everybody for your extraordinary well wishes in the last days. theresa is doing better under evaluation and we hope improving. i want to thank everybody for the remarkable outpouring of good wishes that's been really very special. we are very, very humbled by the expressions of support. i think she's coming along and i know when she's able to, she'll thank everybody herself. good day. i'm andrea mitchell. in washington, overriding shouts texas statehouse republicans overrode the people by a vote of 96-42. the bill goes on to almost certain passage in the senate. >> my goal in this bill is to

stop abortions at five months based on the pain, based on the science and technology that we have today that we did not have 40 years ago. that is my purpose. >> you are putting an undue burden on women, wouldn't you agree? >> let me tell you, i'm going on the premise that abortion clinics will close. i disagree. i do not believe they will close. there's nothing in this bill that mandates or forces them to close. >> joining me now is the woman who stopped the bill cold two weeks ago putting the debate on the national stage. texas state senator wendy davis. senator davis, thank you so much for being with us. >> hi. >> thank you so much. your reaction to the vote. it happened an hour ago. clearly the opposition was rolled over. this wasn't a day where you could launch a filibuster. is there anything else legislatively that you can do to stop this from going to the senate? >> well, it will come over to the senate now, and it's

expected that we may hear it as early as friday, perhaps sunday or monday. with so many days in the second session, filibustering the bill would require a super human fete that none of us is capable of unfortunately. >> this will become law. i wanted you to respond to what that house member was saying because while there's nothing literally in the bill that would close those clinics, requiring them to have surgical facilities would, in effect, close those clinics. >> that's right. the clip that you played, she was talking about one piece of a four-part omnibus bill and the piece that she was talking about, that 20-week issue, is one that affects only about .57% of abortions that are taking place in texas today. a vast majority of those taking place where severe fetal

abnormalities, the health of the mother are at risk. the real attempt of this bill isn't to address that issue at all, it is to close 37 of the 42 clinics that function in the state of texas today. governor dewhurst tweeted that out, that he was very pleased that that would be the outcome of that bill and the reason that it will occur is because the standards that are required to become an ambulatory surgical center, to require that doctors that perform these services have admitting privileges within 30 miles of a hospital within 30 miles of the clinic and also to severely restrict medicinal abortions that are occurring today through the use of ru 486 will severely con strain women's access. we are a huge state and the fact of the matter is that these clinics will not be able to afford to adhere to a surgical center standard requirement and even those that will ultimately

raise the money to do it will likely take a very long time in order for the new facility standards to be met. a few years ago when texas imposed on a 16-week and longer gestational period, this standard, it took about 2 1/2 years for five clinics to come up to the standards that are required under that. we know that it's going to have a very devastating outcome, particularly on women in our rural communities who don't have the resources or the ability to travel and will likely see stepping back in time in the state of texas and be at a place once again where women who have resources and the ability to access this care will continue to be able to receive that, much like we saw back in the 1950s, but women without those resources are going to turn, unfortunately, to dangerous and

very unhealthy alternatives. >> and texas already has a very large population of women who rely on planned parenthood and other public resources because of a lack of other facilities. so this is going to have a big affect on women's health care beyond abortion. >> most definitely. in 2011 the republican-led legislature cut dramatically family planning and well women care all over the state of texas and over 50 of them closed within just a few short months of those budget cuts. it left about 150,000 women without access to care that had been receiving their only source of health care at those facilities. and many more of those facilities now will close under the provisions of this bill. and it really highlights the irony, the hypocrisy of what it is that republicans are up to here. if what we truly care about is decreasing the abortion rate in

