office? >> well, we have only heard what you know, which is that 72 hours started ticking yesterday, and there is an air of anticipation and perhaps a noticeable coincidence of the plan for a news conference just in a few hours with the family with that anticipation of potentially hearing from the special prosecutor. of course it would be expected that the special prosecutor would extend a courtesy to the attorneys, to the families, probably just moments before notifying everybody else that a news conference is going to be announced and sort of the timetable on that. when we get the go word on that, we'll have about three hours to scramble. the news conference if it is today could can happen in sanford. it could also happen in jacksonville. angela corey, the special prosecutor, is the elected state attorney in duval county in jacksonville. she was appointed by the governor about 20 plus days ago

now to look into the circumstances surrounding this after the state attorney here in seminole county chose not to bring charges in the case. >> we heard trayvon martin's parents ask for calm no matter the decision or the announcement made by angela corey. i am curious after the stun ago nouns meant from the men representing george zimmerman, so far have we heard of anyone stepping forward saying they're his attorneys now or is there silence on that end? >> it was such a strange occurrence that took place there for a lot of reasons. one, just that the attorneys chose to make that announcement the way they did at a news conference and second of all, as one lawyer just point out to me a short time ago, they had lost contact with their client for about 24 hours, and this attorney was saying that is not a reason to panic, just 24 hours, but as you heard, the attorneys said that they had

lost contact, they had never met him face-to-face, always been a matter of cell phone calls, text messages, e-mails, and when they just sort of stopped happening and there was the radio silence out there, they said in combination with the fact that the special prosecutor indicated to them that george zimmerman had reached directly out to the special prosecutor and florida f x as well as for several technical reason that is would happen in court, she did not talk directly to him and interview him. he had been exercising his right to remain silent, and that was on the advice of his attorneys. reaching out and talking directly to angela corey, had they had a conversation, could have created a situation where he told her something that then would be thrown out later in court because he didn't have an attorney with him. i am kind of like anxiously looking at my blackberry here because we will all be notified at the same time by e-mail. that could happen now.

it could happen tomorrow. i am sort of while i am with you on the air here wondering whether we're going to get notification from the special prosecutor's communications office to tell us that indeed something is indeed set up and what time it is going to happen and where. >> kerrkerry, we're all in the situation waiting to hear from angela corey. let me talk about what happened with attorney general eric holder. he spoke out for the first time on camera pledging a thorough investigation into trayvon martin's death. >> i can assure you that in this investigation and in all cases we will examine the facts and the law. if we find evidence of a potential federal criminal civil rights crime, we will take appropriate action, and at every step the facts and the law will guide us forward. >> joining me now michael smirkno f f and kendall coffee.

thank you for joining me. i want to clarify with the attorney general this is a parallel investigation into whether or not trayvon martin's civil rights were violated, not this criminal investigation that's happening, but, kendall, let me start with you. we're waiting here and this word can come any second from angela corey. we have a news conference expected from the family, another one, second one for the day, at 5 p.m. eastern time. you also have this issue of george zimmerman. let me play quickly, kendall, what his attorney said this morning on the today show recording george zimmerman's whereabouts in all of this. >> i don't believe he is a flight risk. he is not in the area. i can't disclose where he is. he is where he won't be found. he is in contact with fdle. if it becomes necessary to turn himself in, i believe he will do it. i don't believe he will flee the country. >> we don't know if he will be required to turn himself in, if he is going to be charged.

what do you make of the situation and i hate to use the word strangest because we're talking about the loss of life as we heard the martin family say but what do you make of these developments? >> it is so extraordinary. you kind of run out of words that his attorneys would be saying to the whole nation that their client is basically hiding. obviously if in fact zimmerman is in touch with fdle and prepared to cooperate with whatever the decision of angela corey is, that's a big plus factor and could do him a whole lot of good in the event charges are brought. as we know, one of the things that's considered evidence of guilt is taken off, hiding. up to now his attorneys are saying he is hiding from the press, he is hiding from hostile strangers and third parties. if it becomes even remotely suggested that he is hiding from law enforcement, whatever his problems are, are going to get a lot bigger. >> and, michael, i know you have strong opinions on so much related to this case. i am curious your take on how these attorneys for george zimmerman handled that news

