have to tell, listen, don't run when you see a cop. >> if you were in this country, that means if you are an lgbt or hispanic or black or a woman we are fighting to prove why other is not bad. >> trayvon martin had the civil right to go home and in a hundred cities this saturday, there will be demonstrations in front of federal buildings led by ministers pressing the fergus federal government to protect our right. >> two days now since george zimmerman found not guilty in the death of trayvon martin. hundreds of protesters and most peaceful. one hour from now, a prayer service held in sanford, florida, morerallies planned across the country. george zimmerman's legal team are dismissing any further legal action against their client.

>> i don't think the federal investigation will develop into any sort of charges. they have been at this since the beginning as well. we have received extensive information with the discovery in our case of what the fbi has done, absolutely nothing would suggest that this was a hate crime. >> daryl parks, the attorney for trayvon martin's family, spoke to my colleague ris chrchris ja moments ago. take a listen. >> that meant anyone black not dressed appropriately was a suspect. a person of white wouldn't have been a suspect. that's a problem. and it probably gives the justice department a little bit more to go on than they had when they originally started investigating this case. >> the prosecutors are facing a lot of monday more than quarterbacking whether they did all they could to get a conviction and in their own defense, said zimmerman should have taken the stand to explain his actions. >> as we all well know, he's got the right not to and he made that decision. >> he was afraid to take the

stand. >> the proof is in the pudding. did he take the stand? >> nobody just gets a gun out and shoots. even trained police officers when they are on the ground with a suspect on top of them, they can't get their guns out that quickly. >> i think there was a struggle. at some point, trayvon became aware of the gun and was backing up. >> while the president is calling for calm, certain politicians like new york mayor michael bloomberg want an end to stand your ground laws like in florida and others like former republican house speaker newt gingrich is saying this. >> i watch these protesters, none of whom read the transvicrt and none who sat through the trial and all preparing to be a lynch mob. they only one verdict and the verdict was guilty. >> joining me right now is the reverend al sharpton host of msnbc's "politics nation." the president of the national action network also. good to have you here. as we saw moments ago, we saw moments ago on a live feed benjamin crump speaking at the

naacp convention. i want to play a portion of what he had to say. take a look. >> it's going to be very important that we remain vocal and vigilant as we ask for the federal government to get involved in this investigation. because if we are not vocal and vigilant, then i can tell you trayvon's death will be swept under the rug. >> rev read, your reaction to that. is it going to be about the collective voices that those feel it was not a justifiable verdict and the ball needs to be moved forward to other avenues? >> i think that it is certainly going to be on those that now feel that this verdict makes a lot of people volume unusually. the reason that people in the civil rights community, including the national action network, are talking about these hundred cities that we are mobilizing this weekend is not

just questioning a verdict, but saying that as a president now said that the justice department must come in on and deal with the fact that are you saying if anyone is walking home, walking down a street and someone, nonlaw enforcement starts following them and you question them, they can shoot you and use self-defense. there is real civil rights issues here, and i think that fneif this is not kept out front you have established a legal precedence that haunts everyone and a threat to everyone's civil rights. let us remember now, this verdict uses anybody for any sinister reason. anybody that is a nut and say i can use deadly force and say it was self-defense because you must remember, mr. zimmerman was not a police officer. we are not talking sean bell here. he had no legal right to do anything, follow, or even approach trayvon martin, which

is a whole different set of circumstances than was tried in the state case. >> sir, reverend, when you talk about sean bell, i want to talk about that more in a second. he was shot and killed by police before his wedding. the justice department did not pick that up and take that any further after those who were taken to trial for it were found not guilty. do you think the benchmark is going to be too high for the department of justice to even want to touch this? won't it be a triple gut punch not just the martin family but those who found justice was not found here? the fact this child was killed and the fact this person has walked and then that the department of justice doesn't feel that they have a case or they do and then they lose. >> well, first of all, a total different body in sean bell. because in sean bell, two of the officers that were tried were black. secondly you were not dealing with questioning why the officers approached sean bell approached on race.

