. we have these technical legal things going on in all the cases and the big overlay of the political. vladimir putin is a lawyer by

training. he will try, i'm sure, to be very precise legally, but politically, i'm sure he does not have any real desire to make it easy for the united states right now. because it would put him in a difficult position. it would make him look as of he is helping the united states goo after this man who some would argue is just telling the truth about this system that the united states has. >> and what more do we know about the request that the u.s. made to hong kong, to keep snowden there in country, not allow him to proceed, but then hong kong reportedly says that the paperwork or there were questions that still needed to be answered that didn't meet a certain standard. can you tell us more details about all that. >> you know, fred, you know the word deniabilitdeniability? there's a lot of deniability going on. the hong kong authorities -- it was a criminal complaint by the

united states. the justice department says it was correctly done, they did it the way they were supposed to and gave them adequate information. hong kong authorities came back and said, no, it wasn't complete. we needed more. they asked questions and the u.s. says it was in the process of answering those questions. meanwhile, the hong kong authorities throw up their hands and say, we couldn't stop him because we legally couldn't. we didn't have a finished criminal complaint. there, you have the deniability. and now, in moscow, you might get that, too. tom fuentes, the advisor for cnn, one of the experts on cnn in these legal matters says it might be that the united states and china agreed on the side, behind the scenes, that they should simply let him go because the chinese would be put in a difficult situation of having to, you know, stop him and that would be bad for china. it is really complex. and it is bad for certainly the

image of the united states politically in many other ways internationally. >> the state department correspondent, jill doherty, joining us from washington. appreciate that. we're talking about a real diplomatic nightmare as well as major security concerns over this. let's check in with dan lothian from the white house. clearly, the white house must be very frustrated and must be quite embarrassed as well that the attempts were made to try to get edward snowden to stay in hong kong until united states authorities could somehow retrieve him and then this would happen. >> reporter: certainly, this is a diplomatic headache for the white house. you are correct in saying that the administration seemed fairly confident that in fact edward snowden would be back here in this country by now, one, because they were confident in the charges they filed against him, they were confident in the relationship that they ha have -- law enforcement relationship with hong kong but also because of the agreement they have with hong kong to extradite these kinds of people. and so overall, they felt they

had a strong case, that he would have been extradited. they even have this provisional arrest warrant as well and edward snowden was not picked up. this does created a diplomatic problem for the white house and then enter russia, as you've been talking about that. not a very good relationship of late between the united states and russia, particularly when it comes to how russia has been unwilling to embrace any stiffer sanctions against syria. this further complicates it. now, there's potentially another country where snowden will eventually end up. we do know from justice department officials that in fact conversations are ongoing with all these potential locations where snowden could end up, touching base with law enforcement officials to try to get cooperation, fredericka. >> dan, keep us posted on that the next move the white house and what options it has. from the very start you heard the word, edward snowden

and parallels were being drawn between he and wikileaks julian assange, now, julian assange, the founder of that group plans to speak from the ecuadorian embassy in london, where he's been holed up more than a year now avoiding sex crime charges in sweden. we also understand his legal team has been traveling with edward snowden, trying to make all of this happen as he finds refuge, perhaps in ecuador. so, also, we're also following this very huge potentially huge domestic trial about to get under way. a ruling in the trayvon martin case is being called a big win for the defense. we'll preview the george zimmerman trial on the eve of opening statements. plus, paula deen's fans come to her defense as another cable outfit is now reconsidering its ties to the celebrity chef.

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sanford, florida because both side sides will tell the jury, this is what the evidence will show on the side of the prosecution we expect for them to lay out the elements of second degree murder, that trayvon martin is dead and because of the actions of george zimmerman and he did that with ill will or hate. and they can use the words profiling, vigilante, confrontation. on the side of the defense, it is all about self-defense. trayvon martin punched george zimmerman. zimmerman lay on the ground, his head started to be pounded into the cement by trayvon martin and zimmerman knowing he was about to die, knew of only one thing he could do to save his own life, that would be to take his gun and shoot trayvon martin. >> thanks so much. jean casares, opening statements beginning tomorrow in that high

profile case. to another high profile case involving patriots star aaron hernandez. a case they're investigating, not because charges have been filed. they returned to the home of the football play ear second time, investigating the death of a friend whose body was found less than a mile from the house. susan candiotti is following this story. >> reporter: if patriots tight end aaron hernandez had plans for a quiet saturday afternoon, it didn't turn out that way. for the second time in a week, secret investigators almost twice as many before spent several hours in a search and a local locksmith seen going in and out and so were two police dogs. investigators wearing gloves carried equipment in cases. no outdoor sightings from the famous homeowner but his lawyer with offices from boston to hong

