santorum who says, hold on, it's only halftime. democratic -- dramatic, amateur video with a rare, close-up look at strength of the violent tornados that ripped through the dallas area. look at this. more bad weather is expected for today. we'll talk about that about. >> and then, o.j. simpson really innocent? a private detective says he knows who the real killer is and he has the murder weapon now to prove it. a fascinating, new book on the murders of nicole brown simpson and ronald goldman. hi, everybody, great to have you with me today. i'm thomas roberts. what's on the agenda this morning, mitt romney a decisive victory in a three-state sweep leaving rick santorum in the dust setting his political sights strictly on the oval office. romney captured tuesday's big prize, a victory in wisconsin, to go with wins in maryland and in our nation's capital. it was a delegate blowout. romney nearly reaching 100 delegates while none of the opponents hit the double digits. romney has this commanding lead overall. more than halfway home to

reaching the magic number to lock up the nomination. saving his best one-liners to diminish the president's record. >> out off touch liberals like barack obama say they want a strong economy but in everything they do, they show they don't like business very much. but the economy, of course, is simply the product of all of the businesses of the nation added together. so it's a bit like saying you like an omelet but you don't like eggs. >> rick santorum is not pushing the panic button yet, hoping his home state will give his campaign the spark to close the gap with governor romney. >> it's halftime. half the delegates in this process have been selected. who's ready to charge out of the locker room in pennsylvania for a strong second half? >> both romney and santorum are speaking live late in the hour. we'll keep our eye on both candidates and remarks for you. i want to start with chuck todd. chuck, last night a nail-biter

with with wisconsin. i did get to turn in, but strong results across the board for mitt romney. everybody was saying he had to deliver this decisive knockout punch and gather the conservative voters, the more conservative voters that have normally been going to santorum. has he done that? >> you know, it's closer. what happened was you saw in many ways wisconsin demographically had some things that should have been playing to santorum's strengths, he's always done better with lower income republican voters, done better in states that have lower rates of college education. but it had a low rate of evangelicals. you saw romney won a couple of categories, lower income voters won among noncollege educated voters and only lost evangelicals narrowly. santorum, there's a mirage here in wisconsin when you dig deeper in the numbers here. romney won by just five points. but if you extrapolate out the democratic vote and there was a

surprisingly large democratic and independent vote, nonregistered republican vote, higher turnout of nonrepublicans in this primary than four years ago, you get rid of the advantage that counted for three percentage points, it would have made that romney had a similar turnout four years ago, romney would have won by double digits. >> i want to show everybody the latest data out today from mitt romney. take a look at this. >> the obama time machine has started spending millions to sling mud or oil at mitt romney. why? because in the five states where obama's attacking romney, gas prices are roughly doubled. >> mitt romney and president obama both looking each other squarely in the eye knowing they're going to be challenging each other. how much, chuck, is the gas price issue going to dog the president through all of this? >> in my history of watching gas price politics, it strikes me as sugar high politics.

it always feels good moment doing the attack, and it never is a sustaining attack because, as we know, that number just inevitably fluctuates. overall what you have, you have romney and the republicans trying to shift the conversation on the economy, still keep it tops but they don't want to be judged solely on the jobs number now that is improving. i say, thomas, i want to put a plug, it's coming in your hour, it's interesting to see today, we'll have mitt romney being treated as sort of the nominee. his first sort of what i call speech as a presumptive nominee to the newspaper editors in washington, d.c., in the same venue, same hotel ballroom where president obama yesterday eviscerated both the republican party, paul ryan, and romney. >> you make a great point about that. we'll see how he does. reminder for everybody, you can see chuck every weekday morning 9:00 a.m. eastern on msnbc. thanks again.

i want to bring in our panel. nbc latino contributor, alicia m men nen does and s.e. cupp. >> is it the end for rick santorum? no matter how long he stays in this can he turn it around on his heels? if we can get the graphic back up one more time. the other three candidates in all of this combined, they don't even have the number of delegates that mitt romney has right now. >> i mean, it's the end for rick santorum whes when his donors stop giving him money otherwise he has every reason to continue on. the question for the santorum team is what they want to get out of this, if they're not going to get the nomination. is it a policy position that ends up on the platform? is it a position for him? i've joked before, head of health and human services. what is it that rick santorum wants if he cannot be the president of the united states? that's the goal they begin to driving towards.

