too much about it might get in the way. that's "hardball" for now. the ed schultz show starts now. >> good evening, americans. welcome to "the ed show" from new york. george zimmerman's father is defending his son by smearing trayvon martin, the congressional black caucus, naacp and let's not forget the president of the united states. tonight, al sharpton and the martin lawyers are here to respond to zimmerman's father and the video. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. >> trayvon martin said something to the effect, you will die now or die tonight. >> george zimmerman's father breaks his silence and claims his son was attacked by trayvon martin and puts his spin on the night in question. tonight, we will go through the details and see how they match up with the police surveillance video. >> when we looked at the video, it was obvious there were no visible injuries.

>> trayvon martin's parents speak out on the surveillance video. >> i believe this is the icing on the cake. >> natalie, their attorney, will respond. >> i never saw so much hate coming from the president -- >> zimmerman's father thinks th comments were hateful. al sharpton to respond. >> good to have you here. george zimmerman's father, robert, has come forward to make a case for his son's defense in the arena of public opinion. part of his strategy is pushing anti-president obama right wing rhetoric. zimmerman has gone so far as to characterize the president of the united states as a hate merchant. >> i never foresaw so much hate

coming from the president, congressional black caucus, the naacp, every organization imaginable is trying to get notoriety or profit from this in some way. but there's so much hate? >> any sane person knows it's absolutely outrageous for robert zimmerman to accuse president obama of anything other than compassion. the president's statement about trayvon martin could not have been any more clear. >> i think all of us have to do some soul searching to figure out how does something like this happen. that means we examine the law and context of what happened as well as the specifics of the incident. my main message is to the parents of trayvon martin. if i had a son, he'd look like trayvon. i think they are right to expect that all of us as americans are

going to take this with the seriousness it deserves and we're going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened. >> that comment made by the president last friday. we have to play that tonight for clarity. where's the hate? there is none. the president clearly felt for the parents of a lost son. and he voiced his support for finding out what really happened the night trayvon martin was shot. robert zimmerman is in denial, feeding off people like newt gingrich and rick santorum, who accuse the president of dividing the country by commenting on the case. zimmerman is trying to gin up support for his son by feeding the right wing beast. the retired magistrate stated factual errors with the fox station he did an interview with and speculated on the length of a confrontation. how would he know? so zimmerman's best defense is to play into the hot political rhetoric that permeates through

this country. not only have we seen zimmerman try this tactic, activists helping the family have been targeted for criticism. zimmerman is playing this card. robert zimmerman knows half the country doesn't like the president of the united states, so he makes him the target, congressional black caucus, naacp and anyone who speaks out in favor of justice. we know things about this case, was it a drive-by shooting? we know who did the shooting and the american people want justice. but to claim hate, to try to gain favor is about as low as it gets. to claim hate to garnish sympathy is something i just haven't seen play out in the media ever. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question, did robert zimmerman's comments about president obama cross the line? text a for yes and b for no. you can go to our blog at msnbc.com and leave us a comment. we'll bring you the results later on in the show.

joining me tonight is reverend al sharpton, host of "politics nation" here on msnbc. good to have you with us. your thoughts of what you just heard in that interview with robert zimmerman targeting the congressional black caucus, naacp and the president and using the term "hate." >> i think, first of all, it is absolutely pathetic to try to accuse the president's statement as being hateful. i think the president was trying to show compassion to two parents as a parent, for losing their son. he said, we have to find out what happened. he didn't even say any conclusion of what he thought happened, didn't suggest it. he gave his compassion to a family who lost their son. there's no question about a son was lost. i think any father would say that if you wanted to comment on the situation, because there's no question that a life was lost. this whole "playbook" that we see from the right wing not only

from zimmerman's father, who's feeding into that as a father, fine, let's put him aside. this whole thing of attacking those that want to stand up and say that there are things here that doesn't appear right, it's not the president, activists like us, i think is their way of trying to distract from the issue. the issue is they made statements that does not seem to square with the law. probable cause is probable cause. all we said is he should have been arrested. and then all these other comments that have come after that call, the tapes clearly do not in any way validate what they said. let me be clear. when i was called into this case, called the national action network and attorney crump on behalf of the family, we came in because they asked us to come in because they said their civil rights was violated. we would have been irresponsible not to see if in fact there was a civil rights violation.

