hi, everyone. i'm tamron hall. the news nation is following continuing developments in the wake of the george zimmerman not guilty verdict. one of the six jurors announced today she is now dropping plans to write a book. juror b-37, whose identity is being kept secret for now, issued a statement saying the isolation of being sequestered, quote, shielded me from the depth of pain that exists among the general public over every aspect of this case. she also said, quote, the potential book was always intended to be a respectful observation of the trial from mine and my husband's perspective solely. and it was to be an observation that our system of justice can

be so complicated that it creates a conflict with our spirit of justice. now that i am returned to my family and to society in general, i have realized the best direction for me to go is away from writing any sort of book and return instead to my life as it was before i was called to sit on this jury. that is her statement. well, the development follows the juror's extensive interview on cnn where she discussed jury deliberations, including the initial vote. >> we had three not guilties, one second-degree murder, and two manslaughters. i was not guilty. >> because of the two options you had, second-degree murder or manslaughter, you felt neither applied? >> right. well, because of the heat of the moment and the stand your ground. he had a right to defend himself. if he felt threatened, that his life was going to be taken away from him or he was going to have body harm, he had a right. it's a tragedy this happened,

but it happened. i think both were responsible for the situation they had gotten themselves into. i think both of them could have walked away. it just didn't happen. i feel sorry for both of them. i feel sorry for trayvon and the situation he was in, and i feel sorry for george because of the situation he got himself in. >> we also heard today from george zimmerman's parents. >> that we are deeply sorry for this tragedy, deeply sorry. we pray for trayvon martin to be in a better place. >> what do you want to say to your son? >> that i love him with all my heart. that i'm sorry that it has to come this way. painful for the whole family, but the truth will set you free,

and that's, you know, what i had been living and waiting for, the truth will set you free, george. and that's what it did. >> meantime, new rallies today in wake of the verdict, including this one that got underway in just the past hour in houston, texas. and in washington, civil rights leaders, reverend al sharpton announced planned for a nationwide protest this weekend. >> on this saturday we have called for a national justice for trayvon day. in 100 cities, people will gather in front of federal buildings and federal courthouses for one hour to have rallies and vigils calling on the department of justice to resume aggressively a civil rights investigation in this matter. >> and joining is me now live, our panel for this hour.

thank you, gentlemen, for your time. john, can i start off with you here? because the juror said the initial vote, three not guilty, one second-degree murder, two manslaughter. help us understand with the experience you have how someone would go from second-degree murder to a not guilty. we're not talking from manslaughter to not guilty. this is second degree to not guilty. >> well, she could have certainly felt at the outset that's how it appeared to her. but the other three people who were not guilty, any one of them could have been much stronger in terms of their commitment to not guilty, and it sounds like one person was. what happens is they start deliberating and they start showing them the evidence and they go to the jury instructions. the jury instructions may not have been given clearly at the time. so once you go through the jury

instructions, and this lady says about stand your ground and the heat of the moment, they had zeroed in on the most important aspect of the case from their point of view. when you do that, then the other jurors who may be manslaughter, who may be second degree could easily not hold their position. i think when we had them reread the clarification on manslaughter, i think jurors at that time, they were trying to persuade the manslaughter people that it didn't apply because of the self-defense component. the heat of the argument component is more critical because george zimmerman had the bruises and lacerations on the back of his head. the heat of the battle, obviously it was a critical point. >> i guess, john, what i'm trying to understand, and i don't pretend to understand the situation these jurors were in and the thought process, but i got to figure here that at the end after the closing arguments,

you're not digesting the entire testimony that you've heard. you've been digesting it and listening throughout. so for the initial gut reaction for one of the jurors to be second-degree murder and back down from that or at least be persuaded by the other jurors, is that something you often see? >> oh, absolutely. it happens often in cases. that's not surprising. the initial discussion might have been very early, or it could have been after a brief discussion of the facts. but ultimately, there's going to be someone in there who is a leader, who will ultimately control that discussion point and will bring the facts to the other people to support their position. so it would seem to me that the not guilty people really had the stronger positions on self-defense. >> let me bring in eugene here. you wrote this article "black boys denied the right to be

