that does it for me. kara fiphillips is here. >> powerful statement, carol thank you. i'm kira phillips, we have a busy hour ahead. a national movement that is not only exploded around the country but now it has made its way to the white house. listen to what the president said a short time ago. >> my main message is to the parents of trayvon martin. if i had a son he would look like trayvon. i think they are right to expect that all of us as americans are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves and we will get to the bottom of exactly what happened. >> talk about seriousness, thousands of people across the country still protesting the shooting death of trayvon

martin. hundreds of students at several miami high schools walked out of class. the unarmed teen was dead at the hands of a neighborhood watchman who still claims self-defense. in ten minutes we'll take you live to sanford, florida for the latest. president obama was in the rose garden to introduce his pick to head the world bank. jim yong kim is president of dar dartmouth college. the world bank is one of the most power full tools we have to reduce poverty. >> we expect to see formal charges against the agent accused of gunning down afghan civilians. robert bales will face 17 counsels of murder, 6 counts of attempted murder and assault from that massacre in kandahar

we'll talk more about the head of the national institute of military justice, at quarter past the hour. in health care is in the spotlight, a year after congress passed president obama's controversial reform bill, on monday the u.s. supreme court begins a long process of deciding whether the affordable care act is legal. here is what you think about it. nearly half of you approve it. 45% don't like it. more importantly, here is what you think you should be or what you think should be done to it. third of you say expand the bill. 20% said leave it as it is. the top court, 26 says up hold the law. a fourth want it killed. 42% want it thrown out entirely. all four republican presidential candidates in louisiana, mitt romney hoping to pad his kconsiderable lead, he

has 562, nearly half of the 1144 needed to clinch the nomination. rick santorum trailing in second with 249, followed by newt gingrich and ron paul. santorum is speaking in monroe. if you didn't hear it yesterday he's saying it again. it comes down to romney, he would rather see president obama running the white house. gingrich is at a rally still vowing to stay in the race, no matter what. five more bodies pulled from the wreckage of this italian crews ship that capsized off the coast, bringing the death count to 30 people with two still missing. 4200 people on board when the costa concordia hit some rocks. we know what caused whitney houston's death. accidental drowning according to the l.a. coroner's office.

tox toxicology shows cocaine contributed. >> cocaine had been used in the time period just probably immediately prior to her collapse in the bathtub at the hotel. >> the family said we are saddened to learn of the toxicology result, although we are glad to now have closure. former rutgers student convicted of spying on and intimidating his roommate is speaking out. dharun ravi's roommate, tyler clementi died after he was spied on. ravi doesn't hate gay people and clementi knew he wasn't trying to intimidate him because he was gay. >> do you hate gay people? >> i don't. >> do you fear gay people? >> no. >> do you not want to be around gay people? >> doesn't matter to me at all.

>> do you believe tyler clementi was intimidated by you and your actions? >> he knew i wasn't trying to intimidate him because he was gay. >> you feel confident in that? >> yeah. >> he is to be sentenced in may. >> the pope is enroute to mexico for a visit for the 100 million catholics. he won't see all of them but an outdoor mass on sunday might seem like it. this is the first trip to mexico as pope, while security is tight, in mexico even the drug gangs are promising to keep the peace. the pontiff will set foot in cuba where communism no longer works. >> trayvon martin's death has made it to the white house. president obama says if he had a son he would look like trayvon. point made. under immense scrutiny the sanford, florida police chief has stepped down as the department takes heat for the handling of the case. george zimmerman has not been charged. as the rallying cry for justice

continues to explode we're on the ground in sanford, next. ht. [ male announcer ] inside every box of cheerios are those great-tasting little o's made from carefully selected oats that can help lower cholesterol. is it a superhero? kinda. ♪ colors are more vibrant, this good... kinda. words are pin sharp, everything is more brilliant. because when a screen becomes this good... it's simply you and the things you care about. the stunning retina display. on the new ipad. is moving backward. [ engine turns over, tires squeal ] introducing the lexus enform app suite -- available now on the all-new 2013 lexus gs. there's no going back. see your lexus dealer.

>> without a doubt rallying cry for trayvon martin has exploded. >> no justice, no peace.

>> we want justice. we want justice. >> this is national outrage, we haven't seen in years. it has caught the attention of the president now. >> my main message is to the parents of trayvon martin. if i had a son he would look like trayvon. and i think they are right to expect that all of us as americans are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves and we will get to the bottom of exactly what happened. >> still so much anger and here's why. trayvon martin was unarmed, carrying skittles and iced tea when he was shot dead. a neighborhood watchman claimed self defense and is protected by the florida stand your ground law. the police investigation all of it at the center of unfolding controversy, now the police

chief is stepping down temporarily. the florida governor appointed a new prosecutor, there is a lot to update you. george howell, let's start first with the police chief, stepping down but only temporarily, what does that mean? >> reporter: in his wording, temporarily removing himself from office, not really wording that people liked, people that i spoke to here at the rally. they say he should resign altogether, or be fired from that position. but as far as a time line, we don't know if he would be able to come back in that position later, if he would come back into it, right after he made that announcement, he left not really taking any questions on that. so still to be determined what happens with that. >> this independent review sh the city manager is calling for, on the police department, where does that stand? >> at this point the independent review is happening from what we understood yesterday, members of

the department of justice actually showed up at the police department to start that process of looking through the case first of all and also to start looking through the police department to determine if there are things that could be corrected or changed to improve the relationship with the community here. >> governor rick scott ltsalso appointed a prosecutor. >> the new prosecutor takes over from the prosecutor whose district includes sanford. he stepped aside saying he didn't want to have any conflicts of interest so the new prosecutor steps in and will have a very thorough investigation, looking through all the facts to get to the bottom of this. >> before i let you go, george, the department of justice, met with trayvon's parents, we were talking about a possible civil rights investigation, do you have any idea where that stands? >> we were given broad strokes on that meeting. we were told that this was an

introductory meeting. the main word from the meeting was patience, kyra, the family should have patience as the process begins, an investigative process looking in the case, but also looking in the city's police department. so we are just starting to see this kick off. >> george howell, thanks so much. army staff sergeant bales faces 17 counts of murder. could he face execution? that's next.

back now to that murder case against the u.s. army's robert bales. as we mentioned formal charges are due to be read today at fort leavenworth, kansas where he's being held for the massacre of

