and keith olbermann and "countdown" are on current right after this. released in full and his father comes to his defense. >> trayvon martin said something to the effect of you're going to die now, or you are going to die tonight. something to that effect. he continued to beat george and at some point, george pulled his pistol and did what he did. >> and then the attack. >> i never foresaw so much hate

coming from the president the congressional black caucus, the naacp, every organization is trying to profit in this in some way. >> and an cyst from rubio. >> there is no way anyone can convince me that having the convention in august can a help mitt romney. pick a side. >> today members of congress have a simple choice to make. they can stand with the big oil companies, or they can stand with the american people. >> i wonder which one they chose. the answer will not surprise you. and the galaxy just got a whole

lot more crowded, a billion super earths they be capable of sustaining life. >> if you think earth is great, wait until you meet super-oprah. on super earth every night is lady's night. good evening this is thursday march 29th 223 days until the 2012 presidential election. i'm eliot spitzer sitting in for keith olbermann. continuing fallout from the police surveillance video showing george the night he shot trayvon martin. florida police claim he surfed scalp lacerationses a sedgedly from a life and life struggle. yet the video shows zimmerman handcuffed yet walking freely

without blood stains on his face or clothes or other indications he had even been in a fight. his father repeated those claims in an interview, concealing his face for fear of being assaulted. >> his nose was broken. his scalp was cut in two different places. i don't know. he wasn't given any medical attention but they may have cleaned him up at the scene. >> trayvon's mort said those claims directly -- event indicated their son. >> there was no visible injuries or blood on his shirt, so we have concluded that there may not have been any injuries at all.

>> meanwhile zimmerman's attorney wouldn't commitment himself either way. >> the video is very grainy and i'm not sure -- as far as being able to see the injuries and then later cleaned up. >> trayvon martin said something to the effect of you're going to die now or you're going to die tonight. he continued to beat george at some point george pulled his pistol and did what he did. >> but martin's girlfriend who claimed she was on the phone with him before the shooting insists that never hand. and funeral director richard kurt cast more doubt after examining martin. >> and while protesters and

trayvon martin's parents continue to call for george zimmerman's arrest sanford homicide detective may also believe that zimmerman was the real culprit that night. >> he told me that he -- that he and this other officer with him felt that it was not self-defense, and that they needed to prove it wasn't self-defense, and he said they needed to read between the lines because there was some stereotyping going on. >> i'm joined by andy krol. the video that is now the hottest topic out there. seems to contradict everything about the story. so what remains to substantiate the fight and encounter that

would have justified a shooting. >> the video doesn't give evidence of a life or death fight. there are no blood stains. really what george zimmerman's attorney is going to have to hope for is some other evidence leak suggesting that this was a more vicious fight because as we see in this video, george zimmerman looks like any other person pulled off of the street and brought into the authorities. >> you would have to believe there would be some physical evidence of an encounter. is there any physical substantiation yet that anybody has been able to report or seen corroborates that evidence? >> the first piece is the police

report on the night of trayvon martin's killing, says that george zimmerman was treated between -- before he arrived at the sanford police department, and so he -- his face wouldn't be covered in blood and his lacerationed wouldn't be open and gaping. however, it's important to remember these surveillance videos we saw are 30 minutes after he committed this act and was brought in. so even if he had been treated, you would think a broken nose would be plainly evident in those videos but it doesn't appear to be like that at all. george zimmerman's attorneys are pointing to the police report and saying he was treated, and saying it was grainy, even though the police department recently installed state-of-the-art surveillance cameras. >> obviously this is ongoing,

but is there any other medical evidence, any other reports of treatment, x rays anything tangible to support the sort of vicious fight that the zimmerman family would have people believe before the shooting? >> no there's not. and if anything the evidence coming out -- for instance this funeral director suggests that this wasn't a violent life or death sort of battle that george zimmerman's father and his attorney have suggested. eyewitnesses have said there was an altercation. however, the funeral director as you showed said that trayvon martin body was in pristine shape apart from obviously a gun wound to the chest. no lacerations on his hands or knuckles from say, beating someone's head into the ground or punching them with enough force to break their nose. if george zimmerman's head had

