geo-political foe. and mr. romney should right that down in his candidate's copy book. take it to heart and be careful now that he is on the big kids' stage. well, that's "hardball" for now. stay with us "politicsnation" with al sharpton starts now. >> welcome to a special edition of "politicsnation." i'm al sharpton live in alabama. i'm here for personal reasons. the funeral of my mother. she was laid it rest this morning. and i'll have some reflections on her later in the show. but i know my mother would have wanted me to do this show tonight. covering two developing stories of national importance. trayvon martin and the fight over healthcare. protests swirled today at the supreme court as justices heard his stark arguments about the central part of the president's health care law. the individual mandate. we'll go inside the courtroom later in the show. but we must start tonight with

an ugly campaign being launched against trayvon martin's reputation. just a month and a day after he was shot dead, today the miami harold report about multiple suspensions, portraying a complicated of trayvon martin. a police report with no names attach pepd revealing last october a school police investigator saw trayvon on a surveillance camera, quote, hiding and being suspicious. the officer says trayvon then marked a door with a graffiti marker and found 12 pieces of jewelry with a large flat head screw driver described as burglary tool, in his book bag. there are reports trayvon was suspended for graffiti. also this headline from abc news. trayvon martin's shooter told cops, teenager went for his gun. and an unnamed police source says martin knocked him down

with a punch to the nose, repeatedly slammed his head on the ground, and tried to take his gun. this information is being leaked by an unnamed police source and is coming from what george zimmerman said. we cannot confirm any of this from fact. this comes a day an unnamed police source leaked to the tlornd orlando sentinel that says trayvon martin decked him with one blow then began hammering his head. also that trayvon was suspended interest school after being found with an empty marijuana bag. all this, all this information comes from unnamed police sources. and from the shooter's mouth. what does the acting sanford police chief have to say when asked about these leaks? >> as of right now, there's nothing to report on that. >> nothing to report on that. the suspensions, book bag,

graffiti, none of that really matters. what really matters is what happened that night. trayvon was unarmed, walking home with skit els and ice tea in his hand. and on the phone with his girlfriend and his girlfriend said he was scared. >> trayvon said the man was still following him app and trayvon asked -- [ inaudible ] >> it's been who trayvon martin was before that fateful night. it is about that one night alone and it's ugly what they are doing. we cannot and will not allow them to have this conversation their way. this is about justice. joining me now is eugene o'donnell, professor at john j. college at criminal justice.

he is a former new york city police officer. and pros kiter. and jonathan cape hart is an opinion writer for the washington post and msnbc con tribi contributor. he is writing about questions he has for the sanford police department he has tonight. thank you for being here tonight. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> eugene, let me start with you. i've been be a be a dacating that the shooter should be arrest end now we are hearing the the sneer on trayvon. >> not only were there major questions about the police investigation on day one but the selective disclosure of information has been a problem. obviously the police and prosecutors have a duty to protect their victims. if you are going to set an impossible standard, you can't go into a police station and report yourself as a victim of

crime unless you have an absolute pristine background. the criminal justice system would collapse if that's the standard. that's not the standard. we try to encourage people with way more problems than trayvon's to get justice. so they are trivializing the justice system when you talk about school system and trying to make that part of the prosecution. >> clearly, eugene, there is really absurd things that would almost be funny to me if it wasn't so bizarre. let me show you some right wing media smearing of trayvon. you as a farmer prosecutor as well as detective, tell me if this has any bearing on the case. conservative daily caller obtained trayvon's tweets and pointed out his gold teenl in the picture. i guess you ought to put out a

bulletin to shoot someone with gold teeth. there is a photo of trayvon from his twitter account showing him with gold teeth. earlier today they report, a story with a photo of hoodies that obama campaign is selling. when you click on that you get to another page, coincidence when obama camp announced via twitter it was putting 2012 hoodies on sale and got some thinking, is the president trying to capitalize on the death of trayvon martin? i mean, isn't this desperate? i mean, first of all, whatever trayvon's background is, and i'm told that much of this is totally wrong. but let's say if it all was right, how does any way this remotely justify zimmerman, who is on tape saying he was following him, shooting him? let's say he had something in his locker, he went to school in miami. hundreds of miles away from where he was in sanford. he was near his father's girlfriend's house. he was going to watch the game. i mean, what are we talking

