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. very heartfelt. not using a teleprompter.

clearly having thought given much time to what he would say in making this message very personal. i want to play just a little bit of what we heard from the president speaking for just about 20 minutes here in front of a group of reporters in that briefing room. we'll bring in our chief white house correspondent, jessica yellin, for how this went down. but first here's the president making this personal. >> 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 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. >> that was just a piece of what the president had to say. sort of ending with a couple of specifics. he said he'd been bouncing around with some of his staff as far as how we can push this forward. how we can learn lessons here. really nationwide. a couple voices i want to bring in. as i mentioned our chief white house correspondent, jessica yellin. also host of "state of the union," candy crowley. we have sunny hostin who was in and out of that courtroom each and every day in sanford, florida. cnn legal analyst.

and gloria borger, chief political analyst. jessica, let me go to you first. wow. we were all watching as we do the daily briefing. surprise. it's the president. what did you know about it? >> reporter: we knew nothing here. that was a big surprise to all of us. i'll tell you, brooke, for the president he was obviously under the white house enormous pressure to come out and say something before the week was up. i'll tell you that i covered the president since 2007 when he was first running for this office. and this was the most -- or as personal and as bluntly as i've ever heard him speak about both racism in america and his own experience of racism in his life. i've heard him talk about it at least once before when he spoke about his own grandmother's experience of racism toward another black man. but never quite like this, brooke. and i think that this marks a clear departure for him. in his first term, he was very

reluctant to ever cast things in terms of race in america. he always talked about class and how he was trying to rise -- improve the tide for all boats. and improve the lot for all americans. and here you saw him come out and clearly say that there is a different experience for blacks in america and he can speak to that. it's an important moment for this president, an important moment for america. he says he doesn't want to lead a conversation in race, because it's awkward and forced. but that's really what he's doing here. and he took a step in that direction. not just by laying out the legal steps and governmental steps he'll take, but just by coming before cameras and talking about, i could have been trayvon martin, he said, brooke. >> he is the son of biracial parents. father from kenya. mother from kansas. he has spoken as we all know on race before, giving a speech on race when everything happened with reverend jeremiah wright. candy crowley, to you.

when i listen to these kinds of things, to jessica's point he was incredibly personal. i was taking notes, not only as we heard him say last year, not only if he had a son he would look like trayvon martin, another way of saying that, trayvon martin could have been me 35 years ago. i want your take of what was said and also equally important, what wasn't said. >> i think one of the things that wasn't said, and i think this is where he was -- you know, this is a thoughtful guy. this is somebody who thinks these sorts of things through. he has been under pressure, particularly from the african-american community. on a whole host of issues, by the way. but especially to come and speak out on this. but he did not get into the jury was right or the jury was wrong or the verdict was racist or what brought him there was racist. he got into the prism, what i call the prism thing. which is look at this through the prism of the african-american community. look at this history. by the way, you know me.

and here are the experiences i have had and look where i am. i've heard him talk about pacta not picking him up, that sort of thing. this was personal. something he does not do easily or often. i was there for the jeremiah wright thing. i was there for that race speech in philadelphia. but that was scholarly. this wasn't so much scholarly as it was, try to understand here that the system itself still has real -- he didn't use the word "racist." but still has real problem. particularly for young african-american males. he took it to the system as opposed to this particular trial. i think, therefore, elevated the discussion. >> yeah. his final point when he was running through a couple of specifics how we can learn lessons and move forward, that final example he gave was really reinforced and support these young african-american boys who are growing up to be men in this country. he said it was something he and michelle obama certainly had discussed at home. let me just play a part of that. here you go. >> 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. >> sunny hostin, as a mom of a young son, i know he's -- he's young. he's 10. but you hear the president say that. what do you think? >> gosh, i have so many thoughts running through my mind right now, brooke. not only as a woman of color, but especially as a mother of a young brown boy. it's something that we've been discussing amongst my friends. my friends that have young african-american boys at home. and i think the president needed to address this. this was something that i think he struck the right tone.

but i think it really is relevant. it is a point to reflect upon the prism through which many in the african community have reviewed this case and have reviewed and received this verdi verdict. i've got to tell you, i was in the courtroom each and every day. i thought that there was going to be a guilty verdict. i thought as a former prosecutor looking at it through my legal lens that certainly the government had proved at the very least manslaughter. so when this verdict came back, i questioned along with many of my colleagues and my friends of color, did race play a part in the perception that the jury had in looking at the evidence? because i looked at the evidence complete lly differently. i wonder if it is because i looked at the evidence through the prism of my experience. and i think it's so important to have these discussions. it's so important for our young african-american boys to have someone like the president as a role model speak out about what

has been so long in our system, the elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about. h which is race in our judicial system and how it affects our children. >> back to the perspective thing, that was one of the president's initial points. look, everyone brings their own experience. he of a biracial couple, african-american man, as a president, bringing his own experience. here's what i want to go, gloria. i was watching you earlier in the week. you said something to the effect the president wants to be a facilitator, he does not want to be a lightning rod. i can't help but listen to the president and think, i've had several conversations this week with folks on the other side who say, listen, the word they use is inject. the president injeked himself in the conversation last year when he said if i had a son he would look like trayvon martin. now he's taking it a step further. he's doubling down saying i would have been, i could have been trayvon martin 35 years ago. what are the critics thinking right now? >> the irony was he didn't want the conversation to become about him. and that often happens when he talks about race. but then he got to a point where

if he didn't speak about this, the conversation would continue to be about him and why he hadn't spoken about it. so he spoke about it. and i think what was stunning to me, you know, this is as candy and jessica said earlier, this is somebody who doesn't emote publicly a lot. he came to this podium today as an african-american male, president of the united states, reflecting soberly on some really important questions we need to discuss in this country. and he kind of distilled all of these questions down to one key question. as i was listening to him, he said, and he asked the country, just think. if trayvon martin was of age and armed, could he have stood his ground on that sidewalk? >> he made the point. he made the point about stand your ground. if i may just jump back in. >> that's right. >> we have to be crystal clear. stand your ground, the law in

florida was not used in the defense. nevertheless, the president brought it up. let me play that sound bite. >> it is a law in 30 states. >> 22. yes. roll it. >> okay. >> for those who -- who resist that idea that we should think about something like the stand your ground laws, i just ask people to consider, if trayvon martin 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? >> so his point, the point that preceded that, this was step number two, specific, we need to examine state and local laws, i.e. stand your ground. >> brooke -- >> yeah. i wanted to go to you. >> i need to say this. i think it's sort of a misunderstanding of what happened at trial. everyone is saying, well, the