there was no legal or any other reason that zimmerman should have approached trayvon martin according to transcript. in fact, he was told don't follow him. so he's a much different -- the other thing is unlike a lot of coverage that a lot of media and we have been doing, the family had made the request in the beginning for the justice department. i was there in the meeting when the broad civil rights issues was raised. this is not a new question. there is new petitions, new drive. the request was made and the justice department said we will suspend our inquiry until after the trial. so i think that a lot of people are trying to act like this started now because of the verdict. this is being picked up after the trial. the meeting was with the u.s. attorney in the beginning. i know there in sanford because i was part of the meeting raising broader civil rights issues. the family requested it then with attorney crump. i think we need to correct a lot of people acting like this is

something of a new request. the justice department picking up on what they suspended and agreed to visit after the trial. >> do you think they waiting to see if something civil moves forward and the fact that george zimmerman would have to testify and they could pivot off that testimony? >> i think if something, civil moves forward and that is the family's option he will have to testify. i think in his answering those questions, he may provide very new evidence that could be used both by the justice department and others because he will have to answer, for example, when you said they always get away with it, who is "they" that you're referring to and get away with what? going home? is that what you were talking about? because that is all we have been told. what no one has raised to the defense is you had how many days? you never one time even implied that trayvon martin was doing anything illegal or improper. how do you defend the fact that

your client was wrong? he was just wrong. there was no wrong doing on the part of trayvon martin. >> the reverend al sharpton. great to see you. indiana to remind you to watch "politics nation" every night here on msnbc at 6:00 p.m. family members are speaking out what is next for them and here are some remarks from both sides. take a look. >> keep everybody in their prayers. just remember, trayvon, as sybrina always said, could have been your son and could have been my baby. >> there is no reason for this to happen to any other families. no one should have to go through this. >> he's a free man in the eyes of the court but he's going to be looking at around his shoulder for the rest of his life. >> joining me is melissa harris-perry host of her show on msnbc and toure co-host of "the cycle." and lisa bloom is a legal

analyst for msnbc. it's great to have you all here. melissa, we are coming off your weekend show where this was certainly a large topic to be discussed about the reaction to this. the prosecution certainly has come out in their own defense saying that they worked very hard on this, but is it the fact that they didn't make the case that trayvon martin really had the right to defend himself here? i know you talked a lot about take that and angela corey in a news conference that happened part of saturday night. i want to play part of that. take a look. >> this case has never been about race, nor has it ever been about the right to bear arms. not in the sense of proving this as a criminal case. but trayvon martin was profiled. there is no doubt that he was profiled to be a criminal and if race was one of the aspects in george zimmerman's mind, then we believe that we put out the proof necessary to show that zimmerman did profile trayvon

martin. >> i think if you listen to that, melissa, it's like an oxymoron there talking about the fact that race no was not an issue but if he did profile trayvon martin based on race and describing him as the suspect who is black didn't the prosecution make a mistake not bringing up race in the trial especially when they fought so hard to get the original telephone calls that george zimmerman mad on to nonemergency numbers over the years profiling black child suspects? >> yeah. i mean, look. i think they were trying to thread the needle with the particular jury that they had. so with a six person jury where five of those six people self-identify as white, then -- and in sanford in a place where there have been ongoing racial tensions and anxieties and to the heightened extent that this was, it seems to me that my most charitable reading of this is that the prosecution was trying not to alienate a jury which might not be sort of conversant on the questions of race and might not have been able to sort of follow a racialized

conversation without themselves becoming defensive about the question of race. but the problem was that the defense was very clearly injecting racialized assumptions, playing on the notion that they had a predominantly white jury and playing on the idea that these folks, too, might be afraid of an african-american teenager suggesting that this african-american teenager was sort of inherently criminal and therefore deserved tor followed and questioned. in a forward looking way, simply going right at that assumption and suggesting that that assumption was the in the mind necessary for a murder too, i think -- again, even in those closing arguments you decide. you decide. no, you don't just do that. you have to bring your jury along and make a clear case. >> toure, i think a lot of people are reacting to this looking at at what this verdict means in the larger picture as we try to get above this and reflect how this means our social contract works in this