>> s.c., chuck mentions the big speech mitt romney will make. however, president obama yesterday making headlines. let's take a listen to part of that. >> a trojan horse, an attempt to impose a radical vision on our country, thinly veiled social darwinism, antithetical to our entire history so far to the right it makes the contract with america look like the new deal. >> the president addressing the ryan budget. he's drawing a clear line but he's doing it for the biggest audience. what do you think that he is trying to invoke when he goes after the budget right there and then also we'll talk about what he's had to say about mitt romney. >> scary stuff, apocalyptic stuff, the ryan budget the trojan horse. i think he revealed the centerpiece of his campaign there, he's been hammering on it for a while, this cane and able

paraable, i am my brother's keeper, we will take care of you, we need to look out for one another. it's economic paternalism which is the scariest trojan horse. but he's going to present that choice. vote for us, the government will take care of you. vote for the other guy, you're on your own. that is going to be the distinction that he makes for the months going forward. >> also perked up a lot of ears yesterday, especially for people on the right. the president bringing up a popular conservative figure. take a listen. >> ronald reagan, who, as i recall, is not accused of being a tax and spend socialist, understood repeatedly that when the deficit started to get out of control, that for him to make a deal, he would have to propose both spending cuts and tax increases. he could not get through a republican primary today. >> could not get through a

republican primary today. is this a hollow argument? this is completely a different time. we all get that. the president closing the door on the new talks where revenues were on the table. can he make a case to americans that he can deliver on fixing the grand debt problem? >> i think he can especially when you look at the ryan plan and romney's plan, both of which effectively add to the debt. i don't know that it's as s.e. suggested this is the mommy party or the daddy party because this is a party platform, the democratic platform that gives middle class americans a chance at the same time it's able to address our deficit and that this ryan plan privatizes medicare, gets rid of medicaid, and takes away the safety net that the middle class has relied on. >> s.e. the associated press mentioning hurdles facing mitt romney if he wins the nomination. an incumbent with five times the staff level, ten times more money, the presidential bully pulpit in his favorer.

president reagan is the only republican to defeat an incumbent democrat over the last century. is romney the conservative to overcome those hurdles? is romney the most likely person to be like reagan? >> well, gosh, it is not a good time -- >> last names both begin with "r." >> whether it's romney care or obama care, that's a bad point of comparison. whether it's this argument we're having over the 1%. it's not a good climate to be mitt romney. that doesn't mean he's a bad candidate but he's got a lot going against him. what he has going for him is that people are frustrated. people want some change, some real change. people are frustrated with the economy. i mean, he has -- he has inroads here but he's got to capitalize them. >> thank you, ladies. appreciate your time this morning. so they hit texas with the roaring force of a dozen whirling freight trains. look at this. you know there could be more storms coming today.

a frightening swarm of twisters, grounding flights, knocking out power to thousand. some incredible damage all caught on camera. do you see what those are? tractor-trailer rig tossed in the air like styrofoam. no one died in all of this. but for survivors, the aftermath brings a mix of disbelief, gratitude and regret. >> this is ridiculous. my whole house gone. >> my wife could have been in the bedroom, as you see it's gone. my son could have been upstairs in his room that room is gone. >> it hit so quick you couldn't get out of its way. >> i don't know how you go on. i'm sure you will. look at this. there's not a wall. >> weather channel meteorologist eric fisher is live in forney, texas. it is amazing to see images captured on tape. it's like watching a movie but this is the real stuff.