defense didn't bring up stand your ground. or stand your ground wasn't part of this case. stand your ground was very much a part of this case. >> the jury considered it. >> the jury was instructed. the instructions clearly said george zimmerman -- if you find george zimmerman had the right to stand his ground, the words were actually used in the jury instructions. the jury certainly considered it. and the prosecution did argue in closing, in their rebuttal argument, didn't trayvon martin have the right to stand his ground? so i heard over and over again this week everyone saying stand your ground wasn't a part of this trial. that is incorrect. it was a part of this trial. that is one of the reasons why we need to address stand your ground laws around the country. >> brooke, what the president's trying to do here, i think, is address not the facts really in this case. and not specifically the stand your ground law. but really rise above the specifics of this case and actually speak to white america and say to white america, as a black person, as a black man,

white america can relate to, let me tell you how black americans are seeing this and why so many black americans are upset by this verdict. and let me explain to you a difference in perspective. that's why he said, could trayvon martin have won a defense with a stand your ground defense. whether it was relevant to this case or not. that's why that point mattered. >> right. >> he's trying to say let's try to relate to one another. let's use empathy here. that's why it was so he spoke. that's why the black community was calling on him to speak for so long. that's why his leading this conversation matters. >> i have to hit pause. jessica yellin, sunny hostin, candy crowley, gloria borger, thank you. we're bringing in more voices on this stunner. president obama speaking for 20 minutes during a white house briefing. weighing in on his experience with regard to this trial that ended just about a week ago saturday with the two words.

the jury of six women reached, "not guilty." we will hear coming up from trayvon martin's own parents, next. for all kinds of reasons. i go to angie's list to gauge whether or not the projects will be done in a timely fashion and within budget. angie's list members can tell you which provider is the best in town. you'll find reviews on everything from home repair to healthcare. now that we're expecting, i like the fact i can go onto angie's list and look for pediatricians. the service providers that i've found on angie's list actually have blown me away. find out why more than two million members count on angie's list. angie's list -- reviews you can trust. i get out a lot... except when it's too cold. like the last three weekends. asthma doesn't affect my job... you missed the meeting again last week! it doesn't affect my family. your coughing woke me up again. i wish you'd take me to the park. i don't use my rescue inhaler a lot... depends on what you mean by a lot. coping with asthma isn't controlling it. test your level of control at asthma.com,

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the president of the united states step before a group of white house reporters and camera crews just about an hour ago during the white house daily briefing, stunned everyone and spoke for 20 minutes after much debate has happened this past week. after the not guilty verdict in the second-degree murder trial of george zimmerman. the president spoke. he spoke from his heart. he spoke without a teleprompter. he spoke for quite a while about his own personal experience, speaking about his wife, speaking about young african-american boys and how our country needs to reinforce them as they grow up to be these young men and gave specifics as to how we can learn the lesson, perhaps how we can take a look at some of the laws in this country. so i just want to play a little bit, actually, from trayvon martin's parents who did mention the president when they sat down and spoke with anderson cooper for an entire hour last night on cnn. roll it. >> we thought that there was

enough evidence there, no matter who was on that jury, to convict him of second-degree murder. and when you think about it, i think they 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. >> juror b-37, i assume the other jurors as well, didn't discuss race in the jury room. according to yoor juror b-37. i want to play something she said. she clearly does not believe race played a role in the profiling of trayvon martin, any level in this case. let's play that. >> do you feel george zimmerman racially profull-timed tra prof martin? do you think race played a decision, a role in his view of trayvon martin as suspicious?

>> i don't think he did. i think circumstances caused george to think that he might be a robber or trying to do something bad in the neighborhood because of all that had gone on previously. there were unbelievable number of robberies in the neighborhood. >> so you don't believe race played a role in this case? >> i don't think it did. i think if -- if there was another person, spanish, white, asian, if they came in the same situation where trayvon was, i think george would have reacted the exact same way. >> what do you think of that? >> i think that's a joke. because he clearly said in the 911 calls that it was a black teenager. an african-american teenager. so that was the profile. that was the person that he was looking for. because that was the person or people that were breaking in in the area. unfortunately, trayvon was not

one of those people. trayvon had every right to be in that community. trayvon had every right to go to the store and come back in peace and safe. i think that's really a joke. i don't understand why she wouldn't see that. but then again, there's a disconnect. there's definitely a disconnect. >> do the system work? it didn't work for us. but we -- we remain -- the system, through this injustice, that we can build some type of -- we can close that gap. and hopefully that the system can start working for everyone equally. >> i want to get reaction to that. especially in the wake of the president speaking and mentioning the system. sunny hostin, a voice who we have been talking to throughout this trial, former federal

prosecutor and cnn legal analyst. sunny, when you hear sybrina fulton and tracy martin saying -- sabriis a bresybrina was a joke. hearing the woman say race wasn't a factor. the president didn't mention race specifically in this trial. what are you thoughts? >> again, that goes back to the perspective or the lens with which you view this trial. and i had the opportunity to interview trayvon's parents last night for hln. and they feel that while they believe in the justice system, which is incredible given their experience, they feel that the system failed them. they do feel that their son was racially profiled. and to suggest that race wasn't a part of this case, whether it be from george zimmerman's perspective in profiling or using race as part of the profile of trayvon martin, or whether it was part of the lens through which the jury looked at this evidence, i think it's

really naive to suggest that race was not a part of this case. i mean, there's just no question that at the very least, it was the elephant in the room. and at the very worst, it was a real part of this case. and i think what is fascinating is that this family, which the president even remarked, handled this with such dignity, such elegance, such grace. still believes in the system. i actually asked them, even though they're not happy with the verdict, what does justice look like for them now? and their response was interesting. their response was, you know, we want to raise awareness about, you know, racial hatred. we want to raise awareness about gun violence against our teens. >> they started the foundation. >> they started this foundation. the trayvon martin foundation. they also want us to review the laws. the stand your ground laws in our country. and so, you know, i think the one thing, brooke, that may have

come out of this tragedy, the one good thing, is that we were -- are all discussing this. and that perhaps there will be real change at the end of the day. >> i think to your point about the president in saying that everyone's bringing their own perspectives, this is what the president said in case you missed it. in the african-american community there's a lot of pain. it's important to recognize the african-american community is looking at this issue through a different set of experiences and history that doesn't go away. i want to come back to you, sunny. i'm curious with regard to the parents, jessica yellin, let me bring you back in. our chief white house correspondent. jessica, my question to you is, do we know -- the president said his thoughts and prayers, you know, of course, go to ms. fulton and mr. martin. has he at all reached out to talk to them? communicate? >> reporter: the white house has not said that he's reached out to them. as far as we know, the answer is no. i would suspect that at some point, that would happen, brooke. but it's very clear that the white house wants to stay out of

the specifics of this case. and the president doesn't want to get involved while the department of justice is still determining whether there is a federal case to pursue with george zimmerman. as you recall, the department of justice is looking into whether there is a hate crimes case to pursue against george zimmerman. so perhaps it would seem inappropriate for the president to make contact while another branch of his government is making that decision. if i could make one point about the -- the quote you just read, you know, as i said earlier, the president seems to be trying to speak to white america and saying, listen, if you don't see why so many african-americans are upset and disappointed in this verdict, remember the history of racism that through which many african-americans are seeing this verdict. i think it's worth remembering the president is just off the heels of a visit to africa. and while he was in africa --