about here? is this absolutely an attempt to distract and smear? >> i do honestly believe that overwhelming majority of the american public that is tuning into this cares deeply about justice for the family in this case and will ultimately care, i do believe, ultimately care if criminal charges are preferred that mr. zimmerman get a fair trial. but that crazy smearing after victim should be condemned by anyone who cares about justice. if you are in law enforcement you know some victims comes to you alive, some are dead, most are imperfect. particularly in homicide their lives are vindicated by the justice system. they can't speak for themselves. that's a homicide prosecution, so you have to protect them. they are no longer alive. you have to protect their reputation. and not allow it to be smeared and allow the case to be made based on the evidence and based on the facts. >> now jonathan, you raised

today questions for the san ford police department. you said, several things that were strange and the fact that you hadn't gotten answers yet. trayvon's father, one question, tried to call his cell phone. why didn't the police answer it? he's there, medical examiner's office, dead. cell phone ringing, never answer it. police, officer who put zimmerman in handcuffs reported, quote at no point did i question zimmerman about the incident that had taken place. well, why didn't he? why not? third question, was there blood splatter from trayvon on zimmerman's clothing? were any photographs taken on zimmerman's cloning? was the clothing taken into evidence? and were there any signs of struggle on trayvon? it seems to me, jonathan, after reading your article, if they are now saying even one saying that trayvon was reaching for the gun, another saying he was

banging this guy's head on the ground and there was blood, then why didn't they keep zimmerman's clothes. it would seem to me that would be the first thing you would do is keep all the evidence. because there would have had to have been blood on zimmerman's clothes. >> exactly. have you a dead person lying on the ground. you have the shooter, who admits that he shot him. you have him in custody, in handcuffs, in the back after car. you bring him to the police station. at no point are any tests done. not gun powder. not dna testing. no photographs. nothing. george zimmerman's clothes are done. and on the flip side, we know that a toxicology test was done on trayvon martin. but was one done on george zimmerman? these are questions you don't know. >> and i want to -- and the thing that i would add to that, is if one was done on the

deceased, on the victim, then why wasn't one done on the shooter? and who decided that? >> exactly. >> if you want it talk about background, the shooter, we know, had been charged with assaulting a police officer. there had been accusations of beating up girlfriend. i mean, you are talking about whether or not there was some school suspension with trayvon. you are talking about a guy charged with violence and charged with decking a police officer. let me interrupt you a minute. we have breaking news. according to abc news, this breaking right now, the lead homicide investigator in the shooting of trayvon martin recommended that george zimmerman, charged with manslaughter on the night of the shooting. authorities said there wasn't enough evidence to get a conviction. interesting. let me go to you on that, eugene. first of all, if the lead investigator had recommended to arrest him and charge him with manslaughter, then why wasn't he arrested and let a prosecutor

decide whether to indict him and whether it was enough to convict him? >> that's a compelling piece of news to find out the investigator thought that. i think the state's attorney has a lot of explaining to do here. if the police were confused about the law, i would like to know where the state's attorney was. both should have been joined at the hip. as jonathan says, it should have been a full-court press from the beginning. a lot of this is check list stuff. not a terribly confusing investigation. there were a lot of things apparently not done. >> jonathan, i think the last abc news flash is significant because here is why. >> yes. >> if the lead investigator on the homicide, recommended manslaughter, then either there was never said that night that zimmerman was beaten and that zimmerman's gone was gone after. or if it was said the lead invest getter apparently didn't believe him. >> right. apparently he didn't.