country. there are teens reacting to this online and one teenage in new york city writing the jury has shown me someone can shoot a black male and get away with this. defense attorney mark o'mara said zimmerman never would have been charged if he had been black. >> that is the most absurd assumption that we have heard throughout this, and lisa and i have been talking about many. >> trayvon wouldn't be dead if he was white. >> i think is true too because he wouldn't assume if he was a criminal if he sees his white skin in the distance. if george zimmerman had been black he would be dealing with the incarceration of black people we have been talking about this country. overarrested and overprosecuted and overconvicted and oversentenced once convicted. the idea go george zimmerman was black he invoke black privilege and not have to go through all this? that is absurd. i'm proud to see americans, black, white, brown and asian

marching together and 99% peacefully and not looting that others have predicted. obviously, that was not going to happen. in retrospect to think that an almost all-white jury in the south would find justice for a black victim i'm like, what was i thinking? you know? the other thing i noticed in the montage you played earlier john guy has a theory of the case which we have not heard the whole time! >> it's hard to take and when we look at the crowds and how many of them are white, i think the jury could have handled a frank discussion about race. i think the jury could have handled pulling together the evidence in closing argument that all of the times that george zimmerman had called the police it had been about african-american suspicious people when when he called about a suspicious person. i think they could have handled that information. they handled bloody autopsy photos, pictures of the deceived remains of trayvon martin. at least the prosecution should have tried and the back and

forth that we continue to see anklely corey it's not about race but it is about race and not about race is what we heard in closing arguments. >> we have to accept this judicial outcome in this instance, lisa. what are the family's chances in the civil route? >> they could bring a civil case like the o.j. simpson case and a civil case you can force him to testify. you could force him to scream. you can force him to re-enact exactly how trayvon martin could would have seen the gun even though it was behind him and down the shirt and jacket. it is complicated by the department of justice investigation. if federal criminal charges are filed the civil case can go forward but he can't be forced to testify and he has fifth amendment rights against self-inimnation. >> there may be an emotional victory but that is ultimately a band-aid on the bullet wound p.m. until we get rid of the stand your ground laws which encourage people to shoot and

ask questions later and perhaps were not written with racial intent but play out in practices away from justify whites killing black and brown folks. jordan davis got shot and killed throughout the trayvon martin situation going on and until we get rid of that we will still be here having more of these situations. >> don't we need to do more about our social contract with each other in this country when it comes to being others? as we look at this, we can use this as a great prist poiivot p talk about race relations in this country. you're suspected of being a pedestriophile and if you are a woman, you don't have a right to your own body and reproductive health because if you do you're a slut that wants to sleep around and use abortion control. if you're hispanic you want to lay off the land and have anchor babies. i want to challenge this

network. we had to have an i am other agenda and have a forum for it because others need to unite to talk about this and figure out where we are going as a country. the social contract that we have currently negotiated that is so wrong and how this is happening in a country where we have this huge group of people that it's supposed to be a melting pot but we treat each other with such disstain it's not each funny implt implt. >> i will take you up with the challenge if we convince the people we work i would happily co-host a town hall special around this or anything else. >> let's do it. >> let's do it. i like your concept. >> i think you're absolutely right. i want to underline what lisa said about the protests. all of them certainly very passionate but also very peaceful. or maybe the most heartening thing on this entire weekend in that they clearly are highly multiracial from sanford to san francisco to new york city. we do, in fact, see generational

differences, i think. those generational differences are about this spasm we have been over the course of the past six years about redefining what is citizenship in this country. who counts as a citizen and what does it mean to be a citizen and what is the social safety net and the social contract as you pointed out. what is our joint and collective responsibility to one another? i had a catholic priest on the show this weekend said the prayer we need to be comig about is the idea of could comun i don't know. what does it mean when he is armed in this clear violent overresponse to what he perceives as more than anything else. outsiders invading what is his, right? that language of these other people is the idea this face belongs to me and i have every right even violently to police this space. i think that is exactly what we

are dealing with at a national level. how do we make sure that we are not literally violently policing the others out of our social crack. >> i am other and i am okay and we need to start that forum and that conversation because it's a lot bigger when it comes to moving this conversation forward and making a big ripple effect to change. thank you all so much. lisa bloom is one of the hardest working women in tv over the last couple of weeks. you can catch toure hosting "the cycle." and melissa harris-perry with her show that is coming up later today. we are batch backwith much more after this. the world's most advanced distribution systems," "and one of the most efficient trucking networks," "with safe, experienced drivers." "we work directly with manufacturers," "eliminating costly markups," "and buy directly from local farmers in every region of the country."

