. >> atticus finch. >> this ring that belonged to your mother. you want to tell us what really happened? >> i got nothing to say. do nothing about it. you coward! >> gentlemen, i shall be brief but i would like to use the remaining time i have with you to remind you that this case is not a difficult one. it requires no minute sifting of complicated facts, but it does require you to be sure beyond a reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the defendant. to begin with, this case should never have come to trial. this case is as simple as black and white. the state has produced not one iota of medical evidence to the effect that the crime tom robinson is charged with ever took place. it has relied instead on the testimony of two witnesses whose evidence is not only been called into serious question on cross-examination but has been flatly contradicted by the defendant. the defendant is not guilty. but somebody in this courtroom is. i have nothing but pity in my heart for the chief witness for the state, but my pity does not extend so far as to her puttin

atticus finch represents the last republican lawyer. and i mean republican in the sense of the republic, of thomas jefferson, those kinds of people. the last lawyer who really believes that to enunciate the important principles of america is going to work. this is in a town where their first reaction -- i mean, tom ewell is an incredibly evil, disgusting person. everybody in town knows that. but they believe him. you know, they're willing to take his word even though they know he's lying completely, they're willing to take his word. they're willing to go out and try to lynch tom robinson, right? they have taken one of their upstanding citizens, bo radley, and locked him in the attic. he's been there for god knows how many years. has anybody in town done anything about it? no. lock your kids in the attic. that's the kind of town you're dealing with. as we're seeing this through the idse of scout, a child, we have -- through the eyes of scout, a child, we have to dig into it ourselves to see what's going on and once you do you realize tha

and atticus finch, the father, whose devotion of justice places him and his children in jeopardy. and party to the defense, john robinson.

>> mary played scout, the daughter of atticus finch who bears witness to the story. >> very honored toe been a part of this film. and have such relevance to what we're dealing with today. >> the author, harm he lee, was awarded the presidential medal of freedom in 2007. to kill a bird was her only book. >> that was nbc's lester holt reporting. >>> we are just seconds away from an all new snl. tonight's host is from modern family. during the show, she has a little fun with her accent. >> you might have noticed that i have a bit of an accent sometimes. i love it. this accent can make anything sound sexy. listen. gonorrhea! >> this is the colombian native's first time hosting snl. she is joined by musical guest one direction. she is a very funny lady. and we want to take a last look because a lot of folks will be heading out. >> we are going to be as cold. tomorrow we'll wake up into the 40s. a little bit better. inland to the 60s off the coast of a beautiful day across the board. even from monday, not too bad. the showers will move into the north bay on monday and it looks like we'll be

mockingbird" isn't that atticus finch is a great lawyer or the lawyer that we should follow. the moral of the book and the movie is that the republican lawyer won't work any more. we need a new kind of lawyer. the only way to clean up a town like this is to bring in the federales. you know, everybody's got to go to jail. i mean, these -- you know, if you think about it, who is the real hero of "to kill a mockingbird"? who's the one who sees clearly? it's not atticus finch. he's not even a very intelligent father. i love him. i love him. but who lets your kids out in the middle of the night wearing -- dressed as farm animals and fruit when there's a craze killer who's vowed to get them? you say, fine, you don't need me to walk you home. you can do it yourself. is that -- is that smart? is that a good dad? bo radley is the one who actually has it straight, right? he knows those kids are going to get into trouble. he's out there and he does something about it. he's the one who gets justice in the book. you know, and so when you really think about it, if you can put through this