17 afghan men, women and children. he wi he u.s. trial under the uniform code of military justice. his lawyer promises to make the other side prove every claim. that could be really difficult. the victims were buried quickly without autopsy. witnesses can't be forced to testimony. ron meister is a former military judge and chairman of the national institute of military justice. you're not involved in this case, but you know what both sides are up against here. what do you think might sergeant bales be acquitted? >> absolutely, kyra. this is one of the most challenging cases before the military justice system in many years, both sides have challenges that they face. the prosecution apparently has no forensic evidence, apparently has no eyewitness testimony, and they are relying from what we

understand now, statements of the accused. i suspect before the case is over there well may be evidence of cover-up. there is very often a cover-up in circumstances like this. for the defense, they have the challenge of being faced with a case in the extraordinarily bad timing of the aftermath of the cases in iraq where there were no severe sentences for any of the marines who were charged and involved in those killings. >> you just said something that caught my attention that was the word cover-up. from your experience, could you go into this a little bit more? you think that other members of the military because there could be obviously a lot of shame within this case, would want to cover this up? >> i think that is a real possibility. i have no specific knowledge of any involvement of any other

personnel but we know that -- is that common practice? >> to cover up? yes. >> well, it's human nature for people who are afraid of being accused of crimes to do what they can to prevent the evidence coming to light. we saw that in the case of the spying at the college in new jersey, the e-mails were changed and the record was changed. and it not at all unlikely that in this case, some people tried to prevent this information from coming to light. >> you mentioned the incident where the marines were acquitted, i believe it was 24 iraqis were killed, right, men, women, children? tell me how that plays into this. we also remember what happened after that, too, the protests and violence that occurred after

that, and so many questions about the war in iraq and there was so much pressure put on all sides of that war, are you concerned that if indeed bales is acquitted, this might be even worse than what we saw out of hadeetha? we have the president and secretary of defense on record saying that sergeant bales should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and we know that in the different i state of relations between the u.s. and afghanistan, this is inflatable issue. the last of the defendants was not acquitted, he was convicted by his sentence was light. >> do you see a possibility of a plea bargain? >> absolutely. the pressure will be on both sides here, i think the government may have difficulties of proof, there are always problems in proving confessions.

the defense will have difficulties in the reaction to this crime. and i think that as we go down the road and as the case develops on both sides, there will be enormous pressure to reach a negotiated resolution. >> we'll follow it and i had know you will, too. we'll talk thank you for your time and input. she was just doing her job, why did this man pull a gun on a reporter and camera crew? that is next. cocaine and heart disease, that is what contributed to whitney houston's death, more details later this hour.

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>> get your camera away from me, dog. >> you can't touch the camera, now. >> you really -- we're leaving. >> a gun wielding man has turned himself in to police. remember those mysterious boom sounds we have been telling you about in wisconsin? the mystery has been solved. according to the u.s. geological survey, a 1.5 quake hit clintonville, wisconsin on tuesday. it was so small it wasn't picked up. now time for travel insider as reporters and producers, we have the inside scoop on pretty great places to go. so reynolds wolf traveled an hour north of atlanta to check out one of the oldest gold mines in the country. >> reporter: let's go.

first stop, the consolidated gold mine. first impression you see the beautiful building in the parking lot. it's what is below ground that captures the imagination. this wasn't dug just yesterday, been around since 1898. this is the general manager of the mine. dee, how long have people been digging for gold in this part of the world? >> gold was first discovered in 1828. 15,000 people showed up looking for gold. became the first major u.s. gold rush. >> what type of mining is this? hard rock gold mining. >> we will get a pan and head out to the rivers and streams. >> dee, show me how this is done. >> fill it up with water, heavy gold fall to the bottom. >> i have sand. >> keep your day job.

>> dee, thanks for your time. >> come back. >> we'll hit the road. >> catch travel insider right here on cnn. rick santorum is in it to win it but if he bows out, he says mitt romney is no better than president obama. he's backtracking, at least the campaign is, that is fair game, next. four illinois fifth graders started their own business. fifth graders, all because their teacher mentioned her daughter need a therapy dog. they could cost $15,000. what did they do? launched a dog walking business to earn money the good old fashioned way. >> best part of the business is knowing we're doing a good cause. >> you don't know what they are going through but you know that if you help them they will probably go through their life being confident. >> they are $400 closer to

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looking at the primary in louisiana by no means is rick santorum saying he will pull out of the presidential race, but if he did, his pick is obama? >> if it's not going to be a little different, we might as well stay with what we have instead of of taking a risk of what would be the etch-a-sketch candidate for the future. >> president obama or romney? santorum spokesperson said hold on, santorum will support the gop nominee, that question is

fair game. this morning joining me anna navarro from washington and lz granderson from michigan, he outed himself, what is it about obama that santorum likes, there is something. >> no, clearly, it's another attempt by him to tear down mitt romney to his base and to the conservative base. make it seem as if romney is a white version of president obama, he may be able to do that. he that is what he was trying to do. i don't think rick santorum liklike -- likes obama. >> i'm sure santorum likes his wife, his daughter, dog, i'm not sure there is policy wise santorum likes baul. it -- obama. any little gaffe, any little statement that can be

misconstrued and taken out of context is used by the opposing campaigns, it's part of the new 24/7 news cycle. there is no doubt i take santorum at his word that he will support whomever the republican nominee is and the other three would say absolutely the same thing. this is something that i think what he was trying to say, what i heard him say is look, it's part of his campaign message, he's trying to say mitt romney does not offer a clear contrast, a marked difference between him and barack obama and voters want to see that clear, that is what he was trying to say he could have said it better he's not endorsing barack obama. >> jim demint, not endorsing romney, but definitely supporting him saying the party needs to rally around the nominee. he also hinted the others in the race should pull out. take a listen.

>> at some point these candidates have to determine for themselves is there a chance to win or could they do more by getting out and i can't tell them when that is and i can't tell them who they are. but the sooner we can come around a nominee, the better we are as a party. >> lz, what do you think of what demint had to say and also, at what point does santorum or newt gingrich or both of them make a move? >> first -- my first reaction what a coward. if you go to say people need to come out and drop out of the race and rally behind someone, endorse the person and name names. stop doing this little toe dance. jeb bush comes out and endorses mitt romney after the florida primary. come on, dude. if you believe this is the best person for the job, say that and stop playing politic and waiting to see who has the most

delegates. that is the thing that irritates me the most. anna, why doesn't demint say romney is the guy, santorum, noo newt, get out of the race, let's go. >> for me it is a conundrum. jim demint is not known to mince words, four years ago he endorsed mitt romney. i think he's no fan of john mccain and the feeling was quite mutual, that might have had something to do with his strong endorsement four years ago. it is something a strong full throated endorsement is something that mitt romney needs from jim demint because he's very strong with the base, ultra conservatives, precisely the groups that mitt romney most needs help with. i can't tell you why he didn't say -- he's not one for poetry this puzzles me, frankly.