you young." you go into great detail on how young black men, the assumption is often one that is dehumanizing, that they're not allowed -- or young black men like trayvon martin are not allowed to be children. but i want to play the juror's response to the question regarding race and her not feeling that race played any part in this case. let me play it. >> i don't think it did. i think if there was another person, spanish, white, asian, if they came in the same situation where trayvon was, i think george would have reacted the exact same way. >> lisa bloom also talked about how lawyers were free to use profanity involving the case but would not use the "r" word, that the "r" word was off limits, meaning race. should this juror have been worldly enough to connect the dots here or was that the responsibility of the prosecution? >> well, i thought the prosecution left some pretty big

dots, you know, in its description of the way george zimmerman had pretty evidently profiled it trayvon martin as, you know -- these punks always get away with it. and in my recollection, they didn't totally ignore the race issue. i suppose you could argue, you can envision in an alternate world a prosecution that had made that a more central factor. it was certainly seen as a central factor to most people or many people from the beginning of the case. perhaps prosecutors were nervous about that and wondered how that would play and whether that was the best strategy to get them a conviction. >> well, michael, i want to bring you in. this is going to be awkward for me, but i'm going to put it this way. there is a saying where folks will say, it's a black thing, you don't understand. a lot of people are saying that so many parts of this case are

difficult for some whites to understand, particularly rachel jeantel, who i had the pleasure of meeting a short time ago. we were set to interview her. through scheduling problems, we weren't able to. here's what the juror had to say about her. let's play it. >> i didn't think it was very credible, but i felt very sorry for her. she didn't ask to be in this place. she wanted to go. she wanted to leave. she was embarrassed by being there because of her education and her communication skills that she just wasn't a good witness. >> is this a white/black thing? >> definitely. i remember having a conversation with you close in time to when rachel jeantel was testifying, and i said, tamron, i just discussed this on radio and my callers broke completely along racial lines. the people who were calling and

were white versus those who were calling and were african-american seeing this entirely different. if you'll permit me, in that same interview with anderson cooper, the juror then said, i really don't think it's racial. this is about rachel jeantel. she said, i think it's just every day life, the type of life that they live and how they're living in the environment that they're living in. >> she also went on to say, michael -- forgive me for interrupting, but she went on to say she didn't even understand how they were talking, the words. this is why i always rejected this notion of ebonics, as if there's some foreign secret language that different groups share and that others are left out of this intimate circle. >> right. so when i read that -- and what you're making reference to, i said, okay, this juror and perhaps these other jurors who were not people of color, as you know, fell into the category that many whites fell into whether they looked at rachel

jeantel and other aspects of the case. >> okay, michael. since we have such candid conversations. here you are, white male, nowhere close to her age, her demographics, her background. you got her. you understood her. >> well, i got her, but i have to tell you there were aspects of her testimony i questioned. the fact she was more forthcoming after that initial interview than she had been in the initial interview gave me some sense of trepidation. >> isn't that a technical question? as opposed to saying she's speaking a language you don't understand or going to her education because we know that, you know, a young black girl is not the only uneducated person, if that's what she is, and i'm not saying that's what she is. >> i was not dismissive of her because of the way in which she spoke nor the mannerisms that she exhibited. i was totally hung up on the nuts and bolts of what she was offering in her testimony. >> eugene? >> that's absolutely proper. that's absolutely proper to

focus on what she said and how that affect the the case rather than the way she said it. i, too, have seen this complete split in the way whites and blacks have reacted to rachel jeantel's testimony. i just did a live internet chat. i was getting questions from both sides about her as if they were living on different planets. >> that's why you need african-americans on the jury, to offer real explanations it and understanding. the testimony was credible about the conversation she was, but if you couldn't understand her because of lack of association with that community, then you would reject it. that's apparently what happened. >> let me play what the juror said regarding the 911 tape. i was struck by her conviction and the certainty of the identity of the person screaming. let me play that. >> i think it was george zimmerman's. >> did everybody on the jury agree with that? >> all but probably one. >> and what made you think it was george zimmerman's voice?

