is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection and because usaa's commitment to serve military members, veterans, and their families is without equal. begin your legacy, get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," court is in recess in sanford, florida, where george zimmerman is on trial for second degree murder. we have got your legal team standing by. we'll bring you back to the trial as soon as it gets under way this hour. also -- >> the news is heartbreaking. our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the brave firefighters who were out there. also this hour, we are expecting an update from officials in arizona where 19 firefighters were killed sunday by an out-of-control wildfire.

18 of them were members of an elite firefighting team. in addition, as mark kelly and gabby giffords launch a seven-day, seven-state tour to push for expanded background checks for gun buyers, gabby giffords speaks out about life beyond her remarkable recovery. >> how do you feel about america in 2013? >> i'm optimistic! i'm optimistic. good day to you. i'm peter alexander, live in washington today. for my friend andrea mitchell, you see she's in aspen today. we've been following witness testimony in the george zimmerman trial. we've heard this morning already from a senior level electronics engineer for the fbi, as well as from a sanford detective, the individual who questioned mr. zimmerman on that night that trayvon martin was fatally shot. we do think we may hear today from the original lead investigator in this case. we want to get right to our msnbc legal analyst, lisa bloom, nbc's kerry sanders who is live

in sanford, florida. and msnbc contributor, jonathan capehart, an editorial writer for "the washington post." lisa, over the course of last couple hours we heard some of the audio recordings being played from the conversations zimmerman had with one of the investigators that spoke to him, this doris singleton. he describes in a lot of specific detail what happened there, including referring to trayvon martin as "the suspect." kind of cop talk, as it were. what did we learn from that and what did that sort of specificity teach us? >> well, first of all, overall, he is extraordinarily calm throughout had this entire conversation. consider that he has just shot and killed an unarmed 17-year-old boy. and when neighbors called 911 to report it, they were in hysterics over it. yet he remained very, very cool and collected in this conversation. you are right, he goes through it point by point, answering every question the investigators put to him. although the prosecution's going to point out inconsistencies in his story. he says three times, for

example, that the police dispatcher, who he had called earlier in the night, told him not to follow trayvon martin. he says he was going to look for a street sign so that he could tell them what street he was on, indicating that he was not following him, he was just looking for a street sign. the defense has conceded in opening statement in this case though that he was following trayvon martin, so that's one of, i think, a number of inconsistencies the prosecution is going to be pointing out. >> kerry, we also heard from george zimmerman said that trayvon martin hid behind bushes and sucker-punched him. this sort of puts the defense on the defense. doesn't it? >> well, we started to see aforeshadowing of that coming because last week the defense suggested that that's exactly what happened, that he had been sucker-punched. the problem is the bushes statement. there really aren't bushes there that would suggest that somebody was hiding in the bushes. the maps are being shown. interestingly, at one point there was a request of the judge from the defense that they actually wanted to take the jury

out to the location to walk around. the judge said, better not, in part because this jury is going to be sequestered and we haven't have them wandering around out there in public. but it is the inconsistencies, and the fine inconsistencies, that are the challenge of course for the defense. the audio statement, plus there will eventually, we believe, be the video statement, the re-enactme re-enactment, entered into the court record here. that's what the jury is going to have a chance to look at and compare and contrast. i also to want to just step back for a moment, what lisa was talking about, the use of this cop speak and how seemingly, almost coppish it was, he had actually been doing some ride-alongs with the police at the sanford police department. he had some experience with them in the car. i have, as a reporter, read 30 years' worth of police reports on various stories.

when i see here things like, as he put his hands on his head when the officer arrived, "he goes, i told the officer where on my person the firearm was holstered." i mean it is almost as if it has been lived worth of 30 years' worth of police reports that i have read. it is that dead-on in choosing the language in the sort of stilted way police speak. >> so strike. and as lisa indicated, tts the calmness with which he describes this compared with the hysterics of the witness whose heard this take place behind their observe town homes. jonathan, i want to take you back to the 35,000-foot level where last week there was lot of testimony, most of which was uncomfortable listening to the friend of trayvon martin, for a variety of reasons. talk about the sensitive infusion of race and class into this case. >> well, almost from the beginning, race and class has been a part of this. case whether we wanted it to be or not. here we have an unarmed