>> i have to ask you one more question. >> i was going to say i don't agree deminut's endorsement matters. i think it was cowardly of him not to do so then. >> point made. i have to ask you guys, i know both of you, trayvon martin this, has turned in a national movement, now the president has said something this morning, take a quick listen. >> but my main message is to the parents of trayvon martin. if i had a son he would look like trayvon. a and i think they are right to expect that all of us as americans are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves and we will get to the bottom of what happened. >> on cnn when asked about

trayvon, newt gingrich said he was confident in the justice system. he made a comment when asked. we have about 25 seconds or so, should every candidate speak out on this or will they have to at some point if they don't? >> i think newt gingrich did exactly the right thing, which is to respond when asked. i don't think this should become political fodder. it hasoutraged. involves department of justice investigation, it needs to be dealt with great seriousness and politics inserted into it. i don't think helps. certainly if they are asked and he i think they will be they should opine. >> lz? >> i don't think they needed to be asked. you're going around cameras and crowd, you have a vision for country, i don't think in a case like this someone has to ask you that has hurt the country as

deeply as it has. to be waiting to be asked about something with trayvon martin. it has been more than a week the nation has been talking about it why are you silent? when they did etch-a-sketch starting poi g poon "starting point" you don't have anything about trayvon martin. if you want to represent everyone in the country you would have spoken about it. >> any time a presidential candidate says anything, it becomes political. >> anna, lz, thank you, that is fair game. we're getting down to the elite eight in march madness. i don't want toot my own horn. my bracket's number one, full cred to my team, we did it together. what needs to happen to keep us in the game? get the brackets ready we break down the madness, next.

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i don't want to brag but my team's bracket is number one. did i say that humbley enough?

>> yes, because of the way brooke tooted her horn, that was okay for to you do that. >> i like to make the point brooke is in number four, we have moved up to the number one spot. we're doing well, picking well. we have a lot of march madness at cnn, we have a big competition among the viewers and the group as you can see. we'll get to you at number nine in a second. now i have to admit our whole team came together and we all are bunch of basketball fans, where did we do well, how are we looking going forward? >> you are so good in the east. seems like everybody did well in the east. we have syracuse, ohio state coming together with syracuse going. also good, you have all the teams still in, kansas and unc. everybody, including me did terrible in the west. you have murray state, you picked michigan state. you didn't have them going farther. >> you mentioned michigan state. this is where we should bring in

ed. >> sparty didn't do well. >> ed, i'm sorry, ed became famous, the fed ex guy that said jeremy lin would be a star, that happened. but ed, ed, you're a wreck, what happened to your bracket? >> can we talk about jeremy lin, maybe? >> sure. >> yeah, go ahead. >> what have you done for me lately, that is what tv is. >> this was a bad year for me, yeah. i liked it going in but things didn't work out. as far as michigan state, they ran into a very good defensive team. >> do you feel confident going forward maybe possibly giving me some sort of prediction because you're still the man for picking jeremy lin we have to give you

cred for that. one more chance, even though your bracket has tanked, to you want to make a call here live on cnn we can follow? >> how much worse can it get, right? >> start all over, go ahead. >> i think kentucky because they are sort of the last real good team standing, north carolina has injury problems with marshall and i think they will be joined by ohio state, florida and kansas in the final four now. >> okay. i had florida going too. >> do you want to put your bracket up next to mine. i have kentucky. >> i'm happy with your kentucky. >> i'm part of your team, i'm on your show. my bracket has unc, kentucky, my happy day when syracuse pulled things out. all the brackets can fall down. you have teams down here --

>> any comments before i let you go? >> unc, they have to get marshall back, they don't have much -- they don't have much behind them as a back-up plan, probably have enough to get by ohio but after that, i think they will struggle without kendall marshall. >> he hurt his right hand, put pins in his right hand? >> i'm not sure which hand it, it's his non-shooting hand. but he may not play. that is up to him and the doctors, you would know more about that than me. he's vital. the back-up stillman white hasn't played white and hasn't been effective when he has. >> ed, my friend, don't give up your day as a fed ex man, okay? we will stay in touch. >> i'm needed here.

>> especially for the pools with the basketball -- maybe not this time. ed we'll check in with you because you have made great calls, you still have jeremy lin, we will stay in contact. >> congratulations on doing so well. >> thank you, ed. >> for one month out of the year, if you're only a golf fan you love basketball. >> makes it fun. chad, thank you so much. >> good luck. >> have been talking about whitney houston, we found out it was marijuana and cocaine found in her system, but what caused her to drown? take a listen to this. >> the finding of atherosclerotic heart disease -- i think it's a cool car. i think it's stylish and it makes a statement at the same time.

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. we now know what killed whitney houston she drowned in the bathtub. the l.a. coroner released the results. it's giving us a glimpse in her long battle of drugs and addiction. the details are revealing he is special think part writ says "heart disease and cocaine use are so-called associated causes"

which is why we wanted to bring in a cardiologist at st. joseph's hospital right here in atlanta. so let's start with the l.a. coroner saying she died by accidental drowning, but also added this. and i want to ask you. >> cocaine use indicated an acute use, and it appeared that the cocaine had been used in the time period probably just immediately prior to her collapse in the bathtub at the hotel. >> as a doctor, did cocaine cause that drowning? >> i think the most you can say it contributed to it. she was clearly alive and she went in the water and she took water in her lungs and died by the report does not say heart attack. >> we should point out this is a

preliminary report, not the full blown report, right? >> right. >> so there could be bombshells when we get the main report, is that right? >> well the full report will tell you many things about the heart, if it was enlarged, thickened, tiny heart attacks in the blood vest seselvessels. we'll have more details about this. >> what we know, cocaine, she had ingested cocaine. also, xanax, benadryl, marijuana, flexoril, all combined with the cocaine. would that -- when hear all of that, what are your initial thoughts as cardiologist, the entire mixture could have caused a heart attack, what are the various itself.

it can cause one initially, it can cause small ones over time, and it certainly accelerates blockages which they clearly say she had. >> explain that to me. >> a blockage or plaque is what develops over time in our arteries all over our body and it's associated with genetic factors, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, clotting factors and inflammatory factors. clearly, the coroner says that was there, but he doesn't say she had an immediate heart attack. cocaine can accelerate the atherosclerosis and whitney was 48 which is fairly young for heart disease so that probably paid a part in this, but cocaine can cause you to have a heart attack right away through what we call coronary spasm where the artery slamclamps down and limi blood flows and it can cause arrhythmia. but it sounds more like

marijuana and the benadryl, those are sedatives, that will make you sleepy. >> xanax. >> all of those together are a sedatives, but the cocaine is a stimulant, so it's really hard to know what was the predominant one. from the report we have it sounds like the cocaine was a contributor and the sedatives were not contributors. >> final question, just cocaine itself, i mean, put aside all of these other drugs that was found in her body, when you're a chronic cocaine user, how does that cause your heart to deteriorate? >> well, in several ways. one is it can cause these space ams that cause tiny heart attacks or large ones. it causes the ath ler row sclerosis to develop more quickly and the arrhythmias. ventricular tachycardia, the type of rhythm where you would have to be shocked or you would die. a sudden cardiac death from an arrhythmia is usually a diagnosis from exclusion.

the coroner would say we couldn't find anything else so maybe it's an arrhythmia. the coroner doesn't say that in this report that's out. >> such a shame, 48 years old, so much talent. >> it's tragic. >> you learn about everything she was putting in her body, it really is sad. let's talk about it again when the final report is out. >> thank you. >> appreciate it. jon huntsman is no longer in the race for president, but his dad, jon huntsman, sr., is still in the race to cure cancer. four-time cancer survivor and billionaire is a big philanthropist. his story is this week's "human factor." ja hello, folks. nice to see you. my name is mr. huntsman. >> reporter: if the name sounds familiar, it's no coincidence. this is jon huntsman, sr., father of former republican presidenc

preside presidential candidate. the billionaire philanthropist has made his mark. he says he was born with nothing. 42 years ago he started a small plastics company in southern california. >> we produced the first plastic plates, bowls, dishes, and in 1973 a small team that worked with me, we invented the big mac hamburger container. >> reporter: over the years that little company has grown into the huntsman corporation, one of the largest petrochemical, plastics, and industrial firms in the world with sales of about $12 billion this year. huntsman describes himself as a deal junkie who has also developed an april diction for givi -- addiction for giving. >> i'm please odd to say right from the beginning we started giving money away to charity over 40 years ago. even when i had to borrow money from the bank.