we felt probable cause not being regarded was a civil rights violation. that's what you do. if you see a case that involves racism or homophobia or sexism, they attack those that respond rather than deal with the issue and the merits of the issue. of course, civil rights groups are going to respond when a civil rights allegation is made. of course, if roar in other areas of discrimination, that's what you do. i don't think you answer it with venom, answer it with fact. clearly, we've denounced any kind of hate in this and i don't think have engaged in hate and would denounce it if anyone would raise it. >> robert zimmerman is a retired magistrate, has experience with the law. i find it surprising, that he is trying to build a case in the arena of public opinion of defense by blaming others. how lame is that? >> i think it is very lame. it doesn't in the end serve their point. we're fighting a case in new york, graham, a man killed in

his own house by police, like the trayvon case, in new york, police say you're anti-police, we're not anti-police. we work with police because we need to reduce crime in our community. rather than deal with issues, always in civil rights, always in human rights, you kill the messenger but to do it to the president of the united states who's not advocating what we are shows a callous disregard for what is happening here. a life was lost. let's deal with that. and mr. zimmerman would have done himself well to say we're sorry about the loss of life and these are the circumstances. not to come with venom and attacks on the president of the united states. >> i see it as a cat call, out there saying, those who don't like the president, have issues with the congressional black caucus and naacp, give me a little backup. i think that's how a lot of people are reading this, how i'm reading it. >> i think your reading is

probably accurate. and those in civil rights and national action from the president. the president is not advocating. we are. part of being advocates we take on all that. i expect to be attacked. i hope they attack us rather than the family. that's what we do. the president clearly didn't get in the middle of making a judgment. he showed compassion for these two parents, something all sides should do. they lost a son. that should be above and beyond everything else. >> reverend, i want to get your thoughts on the videotape now, of course, playing everywhere of george zimmerman coming into the police house. what jumps out at you at this tape? >> we were told he had a broken nose, told he had his head smashed into the ground, that he was near the end of his life, he had to defend himself. here, you look at the tape, there are no visible injuries,

certainly no blood anywhere. i don't know how you have a broken nose or badly bruised nose, no blood on the shirt or jacket. >> there's issues with the tape. >> clearly, rather than answer the tape, they want to attack the president or attack those that have said there's probable cause here. why wasn't an arrest made? according to what we're told now, the prosecutor drove from his house 50 miles to the police station and overruled the chief investigator, who said arrest him. is he going to say the chief investigator was engaged in hate? the chief investigator said arrest him. was he full of hate? he was the one that investigated the case at the scene. so why don't we answer that, those that are saying what they're saying in terms of zimmerman's father rather than try to scapegoat others by going around issues they raised. we didn't say his nose was broken, didn't say he was bloodied.

they did. when tapes come out, police tapes, when they come out and not there, you try to distract and go somewhere else. >> the police clearly knew who trayvon martin was after the shooting. they had ided him, yet he was listed as a john doe for three days. who will answer for that. >> listed as john doe for three days, wouldn't release the body to the father. why? why would the chief prosecutor tell a witness, a mother that i don't believe it's self-defense. i believe it's stereotyping. was he full of hate. let me get this right, the chie negotiator was full of hate. the one that came to the house and told the young boy witness -- mother, rather, this was stereotyping, he was full of hate, all the civil rights group saying probable cause, we're full of hate and now the president is full of hate. by tomorrow morning, you'll be full of hate. why don't we deal with the fact if you really love the country,

you want the law to work equally for everybody. >> with that, reverend al sharpton, thanks for joining us. >> thank you. >> remember to answer tonight's question at the bottom of the screen and share your thoughts on "the ed show." coming up, george zimmerman defender his father in an interview. we'll see how the story matches up with the facts with retired detective. later i'll talk to the city manager and get his reaction to the latest investigation. hello! who's she? downy unstopables. here to shake up your fresh. toss these little scent boosters in before you wash. and the fresh scent will last until you're ready to wash again. downy unstopables. the fresh too feisty to quit.

has a facebook page these days. but where's the relationship status? well, esurance is now in a relationship...with allstate. and it looks pretty serious. esurance. click or call.