this happened after at national weather service publicized a revamped tornado warning system. that is getting credit for help keeping people safe? >> reporter: not in this particular instance. the new national weather service warning system, that's going affect kansas and missouri, not l rolled out in texas. you've seen the picture, the destruction. i want to show you a closer view. we'll bring you inside. dennis wooten, a gentleman nice enough to let us see what happened to his moment. rewee bring you into the living room here. you can see the devastation. dennis is cleaning up as he speak. he and his dog sonny picking up pieces. notice the hole in the roof, insulation that came down into the main living area. what caught his eye when he pointed out to us look at the wall. right where it meets the seam where the ceiling is, newspapers somehow wedged in between the wall. one of those unexplained forces that you see as these tornadoes

touch down and come to people's homes. dennis wasn't here but his wife and daughter were here. they came down this hallway. normally his daughter, young girl, she'd be in her bedroom, right, hanging out, sitting on her bed. look above her bed. 2 x 4 blown right through the wall above the bed perhaps she normally would have been sitting. they didn't stay in the bedroom. mother saw the warn, brought her daughter across the way through the main bedroom which is not looking much better. you can see the extreme damage to the roof here, insulation all over the place, things blown around. mom took her into an entiinteri room, opened this door and went into the closet. you can see on the ground here they had blankets on top to shield them from anything that might be flying around. inside that closet you've got the clothes hanging right there on the rack. this is why we always say that interior room, it's strongly built. you have the most protection. you can't get underground, that's where you need to be. dennis isn't thrilled with the fact he has to rebuild his home.

we have no fatalities here or with any of the storms in north texas which is a minor miracle considering how many we saw and how strong they were. the national weather service is out right now, we'll know how strong they were, how many they were, how long they travelled. >> fast-acting, thinking by the mom to go straight to the closet. eric, thanks so much. >> we, the jury in the above entitled action fibe the defendant or then that james simpson not guilty of the crime of murder. >> remember when that happened? a lot of people disagreed with that verdict. according to a private investigator not end is simpson not guilty he could be innocent. plus the connection between george zimmerman and casey anthony. ♪ ♪ ♪ you do

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so history lesson rel v relevant today. 2006 a political nightmare for senator rick santorum. two-term senator who took it on a chin in the election that cast a dark shadow over his future in public service. now the former senator is pulling all of his chips into a pennsylvania pot, betting his political future his home state will deliver a win to slingshot him to more primary victories. philadelphia mayor, michael nutter vice president of the u.s. conference of mayors and joins me now. good to see you. you grew up in philadelphia and in the city council throughout rick santorum's time in washington, d.c. are there good memories of his political decision making? is he in real trouble with republican voters in state of p.a.? >> well, i'm born and raised, educated in philadelphia, been here my entire life. i do remember the senator's service. but ooh think now we're talking about the senator as a presidential candidate. the proposals and ideas that i

have heard and listened to him talk about during the course of the campaign, quite frankly, i cannot imagine being well-received in philadelphia and most of pennsylvania. president obama has laid out a plan for an america built to last and it's clear to me that whether it's senator santorum or governor romney, any of the republicans who are still running, that they're looking at an america designed to decline. these ideas are not the kind of things that people in philadelphia certainly all across pennsylvania, tremendously diverse state, quite frankly could deal with given our high unemployment levels, the challenges that the great recession has put forward. and the need for fairness, balanced approach, and an america where everyone gets a fair shot. >> mayor, i want to talk specifically the campaign rhetoric we're hearing about,

the economy, about unemployment right now, i want to be able to highlight some facts for everybody from the pew research initiative. specifically about philadelphia. your city has seen job growth over last two years but unemployment rate over 10% for the entire city in 2011. is your city that prime example that proves his point? >> not necessarily. actually, unemployment unfortunately was even higher just a couple of years ago. again, this is what the president walked into on day one. shortly after taking his hand down and being sworn in as president, you remember in january of 2009 we lost 700,000 jobs in that month when the president was sworn in. he walked into a very bad situation. our unemployment rate has steadily come down in philadelphia. so we are seeing signs of recovery. we've stabilized our finances here in the city of philadelphia

and i've had to make some tough choices just like the president is making tough choices now. but we didn't do it on the backs of those who are most vulnerable. we had a combined effort, a shared sacrifice of reducing budgetary expend sures which the president has put forward in his budget and i did have to raise taxes, notwithstanding the fact i've been one of leading tax cutters in the city government for almost all of my career. this is what you do, make tough decisions under the circumstances and i've not heard anything from any of the leading republican candidates that shows that kind of balanced approach or even that they're in touch with what middle class america is all about. >> mayor, when the president comes out and giving remarks panning the ryan budget, as we played earlier, he's going on the offense in a way that's potentially going to fire up the democratic base. does he risk alienating independent voters going on the attack instead of searching for middle ground? >> i think the president has

