the offensive. what he might do if he's not allowed to leave russia for political asylum. and maybe you can't call her a pitcher. as carly rae jepsen struggles on the mound. we do what we do best, show you the best worst first pitches in history. it's what you do when it's "way too early." maybe the shorts were restricting oxygen to the brain that affected her delivery. if they were shorter, they call them underwear. maybe i'm too old-school. we'll touch on how unsexy apple may have become in the consumer world. we'll get latest on how brutally hot it's going to be in the northeast. we begin with the murder

trial of george zimmerman. where saturday's not guilty verdict has renewed the nation's debate on race. yesterday, thousands of americans expressed their disappointment in the jury's decision, protesting the acquittal of the volunteer neighborhood watchman, from new york to los angeles. people took to the streets at times blocking traffic on major u.s. roadways, chanting no justice, no peace. back in florida, the prosecution and defense spoke about the verdict and the impact race had on the case. >> i think that the things would have been different if george zimmerman was black for this reason. he never would have been charged with the crime. this became a focus for a civil rights event. which is a wonderful event to have. but they decided that george zimmerman would be the person who they were to blame. and sort of use as the creation of a civil rights violation. none of which was borne out by the facts.

>> we have to remember what the prosecutor said at the very end. if trayvon martin and the facts were reversed, would have profiled and followed and pursued and killed an armed george zimmerman, what would the verdict have been? and i think the problem that a lot of us are having with accepting this verdict, is we know in our heart of hearts that trayvon martin would have been convicted. >> yesterday, the white house released a statement from the president reading in part, quote, in the wake of the verdict, i know those passions may be running higher. but we're a nation of laws and the jury has spoken. i ask every american to respect the call for calm reflection for two parents who lost their young son. that calm reflection was echoed by trayvon martin's father, who posted a series of reactions on twitter, including this one.

quote, even though i'm brokenhearted, my faith is unshattered. zimmerman could face federal criminal charges and a possible civil suit, as well. tensions in the u.s. senate are spilling over into this week, as well. frustrated by not being able to approve presidential nominees, harry reid to fundamentally change the rules of the senate with what is being called the nuclear option. that could come as early as tomorrow. last week, reid and minority leader mitch mcconnell exchanged pointed attacks on the floor. mcconnell tweeted a picture of a headstone saying reid killed the senate. they continued their power struggle on "meet the press." >> the changes we're making are minimal. what we're doing is saying, look, american people. shouldn't president obama have somebody working for him that he wants? >> i hope we'll come to our senses and not change the core of the senate. we have never changed the rules of the senate by breaking the rules of the senate, in order to

diminish the voices of individual senators. we've never done it that. we sure student start it now. >> the fight over women's rights in texas is far from over. democrats have vowed to challenge the state's new bill in the courts. and to take the issue directly to the voters. on friday, more than 2,000 protesters stormed the state's capital, looking to disrupt a vote on the bill, as they did the night of june 25th. but their efforts were not enough. and the legislation has been sent to governor perry's desk to be signed into law. yesterday, perry defended the bill, which has been called one of the most restrictive in the country. >> i happen to be one of those people that believes that the federal government should do a few things and do them well. and allow the states to make the decisions on these types of issues. most people i think in this country, and in texas, certainly believe that six months is too

late to be deciding whether or not these babies should be aborted or not. and we put the limit at five months in this bill. edward snowden faces an uncertain future today. a handful of countries offered him asylum. but he is marooned in russia. glenn greenwald says if anything should happen to the nsa contractor, a trove of information is waiting to be leaked, including a blueprint of how the nsa does what it does. greenwald said in part, quote, snowden has enough information to cause harm to the u.s. government in a single minute than any other person has ever had. the u.s. government should be on its knees every day begging that nothing happened to snowden because if something does happen to him, all the information will be revealed and it could be its worst nightmare. end quote. asiana airlines confirmed

they will sue an oakland, california, tv station that aired erroneous names of the pilots involved in the flight 214 crash. ktvu says it confirmed the names with the ntsb, issued an apology after it became apparent the names were fake. the ntsb apologized, as well. an intern confirmed the names to a reporter at the station. asiana says the report has damaged the airline's reputation. later today, there will be an autopsy in the death of cory monteith. the 31-year-old star of the hit tv show "glee," was found dead in his hotel room in vancouver. he played the role of finn hudson. and he transitioned from disinterested jock to glee club devotety to coach of his singing squad. the actor struggled with

substance abuse in the past since he was a teenager. in march, he checked himself into a treatment center. according to "the new york times," he sought rehab when he was 19 years old. a sad story. let's move to business news. gas prices, back on the rise. the cost of gas, 20 cents higher than it was at this time last year. according to aaa, the national average for a gallon of regular is at $3.65. i paid like $3.99 in the weekend. cheaper in jersey. let's go to business where wall street hoping to maintain last week's rally after closing friday with its second-best week of the year. check in with karen cho live for us in london. >> record numbers on wall street on friday. we may see more support for stacks today, after the gdp numbers from china. 7.5% was the level of growth for the second quarter.