coming up, george zimmerman's father speaks out in defense of his son. we'll compare the evidence and talk with retired detective john bucho who worked in the miami market. trayvon's parents react to the new video. an attorney for the martin family, natalie jackson will join me on that.

in the death of trayvon martin is putting the stand your ground law under the microscope. we'll take a closer look at the law later this hour. give us your thoughts.

welcome back to "the ed show." a steady flow of leaks continues to pour out of the trayvon martin's case. the latest was robert zimmerman's interview with fox 31 in atlanta when he gave his side of the story, in orlando. >> after nearly a minute of being beaten, george was trying to get his head off the concrete, trying to move with trayvon on him into the grass. in doing so, his firearm was shown.

trayvon martin said something to the effect of, you're going to die now or you're going to die tonight, something to that effect. >> robert zimmerman's account of what happened to his son is consistent with the sanford police department's official report on the night of the incident. but both stories are at odds with george zimmerman's appearance in the video released by the sanford police department. robert zimmerman had not seen this video before he gave his account of the story to the fox affiliate. george zimmerman's lawyer was on the "today" show and said it is not conclusive. >> when you look at this videotape, do you think it backs up your client's claims or might it contradict them? >> i don't think it does either one. it's a very grainy video.

if you watch, you will see one of the officers as he's walking in, look at the back of his head. the video is very grainy. i'm not sure it has, as far as being able to see injuries recently sustained and later cleaned up. >> robert zimmerman released a statement earlier this month defending his son. the statement is not consistent with the facts as we know them. zimmerman wrote, at no time did he fol or threaten him. we know is the not consistent. >> don't turn and make a left. >> he's running. >> he's running? which way is he running? >> down towards the entrance to the neighborhood. >> which entrance is that, that he's heading towards? >> the back entrance. >> are you following him? >> yeah. >> okay. we don't need you to do that. >> okay. >> the tapes are not only proof

zimmerman was in pursuit of trayvon martin, martin was on the phone with a friend in the last minutes of his life. the friend told martin's lawyers, trayvon said, what are you following me for and the man said, what are you doing here? the next thing i hear is somebody pushing and somebody pushed trayvon because the headset just fell. i called him again and he didn't answer the phone. robert zimmerman is once again willing to challenge the facts on the record. he told fox 35, i don't believe that happened, meaning that conversation. i don't believe she was on the phone with him and i find it very strange, with the publicity involved in this, that all of a sudden, after three weeks, someone would remember that they were on the phone. "abc news" reported trayvon's phone logs show the conversation occurred five minutes before someone arrived on the scene. here's what happened on february 26th as a we know it. at 7:12 p.m., trayvon martin was

on the phone with a friend. by 7:17, police arrive on the scene of the shooting and trayvon martin was dead. at 7:51, george zimmerman arrived at the sanford police station. let's return to john bucho, homicide department with 25 years experience in miami. thanks for being with us, i appreciate your time. as a homicide detective, what inconsistencies jump out at you? >> first, it's a pleasure to be here. as far as the facts i know about the case and this is from the media, i don't have the details from the sanford police department and the investigation. the things that jump out to me, in order to use deadly force, it has to be -- you have to believe there's imminent death or great bodily harm is going to occur to you or is occurring to you. in this case, i saw the video of mr. zimmerman coming into the police station. i don't see that on him.

i don't see great bodily harm. at this point, you have to remember, he's a civilian, he's on the street, he's armed. mr. martin is there on the street also. he doesn't know what his authority is to stop him and there's a confrontation. that confrontation, i'm understanding that mr. zimmerman received a bloody nose and possibly some injuries to the back of his head. now, in any type of fight, high school fight, you're going to have that type of injury, that's not great bodily harm. at this stage, he's a civilian, confronting mr. martin and mr. martin has the right to protect himself from this person confronting him. that's what happened and mr. zimmerman happened to have a firearm on him and used it unjustly. >> you think he used it unjustly. >> for the fact there wasn't great bodily harm done to him. >> i know he gives his story his head was hit against the sidewalk and he had to use