and this gets back to one of the questions i ask, with 16 other questions last week. and one question was what was the relationship between george zimmerman and the sanford police department. i keep coming back it that because of all of the questions i asked then, all of the questions i asked today, all lead back to the sanford police department. why weren't things at any viewer of law and order or csi or any of detectives shows that are so popular, why are all of the questions that we can come up with off the top of our head, we don't have answers to them one month and one day after trayvon martin was killed. the fact that we don't have the answers to these questions is quite frankly alarming. >> it is very alarming. i think the more you get unnamed police leaks, the more you feel somebody there is trying to cover their tracks. and somebody is doing a bad job because some of this stuff is ludacris. i mean, a gold tooth and a guy

going for the gun that a guy didn't know he had. all of this is bizarre. eugene, this is a compelling new piece of information. if it is true, would abc is reporting, that the lead investigator wanted manslaughter, then it is also one must believe the lead investigator felt that zimmerman was guilty of at least, or appeared enough guilt, for probable cause to make an arrest. which leads us right back to jonathan's point about the sanford police. who vetoed that? who said no? >> it remains to be seen. but there clearly was a determination, if that is what abc news is reporting, that there was probable cause. which would also suggest that detective read the evidence as other people are reading it, which is pointing at zimmerman and that zimmerman's story did not hold water. that is what it appears to mean. >> let me take a break. jonathan, thanks for your time tonight. eugene o'donnell, stay with me.

this is pretty big news. coming up, we will have much more on this breaking news in the trayvon martin case. the top investigator wanted manslaughter charges the night of the shooting. plus, historic battle in the supreme court. the healthcare case that could affect every living american and define president obama's legacy. our experts will weigh in on that and what happened inside the court today. and the human side of healthcare debate. republicans want it repeal a law that is literally saving lives. how is that the right agenda for america? you're watching "politicsnation" from dothan, alabama on msnbc. [ artis brown ] america is facing some tough challenges right now. two of the most important are energy security and economic growth. north america actually has one of the largest oil reserves in the world.

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break news in the trayvon

martin case. new reports that lead investigator wanted manslaughter charges against george zimmerman the night of the shooting that investigator actually filed an affidavit saying he was unconvinced by zimmerman's version of events. more on that next. everyone in america depends on the postal service. i get my cancer medications through the mail. now washington, they're looking at shutting down post offices coast to coast. closing plants is not the answer. they want to cut 100,000 jobs. it's gonna cost us more, and the service is gonna be less. we could lose clientele because of increased mailing times. the ripple effect is going to be devastating. congress created the problem. and if our legislators get on the ball, they can make the right decisions.

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actually filed an affidavit saying he was unconvinced by zimmerman's version of events. joining me now, is in from washington, is joe madison, nationally syndicated host of mornings with madison on sirius xm radio. we is at the briefing on the government's role in racial profiling and hate crimes. thank you, first of all, for being here tonight. >> let me thank you, sir. >> stay with me, eugene, former new york city police officer and prosecutor. joe, before i go to you in the hearing, eugene, there is breaking news and we are literally getting it from abc as i'm giving this, is startling. if this lead investigator wanted to file a manslaughter charge, state's attorneys, that night, the night of the shooting, it wasn't enough to get a conviction, i don't know how

they would know that. how would they know within hours of a shooting how much evidence there was and let a man walk out with his clothes and evidence? maybe we not only should be investigating zimmerman, the police and the prosecutor's office. maybe that's why the first thing they did when we started marching is come with a new special prosecutor. something doesn't smell right here. >> whatever happened that night, which is obviously very much in question, subsequent to that night, day-to-day as this has been going on, neither the police nor the prosecutor's office have covered themselves in glory by these selective leaks and this partial information and really it would be much preferable if they put this all at the table early on. and said we had an internal debate. it is shame and it hurts public confidence when there is a slow and paralyzed process to get this matter resolved.