always demonstrated he has a balanced approach. he's not going to stan around and let other folks beat him up and not have a response. this is a time for leadership, not rhetoric. that's what president obama is doing. i applaud his efforts and support the approach that he has taken now. i think independents will come to the realization that a balanced approach, a fair approach, the fair shot that president obama has been talking about, is where most of middle class america really is. people want to know that everyone's playing by the same rules, that we're not going to balance the budget on the backs of those who can least afford it, those who are most vulnerable. think about some of the things proposed in the ryan budget. returning medicaid back to states, cutting financial aid for those going to cluj colle i. cutting 4500 agents from the fbi. that's insanity. it is what it is. and he's making the case to the american public as to reality,

not rhetoric. >> mayor of philadelphia, michael nutter. thanks for your time today. appreciate it. >> george zimmerman is preparing for a court battle though he is not charged in the death of florida teen trayvon martin. nbc has confirmed that the neighborhood watch volunteer has added a second attorney to his legal team, attorney with a connection to another high-profile florida case that of casey anthony acquitted in the murder of her daughter caylee. kerry sanders joins us. this is a big development, isn't it? >> reporter: it is, it suggests that the team representing zimmerman are preparing for what they believe will be a defense hal ulrig joins the defense team, known to people in central florida because he was one of the analysts on local television who commented during the casey anthony case, providing his expertise and insight to the legal process. he, himself, is a former police

officer, somebody who after he got his law degree continued to work for the gainesville police department as a legal adviser and then more recently has worked for the orange county sheriff's office as a legal adviser, somebody who understands because of his background not only what it is that a lawyer brings to the table but obviously when a police officer deals with on all sorts of cases including one like this. he did tell the local fox affiliate that george zimmerman did pass a voice stress test. he answered that question because he has not met george zimmerman face-to-face though he is now one of the two attorney. the other attorney, craig saunor say his, too, has not met george zimmerman. the reason they have not met him because they fear that bringing him out into the open could expose him to potential danger. thomas? >> kerry sanders for us in

sanford, thank you. coming up -- how much minorities are paying for the economic downturn now but even more so in the future. plus -- at least 90 people in 19 states have been sickened by sushi. we'll talk about that and much more after this. # all right, let's decide what to do about medicare and social security... security. that's what matters to me... me? i've been paying in all these years... years washington's been talking at us, but they never really listen... listen...it's not just some line item on a budget; it's what i'll have to live on... i live on branson street, and i have something to say... [ male announcer ] aarp is bringing the conversation on medicare and social security out from behind closed doors in washington.

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when bp made a commitment to the gulf, we knew it would take time, but we were determined to see it through. today, while our work continues, i want to update you on the progress: bp has set aside 20 billion dollars to fund economic and environmental recovery. we're paying for all spill- related clean-up costs. and we've established a 500 million dollar fund so independent scientists can study the gulf's wildlife and environment for ten years. thousands of environmental samples from across the gulf have been analyzed by independent labs under the direction of the us coast guard. i'm glad to report all beaches and waters are open for everyone to enjoy. and the economy is showing progress with many areas on the gulf coast having their best tourism seasons in years. i was born here, i'm still here and so is bp. we're committed to the gulf for everyone who loves it, and everyone who calls it home.