>> south africa. >> -- he stood in the doorway where so many african men and women were shipped off to the united states as slaves. a and it was just within the last few weeks. and he was talking to his own daughters about not just nelson mandela, mahatma ghandi, all the liberators who fought for peace and fought for justice. i mean, this history is so fresh for him right now. and he has to see himself as, you know, as part of the history, making these -- helping these conversations forward. and helping -- helping have this conversation. it's got to be very personal for him. but also difficult and delicate. and he knows that. and these experiences are just so fresh coming off that trip, brooke. >> absolutely. it's a delicate dance. you mentioned nelson mandela, if first black president of south africa. here we have the first black president in the united states. the fact that he has now

addressed this publicly for 20 minutes is huge. jessica yellin, thank you. we'll come back to you. coming up next, i'm going to bring in charles blow of the "new york times." i don't know if you saw him with anderson this past week on a town hall. he led a pretty emotional discussion when he talked about talking to his son. and he talked about how fast or how slow young african-american men can walk in this country now. we'll hear from him and his reaction to the president speaking, after this. the first time i saw a sony 4k tv, it was like opening my eyes.

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you know, as we continue our breaking news and in the wake of the president of the united states now reacting publicly during the white house daily briefing just about an hour ago, speaking without a teleprompter, speaking not scholarly as we've seen him in a race speech in the past, but more personally, mentioning his family. mentioning a couple of examples in which, perhaps, an african-american man may be discriminated against. he ended the sentences each time saying, that happened to me. we've had these conversations throughout the week in the evenings with anderson cooper. he's talked to multiple voices about their own personal

experiences. i want to just play something for you. this is charles blow. he's a "new york times" op-ed writer, also a cnn political commentator. this was charles talking to anderson earlier this week about his own experience. >> i used to tell my boys, you know, don't run. they may think you're suspicious. actually now i have to say don't walk slowly. that also means you may be s pishs. we have to figure out what is the pace for which black men can walk in america and be beyond suspicious. that's a crazy conversation to have to have. >> charles joins me on the phone. charles blow. let's just begin with the president. did you hear him? did you watch him? >> yes. i was in the briefing room today. >> you were in the briefing room. surprise. here he was. i talked to jessica yellin, our chief white house correspondent. she said this is the sort of most heartfelt and personal the president has been in the whole time she's covered him. what did you make of his tone and his remarks? >> well, i thought, you know, it was interesting to me that he kept saying, i want to make sure that i give you context.

that he wasn't necessarily talking specifically about the legal parts of the case. although at the end he had a few areas where we could do better on terms of policy and training. but he really was focusing on how to view reaction to this case in a historical context. and secondly, he spoke specifically about how those -- the history of race in this count country -- although that is not necessarily completely his r ll. i think that's really important to have that part of the conversation, to have that come from the white house. you have 400 years of slavery and oppression and racial violence. that caused a deep scar in the racial memory of the people. if you want to have conversations about, well, why

can't we just today turn on a dime and make it all right? why can't you just today turn on a dime and change behaviors? those behaviors are influenced, in some cases dictated, in some cases manipulated by a larger culture and particularly among young african-american men, you are not only seeing interracial violence in terms of physical violence, but also psychological violence. >> the president mentioned that. >> yes. doing something destructive to another. you have this kind of history that we have had with african-americans in this country, self-destructive behavior becomes more likely because of the dehumanizing

conditions under which people have lived. so that history cannot be, you know, magically sucked out of the conversation. and you say, well, let's just let all that be water under the bridge. some people are on the bridge and the water came over the bridge. some people can't breathe because they feel like they're drowning. i think that having that kind of conversation where he spoke about this history that we have experienced and also present actions and present accountability and trying to figure out how we make those things meet is very, very, very important when we talk about all these issues that affect young african-american men. >> let me underscore, i know you were sitting in there. for people who did not see the president, we have spoken about sort of his scholarly race speeches in the past. when the reverend jeremiah wright story was percolating years ago. here's a president, incredibly personal, drawing upon his own

experiences from when he was a boy. here's what he said. >> 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. >> that includes me, he says. charles, do you think this speech was more toward african-americans who have been saddened by this verdict and wanted to just hear the president sort of speak to them, or is it to other races, saying, understand this perspective.

>> i think there were two things happening there. one of them was that i think this is something he felt he needs to -- some of his own burdens. he needed to acknowledge that i have felt the -- at one point he said, you know, trayvon could have been me. not only if i had a son it could look like trayvon. he could have been me. i thought that was incredibly personal. that was just speaking from his own experience. to the larger point, i think he is trying to find a way that -- to help facilitate conversations around this where he makes it real. it's very important about having a conversation about any kind of oppression, whether it's racial or gender or whatever, is that you -- that the person who's the

recipient of the pain does not shoulder the responsibility of the pain on their own. you have to -- i have to help you to feel what i'm feeling so that we can understand how to -- i think having the president address that issue, i think personal issues, that this is a pain that i have felt and i can help you to understand how people try to shoulder that pain, that i can help you understand the psychological damage that it does to me every time someone, you know, assumes a level of criminality because of the way that i am -- i was born and the skin that i wear, that that actually does a psychological damage to me. and that we are all responsible for that damage being done. and that until we share the burden of that responsibility and that conversations about race are not simply among people who are the recipients of

discrimination, but among everyone who is participating in the racial environment, that we cannot move forward in terms of dealing with and getting past what, you know, the place that we now find ourself in. i think he did a great job of making the conversation bigger than one man who killed one boy in one small town in florida. he made this about america. i think that's how we have to conceive any conversation that we have on this subject. >> charles blow, cnn political commentator and "new york times" op-ed columnist. thank you so much. i appreciate your perspective. while charles says this was a great thing, not everyone says this is great. some folks are saying the president has injected himself too far into what has become a huge, huge story for this entire nation since this not guilty verdict last saturday. we're going to talk to folks on both sides of the aisle, get their reactions to the president, next. ♪

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here he was. >> 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 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 that the african-american community is naive about the fact that african-american young men are disproportionately involved in the 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. >> toward the end of the president speaking, he gave a cup ouple of examples. he said, listen, i don't want to have a five point plan on how we can move forward on what happened. but he gave a couple examples of how we can learn lessons. take a look at laws. i just want to read to you the final note. he said this was long term, going back to young african-american boys. he said we need to spend time thinking about how we bolster and reinforce african-american boys. he said that is something he and

his wife talk about very often. much more from the president's surprising 20 minutes in the white house daily briefing as he talked about what has happened in the wake of this not guilty verdict. we continue to bring voices in the conversation. i encourage you to tweet @brookecnn. back after this. all business purchases. so you can capture your receipts, and manage them online with jot, the latest app from ink. so you can spend less time doing paperwork. and more time doing paperwork. ink from chase. so you can. [ male announcer ] wouldn't it be great if all devices had backup power? the chevrolet volt does. it's ingeniously designed to seamlessly switch from electricity to gas to extend your driving range.