but the headline this week is going to be what ben bernanke says. he'll be speaking again. but this time to the house services committee. he moved markets when he reassured investors about the timing of tapering. we have nearly one-third of the dow reporting and 75 companies on the s&p 500, the likes of coal cola, goldman sachs, morgan stanley, microsoft. some of the big ones to watch out for. apple is also in focus. this is a continuation of the story about the company's declining fortunes. the likes of verizon wireless, one of the carriers that's made huge commitments in selling apple devices. it's forked out about $45 billion over the next couple of years in anticipation. it seems as though sales are falling short. so, there are suggestions this is because of the popularity of other devices. the ramifications here, though, are down the track, it may not sign up to as large a commitment

to apple devices. and it may demand lower prices, which may have an impact on apple's margin. one final one for those that made it to the movies. the latest box office statistics, it seems like it's about the family-friendly sequels. "despicable me 2" and "grown ups 2." managing to take the one and two spot. "pacific rim" came in third. this is the humans taking on sea creatures movie. it seems as though the critics are saying it needs to attract more than sci-fi fans if it wants a chance of making a "pacific rim 2." >> it got good buzz. two, quick things. i took my kids to "despicable me 2." gave my contributions to nbc universal. and "grown ups 2," filmed in my hometown. and the odds of catching a

foul ball. what do you think the odds are? >> i caught four at one time. how many people go to a ball game? 1 in 38,000. more than that, actually. >> the odds of catching four is pretty much impossible. thank you for stealing my thunder. it happened yesterday in cleveland. a season ticketholder, he caught three. and actually picked one up. you count that as a fall ball caught. he had a couple kids with him. that's unbelievable. finish this sentence. catching four foul balls is as likely as -- use the #waytoowitty. we have good ones, by the way. we don't need to put any zimmerman ones on tv. so, don't go there. still ahead, this could cause some problems at home. danica's fender-bender with her

real-life boyfriend. did it knock either one out of contention? and celebs were out in force to sing "take me out to the ball game." lewis has firsthand insights on the performances coming up next in "the cooler." a check on weather when "way too early" comes right back. ♪

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that accepts medicare patients. and you never need referrals. so call now to request a free decision guide and learn more. after all, when you're going the distance, it's nice to have the experience and commitment to go along with you. keep dreaming. keep doing. go long. time for sports. officially, it is the all-star break. but chris davis has a statement to make before heading to new york. he hit his 37th home run of the season. tying reggie jackson for the most home runs hit before the all-star break in the american league. he's on base for 62. remember before all of the juice, it was 61. they'll be in tonight's home run derby in new york. freddy freeman won't be playing in tomorrow night's event. who will replace him?

it won't be yasiel puig. bruce bochy hasn't explained why he made that chase. puig has a bit of a sore hip right now. that might be a factor. it is not a summer olympics year. if we're talking about track and field athletes, it's probably not a good sign. the a.p. reports the u.s. 100 and 200 meter champion, tyson gay will miss the world championships after testing positive for a banned substance. gay told the a.p. he was let down by a trusted member of his team. two other top jamaican sprinters also tested positive. let's talk motor sports. that means danica patrick. she didn't win a race. she was involved in a wreck. she wound up crashing into her boyfriend, ricky stenhouse jr. it happened on lap 238. patrick slid sideways into stenhouse and another car. i wonder what the postrace information was with that.

but stenhouse did report back to the track after some remapairs. i'm sure we were wondering when tension would raise on the track. brian vickers took the checkered flag. he career almost ended three years ago. a bit of road rage at a track in north carolina. the racer is mike robinson. he tries to get at him. the guy dries away, drags him. but he's not going to quit. he keeps -- he's mad? you should calm down. take another look. he wants to punch him. and then -- that's about 30 yards. so, if his racing career doesn't work out, he can probably do some stunt work. that's got to hurt. bill karins, i don't have a good segue to that. >> you're burying the sports

lead. >> which was? >> into last week, you did a triathlon or something. >> i finished. i didn't do the new york ironman. i had a lot of people, 10, 15 years of both genders pass me in quite a bit. >> that 5-year-old was quick, though. >> same with the 62-year-old woman. let's go to weather. >> the heat wave is the big story. this is the middle of summer. you expect it to be hot. but this will be a long duration heat wave. it's starting off near 80 degrees to start your morning in new york city. that means it's going to be, in the afternoon, you're going the add 15 to 20 degrees to that. 97 in central park today. 90s up and down i-95. the humidity will make it feel like 100 to 105. that's the heat index. and we have a heat warning in effect for the greater philadelphia area. how long will it last? it looks to go all of this week. so, this is one of the weeks to

get to the watter if you can. philadelphia, mid to upper 80s. it looks like it breaks on saturday. and also, the coolest spot in the country, texas and new mexico. they have a crazy weather system with clouds and rainy and 70s. >> they're probably laughing at us. i'll do my psa, keep the kids hydrated. lots of water. >> yep. coming up at the top of the hour, in kept the analysis of the george zimmerman verdict. what the reaction says about the political culture of the country right now. back here, we will huddle around the cooler. her song may be "call me maybe." but she won't be getting any calls for pitching help. but is it the worst first pitch ever? we'll look at some of the best worst ones when we come right back. my mother made the best toffee in the world. it's delicious. so now we've turned her toffee into a business. my goal was to take an idea