welcome back, everybody. today 2,000 yahoo! employs will be handed out severance packages on their way out of the building. the company's sixth in the past three years. the new cuts are the deepest yet. represent 14% of more than 14,000 employees working for yahoo! as we examine the impact of america's great recession, we're getting a better idea of how those dire financial times affected millions of americans especially minorities. according to the 2010 survey, nearly 40% of african-americans pulled money out of savings

during the downturn to make ends meet compared to 31% of white american. most startling is how many more blacks and hispanics used their 401(k)s to pay their bills a move that experts say caused both groups to slip further from long-term financial security. senator block a personal finance reporter for "usa today" and wrote about this. this is an interesting top to talk about, especially as we talk about 401(k)s, people operate under the assumption that money is socked away for a rainy day it stays there over time accrues interest and you retire with it. what makes dipping into the 401(k) a risky move during receipt session. >> it's risky any time. when you take money out of a 401(k) for whatever reason the irs is going to take a big chunk of it. you'll have to pay income taxes and probably early withdrawal penalty. that can eat up up to 30, even 40% of the amount that you took

out. that money's never coming back. you put eight permits dent in the amount of money your saving for retirement. >> the practice of dipping into called a hardship loan. look at borrowing statistics there is the despaisparity seen based on race. why that is? >> well, there's several theories and the most obvious one that is the unemployment rate was higher for minorities during a recession than whites. when people are unemployed, looking at choice between re keeping a roof over your head or saving for retirements you're going to pay bills. minorities were hit harder by the subprime mortgage meltdown and that meant me were more hikely to go into foreclosure and looking at ways to keep their homes. >> i want to go over prevention tips for everybody. we can get these back up on the screen. the five are don't treat your 401(k) like a bank, consider rollover pros and cons, pay attention to fees, resist urge to withdraw money and don't cash

out completely. sandra, as people do sometimes have to dip in and go with these hardship loans, the best thing to do is to really educate yourself and have that practical plan in place to reimburse yourself through this process, correct? >> that's right. and make the distinction between a withdrawal which is when you take the money out in a loan, a loan is preferable to a withdrawal as long as you pay it back. you are to have a plan to pay off that loan and think hard about whether you might lose your job because if you lose your job, then the loan becomes due immediately and a huge percentage of people, white and black, do default on their loans when they change jobs. >> "usa today" personal finance columnist, sandra block. texas residents are surveying damage done by tuesday's massive tornado outbreak. at the same time, forecasters are warning thousands across the southern plains to brace themselves for more danger. more bad weather as a new cluster of storms looms on the horizon.

weather channel meteorologist carl parker is in atlanta with the latest on the forecast. how bad can it be? >> there's not a lot on radar now. we could see nor severe weather. we don't any the tornado threat will be as high today as it was yesterday. i want to show you what's happening on the satellite picture. i big upper level low across the southern plains, warm and humid air feeding newspaper the system. some stabilization because of the complex of thunderstorms but the atmosphere will be primed for more storms later today. right now we're watching some storms along the northern gulf coast and a little bit of activity in indiana and illinois. but later today, things begin to fire up more towards the tennessee valley parts of mississippi, alabama, and down into louisiana, could also be severe storms along the stationary boundary in the carolinas. again, less of a tornado threat primarily it's going to be heavy rain, damaging winds and hail. we'll watch all of that move a little bit farther east during the day tomorrow. back to you. >> carl parker, thanks so much.

here's a look at other stories topping the news now for you. new details today on one goh, the man accused of shooting and killing seven people at a private university in oakland, california. a nursing instructor who knew the suspect says the south korean national had trouble dealing with people. the 43-year-old did get good grades but felt disrespected by his younger classmates and sometimes bragged he was quote capable of hurting people, expected to face charges from prosecutors today. 1,000 people gathered last night diring a memorial service for the victims. growing controversy today over a protest at santa monica college that ended with 30 demonstrators pepper sprayed by police. protesters were angry about a plan to offer some courses for four times the current price. police say students tried to push their way into a trustee's meeting tuesday which led to the altercation. we could learn more later when a news conference is expected to be held about what happened exactly there. right now a federal appeals court in boston is listening to

arguments over a law that deflies federal benefits to married gay couples. the federal defense of marriage act defines marriage as a uni with a man and a woman. a federal judge in massachusetts, the first state to legalize marriage equality, declared a key section of the law unconstitutional in 2010. tech rivals anal and microsoft are marrying up. asking the national organization for marriage and its supporters to boycott their companies. this follows the release of secret documents last week showing part of the organization's strategy to quote drive a wedge between blacks and gays on the issue of marriage equality. sushi may be the cause for salmonella, an outbreak that hasekened over 90 people across 19 states. speculation flagged to spicy tuna rolls but no claims confirmed. seven people have been

hospitalized so far. the maryland woman claiming to own a winning megamillions ticket will hole a press conference in an hour. she plans to discuss the controversy surrounding that tick that she says she purchased. wilson denying claims from co-workers that she purchased the tick with with money from an employee pool. maryland official says no one has stepped up to claim the prize. [ female announcer ] water was meant to be perfect. crisp, clear, untouched. that's why there's brita, to make the water we drink, taste a little more, perfect. reduce lead and other impurities with the advanced filtration system of brita. a little bird told me about a band...