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after the not guilty verdict in the second degree murder trial of george zimmerman. you are now looking at the president. this was within the last hour. the first time the president publicly opened up about the verdict and about african-american boys, including himself once upon a time in america. here he was. >> they rendered a verdict. and once the jury has 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. >> coming up, some folks are praising the president coming forward and speaking about this. others saying, no, he's injecting himself in a

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want to bring in a republican and democrat to talk about the break z news of the day here. president obama weighing in on the jorgeorge zimmerman verdict. talking about the status in america today and giving his own perspective. ana knnavarro is our republican. ana, just because we haven't heard from someone on the right yet, i want you to get right into it. you heard the president. your reaction? >> you know, brooke -- >> first of all, tell you jay is prepared for all your questions. >> we can hear you. go ahead. >> i have african-american friends, including folks like donna brazile, who i have heard said that president obama should not opine on this, should not become more political and that

he's got other things to do like focusing on jobs and the economy. now, i also have to tell you that the reality is, he is a black man. and i think what he did was give a very personal perspective. i thought his statement was measured and it was balanced. it gave respect to the judicial process. it acknowledged that there had been a judicial process that had run its course and that we must respect it. it also called for nonviolence. but it also gave a very personal perspective, and i have to tell you, only somebody that's been in those shoes can share. and it is not -- you know, it's not terribly unusual for a president to weigh in on an issue that has consumed the national attention and been part of the national debate now for weeks on end. so i know there's going to be people that find it difficult, that are not going to like it. i think he stayed away from the politics of it. and i think it was a measured

and balanced statement. >> you say measured and balanced. maria car ddona, do you agree? >> i think it was pitch perfect. when i say pitch perfect, i mean that it was surprisingly personal, but at the time when i think the country, the african-american community, and everybody else needed to hear that, brooke. and i say that because when you look at the context of what he talked about, you know, i've heard people call him the consoler in chief, the soother in chief, as he was trying to do this. i kind of look at it as he was dealing with this as a therapist in chief. talking to two communities, white america and african-americans, that have lived side by side for decades, yet don't really understand each other. and so the fact that, you know, the history, the weighing on him in terms of being the very first -- first african-american

president who has walked in these shoes, i think gave him a very unique perspective to be able to play that role. and to talk to a country that is divided by this verdict and that is hurting so that understanding is what comes out of it and that we can actually move on. >> ana, back to you. i want to push you just a little bit. because i hear you ladies are agreeing on something. and i want to ask. because, listen, i've talked to plenty of republicans, plenty of conservatives over the week. including people, i'm reading their tweets right now, who say absolutely not. the president should not have injected himself in this. not only were they already peeved that the president once upon a time had said that had he had a son he would have looked like trayvon. the president sort of doubled down on that today saying, listen, if this was 35 years ago, i could have been trayvon martin. what do you -- how do you respond to your colleagues who tis disagree with you? >> i think they need to listen to what he said and really read the transcript. i think the president had the -- really a duty to beeverybody's

president. the president for white america, the president for black americans, for hispanic americans, for every american under the sun. and i think he's got to focus on unifying, not dividing. i frankly did not find anything ti vdivisive in what he said. i thought it was human. i did not find it political. he did not talk about the -- the investigation and the process going on at the department of justice. he did not criticize the verdict. he acknowledged, i think, some of the sentiments going on in this country. and i would say to people that i think one of the things we have to do to get past this is to understand each other's sentiments. brooke, i'm very fortunate in my life to have some very close, very personal family, african-american friends in my life. and it has been very painful for me to hear some of these african-american friends of mine talking to me about how they're

having to have conversations with their teenage sons about what just happened. and i'm talking about people that are in congress. i'm talking about professional athletes. i'm talking about some very successful people. and, you know, there are people in this country who don't have diversity of friends. what i think president obama said is, listen, there's different perspectives going on here. let's just be a little bit tolerant of each other's difference perspectives. i don't see anything wrong with it. >> right. talking about -- >> if you want me to see something wrong with it because i'm a republican, i'm just not going there. i don't see anything that's terribly divisive. i'm not going to make it up. >> we don't want you to either, ana navarrnavarro. appreciate it. coming up, we'll continue this conversation and bring in additional voices, some who do not agree with either of the ladies you just heard from, think it was the wrong thing, what the president just did. that conversation is next.

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-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com breaking news here on cnn. i'm brooke baldwin. a shocker at the white house this afternoon. this could have been me 35 years ago. those words from president obama not too long ago in the white house daily briefing. breaking the silence on the not guilty verdict that rocked america. george zimmerman, acquitted of the murder of 17-year-old trayvon martin. speaking without a teleprompter. speaking off the cuff in a tone we really haven't heard before. a deeply personal tone. it's his take on his own

experience. here's the president. >> there are very few african-american men in this experience of being followed when they were shopping in a department store. that includes me. there are 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. >> that was just a piece of the president. he spoke for just about 20 minutes. there she is, our chief white house correspondent, jessica yellin. jessica, you have been covering the president for a bunch of years. have you ever heard him speak in this manner before? >> reporter: no, brooke. i mean, it's not just how blunt he was, but also how personal he was about his own experiences of racism. it's not like the president to open up that much. and it's also not like him to talk about race in america. he usually tries to look past it. and for him to use this as really, you know, it's cliche, but as a teaching moment, what

is truly a marked change in his approach. and i think we saw him stand before us in that briefing room and he seemed very relaxed, very at ease. he was not parsing his words. he wasn't being very careful and legalistic about how he chose his words. he just seemed to be speaking with comfort about his own experience. and so i think this marks a change for him. and i suspect we'll see him do this more. what the president was trying to do, and this is is why the black community has been calling on him to speak out in the wake of this verdict, is to explain not the te tadetails of this case. not the specifics legally of what happens next. but to speak to so many people who don't understand the upset and rage in some parts of the black community, why there is so much frustration about the ver ticket. because it has to do with a larger historical experience and with the experience of racism and use this as an opportunity to call for empathy and a conversation, brooke. >> that's what the president