the state of texas and i believe that uniformly people believe that that's a goal that we should all strive toward, to take away family planning services and to assure that women without resources who live in these remote areas of texas are going to see higher rates of unplanned pregnancies will only do nothing but create a higher medicaid birth rate. right now it costs the state about $1.3 billion a year for those births. so it's not even a fiscally prudent thing to do, but it's an inhumane thing to do, force women into a situation where they literally have no control over their own bodies, over their own destinies. it's big government at its worst in private decision making that we possess under our constitutional liberties. >> i want to ask you about governor perry because he has now announced that he is not going to seek another term sparking a lot of speculation that he's going to re-enter the

presidential race in 2016. this is what he said about you back on june 27th when you were in the middle of the filibuster. >> she was a teenage mother herself. she managed to eventually graduate from harvard law school and serve in the texas senate. it's just unfortunate that she hasn't learned from her own example, that every life must be given a chance to realize its full potential and that every life matters. >> what was your response to that? >> it was an unfortunate statement by the governor, and i really think that it demeaned the high office that he holds. i'm in elected office. i've been through some really tough campaigns and i have tough skin and it didn't upset me for me, but it upset me to see the calloused attitude that he had towards women who face these very, very tough choices and

women like me who were very young perhaps when they experienced this challenge. i made a choice to raise my child and she's 30 years old and i'm so proud of her and so fortunate that i had the ability to make a choice and also had incredible opportunities in texas to lift myself up by my boot straps and move into a better life for myself and my daughter, but not every woman has the opportunities in front of her that i had and i think for him to say that really shows a calloused disregard and a complete lack of understanding for the challenges that women face, particularly if they cannot access family planning services and prevent an unplanned pregnancy in the first place. >> as you know, the political odds in texas, it has been a solidly republican state. the last woman democratic governor was ann richards. the last i think senator --

democratic senator from texas was all the way back in 1961 replacing lbj when he became vice president. are you thinking about statewide office? are you thinking about running for governor. >> there's talk about that and, of course, i going looking down the road at whether that's the right thing for me to do, whether it's the right time for the state. as it relates to this particular issue, i am finding that it's not one that cuts across party lines. there are many people who are coming to the capitol and testifying who have been showing up at the rallies who are sharing their stories that they are republicans, that they have long republican voting histories but that they see this as an intrusion in their liberty and decision making in a way that they find reprehensible. i think this issue itself cuts across those lines. there are opportunities for statewide conversations to be had about whether there should be alternatives, whether there

should be a conversation in a general election for people to make a decision about the kind of leadership they want to see in the state of texas. as i said, i have a few days at least left in the special session, and we are fully engaged in the battle that's before us. when we complete that i'll have time to really sit back and reflect on whether that's the right thing to do. >> wendy davis. well, we hope you'll come back and talk to us again when you make your decision and thank you very much for being with us today. >> thank you, andrea. and here in washington house republicans are meeting later today trying to decide whether to push forward with a bipartisan immigration bill on the house side or take a piece meal approach. joining me now is democratic congressman chris van holland. >> good to be with you, andrea. >> what are you hearing from your house colleagues, from the speaker and others, about whether or not there can be progress. the president spoke with john

boehner a week ago about this. what are the prospects about a senate bill coming over or house bill, omnibus bill on the house side? >> that's the big question. we'll have an answer i hope after they have this big huddle. the republican caucus is meeting later today. you've got a real war going on between the -- right now the dominant strain in the house republican caucus, which is primarily dominated by the tea party more extreme members and then you've got what i would call the president, george bush wing, on the immigration issue that understands that we've got to fix a broken immigration system. and the outcome of that conversation may very much determine where we go. it's really important that the country be weighing in right now with the house of representatives. everybody who recognizes we have a broken immigration system, that we need to fix it, needs to

be calling in now to tell their members to support a comprehensive immigration bill. if we're not going to do the senate bill, which is a great bipartisan effort, we should do something very much like it. >> are democrats better off actually not getting a bill and having the large and growing number of hispanic americans look at the republicans as the enemy of immigration reform? is the politics better for you for the republicans to block this? >> no. i think both the policy and the politics argues in favor of both parties working to get this done. this has been a challenge that's been with us for many, many years now. george bush went back when he was president, tried to get something through. he was blocked by his own republican party in those days in the senate. it's way overdue, andrea, to fix this system, and all the reports in the independent economic analysis show us that allowing these individuals to come out of the shadows, to pay their fines, to learn english but come out of