been bashed into the ground it's come mom practice for emts to secure the neck, and that's not the case in the video either. which, again, undermines this argument. >> the autopsy has not been released? >> yeah, it is still seals, and will not be released until the investigations are over or non-active. >> is there any word that is sort of crept out that whether that autopsy report, and what it reveals in terms of what that reveals? anything in the autopsy report we should look for or expect to hear? >> the autopsy report is the one bit of key information that has not been leaked the media yet. it has been kept very close and

very guarded. we don't have any information on it at this point yet. the direction of the gun wound. any kind of evidence that was gathered at the scene of the crime, we don't have that from the up a. there has been a lot of criticism about how the investigation and the evidence collecting at the scene of the killing was handled both from eyewitnesses and other authorities who have publicly criticized the detectives and cops for really just a shotty investigation, and that could come into play here as well. >> andy real quick. the phone call with the girlfriend, do we yet have the phone records, because you can get down to the second reports that will prove whether they were or were not on the phone. >> authorities say they have the phone records. they are not available to the public yet, because they are a part of the investigation. this is a key discrepancy with

george zimmerman's father's account. he said the phone call did not happen. however, the girlfriend gave a sworn statement that this conversation did happen. >> we won't -- won't presume to get a tape of that conversation but if there are records, that alone will be certainly significant. thank you for sharing some of your time with us tonight. >> thank you. the trayvon martin res nates deeply for many, many people around the country among them our next guest, law professor at george washington university and a former federal prosecutor. he wrote what trayvon martin means to him today in a posting on "the daily beast." you said i became a prosecutor because of trayvon martin and i used to be him. what do you mean by that and what does this case in particular mean to you? >> you know, elliott, i was a

baby faced, skinny 17 year old boy, and like a lot of black boys, i got harassed by police security guards, neighborhood watch types, followed around, stopped, searched but i also got harassed by other young black men. i got my lunch money stolen, and bothered by them. i became a prosecutor because i wanted to deal with both of those problems. i wanted to help victims. i didn't want to be a victim of the police or of other black men. >> this is of course a fascinating case that brings to bare all of the issues about individual landtyism. your critique of how they are handling this case? >> we have police reporting to a

crime scene. we have a dead boy a skonny little kid. we have this big buff guy standing over him with a gun. the mistake him into custody, they ask him questions, and he says it is self-defense. and apparently they say, okay we'll let you go. i have a problem with that as a former prosecutor. the standard for bringing charges is fairly permissive. it's probable cause. is this probable cause to charge him with some kind of crime? absolutely yes. >> now that you have seen the video, having seen that seems to be pretty clear, direct refutation of zimmerman's claim. what would you like to have in addition before you felt it was appropriate to bring a charge against zimmerman? >> you want to talk to any

witnesses that there were. at this point it is a he said he said case, and one he is dead. so you want to talk to any witnesses. what you want to try to do is establish whether mr. zimmerman, again, shot in self-defense or whether he was what lawyers call the initial aggressor, whether he started the fight. because if he started the fight, he can't claim self-defense. >> this threshold for bringing charges is somewhat low, but the threshold for getting a conviction is appropriately higher. do you believe given the video, given -- presume for a moment that the records come out, that there was a phone call with the girlfriend. do you believe as a prosecutor you could get a conviction based upon what you have seen for some sort of homicide charge? >> you know, elliott, i have to

say -- i don't want to brag here, but i think absolutely yes. any prosecutor worth his or her salt could get a volunteer manslaughter based on what we know. man, when you look at this evidence, when you look at what the girlfriend is saying when you look at mr. zimmerman's father who is apparently speaking for him claiming there was this fight to the end, but mr. zimmerman shows up on this video, looking fit and fine. i think the evidence is stacking up against mr. zimmerman and in favor of a serious prosecution. i think there's evidence for murder. >> racial profiling you have written passionately that citco rosive. do you believe racial profiling

is still pervasive? >> i know it is. the police when they see a young black man, a lot of them they think automatically that he is involved in some sort of crime. so it's just a question of investigating to what see what it is. not just african-americans. it doesn't work. it doesn't make us safer, and really breaks down trust. there are a lot of people who don't trust the police. they don't like the police because they don't feel they have their best interest at heart. they are not there to serve and protect. it's almost like they are there to harass you, and in a case like this when they can prove it, saying we care about this black victim, again, they don't seem to. they don't make the arrest. they don't make the prosecution. it's like overenforcement is fine for african-americans, but under enforcement, we get that too.