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at the top of the show, we talked about the not guilty verdict in the george zimmerman trial. if you want to sound smart today, tell your friends that since florida first adopted the stand your ground law in 2005, 23 states have followed. stand your ground protects people who are threatened to protect themselves. it is estimated that this law is responsible for 500 out of 1,400 homicides annually in the united states.

time for "the cooler." lewis. you ever throw out a first pitch? >> i have not. but some are calling this one the worst ceremonial first pitch ever. you be the judge. this is carly rae jepsen before the rays game in tampa. she scored a hit on the pop charts with "call me maybe." check out president obama in 2010. he reaches home plate. but a world class athlete, karl lewis. he wasn't exactly impressive. this one barely gets to the mound. wow. that's just horrific. what may be the absolute worst. check out cincinnati mayor, mark mallory. wow. that's -- that's just horrific. i don't know how they let him go out there. so, miss jepsen's toss wasn't impressive. it could be not the worst. it was an explosive morning for one local morning show in corpus

christi. take a look. >> i'm john thomas. friday july 12th. >> oh. well, the studio had a little bit of a ruckus. we'll have to see what that's about. we might be making our own news. in the meantime, we'll try to keep the calm here and let you know what you need to know weather-wise. >> what a way to wake up. good morning, everyone. >> they stayed calm. but this is a look at the explosion that led to the on-air interruption. it was a natural gas explosion at a home nearby. no one was killed during that explosion. new york is all abuzz with the all-star game set for tuesday at citi field. yesterday, i caught up with the players and celebrities who did battle in a legends soft ball game. they were determined to do the seventh inning stretch. ♪ take me out to the ball game

take me out to the crowd ♪ ♪ buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks ♪ ♪ i don't care if i ever get back ♪ ♪ root, root, root for the home team ♪ ♪ if they don't win it's a shame for it's one, two, three strikes you're out ♪ ♪ at the old ball game >> oh, yeah. >> well, what do you think there? i think my singing career is very bright. >> yeah. something like that, lewis. has he become less self-aware? i'm serious. wow. and the goofy laugh. well, thank you. thank you for that. >> i'm doing my best. >> yeah. see that. coming up on "morning joe." protests erupt across the country as america reacts to the acquittal of george zimmerman. we'll show you how both sides are reacting to the verdict, as well as president 'bamaba obama

reaction to the case. we're going to discuss what's next for george zimmerman himself. and. and round two in texas, republican lawmakers pass the highly restrictive abortion bill. can either side claim the moral high ground? along with tina brown and chuck todd. and finally, it's mlb all-star week here in new york city. you enjoying that, mike? >> i am. >> you are? okay. the mets are hosting this at citi field. we'll be joined by former met great and current bible analyst, al leiter. pirates all-star and one of the hottest players in the game, andrew mccutcheon. an interesting conversation coming up on "morning joe," on college girls and their attitudes towards sex. incredibly disturbing information coming up. brian, back to you.

>> full-circle by the time my 7-year-old has to go to college. >> you're going to be scared. still ahead, finish this sentence. catching four foul balls is as likely as -- your best and most creative tweets coming up and "morning joe" just moments away. mine was earned in djibouti, africa. 2004. vietnam in 1972. [ all ] fort benning, georgia in 1999. [ male announcer ] usaa auto insurance 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.

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so, we asked you to finish some sentences here on a monday. catching four foul balls is as likely as. eric schultz has some good ones today. >> a bunch of great ones today. te telethree of my favorites said, jane says paula deen winning an naacp image award. >> hash tag? >> too soon, yes. dennis rodman winning the nobel peace prize. and morning mika signing an endorsement deal with mcdonald's. >> or catching four foul balls

in a game is as likely as eric schultz doing twitter again this week. >> one more time. >> we'll give you another chance. thank you very much. "morning joe," starts right now. ♪ this protest, this is a show of strength but it's also a show of solidarity with the family. because last night, what happened, was a complete disrespect to them and we want to show love and respect to them. >> it's unacceptable and if we don't speak up nobody is going to listen. >> we refuse to accept a declaration of open season on black and latino youth which is what this verdict in florida represents. >> i can't put into words the sadness, the emotion, the anger. i had to write my sister an e-mail to tell her that she's not safe in florida. >> good morning. welcome to "morning joe." it's monday, july 15th. with us on