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freedom since abortion was first loc legalized in this country. states have taken on a number abortion laws this year and you'll be able to add texas and north carolina to that list. the claim for raising the bar for critics will increase women's health and safety but the reality is all but five abortion clinics in in texas with stand your ground and. closing those clinics was an added benefit of sweeping new restrictio restrictions. the huffingtonpost graphic points out low income residents in rural areas are the ones most great deal impacted forcing thousands of women to drive hundreds of miles for proper treatment. or across the border to find flea markets and illegal mexican pharmacies where drugs proofed for us in the united states are pretty bad in dangerous ways and causing incomplete abortion and continual bleeding and uterine

rupture. after the new laws in texas take effect, it will skyrocket to an estimated 14,000. joining me now is women's rights activists president of planned apparenthood of north carolina, janet comb. sarah you were the one a lot of people probably seen this. you were dragged out of the texas capital last week. i want to remind everybody. take a look. >> let's start down the line. senator campbell you're an ophthalmologist so i won't be making you the expert on reproductive health. we can give you all of the children with herpes in their eyes since we don't have sex ed in the state. senator haygaur you are -- excuse me, this is my government, ma'am. everyone on the internet can see what you're doing right now. this is a farce. the texas legislators are a

bunch of liars who hate women. >> everyone on the internet can see that and here as well. governor rick perry has vowed to sign this law and could take effect in a matter of weeks. explain to all of us what is next for someone like you who has taken up this fight and also has provided a platform for yourself now because of your passion behind it? >> hi, thomas. thanks so much for having me on. what is next for texas is that since the legislative branch has failed us so michellely we are relying on a shaky judicial branch and have to look toward injunctions filed that will ultimately head to the fifth circuit court of appeals. the ninth circuit court of appeals made rulings and stopped the laws passed in idaho and arizona the 20-week abortion laws. fortunately texas has to rely on the fifth court of appeals. they upheld the 2011 ultrasound bill that is overturned in other states so we have to keep up momentum and political pressure and we have to keep up the solidarity between the women in

texas because we have to look towards another branch of government right now that has been subject to political pressure in the past. >> so as you look for solidarity let's talk about north carolina. janet, you were arrested during what was supposed to be something a little more peaceful last week's moral monday protests fighting sneak attack legislation attached to a motorcycle safety bill that threatened to close your nonstate's hospital abortion clinics. now pat is back pedaling on his vow he wouldn't let that happen. explain to us how the governor can so blatantly contradict himself and also explain the chances that either of these laws will hold up in court. >> i think you have to talk to the governor to ask him to explain about himself. we continue to be hopeful that he is going to be a little bit more deliberative about this. i think it's really important for people to understand that this bill is really just a

laundry list of all the antichoice legislation that could hope to pass in north carolina, including prohibiting local governments from providing insurance options for their employees. so it's beyond the facility regulations and really goes to a much wider net than that. >> sarah, i want to talk about this because i'm not sure if a lot of people know about what salon has pointed out. they did so last week. emphasizing that the texas governor rick perry's sister is an executive at a company that operates ambulatory surgical centers so they are tied directly to this and she has been a lobbyist for a long time in the state of texas and the governor has declined to comment on this. what is your reaction that appears to be massive conflict of interest in basically, that any of these procedures will now have to be done at those ambulatory clinics, the five that are in the state, meaning that they line their pockets with what they are so against?