kong arrived two hours into the search. for a flash, the football player appeared at his front door, looking outside. police are not calling hernandez a suspect in the murder of odin lloyd, shot to death monday, however, investigators are making the star football play ear focus. lloyd's body was found less than a mile from the patriot tight end's home and on saturday, police continued to guard the scene. lloyd's family described hernandez as a friend and says the two partied at nightclubs together. the girlfriends of both men are sisters. surveillance shows him where lloyd lives before his body was found on the ground and this rhode island strip club was searched in connection with the investigation. detectives seized surveillance videos taken inside club desire that covered more than two days. it's unclear whether they're

trying to document wheer the victim and hernandez may have been there or for another reason. the family of odin lloyd can't imagine why someone would wanted to kill him and who did it. they have no comment whether they think aaron hernandez might have some answers. all they want in their words is justice. fred, we have seen no police activity at the house today. we have been told investigators have been working around the clock and presumably that work would include analyzing some of that brown paper bag evidence. >> susan candiotti. thank you so much. keep us posted. straight ahead, she issued more than one apology and lost her food network show. paula deen's troubles may not be over. word is another cable outlet is rethinking its relationship with deen. matt's brakes didn't sound right... ...so i brought my car to mike at meineke...

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a lot of paula deen's fans are standing by her. the celebrity chef has admitted to using the "n" word. fans say what she said years ago is over and done with and the food net wowork should not have canceled her contract. >> was it right? no. i mean, she could have used another term, but, hey, it was a mistake that she made. >> she made a mistake and she probably shouldn't have said that. she has apologized. i think maybe we ought to take that for what it's worth. it sounds like it was sincere. >> i think it's a learning lesson for her and a learning lesson for people that do forgive. >> deen and her brother are being sued for alleged sexual and racial harassment by a former manager at their restaurant. nick valencia joining me now. fans are speaking out on the streets near her restaurant and speaking out on social media. what do you think?

>> for many not so much about what deen said but the larger context of race in america and how it's a real major issue. but for deen's apologists criticizing the press for blowing this out of proportion. they've also gone after the food network. earlier this week, the food network, after 11 years, decided not to renew her contract. they call it a knee jerk reaction for not renewing paula deen's contract and should have given her a second chance and a pass because she comes from a different era, a time when the usage of the "n" word was more common and widespread. having said all that there are those in the south and others who say there's no excuses for what she said. >> here's what's troubling about that to me. putting aside paula deen. i have to be honest i don't really care what paula deen thinks about matters of race. what i do care about is folks are defending what she says and

believes based on her age and she's southern. here's the problem with that. my mother is two weeks older to the day than paula deen and she raised me to know not only are those kind of words unacceptable but in fact the history of the anti-bellum south is not something to glorify, not something to nwax nosz stall gi about, something to be horrified by by. >> there are apologists but others saying they're not buying the excuses. >> what about other sponsors? is she standing to lose their backing? >> i just got off the phone for vice president of corporation qvc, a popular home shopping network. take a listen to what they had to say. >> we share the concerns that are being raised about the unfortunately paula deen situation. qvc does not tolerate dis kr discriminatory behavior. we're aware there's ongoing

litigation that's examining the situation. we're watching those developments closely and reviewing our business relationship with miss deen. >> so they're re-examining it as could be others, target and walmart, the fallout keeps going here, fred. >> all right. nick, thanks so much. coming up next, back to edward snowden and his dramatic exit from hong kong, how he managed to get out and where he might be headed next and wheat f anything the u.s. plans to do about it. talking about today's developments. hey. they're coming. yeah. british. later. sorry. ok...four words... scarecrow in the wind... a baboon... monkey? hot stew saturday!? ronny: hey jimmy, how happy are folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico?

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nsa leashing and fugitive edward snowden is on the run. he left hong kong hours ago with the help of wikileaks. ecuadoran minister says snowden has asked for asylum, one of the many places he could be seeking safe haven. investigators have returned to the home of new england star aaron hernandez, the second time they searched his home. they left the home with about a dozen brown paper evidence bags. his friend's body was found about a mile from the house and police are not calling him a suspect in the case. the opening statements begin tomorrow in the george zimmerman

trial in the death of 17-year-old trayvon martin. the prosecution says he confronted the teen but the defense says he was defending himself. the defense won the battle to exclude experts to testify abwhe voice it was screaming for help on the 911 call for help. back to breaking news, the u.s. urging ecuador, among other countries, to revvs to let edward snowden in. the big question is if and how to get snowden back to the u.s. to face justice. joining me with insight is justice correspondent, joe johns. where do they begin? they tried to get hong kong to cooperate. that fell through. now, what? >> all you can do is ask at this stage. it didn't work in hong kong and the question is whether it will work in another country. as to hong kong, a doj official