the shadows will help boost our economy, to take that underground economy, bring it out in the open, make taxpayers out of all of these individuals, allow them to be more fuller contributors to this society. that's good for our economy, good for all of us, and the social security actuary said by allowing more of those people to pay into the social security system will also strengthen social security for all of the country. >> quickly before i let you go, are you guys going to fix the student loan problem? >> well, unfortunately today in the senate, just a little while ago -- >> right. >> -- the republicans blocked a vote on a proposal that would have at least made sure that students are held harmless right now. it would have said we're going to keep the interest rates on student loans at 3.4%, not allow the doubling. that was blocked. i very much hope that we can come together on this issue. there's no reason students should be suffering because of an inability to work out this problem in the congress, andrea.

>> thank you very much. chris van hollen. i want to fix something that i said incorrectly in a question to wendy davis. the last democratic u.s. senator from texas was floyd benson. treasury secretary of finance chair and an icon of the democratic party. so my regret on that. and in a few hours accused boston bomber dzhokhar tsarnaev will be making his first appearance in a boston federal court. he's facing a 30 count indictment by a federal grand jury. tsarnaev has been accused of using weapons of mass destruction, killing three people, wounding more than 260 in that april 15th marathon 3w078 being. joining me now is nbc justice correspondent pete williams. pete, this is the first time we'll see him. what are the issues we're likely to see? >> the main one is he'll enter a plea. that's the main one. the first formal facing of the indictment that the grand jury

handed down in late june. he was arrested in april. he had an initial appearance but that was in a hospital where a federal judge came to him because he was in no condition to go to a court because of gunshot wounds. he had difficulty speaking at that time. we know he can speak now. we've heard tapes of him talking to his parents who will not be in the courtroom today but the courtroom will be jammed, andrea. he arrived under very heavy security in a u.s. marshal's van and caravan about two hours ago, but the courtroom will be taken up almost entirely by victims of the bombing and members of their families so that reporters and others who want to watch the proceedings will be in a satellite room. they'll be watching a closed circuit feed. everybody will be looking at him to see what sort of shape he's in. >> that's going to be an emotional moment. we've seen the grievous injuries of those people horn caught in that bombing and it's going to be very, very interesting to see what his reactions are to the

people and they to him. >> yes. reactions, if any, whether he will respond to them at all. he does have surprisingly a small number of people who think he's innocent. i don't know whether very many of them will be in the courtroom. i doubt it very much. it seems like the court officials have gone out of their way to facilitate people who were injured in the bombing, relatives of those affected. so they will all be eager to get a look at him but, of course, he'll be in that courtroom a lot, assuming there is a trial. we don't know when that will be. the judge will at some point set a trial date. but first things first. today he will enter a plea. normally these hearings are quite short. if the lawyers have anything they want to argue about, any evidence, procedures, or they're complaining they're not getting enough access to the government's evidence in discovery and that sort of thing, there could be motions about that. but i must say, andrea, that normally we can sort of follow along what's happening in a trial by looking at the federal

court docket. there's very little on the docket in this case. most of the back and forth among the lawyers is happening under seal. that's sort of unusual in a criminal case like this, but perhaps not so unusual given the terrorism aspects of this. >> and we should point out, pete, of course for all of our viewers who are used to watching every aspect of the george zimmerman trial in state court, federal courts do not permit cameras. so we'll have courtroom artists in there but that's the only depictions and no audio. >> exactly right. no audio, no pictures, just our very talented courtroom artist, arthur lien, who through his eyes we'll see how it went. >> indeed. thank you very much. thanks to you and to art as well. china's top leaders other than president gi are at the statehouse meeting with president biden and trying to resolve disputes between the world's two greatest economic powers. disagreements over cyber wars, the mutual cyber spying that