>> all right. i want to continue that conversation some night down the road or you'll continue it with keith. fascinating issue. thank you for some of your time tonight. >> great to be here. >> thank you. when a man who has donated over $16 million to your campaign says you don't have a chance of winning, you probably don't have a chance of winning, next on "countdown."

another day, another endorsement for mitt romney. do gingrich and santorum even have a chance anymore. the man who single-handedly funded the gingrich campaign doesn't think so. and on the plus side at least

none of these people felt the need to apologize to big oil this time.

mitt romney appeared in houston to formally accept his endorsement. but the endorsement was all but overshadowed by the man who many see as his future running mate. he once again affirmed his lack of interest in joining the ticket. >> i don't believe i am going to be asked to be the nominee. newt gingrich continues to cement his status as the next republican to drop out. sheldon adelson saying it is the end for gingrich.

>> mathematically he can't get anywhere near the numbers. >> a fact gingrich seems to be aware of. gingrich and romney secretly met saturday, but gingrich tried to assure his supporters he will not drop out. and i quote: joining me now is ryan grim washington bureau chief for "the huffington post," thank you for your time this evening. >> thank for having me. >> let me ask you this question the two endorsements. marco rubio, former president bush come from completely different pieces. you have one who is young latino, the other who is the old guard. which matters more to mitt romney? >> i mean, george hw bush barely mattered at all. most people thought, hum, i

thought he already endorsed romney. this is like the yale class of 42 endorsing the class of harvard -- >> well, that is pretty significant. >> that is true. but outside of there, people were less moved. it's the marco rubio -- it's that endorsement that kind of signals to the republican party that look this is over. let's wrap this thing up and let's move forward. >> rubio is significant because he is the far right wing and latino. but is the latino vote in florida going to be help, as in arizona, and some of the other swing states? >> well you wonder how much some of the leading republican

strategists even are aware of that. but the difference is -- the cuban immigrant experience is a unique one. you know, if you've come up through mexico or south america, you have a much more similar story than somebody that came from cuba because -- first of all there's direct public policy, and that's the dry foot policy, where if you get here anyway possible in the last 40 years, you can stay. >> right. >> secondly the types of people that came from cuba were people who were kind -- who were in the ruling class and they were fleeing fiddle castro, so that's exact opposite that the rest of the population faces. >> so you are making a hugely

important point here which is rubio voice may or may not translate to other pieces of the latino community. how would a marco rubio play in the traditional swing, midwest says michigan ohio, pennsylvania, two out of three of which mitt romney would have to win does rubio helps him in those states? >> i don't think he helps him or necessarily hurts him either. people will see him from up from your bootstraps kind of guy whether he is or not. he will write his story that way. so i don't think it will play that much there. they are going to go for colorado and new mexico and florida. don't forget that florida is an

important state too. so places like that he might be able to help them slightly, because notwithstanding what i said earlier, he is going to get more of the latino vote than somebody like say, vice president joe arpeo is. it's at least saying we at least care. at least we're trying here. yes, we might have all of this rhetoric and all of these horrible things -- >> no question about it. you put a joe arpeo on you might as well kiss the entire latino community good-bye. but i think he has to fight for pennsylvania, ohio michigan for this thing to be competitive from their perspective. he is still worried about florida, he is probably out of luck. we'll continue this conversation down the road. ryan grim thank you for your

time tonight. >> thank you. >> the white house wades into the oil fight. that's just ahead. polar shifts will reverse the earth's gravitational pull and hurtle us all into space which would render retirement planning unnecessary. but say the sun rises on december 22nd and you still need to retire td ameritrade's investment consultants can help you build a plan that fits your life. we'll even throw in up to $600 when you open a new account or roll over an old 401(k). so who's in control now, mayans?