>> let me ask you this, if this lead investigator actually filed an affidavit, it would seem to me he was trying to cover himself or make a record there was such debate. something we haven't heard of until tonight. how do you handle that, eugene? >> there are disagreements between prosecutor's offerses. i believe since the beginning, this is at the end of the day a relatively straight forward case. this is a case in which somebody surveilled someone, tracked them down and shot them. and i don't think this -- and there is a unique set of tapes and other evidence that kind of shows you that. so i don't think this is a terrifically tortured case. it is the nature of the prosecutor's office sometimes to be unwilling to take cases they deem weak. and of course by the nature of self-defense, those cases are inherently problematic cases. florida makes them even more problematic. but for heaven sakes, when you

look at fact of the case, it is straight forward. a young person be a so far as anyone can tell, is as close to being totally innocent of anything, being killed, i don't see what so much agonizing was done over it. i don't understand why this became such a complicated matter. >> joe madison, you covered this a a lot on sirius. you marched, helped us organize. how do you read this breaking news? >> i think the same way you did in terms of the question you posed. clearly when you sign an a affidavit, you're making a statement that i in essence stand on this. i'm covering my rear end. and i would suggest, al, again not being a police officer, not being there, it's not just the state's attorney or the prosecutor, this goes to the chief of police. because this kind of disagreement, with the lead detective, signing an affidavit, has to be reviewed by the chief

of police who remember now, when we were there on thursday with you, he half stepped down. remember that? so this is a very, very serious development. but most importantly, it just kicks all that right wing conservative demonization of tray shon ovon out the window. >> also, i think what is important, is that not only thursday did the police chief half step down, right before the rally, the governor moved the pros kustor and appointed a special prosecute oor. so that may mean, it may not mean, but maybe it means there was some question on what was going on in the special prosecute cuter's office and this investigator filed in his affidavit there may be something here. >> and we have to keep our eye even if there is a grand jury, we have to keep our eye on the special prosecutor, keep our eye

on the grand jury. because remember, we won't know who the members are. we won't know where they came from. one of the reasons that after i left you on thursday here in d.c., i announced that april 10th, when the grand jury is supposed to be convened and didn't realize geraldo would make such a ridiculous statement about hoodies, we said that april 10 should be national hoody day. i want the president, everybody to wear hoodies to be a statement of solidarity that we are watching, watching the special prosecutor, we're watching the grand jury. >> you gene, you are getting ready to weigh in, but let me ask, all these leaks of trayvon, now the the information about the lead prosecutor, could this come from sanford police to get the heat off them. >> hopefully not. but i think they acknowledge

some of this is coming from their department and there are privacy laws people are behinding from. but with this case being of public urgency, the time is now, to the greatest extent possible, the time is 30 dayes a ago, but certainly past time to lay the evidence on the table. if there was an internal debate, tell people that. particularly in that community. they deserve to have confidence in the system. and this is just undermining that confidence. what i was going to say is that, it is my experience that sometimes front line police people do get it right and are kranlous and get overruled and cases are politicized. so it is encouraging that at least one police person, if abc is to be believed, saw this in the clear way that i think it is seeable, which is that this was an unjustified killing. certainly merited an arrest and probable cause on the basis of the evidence that's come to light. >> nbc news is working to confirm this. and we will see what abc news is

saying. and i agree with you egene, this is very serious new developments if it proves to be right. especially the affidavit. i would also like to know how the special prosecutor, that night, with that evidence, let zimmerman walk out of it there with clothes and evidence. that would spell to serious concerns. got to move on. thank you for your time tonight. >> thank you. >> reverend, condolences on your mom. >> yes. love to you and the family. >> thank you. >> we'll stay on top of this breaking news, potentially crucial twist. in the trayvon martin case. we'll bring you any new developments as we get them. coming up, what's today's historic supreme court meeting for the president's healthcare law and his legacy? we'll be right back. [ johan ] hello, piper. nice up-do.

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we'll continue to monitor the breaking news with the trayvon martin case. but next, we'll turn our attention to the other major news of today. the supreme court arguments over the healthcare law. that's next.

