zimmerman has been out of sight but his attorney craig sonner broke the silence. here is what he told anderson cooper. >> what has your client told you about the night he shot trayvon martin? >> that, i believe he should have made a statement to police at that time. i think he did, i don't know for a fact because i haven't seen the police reports on this case. i have not discussed the evening of what occurred that time. i think this will come out through the investigation process done by law enforcement. >> you haven't discussed any of the details of that night with him? >> no. >> let's bring in holly firfir in the town of the center of the town, sanford, florida. george zimmerman has yet to be charged or arrested. what is the strategy of his attorney speaking out now? >> reporter: i think a lot of questions, randi have been asked about george zimmerman, he decided to quell the media frenzy around the situation and answer some of the questions and we spoke to his attorney, craig sonner as well and he told us he still is in the area. he has spoken to him by the pho

o'don't is supposed to interview craig sonner the lawyer at the center of george zimmerman case. >> george sonner the courageous defender of george zimmerman walked out of studio. there is his chair in orlando. >> not the most enthralling television but it's miss neeb. i didn't think dressing a grizzly bear in human clothes of a good idea but you know they made that work. [ laughter ] panda, what no? [ laughter ] anyway have it it. who is page you, mr. lawyer? who hired you? when exactly did they hire you? does george zimmerman have a job? does he have any property? did you represent him when he

it's a lot for a lawyer to keep up with and obviously craig sonner is unable to keep up with it if he knows at the end of a day like today he would have to come here. the sanford police chief -- not the chief. there is a new acting chief but the sanford police have made an obvious tactical decision. they have decided they have had enough of the criticism from the likes of me and the law enforcement professionals i have had on the shown and others who called their investigation an exercise in rank incompetence the night trayvon martin was killed ago, 21 days ago. so the police have taken a time-tested police tradition in a situation like. this now they are leaking, leaking what they believe is evidence that supports their foolish, unjustifiable position of allowing george zimmerman to just walk free, walk free that night. and not collect any evidence from him, not his gun, not his clothing, nothing. nothing. from him on the night he shot and killed trayvon martin. the big leak of the day was from the police. it was later on firmed by trayvon martin's high school and it was at the time

craig sonner, joe oliver, thank you both. appreciate your time on this sunday morning. >> thank you. >>> we turn now to politics, it's your voice, your vote. the battle on the bayou. another southern state, louisiana, lines up for rick santorum. the latest numbers show santorum with a huge double-digit lead over mitt romney. our host of "this week," george stephanopoulos, joins us this morning. good to see you, george. did santorum's victory in louisiana change the dynamics? >> not really. but it does reinforce what we have seen. rick santorum is very strong in the south. seventh win in the south. it's his 11th win overall. romney has broad support across the country. romney is more than halfway to where he needs to get the delegates. he's the only candidate in the race to get enough delegates to win the nomination. but rick santorum didn't do anything to unseat mitt romney from his commanding position. >> but things are getting really ugly within the party. all of this republican infighting, does this hurt the party in the l

we had an opportunity to talk with his attorney craig sonner. he says he is here. he's been advised to lay low because he's been receiving death threats and he's concerned for his client's safety. >> also the lawyer, george zimmerman's lawyer was on cnn last night as well. and listen to what he had to say. i hope there's way to rein things in. i hope there's -- >> what are they saying. if so, it gets bumped up to some federal charges. >> reporter: right. when, weed with had asked craig sonner if his client was a racist, if this was racially motivated he said to us absolutely not. but the special prosecutor assigned to look into this did arrive in town yesterday and is looking at that right now. we know u.s. attorney general eric holder has asked the fw fb and the justice department to see if this is a civil rights issue. right now we're just waiting. they say they're looking at every piece of evidence and even craig sonner says he doesn't have the details. he has not discuss it in detail with george zimmerman yet until he finds out if charges have been brought. rig