conference, bringing up his mental state of mind, that he had spoken off the record to sean hannety despite them urging him to stay silent. >> i was shocked by the media availability and the things they said and i think there are ethical issues raised by that which they offered about their client's state of mind. tamron, i put these events together and we're all just trying to read the tea leaves, but i put together the 72-hour notification and them coming forward and saying we are not representing him, and i can't help but wonder do they think that an indictment is imminent and are they concerned about their ability to produce their client and is that why they decided they were going to get out now? >> john, we know that george zimmerman's father was a judge and to everyone's point, if you are charged or possibly facing charges, why would you ever attempt to reach a prosecutor without your representation present and aware of this? when you look at all of this and knowing that his father has a

legal background, to michael's point, we're reading tea leaves but you're an experienced attorney, have you seen difficult clients, clients that might be afraid but what do you make of the actions here? >> i think he is out of control and appreciate the various limitations that he has as a potential defendant. he cannot and defendants do this. they think they can talk their way out of things. all they really do is talk their way in and so from my point of view he basically doesn't want to follow his lawyer's advice and thinks he can talk his way out of it like he thinks he has a right to do what he did. for me it only goes to his mental state and might be setting up a defense with this person and because of the bizarre behavior and i wouldn't rule that out and like everyone else i thought the defense counsels were out of their league, should not have done what they did, unless they ultimately had a conflict in terms of statements made and even that you don't expose that to the public and talk about things your client said to you and confidential. >> those attorneys responded to

some of the criticism you laid out regarding your actions in the news conference. let me play what they had to say. >> george had contacted the prosecutor's office directly. one of the things every defense attorney tells his client is don't talk to the prosecutors. don't talk to the cops. frankly, don't talk to anybody until we get control of the situation and do it through counsel. we're a bit astonished. >> he went on to say they absolutely stand by everything up to this point and they say that they acted within the guidelines but, kendall, this 72-hour notice from angela corey to kerry sanders point, everyone is looking at the blackberrys, people following the story glued to television or social media to hear the word. to me that ramps up the anticipation, the anxiety for lack of a better description. why do you believe she announced it would be 72 hours as opposed to today or what about this length, what seems to be drawn out here? >> i think she wanted to give herself a little bit of room in

case something happened, and we don't know what that something might have been. >> what is she looking for room -- help me understand what you mean by that, room from what? >> maybe george zimmerman has an attorney who calls and says let me bring him in. he is going to talk to you, he will open up and justify this. i am just pointing to possibilities, tamron. i think the bottom line is when the announcement went out yesterday she intended most likely to have a press conference sometime today. we may be surprised by what happens. nevertheless, if i were in her position i would want to give myself a little flexibility. what if, what if, what if. there is so much happening. this case has taken on a life of its own. to give herself room in case there was something and in the ensuing hours makes sense to me. >> what is the tick tok here? does she call the martin family and let them know the decision and if george zimmerman has an

attorney he hires in the next several hours, would the call be made to that attorney and then the public made aware meaning the media and the public? >> that's exactly what i think the protocol would be. she is very victim oriented. i think the first folks outside law enforcement team handling this are going to be notified are going to be the victim's family. we say alleged victims up to now. additionally, of course, she would then want to contact whoever is representing george zimmerman, if anybody, and it might be that as we're speaking fdle agents are in the process of trying to locate the guy, trying to effect whatever might be a voluntary surrender or other form of process but she is victim oriented and will start out notifying the alleged victim's family. >> i always like to point out you talk with people all day on your radio show from across the country heard. you heard trayvon martin's family and the attorney say whatever the decision and this family is believing in prayer and they're believing in the justice system working its

course in this situation. what are you hearing regarding the anxiety and the worry of whatever the announcement is and how this feeds into the emotions with this case right now? >> i just discussed this case for a solid hour, had phone calls from all across the country and what distresses me, tamron, the number of people that think they know what went on here and it is almost as if they're cheering for a particular outcome instead of cheering for a full factual discussion to now be made, and i want the facts to come out and justice to follow the facts, whatever those facts might be. >> michael, thank you very much. john burr, kendall coffee, great having you on thank you. >> mitt romney claims women have accounted for 92% of the job losses since president obama took office. that's the number that the romney campaign is tossing around. our first read team did fact checking and we have the entire story on the numbers. plus, the eyes of the world are

on north korea. we have got new comments from the white house condemning the north as the country says it is moving ahead with the plan to launch that rocket as early as tomorrow. join our conversation on my twitter page @tamronhall. ♪ you are my sunshine, my only sunshine ♪ ♪ you make me happy [ female announcer ] choose the same brand your mom trusted for you. children's tylenol, the #1 brand of pain and fever relief recommended by pediatricians and used by moms decade after decade. introducing gold choice. the freedom you can only get from hertz to keep the car you reserved or simply choose another. and it's free. ya know, for whoever you are that day. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz.