coming up, president obama calls on congress to eliminate tax breaks for the big five oil companies. it was on this day in 1929 president herbert hoover had a telephone installed in the oaf value office. he was the first president to use one at his desk. every president since hoover had a phone at his disk although it is believed that george w. bush is the only one to use it to make crank calls. time marches on. we gin with jumping row bats. the stand flee can jump up to 30

feet in the air, and just like cat it always lands on its feet or wheels. experts say it is perfect for situations when you need a robot that can jump 30 feet in the air. we check in with sports preseason game between the orioles and phillies and it looks like there is a hot young prospect. when carlos ruiz loses his group on the bat it is caught by this spry young lady. finally we end with peep diorama. and the peep diorama contest. this year included the gop peep presidential debate. and my personal favorite the romney family road trip

complete with poor seamus romney on top of the car. but this year's winner occupeep wall street. sadly mayor bloomberg is currently assembling a peep police force to convict them. the president rebukes the gop and takes on big oil coming up next. transform the world through big ideas and innovation. to learn more go to current.com/scioniq. scion: what moves you.

attack on women that perhaps the majority of the population woke up? >> idaho is not known as approaching act i.v. you had hundreds of women show up, thousands signed petitions. they made their voices heard. what happens is that now, the legislators are running scared. very similar laws have passed quietly in other states for the past 10 years, really in the past two years have intensified. pennsylvania a similar law was shelved,

idaho this proved to be political poison. women are paying attention and having their voices heard. >> thanks for coming in. >> the aclu considers a demand that to get a job you have to let an employer open your private mail, the senate wants to make it illegal to hand over a password to your facebook account. democrats and republicans alike think they are in the driver's seat as congress considers repealing oil

subsidies. president obama urged the senate to pass legislation that would strip billions in tax brakes for the big five oil companies only to have the republicans kill the bill. >> they can stand with the big oil companies, or they can stand with the american people. instead of taxpayer give-a ways to an industry that has never been more profitable we should be using that money to double down on investments in clean energy technologies. >> republicans insist that the measure would have driven prices up at the pump. >> that was their brilliant plan on how to deal with gas prices. raise prices on gas companies just to make sure gas prices don't go anywhere but up. >> and rand paul didn't mince

his words earlier this week. >> would think you want to say to oil companies, what obstacles are there to you making more money. >> joining me now is joe williams, white house reporter for "politico." thank for joining us. >> good to be here. >> there are three numbers that will affect the election in november. and one is the price of gas. are we now just entering the blame game? >> i think there's some of that. what the president is attempting to do is rebut against some of the republican allegations on the campaign trail from mitt romney and others that he is solely responsible for these high gas prices when statistically, empirically studies, anything you want to point to shows you this is part of what usually happens during the summer driving season, and

number two the oil companies are taking very real advantage of the fact that the market is tipped in their favor. so he is calling at attention to that fact and also link it to the need for alternative energy. if we get a sound strategy things are ease. the republicans have an easy talking point. everybody feels pain at the wallet. so their strategy is to say that the president is in for it. he is trying to do things that will wreck the economy even though he thinks it will benefit the public. we the republican party know better, and that answer is more drilling. >> the interesting thing is, about somewhere in the low 20 blame the president, somewhere in the low 20s, blame the republicans, and over 50% blame the oil companies. we are moving towards energy

independence bit by bit. has that fact crept into the public's psyche do you think? >> it really hasn't. and that is another goal of this meeting that the president had -- or this press conference that the president had with all of these people standing behind him to make the point that we are drilling now more than we ever have. technology has increased. we have oil leases that oil companies haven't started using yet. so an attempt to draw the line draw a clear distention between his energy strategy and a move towards independence with the republican strategy, which basically is to pump -- you know pour more holes in the ground and pump more oil out that contributes to pollution, that's where he wants to go with this. the question is if gas prices

will reduce enough that this won't be an election-year factor. >> even with the disaster on the gulf, and all of the concerns raised on that there has been an enormously drilling more. has that issue become part of the public debate, or are we talking about fringe issues? >> the answer is yes. both of the above. and i say that because -- environmentalists really don't like this current energy policy that allows for frac-ing, which has been linked to water contamination, also earthquakes in certain parts of the country. they also don't like the strategy of deep-water drilling where around the world there are more oil bare racks that can drill deeper we're talking two miles down in the ocean.

