detroit declares bankruptcy. what the move means for city workers and retirees in the motor city. plus they've been silent since the verdict. now the parents of trayvon martin, they are speaking out. and the heatwave gripping much of the country getting worse. the question now is relief in sight? this is "cnn newsroom." i'm wolf blitzer reporting from washington. it's an iconic american city. the motor city. the capital of the u.s. auto industry. the city that gave us the motown sound. today, detroit has a more dubious distinction. it's the largest u.s. city ever to file bankruptcy. tens of thousands of current and former city workers are deeply worried right now their pensions will be slashed and that could set a precedent for other struggling cities across the united states. but michigan's governor who signed off on the bankruptcy

filing says it's a chance to start turning detroit around. >> this is our opportunity to improve citizen services. they deserve a better answer than what they've gotten for decades, and with respect to retirees, clearly i empathize with their situation. many are on a fixed income. this needs to be done in a thoughtful way. let's stop and look at the situation. $18 billion in debt. the city is broke. if we weren't to take this action to stop and say, let's get things done in a thoughtful, well-organized fashion, the city would continue to go downhill. enough is enough about detroit going downhill. this has been going on for 60 years. it's time to stop and to say, let's stabilize the city and then let's grow the city of detroit. >> as the governor mentioned, detroit's descent into bankruptcy has been a long time coming. poppy harlow takes a look at the problems that drove the motor city into financial crisis. >> reporter: detroit's downfall has been decades in the making. >> this is not any recent

development. this has been going on far too long and isn't it time to say enough is enough? >> reporter: a dwindling population, a decline of the automakers, and political corruption are just some of detroit's woes. now as it files for bankruptcy, detroit's workers are bracing for what could happen to their pensions and health care. >> will this effect pensions? based on what we know, anything is possible. >> we paid a percentage of our wages every year into that, so it's not something that's being given to us. it's our money. >> reporter: more than $18 billion in debt, michigan's governor called bankruptcy the only choice. >> detroit is broke. from a financial point of view, and more importantly, the citizens deserve better services. >> reporter: those services have taken a significant hit. >> will you call the police now, you wonder if they're coming. >> reporter: detroit's emergency manager who took control of the city in march insists bankruptcy will not change the day-to-day

here. >> services will remain open. paychecks will be made. bills will be paid. nothing changes from the standpoint of the ordinary citizen's perspective. >> reporter: detroit's mayor didn't have a say in the decision but urged understanding. >> as tough as this is, i really didn't want to go in this direction, but now that we are here, we have to make the best of it. >> poppy is joining us now live from detroit. give us a little sense, poppy, about the mood of the city today. >> reporter: i think people are very honest here. i haven't heard a lot of people applauding this decision. one woman that just walked by said, you know, i feel like the governor has been planning this since he took office. obviously she's not a fan. one woman at the diner that i went to this morning said i didn't really think it would come to this, i knew we were in a tough position, but i didn't think we'd come to this. when you look at the numbers, wolf, you do question what other choices he had.

$18.5 billion in debt. 78,000 abandoned structures in this city, alone. 40% of the street lights don't work. and it takes police on average 58 minutes to respond to calls. so the city services need to get better here, but the question is for all those city workers, the retired workers and the current workers, because i just interviewed kevyn orr, emergency manager who is in charge of all of this in detroit. i said, look, is there any way to get out of bankruptcy without some sort of concessions made by those city workers? and he said, no. the question is, how big will those cuts be, wolf? >> we're going to be discussing some of those issues with the mayor of detroit, mayor bing is going to be joining us live later this hour. we have lots of questions for him. as we mentioned, the detroit bankruptcy filing could mean smaller pension checks for city workers and retirees and has a lot of them worried about they're future. detroit's emergency manager says nothing will change this year, but pensions are part of the process.