both sides refused to acknowledge. in a show of respect and condolence this morning, vice president biden opened his remarks with a message of sympathy to the two chinese teenage girls who died in the asiana plane crash on saturday. >> i want to start by expressing my sadness, the sadness of quite frankly the american people in the loss of two beautiful young lives, young chinese students in the asiana plane crash on saturday. our sympathies to their families and to your country. it was remarkable -- remarkable to see that plane and the state it was in but the loss of those two young lives is for families the most devastating thing that happens in their lives. to mak. (ann) to help me plan my next move, i take scottrade's free, in-branch seminars... plus, their live webinars. i use daily market commentary to improve my strategy.

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persian gulf states are preparing to pour billions of dollars into egypt trying prop up a collapsed economy as the military attempts to transition away from the morsi government. so far saudi arabia, the uae and now kuwait have announced a total of $12 billion dwarfing america's foreign aid to egypt. they claim that deposed president morsi is safe under house arrest. more arrests of his muslim brotherhood supporters have caused outrage in the streets. a man m-- we have the report. >> that is the perspective of the opponents of ousted president, muhammad morsi, who are behind the campaign to get him removed from power. they have expressed satisfaction with the interim prime minister's appointment.

more importantly they have expressed some reservations but have endorsed the constitutional declaration that has come out essentially paving the way for egypt's transition to democracy. more importantly, the supporters of the ousted president, they remain very bitter about what had happened to him. more importantly, angered by the killing of more than 50 people. most of their supporters. they will continue their sit in. in fact, later this evening we understand they will be holding a symbolic funeral procession for the palace. they are angered by what happened and demanding that he be reinstated. >> thank you so much, ayman. jeffrey goldberg is here with me. he joins us in the studio. jeffrey, this is such a difficult crisis in egypt obviously, but for the united states, the u.s. really has very few office and is not wielding as much influence as you might expect. >> the people who are wielding the influence are the gulf arab states who are overjoyed. let's put it bluntly, they're

overjoyed that morsi is out and they're pouring out so much money that it dwarfs anything that america can do in that country. they also are not worried about laws about coups. >> if you're in the weird situation of a mad hat ter's tea party. >> there's nothing in the law that says some copus are better than other coups. that's what you're getting from the white house. technically speaking you could call it a coup, but you had 50 million people demanding it. >> the president didn't have any option. the way the law is written on the aid bill, if it's a coup -- >> i will bet you next year at this time the aid is still flowing. >> i'm not taking that bet. >> they're still going to want some leverage in that situation. >> the white house is twisting itself into knots but at the

same time what is the back messaging? you know, we hit it. secretary hagel is talking on a daily basis to the military basically saying stop shooting protesters. let morsi out of house arrest. >> look, first of all, there's not 100% coherence in our policy, not only in the country of egypt, but the country that we've forgotten about, syria. >> you think? >> i'm trying to be fair. hagel is the perfect example. remember when pakistan went nuclear against our wishes we cut off aid to their military. we stopped bringing their soldiers to our country for training. >> the press core amendment. >> good one, by the way. good call. we've suffered for that because now the pakistani officer core is very anti-american. this is the best advertisement for keeping those connections with the egyptian military as flawed as that military is. hagel can reach in to those

generals and their counterparts in the pentagon can reach over and say, listen, you've got to chill out on x, y, z, you've got to conform to international law regarding how you treat civilians. that's a practical response to a difficult situation. >> many of those foreign military leaders are actually trained in u.s. military -- >> that's the point. there are generals in the egyptian army who are very close to american generals because when they were majors and colonels they were in the same classes at for the benning or wherever. so they have direct personal contact and of course the big thing is that they like our weapons systems and they enjoy using them and they find it very satisfying professionally. and they don't want to see those lost. so they will listen to american generals and american leaders if those leaders push. >> quick question. israel. also likes stability. >> israel likes stability. israel's constantly buffeted by these developments. they were getting used to morsi