>> reporter: e dose nate ehunts charitable focus for nearly two decades, building the huntsman cancer institute. >> i just wanted to have the best in the world, and i believe that we're -- that that's where we are today. we have to do more, and that's why i have tried to devote almost all the funds that i could borrow or find or raise or give to this horrifying disease. >> reporter: that's because cancer has hit his family hard. his mother, who taught him about the importance of giving, died from cancer. as did his father and stepmother. and huntsman wasn't spared. he has survived prostate cancer, mouth cancer, and two types of skin cancer. today the huntsman cancer institute has recruited more than 600 top scientists and researchers and is equipped with the latest cutting edge technology for detecting and treating cancers. here patients not only have an oncologist, they're also paired up with scientists who are studying their disease.

equally important to huntsman and his wife, karen, is that patients and their families feel more comfortable so they don't lose hope. the chemotherapy infusion areas and patient rooms are wide open spaces. they have a pretty view. and there's original art everywhere and better food. his experience as a patient drives him to keep pushing to make his hospital better. his goal -- >> so to give hope to the patient and to let the patient feel within themselves a sense of recovery, a sense that i know i'm going to overcome this. telling them they're going to do just fine, they're going to be better. i love them. well, you take care. bye-bye sweetheart. >> reporter: ultimately he says if cures for all types of cancers could be found, he would like to turn this hospital into a five-star hotel. dr. sanjay gupta, cnn, reporting. [ tires squeal, engine revs ] ♪ ♪

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a large part of that is oil sands. this resource has the ability to create hundreds of thousands of jobs. at our kearl project in canada, we'll be able to produce these oil sands with the same emissions as many other oils and that's a huge breakthrough. that's good for our country's energy security and our economy. the 46 gop delegates are up for grabs tomorrow in louisiana and joe johns is there. metairie to be exact. hey, joe. >> reporter: that's right. hey, how are you doing? >> all right. tell us about this new poll. >> reporter: yeah. all right, new poll, this is

american research group poll just came out. it shows rick santorum ahead by double digits. mitt romney trailing. something like 43% to 27%. so this is not good news, of course, in louisiana for mitt romney who could have gotten a southern state under his belt, but he hasn't at least so far. that's just one problem, of course, for mitt romney. the other one is all about health care, kyra, quite frankly. the problem is that today is the two-year anniversary of the obama health care plan. mitt romney has been trying to attack that health care plan saying it ought to be repealed, it ought to be replaced, but when he was governor of massachusetts, as so many people have noted, he actually put in a very similar plan which had an individual mandate requiring individual citizens, of course, to buy insurance. so it's very difficult, sort of

a difficult row to hoe for him to try to attack a plan that a lot of people say he was pretty much in favor of back when he was governor of massachusetts, kyra. >> joe johns in louisiana following all the live events with the candidates. joe, thanks so much. that does it for us. have a fabulous weekend. don lemon take it is from here and then he's going to have a fabulous weekend, too. >> speaking of fabulous, don lemon -- kidding. >> oh, my gosh. what an intro. take it away, fabulous. >> we always cause trouble when we're in the same room. live from cnn headquarters i'm don lemon in for suzanne malveaux. want to get you up to speed for this friday. it is march 23rd. president barack obama providing really the quote of the day. a very powerful quote when he's speaking out, when he spoke out earlier on the killing of an unarmed teen, trayvon martin. here is what he said about the parents. >> you know, if i had a son, he'd look like trayvon, and, you

know, i think they are right to expect that all of us as americans are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves and that we're going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened. >> there are more protests planned in cities across the nation today. we're going to follow that. and last night thousands rallied in sanford, a central florida town where martin was killed. protesters are calling for the arrest of the shooter. neighborhood watch captain george zimmerman. zimmerman says he acted in self-defense. we're going to go live to sanford in a few minutes. 17 counts of murder, those are the main charges expected today for army staff sergeant robert bales. he's the american soldier accused in the cold-blooded killing of afghan civilians, most of them women and children. bales is locked up at ft. leavenworth. we're live from there in just a moment ooze well. the rutgers university student convicted of spying on his gay roommate says he wasn't trying to intimidate him and

doesn't hate gay people. the jury convicted dharun ravi of bias intimidation and invasion of privacy in the case of tyler clementi, who committed suicide after web cam video of him and another man was released. in an abc interview ravi says he doesn't think his opinion mattered that much to clementi. >> after all this time and reading of conversations and how -- what he was doing before, i really don't think he cared at all. i feel like i was an insignificant part of his life, so that's giving me comfort now. salvage crews found five more bodies yesterday in the wreck of the "costa concordia." that's the italian cruise ship that ran aground and half sank way back in january. that brings the confirmed death toll to 30 people. two passengers are still unaccounted for. president obama speaking out for the first time on the killing of unarmed florida teen

trayvon martin. the 17-year-old was gunned down by neighborhood watch captain george zimmerman. zimmerman says he acted in self-defense. i'm going to go to cnn's white house correspondent dan lothian now at the white house. dan, when the president said if i had a son he'd look like trayvon, he was in the middle of the newsroom and everyone gasped because everyone thought it was such a powerful statement from the president. >> that's right. a white house aide told me this is clearly something the president had been think being now for quite some time in personal terms, but the white house had been very careful over the last week not to get involved in this. in fact, twice this week at the daily briefing white house supposeman jay carney was asked about reaction from the white house. they spoke about this in broad terms about how this was a tragedy but jay carney specifically saying the white house did not want to get involved in a local law enforcement matter. however, the president today did weigh in, although he said he wanted to be very careful because his justice department is involved in this.