>> we're talking about retirees looking at the unfunded portion. we have two retirement plans. we're looking at the unfunded portion of the retirement plan. part of the dialogue to determine what that is. we're looking at the unfunded portion. with regard to health care, unlike some other communities in dire straits even in chapter, we've not decided to take away health care. we're trying to provide some form of health care. >> larry newberry worked as a firefighter in detroit for more than 30 years. he's retired right now. he's joining us from traverse city in michigan. larry, thanks very much for coming in. what would it mean if the city decided that they had no choice, given the bankruptcy, to reduce your pension? i think we're having some problems connecting with larry. larry, can you hear me okay? >> yeah.

i can hear you fine. >> all right. what would it mean for your finances if your pension was reduced? >> well, it would -- i don't know if i'd be able to stay in the condo, i have a small condo where i'm at. i don't know if i'd be able to stay in my condo. i don't really need all the pension for myself. i'm single, but i'd like to send some of my -- help my grandkids with college. you know, we just don't know right now. not only myself, there's a lot of widows. >> i think we're losing that connection, larry. two ahead, let's try one more time. you were saying there are a lot of widows who rely on these pensions? >> definitely. there's a lot of widows that rely on the pension. a lot of fallen police and firemen. their widows and children need

this money. we all put money into that pension system, and we all risk our lives day in and day out, but it seems that people have short memories. when we do our work and we risk our lives, we're heroes, but when it's time for us to -- when we can't do it anymore, it seems like they forget. >> right now you're getting what, $34,000 a year in annual pension, in an annual pension, is that right? >> yes. >> that's enough for you together with limited amount of social security to live on. you get medical benefits obviously through medicare since you're -- i believe you're 65 years old or older, but if they cut back on that, that's going to change your lifestyle. >> it will change my lifestyle, but i live pretty frugally.

like i say, most of my money i try to save, i try to help my grandchildren out, and so, yes, it would hurt me, but i'm sure it would hurt a lot of other firemen and policemen probably a little bit more than me. >> larry, good luck to you. we'll obviously hope for the best in detroit. i know that city going through a horrible situation right now. larry newberry spent a long time, he put his life on the line as a firefighter in detroit and now he's retired but he's deeply concerned, as are so many other folks. chicago schools are also facing a budget crisis. 2,100 employees, most of them teachers, started getting layoff notices today. the president of the chicago teacher's union calls the job cuts unnecessary and shameful. the school system has a $1 billion deficit generated by the high cost of pensions and the legislature's inability to deal with the problem. these layoffs are in addition to 850 jobs that were cut in june.

quick check on the markets right now. investors are taking a step back today. stocks are down after worse than expected earnings results from google and microsoft, but the modest pullback comes a day after the dow and the s&p reached new record highs. right now take a look, the dow down about 30 points. he was just a teenager trying to make his way home. the parents of trayvon martin say the jury didn't see their son as he really was. they sat down with cnn's anderson cooper for an in-depth interview last night. martin's mother says she was stunned we the jury acquitted george zimmerman of killing her son. >> it came as a complete shock for me, and the reason i say that is because i just look at people as people, and i thought for sure that the jury looked at trayvon as an average teenager that was minding his own business. that wasn't committing any crime. that was coming home from the

store and were feet away from where he was actually going. and i just believe that they realized that, but when i heard the verdict, i kind of understand the disconnect and that maybe they didn't see trayvon as their son. they didn't see trayvon as a teenager. they didn't see trayvon as just a human being that was minding his own business. >> have any concerns about it because we thought that there was enough evidence there no matter what was on that jury to convict him of second-degree murder. and when you think about it, i think that they just took in account what george zimmerman said was the truth. trayvon wasn't here to tell his story, but the mindset of that jury, they, some of them had their minds made up no matter what story was told.