>> because of the evidence that he was the one that had gotten beaten. because of the witness of john good say trayvon on top of george not necessarily hitting him because it was so dark he couldn't see, but he saw blows down towards george. he could tell that it was george zimmerman on the bottom. he didn't know who it was. he knew what they were wearing. >> john, does this go again back to what you identify with? i said it that day when the defense chose to show a particular picture of trayvon martin with his cap on backwards with his shirt. it really was saying what do you identify with. here this juror seemed to identify certainly with that testimony. her certainty, again, without any proof that it was george zimmerman's voice. it's one thing to say a witness saw this or a witness heard this. she said i'm certain that it was george zimmerman. >> well, i have to tell you that given the logic of what was taking place and the positioning, i mean, it's easily logically to assume that it was george without knowing more

given the position. if you accepted john good's testimony, it would have been easy for you to conclude that it was george zimmerman's voice. the certainty of it is kind of shocking. what it also meant to me is the mothers and the family members were all not accepted as being viable truth takers, sayers on that issue. i think they followed strictly from the fact john good's testimony suggested that george was on the bottom and the person on the bottom is likely the person asking for help, and he had the bruises to go with it. that part is not difficult to appreciate in terms of their conclusions. >> the president and director counsel of naacp legal defense fund joins us. thank you for making time. here's the deal. i am curious -- and you heard john bring up the issue of diversity among jurors. and i just had someone tweet me basically saying get over it, can't we move past race? i'm curious when people have that reaction because how do you move past something that you

haven't dealt with? >> i completely agree, tamron. you know, if there's anything that this case teaches us, it's that we are not ready to move past race. i think there are a number of people out there who because they are made uncomfortable with what is genuinely an uncomfortable conversation, conversations about race, they would rather not have them. in fact, they would rather pretend that race and racism and race in the criminal justice system is not a reality. even the judge, you know, forbidding the use of the term racial profiling, you know, played a role in trying to marginalize the issue of race in a case that i think most americans actually think did have to do with race. the whole conversation you just had about rachel jeantel and whether she was understood and whether people got her was less about whether they understood the words that she said and more about how they responded to the physical cues, the dialect cues. race was at the center of this

case and remains at the center of this case and that's okay. that can happen when will you have a young african-american who is shot under these circumstances. of course race is going to be part of it. the problem is our failure to openly and candidly engage the issue of race so that the jury would have had to grapple with their own potential prejudices, the potential prejudices of george zimmerman, the realities of what would have made trayvon martin afraid when he saw a man who he thought was a white man stalking him on the street. those are all realities of this case that should have been candidly engaged to the jury could have weighed it properly. >> real quick, eugene, i want your final thoughts on that. when we talk about candidly discussing race, how do you keep people from pulling it into this so-called race-baiting upon the mention of the "r" word as lisa bloom, who is white, called it in her op-ed in "the new york times"? >> that's where we go. i mean, i think this is the way

we have the national conversation about race, unfortunately. we don't all sit down on a given day and have a measured discussion. something happens. there's an event, there's a trial, there's a shooting, there's a something. we argue about it and fight about it and talk about it and we get it kind of all out this then after a while we stop talking about it. hopefully we've learned something and we made progress. it's not an easy way to make progress. it's not a comfortable way to make progress. >> the question, though, is who's talking about it? we're talking about it. that doesn't mean the people on juries like these ladies are talking about it. >> we heard the juror say in her latest statement that her eyes basically have been awakened to the pain that this case has caused. so what she did not see as a race issue while sitting in that room, it seems certainly it has come full circle to her now. >> that's good. >> well, i don't want to speak too much for her. i don't know her. at least that's part of her statement there. thank you for your time. i really appreciate it. it's an important conversation. thank you, all.