craig sonner, thank you very much for taking the time to join us.zimmerman's attorney hired late this afternoon. we'll obviously continue to see how that transpires, but important to hear he will not use the stand your ground defense. he thinks self-defense is the appropriate way to go. >>> an usual -- israeli artist is pushing for peace with iran. it's next. >>> and a bagel man's big idea. t for febreze fabric refresher, they agreed. [ experimenter 1 ] relax, take some nice deep breaths. [ experimenter 2 ] at do you smell? lilac. clean. there's something that's really fresh. a little bit beach-y. like children's blankets. smells like home. [ experimenter 1 ] okay take your blindfolds off. ♪ hello? [ male announcer ] if febreze fabric refresher can freshen this couch, what can it do for yours? febreze fabric refresher -- breathe happy. febreze fabric refresher -- fore! no matter what small business you are in, managing expenses seems to... get in the way. not anymore. ink, the small business card from chase introduces jot an on-the-go expense app ma

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craig sonner, joe oliver, thank you both.lly appreciate your time on this sunday morning. >> thank you. >> bianna, over to you. >> all right, dan, thank you. >>> we turn now to politics, it's "your voice, your vote." the battle on the bayou. another southern state, louisiana, lines up for rick santorum. the latest numbers show santorum with a huge double-digit win over mitt romney enjoying a wide lead of more than 20 points followed far behind by newt gingrich and ron paulment our host of "this week," george stephanopoulos, back from a well-deserved vacation, joins us this morning. good to see you, george. so did santorum's victory in louisiana change the dynamic of the race at all? >> not really. but it does reinforce what we have seen. rick santorum is very strong in the south. this is his seventh win in the south. his 11th win overall, but mitt romney has broad support across the country. and, of course, if you look at that all-important delegate race, romney is now more than halfway to where he needs to be to get the dele

we have breaking news and we have craig sonner, the attorney for mr. zimmerman. first of all, how is your client, george zimmerman, doing? >> well, i think he's doing all right considering, i mean, he's under a considerable bit of stress as a result of all the things that have been transpired in the last few weeks. >> where is george zimmerman now? >> i don't know. my conversations have been on the telephone. i don't -- i don't know his exact location. i believe he's in the area. >> so he's still -- >> i have been in contact with him. >> you believe he's still in the united states? >> oh, yes. >> there had been some indication maybe he was in peru or a report he was in peru. that's not true? >> no, that's not true. >> what has your client told you about the night he shot trayvon martin? >> that i believe he's probably -- he should have made a statement to police at that time. i think he did. i don't know for -- i don't know for fact because i haven't seen the police reports on this case. i have not discussed the evening of what occurred that time. i think that'll

craig sonner tells florida's wolf that zimmerman is under a lot of stress, concerned about the grave ion he's in. sonner says zimmerman suffered a broken nose and an injury to the back of his head that should have required stitches during hi confrontation with martin. we're not likely to hear from zimmerman any time soon. sonner has advised zimmerman to stay out of the public eye as much as he can and doesn't even know where zimmerman is staying. >>> on monday the supreme court will begin to hear arguments challenging president obama's landmark health care reform law. that is three days away, and there's already a line to get in. cn congressional correspondent kate bolduan is there. >> march 23rd, 2010, president obama signs into law the signature achieve mblts of his presidency, the affordable care act. >> after all the votes have been tallied, health insurance reform becomes law in the united states of america. >> reporter: within hours state as i cross the country filed lawsuits challenging the law. >> this is about liberty. it's not just about health care. >> reporter: led by flor

o'don't is supposed to interview craig sonner the lawyer at the center of george zimmerman case. >> georgee courageous defender of george zimmerman walked out of studio. there is his chair in orlando. >> not the most enthralling television but it's miss neeb. i didn't think dressing a grizzly bear in human clothes of a good idea but you know they made that work. [ laughter ] panda, what no? [ laughter ] anyway have it it. who is page you, mr. lawyer? who hired you? when exactly did they hire you? does george zimmerman have a job? does he have any property? did you represent him when he was arrested for assault on a police officer? do you have the medical records that you can show us? >> he's grilling the chair! [ laughter ] no, the chair doesn't have medical records to show you. it's a chair. you should be yelling at the filing cabinet. note to self, do not go to ikea with lawrence o'donnell. [ laughter ] do you call yourself a faraloggin you are no more a garfung -- i live in new york city i see a lot of people yelling at chairs. none of them have tv shows. [ laughter ] after watching thi