>> our legal analyst sunny hostin also interviewed trayvon martin's parents. she'll join us later this hour. we'll talk about what she learned from her interview and what the parents hope will come out of all of this. that interview with sunny coming up later. a couple of programming notes. it's the piers morgan interview a lot of people are talking about. the prosecution witness rachel jeantel in her own words tonight 9:00 p.m. eastern on "piers morgan live." parts of the u.s. may get a break this weekend from days of sweltering heat. a cold front is expected to bring much needed rain from the northeast to the midwest. for days temperatures have soared above the 90-degree mark, with heat indices over 100. so hot here in d.c., humane society officials are taking steps to check on people and their pets. our meteorologist jennifer delgado is over at the cnn weather center. emily schmidt rode along with a

team watching what's going on in washington. emily, let's start with you. what are you seeing? >> reporter: wolf, you know, we've been talking all week about the heat here in washington. at that point, it was a heat advisory. today they have upped it. it's an excessive heat warning. heat index could go over 110 degrees. and, you know, especially dangerous when you talk about vehicles because safe kids usa says in just ten minutes you sit inside a vehicle that doesn't have air-conditioning, the temperature can go up 19 degrees and just keeps going up after that. extremely dangerous for people and also as michael treeblosser from the washington humane society knows, dangerous for animals as well. how often do you see this happen? >> very often. it's been a busy day this week. yesterday we had three emergency calls come in. one came in this morning. thankfully no loss of life or no injury sustained as of yet, but we're anticipating a busy, busy week ahead, busy time. >> reporter: how long does it take for an animal to get too hot in a car? >> similar to a child or human. it could be a matter of minutes. really caution people, if it's something you can avoid leaving your animal in the car, just

make other plans. >> reporter: wolf, we've been riding around with michael all morning. we've been to a number of calls. people concerned about animals, were they getting enough shade, enough water? certainly something people are concerned about. they are busy. this is one of the busiest weeks they've had in quite some time because of the heat. there is relief in sight nationwide. the midwest should get some later tonight. we may get some by tomorrow evening. in meantime, hot and dangerous conditions here in washington. >> very dangerous, indeed. all right. thanks, emily. let's bring in our meteorologist jennifer delgado. what's the forecast, jennifer? >> hi, wolf. the forecast is, we're going to see some relief coming, but unfortunately for washington, d.c., it's not going to come until late saturday. now you can see across parts of the northeast, new england, and even the midwest we have excessive heat warnings in place. in some of these locations, what you're seeing in purple, temperatures feel like 110 degrees. that's when you add in the temperature and the relative humidity, as i said. it's even in areas like the midwest. millions of people are in danger of the excessive heatwave that is going on, and, of course,

right now it's still rather hot outside. wolf, you're lucky you're indoors because it feels like 107 degrees in washington, d.c. atlantic city, 104. and 103 in new york. it's only going to get hotter as we go through the afternoon. now, there going to be some relief on the way. and it's going to arrive in parts of the midwest today. tonight. because we do have that frontal system that emily was talking about. that's going to drop temperatures down for areas like chicago as well as grand rapids then that front makes its way over toward the east throughout the weekend. here's what we're going to look at for today. with that front, we have a severe weather threat for areas including parts of the midwest, parts of new england. saturday, you'll see relief. unfortunately, strong storms moving into areas like pittsburgh. for washington, d.c., hot today. high of 95. much warmer when you add in humidity. 95 on saturday. finally, wolf, you guys will be able to come out and play. the temperatures drop down to the mid and upper 80s and lower humidity. a few chances of storms. you'll take that when you're going to cool things off. >> 80 sounding pretty good right

now. >> sounds great. >> jennifer, thanks so much. here's what else we're working on this hour. katherine jackson is taking the stand today in the wrongful death lawsuit of her son, michael jackson. and after days of sit-ins at the florida state capitol, protesters finally get their meeting with the governor. what he decided to do. that's next. with diabetes, it's tough to keep life balanced. i don't always have time to eat like i should. that's why i like glucerna shakes. they have slowly digestible carbs to help minimize blood sugar spikes.