17-year-old black teenager who is shot and killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer who it turns out is hispanic. we found out later when the controversy blew up. but what you -- i think what enraged so many people, african-americans in particular, was that how was it possible that an unarmed black teenager could get shot and killed and the person who did it not be arrested, not be charged? as sybrina fulton, trayvon martin's mother, has said from the very beginning, all she and her ex-husband wanted was for an arrest. and then the next part being a trial. that's happening now. so, yes, race and class has been a part of this from the very beginning, whether folks want to admit it or not. >> lisa, if we can toee up the afternoon, we expect to hear more from detective singleton, but we could hear from the

detective who spoke to george zimmerman more than anybody else, i think at least two taped interviews. he spoke to him by phone. he is the one who is a part of the re-enactment with him as well. and initially he was the one who said he believes this should be a manslaughter case. what should we expect and be looking out for as we hear from him. >> as you say, we expect him to say that he thought george zimmerman should be charged. however, others in law enforcement didn't agree with that. george zimmerman was not charged initially. took a groundswell of public opposition to that, 2 million people signing a petition on change.org, a lot of attention given to the case by media, sai would look like trayvon, until 44 days later when charges were brought. i would expect that would be good for the prosecution. i would expect the defense to put on the other law enforcement witness who said we thought it was self-defense from the beginning and that's why we didn't charge him.

>> chris sorrino wrote zirm man specifically had two opportunities to, in his language from the investigative report, "diffuse the circumstances surrounding their encounter." poses a challenge for the defense. >> it does. when chris sorino takes the stand, he will also be ask about how he at one time had even prepared arrest papers. it was the chief of police and the state attorney here in this county, in seminole county, that decided not bring those charges. then it was the governor appointing a special prosecutor that ultimately brought the charges. that special prosecutor who brought the charges did not present it to a grand jury but did what's called a direct file, looked at the evidence and said i see enough here, don't need a grand jury. we're just going to bring these charges and brought charges, higher than the detective who initially thought -- who suggested manslaughter. but brought it in as a second degree murder case which is where we are now. >> kerry and lisa, thank you. we know the lunch recess

continues for 20 more minutes. we'll let you squeeze in a sandwich and an apple. until when we begin the trial again. back to the george zimmerman this hour. we want to get to other news making led lines, include being the president's trip to africa and latest developments surrounding edward snowden and where he may wind up. joining us now, chris cillizza, and chuck todd, far away in tanzania for us as the president wraps up his trip. chuck, we heard today from the president, he was questioned both about the giant protests in egypt, but also the status of the talk with russia over edward snowden. on snowden specifically, just as president obama was speaking, vladimir putin said russia will never turn snowden over. where does this stand? >> well, the u.s. government, you heard the president say himself there still is negotiations going on with the

russian government. there's obviously been a couple of mixed messages out of there. did putin say snowden can stay as long as he doesn't leak any more skres? so the question is what's the back channeled there. frankly, the other bigger pr problem for the united states, it impacts various other issues, has to do with the european reaction to the latest leak that came out of the snowden files that has to do with how the u.s. government spies on allies. now the president dismissive of it, basically saying, guess what? we spy on them, they spy on us, that's what intelligence agencies do. it has been their standard answer on this when the first leak on this issue came during -- right when the g-8 began in ireland last week and this happened there. look, the obama administration's been -- feels like they made some progress with ecuador, that ecuador is not going to be one of the countries that ends up with them. they think that they've done.