>> but obviously this is a tragedy. i can only imagine what these parents are going through. and when i think about this boy, i think about my own kids. >> reporter: the president pointed out it's imperative this investigation play out both from the federal, state, and local levels so everyone can figure out exactly what was behind this tragedy. don? >> dan lothian, stand by with me because i want to talk with you about this. this has gone all the way to the white house, the justice department. take a look at these pictures, and you can't see them but i'll talk you through them. you're looking at students at south miami heights, south miami heights school in south fridge, flori -- south ridge, florida. they have staged this demonstration making the letters t.m. on their school's football

field with human letters t.m. and this is courtesy of wsvn. dan, this is something that has touched the heart of america, has gone all the way to the white house and the justice department as we look at these pictures. >> reporter: no, it certainly has, and i think initially this was very much a local story, then it started building. the parents of this young man showing up on national television, then sort of this ground swell among the black community certainly but a broader community as well. in fact, i was listening to a radio station yesterday, and there was a mother who called in, and she was in tears talking about how her son walks through the community, a gated community, wearing a hoodie, and she was very concerned because he said this is something that could have happened to her son. so you saw that reflected in the comments that the president made today, and again as an aide pointed out to me, this is something, while the president has not been talking about it publicly, had been think being it in very personal terms. >> dan lothian joining us from the white house. thank you.

live pictures from south ridge, florida, south miami heights school. you see students there making human letters, t.m., trayvon martin's initials on their football field. we're going to follow up and talk more about the trayvon martin story. the father of trayvon martin is remembering his son as a hero. he told cbs this morning that trayvon saved him from a fire when he is just a little boy. >> he was my hero. he will be sadly missed. >> why was he your hero? >> trayvon saved my life at the age of 9. he pulled me out of a fire, went back in the house, got the phone, came back out, called 911. he saved my life. >> as we've been reporting and as you can see, outrage and protests are spreading over the killing of the unarmed teen by a neighborhood watch captain who says he acted in self-defense. george howell now live in sanford, florida, where it all

happened. george, what's going on there now? >> reporter: well, don, we know that there will be a one-hour prayer vigil that will happen later today at 7:00 here at a local church but i want to talk about that video that we are seeing in miami of these school walkouts. we know of four school walkouts in miami. this is in addition to the four that we know about just yesterday, don, the same thing happened, students were on the ground with skittles and iced tea in their hands, the same thing that trayvon martin had on february 26th when he was killed, but i want to talk about other things that are happening as well. we also know there will be protests and rally that is have happened in atlanta at the university center there with student leaders and civil rights leaders, and the list, don, goes on. over the weekend we know there's a rally scheduled to happen in greenville, south carolina, also in norfolk, virginia, and right back here on monday, this coming monday, we know there will be a march to the civic center. that will happen to get to the

county commissioner meeting, the county commissioners have moved their meeting from city hall to the civic center because they believe there will be big crowds, a lot of outrage. people protesting what happened in this city, don. >> all right. thank you very much. we appreciate it, george howell. we're not going to go far away from this story. thank you, george. we'll give you a rundown of some of the other stories we're covering for you today. first, from foreclosure to rental? the details the bank of america's new plan to help struggling america's homeowners. and why president obama says mitt romney's words don't mch his actions when it comes to the issues. then he says the killing of trayvon martin is a reminder to fight with injustice. i'm going to speak with congressman and civil rights icon john lewis, coming up. you only need one. two times stronger than the leading value brand, they win this test. puffs ultra soft & strong, they always impress.

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we are watching ft. leavenworth in kansas right now where we're expecting to hear formal charges against army staff sergeant robert bales. he's accused of a killing spree in afghanistan that left 16 civilians dead. ted rowlands has been following this story for us. ted, when will we hear these formal charges officially? >> reporter: well, we don't know, don. we were getting this from a senior u.s. official that we're to expect 17 charges of murder and then 6 charges of attempted murder and 6 charges of assault. but we don't have them officially, and we are expecting them to come out of afghanistan through the pentagon and possibly ft. leavenworth here. we just, quite frankly, don't know when that will happen. we have been told it will be sometime today. >> so, ted, explain the 17 counts of murder.

we have consistently heard that 16 people died. >> reporter: yeah. and we don't know why there is the discrepancy there. one of two things obviously has happened. either there was a misreporting of the initial death toll or somebody who was injured has died over the past few days and we'll expect clarification when we get those official charges later today. >> okay. so it's a u.s. military trial that he'll face, and if so does the military impose the death penalty? >> reporter: absolutely. this will be a military trial, a court-martial proceeding eventually, and the military does have the death penalty on the table and the death penalty will likely be an option throughout this procedure. now, in the end whether they will pursue it all the way to the end we just don't know that. that will be something we'll be watching throughout, but the military does have a death penalty, and this is a case that would warrant it possibly with so many innocent people being murdered. >> okay. so the death penalty, that's a

possibility. you said today he will be charged. after that what happens? >> reporter: well, next up is an article 32 investigation and hearing. basically that is the military version of a grand jury or a preliminary investigation or preliminary hearing where they look at the evidence, make sure there's enough evidence to hold the individual to be accountable for it, and then after that is done you go into a full court-martial proceeding which would be like the civilian trial. >> ted, we'll be with you many times today. we'll see you on television as soon as we get these charges. thank you very much, sir. homeowners facing foreclosure might have another option where they don't have to move. that would be interesting. one lender is willing to let them stay in their homes as renters. i'll explain all of it right after this. ok, guys-- what's next ?

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how would you like to have a big bank for a landlord? most people if you have a mortgage the bank owns your home. that's coming soon for some of bank of america's customers who are at risk of losing their homes altogether. we go to alison kosik. she's at the new york stock exchange. officially they do own your home so they're your landlord but

this is something that's quite different. this is a new program. tell us about it. >> this is more landlordy in the sense of renting and -- renting an apartment. what bank of america is doing is it's testing out this program that would let some homeowners who are short of barrelling towards foreclosure -- it looks to really help them stay in their homes buts s as renters. you haend over your deed and thy forgive your debt and the bank backs your landlord for three years. this is a small problem. you have to be at least 60 days behind on your mortgage payment. you have to be at high risk of ultimately foreclosing and you have to prove you have enough income, that it's high enough and steady enough, to be able to afford the represent which don would wind up being significantly less than the monthly mortgage payment that you already make. >> so surely bank of america,

alison, isn't do this out of the goodness of their hearts. what's in it for bank of america? >> no, no, no, no, no. of course, it's all about business, isn't it? you know, they don't necessarily want to be your landlord, but, you know, when you think about it, the huge number of foreclosures that are out there, they hurt the banks, too, and for bank of america especially, it needs to do something. so b of a will be working with property management companies to oversee these rentals. eventually, of course, it wants investors to buy these homes, so in the meantime why not have homeowners stay in their homes to help stabilize prices. it could keep empty homes from bringing down the value of other homes. it could keep neighborhoods from going under because occupied ones are kept up better than empty ones. everybody sort of wins in this situation. it's good for everybody, don. >> thank you. good explanation. thank you, alison. >> sure. african-american men make up less than 2% of the nation's teachers, and with the lack of black male role models, these