brought up. people's own personal experiences given the history of this country. jessica, thank you. i want to pivot to someone who knows the white house briefing room very well. ari fleischer on the phone with me. former press secretary for president bush. ar ari, good to talk to you. this whole thing was a huge surprise to everyone. what do you make of how this all went down. >> it's a big surprise. for the president of the united states who represents all the people, it's a very interesting change of pace in operation for the president to come out here and do this today. it tells me he's been under considerable pressure from the liberal base, the african-american community in the country, to say something. but it's nice for the president to put on one hat and not the hat of all the american people, especially when a jury has spoken. >> at the same time, though, i've been talking to jessica. she was saying and others have agreed that not only was the president talking to the

african-american community, whether or not he's been feeling pressure or not, but possibly also white america. sort of explaining this is our own personal experience. yes, i've been in an elevator and a woman's clutched her purse. and she's clutched her purse because of me. trying to help other races within this country understand the frustration, the rage, the sadness that african-americans have been feeling in the last week. >> but where has the president been, then, for the last five years? why did it take the trayvon martin case for the president to come out and raise some of these very valid issues that would be constructive for our nation to talk about in a unified fashion? but, you know, this president when it comes to racial issues has really been touch and go. he touches on it under moments of pressure or stress. and then he lets it go. there's really no commitment, no ongoing follow-up for the president doing anything about urban matters, poverty matters, matters affecting the black community. frankly, when he said in his remarks today that poverty and dysfunction we see in these communities can be traced to a

very difficult history, i think frankly that's a terrible excuse for some of the terrible decisions that get made. fathers who walk out on their children's lives and never come back. that's the biggest cause of poverty in the black community today. it's not the history of slavery which is what the president's alluding to in his remarks. i wish this was something consistent with the president, that was determined with te president. we as a country are only as strong as the poorest communities among us. and poverty is something that i think the president could have and should have focused on a lot more in his presidency. >> hmm. ari fleischer, appreciate it very much for calling in and givingperspective. i want to bring in candy crowley, host of "state of the union" to sort of react to ari's searing criticism. no surprise there are critics of what the president just did. what do you make of what ari said? >> it kind of a little bit gets back to prisms and what prism you look through. this will not be the first criticism from folks who see

this differently, conservatives, you know, under what other umbrella they come politically, i don't know. they will say, listen, there is this question. was this trial about race? or was it not about race? and the totality of what the president said to conservative ears and to those who feel we had a trial, there was justice, he was found not guilty, and that's the end of it, the president in that speech off the zimmerman trial, even though he stayed away from the details of it, made it about race. so i think that's what, you know, he tried very hard i think or deliberately skipped the details was it about race, was it not about race, but certainly in the stories and in the context, now you've just made this -- now the president has just made this about race and he's supposed to be president of the all people, i will add, though, that the president has spoken to african-american males about fatherhood and about families to the extent that

there was criticism from african-american groups saying the only time you ever actually talk directly to us, it's to say, why can't you stick around and be fathers? there was criticism that that's really all he ever talked about. so he has brought that up. clearly he didn't bring it up in this particular context. and so, you know, i don't think he was going to please everybody. there is no doubt in my mind had he stayed quiet, he would have come under considerable criticism. >> damned if you do, damned if you don't. >> exactly. >> what about moving forward? now we've heard from the president. now what? sf >> yeah, now what? >> right? >> you know, we have a huge day of protests tomorrow. that's the next thing off the trayvon martin case in -- i don't know, the last time i looked more than 100 cities. we'll see what actually happens. the conversation continues, but, brooke, i feel like i've been through many things where we were going to have a national conversation about something. and then something else happened and the conversation ceased.

but i will tell you, i thought one of the most effective things that the president said was when he talked about his two daughters and he said, they are better than we are. than we were. and they're better than we are. he talked about the generational change. and he said, i don't want everyone to think that nothing has changed. because we are a more perfect union. we're just not perfect. i think from that he was saying, yes, we have made progress. but here's the prism through which the african-american community and others have kind of looked at this. so i wish i could say i think there'll be, you know, tons of discussions and town halls, and there are, actually, frequently. i know congressman bobby rush is going to have a conference on -- specifically on this. i think urban living and urban violence. these kinds of things go on. i think eventually it goes off the national scene as the subjects are wont to do. >> they do. perfect, we are not, candy crowley. thank you very much. >> except for you and me.

>> of course. obviously. candy, thank you. see you sunday morning. meantime, in terms of the what now, the what next, the president did outline a couple of ideas that maybe he was bouncing around with his staff. one in which included taking a good, long look at some of these state and local laws. maybe, i.e., stand your ground in florida. here's what he said. >> and for those who -- who resist that idea that we should think about something like the stand your ground laws, i just ask people to consider if trayvon martin 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? coming up next, two different perspectives. ben ferguson, earl lewis, a big conversation about what just

happened, next.

you've heard the breaking news. i want to bring in two voices. cnn political commentator ben ferguson in dallas. and erol lewis. ben, to you first. i'm reading your nighotes on th twitters. i see the word you used is shocked. you are shocked the president spoke today. why? >> i'm shocked because he said he was going to be the president for everyone. obviously today he said i'm going to be the president for

the african-american community and everyone else better listen up to why i think there is a huge problem in this country with laws that disproportionately affect african-americans pouring fuel on the fire before the largest day of protest tomorrow. the president's job is to be president for everyone. he basically said today to everyone protesting tomorrow, the system is broken for african-americans. you have a right to be angry by this. you have a right to be upset by the court system. so at the same time he says respect the outcome, he basically said you have a legitimate reason to be angry and protest. more importantly than that, the very end, the most shocking part for me was when he said if there is violence, i will remind people that that is does not respect trayvon martin or his legacy. there has already been violence. the president should have made it very clear that those who are violent should not be violent and we will not tolerate it. but he didn't do that.