says they actually had an extradition request and they say it met all the requirements of the agreement with hong kong. they say hong kong came back to the united states with a few questions on late friday and that they were in the process of answering those questions. they thought, they say, they were meeting all the requirements in order to get this man held. as far as a relationship with hong kong goes, they say this raises questions and that they're going to continue to discuss it with authorities and also that they had what's called a provisional warrant, that's basically document that says, we think this guy is going to flee, would you please intercept him and hold him? so the next question is what does the united states do going forward, fred? it's just not clear right now. >> so the u.s. has said it has reached out to other countries like ecuador, to even cuba, to say, don't let him in.

do we know whether or not there is some cooperation or real h e hopeful cooperation they might receive from those countries in particular, not to allow snowden in? >> those countries don't have great relations with the united states. even with russia, fred, early on in this drama, it was pretty clear that russian authorities were sending signals that they would be sympathetic to a reque request, say, for asylum for edward snowden in russia. it apparently and very probably isn't going to get any better as they go down the line to countries like ecuador. >> joe johns, thanks so much. we'll be checking back with you throughout the afternoon. i made the partisan gridlock in washington, one thing that has received support on both sides of the aisle is the disapproval of nsa leaker edward snowden's actions. joining me now, peter king.

how in the world did this happen, in your view? >> fredericka, a lot of questions have to be answered first of all. i don't believe hong kong when they say the paperwork is inadequate. that always happens in extradition cases. there are always a few more details needed and the person is held until it's resolved. and in this case the decision was made by hong kong and probably in the end by china, they didn't want him extradited to the united states, wanted him out of hong kong, strictly a political decision, not a legal decision made. i think we have to hold china and hong kong to that in the future, same with russia. they wouldn't have sent him to russia unless putin had agreed in advance with the chinese and with hong kong to allow snowden in there and to expedite apparently whatever's happening with ecuador. i think we should keep the pressure on russia, let him know and i agree with senator shchumr

on this this can't happen without diplomatic consequences. >> what kind of diplomatic -- >> ecuador, cuba and venezuela. >> pardon me for interrupting. what kind of consequences are we talking about when you talk about the russian government and consequences there are? >> i'm talking about diplomatic consequences, trade consequences. this is a relationship russia needs as much if not more than we do. we can't allow to go ahead business as usual when putin allows something like this to happen. the opportunity will come over the next several months or a year russia will need us in something involving trade or diplomacy involving finance, where the u.s. will basically say no and we will make it difficult for putin. he should know that now, not to expect any favors. >> as pertains to edward snowden, is the u.s. in a hopeless situation, probably not

going to get cooperation from russia holding him and not allowing him to get on a plane and likely not to have leverage with cuba and ecuador? >> we're in a very difficult situation. it's ironic. this president came in saying how he would fix the relationship with russia, pressing the reset button and now on such a basic issue as this russia is saying no. this really involves or require as direct diplomatic involvement by the u.s. i find it troubling the president has been so quiet on this. again, i'm not saying he should control it. there should be more of a presence including defending the nsa program. it seems as if we're adrift right now. these countries are taking advantage of it. once you talk about venezuela and cuba, it's almost hopeless unless we really find ways to lean on them. i think there's more than 70 fugitives from justice right now in cuba from the united states.

ecuador has given asylum and venezuela is obviously a left wing country, anti-u.s. those three countries really present problems for the u.s. we have to find ways to make it clear we are going to be able to take action. wonder, congressman, as i let you go, what an embarrassment this must be for the president. he just hosted the chinese lead ear couple weeks ago and just met with putin, among other countries at the g8 summit just last week and something like this happened involving the two countries he recently had face time with. >> this is definitely a diplomatic hit at the president and the u.s. but as americans we have to support the president. i wish all americans, including senator rand paul would realize snowden is no hero. on "cnn today" he compar compared -- rand paul compared snowden to general clapper. this kind of talk -- i don't know what's happening to our country that people are making this trader and defector into some kind of hero.

at the same time, castigating true american heroes. >> congressman peter king in new york. appreciate your time. appreciate it. making headlines here at home as well as in the u.s., the george zimmerman trial. it's getting under way tomorrow morning with opening statements and a judge's ruling on evidence this weekend is being called a big win apparently for the defense. television's judge alex joining me to talk about his case on the case upcoming. matt's brakes didn't sound right... ...so i brought my car to mike at meineke...