now it is still this back channeled that's going on with putin and russia. >> chris, we should note, even as we are speaking the story continues to develop. russian media right now reporting that edward snowden has applied for asylum in that country. vladimir putin saying that snowden must stop leaking u.s. info if he wants to stay in russia but also saying he's not going to kick him out. chris, a topic making news here back home, student loans doubled today to almost 7%, 6.8%, because congress couldn't come to any agreement on this issue. how does this get fixed? >> peter, my guess is that they -- congress in some way retroactively fixes this, though -- that's based on nothing other than the fact that it's so incredibly political unpopular to have these stafford student loans double because so many kids use them. my assumption has always been that they will reverse this so that it doesn't hurt kids trying

to take out loans. problem here is the problem that we've had -- and we've talked about, you and i, you and chuck, anyone who follows politics at all, is that congress doesn't do a lot of things at the moment. it is why a lot of people rolled their eyes when the supreme court said congress had to come one a new formula for the voting rights act to see what states are covered and what jurisdictions are covered last week. congress doesn't get all that much done. my guess though -- and i still believe this strongly -- is they find a way here, because it is an issue that really, there are very few, but it is an issue that doesn't really divide that strongly along partisan lines. >> you thought the last congress was unpopular, this one certainly giving it a run for its money right now. chuck, back to you. if we can. so many striking images have come out from this week-long trip. perhaps the most dramatic one is still to come. tomorrow the obamas are going to join the bushes, you got 43 and 44 side by side. laura bush there for the first ladies summit. talk about the significance of

these two men side by side together in africa. >> it comes to the whole bipartisan nature of african aid and particularly sort of how it has transformed itself, beginning in the bush administration and the medical program called pepfar that was designed to reverse the hiv crisis. everybody you talk to out here, wherever we've been, they will say. hefar really did do something, take an epidemic here where there was hopelessness on this idea that aids and hiv was going to get -- they were never going to get control of it. now south africa may be able to get control of dealing with hiv cases on their own without outside help for first time. millionth baby born without hiv. there is a lot to celebrate here. the president has this whole power initiative here. if the bush legacy is on hiv when it comes to africa, i think the obama administration hopes that in ten years, when the lights are on and more parts of

africa, that's part of the obama legacy. they'll invest some $9 billion of taxpayer money, maybe even twice or three times as much in private sector money simply to turn on the lights. think of it as -- it is very similar. our older viewers will remember the rural electric act which essentially brought power to rural america. it is same concept here that they are trying to do 50 years later in the 21st century on this continent. >> all this against the bam drop of nelson mandela and his failing health right now and his legacy throughout that continent. chuck, chris, thanks very much. we'll be right back with and that's interview with gabby giffords. plus, more from the george zimmerman trial. again you are watching "andrea mitchell reports." we'll take you back live to the trial when it begins in 15 minutes. ncer) at scottrade, our clients trade and invest exactly how they want. with scottrade's online banking, i get one view of my bank and brokerage accounts with one login... to easily move my money when i need to. plus, when i call my local scottrade office,

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you're watching "andrea mitchell reports." i'm peter alexander sitting in today for andrea. while we continue to monitor the trial of george zimmerman in sanford, we wanted to bring you this news out of the aspen ideas festival where andrea had a long talk with gabby giffords and her husband, mark kelly. they are about to embark on an eight-state tour across the country to revive their gun control efforts. >> gabby, in your recovery, is this a process of trying to reclaim the old gabby giffords or a new gabby giffords? >> the new one. better, stronger, tougher. >> gabby's tough. >> no one doubts your toughness. >> just watching gabby work so hard in the hospital for six months, starting in the icu and the stuff that she had to go through and how frustrating and

difficult -- >> what? >> yeah. i mean initially she could say one weiord for a period of time >> what? >> eventually she was able to ask for something different for breakfast. the hospital was giving her the same thing every day. she asked for -- how about some toast? but it's a struggle. but she's tough. she -- in gabby's district, i don't know how many people know this, but the town of tombstone, arizona, is in going by's district. tombstone is called the town too tough to die. >> yes. >> so just like gabby. tough. >> yes. >> gabby, what is your typical day like? >> um, um, um, walk on my treadmill. um, um, um e-mail my junk music. neil diamond. speech therapy -- lots of