that's shocking to me as well. >> the president did mention the vigils. erol, is that fair? >> it's not even accurate. look, the people who are going to protest in 100 cities tomorrow didn't need the president to come out here on a friday afternoon the night before and tell them that that was a good idea. they're already angry. they don't need the president to tell them that. if you listen to the actual text of the speech, if you listen to what he actually said, he sort of threw a little cold water on it. he said, listen, this is a local law enforcement responsibility. don't expect the federal government to do very much. i can share some thoughts with you. i can start to maybe convene and kick around some ideas with some other government leaders, but he gave them absolutely no reason to think that he's egging them on or encouraging them in any way. >> by commenting -- >> hang on. time out. before we go there, i want to take the protests out of it. i want to go straight to your point, ben, also it's a point ari fleischer made with me moments ago about how he is

supposed to be the president of the united states. instead he is speaking, it seems, for and to african-americans. errol, i want your response to that. >> i mean, it literally wasn't true. if he wanted to do that he would have gone on b.e.t. or something. that's not what happened there. people may think that maybe he's talking past them. but if you listen carefully to the conversations that went on over the last week, a lot of americans, basically half of america has been talking past the other half. this was a very narrowly defined outcome in this case. it could have easily gone the other way. a lot of people would have been upset if that had been the case as well. so the president, you know, in my opinion sort of laid out a number of things very broad, very universal, frankly, you know. >> he wasn't broad, though. he was very specific speaking -- >> there's never a right time for the conversation. all right? there's never a right time for the conversation. it's too early or it's too late. >> it's not an issue -- >> one at a time, boys. ben, go. >> the president was incredibly specific today speaking on the

half of the african-american community and giving specific examples of saying that white women, when a black man fwgets an elevator, they cringe, hold their breath and grab their purse. guess what? i park in a parking garage. every time i walk in my car and we're in a staircase and there's a woman by herself she probably is nervous. i make sure i stay far behind her. that's not racial profiling. that might be a woman concerned because she's by herself. >> are you saying -- ben, is your point that what the president said was wrong or he just should have kept his mouth shut and said nothing? >> no. what i'm saying is for the president to come out and speak specifically for the african-american community and then to chastise white america saying you need to understand that when, you know, white women, when they're in an elevator, they're feterrified o black men -- >> how is that chas titising ves having one group of people understand another group of people's perspective? just asking. >> if it was about understanding you would have had a conversation instead of a

stereotype. i would say to any woman that's gotten in an elevator and walked in a staircase to her car in a parking garage, they are just as frightened by any man by themselves out of concern for safety. that does not have to be solely be in a racial context. if any woman, if you ask them, they would agree. they probably don't want to be with a man by themselves in a closed environment with no one around. that has nothing to do with race. but the president specifically made it today solely about race. >> time-out. got to get a break in. gentlemen, stay there. we're continuing this after this break. by the way, the entire speech from the president airing at the top of the 4:00 hour on "the lead." if you missed it. we will be right back. (girl) what does that say? (guy) dive shop. (girl) diving lessons. (guy) we should totally do that. (girl ) yeah, right. (guy) i wannna catch a falcon! (girl) we should do that. (guy) i caught a falcon. (guy) you could eat a bug. let's do that. (guy) you know you're eating a bug. (girl) because of the legs. (guy vo) we got a subaru to take us new places. (girl) yeah, it's a hot spring. (guy) we should do that. (guy vo) it did. (man) how's that feel? (guy) fine.

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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. >> errol, hearing him talk about young african-american boys, saying, listen, you know, i could have been 35 years ago trayvon martin. i know a lot of folks in the black community have sort of been waiting. they've been frustrated that the president had yet to speak to this community. do you think the president went far enough? >> well, no. i don't think it was a matter of him needing to sort of bring forward that particular point. i mean, he said early on that, you know, that there was an ongoing investigation and he'd find out whatever he could find out. i personally wasn't looking to hear from the president on that dimension of it. >> you weren't? >> not particularly. there's a broad problem he just

alluded to in the clip that you played which is that there's ongoing violence in black communities where both victims and perpetrators are young black men. >> look at chicago. >> this is a serious problem. chicago, new york, everywhere else. there's a basis. i think that's what he was trying to get at. it may have been misinterpreted by some listeners. what he was trying to get at, i think, was that there's a basis for some of the profiling for some of the bias. yet you still have to work past it because it doesn't matter what the statistics say. a kid in front of you is just a kid. you can't treat him like, you know, some murderer that you read about in the newspaper last week. it's just not fair. it's not right. it's not even legal. >> ben, is it the fact that the president spoke on this period, or was it the way in which he spoke, the words he used, the tone he used? >> i think there's two different issues here. if the president wants to come out and talk about violence in the african-american community and how many young african-american men are committing crimes against other african-american men or he wants to talk about fatherhood, and unfortunately in lot of predominantly african-american

communities we have a lot of women that are raising children by themselves without a dad around. that's a separate issue than talking and interjecting yourself into a single court case as the president has done that. then tried to -- >> but did he do that? because he didn't talk specifics of the case. it was a launching pad to what seemed to be a much broader discussion. am i wrong? >> but it was -- it was -- at the beginning and the end, it both related to this specific case. >> right. >> so he came out, and it's unprecedented for the president of the united states of america to come out in the briefing room to talk about one specific case where it's, to me, incredibly obvious that he is not okay with the outcome of this case. eric holder, the department of justice, not o way with the outcome of this case. this is still an open case in the eyes of barack obama. when he says respect the court system, look at his actions. he's saying i don't respect the court system. when you have the president of the united states of america implying to anyone who doesn't like the outcome of a case you can be angry and upset and have protests over it, that to me is

a very scary ground for the president to go there on that specific issue. >> ben. >> let me make a prediction. >> go ahead. >> when we see the demonstrations tomorrow there will be a lot more people there from a lot of different communities than just the african-american community. and i don't think you're going to see anger so much as sadness. >> we won't see anger as much as sadness. >> i hope you're right. >> where do we go from here? we talk, we talk, we talk. we now hear from the president which raises this whole story to a much higher level. what next? ben first. >> well, i mean, i hope that the president would come out with a plan before he comes out with such intense bold statements. why not come out and say, we have to do a better job. whether it be mentoring inner city children. whether it be having role models that are through churches and community groups to mentor, boys and girls clubs. he didn't mention that today. >> he did mention at the very -- hang on. he did mention the very third sort of specific thing he'd been bouncing around with his staff,

the fact we need to reinforce messages. >> reinforcing is not saying -- he has to come out and say with a plan, the same way that -- take a note from your wife on getting fit young kids in america with her program. she's come with a direct goal to get rid of the fried foods and bad foods and change children's diets. as an african-american man, if you're going to describe yourself in that way instead of just being the president, then you better have something to back it up saying we have to go in these communities. i'm going to put a board together to figure out what we can do. if the government can be involved. because we have an epidemic problem with african-american men dying in this country. and many of them are because of other african-americans. i will totally get behind the president on that purpose if that's what he does moving forward. >> errol louis, you get the final word. i hear you chuckling. >> i assume that ben would agree with me that there's not going to be any solution that'sf any worth if it's directed to one community. this is something we all have to take on. >> he talked about one

community, though. >> as a national challenge, which i think the president has issued time and time again, we'll see how well it goes. the conversation can't really in seven minutes or eight minutes, however long his speech was, encompass everything. a step in the right direction i hope. people of goodwill i think will see it for what it is and maybe take him up on the challenge to move forward. >> errol louis and ben ferguson, i love hearing both sides, gentlemen. appreciate it very much. stand by for me. we will be right back.