>> reporter: mary bantam played the daughter of atticus finch who plays witness to the story. >> reporter this film that touched so many lives. it means so much to so many people and holds such relevance to what we're dealing with today. >> reporter: the author, harper lee, awarded the presidential medal's preem in 2007. "to kill a mockingbird" was her only book, and though she rarely speaks publicly, this week she said she was proud to know that gregory peck's portrayal of atticus finch lives on in a world that needs him now more than of. >>> again that special broadcast, on the usa network. >>> that's "nbc nightly news" for this saturday. i'm lester holt reporting from new york. i'll see you tomorrow morning on "today," then right back here tomorrow evening. have a good night, everyone. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

we have a real-life atticus finch, tony serra, who is here and has motivated so many of us to do what we do. our second panel looks at abuse of power, abuse of power and how it happens and why it happens and most importantly what we can do and need to do to prevent it. whether it's a prosecutor or a judge or a defender render ineffective assistance to counsel or a police officer violating constitutional rights. this is not something we can tolerate, yet it happens each and every day. and our panel is going to delve deep into the issues that we're seeing not only here in the bay area but throughout the country and throughout the world. our third panel after lunch will talk about the future of the death penalty and hopefully its demise. you might be surprised that we are having a conversation here in san francisco about the death penalty. as you know, our district attorney has indicated that he may seek the death penalty in appropriate cases in san francisco, and that has not been the case for the past decade. but he's coming today to talk about his views. we also have a former warden a

>> mary battam played scout, the daughter of atticus finch who bared witness to the story. >> it has so much relevance to what we're dealing with today. . >> the author, harper lee was given the medal of honor in 2007. she said she was proud to know that gregory peck's portrayal of atticus finch lives on in a world that needs him now more than ever. and that airs tonight on the usa network. that's n"nbc nightly news" for this saturday. i'll see you tomorrow morning on "today" and then right back here tomorrow evening. have a good night, everyone. >>> good evening i'm kris sanchez in for diane dwyer tonight. we begin in concord where a father an a daughter are dead and a teenager is behind

aties cuss finch -- atticus finch didn't have to deal with a 24-hour news cycle. tony serra didn't have to deal with bloggers in his career. i think what's going on in new york city where the head of the i.m.f. was arrested for doing some untorrid things in a big hotel. i found it ironic last night that eliot spitzer was interviewing people talking about these sorts of activities, and that cycle is going on and on. if you want to play a drinking game, you know, who wants to take bets of when we're going to have the first appearance of gloria allred? it's inevitable. i'm getting off the point a little bit here. but at some point i think it was around the time of the o.j. case where you had this confluence of a big public figure, it was a juicy trial, and cable news was just becoming a force. it changed the environment in which we operate, at least criminal system operates. because it's not just cases anymore, it's entertainment. it's a whole media frenzy on big cases. and i don't think that's a very good thing, but that is the environment in which we operate. and l

we have a real-life atticus finch, tony serra, who is here and has motivated so many of us to do what we do. our second panel looks at abuse of power, abuse of power and how it happens and why it happens and most importantly what we can do and need to do to prevent it. whether it's a prosecutor or a judge or a defender render ineffective assistance to ineffective assistance to counsel or a police officer

. >> that, of course, is gregory peck as atticus finch in "to kill a mockingbird" in 1970s alabama.use tonight for an introduction in theaters on saturday. clarence page and michael join me now. michael, this resonated so much with my wife that atticus made the short list for first names for our firstborn, but economist and atticus just didn't roll off the tongue. why does it have so much staying power? >> i think it rules for the first economist in the struggle of black and white over right and wrong and america as a great nation able to rise above the weight of legendary and an often storied path and sorry path to go into a great future. i think when martin luther king, jr. spoke about this, atticus finch was speaking volumes about the way to treat one's brother and sister regardless of color as an equal. i think in this case it appeals to so many white people, and it appealed to them because it wasn't a message coming from the outside, from an african-american, but from the culture itself. >> did that make it easy to broach some of these subjects given that harper lee who wrote i

on the pulitzer prrze-winning novel by harper lee.it staas gregory eck as whiteesouthern lawyer atticus finch... who defends a black man wrongfully accused oo rape. aanew studd out of chhna... finds more reasons to eat those veggies!research finds that eatinggbroccoli, cauliflower, arugula, collard greens and other vegetables inn the cabbage family... may improve your odds of breast cancer surviial.previous studies have shownna higher intake of these vegetables an reduce the risk oo developing breast cancer... but thhs is the first study to examine women aftee a breast cancer diagnnsis. this year, u.s. residentss will consume 120 million pounds of easter candy confectioners association. and mary sue candies in baltimore is providing plenty of itt it. joel d. smith is live there noo as thhy prepare for the easter bunny, and all of his "hhlpers". good 3 3 3 3 poliie are called to an say a female guest got violent. violent. itnessesssay it all started when she wanted &ptoodance with the groom. 36-year old brooke burke is charged with misdemeanor assault nd disorderly conduct. police say an argum