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at court this morning, the center piece of the president's health care law was on trial. the individual mandate requiring americans to buy health insurance. supporters of the law were out in full force. rallying to preserve the most significant piece of social legislation since the great society. but conservatives were also protesting the day. bent on tearing down the president's crowning achievement. congresswoman michele bachmann summed up the beliefs of the tea party's side. >> yes, government has the power to tell you to buy vegetables. they believe that government has the power to tell you to buy a gym club membership. what kind of a country is this? >> really? the healthcare law will force us to buy vegetables and join a gym? that right wing talking point is ludicrous. is far removed from reality.

but today we saw it repeated by conservative justices on the nation's highest court. >> you design the market as food. there for everybody's in the market. therefore you can make people buy broccoli. so the federal government says everybody has to join an exercise club. >> can the government require to buy a cell phone because that would facilitate responding when you need emergency services? >> folks, healthcare is not broccoli or cell phones or the gym. it's a fundamental right of every american. and our government has the power to protect that right. but conservatives simply don't believe that. even the so-called moderate justice kennedy. >> assume for the moment that this is undecember pres dent, that this is a step beyond what our cases allowed. the affirmative duty to go into commerce. if that is so, did you not have a heavy burden of justification? >> what justice kennedy calls a

heavy burden, the rest of us call common sense. today, the progressives on the court, like justice kagan, argue that health care is unique. >>ity's different because of the nature of the health care service that you are entitled to healthcare when you go to an emergency room, when you go to a doctor, even if you can't pay for it. >> joining me now is joan walsh, editor at large at salon.com. also an msnbc political analyst. and jonathan senior editor at new republic. he add front row seat in court today. thank you both for coming on the show. jonathan, let me start with you. you were there today. what did you make of today's argument? >> well, it was a pretty rough day for both sides. i thought of justices asked tough questions on both sides. i thought in general, the questions seemed tougher for don

who was there to make the government's argument. like you said, it was a little disturbing to hear the conservative justices. and not just, ska lee why and alito, but anthony kennedy picking up the line that if the government can ask you to pay for your health care, healthcare which everybody will need, that if they can do that then the next thing you know they will make you buy broccoli or buy a car. i think most people can see the difference between healthcare and a car. i think most main stream legal experts can see the difference. it was alarming, frankly, to see roberts and kennedy along with alito and scalia could talk about this right wing talking point. >> arguing today that there was a similar uproar about social security when it was enacted but it was upheld. listen. >> it was a big fuss about that in the beginning because a lot of people said, maybe people

still do today, i could do much better if the government left me alone. i'm going to the private market. i buy an annuity. i make a great investment and they are forcing me to pay for this social security that i don't want. but that's constitutional. >> joan, we're like half way through. we've got more hearings tomorrow. but this was a powerful day. what is your read? and is this just uproar like we head with social security but it doesn't mean we will not in any way be uphold or does it mean this is a forecast problems especially with the swing vote of justice kennedy seeming to ask some troubling questions tore the professive side of this debate? >> well as jonathan said, reverend al, there were tough questions for both sides. if you are reading the tea leaves today, it does look

tougher for the government but i don't think you can ever refekt what court is going to do. there are so many ways we can do. i think justice skinsburg example is very interesting. and the irony here is that, you know, had the people who argued for public option or single pay or medicare for all, one, we wouldn't be having this debate because that would clearly be legal. now i'm not arguing for that. i think the obama administration did the job it could. it got the deal it could. but i find it ironic that every time democrats reach across the aisle, borrow an idea from the republican party, because the mandate was a republican idea, it doesn't go so well. so we are in a situation where this is compared to social security and yet we haven't necessarily found the perfect mechanism to pay for it. i think whatever they do, we will continue to argue about this and continue to experiment. but this a right and we're moving forward. >> now jonathan, we also are

disturbed that there are still questions, and i have raised them on the show before, about whether justice tom ys has a conflict of interest and whether we can even get a fair trial, especially when you hear the arg united states now. his wife is a conservative lobbyist. he didn't report his wife's salary from the heritage foundation. honored by law firm. this is disturbing that there mimay be a narrow squoet voet that we still have questions of conflict of interest with justice clarence thomas. >> i'll be honest. i have personally not as worried about that. i think that kagan should have recused herself, to me, the big question here, is are these conservative judges going to reach back it ideas that we haven't cred part of the law for a century.