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all right. we're just getting this in. the cause of death of that 16-year-old woman, girl i should say, on the plane crash, the asiana plane crash, in san francisco, listen to what the san mateo county coroner has just released. >> the cause of death asiana flight passenger ye meng yuan is listed as multiple blunt injuries that are consistent with being run over by a motor vehicle. those injuries she received, she was alive at the time. >> she and her classmate were on that flight. they were coming here to the united states for some sort of summer program. unfortunately, they were both killed. there had been speculation since

the crash that the 16-year-old yuan died on the tarmac after being run over by a motor vehicle. that was all speculation, but now you just heard the san mateo county coroner say that has been confirmed. her death was the result of multiple blunt injuries that are consistent consistent with being run over by a motor vehicle. the injuries she received indicate she was alive at the time. a very sad, sad story. we'll continue to follow up on that. meanwhile, florida governor rick scott is calling for a day of prayer and unity, but he says there will be no repeal of his state's controversial stand your ground self-defense law. protesters staged three straight days of sit-ins at the state capitol in tallahassee. their demonstrations followed the acquittal of george zimmerman in the killing of unarmed teen, trayvon martin. our john zarrella is joining us now. he's in miami. john, the governor met with the

protesters last night. what happened? >> reporter: you know, wolf, that was somewhat of a surprise in and of itself. we really didn't expect that governor would show up back at his office at the capitol last night. he'd been in tampa all day, but he did. he met with the protesters and they got what they want. they got the meeting with the governor, but they also didn't get what they wanted which was the governor to call for a special session. >> i'm not going to call a special session. i don't believe right now that stand your ground should be changed, but i tell you right now, i appreciate you. >> reporter: now, protesters are still at the state capitol. not clear what their intent is at this point because they are saying that the governor will not call for that special session that they may not leave. at the same time, you know, tomorrow, wolf, a very big day around the country. at least 100 cities, new york, chicago, los angeles, san francisco, miami, houston, denver, you name the city, there

is going to be a rally or a vigil. it is called the justice for trayvon event, and the primary reason behind those, wolf, is to try and put pressure on the justice department to investigate george zimmerman for possible violations of trayvon martin's civil rights. so that's the impetus behind those. they're going to be held primarily at federal courthouses and police departments. sybrina fulton, trayvon's mother, is going to be in new york. his father, tracy, will be here at the miami event. wolf? >> i know you'll be watching it for us. thanks very much. john zarrella reporting from miami. remember, later this hour, sunny hostin who sat down with the martin family, the parents of trayvon martin, she'll be joining us. we'll have excerpts from her interrue. also coming up, the edward snowden effect. why the country's anti-terrorism chief is worried right now. la's known definitely for its traffic,

congestion, for it's smog. but there are a lot of people that do ride the bus. and now that the busses are running on natural gas, they don't throw out as much pollution to the earth. so i feel good. i feel like i'm doing my part to help out the environment.

warning from the head of the national security agency. the nsa director keith alexander telling a security forum in

colorado that the nsa leaker, edward snowden, has single handedly, in his words, changed the fight against terrorism. >> what we had is a person who was given the responsibility and the trust to do this job betrayed that responsibility and trust and took this data. we have concrete proof that they have already, terrorist groups and others, are taking action, making changes and it's going to make our job tougher. >> matthew olson, the director of the national counterterrorism center, was also at the forum in aspen, colorado. he was asked about the impact of snowden's leaks. listen to this. >> but is it on the leaks, is there anything, is there any demonstrated reduction of intelligence sharing because people think, oh, the united states just can't be trusted with secrets anymore? everything leaks out? >> i think it remains to be seen on snowden. i'm worried about that. i'm worried about it when i see what i read coming out of, particularly with respect to europe and our european ally,

how they may be reacting to this. but i think it just actually remains to be seen. >> candy crowley is joining us now. we have two top security officials speaking out, expressioniexpres expressing thoughts about the impacts of snowden. how politically charged, the issue right now, given the public statements that have been released and the uproar that twoed over the past several weeks? >> reporter: it tells you they're doing damage control. this is what we heard repeatedly up on capitol hill and other administration officials. this is going to hurt u.s. intelligence gathering. martin tempsy w dempsey who i ta couple weeks ago said it harmed us with our friends, it's going to take time to repair the ill will from the release of this kind of thing, showing the u.s. was also spying on its friends, some think they already knew.