to politics and the question of when and where rick santorum may perhaps endorse mitt romney now that santorum has dropped out of the republican presidential race. at issue, how does santorum walk back a lot of negative things he said about romney during the campaign. >> he doesn't have a core. he has been on both sides of almost every single issue in the past ten years. >> if they're going to be

different, we stay with what we have instead of taking a risk what may not etch-a-sketch candidate for the future. >> he presented the blueprint for obama care and advocated it for exactly what obama care did. he is uniquely disqualified. >> he is the worst republican in the country to put up against barack obama. >> joining me, the communications direct wheror for the santorum campaign. you were on live when this was coming down and broke the news that mitt romney reached out and wanted a meeting with mr. santorum. what's the latest on that? >> we're still trying to find a time and place. >> how hard is it? he suspended his campaign. >> it is not hard. romney has a vigorous campaign schedule as you skpn we have to work it out and let rick have down time and relax and recoup and i am sure we will get something done. >> i don't know if i buy that. i know then dorsment would be very important for romney just from the list of things we heard

rick santorum say. steve wrote this, he is a genuine movement candidate, far more clekd i'd logically than romney was in '08 and regards the way romney secured the nomination as unfair and dishonorable. if romney felt wronged by mccain's treatment of him in '08, he never showed it publicly. santorum is powered by very specific republicans who mitt romney needs to be enthusiastic. he need your guy. so the story that they can't blend schedules, i don't know. >> i am not saying they can't blend schedules. we had a call yesterday. we had let's get something together. this was 24 hours ago. >> that's a lifetime in politics. >> that's right, that may not case, but it is going to be awhile and i am sure they will get together. there is no doubt. rick santorum obviously struck a nerve out there with the base, and you need an energized base. we said that. rick was adamant about having a group of folks excited that could crawl across the broken glass if you will and get out

and support somebody and rick instilled that in a lot of people. i am sure he would love rick's endorsement and we'll have the conversation sooner or later but the whole thing is about defeating barack obama. that's been the goal from the get-go and i am sure rick will work some things out with mitt and move forward. >> what do they need to work out? mitt romney, if it is true, this etch-a-sketch theory, and senator santorum, a man of great conviction, especially on social issues, he said mitt romney is the worst conservative. how do you walk back all that far? do you wrap up an etch-a-sketch as a christmas gift? what do you do? >> it is not about walking it back. these campaigns are brutal and bloody. >> he meant those words. >> no doubt about it. i am sure if governor romney will secure the nomination, in all likelihood, he will, then he will want -- rick will hopefully be able in a position to be able to say you need to push forward and make good on the promises that you pledged in the

campaign, and i think rick santorum can hold his feet to the fire and hopefully governor romney will come through and push the policies. >> i would love to talk more. we have breaking news i am being told regarding the trayvon martin case. pete williams is standing by, i believe, with the -- do we have pete there? what's the latest? >> we're told by a law enforcement official that georgia prosecutor has decided to pursue criminal charges against george zimmerman and it will be announced sometime this afternoon quite late this afternoon. we don't know what precise form the charges will take, but this comes after the prosecutor had already indicated that she would be making a statement sometime in the next day or so and we were in the timeframe she originally announced would be the period during which she would make an announcement. she had a considerable gamut of choices between no charges or the charges could take the form

and i don't know what they will be but obviously you have to assume it could be as simple as assault. it could be some charge related directly to the killing, manslaughter, negligent homicide, a number of choices the prosecutor has. we know one, of course, the prosecutor doesn't have, because she has chosen not to use a grand jury and can't bring first degree murder charges because under the florida constitution someone can be charged with first degree murder only if they are first indicted by a grand jury. it is always possible further down the road a grand jury can be panelled and other charges pursued. what we now know or been told by law enforcement officials is that the florida prosecutor will announce today that authorities there are going to pursue some kind of criminal charges against george zimmerman for the trayvon martin case. >> okay. pete, thank you. let me bring in kendall coffey,