ginnsburg example is on point. there are certain things that happened in our lives and we should all contribute. that the i'd yf social security. what joan was just talking about yb here the great irony is, that we tried to graft that idea to a conservative idea and say, let's make this more market friendly. now the conservatives are saying, no, no, no, we can't do that. yes, we like that idea for 10, 20 years but now that democrats like it, we want no part of it. it is really very ironic. it'll be a sad day if this conservative supreme court decides it use these arguments to throw out what i think is the most important piece of social legislation in 30 or 40 years. >> now, joan, it is interesting to me in the politics of this, mcconnell, mitch mcconnell said today that no matter what the supreme court decides, the gop is determined to kill it. to kill the health care law. listen to this. >> regardless of how the supreme

court rules on the constitutionality of what i believe is the single worst piece of legislation passed in the time i've been in congress, it is still a bad idea. and if senate republicans become the majority nextier, the first item on the agenda of a new senate republican majority would be to repeal of obamacare. >> so it seems, joan and jonathan, we are in for a fight at the court and a political fight. thanks for coming on the show tonight. thank you for sharing your views. >> thanks, reverend al. up next, the lawyer for the martin family, trayvon martin family, responds to us exclusively tonight about this major breaking news in the case. martin family attorney benjamin kruck reresponds exclusively next. well, shoot, that's like checking on your burgers after they're burnt! [ male announcer ] treat your frequent heartburn by blocking the acid with prilosec otc. and don't get heartburn in the first place!

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at&t. ♪ when you pour chunky beef with country vegetables soup over it... you can do dinner. four minutes, around four bucks. campbell's chunky. it's amazing what soup can do. up next, we'll turn back to a potentially major development in the trayvon martin case. reports that the lead investigator wanted manslaughter charges against the shooter, george zimmerman. the lawyer for trayvon martin's family, benjamin kruck, responds to the possible development, exclusively next. oil sands projects, like kearl, and the keystone pipeline will provide secure and reliable energy to the united states. over the coming years, projects like these could create more than half a million jobs in the us alone.

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investigator wanted manslaughter charges against george zimmerman the night of the shooting. that investigator reportedly filed an affidavit saying he was unconvinced by zimmerman's version of events. but the state attorney, norm wolfinger said he didn't have enough evidence. he has been replace bade special prosecutor angela cory. joining me now is martin family attorney benjamin kruck. ben, what is your reaction to this news? >> reverend al, first let me say on behalf of the parents, is a breen why and tracy, they offer their heart felt condolences to you on burying your mother and they wanted know express that to you, reverend. >> thank you. >> reverend sharpton, it is as we have said all along, for

whatever reason the powers that be have been conspireing to not do the right thing on behalf of this investigation. for whatever reason they never wanted to arrest george zimmerman and they continue to manifest this conspiracy, not to arrest george zimmerman for whatever reason. and this is a major development. because when you think about it, everybody who looks at this case, says, with at least probable cause to arrest him, reverend sharpton. but what he said went further than that. he said he was unconvinced of george zimmerman's testimony. and that is telling when the investigator first on the scene, attorney parks and i were talking all morning here in washington, but this con spir aand why they are leaking information. and i think this is because of the essence of it reverend al. >> now, did you ever meet with wolfinger? has there been any inner face or

any kind of dialogue between you rep zenning the victim's family and wolfinger before he was removed from this case? >> no, sir, reverend al. t was a situation where the buck got past by the police chief to the state attorney wolfinger. the student had a protest. got to meet with his top chief but never him. the only thing we got from his office is when we sued for the 911 tapes. they filed a plea to say that they wanted to join the defense of releasing the 911 tapes. but that's as much contact as we've had with them. >> now so, it is interesting that the governor moves wolfinger, there clearly was conflict between the investigators and wolfinger. and it seems almost amazing to me, now you are the lawyer, you know bet are than me, how wolfinger or a representative of his office, if this report is true, could have determined that

night there wasn't enough evidence, hours after it happened, and didn't let the accused walk out of the police station with his clothes and evidence. >> it just goes to the very essence of this investigation. it was tragic what george zimmerman did, profiling trayvon benjamin martin. but reverend al, as you have said before, the true tragedy is when institutions of justice and institutions of law enforcement profilees a young minority. and i think clearly, if this case stands for anything else, it is that racial profiling is still alive and well and i in our institutions and we gather, we just gather work to eradicate that. if not, reverend, we will be back here again with you leading the charge when it happens to the next young minority.