nonetheless, it's a big pr problem. now they're saying it's an intelligence problem which alexander had been saying before. they continually need to push back. i would be surprised if alexander isn't asked to say, in what way have they changed things? because when you look at kind of the broad overview of what we know, lots of folks have said, well, it seems like terrorists would already know we were monitoring phone calls and that we have a way of figuring out who they're calling and for how long and that kind of thing. so, but very definitely, this is still an administration and nsa still on defense about this. >> the president is in an awkward position now. early in september he goes to st. petersburg, russia, for the g-20 summit. before that summit begins, he's supposed to be in moscow to mete with vladimir putin, the russian president, but if snowden is still in russia and this u.s./russia relationship has not improved, that meeting between the president and the russian leader could be in trouble. >> reporter: it could be, and it could be that the administration

is letting that out in order to try to pressure putin now to kind of deal with snowden in the way the u.s. would like to see him do it which is send him back to the u.s. it would be a huge move not to go to that unilateral meeting with putin in moscow for the president. it would send a signal, i think, for the rest of his, of president obama's administration that they sort of put russia off to the side. the truth is there are lots of things that these two disagree on, these two countries. we saw that in the last gathering where on syria and on iran and on missile defense, and on missile reduction, they just don't see eye to eye, so there might be some calculation why even go because what are we going coto come out of it with? we'll see what happens but i think it would be a major blow to putin and major statement on how the u.s. sees its relationship with russia in the next couple of years. >> yeah, they could just have a meeting in st. petersburg and

say, wroyou know what, the mosc part was not necessary, we'll have a meeting in st. petersburg at the g-20 summit or may have nothing. it would be the equivalent if the g-20 summit, candy, were here in the united states held in, let's say, new york, and the president invited putin to come to washington for a meeting at the white house and putin said, never mind. obviously that would cause a bit of a stir in the u.s./russian relations. in the world of diplomacy and the high stakes in u.s./russia relations. right now. candy, see you sunday morning, 9:00 a.m. eastern on "state of the union." days after that controversial cover of "rolling stone" nag demagazine cover, ne photos are released showing a stark contrast. who released them and why? what's the follow-up? stay with us.

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and there's so much more to see. so we found a plan that can travel with us. anywhere in the country. [ male announcer ] join the millions of people who have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp, an organization serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations. remember, all medicare supplement insurance plans help cover what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you thousands a year in out-of-pocket costs. call now to request your free decision guide. and learn more about the kinds of plans that will be here for you now -- and down the road. i have a lifetime of experience. so i know how important that is. the president of the united states has just gone into the white house press briefing room. let's listen. >> well, i wanted to come out here first of all to tell you

that jay is prepared for all your questions and is very much looking forward to the session. second thing is, i want to let you know that over the next couple of weeks there are going to obviously be a whole range of issues, economic, immigration, et cetera. we'll try to arrange a fuller press conference to address your questions. the reason i actually wanted to come out today is not to take questions but to speak to an issue that obviously has gotten a lot of attention over the course of the last week. the issue of the trayvon martin ruling. i gave a preliminary statement right after the ruling on sunday, but watching the debate over the course of the last week i thought it might be useful for me to expand on my thoughts a little bit. first of all, i want to make sure that, once again, i send my thoughts and prayers as well as michelle's to the family of

trayvon martin and to remark on the incredible grace and dignity with which they've dealt with the entire situation. i can only imagine what they're going through, and it's remarkable how they've handled it. the second thing i want to say is to reiterate what i said on sunday which is there going to be a lot of arguments about the legal issues in the case. i'll let all the legal analysts and talking heads address those issues. the judge conducted the trial in a professional manner. the prosecution and the defense made their arguments. the juries were properly instructed that in a case such as this, reasonable doubt was relevant, and they rendered a

verdict. and once the jury's spoken, that's how our system works. but i did want to just talk a little bit about context and how people have responded to it and how people are feeling. you know, when trayvon martin was first shot, i said that this could have been my son. another way of saying that is trayvon martin could have been me 35 years ago. and when you think about why in the african-american community, at least, there's a lot of pain around what happened here. i think it's important to recognize that the african-american community is looking at this issue through a set of experiences and a history