me homework. >> how do you maintain your incredible optimism? >> i want to build a better place. >> want to make the world a better place. >> yes. >> and you know what? gabby is going to make the world a better place. >> thank you. >> i have no doubt about that. you are gun owners. you are believers in the second amendment. but you think that there is a way, mark, of creating a new kind of coalition, a citizens coalition, that includes gun owners. tell me what you think you can accomplish. >> we have already built in just six months an organization that is 500,000 people strong. so nearly -- well, a half a million. and a huge number of supporters with, people who are willing to put their financial resources behind our organization, and i think in time, we will be very

effective. the nra and the gun lobby, particularly the nra, have been at this for about 30 or 40 years where they have spent and enormous amount of time and effort and money on building influence in washington, d.c. by influencing house and senate races. and there hasn't been anybody doing that on what i hesitate to say is the other side of the issue. because i don't feel like we're necessarily on the other side. gabby and i are both responsible gun owners. from the west. i served in the military for 25 years. but it is going to take some time. it is going to take a little bit of time. but i am confident and gabby's confident -- and we wouldn't have gotten into this if we didn't think that we could be effective in getting congress to enact some sensible gun laws. i find it unacceptable that six, seven months now after what happened in sandy hook elementary school with 20 first-graders being murdered

that our national response so far has been to do nothing. and it is our goal to change that. >> that's some of the conversation between mark kelly, gabby giffords and aour own andrea mitchell taking place in aspen this week. violent demonstrations in c cairo left at least 16 people dead. nbc's eamon moydin joins us now from cairo. these crowds are even larger than not just too long back when efforts were directed toward hosni mubarak, now directed toward the morsi government. what should we anticipate going forward and what are you hearing from the crowds? >> reporter: well, peter, you can probably see, it is a very festive celebratory atmosphere. i'm step out of the way to give you a sense. the people here interpret the military's decision in one very simple way. they look at the military's

ultimatum of 48 hours as a coup on president morsi's rule. he has that time to step down or hand power over to another authority. everybody's telling me the same thing -- make no mistake, many people are watching very carefully what the military attempts to do in the next 48 hours but right now they are effectively giving president morsi that ultimatum to try and end this political crisis that was driven by people protests like the ones we see behind. essentially, the people want president morsi to relinquish power. that's why they went to the streets yesterday by the millions. it caught many people here by surprise, including president morsi himself. today we understand that president morsi is possibly meeting with the military in the coming hours to try to find a way out. for the time being though, the major opposition blocs all have celebrated the decision by the

military. they are welcoming the military's call that within 48 hours this political stalemate must come to an end. many people say that this is the military effectively intervening. now the military says that it will, after 48 hours, issue a road map going forward if there is no end to this crisis. they have not spelled out what that road map will look like, but many people say that no matter how it plays out, it is the end of the muslim brotherhood's rule, or at least that of president mohamed morsi's in the short term. others are suggesting that perhaps president morsi can go back to the people and try to get a national referendum on his rule. that is very unlikely, given the fact that 22 million people voted to have him step down from power. a very different atmosphere in cairo tonight than what we saw last night. yesterday it was a very tense, very nervous, very scary situation, if you will, given the fact that we saw intense clashes that left 16 people dead. today it is one that's much more celebratory. people here feel that the

military is siding with them against the president. no doubt about it though going forward, it is going to be extremely interesting and very, if you will, precarious to watch what role the military plays in the next 48 hours. peter? >> just struck by that scene behind you there in tahrir square now. so different than it was just about 24 hours ago. but as the morsi government faces this ultimatum right now, what do we anticipate a new government could look like? what should the obama administration, frankly, anticipate will happen if this government is pushed from power? >> reporter: well, we saw earlier today some of the ministers of president morsi's administration attempted to resign. i say attempted, because the prime minister and president morsi, as we understand it, according to local media reports, have rejected those resignations so as it stands right now you have the full cabinet still in place. what's really surprised many