and we have john burrs. we cannot get ahead of ourselves. we know with the grand jury first degree murder off the table as a result of the florida constitution, but what do you believe is the likely process ahead or likely charges and again i preface this by saying with great concern, i don't want anyone to get ahead of themselves, but we know that he will be charged with something. >> we're hearing there will be charges brought. i would not expect murder to be charged. could be the most extreme charge that happens in these kind of scenarios is second degree murder, but i think if charges are brought more likely looking at manslaughter which is a second degree felony in florida, up to 15 years, and also charges including assault and battery with a deadly weapon that would logically be included. keep in mind there is a lot of -- a very big procedural difference in this kind of case

than others in florida, and that is if they seek -- if he is charge and had if he then seeks to invoke immunity of stand your ground, there is a judicial determination which could shut down the prosecution entirely based on immunity. if a judge were to determine by a preponderance of evidence that george zimmerman could establish his defense of self-defense under the stand-your-ground law. >> kendall, what kind of information do you believe was before the special prosecutor here? what do you believe that angela corey was looking at? with medical records he know some witnesses were saying they were not spoken to by the sanford police even though they said she had versions of the story as far as what they believe they saw or what they saw and in reality here and when do you believe likely was in front of this woman she was examining? >> i think her three weeks was probably one of the most exhaustive three weeks investigation in the history of florida.

what she really had to be able to focus on is can she move that george zimmerman's account is a lie? does she have forensic evidence? are there independent witnesses, 911 tapes that will in fact sufficiently contradict george zimmerman so if he is charged and if he takes the stand, which he almost assuredly would have to do in a self-defense case, would she be able to show that whether or not the voice of trayvon martin is forever silenced, youice of george zimm? >> john, let me bring you in. you took on the oakland police department and won, a lot of the focus rightfully on how the sanford police department handled this. the lead investigator said at the time that manslaughter charges should have been pursued. that was not the case. what happened behind the scenes is part of this unfolding story and nonetheless you have this special prosecutor stepping in and going against the seven and a half hour investigation from sanford police at the time of this shooting.

>> i think the issue about what the police did or did not do will not become relevant significantly in the criminal case. at best it is really up to the prosecution now to go back and probably have everything that was supposed to have been done has now been done and that evidence, whatever it is, will now be used in the criminal case. die think it is entirely correct that this is a case they have to disprove mr. zimmerman's story and that's going to be based upon all the stuff the police did not do at the outset, but what they didn't do is not necessarily evidence of this person's guilt in this particular case f it was a civil rights case, that might be but not in this particular case. it is really what did this prosecutor find and what could she use to support her theory and i think it will be manslaughter. i don't think it is a murder case up front. the circumstances look like it is a fight, potential fight, and he use the more force than necessary under the circumstances. >> to that point, if she is looking at the evidence, we know the video examined, it has been

enhanced, debated, whether or not george zimmerman had a broken nose and what he said was this gash or his attorneys said a gash on the back of his head. is it also likely that angela corey had to look at the police report at the medical report? he know that emt people arrived on the scene and the information at least that we have had access to indicates that they were obviously more concerned with the person who was dead on the ground and not these injuries allegedly sustained by george zimmerman. >> obviously it is true. they have to look to see what evidence was gathered at the time, whether it was gathered correctly or not and how it should have been, but she has been able to go back because the emt people, they had to write a report and there are also reports written by the police. you have to look at all of these particular reports, particularly those in the police to determine what statements they obtain and had whether you can trust those individual statements and that's all part of cross-examination. from her point of view, what she is looking to see, frankly, this

man was the aggressor and as a consequence of the aggressive can he then assert a self defense when he in fact was the aggressor and he had the gun. the other person did not. i think that's how she ultimately sees this case when you evaluate it along with the tapes and stuff of that kind that you can get information from. >> kendall, let me bring in one last question. we'll go to a quick break. what would have been at least from the information we have and we do not have everything here, but from your seasoned experience as a prosecutor in that state, what do you believe was the sticking point here to charge george zimmerman? >> i think she has two things that match up. george zimmerman's own 911 tape basically is established he was in pursuit of trayvon martin. then you have got from the girlfriend of trayvon martin and there could be a fight as to whether her account of what trayvon said is admissible or not, but she matches it up in the sense that trayvon martin was clearly the person being

pursued. i think when you have a guy with a gun pursuing a guy who dent have a gun and the guy with the gun kills the other guy, it can add up to prosecution for manslaughter. >> nbc news is confirming that criminal charges will be filed against george zimmerman 44 days after the shooting death of trayvon martin. we will continue our coverage. we'll go to a quick break and be right here for you with more news on this. i'm freaking out man. why? i thought jill was your soul mate. no, no it's her dad. the general's your soul mate? dude what? no, no, no. he's, he's on my back about providing for his little girl. hey don't worry. e-trade's got a totally new investing dashboard. everything is on one page, your investments, quotes, research... it's like the buffet last night. whatever helps you understand man. i'm watching you. oh yeah? well i'm watching you, watching him. [ male announcer ] try the new 360 investing dashboard at e-trade. i'm michael bazinet, president of creative digital imaging of bangor, maine.