that doesn't go away. there are very few african-american men in this country who haven't had the experience of being followed when they were shopping in a department store. that includes me. there are, frankly, very few african-american men 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. and i don't want to exaggerate this, but those sets of

experiences inform how the african-american community interprets what happened one night in florida. and it's inescapable for people to bring those experiences to bear. the african-american community is also knowledgeable that there is a history of racial disparities in the application of our criminal laws. everything from the death penalty to enforcement of our drug laws. and that ends up having an impact in terms of how people interpret the case. now, this isn't to say the african-american community is niaive about the fact that african-american young men are disproportionately involved in criminal justice system, that they're disproportionately both

victims and perpetrators of violence. it's not to make excuses for that fact, although black folks do interpret the reasons for that in a historical context. they understand that some of the violence that takes place in poor black neighborhoods around the country is born out of a very violent past in this country. and that the poverty and dysfunction that we see in those communities can be traced to a very difficult history. and so the fact that sometimes that's unacknowledged adds to the frustration and the fact that a lot of african-american boys are painted with a broad brush and the excuse is given, well, there are these statistics

out there that show that african-american boys are more violent using that as an excuse to then see sons treated differently causes pain. i think the african-american community is also not naive in understanding that statistically somebody like trayvon martin was probably statistically more likely to be shot by a peer than he was by somebody else. so, so folks understand the challenges that exist for african-american boys, but they get frustrated, i think, if they feel there's no context. and that context is being denied. and that all contributes, i think, to a sense that if a

white male teen was involved in the same kind of scenario, that from top to bottom both the outcome and the aftermath might have been different. now, the question, for me, at least, and i think for a lot of folks is, where do we take this? how do we learn some lessons from this and move in a positive direction? i think it's understandable that there have been demonstrations and vigils and protests and some of that stuff is just going to have to work its way through, as long as it remains nonviolent. if i see any violence, then i will remind folks that that dishonors what happened to trayvon martin and his family.

but beyond protests or vigils, the questions are there some concrete things that we might be able to do? i know that eric holder is reviewing what happened down there, but i think it's important for people to have some clear expectations here. traditionally these are issues of state and local government. the criminal code and law enforcement is traditionally tone at the state and local levels. not at the federal levels. that doesn't mean, though, that as a nation we can't do some things that i think would be productive. so let me just give a couple of specifics that i'm still bouncing around with my staff, so we're not rolling out some five-point plan, but some areas where i think all of us could potentially focus. number one, precisely because

law enforcement is often determined at the state and local level, i think it would be productive for the justice department, governors, mayors, to work with law enforcement about training at the state and local levels in order to reduce the kind of mistrust in the system that sometimes currently exists. you know, when i was in illinois, i passed racial profiling legislation and it actually did just two simple things. one, it collected data on traffic stops and the race of the person who was stopped, but the other thing was it resourced us training police departments across the state on how to think about potential racial bias and ways to further professionalize what they were doing. and initially the police departments across the state

were resistant, but actually they came to recognize that if it was done in a fair, straightforward way, that it would allow them to do their jobs better and communities would have more confidence in them and in turn be more helpful in applying the law. and obviously law enforcement has a very tough job. so that's one area where i think there are a lot of resources and best practices that could be brought to bear if state and local governments are receptive, and i think a lot of them would be, and let's figure out are there ways for us to push out that kind of training? along the same lines, i think it would be useful for us to examine some state and local laws to see if it -- if they are designed in such a way that they may encourage the kinds of

altercations and confrontations and tragedies we saw in the florida case rather than defuse potential altercations. i know there's been commentary about the fact that the stand your ground laws in florida were not used as a defense in the case. on the other hand, if we're sending a message as a society in our communities that someone who is armed potentially has the right to use those firearms, even if there's a way for them to exit from a situation, is that really going to be contributing to the kind of peace and security and order that we'd like to see? and for those who resist that idea that we should think about something like these stand your ground laws, i just ask people to consider if they vrayvon mar