people, including sources i've spoken to here at the egyptian presidency, is that the minister of defense who issued this statement and issued the ultimatum did not even notify the president that this decision was imminent. that's why many people here are interpreting the move by the military in a very loose way, at least as a coup. the fact that the minister of defense apparented by president morsi did not turn around and notify him of this impending ultimatum has caught everyone here by surprise. i think in the coming hours you are going to see a lot of back door politicking, a lot of back door maneuvering by the muslim brotherhood, as well as president morsi, to try and stave off what many people here are saying is the end of a very short and quick first year in office for egypt's first democratically elected civilian president. >> history still continuing to take shape in that region. a vastly evolving region right now. we appreciate your live report.

thanks so much. we are going to be right back here with more from the george zimmerman trial in florida. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports." [ male announcer ] eligible for medicare? that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans,

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or trouble breathing. tell your doctor your medical history. and find an arthritis treatment for you. visit celebrex.com and ask your doctor about celebrex. for a body in motion. we're back live on msnbc. just a few minutes from now, we're going to take you back to the george zimmerman trial. they're on recess, they are expected to resume moments from now. we want to look ahead to what we might hear this afternoon with our team, msnbc legal analyst lisa bloom, nbc's kerry sanders on the ground for us live in florida, and also joining us now, "usa today" reporter jamish, starting with you. just to get a sense of what you think we should anticipate as they go into this afternoon. i also want to ask you more broadly perhaps when we think we could hear what would be some of the most dramatic testimony which is that of trayvon martin's own mother, sybrina fulton? >> so i think what we can expect to hear this afternoon is a

pretty grilling cross examination i think of this officer who interviewed george zimmerman, doris singleton has basically like read all of the statements that he said telling her that trayvon martin was referred to as "a suspect," "suspect. "i think the defense attorneys are going to be trying to get that flushed out, what does he mean by "the suspect." i asked the attorney of trayvon martin's parents when we might be able to hear from them. he said that she's not going to take the stand today. that could, of course, change, but from my reporting in the minutes that i've had, he told me that she was not taking the stand today. >> lisa, as we look forward to the cross examination this afternoon by the defense of this detective, doris singleton, give us a better understanding of how that specific language from the conversation, the stuff that's so striking, is the specificity of the language that was used by george zimmerman. he said in describing trayvon martin's language to him, he said, "you got a problem, homey," is the way he he said

it? he casaid, "well you do now." is that language going to be important going forward? >> i think all of the specifics have been and will be combed over looking for inconsistencies. zimmerman gave two statements the night of the incident. first he hand-wrote out a statement that's come into court this morning. then he spoke to this police investigator an gave an audiotaped recorded statement. next day he did a videotaped recorded statement so there are three of them that they can use to compare with each other to look for internal inconsistencies and also to look for inconsistencies with what witnesses have reported so far. there are a number of them already, did he follow trayvon martin or not, for example. we know that zimmerman said in one of his statements he didn't follow him, he was just looking for a street sign. well, really? we know there were only three streets in that gated community. he lived there. he was the neighborhood watch coordinator. surely he knew the name of the streets and his own attorney, don west, in opening statement said he was following trayvon martin. >> as we get ready for testimony

to resume, looking again at live pictures of george zimmerman again taking his seat inside the courtroom. kerry, i want to ask you perhaps a little bit more broadly. as you have paid attention to this the last six days of the trial and the jury selection, what's really struck you about george zimmerman the way he's conducted himself, even as we have just had cameras staring at him during that course of time? >> a little bit during jury selection he showed some emotion where he actually laughed. but aside that, he's come to court. i'm not sure how somebody who is charged in a crime is supposed to act in court. but he has basically maintained the same composure except for an occasional chuckle when there was a moment that everybody in the courtroom was laughing that he has comported himself in the same way. he comes to court and let's go now to what's happening in the courtroom. >> -- but at the time i didn't know that. >> you pardidn't participate in that at all. >> no. >> we asked you about -- or i