teachersan be as much mentors as educators. in today's "what matters," we prefile a washington, d.c., teacher who says it's time for black men to step up. cnn's george howell explains now. >> reporter: in the heart of one of washington, d.c.'s toughest neighborhoods. >> i'm not talking so you shouldn't be talking. >> reporter: teachers are sometimes the last line of defense for children. >> "g." >> it's a "g." >> a lot of then don't have a man in their home. a lot of them don't have a man to go to to talk to. >> we have art today. >> it's going to be hard, guys. we have to focus. >> for a lot of them i'm big brother or, you know, dad, but it's important. >> reporter: dad? >> for some of them. for some of them they don't have a father figure at home so when they get to school, for some of them i am that figure. can you find another chair? >> yes. >> can you find another chair? they need someone in their lives who is strong. they need an african-american

male in their lives. you can start on the second line. >> terrence king not only teaches the basics but also finds himself teaching life lessons in the kindergarteners at bishop walker school for boys that serves just over 50 children from low income homes. statistically king is what the secretary of education describes as a rarity in american classrooms. >> about 17% of our children, our public student children are african-american. about 7% of our teachers are african-american. if you look on the male side, less than 2%, less than 1 in 50 of our teachers is an african-american male. >> reporter: a few years back you launched this campaign to recruit more black male teachers. has that been successful? >> we have a long way to go but it's been encouraging. i think, again, the goal is not to have a black male teacher. the goal is to have a great black male teacher or great hispanic male teacher or a great whatever teacher. >> reporter: to that end duncan says in his new budget they will

encourage schools to raise pay scales. as a teacher himself working to recruit graduates at moorehouse college in atlanta, brandon gillespie believes pay is only part of the hesitation. >> at the end of the day salary shouldn't be one of the hugest factors. we should give back to our communities and educate our community. >> reporter: back in washington king says he's trying to just do that. >> they love to learn. my goal every day is to make sure they like to learn and they're having fun. ♪ but at the same time making sure that they can compete with anyone across the country when it comes to academics. >> reporter: and king believes through his work here he's preparing his boys to change

their community. george howell, cnn, washington. >> okay. getting some news into cnn. this is just developing. sanford city manager is going to speak soon. we're told it should happen close to the bottom of the hour and there's going to be a press conference we're told, at least a news conference, and we nknow the last time there was a news conference, the police chief said he was going to step aside until this investigation is over with. so now the city manager holding a press conference, should be close to the bottom of the hour and we're almost at the bottom of the hour now so stay tuned for that. in the meantime, you know it's getting close to election day because it's heating up. president obama with some strong words for mitt romney. something he probably doesn't want to hear. the president essentially called him a faker on health care reform. i'm going to tell you why right after this break. so, by combining your auto and renters insurance,

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let me give you a rundown of some of the stories we're working on for you at cnn. mitt romney working hard to explain why his ideas for health care reform look a lot like obama care. our political round table is next just moments away. then congressman john lewis is here. he's getting ready now to join me live. we'll talk about trayvon martin's tragic death and the president's emotional reaction and that news conference which is scheduled in sanford coming up live here on cnn. and later, remember those mysterious booms and rumbles underground in wisconsin? it was driving everybody crazy. now there is an explanation, but do you buy it? do the residents buy it? that's coming up. it is one of president obama's defining accomplishments and one of the hottest issues in the race for the white house. today marks the second anniversary of the health care reform law or as opponents call

it obama care. that's just one of the topics for our political panel that we're going to discuss right now. republican strategist danny vargas is on the phone. apparently danny is stuck in traffic. sorry about that. and democratic strategist maria cardona. republicans promise to repeal health care reform if they win the white house, but mitt romney is taking heat from his rivals over the law he signed in massachusetts. they say it was the model for obama care. romney rote an op-ed today disputing that. i want to ask you, danny, is this going to continue to cause trouble for him moving forward? >> well, it is forming the narrative within the republican primary but there are some significant differences between what governor romney did in massachusetts and what president obama is doing at the federal level. first of all, it was at the state level. i think governor romney is urging states to be able to have the flexibility to do what they think is right in their states and not having a federal mandate that forces everyone throughout the entire nation to take

certain actions. the second option was the fact that he was trying to move folks towards personal responsibility. if you didn't have insurance, you had to buy insurance or pay for the care and move more towards private sector insurance programs, not a federal mandate to move folks towards government-run health care options. there's a massive amount of difference -- >> let me get maria in here. danny is pointing out the differences but are most people that in tune with all the nuances of each? will they buy into the narrative and say, hey, it's all pretty similar and he's similar to obama? >> it's not only similar, don, they're twins. romney's health care law in massachusetts was absolutely the model that president obama used, and, in fact, back in the day the individual mandate was something that many republicans supported, not just romney, but gingrich as well. in fact, it came out of a

republican think tank. so to say that romney is now saying that this is not something that he supported is actually a lie, don, because there are not just op-eds, but there is -- there are sound bites where romney is basically saying that he would absolutely be thrilled if his health care act that he passed in massachusetts would be used as a national model. i think it's great that his republican rivals are taking him to task for it. they should have done it sooner. >> i got you. and you two disagreeing let's everybody know that it's going to be an issue and it's going to continue to be an issue until this whole thing is wrapped up. i have to say this, in a radio interview the president took a swipe on romney. on the program called "market watch." he was asked whether he would have done anything different in getting health care reform passed. listen. >> i would have loved to have gotten it done dwquicker, whichs part of the reason why we designed a program that actually previously had support of

republicans, including the person who may end up being the republican standard bearer and is now pretending like he came up with something different. >> okay. so does -- what does this do for your argue am, danment and romn argument that it's different. it's going to be hard going up against the president when he talks about it and equates it to i guess romney care? >> the biggest difference is the federal program that president obama passes is basically forcing folks to move towards a federal bureaucrat-run set of programs. and governor romney, if folks didn't have insurance, they either had to buy private sector insurance or pay for the medical services they were looking to get from institutions and hospitals. that's the major difference. it wasn't about being able to force folks into a government-run program. it was about being able to motivate personal responsibility, and i think

polls show over 50% of the people have some real issues with obama care. two-thirds want to either ditch the entire program or parts of it. >> all right. >> i think there's some significant problems with the president's -- >> danny -- >> -- health care program. >> we get it i don't want to belabor the point and talk about something else. right about this time yesterday rick santorum was trying to get more mileage out of romney's etch-a-sketch gaffe and he said we may as well stay with what we have instead of taking a chance on etch-a-sketch candidate. romney shot back with this statement. he said i was disappointed to hear that rick santorum would rather have barack obama as president than a republican. any of the republicans running would be better than president obama and his record of failure. santorum's campaign said today, of course, he'll back the gop nominee. so is this a significant blunder do you think? are people going to remember this, maria, going into the polls come november, and the

interesting thing if mitt romney is, which it looks like it is, if you look at the numbers, going to be the nominee, is rick santorum going to have to walk this back do you think? >> well, i think he's already started to walk it back, don, but i do think it's something that people will remember because what rick santorum is doing is he is giving voice to the real and palpable dislike, distrust, and disdain that many social and religious conservatives have about romney right now. and i think it was a hail mary pass on his part to say, look, now is the time to rally with me, a real conservative candidate, to make sure that there is a real difference between romney and obama come november. we'll see if it works. >> danny, listen, i'm going to give you the last word. when she said he's already begun to walk it back, i don't mean saying here's what i meant. is he going to have to say at some point, i'm sorry i should not have made that statement and i mean really walk it back rather than give some sort of argument about what he meant to say?