and now they have to go back to this but unlike the u.s., which has global interest, israel has a very simple interest. keep that border quiet. keep the sinai from becoming an al qaeda haven. whoever does that from israel's perspective is fine. >> jeffrey goldberg, thank you very much, as always. >> thank you. bad weather now causing trouble around the world today. in china, fast-moving floods going through the sachwan province. wow, look at that. state media reports that more than 40 people have been killed since the heavy rain began monday night. the most active volcano continues to erupt spreading a cloud of volcano and ash two miles high. it's left a layer of ash covering the city. tropical storm chantal is barrelling towards the dominican republic and haiti. evacuations have been ordered. they expect the storm to weaken as it heads towards florida later this week.

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get involved in the politics or the specifics of policy. but i do hope there is a policy resolution to the debate and i hope during the debate that we keep a benevolent spirit in mind and we understand the contributions immigrants make to our country. we haven't heard very much from former president bush. he has a policy of staying out of politics now that he's out of office, but immigration reform was one of his passions. the question now, is he going to be able to influence house republicans. joining me for our daily fix, terry o'donnell down in texas and managing editor of post politics.com. kelly, let's talk about what the

former president is doing. just this quick note, we hear now that bush 41, former president george h.w. bush is going to be coming to the white house on monday for a points of light celebration. it's the annual meeting, the award of the point of light, which is his tribute to volunteerism. president and mrs. obama will be welcoming a whole bush contingent, including thankfully president bush 41 well enough to travel, which is all good news. >> well, andrea, in talking to the former president 43 he referenced his dad today and said he is doing well. has difficulty walking but he is so pleased that he has recovered from that scare we had earlier in the year. there seems to be a bit of a bush resurgence of the moment when it comes to this more public life for the former president. we saw him in africa with president obama. he's been inching forward on interviews on matters of the day. while he's very clear he doesn't want to be in the politics, the

first event that he held at his new library in dallas was an immigration related event. there's a day of conference going on and the very first thing was to naturalize 20 new american citizens. he's spoken in a way that was more personal about the value of immigrants and then touched on the political saying that the country's laws on this are broken and it needs to be fixed and that he's hopeful there is progress now. he didn't go too far but for those looking for some window into what influence the former president might have, he said enough to get that attention while at the same time trying to give some distance. i was also struck by the fact the obama white house noted today that the speech by the former president is a valuable part of the immigration conversation. now does he have much influence on house republicans? those are two different things and while he is a republican who is well regarded by many in the party even when the broader political numbers for him and polling numbers haven't been as strong, the likelihood that he will influence is really a question mark.

but he does give more political cover for those who want to find something in what the former president said to find some kind of path on an immigration plan that the house can move forward on. andrea? >> so in -- in the politics of all of this, will john boehner be influenced by that? will house members as they debate whether to take a piece meal approach, a larger approach or do nothing at all on immigration? >> well, kelly is right to say we don't know yet. my strong inclination, andrea, based on what we've seen over the first six months, whether it's the farmville vote, vote over the speaker, fiscal cliff with the lake dumb 112th congress, is that george w. bush's views on immigration will not heavily influence the sort of critical mass of house republicans that are needed. now he talked in generalities. he didn't say an immigration bill should have a path to citizenship or shouldn't have a

path to citizenship. specifically he wants to stay out of the politics of it, but you know i think it's a not in my backyard kind of mentality, which is so many of these members simply don't view the negative side. they don't see the negative political consequences of not voting for some kind of immigration reform and they aren't looking at the bigger picture where people like jeb bush, karl rove, marco rubio, basically every republican strategist i talk to are trying to look at the big picture and say if we vote this down we are seen as the ones blocking this. it is disastrously bad from a political perspective when we turn to 2015 and 2016. these guys in the house and women, they're worried about getting re-elected and they don't see it as that bik of an issue. >> chris, in 15 seconds or so that we have left, can you explain what happened on student loans today in the senate? >> a close partisan vote that it went down looking -- i think we're still in the political posturing stage here. i still believe that they will