asked you about the -- that you observed some injuries on the defendant. i want to show you, with the court's permission, may we -- thank you, your honor. state's exhibit 47. you first stated when you first came in contact with him he had a little bit of blood underneath his nose. is that correct? >> yes. underneath his nose, coming out of one of the ears. i believe it was the left ear. and one of the sides, corners of his mouth. >> he was dressed in this attire. >> yes, he was wearing that. >> in terms of possible injuries, did you observe that he had abrasion or scratch or something to his nose right here. >> yes. >> did you also observe some right here on the side of his nose and possibly some right here that i'm pointing to? >> yes. >> right here also -- i'm sorry.

state's exhibit 66, the last one for the record was 64. state's exhibit 68, is this what you were talking about, the back of his head -- or side of his had he over here? >> yes. there was more than one on the back of his head. >> that's two on the back of his head, too. is that correct? >> i believe i could see it bleeding from two different areas. >> okay. >> did you on the 27th of february, the next day, end up coming into contact with him and were you present when a dna sample was taken from the defendant? >> yes, i was in the same room. >> for purposes of the record, i'm now introducing formally

state's exhibit number -- i think it is going to be -- may i approach? i believe it should be 207. this is stipulated to. 207. >> there is a video that shows the dna sample being taken using a swab. is that correct? you were present for that? >> yes, i was present when that was taken. >> actually, judge, it's 208. 207 was medical records that went in on friday. >> so it is 208? >> yes. >> thank you. may i publish that to the jury, your honor? >> yes, you may.

>> miss singleton, is this you standing over here? >> yes, that's me. >> is this the technician that's taking the dna sample from mr. zimmerman? >> yes. >> thank you. >> i initial and then put an "x." put your initials half on, half off of the tape just as i've don

>> balancing a couple of breaking news stories right now. we'll bring you back to the george zimmerman trial in a moment. right to prescott, arizona now where state and local officials are updating us on their fight against the massive wildfire that's already claimed the lives of 19 firefighters believed to be the deadliest wildfire in at least 30 years. this is the mayor of prescott. joining him also, governor of that state, jan brewer, as well as the fire chief.

let's take a listen. >> -- been a joy to see these young people still able to do the things that they have to do and we're very proud of them. the entire community is very proud of these people. this morning we've had calls from lots of places. early on we had a telephone call from the white house to express the concern and the appreciation for what these young men did coming from the president of the united states. we appreciate that. senator mccain called from overseas. i didn't ask him what country he was in, but he offered his condolence and said he could be

here within 24 hours if we needed him. and we respect that and we appreciate it. congressman gosar had scheduled a meeting this afternoon with some of his constituents from washington to talk about some of the problems that's going on in our capital and they've changed the purpose of that meeting to an event to honor the young men that we're here to honor today. the community has been wonderful by bringing more food than probably this whole group could eat in two or three days to be

used for its purpose in helping the families at least take a break from the events that they would have normally had last night. so, that said, i have the great honor to introduce a lady that we've been friends for a while. she was in los angeles this morni morning, made a flight to phoenix, and another flight to be here today and insisted that she wanted to be here to speak to you and to express her thanks for what you're doing and what our community's doing. with great pleasure, your governor, jan brewer.