coming up, the old new tactic, dare i say. it worked for republicans in 2005. now it appears threatening to change the filibuster rules as worked for democrats too. the deal only affects the president's executive branch nominees, but what does it mean for the bigger picture? and the boy scouts of america taking it heat for its decision to ban overweight boys from the jamboree. the organization says the event will be more rigorous than the past years, but is the solution to leave obese boys behind? it's our "news nation" gut check. join our conversation as so many of you already have. you can talk to me directly @tamronhall. i'll talk back. @newsnation is my team. ♪

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now to politics. senate leaders have reached a deal to prevent the so-called nuclear option, a controversial move that would change the chamber's filibuster rules. democrats have been threatening the rule change in order to move forward on a number of president obama's cabinet nominations that have been held up by republicans. among those nominees, richard cordray, president obama's nominee to lead the consumer financial protection bureau. his nomination was allowed to go forward today with 71 votes, including 17 republicans. now, before the vote, majority leader harry reid signaled an agreement has been reached that would end the standoff. he gave credit, in fact, to senator john mccain. >> we may have a way forward on this, i feel fairly confident. john mccain is the reason we're at the point we are. a lot of people have been extremely helpful, but this is all directed toward john mccain. >> today's developments come after a marathon closed-door meeting last night attended by almost every single senator.

the last-minute breaksmanship is reminiscent of 2005. it was the republicans who wanted to scrap the filibuster while the democrats wanted to keep it. joining me now with details on today's deal, nbc news capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell. kelly, let me start off with you here. you know, we said what's old is new again. the tactic that worked in 2005, if it is to be called a tactic, certainly worked this time. but it's interesting to see the bigger picture, what this might do. could we see an opening of doors in washington? >> reporter: well, tamron, the tool of the nuclear option was effectivedeterrent. that's where it gets the name. it does seem there has been a point here where for this day there's more harmony than i've seen. there's still a lot of mistrust. there's still a lot of weariness. but that conversation that went through the night you talked about where senators of both

parties were able to talk privately without staff, without tv cameras, and really have a conversation seem to really make a difference. also, neither party really benefits from changing the rules because there could always be that moment when the shoe is on the other foot, either party could be in the minority and would not do as well if they didn't have their voice heard. so this is one of those cases where having to use the rules, use the threats, the sort of go to the brink moment produces a result both sides can live with. that might be good. it actually gets to a result that moves the ball forward. >> ann, with what kelly said, that, you know, you could be the top dog this time around and not be the next time around, should we be surprised that the nuclear option was averted? >> i think not really, although it sure was high drama up until the last minute as always with these things. i think what we've seen time and again, and kelly is exactly right on this point with the

senate and with this congress, frankly, where relationships are not what they used to be and where things are so toxic is they walk right up to the brink of big problems and try to solve it. they don't really want to go over the cliff, but neither side wants to be the one to retract. at this time it happened about, what, 45 minutes before the deadline a vote was set. so, no, it's not a huge surprise. i think the much bigger surprise, of course, would have been if they had invoked the option. at the same time, you keep asking yourself, how many more times can they walk right up to the edge the way they did? >> right. we do ask that too much. thank you, ann. thank you, kelly. great having you both on. coming up, attorneys fighting pennsylvania's controversial voter i.d. law. well, they tell the court the law puts a burden on voters. it was put on hold the last presidential election but now getting its day on court. we'll update you what happened in court. plus, senator kirsten

gilleb gillebrand's legislation to try to take the military's prosecution of sexual abuse out of commanders' hands. >> the only thing i think standing in the way is just sort of the status quo. >> but the measure still puts her at odds with another powerful female democrat. we'll get the first read with nbc's senior political editor mark murray. ♪ i'm a hard, hard worker every day. ♪

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year's presidential issue. however, about a month before the election, a state supreme court judge blocked the law from being enforced. now there are new concerns over what the law could mean for the midterm elections if it is upheld. joining me now by phone is peter jackson with the associated press who's been inside the courtroom. what did we hear today? >> well, today is the second day of the trial. it's focused mainly on, i guess, the director, the statistical experts testifying, defending his estimate of how many people could be disenfranchised by the law. he estimates hundreds of thousands. the state, as we speak, has the state lawyers trying to pick apart his testimony. it's fairly slow going. yesterday -- >> how did they come up with the number of hundreds of thousands? >> i'm sorry? hundreds of thousands? >> yes, uh-huh.