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senator scott brown helped introduce both bills which received bipartisan backing. the massachusetts republican will attend both signing ceremonies and a rare showing of support for a democratic president in an election year. nbc's mike viqueira joins me from the white house on this. it's interesting, as we've been

talking about, you know the fact that we see -- never see bipartisan support coming out of d.c. but scott brown is going to appear in public with the president twice. >> reporter: a bill like this is an example of the old adage that success knows many fathers. we don't see a lot of that in washington this administration beginning with the stimulus and the health care bill, big bills were partisan bills right down the line. the stock act is an exception. looking live at the south court auditorium, across from where i'm standing on the white house complex in the iceisenhower executive building. the president will be signing the stock act, ban insider trading not just for members of congress but from the president as well, congressional staff. you might say to yourself, isn't insider trading illegal anyway? it certainly is but this sort of puts a point on things. this has been in the work for six or eight years, democrats have brought it up, republicans have brought it up. they were shamed into this in a

way because there have been reports throughout the media over the course of the last year of members of congress benefiting on the information they have that they are privy to, either as members of a committee or writing legislation, part of an investigation of a particular company or finance sector. so this sort of insider trading when you're privy to that information that will now be banned. as you mentioned it's going to be bipartisan support standing behind the president today when he signs that bill. >> mike, let's talk about this in on another aspect of things with eric cantor at the white house tomorrow for the signing of the jobs act which he helped push through this legislation. cantor and the president, they're not the best of friends, not besties. they've clashed over the debt limit debate last summer. is this the last time we will see this showing of support? getting it out of the way in the sprej. >> reporter: never say never. stranger things have happened.

congre with congressional approval levels at an all-time low, single digits, republicans and democrats might find ways to come together, republicans may take that initiative. republicans introduced this bill the president's signing today. >> thank you, sir. of course the stock act bill signing happening in 15 minutes. we have seen people take the stage already. we'll take you back there live if it happens before 11:55. what happened 17 year ago a moment in american legal history that few of us who watched this will every forget. a flashback for you. >> we, the jury in the above entitled action fine the defendant, orenthal james simpson, not guilty of the crime of murder, in violation of penal code section 187-a a felony upon nicole brown simpson. >> i know where i was when i heard that. the trial of the century and its verdict one of the most controversial ever, the defendant former football superstar and actor o.j. simpson

not guilty of killing his wife, nicole brown simpson, and ron goldman to this day. skeptics question that verdict and many suggest that o.j. simpson got away with murder. my next guest does not believe that is the case and he's written a book "o.j. is innocent and i can prove it." private investigator and author william deer join me now. this is a controversial book you spent 17 years putting together, personally investigating this case. what drove you to dedicate that much time to try to find out an answer that none of us know? >> first of all it was started off as i would check it out because of what my son said. i was speaking from the international council investigative reporters and editors during the car chase scene and i made the statement it's something concocted by o..y j.'s lawyers to get him off. my son said you're assuming he's guilty. i said nerve ar sver assume, al verify. i fly out, climbed over the

gate, walked the walkway, sat at the front door, looking at it i was intuitive, they said but i felt there was not a lot of evidence of what was being printed in the paper compared to what i was seeing firsthand. now i realize, 17 years later, i was wrong when i made that original statement. i stand with the position now that o.j. was at the crime scene but after the murders and he's been protecting someone all along. we have what we believe right here is the murder weapon, experts examined it the marking on the top of the hilt is fitting -- >> wait, mr. dear, hold that up. you say this is the mur weapon? >> we believe this is the murder weapon a replica of a double bladed knife. wax has been poured in. compared to the laceration of the top of nicole's skull it fit