>> thomas in texas, it's a new day, same story about governor perry. when he came out surprisingly in support of mandating the vacc e vaccines for middle school girls we found out he had a tie to those companies too. the fact is the political pact that the surgical alliance centers and doctors and hospitals contribute to have thrown 4 million into texas state ploolitics the last four years and that is a lot of money for them to turn away from, apparently. we knew immediately during the hearings that this was a hot point. people kept bringing it up in testimony and at one point, senator bob dule read what appeared to be a prepared statement in response trying to trying to shame the women in the room saying there is no need to bring this up, we don't need to impugn the character of anyone. i think i will impugn the character of a golf and his sister and limit health care access for half the population

of texas and it goes to support them financially. >> sarah and janet, thank you both for coming on here. i appreciate your time today. >> thank you, thomas. >> nationwide protesters after the verdict in the george zimmerman trial and seen them from coast-to-coast but what has the reaction been from president obama's statement in response to that ruling? we will discuss that and much more coming up with our agenda panel and our question on the day is on the zimmerman trial verdict. will it lead to a deeper discussion about race in america today? [clicks mouse] there's doughnuts in the conference room. there's doughnuts in the conference room. automatic discounts the moment you sign up.

it's unacceptable. if we don't speak up, nobody is going to listen. >> i had to write my sister an e-mail to tell her that she is not safe in florida. >> so emotional reaction to the verdict in the george zimmerman trial has been exploding all over social media and we have seen people taking to the streets and expressing

themselves in protests and marching in the country and this image of civil rights leader dr. martin luther king jr. wearing a hoodie and only god knows what was on zimmerman's mind was tweeted and the gun laws and stand your ground laws must change. from robert zimmerman jr., george's brother, this tweet. joining me now is joanne reid the managing editor of g, rirks o.com and msnbc contributor and kelly goff is with us and jonathan capehart is an msnbc contributor and writer for "the washington post" and jed. we have a big panel to get to today. i want to make sure we do everything with great detail and with great justice for everybody. first i want to start off with joanne. the president was calling for calm in reaction to this.

and inserting himself in a diplomatic way whereas before the charges were filed against george zimmerman he made that famous statement if i had a son he would look like trayvon. how i do think the president has done with looking at what this means and the fracture of what it means for how race works in our country? >> yeah. i think it's interesting that the martin incident happened at the time we have an african-american president who can speak to the black people's elementary. if he had a son he would look like trayvon. once the president inserted himself it became doing mattic. that is unfortunately i think it polarized the process and especially in sanford where the jury pool is coming from people who are primarily conservative. what the president has called for calm reflection reflex is the same attitude of the parents which think is accurate and appropriate. >> part of that statement from the president says we are a nation of laws and a jury has spoken. i now ask every american to

respect the call for calm reflection from two parents who lost their young son. kelly, you wrote something. i think you're going to challenge what joanne has to say about this. in the article you put out you said the most defensive reaction from them all cale from president obama. the president didn't turn it into a racial issue even though he should have because the tragedy is one rooted in race. so you think that this shows a lack of courage from the president to step in more forcefully to what this means? >> particularly it's not the first time. president obama you can count on one hand actually on a couple of fingers how many times he has mentioned race in this country. i understand he was not elected to be a president for black america. he was elected to be the president for all americans. but he is a black man. and there are issues that our community deals with that not all americans deal with. one of them is racial profiling and something that attorney general eric holder has even had the courage to speak about his own experience being racially profiled. president obama in the 166-word statement he released yesterday

on this tragedy he didn't mention the word race once. he said it's a tragedy for all americans. it is but it's a particular tragedy who has a son that looks like trayvon and they can be worried about their son walking down the street. >> what about the -- summit? >> a great point. that happened and his poll numbers went down among certain white americans. trayvon happened and his poll numbers went down among certain white americans. we saw what happened with his poll numbers and he was worried about reelection. he got a second term and still not confronting the issue and i find so unacceptable and if bill clinton were president, i have a feeling he would have had the courage to say what michael moore said what if trayvon had been following somebody who had a gun and ended up dead? >> jonathan, is that an unfair way talk about the president? >> yes. >> how many trayvon's have been saved because we have president