was of age and armed, could he have stood his ground on that sidewalk? and do we actually think that he would have been justified in shooting mr. zimmerman who had followed him in a car because he felt threatened? and if the answer to that question is at least ambiguous, then it seems to me that we might want to examine those kinds of laws. number three, this is a long-term project. we need to spend some time in thinking about how do we bolster and reinforce our african-american boys? and this is something that michelle and i talk a lot about. there are a lot of kids out there who need help who are getting a lot of negative reinforcement, and is there more that we can do to give them a

sense that their country cares about them and values them and is willing to invest in them? i'm not naive about the prospects of some brand new federal program. i'm not sure that that's what we're talking about here, but i do recognize that as president i've got some convening power, and there are a lot of good programs that are being done across the country on this front. and for us to be able to gather together, business leaders and local elected officials and clergy and celebrities and athletes and figure out how are we doing a better job helping young african-american men feel that they're a full part of this society and that they've got pathways and avenues to succeed?

you know, i think that would be a pretty good outcome from what was obviously a tragic situation, and we're going to spend some time working on that and thinking about that. and then finally, i think it's going to be important for all of us to do some soul searching. you know, there has been talk about should we convene a conversation on race? i haven't seen that be particularly productive. when politicians try to organize conversations. they end up being stilted and politicized and folks are locked into the positions they already have. on the other hand, families and churches and workplaces, there's a possibility that people are a little bit more on honest and a least you ask yourself your own

questions about am i bringing as much bias out of myself as i can? am i judging people not based on the color of their skin but the content of their character? that would, i think, be an appropriate exercise in the wake of this tragedy. and let me just leave you with a final thought that as difficult and challenging as this whole episode has been for a lot of people, i don't want us to lose sight that things are getting better. each successive generation seems to be making progress in changing attitudes when it comes to race. doesn't mean we're in a post-racial society. doesn't mean that racism is eliminated, but you know, when i talk to malia and sasha, and i

listen to their friends and i see them interact, they're better than we are. they're better than we were on these issues. that's true in every community that i've visited all across the country. and so, you know, we have to be vigilant and we have to work on these issues and those of us in authority should be doing everything we can to encourage the better of our nature as opposed to using these episodes to heighten divisions. but we should also have confidence that kids these days i think have more sense than we did back then and certainly more than our parents did or our grandparents did and that along

this long, difficult journey, not a perfect union. but a more perfect union. all right? thank you, guys. now you can -- >> have you talked to the martin family, mr. president? have you talked to the martin family? >> there you stee the president of the united states. jay carney, his press secretary. let's listen for a minute to see if he does any questions about this. especially the question shouted, has he spoken to trayvon martin's family. >> i would understand if folks need to go file. that's fine. i leave it to our friends in the front row to tell me how brief we can keep this. >> keep it short. >> keep it short. let me go to julie. >> i guess just to start off, can you tell us a little bit

about the process of having that -- why did the president have to do it at the end of the week? >> i'll say a couple things. because the process is far less important than the words the president spoke. and he -- he wanted to say something, and he came out and said it. he's obviously mindful of the discussions that have been going on. i think some of us had discussions earlier this week. he was certainly prepared to take questions on this issue when he had some interviews earlier in this week. and would have answered them in probably similar fashion. but he felt like today was a good day to speak about it. >> just on detroit, the vice president said in his event earlier today that the president had meetings at the white house on the situation there.

is there any type of federal response or federal assistance the white house deems appropriate in this situation? >> you have heard leaders in michigan say, and we believe they're correct, that this is a -- an issue that has to be resolved. >> all right. they've moved on now. we did hear the president speak off the cuff. he had some notes. but he was not reading a tell promtelle prompter. not reading a speech. he was speaking from the heart about a very, very sensitive subject. especially getting personal. at one point saying the president saying trayvon martin could have been me 35 years ago. gloria boar jrger is here. sunny hostin. candy crowley is with us. gloria, let me quickly start with you. not every day the president of the united states unannounced goes into the briefing room, spends almost 20 minutes speaking directly about how this verdict has impacted him, his family, african-americans, and then he comes up with some proposals of how to do with this