>> now, if this report proves to be true, what does this mean to the case, in your opinion? >> we think, as his parents have been demanding, arrest jords george zimmerman. he will have his day in court but we need to arrest george zimmerman. he shot a teenager with skittels and a can of tea. with this startling revelation, absolutely, we should go ahead and arrest him today, the special prosecutor hopefully has taken note of this and will arrest him. how many days does the family have to go to bed with their heart in pain because this man is still free? >> the fact that the lead investigator, according to this report, filed an affidavit, to

me wz a as lay person be a an lawyer, says that maybe they wanted to make a record, maybe they wanted to cover themselves. it is interesting that he wanted to make sure that he documented that he disagreed with the decision. >> yeah. it certainly is not something that you normally see, as i understand it. but the fact that he made his documentation means that there are forces greater than even the state attorney, as attorney jackson always said, god is working in this matter and the truth will be revealed. no matter what they do to try to cover it up. it keeps coming out that no matter what trayvon martin was the victim here and george zimmerman was the aggressor. and that's going to be important over and over again, reverend sharpton. if they try to profess their so-called stand your ground law, everybody has agreed that you cannot assert the stand your ground law if you are the aggressor.

and i got one more thing to tell you, reverend sharpton. witnesses have been coming forward left and right, questioning the way the police investigated them. a mother of the 14-year-old, everybody has been talking to, has said attorney crump, i have things to tell you. so hopefully we can share that with you real soon. because it's evident what she says, how the investigation occurred on her side. >> i'm going to meet new washington. i'm certainly wanting to hear her and probably bring her on. i think america needs to hear what is going on, just so we can protect americans. obviously, this case is a very important case. and i thank you for taking time, running over on short notice, once this broke, and you had hearings in washington, d.c. >> yes, sir. >> once again, nbc is working to confirm this developing report.

martin family attorney, benjamin crump, one of the best out there, i might say. >> thank you. thank you, rev. >> when we come back, a tribute to my hero. my mom.

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finally tonight, i want to take some time to remember my hero, my mother, ada sharpton. she passed away last thursday at the age of 87. today she was laid to rest here in alabama, where she was born. my mother raised me in part with my father and then when i was nine years old, they separated. we went from a comfortable middle class existence to back in the depths of what we call the hood. she raised me as a single parent. she raised me against great odds. but i never felt or knew i was juntder privileged because she never raised me as it what i wasn't.

she raised me as to what i was. and as you can look at pictures of her and my daughters, i tried to help to raise my daters the same way. but to knit, we are not broken. though we're saddened. because she lived a full and complete life, as we watched her casket being removed and we watched her placed on the grave today. we knew that she lived a full life, a life of great achievement and great resolve. when she was born in this state, in 1925, she didn't have the right to vote. she had to sit in backs of busses growing up. she couldn't use a water fountain. couldn't stay in a hotel we stayed in here last night. when she passed, today we read a letter, at her funeral, to the family, from the president of the united states who happened to be an african-american. we've come a long way in 87

years. but we came because people fought, black and white. from all races and all parts. they did not expect things to change on some automatic way. they felt they today fight for change. and they had to keep fighting. that's what my mother taught me. that's why i was in florida and have been everywhere else. i was called and asked to come for the last three decades. i told you when i started on "politicsnation," my mother taught me something i didn't know as a kid growing up in brooklyn. she is from here. i grew up in the city. she told me, son, if you throw a rock in a pile of hogs, the one that hollers is the one you hit. last few days, all over the country, coming from what we've been doing in sanford, i've been hearing a lot of hollering. because of my mother, my arms are not tired. i'm going to keep helping to do a lot of