that's all an enigma because one accident can cause the whole thing to fall apart like we saw two years ago. the big issue is to try to keep moving the country towards an energy strategy, and mr. president obama doesn't include fossil fuels as part of the conversation, prices spike, the economy tanks, and he is in very real trouble. >> i think everyone understands the decision will have an impact six months or ten years down the road. but anyway, we'll continue to see this story playing out. joe williams, white house reporter for "politico," thank for being here this evening. >> thank you. >> actual research showing how wall street has been changed by occupy wall street.

coming up there could be billions of super earths

circling in our own galaxy. every weeknight if you're only watching countdown on current tv you're missing two hours of our political lineup. >>it's our job to bring you stories that other people aren't bringing you. >>unlimited, unfettered. >>check out "the young turks" with cenk uygur. >>you can't beat that, it's such a winning issue. >>step into "the war room" with jennifer granholm. >>never ending enertainment. >>the young turks at seven countdown with keith olbermann at eight and the war room at nine. current tv's prime-time lineup

weeknights starting at seven-six central. only on current tv. there's no doubt occupy wall street has influenced the national dialogue about in commie and corporate excess. in our number 2 story on the "countdown," more than half of the marketing executives were studied the effects of occupy wall street. the study was released a week following the movement's six-month anniversary and coincides with a new wave of demonstrations and arrests. the movement is leaving its stamp where it matters most. 71% of the corporate executives surveyed think occupy wall street will continue beyond the presidential election in

november. the data shows executives may even be taking responsibility for the sector's bad reputation. 96% admitted their firms invited negative public perception by their actions or inactions. 74% believe increased regulation of the financial services industry will help their firms improve reputations and trust with customers faster. the study was conducted by a research company that specializes in the financial services sector. it interviewed 150 marketing and communications executives. joining me now former labor secretary, professor at uc berkeley and author of "aftershock: the next economy and america' future". i include it on the syllabus in my class professor, thank you.

it is a spectacular book. >> thank you. >> does this survey suggest there has been some sort of epiphany on wall street? >> certainly among marketing and communications people on wall street. they understand how angry the public continues to be at wall street, but whether the understanding has permeated beyond to the real power on wall street, the ceos and the major traders and hedge fund managers is a different story all together. >> is this merely an understanding that, gee, we did something that is going to hurt our reputations, or is this an understanding that this was fundamental anathama to the economy, and therefore we have to change our business. >> i don't mean to be cynical about this,el -- eliot, but these are the pr and marketing

people on wall street. they know there is a huge problem. but the kingpins see this as a public relations problem. not a fundamental problem in terms of changing their ways. they are in federal courts all over this country trying to get the rules and regulations pursuant to the dodd-frank regulatory reform bill tried to get them stayed and thrown out of court. >> we'll get to that in a moment, but you are exactly right. but you have seen some public statements -- and trust me you know me i'm not justifying these executives. you have seen public statements where they acknowledge that they understand that the inequality baked into our economy and excesses at the top create a necessary and fundamental pushback. so is that the first to changes policies. >> eliot they understand what they need to say.

they understand, perhaps that the country is angry. but they don't get it in terms of fundamental change and reform. the federal reserve board just came out with its annual report saying that the biggest banks on wall street have to be broken up. can you imagine the dallas fed actually saying that. wall street doesn't want to be broken up. those same executives you say to them should you be broken up support a strong vocal rule? should you resurrect the glass spiegel act? they are going to say no. >> there was a spectacular story about that report. and just last week you allewded to this a bit earlier, something called the jobs bill was passed by both houses that permits them to go back to some of the very practices that created this in the first place.