>> well, the reality, don, is that every primary process that we go through after the campaigns have been drawn and after the nominee is selected, everyone comes together and coalesces and supports each other and in this case if governor romney wins the nomination, santorum and gingrich and all of the other republicans will coalesce and unify behind governor romney and focus on the real opponent, president obama and his stale policies that have brought our economy to near ruin. so i think santorum will not only walk back those comments but have a full-throated support for governor romney if and when that time comes. >> but this also underscores, don, the nastiness -- >> we have to go. hurry up. >> that's been the issue and will hurt the republican party. >> listen, wharf it tever it is a sound bite that the other side can play and not even do any work. all they have to do is play it

and that was behind my question. thank you very much, danny, maria. georgia congressman and civil rights icon john lewis is calling the death of trayvon martin chilling. he says it reminds him of what he witnessed during the civil rights movement. reminds him of what he witnessed during the civil rights movement. representative john lewis joining me live to explain that next. in the franchise to get the word out. that could work. or you could use every door direct mail from the postal service. it'll help you and all your franchisees find the customers that matter most -- the ones in the neighborhood. you print it or we'll help you find a local partner. great. keep it moving, honey. honey? that's my wife. wow. there you go. there you go. [ male announcer ] go online to reach every home, every address, every time with every door direct mail. [ zipper, heavy breathing ] ♪

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listen, the outrage is spreading with the number of protests growing around the country about trayvon martin, and we want to tell you now there's a press son frens thaco that's going to happen at any moment in sanford, florida, and that is going to be held by the man there, the city manager. and they may do some other business so we're going to listen before we bring that to you live to see if they handle other city business. they're going to speak about this trayvon martin case. you saw the protests going on

across the country that have been happening this week. we showed you one earlier at a high school. there they are, thousands of people are gathering. thousands of people have been gathering all over the country. congressman john lewis is here now and he joins me, the civil rights acaan. y icon. you don't need an introduction. the president said if i had a son, he would look like trayvon. he had to be careful about what he said. it's a balancing act that the president has to do on this particular issue because everyone -- because it will be perceived -- people will try to politicize it. what do you make of that and how this has caught fire and the nation's attention. >> i think it was a very powerful statement that the president made. he made it out of his gut, out of his heart, out of his soul. he was not thinking about politics. he was expressing the feelings

of hundreds of thousands of americans. it doesn't matter if their chil was black, white, latino, asian american or native american. the president was saying in effect we're all one people, one family. we all live in the same house, the american house, and we must be concerned about the hurt and the pain of every family. >> and he's speaking as a father. as we're looking, the entire studio now is filled with pictures of trayvon martin and i have pictures like that when i was a kid. you have pictures. my sister has daughters and she has pictures of them on the soccer team and all of that stuff. i said to the people in the newsroom that trayvon martin was america's child now, and if he wasn't america's child, he certainly is now after the president made that remark because i think it drove the point home, you have a black president, a young black man has grown up to be the president of the united states and that was a possibility for any child in the united states, as you said, black, white, or whatever.

that has been extinguished and taken away from trayvon martin and his life has been taken away. >> this was a beautiful young man with a dream. he was an "a" and "b" student. he only had a can of iced tea and some candy and for something like this to happen to him, it takes me back to august 28, 1955, when emmett till was murdered, three civil rights workers were murdered in mississippi in 1964. sometime we think we've come so far and made so much progress and then for something like this to happen, it should be a sense of righteous indignation, and i think the american people are displaying this. it's not just the young people, not just the children, but all over america people cannot believe this is happening. >> i have had people reach out to me on social media, and this is judging from their photographs and what they say to me, they're all different

ethnicities. there's no one side here saying -- and there's no one group, there's no right or left saying most people are outraged just as human beings and saying if trayvon martin did the worse, still someone was killed and there's the feeling in the country that justice has not been served so far or is not being rendered properly. >> there's this belief in america that when justice is delayed, justice is denied. >> uh-huh. >> and people want to see mr. zimmerman come to the bars of justice and face the state. he had been so silent not saying anything. >> can you talk to me about this, please, because there are people who don't understand, regardless of this case, how powerful -- what a powerful impact profiling has on people who look like me, on

african-americans, on minorities, who have been profiled before, the victims of profiling. that there is a reality there that some -- many people have the privilege of not having to experience or live. >> well, we grew up as young african-american men, been told to be careful. don't get in trouble. don't get in the way. i heard my mother say on so many occasions, be particular, be watchful, be mindful. keep your hands out of your pocket. it's having a chilling effect on the lives of hundreds and thousands and millions of african-american families. >> john lewis, don't go anywhere. i'm so glad you're here because we want to go to that press conference live and i believe they're announcing who is going to be the interim police chief. >> probably more knowledgeable about all the things that are going on than i am. we do certainly have the city

commission meeting that's going to be held at 5:00 on monday to go over to the civic center. i did want to take a moment to say that sanford is still open for business. we have a lot of good businesses. we invite people to come and see sanford. we ever a lot of good people here and we want to make sure people get out to our merchant's and businesses. pleas co please come and see us for yourself. city hall has adjusted its hours. we closed at 4:00. on monday we will be closing at 3:00. we can make parking space available for those who are coming. yesterday at the event that went off wonderfully. we want to thank the organizers of that for such a peaceful rally and appreciate the people that did come and conducted themselves in a manner that we all felt very good about, the fact they were able to come and we welcomed them and we certainly hope to welcome the people that are coming back on monday. those are the comments we wanted to have today.

at this point we would hope it up to some limited questions. unfortunately, there's a lot of other things that are still going on today. there are a lot of details we're still working on for monday's meeting. >> can you tell us more about chief lee stepping down. is it temporary? he still being paid? >> he is on administrative leave. yes, he's still being paid. >> what does temporary mean? >> i'm looking to get a investigative agency to come in -- a law enforcement agency i should say to review what took place with the police department. i had shared with you i have asked the department of justice to have a review, not just of the shooting of trayvon martin, but the actions of the sanford police department. i also recognize that the department of justice may take some time in making a thorough investigation into both of those matters, so what i am exploring now is looking at some police agencies that do analysis and evaluations of police operations and asking them if they could come in. so the answer to the question is once i have a report that demonstrates to me and which shows me the actions of the