we will take you back to the breaking news out of the white house today. the president speaking during the white house daily briefing, surprising everyone. first, more breaking news halfway across the world that the long stalled middle's peace process is now getting new life. u.s. secretary of state john kerry says peace talks will be resuming. secretary kerry is is touring the region meeting with both palestinian and israeli leaders. his comments at a stop today in aman, jordan. >> we have reached an agreement that establishes a basis for resuming direct final status

negotiations between the palestinians and the israelis. this is a significant and welcome step forward. >> cnn's vanilla sweeney joins me now by phone from jerusalem. fanoola, the agreement has been made to resume talks. >> in a sense it's talks about talks. it took a long time for john kerry to get both sides to agree to sit around the table. he's been here six times since march trying to get both sides around the table. finally today we heard what we've been expecting since yesterday which was that something was in the air. as to when those talks are going to begin, we know that in the following week or so in washington, john kerry says he expects to be joined by the chief palestinian negotiator. and the former prime minister of israel, very involved in the

palestinian track. and someone close to benjamin netanyahu will be in d.c. sometime next week. at that time john kerry says he hopes they will be able to make a statement. crucially, even though the man has been in the region for the last few months it was only two days ago that word began to leak out that actually something might be on the cards. it's on the cards. they're almost around the table. they're not quite around the table. there's a long way to go yet. it's a rocky road to peace in the middle east. this is, as john kerry said, a significant step. >> thank you very much. calling in from jerusalem. when we come back, our breaking news from the president. we're getting new details as to why the president wanted to speak publicly for the first time and the first place. who he's been talking to and why that particular venue. that's next.

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[ male announcer ] call now and get adt installed for just $99. you could save a lot more than money. hurry, and take advantage of these savings. adt. always there. we continue this discussion on the president speaking today. wow. huge surprise. rejoining me, gloria borger and wolf blitzer. wolf, first to you. i've been looking at some of the notes. from our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin, some of the color, background on why the president wanted to speak, why today, why this venn view. what are you learning? >> i think the information jessica is providing based on her sources at the white house are significant that the president decided last night

it's about time he goes before the american people and speaks directly to them about what has happened and speaks in very personal terms. he could have done it in a formal sit-down interview with a reporter, let's say. he decided, you know what? i'll just go into the briefing room. i'll surprise everyone and go forward and speak directly as he did for, what, 18, 19, almost 20 minutes or so. he had some notes in front of him. this was not a finely crafted speech along those lines. it wasn't an oval office address looking into the camera, reading from the teleprompter. it was speaking from the heart in personal terms. i thought it was well done in the structure. he went through his immediate reaction in the jury decision, the respect he has for trayvon martin's family. then he spoke a little personally about how he as a young african-american man growing up faced similar kinds of problems, spoke once again about trayvon martin. but then he -- he ended it with let's look forward. no violence. we don't want to do that. we want to look forward.

and he came up with these four initiatives in general terms. not a whole lot of specifics for initiatives to move the process forward, to get the country thinking about it. and i thought, you know, this was an extremely effective opportunity for the president that -- to discuss with everyone in the united states these really important issues. >> gloria, do you agree? what to you make of the way in which the president spoke, the location, everything? >> i do. you know, i think he didn't want to make it an official presidential statement. wandered into the briefing room. spoke from his own personal notes. no prompter. speaking to the american people. i think they knew going into this that every time this president talks about race, it's polarizing. when he said trayvon martin could have been my son, he kind of took it up a notch today and said trayvon martin could have been me. >> could have been me. >> you know, over 30 years ago. right? but i think what he tried to do, and people who don't like the president or think he shouldn't have gotten in the middle of this, you know, will say it's

too polarizing. what he tried to do was say, understand the context of this. understand the pain of african-americans who have lived through this in history. understand where i'm coming from as a black man who also happens to be president of the united states. who's also been followed in department stores. right? and so i think -- i think it was very effective. there are going to be people who complain about it. sure. >> we've heard the complaints. let me interject. we've heard the complaints already on this show. we've talked to ari fleischer, ben ferguson, two guys on the right. they're saying because of the specific examples the president gave. these republicans, folks on the right, are saying he's supposed to be the president of the united states. he shouldn't just be speaking their perspective, to one group. >> he didn't just speak to one group. he spoke -- he tried to get the conversation moving in this

country. he didn't speak about the verdict. he didn't tell you what the justice department is going to do because there is an open investigation that the attney general is having. what he did say is this is the context into which we ought to be having a productive conversation. by the way, as president, he also ended on an optimistic note. talking about his children and saying, look, things are better. we're not perfect, but it's better. >> wolf, you have been in washington a long time. you have covered a lot of presidents. did this surprise you? >> well, you know, i was on the air. all of a sudden someone said in my ear, the president's walking into the briefing room. i said, okay. the president's about to get personal. that was my initial -- he was about to finally wrap up the week with -- excuse me -- with what lot of people thought he should have done earlier in the week. but, you know, better late than never, i guess. >> you know, he was probably weighing whether or not to get into this. you know, he released a written

statement, as you know, after the verdict. >> right. >> and then the pressure continued to mount. and i think he knows only too well that every time he steps into a question of race, it becomes a problem for him because the story becomes about him. but the irony was the longer he held out, the story was becoming about him anyway. so he might as well have talked about it. and i think he really took his time considering the kind of sober tone he wanted to set. and i don't think he wanted to end on a pessimistic note about the state of race relations in this country. >> he ended it on a very optimistic note. >> right. >> and jay carney, his press secretary, later told reporters he had been prepared earlier in the week to discuss it. he gave four television interviews with spanish speaking anchors. and he was ready to answer their questions about the zimmerman trial, the verdict and all of that. no one asked him those questions.

now, he could have started -- he had events, he had speeches during the course of the week on other subjects. he could have -- he could have started one of those speeches just a few personal words about what's going on in the zimmerman trial. he tdsed not to do that. as jessica was reporting, last night he decided this would be a good way to do it. they went back and forth what format he should use. in the end they said, you know what? i think i'll just go into the briefing room and do it as sort of a spontaneous moment. i think what he -- what the white house could have done, and i speak now as a former white house correspondent, what the white house could have done if they wanted to do this is given the television networks, everyone, you know, 15 minute notification the president will be in the briefing room in 15 minutes. he'll be speaking about the zimmerman trial. his personal reflections. then not just the cable news networks, all of the cable network networks, obviously, took those 18, 19 minutes live, but the three broadcast networks and other networks probably would have taken the president's remarks live as well.

so a lot more people presumably would have seen it. you know, these remarks are going to be played and replayed. >> played over and over around the world. >> right. everyone will see them. that was a white house decision. >> got to go. gloria borger, i got to go. i appreciate you both very much. wolf, see you 5:00 in the situation room. meantime, we'll check with my colleague, don lemon. he was in sanford when the verdict came in saturday night, the not fwguilty verdict. let's check in with don, next. vo: getting your car serviced at meineke, smart.