force. just from what i know of the investigation and saw on the videotape, i don't see that type of injury. i see a struggle and fight and the police are on their way at the time. it didn't appear there should have been deadly force used in that situation. >> mr. butchko, you were a homicide detective 28 years. i want to ask you about the timeline. how much work would have been done at the scene of the crime. on the phone, trayvon martin on the phone at 7:12, dead by 7:17 and george zimmerman in the

police house at 7:51. doesn't this seem like a rather fast turn of events? >> it is pretty quick. however, when you get to the scene, you evaluate the scene, find out who your witnesses are, find out exactly where your scene is, where your evidence may be. there's other police officers there assisting you. it's advisable to get the person who did the shooting off of the scene as quickly as possible, however, without damaging any type of evidence. there is such a thing as gunpowder residue swabs, even if you know who did the shooting, you take those swabs to prove that at a later time. those swabs should be taken before the shooter is removed from the scene. >> do you think that -- from what you saw of the videotape there was the damaging and contamination of evidence? >> no, i don't see that. first of all, i don't know what the status is on his clothing.

i don't know if his clothing was taken on the scene or not. >> sure. >> if it was not taken on the scene, that's understandable. that happens. that will not change. the blood will not come off the clothing. it's understandable because you don't have a change of clothing for a shooter on the scene. you get into your station and during the course of your investigation at the station with him, you collect his clothing. >> finally, how many murders did you investigate during your 28 years? >> geez, i'd say as a lead detective, over 1200. yes. >> how rare is it that the police would know the identity of the victim but list him as a john doe for three days? >> well, i don't know if they knew the identity of him at the time. i don't know if he had identification on him. >> the police reports says they did. >> if we knew who he was and he had identification on him, we wouldn't have listed him as a john doe, we would have went with his identification, especially if it was a photoid. from there, the priority is find the family and notify them. this is a young man who didn't live in that community, that might have been quite a task to

do and might have taken a day or so to find out who the parents were and where they were at the time, because i understand the father's girlfriend lived there and they didn't really have a connection, i don't think with tyrone's name. >> door-to-door would have been the thing to do, correct? >> you automatically do an area canvas any time you have a homicide in order to look for additional witnesses. one thing you wouldn't do, you wouldn't go through a whole neighborhood pounding every door trying to find out who this kid is. >> what about the cell phone? wouldn't that be obviously followed up by law enforcement, who was the last person he dialed and list of phone numbers? that shouldn't take too long. >> unfortunately, it does. the police department is obligated to do things legally because you don't want evidence suppressed later on and part of that is possibly getting a subpoena for those phone records. that's not something that's done

overnight and sometimes takes a couple days and to get the information back sometimes takes a few days and a few weeks. >> so the handling of the cell phone doesn't bother you? >> no, it doesn't. normally on a scene, you secure it and at some point find out what the numbers are. you wouldn't just call the numbers because you don't know who you're calling. you figure out what numbers are on that phone, subpoena those records and then find out who they were and then you would contact them. as far as them not making an arrest, police not making an arrest right off, i'm not too troubled with that. we have had many cases where -- especially where there's a case of a possibility of self-defense, i'm not saying this is self-defense, a possibility of that, a continued investigation is necessary, you need to find out what the medical examiner's office is going to say. what is the angle of the bullet, entry, exit, what is the definite telling you. >> john butchko, thank you. we'll have you back. trayvon's parents have reacted to the surveillance tape

and get the reaction of the lawyers next. and trying to change the story to demonize trayvon martin. dr. james peterson will set him straight.

welcome back to "the ed show". trayvon martin's parents have reacted to the police video of george zimmerman. >> we just looked at the video

and according to the police report, zimmerman sustained injuries. when we looked at the video, it was obvious there no visible injuries or blood on his shirt. we have concluded by watching this video, there may not have been any injuries at all. >> it's amazing, if in fact he had a broken nose how he continued to keep his head down. >> trayvon's parents have not yet responded to the dad, robert zimmerman's interview. he said he thought trayvon martin was not on a phone call with his girlfriend the night of the shooting. his quote is i don't believe she was on the phone with him. i believe the fbi and others investigating this will find that did not happen. according to "abc news" the phone logs show the conversation happened. let's turn to natalie jackson,

attorney for the family of trayvon martin. thank you for your time tonight. robert zimmerman says the call never happened. can you respond to that? >> mr. zimmerman is a father trying to protect his child. the call happened. there are records the call happened. this is not something the young girl made up and people just believe her. there are records that back up her story. everything his son has told him, there's nothing to back it up except for his son. in fact, all the different stories that have been reported by family and friends of george zimmerman, they're kind of proving to be not true. >> have trayvon's parents seen robert zimmerman's interview and have they given a reaction to it? >> yeah, they did give a reaction to it. they said, they understand. it's his child. that's what parents do, they protect their children. what he must understand, while he has that right, he does not have a right to try to tarnish trayvon in the process. they never had a chance to protect their child from his son, the killer.