obama in the white house that we are not going to know about because of changes in society that have made change but maybe not enough but you think has is heavy? >> the president is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. imagine the reaction if the president didn't say something if i had a son he would look like trayvon martin. imagine if the president remains slept on the verdict. look. the president of the united states is president of the united states and there are some things that he can and he can't do. of course, president clinton would be able to say something more definitive and more aggressive, maybe what kelly would like to hear from president obama. nks he could. because he doesn't -- he being president clinton, doesn't have the extra burden that president obama has. i have no patience for the complaining and the whining -- the complaining that the president isn't doing enough and isn't saying enough on race and

on black issues when the man is saying and doing a whole lot of things might not be under the big glowing marquee of black agenda or here i am talking about race. he is doing it a lot more subtly and in a way that is a whole lot more effective. >> can i say i agree everything jonathan said? >> uh-huh. >> in the first term. he got a second term. i think a lot of us. i interviewed representative cleaver saying we give him a pass and he is held to an unfair standard and worried about re-election but he got re-elected. are we waiting for the last year he is in office to feel like he has the freedom that president clinton would have because he is white? >> i want to say quickly i think the danger of wanting president obama to take an issue like this that is a tragedy about gun laws and much bigger issues and zero it in on one issue. this issue is so multifacetted and about empowering gun hors to

track anyone they want and that not being illegal and fighting back against them is a crime. the idea you can pursue not just black teenagers but women and anyone else you want with a gun. so much here that you can't wrap that up in a 166-word statement and i think the president would have further polarized the debate. that statement is not where it was needed. >> let's talk about that bigger conversation on race. newt gingrich has weighed in on this and he was on another network. i want to play what he had to say and get your reaction on the other side. >> i watch these protesters, none of whom read the transcript and none who sat through the trial and all preparing to be a lynch mob. they only wanted one verdict and the verdict was guilty. if he had been found guilty does that mean everybody else on the other side should have thrown things at the police? i want to start there. second, if we want to talk about saving lives and saving african-americans lives, 350 african-americans were killed in

chicago last year. over a hundred latinos killed in chicago last year. why isn't the justice department concerned about developing a task force that involves all of those people of color who were killed in the president's hometown? >> jed, let's talk about the political implications that come out of this. we are hearing a lot of rhetoric there from newt gingrich in trying to equalize it with other issues in the country that are important as well but may be apples to oranges. but what are the political implications when we talk about the department of justice wanting to take an investigative now that the criminal trial is over and potentially bring charges? >> i'll just say in the beginning that i think the attitude expressed by newt gingrich in that clip is exactly the same attitude that ended up costing trayvon martin his life. the idea that the protesters are going to be a lynch mob when the reality is these protesters have been overwhelmingly peaceful. thousands of people on the treat and very little issues at all.

i think the problem with the department of justice, as the next step on this, is that the standard is just so high from a legal perspective. you really have to get within george zimmerman's head and prove what he is thinking. so they may very well pursue it, but it's really more difficult than the trial that we just had. i mean, to me, what was most striking was not obama's reaction, but the reaction of the prosecutor angela corey who really celebrated the spreader in the end or seemed pleased with it or pleased with what happened and it really, i think, raised questions as -- that this was a show trial and not a real trial aimed at getting a verdict. >> i want to say thanks to all four of you. a very good conversation going on here. our big question of the day for you has been about the zimmerman verdict and asking will it lead to a deeper discussion about race in america? also if you want to check out more from me and the agenda panel head to tv.msnbc.com and

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congestion, for it's smog. but there are a lot of people that do ride the bus. and now that the busses are running on natural gas, they don't throw out as much pollution to the earth. so i feel good. i feel like i'm doing my part to help out the environment.

so as if the air in washington, d.c. isn't as toxic these days, a stall is playing out the next 48 hours and determine the atmosphere for months to come. senate majority leader harry reid is set to deploy the nar opti nuclear option. they say it would be permanently alter and senate majority leader harry reid had to this say more than an hour ago. >> minor change no big deal. all we want to do is what the constitution says we should do.