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try zyrtec® for powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin® because it starts working faster on the first day you take it. zyrtec®. love the air. we ton continue to follow breaking news out of florida, the special prosecutor overseeing the trayvon martin investigation decided to file criminal charges against george zimmerman, her announcement to come officially a little bit later. let's go to kerry sanders in florida. we were told the media would get a three-hour heads up when the news conference was to take place and the news leaked out earlier than that. >> it has indeed. so now we're waiting and lots of

folks waiting for the official word, but as we're waiting for the official word i think that one of the things that will sort of be curious to folks is if they have been following the story closely, especially in the last 24 hours, they know that his legal team dropped out in a very unusual press conference and during that press conference they actually said that they had decided what they were going to do was remove themselves because not only did they not have contact with their client, but they didn't know where their client was and then they said their client left the state. now, that raised all sorts of questions, especially to trayvon martin's family and attorneys who were concerned that if charges came, would they be able to find him to charge him or is he effectively turning into somebody who is if he is charged a fugitive? so i have reached out to my state law enforcement sources with the florida department of law enforcement and while there was panic created, i can tell you that the florida department of law enforcement is not

panicked at all. there is a fair amount of calm about where george zimmerman is and there is an effective number of ways that just any sort of law enforcement officer could have to track somebody's movements even if they weren't following him and among those tools that are in the arsenal, remember, that we heard from the former attorneys that george zimmerman had reached out to angela corey, the special prosecutor, on his phone, on his cell phone. while it takes some expertise to work with the phone company and it does require law enforcement to get a warrant, phones actually can be tracked gps, so it could be pinging and that's why they're somewhat confident and it is also possible a common technique used by law enforcement is put a tracking device on a car. if it were to be hooked up, for instance, to the car battery, they would need a law enforcement warrant from a judge to do that, but if it is something openly output on the

bumper, that maybe you would walk by your car and not notice, they may be tracking him that way. in other words, there is a lot of different ways they can track him. at the end of the day they're very confident that they do not need to worry about where george zimmerman is. >> that's very interesting, kerry, to your point, they could track him. we know that he may not have returned the phone calls, text messages and e-mails from the attorneys which they point out. he has been in contact with people in at least one friend in that gated community where he lived. with that said, you know, kerry, again, not to be an alarmist, they may have known his whereabouts at the time but do they know where he is right now? you can get in your car and leave if you know that charges are going to be filed against you. his attorneys have questioned -- hang on. his attorneys have questioned his state of mind. we don't know anything about that other than what his attorneys have indicated, trayvon martin's family, as you point out, kerry, expressed great concern that this man

could be a flight risk. >> all i can say is speaking to sources, they're not as concerned and they're not hyperventilating and they feel confident. one of the things if you want to consider just sort of the scenario of politics at play here, nothing would be worse than for the special prosecutor to have been working hand-in-hand with the florida department of law enforcement to have done this 20-day plus investigation, reached a conclusion, and then decided that she is going to make an announcement and if it is correct, that we believe there will be from federal law enforcement officers that pete williams has spoken to, there are going to be charges. i think they want everything buttoned up before they made the announcement. >> kerry, i know at least one message is coming out from the politics nation team of course, reverend al sharpton show, that angela corey could be holding this news conference that we're

anticipating around 6 p.m. eastern time. that's at least one of the tweets coming out from politics nation. we know that the reverend al sharpton is in washington, d.c. with the national action network, his organization, and he was with the martin family there. do we know any more regarding this timeline, kerry? >> here is what i would say. if the information is correct and it would be a natural courtesy that the special prosecutor would indeed advise benjamin crump, their attorney, and in turn them about this, perhaps a little before us, if that was indeed the case, then i think that we are 25 minutes away from getting official word if that information is correct. that would give us what we were told, a three-hour warning shot of when there is going to be this news conference. >> thank you, kerry. a lot of moving parts. if kerry can stick around, that would be fantastic. i want to go back to the scene in new york. with he have michael blum berg