pass something that gets it back to 3.4% rather than the 6.8% but we're not there because school is not in session quite literally. >> there are a lot of confused and fright 1ye7bd college students. thank you very much. kelly and chris here at home. thank you both. and there's this. newly uncovered rare film showing fdr as we've never seen him before, wearing his trademark white hat, being pushed in a wheelchair as he rolls by pearl harbor in 1944 only months before his death. although fdr contracted polio as a young man in 1921 and used the wheelchair in private, during four terms as president the white house made sure the extent of his dilt was kept public. historians believe eight second clip discovered by an indiana professor working at the national archives is the first motion picture images of

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opinion george zimmerman would, quote, find himself lacking during a physical altercation with trayvon martin in february 2012. joining us now is nbc's craig melvin in sanford, msnbc legal analyst, lisa bloom and professor cobb. professor cobb, thanks so much for joining us today. from what you've seen so far with the defense about to rest its case, how do you assess how this trial has gone so far from the standpoint of the prosecution and the defense? >> well, i mean, i think there was kind of an arc to the prosecution's arguments. they started off strong and then toward the middle of their presentations they seemed to kind of lose their way and then they closed with, you know, a series of really important points but you kind of wondered if they got lost in the fray of everything that was going on. the defense, i think, has been much more disciplined and much more focused and brought much

more of a -- has done a better job of poking holes in the prosecution's argument if i'm being quite honest. >> lisa bloom, after the defense rests what are we going to see from the prosecution side? will there be some redirect? >> the prosecution has an opportunity to put on a rebuttal case. we don't get to know any of the witnesses in advance so we don't know what they're going to put on. the defense has a chance to put on a surrebuttal case as long as the witnesses are in the scope of the rebuttal case. after all of that shakes down i expect to hear the judge charge the jury with the law they have to follow in the case. then closing arguments, then deliberations. >> and craig melvin down there in florida, i know as the court is about to resume and they're coming into the courtroom today, there's a lot of anticipation as to the closing days really in this emotional case. >> a great deal of anticipation, andrea mitchell. dennis root, by the way, when he takes the stand, he's going to be the witness that takes the stand here in just a moment on redirect. we've been keeping a close eye

on how jurors have been reacting to certain witnesses, how jurors have been reacting to certain pieces of testimony, and the point where john guy was demonstrating with the dummy earlier, that seemed to go over reasonably well with the jury. at one point all of the jurors in the back row were standing up looking. they were quite engaged. but, you know, dennis root has been on the stand for about three hours now, close to three hours. so we do not expect him to be on 9 stand that much long zbler dennis root offered himself up to the defense team. he is, you know, an experienced trainer and instructor of trainers but he does not know george zimmerman so he's really offering himself up as an expert witness to physical strength or lack of strength of zimmerman. lisa bloom, at this stage do you think that the defense has presented a case, no need of extra witnesses? >> i think the defense has done an extremely good job in this

case. they have two extremely skilled attorneys who have put on a couple of expert witnesses and overcome a lot of objections and have really put forward all possible evidence to support george zimmerman's claim of self-defense. i think the prosecution has put a lot in though as well and the case is too close to call if it was going to the jury right now. the prosecution has a more difficult case because they have to connect a lot of small points together in closing argument. we haven't gotten there yet. their case is essentially that george zimmerman lied and misstated the evidence when he told his four or five stories to law enforcement and they put on a lot of witnesses to poke a little hole here, a little misstatement there. they need to bring it altogether for the jury if they can. >> giovani cobb, one of the things that happened earlier today was that the judge made clear to george zimmer than that he does have the right to testify if he wants to, this out of the earshot or witness of the jury, but it seems unlikely or less likely that he would be taking the stand after that