perfect one dr. dimaio feels in all probability what i'm showing you here today is the murder weapon. >> why isn't this in the hands of police? why haven't you turned over what you believe is material evidence, corroborated by experts in the field? why isn't this in the hands of police to reopen an investigation? where did you get it? >> it was put into a storage facility. in that facility was also these diaries that belong to our suspect. in addition to that a photograph of him wearing the knit cap that was found at the crime scene. we have attempted, on more than one occasion, as you'll see in the book, everything documented in the book, 522 pages, but everything that we're saying has in fact been documented, and we attempted to meet with them on a number of occasions and they refuse. >> you keep saying him. who is the suspect? who did you go after in terms of the evidence? who were you going after? >> o.j.'s son, jason lamar simpson, 24 at the time, 5'11", 235, he was on probation at the

time for assaulting his previous employer with a knife. checked into cedars-sinai hospital weeks prior to the murder. never interviewed bit los angeles police department. >> mr. dear, he was never named a suspect from the beginning. we have reached out to jason for a comment. his phone is not activated right now. what makes you so sure that you're not going to be facing major lawsuits for defamation out of this? >> everything i have is documented. we have his diaries. we have what we believe to be the murder weapon. we have the evidence in the hair. we have him wearing that knit cap and the fact that the socks that were at the foot of o.j.'s bed. >> explain to everybody, mr. dear, how did you get all of this material and are you willing to turn it over to police? >> i've been willing for a long period of time. we met with the attorney general about three years ago, his staff, who elated over what we uncovered and for some unknown reason it certainly -- in other words they asked us hold this

for several weeks, we'll get back with you, don't get if touch with lapd, we'll help you. five weeks later we receive a letter that said case closed, not interested. >> explain how did you get this stuff, mr. dear? >> it was put into a public storage in los angeles. he failed to make the payments, an individual bought it contacted us, we purchased it, and as a result we have that information including the vehicle our suspect was driving on the night of june 12th. >> private investigator and author william c. dear. sir, thanks for joining me. appreciate it. it's fascinating to this about this. 17 years ago. if you want to read more, check out his book which is in stores this week. the trayvon martin shooting is putting the stand your ground law in a white hot spotlight. florida's governor want the task force that he put together to hold off for now. a state senator said that's not enough. he's doing something about it. plus, how $5 foot long could

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happening right now on the grounds of the white house. so we've got two different shot there's. this one shows you the dramatic images up close. as you can see, a lot of people there are a lot of people on the ground to the right with their yellow and orange hazmat vests on trying to figure out how they can get this under control. this came in minutes ago. a water main break on the white house grounds. hopefully they'll get it under control shortly. no cause. we have no word on what was the cause of that the break. a florida state senator establishes a task force to review that state's stand your ground law. the move prompted by frustration over what he has called the florida governor's stalling over the law at the center of the shooting death of teen trayvon martin at the hands of a neighborhood watch volunteer, george zimmerman. christopher smith joins me this morning to talk more about this. it's good to have you here. you have gone out flat out to an excuse the governor scott of

stalling. he established a task force on this but said it should wait till the martin investigation was complete in his words to make sure that justice prevails first. why do you feel that florida can't wait for that? >> well, as you see, we've had this law on the books since 2005. and there were many instances and questionable instances before trayvon martin's case. my fear is that there could be more subsequent to this case. as you know, investigations can take a long time and so to say we're going to wait for the investigation to end before we act, there could be a lot more instances with the light that's been shed on this law by trayvon martin case, we don't know the about the copycats that may come about, that people misinterpreting this law may take matters into their own hands in other parts of the state. now is not the time to wait. now is the time to act so we can set the parameters of a civilized society in florida. >> you make a good point about that, especially what the law is about. so you rowet to florida's