and members of the naacp talking about the stand-your-ground law and the fact that more than 20 other states have similar laws that they're referring to as second chance on shoot first. let's listen in. >> succeed in pushing the bill through the legislature over the objections of leading police and law enforcement leaders. since then the nra managed to spread this law to 24 other states telling legislators this would make their communities safer. it didn't turn out that way. we now have the data to prove it. in reality, the nra leaders weren't interested in public safety. they were interested in promoting culture where people take the law into their own hands and face no consequences for it. call it by its real name, villageal ant at theism. they have under mine the integrity of the justice system and have some confusion in police departments about when to

make arrests. they made it more difficult for prosecutors to bring charges in cases of deadly violence and the stand your ground states have seen a major increase in justifiable homicides. these laws have not only made our -- have not made our country safer. they have made us less safe. that's why so many law enforcement leaders oppose these laws. it is why some legislators who voted for these laws are having second thoughts. it is why today we're launching a nationwide campaign urging legislators to take these steps. reform or repeal these laws where they have been passed or defeat them in states where they have been introduced. the fact is all americans already have a right to defend themselves with commensurate force but these shoot first laws have nothing to do with that or the exercise of second amendment rights. instead, they justify civilian gun play and invite vigilante

justice with disastrous results. the strongest law of all is one that is never on the books, the law of unintend the consequences. stand-your-ground laws prove that's true and demonstrated by the widely reported increase in what are deemed justifiable homicides and stand your ground states. look what happened in three major states during comparable periods before and after stand your grounds passed. before stand-your-ground laws became law in florida, the state averaged 12 cases of justifiable homicide per year. since the law was passed, the average has been 36, three times higher. pre-stand your ground georgia averaged 7 a year and since 14 a

year and texas averaged 26 the year before passing a stand-your-ground law and since the law passed, the average has been 45 per year. no matter how the state of florida investigates into the shooting -- >> we're listening to the mayor of new york city joined by a number of leaders in washington, d.c. who want to see the stand-your-ground laws in 24 other states, including florida, to be over turned. in the meanwhile, let me bring in reverend al sharpton, head of the national action network, and we saw you with the martin family. let me first get your reaction what you know about these charges that are coming down against george zimmerman. >> we're waiting to see if there is a confirmation. we have not heard anything as of yet officially. the family and the attorneys are waiting. it is 44 days. we are hopeful there is in fact a confirmation he will be charged, but we want to see what he will be charged with and in

fact if he has been located. so i think that clearly those of us that just wanted to see probable cause exercise and an arrest would see this as something that is what we wanted, but we are cautious because again we want to see what it means in terms of the charges and whether or not they have located where he is, so we are hopeful but prayerful and rule with the family and we're waiting for confirmation. >> what was their reaction when the news broke that george zimmerman would be charged? >> they wanted to know if it was official, and they said let's wait and see exactly what it is and you have to remember these parents have gone through a tremendous ordeal that is unlikely, the shock of having your son killed, and then no one arrested, the shock of being ignored and then all of a sudden

when the attorney crump reached out and to get all of this national attention, so they have gone through a roller coaster, and i think that they're just making sure this is not just another ride but that this is some real kind of beginning of a process of justice, so i don't think that at this point they're that high or that low, waiting to see because they have seen so much and put their faith in god that something will happen, and maybe the beginning will be today but let's be clear. even if he is charged today, he we now have to go through arain meant and trial and see where it will go. it is still a long ordeal either way. >> we heard tracy martin, reverend, with you at that podium just a short time ago talk about how he walked into ben crump's office and pleaded with him to hear the story of his son and pleaded with him to represent the family because they wanted the answers that

anyone would deserve regarding their child. >> exactly right. i think that was the real heartfelt statement of him pleading. here is a man pleading for someone to pay attention to his son, and the attorney crump and attorney parks, of course, they will arrest him and when it occurred to them they were not going to get an arrest and the police chief at the time announced officially they were not going to arrest him, that's when they reached out to us and we got involved. a lot of people say you get the case and there was no case and when they reached out we never heard about it. we came in to try to raise public attention because it was unthinkable to many of us that you're telling me that this young man was unarmed and no crime and not even an arrest, and i think that when you heard