so what is your take away to all of this. >> they see this as a public relations problem, and they are lobbying like mad and in court, trying to eviscerate dodd-frank. they have not got it and they will not get it. there's huge amounts of money in it for them, keeping things the way they were. fighting every step of the way, trying to make this into a public relations problem, and i don't think we're going to see real change on wall street until wall street is forced to change its ways. >> why did so many democrats and why did the white house support this so-called jobs bill last week? why didn't anybody have the gumption to stand up and say, enough this is bad policy. >> first they want to show some bipartisanship. everybody is looking at the november elections and saying we don't want to appear as partisan

as we really are, so anything that gets any bipartisan support is probably a good thing. secondly, let's face it there is a lot of competition from democrats and republicans for money from wall street for this election. still a lot of wall street money is going into democratic secretary, professor at uc berkeley and author of "aftershock: the next economy and america' future." thank you for being here. next time try to be a bit more optimistic. >> there is but it is on the occupiers not on wall street. >> couldn't agree enough. there are planets that can sauce contain life out there. derrick pitts joins me next.

if you have copd like i do you know how hard it can be to breathe and what that feels like. copd includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. spiriva helps control my copd symptoms by keeping my airways open a full 24 hours. plus, it reduces copd flare-ups. spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled copd maintenance treatment that does both. and it's steroid-free. spiriva does not replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms. tell your doctor if you have kidney problems glaucoma, trouble urinating, or an enlarged prostate. these may worsen with spiriva. discuss all medicines you take, even eye drops. stop taking spiriva and seek immediate medical help if your breathing suddenly worsens your throat or tongue swells you get hives, vision changes or eye pain, or problems passing urine. other side effects include dry mouth and constipation. nothing can reverse copd. spiriva helps me breathe better. does breathing with copd weigh you down? ask your doctor if spiriva can help.

the newest voice in cable news is on the new news network. >>jennifer granholm joins current tv. this former two term governor is politically direct.

astronomer estimate there would be billions of life sustainable planets right here in our galaxy. it is now being predicted that there could be billions of what are called super earths. it's a term used to describe planets outside of our solar system with one to ten times the mass of earth. but of course, now i'm just telling you things we all already new. the team of astronomers have been able to determine that about 40% of allred dwarf stars have the possibility of liquid life to exist. and i quote:

>> and about 100 of these planets could be less than 30 light years away, or about 180 trillion miles. as for whether life as we know it can be sustained on these planets, astronomers say they will need to do more research. joining me now chief astronomer at the franklin institute of science museum and countdown contributor derrick pitts. he is going to explain all of this. okay. for those of us who couldn't even make it through 9th grade biology, derrick what does this mean? >> what it really means is that the chance that we're going to find earth-like planets, and maybe with life has gone up tremendously. the thing we have to remember about this is that about -- maybe ten years ago we

were speculating on the possible that planets were orbiting other stars. now we have actually been able to confirm quite a number of planets orbiting other stars. now the question comes in are we talking about planets about the size of earth or maybe a little bit larger. and i thought it was a stable economy that made it possible for life to exist on these other planets. >> we'll give up on the stable economy if they have got water. >> right. we'll take the water. >> why is water so essential? is this the biological necessity from which all other things spring? >> for what we know of as life eliot, yes. it could be possible that there are other forms of life based on other elements if you will. but for our studies, we have to start someplace where we really know what things are.

and that's life like we fine on this planet. so we're really looking for water. it's a key for what we're doing on mars, and what we are doing looks for these planets also. >> it sounds like this is still kind of far away. even richard branson isn't selling tickets. so what is the next step here? >> yeah, we're going to observe to see what we can fine out, but it is relatively close. 30 light years is nothing when you look at the size of the galaxy and the universe. and the other interesting thing is, 20 years ago we were looking all over the universe for life and it turns out it could be right here in our backyard. and the next steps is the study

of the atmospheres of these planets. we'll refine what we know so far, identify the ones that are closer to being like earth and then start to look at their atmospheres if they have them. >> so we can take the next steps without actually having to visit these planets. we don't need to get there. we can do these through the telescopes and all of the cool toys you have. >> absolutely. the engineers who work with the telescopes and bill the tools that we use on the telescopes are really geniuses at crafting instruments that can pick out this information and get it very close to accurate. we can do a lot of this work remotely. and besides the gas prices are too high to get us that far out there anyway. >> don't be so cynical, pretty