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it came as a complete shock for me. 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 in 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. >> sybrina fulton and tracy martin, parents of trayvon martin speaking last night for an entire hour with anderson cooper. in the wake of that, the wake of the debate raging all week long since that not guilty verdict, we have now heard from the president, just about two hours ago, surprising everyone, stepping forth during the white house daily briefing and expressing his sympathies for the martin family. saying they've handled all this with grace and dignity but also saying the jury has spoken and that's how our system works. he also went on to talk about his personal experiences. to talk about how he did that i want to bring in my colleague, don lemon. he joins me on the phone.

he was also down there in sanford, florida, over the week ep end, my goodness, when this verdict broke late saturday night. don, i'm sure you've seen the president. talked to a lot of people who said he spoke from the heart, spoke very personally. what did you make of what he said? >> it's -- look, this is very personal for african-american men. and you could see that it was very personal for the president who spoke from the heart. and it is -- let me just -- i'll tell you why. i'll read something. i have this ritual that i have with my mother. that every single -- when i leave -- when i lived in atlanta -- i'm in new york now. i don't drive home. when i lived in atlanta i drove home from work. and i called my mother every time i drove home. and until i got into -- into the house. because she knows of these situations. she raised me to -- to -- with

these situations in mind. informing me of what you should do if the police stop you. i need to know where you are at all times. if i didn't talk to my mom on the drive home, i would call her immediately when i got into the house. so yesterday after anderson's interview with trayvon martin's mom and dad, my mom texted me and said, she said that interview of trayvon's mom and dad reminded me that i have all these fears for you as a male person of color. even today. and you are an adult. still fear for your safety. you would always wonder why i would always want to hear from you when you would get off work late nights. i could go to sleep once i heard you say we're inside and i heard your house alarm. i'm a 47-year-old man. and my mom is still worrying that someone is going to mistake me as a criminal. and that's why it is important for african-american men, and that's why the president spoke as he spoke. this isn't something that black men, specifically african-american men, make up or want to happen. if you have the most powerful

african-american man in the world telling you that there is a problem, there is nothing in this politically for him, perhaps people like ben ferguson who i like and respect a lot should listen. should sleep on it. before they react. and deny the context of what could have happened to trayvon martin and could be and is happening to most african-american men in this country. i have been profiled. i had to sue a department store for a security guard who pushed me into traffic and accused me of stealing something when i had the receipt in my pocket. and when the police showed up, i was >> when the police showed up, they went to the security guard and said go sit in your car. people if that does not exist for you, then you don't understand it. and as someone who has dated

both women and men of color and not of color, that is not something that a white man has to worry about, his physical presence around anyone, that's something that an african-american man grows up with learning and not -- you raise your voice when you're speaking to people, oh, yes, sir, you don't speak in your normal deep voice, because you don't want people to be intimidated by you, sometimes you don't get on elevators with people, sometime you can't get taxied, it's all well and good, you learn to accept it, but it's a reality, and for people to deny it, i think is insulting, not only to the president of the united states, but for people who helped build this country. >> i hear your emotions through your voice, don lemon, don, thank you for sharing. i really appreciate that and we will hear from you tomorrow night more on your thoughts, thank you so much, friend. if al

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the united states, you're the president of everybody, you are obliged to make a comment to everybody. but obviously president obama decided that he, after talking to a lot of friends and talking about his own feelings with friends and family that there was something he wanted to share about his experience. and to a degree, i felt like he was trying to explain to nonafrican-americans why so many african-americans have reacted the way that they have, and it was obviously a decision that was made, i'm certainly not criticizing it or commenting on it one way or the other, but it was a decision that was made that he wanted to talk, not just as a president and as a leader, but as an african-american. and that was clearly why he wanted to come before the cameras. because he could have just relied upon the paper statement that he gave over the weekend that said, the jury has spoken,

this was a tragedy and just kind of left it at that. >> you cover the president, you were in that white house briefing room many a time. mr. tapper, we'll be anxious to hear what you have to say at the top of the hour. and when we come back, we will play a little clip of one of our town halls where we had different voices discussing this verdict. we're going to play a chilling clip, next. tv, it was like opening my eyes. it's four times the detail of hd. colors become richer. details become clearer. which for a filmmaker, changes everything. because now there are no more barriers between the world that i see and the ones i can show you. the sony 4k ultra hd tv. that your mouth is under attack, from food particles and bacteria. try fixodent.

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i want to play you a clip at one of our town halls, race in america that happened this week. >> i have had a conversation where i say if you are around police and maybe it's dark or something, you might not want to run, you just don't want to draw attention to yourself, you don't want to look like you stole something, you just don't want a problem. and a lot of people have had a conversation when it relates to the police, you don't want to draw attention to yourself in that position. what zimmerman was saying about trayvon was that he was walking so slowly, it wasn't like he had already done something, but that he was about to do something. that struck me as saying, is there any way that they can hold their bodies? is there any way that you can telegraph to someone who might find you suspicious that you are not suspicious, that i am not

the enemy? that am not who you think that i am. and i am struggling as a parent to figure out, what is it, what can i say? i struggle with the idea that my boys have to be divested of innocence. that either i have to do it, the man who loves them, or someone else will do it who does not love them. >> jeffrey, is this a conversation you had -- >> so that was just a piece of part of a conversation, many conversations have been had throughout this country, around the world in the wake of the verdicts that was reached in sanford, florida saturday night, the not guilty verdict in the second-degree murder trial of george zimmerman. and we heard from the president initially via a paper statement, saying the jury has spoken, calling for peace, calling the shooting of the unarmed teenager tragic, but now today for 20

minutes, we saw the president of the united states inside that daily briefing surprising everyone and speaking from the heart about what has happened in the wake of that verdict. i'm brooke baldwin, thank you for being with me, going to washington, "the lead" starts now. >> trayvon martin could have been him 35 years ago said president obama as he breaks his silence on the george zimmerman verdict. i'm jake tapper, this is the lead and we're going to begin and focus on our national lead today, it's been six days since george zimmerman was found not guilty of killing trayvon martin and beyond a statement on paper, president obama has remained silent about it until just a few hours ago. with no warning, the president made a surprise drop in during the white house briefing, and he gave his personal thoughts appearing to speak largely off the cuff. the president -- he's given in