the passion and the real kind of urgency in the voice of tracy and telling that story, a lot of people understand this has never been about anything anything other than what is just from them and that's what was so compelling to many of that is got involved. >> al sharpton, right no you with trayvon martin's family. reverend, thank you so much. let me go back to kendall coffey real quick. we just heard the reverend say the family is waiting to hear from the special prosecutor here. as you pointed out, the usual process would be to contact the family and then obviously whom ever would be representing george zimmerman or george zimmerman if he is representing himself and they have not heard anything. does that concern you? >> no, it doesn't. i think what i would expect this special prosecutor intended to let them know probably shortly before she announced to the public and as we know happens in a case like this, tamron, word god out somehow, so i don't think it is surprising that they

haven't yet heard officially from the special prosecutor. given that the word is out it might accelerate her decision to let them know and if all events we're waiting for just as the family is i think we all want to see if there is indeed an he on official confirmation and we want to know what the actual charges would be. >> kendall, would it be likely scenario to play out, she comes out and makes the announcement and would angela corey perhaps give us a better idea of what evidence she reviewed that brought her to the conclusion of whatever charges that are eventually revealed to the public? >> i think she would probably be very careful about detailing a lot of evidence for this reason. there are issues about pretrial publicity affecting the right of a criminal defendant in this country. let's face it. he has already been tried and convicted in some parts of public opinion and i think she wants to be pretty circumstance couple spekt and keep in mind if charges are brought all of a

sudden the public records act opens up virtually all the prosecution investigative file. in following that prsz of florida's public records act, the media will have access to the information quickly anyway. my guess is she has been very judicious, very professional about this matter throughout, and that will continue to see more of that with whatever amouns meant she makes. >> what kind of arrangements are likely happening behind the scenes to have george zimmerman turn himself in? the attorneys he once had are no longer with him and indicated at the end of last week if he was in fact charged he was ready to turn himself into the police department, the authorities, necessary folks there. how does that work? >> hopefully that's still the case. i would say this. i don't know when the hour began. zimmerman as of right now i am sure is under surveillance by whoever the local police authorities are, wherever he may be. don't know how long he has been, but once it is clear that especially once it is clear charges will be brought, you have to know where your suspect is and frankly usually in the

course of an investigation of a subject, especially high profile one like this one, they should have known all along where he is and the event that a charging decision was made by the special prosecutor. i think what they would have to do is find out if he has got a lawyer. if he doesn't, then they will have to go through a more cumbersome process of detaining him wherever he may be located, booking him into a local court there, having an attorney aincident positi appointed and dealing with extradition. >> we heard the last news conference with tracy metro insdwriebing how he went into an attorney's office and begged for help and begged to have someone help him family get the answers they wanted. it really was a social network and the people online who pushed this and the reverend al

sharpton spoke to that. if it were not for social media do you believe we would be at this point? >> i think that's right. i know i found out about the situation on twitter when a large number of people started yelling and screaming about something was wrong, something happened in florida, and that was just wrong, and that sort of started a push national media to be aware and get involved in this case and to understand the fever pitch that existed in a lot of people who knew the details of the situation and so this is definitely a victory for people speaking up and demanding justice but as reverend al point out, the national media everybody aing to the situation and the old school activism of doing marches also had a huge impact. it is not enough to just tweet about a problem. we also need old school activism to really make a difference. i can see a lot of people now on twitter rejoicing at this news. i don't think this is a time to rejoice. i think it is a time of relief

to say, okay, yes, we will have some level of justice reaching the situation we will have judicial scrutiny of all of the evidence in this and we will have a trial and will see, okay, where does this need to go and from here? not a time these are jumping up and down, though, at the prospect of charges being filed because a life has been lost and no jail sentence or kpon reconciliation will change that. >> from the beginning with the martin family, they have simply said that they wantedness as, they wanted what they believed was justice which would have began with an arrest at the scene after seven hours the police department in sanford, the authorities there, decided that george zimmerman could go home and under their conclusion he would have been living his life freely without these pending criminal charges. back to the reaction from people

online. what are you hearing? we talked so much about the divide and how people have processed this so differently and what are you hearing? what is the common theme beyond what you just point out? ? i see two americas going on. i see a lot of black people and people who are sympathetic to what happened to trayvon who are, you know, anxious. a lot of them have been cynical or pessimistic any justice would be reached and to be optimistic which i have been consistently optimistic there would be an arrest eventually and people would mock me or say they don't have that level or cannot be that optimistic about what would happen in america, and i see a lot of other people who are very angry, who are supportive of george zimmerman, who are sort of anti-trayvon, and are taking it as that you, talking about me, talking about you, talking about other people talking about this case in the media, we are