exchange this morning. >> well, i don't think -- all along mark o'mara has said he wouldn't put him on the stand unless he thought that the prosecution had essentially made their case. i don't feel safe saying he's going to do that. the other thing is they've been really successful at having george zimmerman testify without having him testify. they've used the video, used the statement and they've used the interview that he did with fox news. i think that's been their way of getting his perspective in without having him on the witness and how big of a deal was it that the defense was able to get into direct testimony, they can do it in closing, the animation that one of their experts has put together? >> you're asking me? >> yes. >> i thought that was a little bit odd because when you saw the session where they interviewed the actual an him in mater, it really seemed like he was taking a good deal of creative license in creating it. they said he wouldn't be able to

use it as evidence and they could use it as a demonstration. i don't know what that will mean to the jury. it was a bit open to interpretation in terms of what he was going to be showing on the actual animation itself. >> and the judge is right now talking to george zimmerman about his right to testify. let's listen in. >> talk to your attorneys about whether or not you want to testify in this case? do you need some more time to talk to your attorneys about that? >> no, your honor. >> okay. and if you'll please just raise your right hand for one moment. >> do you solemnly swear and affirm that the testimony you're about to give is the truth and the whole truth so help you god. >> i do. >> mr. zimmerman, i said before that you're aware that you have the absolute right to remain silent. you do not have to do anything, say anything, prove anything, is that correct? >> yes, your honor. >> you also have the right to testify if you want to, do you understand that? >> yes, sir. >> i've given you an opportunity to discuss with your attorneys whether or not you want to testify in this case and you

have indicated that you have had those discussions? >> yes, your honor. >> and have you made a decision, sir, as to whether or not you want to testify in this case? >> your honor, i object to that question. >> okay. overruled. have you made a decision as to whether or not you want to testify in the case? >> i object to that question. i think that -- >> overruled. the court is entitled to inquire if mr. zimmerman's determination is to whether or not he wants to testify. mr. zimmerman, have you made a decision as to whether or not you want to testify in this case. >> not at this time, your honor. >> okay. how long do you think you need before you make that decision? >> your honor, may we have an opportunity to speak? the case isn't concluded yet. >> i understand that, and i've asked mr. zimmerman if he needed more time to talk to his attorneys, and if he does, i will afford it to him. mr. zimmerman, how much time do you think you're going to need to discuss this with your attorneys? >> it would depend on how long the recesses are, your honor. the end of the day. >> okay.

well, if your attorneys have finished with two witnesses before the end of the day, do you think you would then know whether or not you want to testify? >> your honor, on mr. zimmerman's behalf -- >> i am asking your client questions. please, mr. west. >> i object to the court inquiring on mr. zimmerman on his decision -- >> your objection is overruled. mr. zimmerman, i will give you more time, sir, to discuss this with your attorneys. thank you very much. >> thank you, your honor. >> may we approach on an unrelated matter? >> yes, you may. >> as you just saw, that dramatic moment. the judge asking of george zimmerman whether he's made his decision and whether he needs more time and more conversation with his attorneys, and over the serial objections of the defense

attorney, she overruled those objections. lisa bloom, it was very clear that she was out of patience with with the defense objections to her direct questioning of george zimmerman. >> wow. what you just saw in that florida courtroom was extraordinary. usually this is a pro forma event. the defendant announces he's not going to testify. then the judge asks him a series of questions. you understand you have the right, yes. you're waiving that right, yes. you've had a chance to speak with your attorney and confer and are making this decision out of your own free will. yes, yes, yes. thank you very much. you sit down. that's what i was expecting. this was completely different. i mean, he seemed to be hedging. the defense attorney is objecting to the judge's questions. you don't get to object to the judge's questions. you object to the other side's questions. she keeps saying overruled. zimmerman looked confused by the questions. she's offering him more time. ultimately, he says, well, i