we have breaking news and we have craig sonner, the attorney for mr. zimmerman. first of all, how is your client, george zimmerman, doing? >> well, i think he's doing all right considering, i mean, he's under a considerable bit of stress as a result of all the things that have been transpired in the last few weeks. >> where is george zimmerman now? >> i don't know. my conversations have been on the telephone. i don't -- i don't know his exact location. i believe he's in the area. >> so he's still -- >> i have been in contact with him. >> you believe he's still in the united states? >> oh, yes. >> there had been some indication maybe he was in peru or a report he was in peru. that's not true? >> no, that's not true. >> what has your client told you about the night he shot trayvon martin? >> that i believe he's probably -- he should have made a statement to police at that time. i think he did. i don't know for -- i don't know for fact because i haven't seen the police reports on this case. i have not discussed the evening of what occurred that time. i think that'll

craig sonner, thank you very much for taking the time to join us. george zimmerman's attorney hired late this afternoon. we'll see how that transpires but important to hear he will not use the stand your ground defense. he thinks self-defense is the appropriate way to go. >>> anderson cooper with a look on what's coming up on ac 360. >> an attorney working for george zimmerman for about two or three weeks now. not just today. i also asked him if george zim eerman has a message for trayvon martin's family. he said, no, he does not. not at this time. we'ralities going to speak to the mayor of sanford, florida, about how this community is coping with this trafty and if the mayor himself has confidence in his own police department's investigation. turns out many residents of sanford certainly don't have much trust in the police department. tom foreman looks at reasons why cases in the past that have raised a lot of questions. also ahead, the night before the gop primary in louisiana, where he'd leading in the polls, rick santorum spent the day on the de

craig sonner maintains that zimmerman shot martin in self-deference. hiding and out of the public eye. >>> hundreds of d.c. community members are expected to gather for one of the largest rallies yet in our area in support of trayvon martin. news4's derek ward joins us from freedom plaza where the group will gather later today. good morning, derek. >> reporter: good morning. well, if you look behind me now, you'll see what's left of the occupy movement. it's a scaled down version but we mained here on freedom plaza. today they will be joined by demonstrators for another cause. between martin and zimmerman. in a gated development. yesterday it was hoodies on the hiel. the protesters gathered calling for justice and the arrest of zimmerman. a self-appointed neighborhood watchman. an fbi investigation has begun into that incident. meanwhile trayvon martin's name has now become a rallying point for those who see this as a social justice issue. >> right now we're talking about the right just to be. the right to walk on a street. the right just to be an indi

could and going to have to tell his side of the story. >> all right, george zimmerman's attorney, craig sonner. mr. sonner, i thank you for your time this morning. i appreciate it. >> thank you. >>> it's nine minutes after the hour. here's savannah. >> matt, thanks. >>> we're learning more about what happened on that jetblue flight where the captain appeared to suffer a serious breakdown midflight. he's being held in a medical facility in amarillo in fbi custody. nbc's tom costello has the latest for us this morning. tom, good morning to you. >> reporter: hi, savannah, good morning. clayton osbon is universally described as hardworking, professional, clean-cut which makes this whole thing so baffling to people who know him. he showed up for work an hour late. he missed the light briefing, and then he apparently started acting very strangely in flight. >> oh, my god! oh, my god! we've got israel, we've got iraq! >> reporter: if he weren't the captain of a passenger plane carrying 135 people, clayton osbon's apparent breakdown midflight on tuesday would be a very private matter, but at 35,000 fe