>> now, did the family want civil rights groups to come in and get involved on this? there's been some criticism of those, such as al sharpton and both reverend sharpton and jesse jackson and the naacp was mentioned and the congressional black caucus, even the president of the united states and the word hate was thrown around. what's your reaction to that and the family's? >> my reaction is it seems to be zimmerman's camp bringing up the racial issues. we had 2 million people sign this petition of all nationalities races and political affiliation. every time someone from zimmerman's camp gets on camera, such as joe oliver who says he is not racist and his father brings up the hate and racism. we have said zimmerman noticed trayvon because he was young, black and male. that is racial profiling. we have said we don't know

george zimmerman. we don't know if he's a racist. we can hear from his own words he profiled trayvon. raism is being brought up by their camp. if anyone is trying stir up racist thoughts or division, it is their camp. we are a camp of unity, hope and justice. >> what have you and your lawyer team learned from the police surveillance video? >> well, i mean, we've just added morton the fact -- what we already knew, that robert zimmerman should be arrested for the killing of trayvon martin. it's just more evidence that goes towards it. there is no visible injury towards george zimmerman. there is no visible evidence trayvon, some attack led to imminent fear of death or great boily harm. >> one other thing, are you

trying to get dispatch and medical records to see exactly who attended to george zimmerman in the police car. it would seem to me the emt or paramedics whoever were there, should have a record of that. have you seen those records? >> i'm glad you mentioned that. what america needs to know and the public needs to know, as they are getting information, that's when the family is getting information. all this stuff being leaked, the family is getting it at the same time as the public. there has been no investigative information given to the family by law enforcement at this point. >> you don't even know who attended to george zimmerman in that police car? >> no. we don't know any names or who attended. what we do know, ed, there was more than one officer on the scene. one of the other officers who wrote a police report did not even mention george zimmerman's injuries in his report. he did not think they were significant enough to put in a

report. >> what do you make of zimmerman reportedly going to the hospital the next day? >> i have no makes of that because i don't have any hospital records. i don't know. it's all speculation. >> okay. so a medical professional attends to george zimmerman, broken nose, i don't know if there's any x-rays, there's no blood anywhere, we can't see that on the tape and no one has allowed your team or anyone to see a record of what medical professional attended to a man who had something on the back of his head, pounded into the ground, according to his dad and a broken nose. >> no. >> you have nothing of that. i find that unbelievable. >> this is why the parents started all of this. the parents wanted answers. they had a child laying on a sidewalk that had nothing but skittles and iced tea when an armed vigilante shot him and we

were told we can't do anything. he said it was self-defense. no parent will take that as an answer. >> his father is giving it as a defense in the arena of public opinion trying to gin up report. he can't substantiate any medical attention given and you're saying one of the police officer s ever said it at all. >> exactly. it's in the preliminary report. there were two police officers on that scene. >> thank you for your time, natalie. i appreciate it. mr. bonaparte is my next guess and the assassination of trayvon martin continues. there are new details on florida's stand your ground law. the nra. stay with us.

welcome back to "the ed show." the videotape the night trayvon

martin was killed is raising questions. emotions are running high all across florida. i'm joined by sanford city manager. thank you for joining us. i know you're unable to discuss the details of the ongoing investigation. we'd like to ask you a few things about the timeline of events and some other things, if we may. when did you first -- when were you first aware of the surveillance tape in the police house there when mr. zimmerman showed up with the police after the shooting? >> we were aware of it. as you said, that is part of the investigation we're not going to comment. we've been directed by the special prosecutor not to comment on the investigation. i appreciate your understanding that. >> certainly.