>> well, thank you all, each and everyone of you -- >> obviously we're having some technical difficulties as the governor, jan brewer, begins to speak. one day after 19 members of this hot shot unit were killed fighting this fire. as we have noted, it is still 0% contained, no containment to this point. hundreds have been evacuated from their homes. again the weather is serious issue. humidity below 20%. temperatures across 100 degrees. we'll take a quick break and be right back here live on "andrea mitchell reports." ♪ i'm a hard, hard worker every day. ♪

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our prayers are with them. in this tragedy there remains many unanswered questions and there will be time to find the answers that i know each and everyone of us seek. i said last night that my heart was break iing.

i just can't even imagine how the families and friends who knew these individuals feel. it just is unbearable, i know for many of you, but it is unbearable also for me. so we know that everybody is th everybody is trying to overcome. so for now we mourn. consider this. this fire claimed the lives of more first responders than any single disaster since 9/11. just as we honor the memory of the firefighters lost that day as they charged into the burning towers, we will remember the brave men of the granite mountain hot shots. let's all remember them and their families in our prayers. let's remember those firefighters that are out on the

line continuing to battle the raging flames that are there. and let us all ask god to bless their families and ask gd to protect prescott, arizona. >> governor brewer speaking about the loss of life in arizona, she said it is the largest loss of life of first responders since 9/11. she spoke about the unbearable loss that she is experiencing. so similar to that that she said is being experienced by family members who are now without their loved one as a result. we are going to bring you back in a moment to the george zimmerman trial that we are focused on this afternoon as well. our team of legal analysts and correspondents on the ground are there so we take you back to florida right now where we are hearing from the detective who

interviewed george zimmerman shortly after he shot trayvon martin. >> -- yes. >> you've done that now i guess with sbd just over nine years? >> just shy of nine years. >> just shy. okay. and your involvement in this case was almost happenstance in that you were called in to help out. correct? >> yes. >> normally this may have just gone to whoever else, had to have been somebody else on duty already? >> yes. >> but with that then i guess just shy of -- 7 n1/2, 8 years experience, they decided to bring in to do the initial interview. >> yes, sergeant santiago decided that. >> i assume before february 26th, you had interviewed a number of witnesses before? >> yes. >> and a number of suspects? >> yes. >> how many of those suspects actually volunteered to give you

information without asking for a lawyer? >> most subjects will actually speak with you. most people will. >> how about in those cases involving a shooting? >> i'm not sure about that. >> in this case, of course, mr. zimmerman was, what we call mirandized, given the advice that he had the right not to talk to you at all. correct? >> yes, he was given that. >> as you testified on direct, you certainly did it in a proper way and he evidenced that he understood it? >> yes. >> and he freely waived it? >> yes, he freely waived it. >> you know as law enforcement that even an initial waiver can be withdrawn by a suspect? >> yes, and that's explained to them during the miranda warning readings. >> sure. and if at any time any person being interviewed decides to stop, they merely need to tell you that and it is over. >> then it would end, yes. >> it is only until they decide

affirmatively to reengage you or if you get permission from their lawyer would you ever talk to them again. >> that's right. >> that never happened in this case. correct? >> no. he never refused to to speak with us. >> sure, he never refused to speak with you that night, either the first or second interview, right? >> he never refused to speak to us any time we asked. >> you testified concerning the investigator's interview with him where you mir ran diezed him again. did he acknowledge those rights? >> yes. >> and waived them again? >> yes. >> never did he reassert any right to remain silent, did he? >> no, he never did. >> and you're familiar with the re-enactment video where he went out to the scene and walked through what had happened -- what turned out to be the night before, correct? >> yes, i was there. >> yeah, and of course that was done voluntarily, correct? >> yes, it was. >> that could not be forced upon him, could it? >> no, it could not be.

>> and it wasn't in this case, was it? >> it wasn't. >> so every time that george zimmerman spoke with you, it was voluntary. >> yes. >> and he was given full notice he had the right to stop at any point. >> each time, yes. >> let's then talk about the initial interview. i want to the sort of set the stage for the jury about what you knew and maybe what george zimmerman knew about what had gone on before the interview. so let me ask you. did you know anything about this case other than it was a shooting and you were talking to the person who had shot the other person? >> that's about as much as i knew. >> yeah. basically, you were brought in, there's a lot going on at retreat view twin lake, and they had to get him talked to away from the scene, and you were the person to do it. >> yes.