not because atticus finch is the smartest guy on the block, but because the movie makers are the smartest guys on the block. [applause] >> once again we have all the books by our novelists here and our writers here in the front. or you can find them on amazon.com. i'd like to thank mary mcdonagh murphy, who joined us from new york via skype, and john -- john is actually a descendant of the first chief justice of the u.s. supreme court. paulette frankl, "lust for justice," tony serra, and sheldon siegal. so before we take a break, i do have a surprise. a few years ago, i guess six or seven years ago, i met an amazing artist. i was visiting his home. and he had created this wonderful sculpture. i immediately recognized it as being clarence. it turned out that he had created a number of just amazing sculptures of trial lawyers. and he went on to do one of clara fults, the first woman attorney in california and became the leader of the public defender movement. and just by happenstance, he called me and had this idea of encapsulating one of the greatest trial attorneys of our times. so, bill?

gregory peck who played atticus finch will also attend.arper lee says she is, quote, deeply honored president obama will be celebrating her book and her film. >>> in that intriguing but elusive quest for life on mars, scientists still haven't hit the mother lode. take a look at this. a massive martian dust devil. this is actually just an animation. but the dust devil is about 12 miles high, about the width of a football field. the density of mars' atmosphere is so very low, even a high-velocity des devil unlikely to be powerful enough to actually knock you over. kind of cool. >>> time now for another check on our weather. let's go back to meteorologist, christina loren, who is here to let us know what's going to be like over the easter holiday. >> a lot of kids still off for spring break, taking a live look at the golden gate bridge, speaking of which, take a look at a lot of people out there enjoying that crystal clear sky. beautiful, sunny day. but that sunshine rather deceptive. temperatures are still mostly in the 50s in the city and s

and many a lawyer was motivated by atticus finch in his closing argument in that case which in many ways represented the civil rights movement that was to come and it already begun. we have best-selling authors. we have a real-li

. >> atticus is named for the great lawyer, atticus finch. he was named atticus omega. alpha and omega were done. people said, you may want to change that. we did end up with one more amazing daughter, sunday phoenix. sunday was the end of the week's worth of children. if i would have known i would have seven, i would have named them sunday, monday. she was named phoenix. she was born after my husband's was in that tough campaign. the phoenix is a wonderful symbol. >> you lost the 2010 race. >> i lost in the democratic primary to a woman by the name of anne custer. it was a good experience. in the primaries and both parties, it is increasingly the case that people who are probably moderate and proudly in the center of that political spectrum, sometimes it is a difficult place to be in a primary race. i think that is understandable. i am not sure it is healthy for our political system. i lost badly. i did not do very well. i decided maybe i am not cut out for politics. i managed my dad's first campaign in congress. i managed my husband's first campaign in congress. i cam

batham who played scout in the movie, actor gregory peck famously portrayed an alabama attorney, atticus finch who is fighting for justice for a black defendant in a small southern town. >> coming up a look at the top 8 performances on 80s night, who we thought did the best, myself included i weigh in audrey plus idol chatter panel is here, we will be right back >>> before we head the break nationals opened the regular season in chicago this afternoon, the nats won 80 games last season optimism and expectations are riding high in part because of the teams pitching staff anchored bistros burg, zimmerman and gonzalez i can't stand these spots. those spots are actually leftover food and detergent residue that can redeposit on your dishware during the rinse cycle. gross. jet-dry rinse agent helps wash them away so the only thing left behind is the shine. jet-dry rinses away residues for a sparkling shine. >>> well, the top 8 contestants on american idol performed songs from the 80s last night today we have our idol chatter panel, with a special panel list to discuss last night's performance. jack