you were aware of the tape, correct, early on? >> i am aware of it, yes. >> so you had seen the tape before yesterday? >> i had not seen the tape before yesterday. i was aware of it, though. >> you were aware of the tape but you hadn't seen it before yesterday. now, as manager, so you knew of the tape's existence. were you in a position of authority to access the tape prior to last night? >> the tape, with all the other evidence has now been submitted to the special prosecutor and that's where we'll look to see that justice is done for trayvon martin. >> but you oversee the police department and you just found out -- >> that's correct. >> you had not seen this videotape? you had not seen this videotape before yesterday? >> that's correct. i'm not part of the investigation. >> i don't think that's really impeding the investigation, respectfully. you're the city manager. you had access to the tape and you didn't see it until yesterday. that's not really --

>> it's a police matter and it's not normally where the city manager is involved with police matters. you're correct, i oversee the policy of the police department. i'm not responsible for the day to day operations of the police department. that's a normal process the sallyport has taped and used for different purposes but not something the city manager would be involved with. >> were you aware the state's attorney showed up at the scene of the crime -- scene of the shooting, drove 50 miles to get there, do you know if that's standard operating procedure? does he go to every crime? >> i'm not involved with the criminal investigation. >> that's not a part of criminal investigation. part of normal procedure. does the state's attorney -- >> you're asking me if i have knowledge. as the city manager i'm not involved with the investigation and not involved with the process the police and prosecutors use. >> but you would know, overseeing the police department, if you know that the state's attorney makes it a habit of driving in from home at night to see a crime scene. >> no, i would not know that. that's not part of the role of the city manager.

>> so all the procedure is with the police chief. so what brought you to -- >> that is correct. >> what brought you to the conclusion you needed the police chief to step aside? >> certainly, there was a lot o angst, a lot of activity around the police chief and the police chief thought to take the focus off of him and put the focus where it should be, getting justice for trayvon martin, he decided to step aside. >> we were told by one of martin's attorneys, it wasn't until after meeting at noon that that afternoon he decided to step aside, it was pressure put on by groups to make that move, that he didn't do it on his own, is that correct? >> chief lee made a decision on his own, he thought in this best interest of this matter, to step aside. >> okay. the report of trayvon's identity, is it normal that he would be listed as a john doe for three days?

>> again, you're asking me about the details. that's a criminal manager and police manager. the city manager is not involved with that. >> was your curiosity peeked at all when you found that out? >> that's up to the state's attorney to decide whether the sanford police department acted accordingly. >> mr. bonaparte, i appreciate your time tonight. thanks for being with us on the program. sean hannity is distorting the message of members of congress, calling for justice for trayvon martin. other right wingers are attacking the victim. dr. james peterson is next. up next, the right wing

what makes the sleep number store different? the sleep number bed. the magic of this bed is that you're sleeping on something that conforms to your individual shape. wow! that feels really good. it's hugging my body. in less than a minute i can get more support. if you change your mind once you get home you can adjust it. so whatever you feel like, the sleep number bed's going to provide it for you. at our semi-annual sleep sale, save $400 to $700 on our most popular bed sets. sale ends march 31st. only at the sleep number store, where queen mattresses start at just $699. up next, the right wing continues to attack the trayvon martin case and the look at the passing of the stand your ground law. the wheels are in motion for a complete character assassination of trayvon martin. the website "the daily caller"

well, i wasn't "supposed" to need flood insurance, but i have it. fred over here chose not to have it. ♪ me, i've got a plan. fred he uh... fred what is your plan? do i look like i have a plan? not really. [ female announcer ] only flood insurance covers floods. for a free brochure, call the number on your screen.

the wheels are in motion for a complete character assassination of trayvon martin. the website "the daily caller" has published more than 150 pages of activity. the photomartin chose to depict himself is with a black polo on looking into the camera and extending his middle finger. "the daily caller" makes sure t emphasize trayvon martin had a tattoo and that zimmerman was justice in pulling the trigger because he had a tattoo and showed a picture of himself flipping off the camera and meanwhile, fox news are slamming congress who are demanding an investigation. >> we have bounties, convictions in the term of media personalities, we have political blame going on.

why even have a trial based on what some members of congress are saying? why even bother? let's convict him on the house floor. we don't know the facts. how about members of congress and leaders and media personalities before they convict on national tv and on the house floor, how about we have the facts before they go there and bring up racial implications we don't know exist. >> so sean wants the facts. well, you find the facts in a court of law which george zimmerman has not had to face and members of congress are not demanding a conviction, they are specifically, specifically demanding a fair investigation. i'm joined tonight by dr. james peterson, director of africana studies and associate of professor of english at lehigh university. what has the mission of hannity? why is the right wing going down this road questioning those who want justice.