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welcome back. i'm fredericka whitfield in the cnn "newsroom" in atlanta. you're looking at breaking video in moscow. the news is edward snowden, the nsa leashing is out of hong kong and in moscow. unclear what his final destination is. reportedly it might be ecuador,

where he sought asylum. the request is in. and moments ago we spoke with new york congressman peter king, who expressed disappointment the president of the united states hasn't said more about edward snowden. we learned from our white house correspondent the president has been receiving updates today on the snowden case according to a senior official, also saying he is being briefed by his national security staff and that quote we are keeping him updated as appropriate. that administration coming from a senior administration official about the president being kept abreast, the president of the united states being kept abreast of the edward snowden debacle. he's left hong kong despite the department of justice's request to hold him there as he's facing charges of espionage from the united states. apparently hong kong says the

paper work wasn't adequate and let him flee even though he has a revoked u.s. passport. more on that story as it continues to unfold. meantime, the other big case that will be followed this week, a trial case, the jury has been selected, sworn in, talking about the george zimmerman murder trial, finally beginning tomorrow in florida. zimmerman is charged with second degree murder in the death of trayvon martin. tomorrow, both sides will lay out their cases in opening statements. judge alexferrara, host of the television show "judge alex." give me an idea what you think these opening statements need to entail to really capture this all woman jury. >> regardless whether it's all woman or all male or mixed jury, the prosecution has to set out what evidence they think will be presented to make george zimmerman guilty. they have a charge of second

degree murder. second degree murder requires that the act that killed trayvon martin stemmed from ill will, hatred, spite or evil intent. without that, they don't have a second degree murder charge. obviously george zimmerman did not know trayvon martin. there will not be a personal history that gives rise to that. the only thing i can think of is they will latch on to racism an motivated by race in the shooting of trayvon martin. how much evidence they have to support that is a different story. we really haven't seen a lot of evidence in that vein coming from the prosecution and the defense has made noises like they have quite a bit of evidence to show george zimmerman is not a racist. race, which has been an undercurrent throughout is going to become front center stage very quickly. >> you being in florida, a florida audience has been gripped by the george zimmerman case and also being gripped by this new place taking place in massachusetts at least involving a familiar face, who used to go to the uf, we're talking about the new england patriots star,

aaron hernandez. he has not been charged with anything but investigators are trying to determine if he was in any way involved in the death of a friend found less than a mile from his home in massachusetts. police dogs have been searching his home, as they did again yesterday. they also left with about a dozen brown paper bags. judge alec, what are investigators looking for, in order to either draw a link or say, no, we're looking in the wrong direction. >> well, obviously they're looking for anything that connects him to the death. there's a lot of suspicious activity. hernandez had turned over his cell phone. there's a lot of information that can be extracted from a cell phone, even after you deleted text messages, pictures and anything. with the right equipment the police can extract it. the cell phone was turned over in pieces after he broke it in pieces and his surveillance video at home was intentionally

destroyed and had a private maid service come in with a bunch of maids and 64 the house about the time of the killing. very suspicious. he's friends with lloyd the victim. his girlfriend and lloyd's giffo girlfriend are sisters. there's a connection. police are looking into video surveillance at a strip club they were attending at the time of the killing and just looking for anything they can that may give motive or some other reason to attach him to this crime. they obviously have found something since they've been pulling bags of evidence. whether it's probative of anything, we'll have to wait and see. >> yet to be released publicly or details about the suspected murder, the way in which this young man was murdered and at what time of day or night it may have happened. judge alex, thanks so much for your time. appreciate it. >> my pleasure. an incredible scene in canada, where a town of 10,000 is mostly empty now. they've had to evacuate to avoid

what could be the worst flooding in more than a decade. we'll go live to the flood zone straight ahead. ♪ ♪ et toujours ♪ me amour ♪ how about me? [ male announcer ] here's to a life less routine. ♪ and it's un, deux, trois, quatre ♪ ♪ give me some more of that [ male announcer ] the more connected, athletic, seductive lexus rx. ♪ je t'adore, je t'adore, je t'adore ♪ ♪ ♪ s'il vous plait [ male announcer ] this is the pursuit of perfection.

in canada, three flooding victims found in a river south of calgary. the massive flooding has forced thousands to evacuate. it has devastated the city of calgary and surrounding areas and now newater is targeting even more communities. to what degree is this threatening so many?