police department and how they performed in this instance, that is what temporary is. once i have it, then i can make a determination regarding chief lee. >> clearly, there are -- [ inaudible ]. >> that's a possibility certainly, yes. >> there are trust issues and we've been hearing about it for the last several days, particularly from the african-american community in sanford. do you think chief lee stepping down and putting the leadership in some other men's hands for the time being, do you think that could help heal some wounds? or what does the city have to do to improve the trust relationship with its residents? >> i'm glad you raised that. let's be very clear. chief lee has been the chief of the sanford police department for ten months. the issues that have been brought to my attention regarding the black community and the sanford police department go back many, many, many years. so there's a lot of work that needs to be done there. i have been told that chief lee has made efforts that have been improving. certainly that has changed as of right now in terms of the relationship between the black community and the sanford police

department. there's a lot of work that has to be done. we're fortunate to have represents from the united states department of justice. there are community relations services here working with us to help us build that trust. the trust that may have existed is gone. so we have to start from ground zero. and that's not a chief lee issue. that's a sanford police department issue, and we recognize that for the sanford police department to be effective, they have to have the trust of the entire sanford community. >> do you know if the city is providing any kind of security or has george zimmerman or knows where he is or helping him out in any way at this point? >> we can get in touch with him, but we are not providing him any security that i'm aware of. >> is there anything about this investigation that you can share with the public now that we have heard the 911 calls about george zimmerman, about what he said, anything? >> at this point i think it's up to the special prosecutor to review the information to get additional information. not only is the special

prosecutor now been involved, but we also had the department of justice involved. so we want justice. i want to continue to stress that. we want justice. we want as many eyes looking at this as possible. appreciate the government taking it so seriously. the public, whatever the outcome is, will know this is not something that was whitewashed or blown over or covered up. >>. [ inaudible question ] . >> that's up to the prosecutor. >> are you aware of the president's comments. he spoke rather personally and he said if i had a son he would look like trayvon. he also expressed his desire for an examination of the incident and the laws surrounding it. >> i have been in meetings since 8:30 this morning. i did not hear the comments. but it's consistent with everything we've been saying. we want to know all the evidence. we want the law enforcement community to look at it, particularly now that the

government -- the special prosecutor. let's look at all of it. investigate it so we have an outcome that there's no question of the credibility. >> when will the special prosecutor meet with the police department and how long will that take? >> the meet something set for 1:30. as long as how long, it will take as long as it needs to take. one more question. >> the sanford police department recommend charges for george zimmerman when it sent its case packet over to the prosecutor's office? >> that i don't know. thank you all for coming. as i said, we will be giving you notice of our future press conferences. it's our desire to stay in touch for you. you have the number for lisa so if there's issues, please contact lisa. >> that's the city manager of sanford, florida, norton bona pa bonaparte.

we'll get you a name in a second. john, representative lewis, he said he's going to name an interim chief, but he also wants the incident and the entire department investigated. he said the trust that we had, the trust that existed is no longer there, and they have to rebuild trust. he didn't hear the president's comments but he did say that it is the feeling that everyone has, the same feelings they have there in that community and around the country. we have to take a quick break. hang around with us for a little bit and talk more about this. i think it's fascinating to hear from you. representative lewis has said to me this is a reminder of the struggles he faced during the civil rights moment. we're back in a moment right here on cnn. s ] what's more beautiful than a covergirl? two covergirls. get two miracles in one product. new tone rehab 2-in-1 foundation. covers spots, lines... and wrinkles. and helps improve skin tone over time. new tone rehab from easy... breezy... beautiful... covergirl! covergirl!

welcome back. congressman and civil rights pioneer john lewis joins me now and we listened to the press conference. he said that, you know, this police chief could be reinstated, of course. we have to wait for an investigation but i think most people are concerned, number one, i shouldn't say number one, about the investigation, but also why hasn't zimmerman been investigated and also where is he? we haven't heard from him now. is that the end all, be all of justice in this case, having george zimmerman arrested? >> no. the arrest of zimmerman would not be the end. it's just the beginning.

but in my estimation there needs to be outside forces, the department of justice, the fbi, the community relations service or the department of justice should be on the ground in sanford. this is having a chilling effect on young african-american males, their mothers, their fathers. >> that was one of the things i wanted to ask you about is when we talked about this story several weeks ago here on cnn when i put it on my show on the weekend, there weren't many people talking about it nationally. as a matter of fact, i found out about it through social media. they said don, you have to do this story. we started doing this story, and one of my producers, a black woman, stood up and said you guys don't understand. i have two teenage boys, and every time they leave the house i am worried. i have to have this conversation with them about not only how not to be profiled or hurt or arrested or even killed by a police officer, i have to have this conversation with them and when they leave i'm scared to

death for them. that's real. >> it is real. i know young mothers, young fathers that come and say, how can i do a good job in telling a story to my son, to my daughters, but especially to my son, how to be careful, how not to get in the way, how not to get in trouble, and i'm sure all over america, not just in the american south, but all over our country people are wondering what can i do to protect my child, to protect my son? >> yeah. and what do you say? is i guess what we can do as a country as those of us who do have a platform as journalists to report the story and people who are activists and lawmakers as you are is to tell the truth about a very -- i guess a mixed reality in this country when it comes to -- >> you have to tell the truth. you cannot sweep it under the

rug in some dark corner. you have to face it and deal with it. >> but not everyone believes that though. not everyone believes that it's real or that it happens, and you hear people saying -- of course, i don't believe that any other journalist or myself should be on television advocating one way or another. i'm speaking of the reality that i know exists because it's happened to me. not to say this is nothing to do with george zimmerman's guilt or innocence, but because we are at this moment this a time to talk about something that many people live. so my question is then what do you do for people who don't believe that this exists and who say let's let the investigation play out and you hear seasoned police officers saying why so much analysis? you don't need that much analysis. >> you know dr. king was said from time to time we shouldn't get bogged down in the paralysis of analysis. just deal with it. and have this moment as a moment

to educate, sensitize, and inform people. some people say we don't want to go back to the dark past. we don't want to go back to the dark past, but what happened reminded many of us of the dark past when people would come up missing. this young man was shot, killed, and for three days his mother and father didn't know what happened to him. they had his cell phone. they could have called the last number that he called. >> can we talk about law now? everyone is talking about this stand your ground law and they're trying to politicize it saying these laws are in place in large part because of the nra and i don't know if this particular case -- i don't know if the standard your ground law is a red herring or if this is just a bungled investigation that people are hanging this law on to try to politicize this particular case.

>> well, man was not made for the law. we should respect law. this is a very bad law, and it should be repealed. >> why? >> the state of florida -- because it gives people a license to be an executioner, to just get rid of someone. >> a license to kill. >> yes. and it should be repealed. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> i could talk to you all day, it's so good to see you. >> good to see you. >> i really appreciate you coming on. >> thank you for having me on. >> john lewis, everyone. coming up next hour in the cnn "newsroom," president obama said trayvon martin's death particularly resonated with him as an african-american parent. i'm going to talk to a mom who had that talk that i just mentioned with representative john lewis with her son teaching him how to save his life if stopped by anyone. ber and machined aluminum, to make it more beautiful, and more durable. you'd use edge-to-edge gorilla glass

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