governor about stand your ground saying it is about confusion or about the confusion on the part of the public law enforcement and our judicial system and the haphazard application of that law. floridians backed this law in 2005 and sits implementation. now obviously, it's flawed. you're worried about the fact that people can use this as a, you know, a get out of jail free card. what changes do you think specifically need to happen to this law? >> well, i think we really need to address the aggressor part of the law. it's come into play in the trayvon martin case but in other cases, a case i cite is two weeks ago in miami, a man was sitting in his house, saw someone stealing his car radio, went outside, chased the robber for a full city block and when the robber turned and swung the bag at him, he stabbed the man to death. that case was dismissed on the stand your ground law. so it's being used in a lot of other instances. i think we need to flush out if

you are the aggressor, can you truly avail yourself of this? we don't need people putting themselves in a fight and then availing themselves of this law. >> florida state senator christopher smith, thanks for your time today. i appreciate it. we're going to be right back after this. [ male announcer ] this is lois. the day starts with arthritis pain... a load of new listings... and two pills. after a morning of walk-ups, it's back to more pain, back to more pills. the evening showings bring more pain and more pills. sealing the deal... when, hang on...

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welcome back, everybody. as promised want to show you the live pictures from the south court auditorium of the white house where president obama is expected any second to sign the stock act into law. this bill makes it clear that members of congress, the executive branch as well as the judiciary are subject to the same insider trading laws that apply to you and me. republican senator scott brown is also going to be there for this signing. with me is alex wagner, the host of "now." as we've been watching this and talking about it with mike viqueira, this is a sign of bipartisanship to dem mon straight to americans they can put their heads together and get things done. >> like a unicorn in the east room. yes, it is a rare sign of bipartisanship. whether this really does sort of clean up washington and drain the swamp as we've heard so many times before i think remains tbd. it is a good thing democrats and republicans were able to work

together on this although there was serious back and forth between the house and senate just how wide the scope of this act. >> you know, and tomorrow, not to go with what have you done for me lately. we haven't gotten this thing signed into law yet. but tomorrow the president signs a bill that allows startup companies to raise up to $1 million online in small increments. >> vice president joe biden for being here. and we are joined by members of both parties in congress who helped to get this bill to my desk. so i'm very grateful to them. i want to recognize congresswoman louise slaughter and wish her a speedy recovery. she broke her leg yesterday so she can't be here in person. i think she'll be okay. but she first introduced the stock act income 2006, and i know how proud she is to see

this bill that she championed finally become law. lately, i've been talking a lot about the choices facing this country. we can settle for a country that and an economy where a shrinking number of people do exceedingly well while a growing number struggle to get by or we can build an economy where everybody gets a fair shot. everybody's doing their fair share. and everybody plays by the same set of rules. and that last part, the idea that everybody plays by the same rules is one of our most cherished american values. it goes hand in hand with our fundamental belief that hard work should pay off. and responsibility should be rewarded. it's the notion that the powerful shouldn't get to create one set of rules for themselves and another set of rules for everybody else. and if we expect that to apply to our biggest corporations and to our most successful citizens, it certainly should apply to our elected officials.

especially at a time when there's a deficit of trust between the city and the rest of the country. and that's why in my state of the union i asked members of the house and sa the senate to send me a bill that bans insider trading by members of congress and i said i would sign it right away. well, today, i am happy to say legislators from both parties have come together to do just that. the act makes it clear that if members of congress use nonpublic information to gain an unfair advantage in the market, then they are breaking the law. it creates new disclosure requirements and new measures of accountability and transparency for thousands of federal employees. that is a good and necessary thing. we were sent here to serve the american people. and look out for their interests. not to look out for our own interests. so i'm very proud to sign this bill into law. i should say that our work isn't done. there's obviously more that we

can do to close the deficit of trust and limit the corrosive influence of money and politics. we should limit any elected officials from owning stocks in stis that they have the power to impact. make sure people who bundle campaign contributions for congress can't lobby congress and vice versa. these are ideas that should garner bipartisan support. they certainly have wide support outside of washington, and it's my hope that we can build off today's bipartisan effort to get them done. in the months to come, we're going to have plenty of debates over competing visions for this country that we all love. whether or not we invest in the things that we need to keep our country safe and to grow our economy so that it's sustained and lasting, whether or not we'll ask some of our wealthiest americans to pay their fair share, how we're going to make sure that america remains the land of opportunity and upward mobility for all people who are