situation. >> and, wolf, speaking from the heart, you know, not using a teleprompter like we very often see this president using. the words that come to mind are heartfelt, as you point out. very sober about this. talking about how african-americans look at this case through a history that doesn't go away, he said. realistic about what he could propose. talking about stand your ground, for example. having those issues re-examined, a discussion with state and local law enforcement and a discussion about young african-american males. and ultimately, though, wolf, very optimistic. using the lens of his own children to say, look, they're better than i was. their children will be better than they are. and saying, look, you know, don't let this make you believe that we have not made progress in this country. obviously, he stayed away from what the justice department is going to do ultimately on the

civil rights case. cautions that you do have to be realistic about it. but i think this was something people wanted to hear from him. and i think, wolf, he struck exactly the right sober tone and the balance between personal reflections as an african-american and what you can do moving forward. >> let's bring in sunny hostin. sunny, the president at one point said the jury had a reasonable doubt. they entered a verdict. it's now time to move on. what do you think, sunny? as someone who watched the zimmerman trial every single day what did you think about what the president had to say? >> i agree with gloria. i think he certainly struck the right tone. i think people especially in the african-american community have been waiting for the president to weigh in on this issue because there has been a sense within the african-american community that justice was not done here. that the system failed trayvon martin. the system failed trayvon martin's family.

and so i think it was really important for the president to weigh in on this. and you're right, wolf. i was in the courtroom every single day. and i was very stunned by the verdict. and in my discussions after this verdict with members of the african-american community, with trayvon martin's family, i think everyone everyone, you know, has been discussing our system and whether or not race has played a part in this verdict. and what we can do as a country to move forward and to move -- and to, perhaps, make some change out of this terrible tragedy. and i think the president did give us somewhat of a guideline, of guidelines where we need to go. do churches need to take the lead? do our communities need to take the lead? do we need to re-examine stand your ground laws which the president described as ambiguous. certainly i think they're even more than ambiguous, but ambiguous is an accurate term as well. i think this was an important

thing for the president to do. >> candy, he was so personal at one point, saying, you know what? even he as a younger man experienced people looking askance at him when he would cross the street. women would start clutching their purses or whatever. he got personal in these remarks. >> he did. and that's what made it so effective, obviously. because that and the fact that it appeared to be certainly without a teleprompter. obviously he had thought about it and had notes. it just had this feel of here's what's inside me. this is not a president where you get that feeling very much. he is not a guy that lays it all out there how he's feeling or what's close to his heart. when he brings in malia and sasha and how they and their friends deal with race, i thought it was -- there were very many interesting things about it. one of the things he did not do was discuss whether the trial -- or say anything about whether the trial was about race.

he posed some questions. and then he did talk about the remaining injustices in a system that african-americans and people of color have seen for so long and throughout history. he talked about that prism that only african-americans see through and the long history of injustices. so he did talk about injustices in the system. be it stand your ground laws or profiling, what have you. but he didn't talk about racism in the case. i thought he tried to elevate the conversation saying, look, here's how the system works. that was the verdict. now here's what the problem is. >> and very strong words from the president. powerful words. we're going to continue to assess what's going on. jessica yellin, our chief white house correspondent has thoughts on what's going on. she's going to be with us at the top of the hour. i'll be back 5:00 p.m. eastern in the situation room. brooke baldwin will continue our special coverage of the president speaking out on the

zimmerman trial right after zimmerman trial right after this. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medical expenses, i looked at my options. then i got a medicare supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if you're eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. call now and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans,

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for generations. remember, all medicare supplement insurance plans help cover what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you thousands a year in out-of-pocket costs. call now to request your free decision guide. and learn more about the kinds of plans that will be here for you now -- and down the road. i have a lifetime of experience. so i know how important that is. breaking news here at the top of the hour. i'm brooke baldwin on this friday. great to see you. wow, what a surprise we all witnessed if you've been tuned in the last half hour. we were watching the president surprise everyone. walking up to the podium there at the white house daily briefing. and for the first time speaking publicly about the george zimmerman second-degree murder trial. going very, very personal.