guess i need to the end of the day. i mean, that was really bizarre. >> i couldn't figure it out either. usually, as you point out -- you're the lawyer, i'm not. but it's the objection to what the prosecution or the opponent is doing, the adversary, not to the judge's ruling. she made it very clear she wanted this opportunity to put it on the record she was asking george zimmerman and giving him the option of explaining that he really understood that he had the right to testify and he had the right not to testify. craig melvin, that was a dramatic moment indeed down there. >> you know what, andrea, it was a dramatic moment, but one could argue that the seeds for that moment were planted late last night inside that courtroom. they spent 13 1/2 hours in court yesterday, the longest day of the this trial so far. it ended with judge nelson storming out of the courtroom as don west was in mid sentence. don west last night was complaining about the pace and

the speed at which this trial is going. judge nelson, of course, has made no secret she wants to move it along. she has a jury that's been sequestered. she wants to get this case to the jury as quickly as possible. but again, last night don west was going on and on and judge nelson decided she'd had enough, didn't let him finish, stood up, walked out. after that, the cameras were off -- after that john guy, attorney for the state, goes over to the other attorneys' table to demand an apology from don west. he wanted don west to apologize for implying the state was withholding evidence. he goes over, he's between mark o'mara and don west. he's like, you should apologize for something you said. don west apparently looks up at one point and raises his voice and said, no, i'm not apologizing. at that point, some sheriffs deputies have to come down and kindly ask the attorneys to leave the courtroom. so tensions appear to be getting

a bit frayed here in sanford, florida, on both sides. >> well, lisa, you've been in a number of trials. you know that after a long trial, especially one with stakes as high as this on a national stage, that those relationships get frayed. they've been working pretty hard. >> these are not best friends. they're on both sides of the most high-profile case in the country right now where tensions run high, where a lot is riding on this case for a number of people. it's understandable. and they are working very, very long hours. what you see is probably only half of their day. they have to go back to their offices and work many more hours. they're probably getting hate mail. i mean, you know, this is a very, very tough thing for everybody in that courtroom. >> well, to lisa bloom our thanks. we'll continue with live coverage. thanks to all. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." follow the show online and on twitter. my colleague thomas roberts will be picking up coverage in the next hour as we continue to

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hi, everyone. i'm tamron hall. the news nation is following continuing coverage of the george zimmerman trial, where we just saw a dramatic moment and exchange between the judge, george zimmerman and his attorneys. when the judge asked mr. zimmerman if he plans to testify. listen in. >> mr. zimmerman, sir, did you have -- i spoke with you this morning about your rights to testify if you want to and the fact that you do not have to testify either. the jury cannot consider that in their deliberations of whether you testify or not. did you have an opportunity to talk to your attorneys about whether or not you want to testify in this case? >> yes, your honor. >> do you need some more time to talk to your attorneys about that? >> no, your honor. >> okay. if you'll please just raise your

right hand for one moment. >> do you solemnly swear the testimony you're about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you god. >> i do. >> mr. zimmerman, like i said before, you're aware during this trial you have the absolute right to remain silent. you do not have to say anything, do anything, or prove anything. is that correct? >> yes, your honor. >> and you also have the right to testify if you want to. do you understand that? >> yes, your honor. >> and i've given you an opportunity to discuss with your attorneys whether or not you want to testify in this case, and you have indicated that you have had those discussions. >> yes, your honor. >> and have you made a decision, sir, as to whether or not you want to ef in this case? >> your honor, i object to that question. >> okay. overrule. >> have you made a decision as to whether or not you want to testify in this case? >> i object to that question. >> overruled. the court is entitled to inquire if mr. zimmerman's determination is to whether or not he wants to testify. mr. zimmerman, have you made a decision as to whether or not you want to testify in this case? >> not at thise,