>> they compared the voter registration with the pen-dot database of people who have driver's licenses or two forms of i.d. that pen-dot issues, not for vehicle licenses but things it like voting. they compared those two databases and that's how they arrived at the number. that number represents people who either have a license that's expired or is going to expire before this year's election or who simply don't have an i.d. >> as i pointed out, it will be a single judge who will make this determination, right? >> right. >> and tell us a little bit more from the other side. you say those who do not believe that it will disenfranchise are picking apart these numbers. what are they saying in making their case, especially what we heard in the opening statements? >> yeah, they say that since the

law was passed and during the brew-ha-ha last year over the standards that were necessary for a photo i.d., they made changes to accommodate a lot of concerns and they feel they have gone as far as they can in making sure that anybody who is registered to vote and wants to vote and can get a photo i.d. so that's where we stand. >> all right, peter. i'll let you get back in court. again, this is day two. we'll see what happens tomorrow. we'll keep our audience up to day as they've been very engaged in these battles across the country pr country. thank you, peter. right now the naacp convention is underway in florida where the organization's president says almost 1 million people have now signed the petition calling for the justice department to file civil rights violations against george zimmerman. we're going to take you live to florida to the naacp's convention. we'll be right back. find out with venus embrace. every five-bladed stroke

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general eric holder is scheduled to address the naacp's annual convention being held this year in orlando, florida, not far from sanford, of course, where the zimmerman trial took place. speaking in washington yesterday, holder issued his first public comments since saturday's not guilty verdict. he called the death of trayvon martin unnecessary and vowed to proceed with a civil rights investigation. naacp leader ben jealous is among those calling for the justice department to file civil rights charges against zimmerman. >> we have almost 1 million signatures from people across this country calling on the u.s. department of justice to bring criminal charges, criminal civil rights charges, and they need to do that. some people say it's a high bar. it's a bar that can be met. >> msnbc's craig melvin covered the zimmerman trial from start to finish. he joins us live from the convention from the naacp in orlando. craig, as i understand it, almost 1 million people have signed this petition. >> yeah, close to a million have signed online.

they expect that number to climb. here in orlando, the convention hall starting to fill up. attorney general eric holder expected to speak at 4:00. he'll of course be talking about that verdict that came down. we also expect him to spend some time talking about voting rights as well. you probably recognize this man. this is reverend william barber. he's the state conference president of the north carolina state naacp. first of all, let's start with the verdict. how has that decision, how has that jury's decision changed the tone of the convention here in orlando? >> well, it's a disturbing déjà vu that has made us more determined. we see an avalanche attack on votedi in voting rights. now this decision. 58 years ago a black kid went to the store to get candy and ended up dead. 58 years later, a black boy goes to the store to get candy and winds up dead.

the logic of the way this case has come down, if emmett till had fought back, his abductors would have been able to accuse him of hurting them and could have claimed self-defense. remember, back then it took the justice department to get in. so we are saying the justice department needs to open a civil rights case. also, we've got to repeal these stand your ground laws. we must pass laws in our state legislatures that deal with the issue of racial profiling. >> before i let you go, i want to talk to you about more mondays. you're one of the starters of more mondays in north carolina. at one point in february, i know you guys are 18,000, 20,000 people coming out every monday to rally on behalf of voting rights, public education, employment, things like that. how has that e involvolved? >> well, in the south in particular, we need a new conversation. it's not about democrat, republican, liberal, conservative. it's on the issue of what is

extre extreme. our governor just said today he thought our protests meant he was a good governor because he was not stepping on toes. he denied 500,000 people medicaid. that's stepping on lives. he took -- he raised taxes on 900,000 working people so he could give a tax break to 23 of the wealthiest families in north carolina. they're going after voting rights. they're stepping on history. they're stepping on dreams. they're stepping on living. we've brought together a massive coalition saying some things are just immoral and extreme. they're constitutionally inconsistent, morally indefensible and economically insane. >> reverend william barber, always good to see you. >> thank you, brother. >> tamron, we'll send it back to you. again, attorney general eric holder keynote speaker today. to say he's the most anticipated speaker would be a gross understatement. >> all right, craig. thank you. great job yet again. well, senator kirsten