even his attorney craig sonner said he doesn't know where he is. he hasn't met with him in person. he's spoken with him on the phone. he says he doesn't have a lot of details about the case. he couldn't really speak to that. he said if charges are brought, en he will look into the investigation, fredricka, that's ongoing right now. >> okay. earlier, just before we came to you, we saw reverend al sharpton at a rally in new york. a number of rallies taking place across the country. what's your understanding as to how it's being organized, how it's unfolding. >> yeah. actually there's a rally planned here this afternoon by the new black panther party down at police headquarters. we know there's rallies happening this afternoon in washington, d.c., norfolk, virginia, charlotte, north carolina. trayvon martin's parents and family are asking everybody to get involved, to keep this in the news, keep people talking about this until they want charges brought against george zimmerman. meanwhile people are getting heated about this. we just found out not too long ago that someone has been arr

i have spoken with his attorney that he's asked to help him with this, craig sonner, who he believes the best thing that might have happened would have been to arrest george to start that clock. so we could get that information out. and so that we could get the truth out. >> i mean, again, i suppose i come back to -- forget the racial part of this for a moment. let's concentrate on the law. the stand your ground law which has allowed somebody to shoot somebody at point blank range. forget the race element to this which may or may not be proven in time. but the fact somebody could shoot a 17-year-old boy who's armed with just a pack of skittles and not only be arrested, doesn't that to you say there's something wrong fundamentally with that law and it ought to be amended? >> if that was all that this story was, i agree with you 100%. if i didn't know george zimmerman, i'd be just as outraged as everyone else out there. because i'm very familiar with the history of the sanford police department and its racial relations. i've covered stories like this where white men have shot and kille

. >> the only thing we really know about zimmerman's injuries were from his attorney, craig sonner who said that his nose was broken, back of his head was bloody. there was similar information on the original police report that night. but we never knew the extent of his injuries. we also knew that he never checked into the hospital. he never required stitches for the back of the head. now we can see why because you look at that video and we think we've been able to make out a little bit of a welt on the back of his head but certainly your assessment of this is correct. it doesn't look like someone that was beaten to an inch of his life, or beaten so significantly that he needed to draw his weapon. >> matt gutman, i appreciate you calling in. once again, joining us is criminal defense attorney jose baez, marcia clark, and lou. in terms of what matt said, that you might be able to see a welt on the back of the head, how important do you think this tape will be in any potential trial? >> well, i think the prosecutor would certainly use something like that i think is certainly well after t

. >> reporter: while his brother said that george has medical records, his attorney craig sonner couldn't say for sure if he received treatment. >> that ed? >> when this case is litigated. >> not just the zimmerman side that may seem a little confused. the city of sanford and prosecutors said that they're not going to talk about the case anymore. george? >> matt gutman, thanks very much. >>> let's turn now to that stunning new study on autism. it shows an increase in the number of children diagnosed with autism. 23% in the last three years. 1 in 88 of american children now have some form of autism. dr. richard besser are here with more. >> reporter: this really startling. it's got to be a wake-up call to action. the cdc looked at over 300,000 children in 14 states, they reviewed their records for autism. they found 1 in 88. it has been going up for a long time. this is an 78% increase. if you break it down by sex, 1 in 54 boys with autism. >> a huge increase, an increase in the proevalence of autism. >> parents, doctors and teachers are better at recognizing autism. that's not at all. i t

. >> reporter: while his brother said that george has medical records, his attorney craig sonner couldn't say for sure if he received treatment. >> did mr. zimmerman seek medical treatment? >> that evidence is all going to come out when this case is litigated. >> that's evidence? >> not just the zimmerman side that may seem a little confused. the city of sanford and prosecutors said that they're not going to talk about the case anymore. threatening arrest, to arrest any journalist it that reaches out to a city official or police officer after hours. george. >> arrest a journalist for asking questions? >> matt gutman, thanks very much. >>> let's turn now to that stunning new study on autism. it shows an increase in the number of children diagnosed with autism. 23% in the last three years. which means that 1 in 88 machine children now have some form of autism. our chief medical editor, dr. richard besser are here with more. these numbers really pop. >> reporter: this really startling. it's got to be a wake-up call to action. the cdc looked at over 300,000 children in 14 states, they reviewe