filibustered. instant is broken and needs to be fixed. >> joining me now is capitol hill national correspondent kell kelly o'donnell. explain why americans out there who are confused why a simple majority isn't enough to mean that majority rules. >> well, part of what makes this so important is that the senate is supposed to be different than the house. where a simple majority always rules. the senate has prided itself on being a place where there could be a slower contemplation of legislation or nominees that kind of thing. so the word nuclear really is aptly chosen because it is, in part, a deterrent when they call it the nuclear option it gives you the idea this must be a bill deal, right? the idea is to get senators to back off and find a way to negotiate. what happens is whatever party is in the majority, it's democrats now. back in 2005, it was republicans in charge of the senate. there are times when either party will see an advantage to try to change these rules.

and usually both will ultimately back off because they know there may be a time when their party is in the minority and wants to have its own rights sort of protected. so that is where we are. this really comes down to not the cabinet level nominees and not even really judicial nominees of being the heart of it. it has been key agencies like the national labor relations board, the epa, that kind of thing. when supreme court across the street here said that the president's recess "poimts were improper that got republicans to say we don't want to see these rules change to make those pointes permanent. it's about the strategy of the senate which seems very wonky but it seems to matter when it comes to getting anything done. >> what has senator reid's ear on this most? >> many of his own democrats who have not in the senate very long and not in the minority with the party without as much power have been pushing this. also the white house would like

to see some of its nominees put in place. that certainly is a big factor. at the same time, republicans have been reaching out to democrats to try and say, is there a way we can negotiate this to avoid it? tonight at 6:00, all 100 senators are meeting jointly, that rarely happens and they will talk this out and see if they can come to a resolution. >> kelly o'donnell, thank you. we will be back with more after this. you must be garth's father? hello. mother. mother! traveling is easy with the venture card because you can fly any airline anytime. two words. double miles! this guy can act. wanna play dodge rock? oh, you guys! and with double miles you can actually use, you never miss the fun. beard growing contest and go! ♪ i win! what's in your wallet? i win! i found our colors. we've made a decision. great, let's go get you set up... you need brushes...

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so in the wake of the george zimmerman not guilty verdict, a special prayer service is scheduled to begin minutes from now at a church in sanford, florida. craig melvin has been reporting from sanford since the beginning of the trial. as i understand it, the mayor, police chief, the city manager all expected to be united at this service today. correct? >> yeah. yeah. they will all be there. peace and unity, thomas. those are the two things that they say they hoped would be the two things that come from services like this. they're planning these every monday at 12:00 for the foreseeable future, we are told. we can also tell you here in sanford, no demonstrations today. no protests today. folks here starting to get back

to business as usual. the courthouse is open. business as usual here. and again, what we are expecting from this prayer service at 12:00, folks are supposed to gather and pray and talk and also there will be some grieving there as well, you can understand. all this coming from the city manager. >> msnbc's craig melvin reporting from sanford, florida. thank you, sir. today's big question was to you about the zimmerman trial. the question being will this verdict lead to a deeper discussion about race in america? on twitter first response -- the discussion on race is long overdue and it only comes up when there is some form of injustice. then lauren weighed in -- saying it should lead to dialogue about race. once society is educated, there will be better understanding and change. a lot of people are writing

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the verdict is not guilty but that doesn't necessarily mean innocent. it is monday, july 15th and this is "now." the verdict in the george zimmerman murder trial continues to reverberate across the country as thousands of demonstrators make their voices heard. last saturday night zimmerman was acquitted of second degree murder in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old trayvon martin. moments after the verdict was read, anger and frustration turned into action. for the most part, peaceful but passionate. >> how can you murder an innocent child and sleep at night? >> this whole system wants you to feel like trayvon was a

criminal! this whole system is wrong! >> the system shows that this is a continuation of racial oppression. >> over the weekend rallies and vigilles took place across the u.s. last night a gathering in new york's union square became an impromptu march to times square. in los angeles protesters shut down a freeway for nearly an hour. after the ruling, zimmerman's lawyers praised the jury's decision. >> we are ecstatic with the results. george zimmerman was never guilty of anything except protecting himself in self-defense. i'm glad that the jury saw it that way. >> but in the prosecution's closing remarks, attorney john guy posed this question. >> when a grown man, frustrated, angry, with hate in his heart, gets out of had his car with a ad