gillibrand's attempt to remove the prosecution of sexual assault in the military out of chain of command got a huge boost today from ted cruz and rand paul. for weeks, gillibrand has been lobbying for votes from members of both parties, keeping tally on a large white board, according to politico. this brings gillibrand within ten votes of achieving the biggest change in the modern day military justice system since it was created. the two tea party favorites joined gillibrand in a news conference this morning and said her efforts should be a bipartisan issue. >> everybody says they're against sexual assault. if it appears as if there is some deterrence to victims reporteding the crime, why don't we fix it? i see no reason not to fix it. i'm glad to be part of the process if i can. >> a number of our allies, including great britain and

israel and germany, have been implementing policies similar to this. the results in practice have been the reporting rates have increased. >> our effort now is to build a very strong bipartisan coalition that is going to end sexual assaults. >> joining me now live, nbc news senior political editor mark murray. what does this say that we're seeing these three forces unite? >> we've often seen odd couples in american politics. this was something else. having kirsten gillibrand along with ted cruz and rand paul, two of the most conservative u.s. senators on the republican side, two people who might very well run for presidency in 2016. you know, this is smart politics for all involved, for cruz and for paul. this is a way to actually have an olive branch out to female voters. republicans ended up losing the female vote by 11 percentage points in 2012. this is a symbolic move to

protect them on that flank. for gillibrand, it's a way to get bipartisanship and bipartisan legislation. >> what does this mean for claire mccaskill? this puts, obviously, her ideas of what should happen at odds with kirsten gillibrand. >> oh, the legislative system is a windy process, tamron. it is that there are critics on all sides. bill krysti crystal called the gillibrand legislation anti-military. it is a controversial piece of legislation, but we don't have too many instances when the likes of ted cruz, rand paul, and gillibrand all join forces. >> we know later today around 6:30 eastern time the president will have a few interviews with telemundo regarding immigration, but it may be the first time we hear on-camera comments from president obama regarding trayvon martin and the george zimmerman verdict. >> yeah, we're going to be looking for all sorts of news. but this is president obama using the bully pulpit he haslet

he wants to have in his second term. talking to spanish language media is a way for him to put that pressure on republicans, at least as much pressure as he can be able to put. he's kind of in an odd situation where he can't really talk too, too much about it to alienate republicans. but he can put pressure by speaking to spanish language media. >> we'll see what those interviews uncover. thanks, mark. up next, edward snowden officially files for temporary asylum in russia. but what is putin saying? his latest comments make it yet another interesting twist in this saga. (announcer) scottrade knows our clients trade and invest their own way. with scottrade's smart text, i can quickly understand my charts, and spend more time trading. their quick trade bar lets my account follow me online so i can react in real-time. plus, my local scottrade office is there to help. because they know i don't trade like everybody.

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will even be granted. the final decision rests with vladimir putin, and the russian president has made it clear snowden's visit is an unwelcome one, though he also accuses the u.s. of intimidating other countries in not accepting snowden. we have more on snowden's request. >> reporter: hi, tamron. edward snowden is still holed up in that transit zone of the moscow airport, but there could be movement in the days ahead. here's why. the official russian bureau that actually deals with asylum requests confirmed today that they received snowden's application. that kicks in the initial phase of the process, a period of up to five days, according to russian officials. after which the government either rejects the asylum outright or processes it over an additional three months. but what came to light today, tamron, is that an applicant,

any applicant, can be issued a special permit, a kind of i.d. card, which allows that person to stay in russia while their asylum request is being considered. tamron that, means that in theory, snowden could receive that i.d. card as early as the days ahead, perhaps even tomorrow. once he has that i.d. card, he could leave the airport for the first time in more than three weeks. he could move around moscow or anywhere in russia, really, and freely work on the sensitive, complicated logistics of his next move, an eventual asylum to latin america. now, perhaps most importantly for snowden and most troublesome for the u.s. government, that i.d. card would serve, we're told, as his guarantee against being deported back to the united states. now, russian officials we've spoken to today have been very vague on this, saying only that this process could take months. tamron, we may see edward snowden leaving the airport