>> reporter: well, fredericka, let's start with calgary here first. the mayor here striking an optimistic tone. you look below me, yesterday this police car certainly abandoned in the raging waters. the water was up to its windshield, that now improving. suggesting other communities now in danger. the river behind me becomes the sa scratch wa sa -- saskatchewan river. they had more than 10,000 powerless and they want to get back to business. the prime concern is two weeks away, the calgary stampede, a big event this summer. they say the show will go on but it may be a little bit different, fredericka. >> it will indeed be very different. just stay safe there. appreciate it. overseas the taliban offered to free the only known soldier

known to be in captivity in afghanistan. we'll take you to his hometown where there is new hope for his potential release. what if this feeling could last all week? with centurylink as your trusted partner, it can. our visionary cloud infrastructure and global broadband network free you to focus on what matters. with custom communications solutions and dedicated support, your business can shine all week long.

gunman killed nine foreign nationals and a local guy in northern pakistan. the victims were from ukraine and china. the gunman abducted two guys and demanded to be taken to the hotel where the foreigners were staying. the pakistani taliban have taken responsibility for that attack. america's only known pow from afghanistan is believed to be taking part in negotiations. in 2009 he was taken prisoner and they said they would let him go for high profile prisoners from guantanamo bay. but no agreement for that

exchange. his family is still hopeful for bergdahl's release, and they held a rally in his hometown. >> it's been nearly four years since bowe bergdahl was captured in afghanistan. with new word that there is talk of a prisoner exchange, there is a renewed since of hope in his hometown that he could finally be coming home. nearly 2,000 people attended a rally in bowe's honor where robert bergdahl gave a speech in his honor. since his son was captured four years ago, robert bergdahl has grown out his beard as a symbol of solidarity of his son's capture. >> to those in afghanistan [ speaking foreign language ] may the peace of god and blesses of god be upon you. may we somehow, after 12 long years, find peace in afghanistan

so that our soldiers and our american personnel can come home. a father does not leave his son alone on the battlefield. i do not live here, i love in afghanistan. my cell phone is set on afghan time. my weather is afghan weather. i might be standing here but i am living vicariously through my son. i will not leave you on the battlefield, bowe. these people here will not leave you on the battlefield, your country will not leave you on the battlefield. you are not forgotten. >> his parents are hopeful this message will make its way around the world to their son, a reminder to him he has not been forgotten and his hometown is anxious to have him back. ed lavandera, cnn, haliley, idaho. >> how does the u.s. handle this swap for bergdahl and the

prisoners. i asked about this at the brooks institution. the video of bowe bergdahl is powerful. how does the u.s. handle this swap for bergdahl and the prisoners? >> the first thing to bear in mind is the prospects of any such swab really helping the peace talks are very low. we have to be realistic about this. the idea this could katalize a detant between the united states on one hand with the taliban and afghanistan is to the point of absurdity. the taliban remain very hard core, especially in their inner circles and persuaded they will win this war after nato draws down their troops next year. you have to view this through the lens of a prisoner swap whether the humanitarian benefit of getting one american soldier home is worth the benefit of having quite dangerous taliban back on the loose.

>> do you support syria, the u.s. providing arms to the rebels there? >> i think the united states needs to present arms to the rebels because the rebels are losing. our previous expect nation would rapidly win has been proven incorrect. much of the u.s. intelligence community has proven to be wrong in that assumption which was quite prevalent in 2011 and 2012. you also, i think, have to anticipate what it will take to make a peace deal stick. i think it will require international peacekeepers on the ground, some small fraction of which will have to be americans. >> michael hanlon. we'll hear more from michael the next hour and breaking news of what he thinks about the nsa leaker, edward snowden making his way out of hong kong and for now, to moscow. and insider's view from former fbi director.

straight ahead. do you like to travel?

i'm all about "free" travel, babe. that's what i do. [ female announcer ] fortunately, there's an easier way, with creditcards.com. compare hundreds of cards from every major bank and find the one that's right for you. creditcards.com. it's simple. hello again, everyone. i'm fredericka whitfield. welcome back to the "newsroom." breaking news this hour, edward snowden is on the move. he's in russia and wikileaks helping him says he is on his way to south america. live reports around the world

next. in less than 24 hours, opening statements begin in the high profile george zimmerman trial. we'll take you to sanford, florida, with a look ahead what to expect from the courtroom. although the food network says they are parting with paula deen for a racial comment, some of her fans are saying it's best to forgive and forget. we'll tell you what else they're saying. let's begin with the breaking news, the man behind the nsa leaks, edward snowden, heading for ecuador. wikileaks helped him get from hong kong to russia today. ecuador's foreign minister tweeted today he requested asylum there and russian leaders say he could stop in cuba. the u.s. is asking them not to