>> mr. hannity is pandering to his fan base. i think behind all this is support for the nra and other different lobbying efforts and legislative efforts by alec. i can understand it from that perspective. strangely, we want the same thing. we want a trial as well. we want justice as well. mr. hannities indictment of the media and congress doesn't make too much sense if you consider the fact all we're asking for is due process, all we're asking for is for the wheels of justice to begin turning in this particular case. >> i wish "the daily caller" would try like hell to maybe get the medical records from the first responders who fixed the broken nose and washed up the kid before they took him to the police station. instead, they're working on trayvon martin's twitter account. what does that have to do with this case at all, his twitter account and what do you think motivated "the daily caller" and

other right wing websites doing this. >> it's hard for me to get in the mind of a right wing -- >> it's a smear, isn't it? >> it is. it's also about continuing the legacy of racial profiling. obviously, young kids flipping off the camera in this day and age of cell phone cameras is one of the most common images a teenager will take. for that to have any bearing on this case or mr. martin's character is absurd. the tattoos is interesting. people try to profile folk based upon having tattoos. it's the weakness in our society how we handle different people we encounter in different situations. >> here's "the daily caller" tucker carlson on race-baiting attacks. >> for the president himself to weigh in and make this a simple paraable about white racism is very foolish. it may not turn out to bolster that accusation for one. for another, do you really want to have a conversation about who kills who in this country?

do you want to look at the statistics? this is not a conversation political figures should be weighing in on. >> doctor, what's your response to that? >> mr. carlson is way off base and behind the breitbart crap we had to deal with in the past. this smacks to the problem in the whole. these folks are engaged in trying to distract us from pursuing justice for trayvon martin. institutional racism is important to consider when we look at the ways he was profiled by mr. zimmerman and the ways the sanford police department historically operated and handled this particular case, we have to ask big questions about institutions. they can accuse me of being a racist and us as being race baiters as much as we want to, we will still pursue the case and this issue. >> dr. james peterson, thanks for being with us. thanks so much. the law at the heart of the trayvon martin investigation, stand your ground, brought to you by the nra.

that's next. hello! who's she? downy unstopables. here to shake up your fresh. toss these little scent boosters in before you wash. and the fresh scent will last until you're ready to wash again. downy unstopables. the fresh too feisty to quit.

to put more giddy-up in our get-along. it's time to start gellin' with dr. scholl's... ... and mix a little more hop in our hip-hop. with the energizing support and cushioning of dr. scholl's massaging gel insoles

... you'll want to get up and go. note a clarification we just had in the last segment, i said "the daily caller was making the case that trayvon martin had a tattoo. they are linking the tattoo to the shooting and doesn't seem to have any bearing on the case. my question about did president obama's comments cross the line? 4% of you said yes -- 94% of you said yes. and 6% said no. it will be open to the public on a first come basis.

stand your ground. just what does that mean? stand your ground. the law at the center of the trayvon martin tragedy is under the microscope all over the country. shoot an unarmed teenager, call itself defense and walk away a free man. how did florida and about a dozen states enact such legislation. follow the money. mother jones gave over $73,000

in campaign donations to 43 florida legislators who backed stand your ground over a nine-year period. the nra then doubled down with an intense lobbying effort followed by an additional cash spent to guarantee the bill's introduction and passage. florida governor jeb bush signed the law stand your ground with an nra lobbyist at the side, marion hammer. no surprise there. hammer didn't stop. she helped save stand your ground law into one of the most aggressive laws in the country and instrumental in its passage. here's what she had to say about it just a few years back. >> i heard somebody say one time, we don't shoot to kill, we shoot to live. and that's what it's all about, being able to protect yourself when you're under threat of