race baiters or trying to start a race war and the perpetual discussion of racism is the problem rather than racism itself and trying to say, well, now that we have learned that racism was not involved in the situation, because he did not say the c word, i mean, i don't know how we do that when we clearly have a list of prejudicial historical comments and stereotypes referenced in the 911 call and doesn't rest with the saying of a particular slur or not but we see two americas playing out, you know, in social media arguing. >> i am sorry. i have to interrupt you. kerry sanders has news for me. kerry is standing by in florida. what do you have, kerry? >> i will open up the e-mail while i am getting it with you. i just received an e-mail from angela corey's office and let me see if i can expand it a little bit. it is a pdf. it says as your state attorney i am charged with upholding the

united states constitution as well as the constitution and statutes of the great and sovereign state of florida as they relate to the prosecution of crimes committed against our citizens. now it is getting harder to read because it is not bolded. let me see if i can open it. i have a couple of devices. i amor so. it is just too small on a blackberry to read. i can open it up to an iphone and see what we have here. sorry for the delay. >> that's okay. >> technology. >> i have it as well here. it says as i am charged with upholding the united states constitution as well as the constitution and statutes of the great and sovereign state of florida, as they relate to the prosecution of crimes committed against our citizens by adhering to this standard we're vigorously pursue justice for all victims of crime while maintaining the rights of every individual. it is the goal of our office to assist other law enforcement agencies within our jurisdiction while creating a safer community in which to work and raise our

families. that's from her office, but it doesn't at least the version i have and you may have, way more information than i have been given but this is located, she gives the address and then goes into details about where television satellite trucks and photographers should be, parking spaces, submitting names, pictures, credentialing, and all media representatives have to go through security check points. there we go. we're wait withing for the special prosecutor who announced she will indeed hold a news

conference today at 6 p.m. and announce her decision on the information that she has been gathering with the help of the florida department of law enforcementç agents as they too on the not only the investigation but the new investigation. they were reexamining what was initially collected by the police department here in sanford, florida, as well as what the state attorney's office here had gathered and then continuing with their investigation and, remember, their agents have the ability to force people who maybe did not want to speak, especially to many reporters wondering around trying to find out what happened and she has reached a conclusion and at 6:00 we'll find out what decisions she reached. >> kerry, thank you very much. let me go back to kepdal quickly here. i think we have john burris as well in the last few minutes. we talked about the process here, a lot of evidence that will be revealed later through public information, the media

pursuing it, and other points, perhaps won't be laid out by angela corey when she makes this announcement. >> it is hard to know. she may try to give what could amount to be a summary of the evidence, but usually that doesn't happen when charges are announced precisely because there is going to be a defense laureate some point if charges are brought and you don't want to fuel their arguments that somehow the prosecution is overly worked the press, created unfair environment for the defendant by hyping their case and by generating a needless pretrail publicity. there is certainly enough publicity about this case as it is. to answer questions, are you confidp't you're going to be able to arrest and secure george zimmerman, things like that and normally not the equivalent of an opening statement in the course of a prosecute he is conference. >> john, we also know this other news conference was taking place

in washington, d.c., regarding the stand-your-ground laws, florida being one of more than 20 states. beyond the trayvon martin case and the desire for his family to get what they feel is justice here, have you this dual situation of stand your ground laws. will we milwaukee more about that? will there be a greater conversation in wake of this. >> i think there will be and there should be. the way that the law is being interpreted, it is allowing people to use that law in more aggravating circumstances when they should not be. i don't think it was designed for people to be overly aggressive and go outside of the castle or outside of the house to run people down and pursue them and use deadly force and/or we have gang members doing a similar thing. there are really real efforts here and should be to evaluate why this laws have caused more people to be killed, what are the circumstances of those kinds of cases that on retrospect should not have been justifiable. i think the stand your ground law is something that has to be

reevaluated, a political decision made and go back and particularly in light of the the outrageous circumstance that is have come back regarding trayvon martin. >> john burris and kendall coffey, and the breaking news, the special prosecutor in the case involving trayvon martin's death will make her official announcement at 6 p.m.kç=óo

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but my smile wasn't. [ female announcer ] new crest 3d white intensive professional effects whitestrips. it goes below he enamel surface to whiten as well as a five-hundred dollar professional treatment. wow, that's you? [ female announcer ] new intensive professional effects whitestrips. it is wednesday, april 11th, and in three short hours a special prosecutor will announce criminal charges against george zimmerman in the shooting death of trayvon martin. we start with breaking news on a major development in