>> okay. now, we had heard one sort of interaction between you and law enforcement during the interview process, which is where i believe it was sergeant santiago talked to you about looking into the videotaping question, correct? >> yes. >> all right. was there any other times during the initial interview with george zimmerman where he was advised what information existed at the scene? >> no. he could not have. i didn't know. >> okay. for example, you know, correct, now that there was an eyewitness to a part of the event, correct? >> i knew after that interview, yes. >> i mean, today you know that, right? >> today i know that. >> objection, beyond the scope of knowledge. >> overruled. >> you know today that there was an eyewitness report partially of the event, correct? >> yes.

>> you know today that there was a 911 call that has -- >> as we listen to more of the cross-examination by george zimmerman's defense team of one of the first investigators to meet with george zimmerman, joining our conversation a professor following the trial. thanks for being with us. >> thank you. >> i was struck by something you wrote in "the new yorker" a couple days ago where in specific referring to rachel jeantel, the woman who spoke last week, one of trayvon martin's close friends. you said the commonalities that emerge in the courtroom, they bring out the worst in all of us. it was often difficult to watch so much of last week's testimony as they sort of infused race and class into this case as well. what struck you? >> well, what struck me was that it seemed as if, you know, the attorney don west was not simply trying to undermine her credibility but was trying to undermine her. so there were moment where is he

passed her the trial documents and requested that she read them. another instance, kind of pursued this line around her lit a -- literacy skills and whether or not someone else had helped her write a letter to trayvon martin's mother. the constant references of asking her to speak up and seeming befuddled about what she was saying. she spoke a particular ve knack lar, but it did at some point have an aggregate effect of making it seem like this was a person who was being dismissed. >> you also spoke about what you described -- even within the black community, you describe this sense of vicarious shame and some disdain from black individuals watching this case as well. clearly you're not in a position to speak for black america, but just your view as you watch this case about those sensitivities. >> well, i think at one point this went from being a trial about the issue of racial

profiling to when rachel jeantel was on the stand to almost becoming a workshop in how it's conducted. i saw some of those things from online and comment sections and, you know, on twitter and so on coming from people who are white as well as coming from people who are african-americans who felt that, you know, maybe her vernacular or the way she spoke was not credible or maybe her appearance. it did seem there was contempt coming from one quarter and embarrassment coming from another. it all seemed to surround the similar dynamic of racial profiling. >> thanks for being a part of this conversation. obviously, it's the topic that doesn't go away raised by this entire trial. thanks for your time. >> thank you. >> that's going to do it for us on this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." more of the zimmerman trial next on "news nation" with tamron hall. thanks for watching. because all these whole grains aren't healthy unless you actually eat them ♪ multigrain cheerios. also available in delicious peanut butter.

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the news nation is following the second week of testimony in the george zimmerman murder trial. right now there's side bar happening in the court, but this morning this was the scene. an fbi voice expert took to the stand. he testified the quality of the 911 call from the night trayvon martin was shot is not good enough for voice analysis, but he also said that a person familiar with the speaker would be the best person to recognize a voice in such a recording. >> so do i get what you're saying then is it would be better if you were attempting to -- a familiar voice identification, to have someone who has heard the potential subject here under a variety of conditions as opposed to simply say talking to them back and forth in a courtroom or a meeting or something like that? >> yes, sir. that is correct. >> okay. and that would be about the best approach you could take given this particular sample. >> yes, sir. >> in his testimony, he sets up

a possible testimony this week of trayvon martin's parents, tracy martin and sabrina fulton. they're expected to tell the jury the screams on that particular 911 tape belong to their son. the jury will also hear from another key witness, lead investigator in the martin shooting, who originally recommended that zimmerman be charged with manslaughter. i want to take you back right now to mark o'mara, who's questioning the detective on the scene, also who questioned. let's listen in. >> you had mentioned -- i'm going to skip around just a little bit and hit subjects rather than the timeline. the entirety of your true interaction with mr. zimmerman was on the tape, correct? it was small bits that were not -- >> a lit