tomorrow or later this week. back to you. >> all right, jim. thank you very much. and jodi arias back before a judge tops our look at stories around the news nation today. arias is in court today hoping to get the death penalty off the table in her sentencing. she was convicted of first-degree murder in the 2008 killing of her ex-boyfriend travis alexander. that same jury has been unable to reach a unanimous decision of whether to sentence her to life in prison or death. mexican marines have captured the brutal leader of the infamous drug cartel. he was caught yesterday near a northeast border town inside a pickup truck with $2 million cash. he's charged with murder, torture, kidnapping, and other crimes. his arrest is a major break for mexico's government as it struggles to drive down violence fueled by those drug cartels. and doctors say the 6-year-old boy who spent 11 hours trapped under a sand dune

is making a miraculous recovery. authorities believe a sunken tree may have created an air pocket which likely saved little nathan's life. it took crews more than three hours to pull him up. for now, he's on a ventilator as doctors work to get all of the sand out of his little lungs. and residents in ft. lauderdale, florida, got a booming wake-up call this morning. almost 500 pounds of dynamite were used to bring down the port everglades power plant. they plan to build a new plant powered by natural gas. coming up, our "news nation" gut check. well, should the boy scouts reverse its new decision to ban overweight scouts from its annual jamboree? they're keeping the obese boys out. we'll tell you how to weigh in and be sure to like the "news nation" on facebook. we're at facebook.com/newsnation.

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♪

there's a lot going on today. here are some things we thought you should know. an aide to michele bachman is under arrest. javier sanchez was arrested after a series of thefts after the rayburn office building in washington. he worked as a senior legislative substantiate to bachman. david petraeus is taking a pay cut at his new job. his new salary, $1, this after it was revealed the retired four-star general would receive $200,000 for teaching one class as visiting professor at the state of university of new york. twice the average salary of full professors at the university. many faculty members obviously complained. petraeus asked for the pay cut saying he wants the focus to be on the students and teaching, not the money. and governor chris christie

is in primetime. he will, in fact, appear as himself in a fall episode of the new nbc comedy "the michael j. fox show." the show premieres in september. no word yet on when the christie episode will air. those are the things we thought you should know. this one is quite a talker. it is our gut check for today. after the new rules at this year's boy scout jamboree, an event held every four years, have been revealed. the estimated 30,000 scouts attending this ten-day gathering had to meet new standards aimed at keeping out dangerously ov overweight scouts. to be eligible, scouts had to meet standards for body masshea. scout leaders say that's because scouts will be tested by physically demanding activities such as kayaking, bmx riding, a

three-mile hike uphill and 3,000-foot long zip line. a spokesman said, quote, we published our height/weight requirements years in advance and many individuals is began a health regiment to lose weight and attend the jamboree. for those who could not, most self-selected and chose not to apply. what does your gut tell you? should the boy scouts reverse its new decision to ban obese scouts from this year's jamboree? go to facebook.com/newsnation to cast your vote. the theory is that if you leave out these kids, what are you saying? go play video games and gain more weight? or give them the opportunity to get out there and enjoy the outdoors with their other scouts and lose weight. what does your gut tell you? that does it for this edition of "news nation." "the cycle requespsyccycle" is . purina dog chow. help keep him strong. dog chow strong.

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today for the first time we hear how the jury went from deeply divided to a not guilty verdict. it started with a knock-knock joke and ended in an acquittal. has the game of law evolved into a game? and i'm steve kornacki. speaking of games, they're playing a new one in the senate right now. dodgeball. trust me, it's painful to watch. >> you've got to learn the five ds of dodgeball. dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge. if you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball. >> what? ow! and we're back. for weeks we have been speculating, what does the jury think? how are they making their decisions? we know about one of