joining me now from moscow, nbc's jim maceda. s really is a where in the world but we are getting very strong indications. jim, i'm not sure whether you can hear me. we will straight than out and come right back. >>> meanwhile, have you seen this guy? the national zoo in washington is missing a red panda named rusty. he was last seen at 6:00 last night. the zoo tweeted out his picture. god, he is adorable. they are continuing the search. >>> as we anticipate the supreme court's decisions on doma and proposition 8 perhaps as soon as tomorrow, is the key moment over the debate over marital equality. join me in the conversation. i'm hosting a google plus hangout on air at 2:15 eastern this afternoon on the insolence of hollywood on this issue. (girl) what does that say? (guy) dive shop. (girl) diving lessons. (guy) we should totally do that. (girl ) yeah, right. (guy) i wannna catch a falcon! (girl) we should do that. (guy) i caught a falcon. (guy) you could eat a bug. let's do that. (guy) you know you're eating a bug. (girl) because

appreciate jim maceda reporting.ller, national security correspondent end for the "washington post". and former assistant secretary of state for public affairs and fellow at george washington university. good day to both of you. greg, talk about this transit zone. putin saying he is in there. you can go to a bar, sleep at a hotel for $300 a night. it's been described so far as technically not russian territory. a limbo. when you look at this, how can u.s. or other governments get into this area and perhaps get access to snowden? >> well, that's more than a little disingenuous to say this is a space that russia has no say over. that's highly unlikely. and it serves the russian's interest right now to keep him in this limbo status. because there's a lot of suspicion among intelligence officials they're debriefing him or persuading him to be more cooperative on other questions russia has about united states espionage. he's obviously in a space that russia controls but beyond the reach of u.s. authorities and it enables

nbc's jim maceda is live in skillen, northern ireland. where this is where we are.k is and the g-8 summit is taking place. and where thousands of antig-8 protesters were expected to march towards that venue right around now from here. i guess the headline, andrea, is that so far, it feels like a lot of people missed reading the memo. there are not thousands, as you may be able to see behind me. there may be 200 or 300 protesters. there weren't thousands this morning in their tents either camped out in a nearby soccer field. we went to see them expecting that many. the field was virtually empty. we counted eight tents and many more press than protesters. one of my bbc colleagues called it the biggest non-event he'd ever covered. why is that? well, the most obvious reason for this kind of of relative no-show is the blanket security that i'm sure you've seen throughout the day. it's put many protesters off. the police have invited protests, but more than 8,000 of them are in the streets and on the waterways. they're controlling the river every three or four minutes. dr

nbc's jim maceda in moscow. >> reporter: snowden is somewhere here inside moscow's massive sheremetyevo airport. in a part that russian's claim is not technically in russian territory, it's a no man's land for the most wanted fugitive in the world. >> reporter: china made no attempt to stop snowden from escaping to moscow. u.s. officials are now tracing snowden's computer trail. after he reportedly told a chinese newspaper he took the nsa contractor job last april for the express purpose of exposing secret programs. >> if we look at what he's done, the movement to hong kong, taking the four laptops, this has been a pretty methodical approach by snowden. so it certainly wouldn't shock me that he planned this going in. >> reporter: officials assume snowden has left encrypted files with allies, so if he is arrested, his secrets will still be published. andrea mitchell, nbc news, washington. >>> now to sanford, florida, the murder trial of george zimmerman. an emotional day as the prosecution presented its case and the jury heard details of the chaotic scene just after the killing of trayvo

jim maceda is in moscow. >> reporter: putin thrives on lookinstrong. putin may well think this is worth the risk. >> reporter: how is snowden moving around the world so easily? he has help from wiki leaks. >> edward snowden is not a traitor, not a spy. he is a whistleblower who has told the public an important truth. >> assange has asylum for a year in ecuador's russian embassy. and now snowden has applied for snowden in ecuador. >> reporter: they seem inclined to grant it, even at the risk of angering the u.s. >> reporter: this is a growing embarrassment for the u.s. >> we're following all the appropriate legal channels and working with various other countries to make sure that rule of law is observes. >> reporter: today, john kerry told nbc news that snowden's actions were despicable. but the u.s. doesn't seem closer to getting him back. >> the u.s. can say whatever it wishes and the press secretary can get angry and so on, what real power does the united states have here? >> a lot of leverage against russia and china. working behind the scenes, shor

nbc's jim maceda has got more for us from istanbul. jim? >> reporter: hi, ross. nice to be with you. well, nato countries, especially the united states, have expressed concerns over the police crackdown and violent protests here. as you mentioned, vice president biden said effectively yesterday that turkey doesn't have to choose between economic success and democracy, that it can have both, but that means respecting the rights of political opponents as well. the turkish government today is supposed to meet with a group of protesters and academics to discuss the future of the square behind me which is at the heart of this latest crisis. we will see whether those talks help to cool things down. meanwhile, several trade unions and civic groups have joined a growing strike in support of protesters. so, we're watching that as well to see if that gains any traction. and while it is calm this morning on the square, thousands filled it again for the fifth night running last night. the atmosphere was festive, really, lots of singing and dancing, families came out to enjoy

>> jim maceda in istanbul for us. thanks very much. this is very complicated.e a close relationship. some folks in the white house may be very concerned and nervous about their own relationship with the turkish leader. and today in new jersey a high-profile race didn't mean high profile. we'll meet the democrat who will talk about how the october surprise will affect the november race. a programmable thermostat, very smart, saves money. ♪ cash money sorry. i see you have allstate claim free rewards, for every year you don't have a claim, you'll get money off your home insurance policy. put it towards... [ glass shatters ] [ girl ] dad! dad! [ girl screams ] noise canceling headphones? [ nicole ] that's a great idea. [ male announcer ] home insurance that saves you money for not having a claim? that's allstate home insurance with claim free rewards. talk to an allstate agent... [ doorbell rings ] and let the good life in. talk to an allstate agent... [ doorbell rings ] [ dog ] we found it together.upbeat ] on a walk, walk, walk. love to walk. yeah, we found that

. >> jim maceda in moscow, thank you. bring in michael isikoff, our investigative correspondent in washington. so many things to talk about. wow. this has a lot of moving parts here now, michael. the way "the new york times" puts it the elusive snowden is, quote, threatening to strain relations on three continents. never a good thing. start with russia. what are the options? >> well, first of all let me give you some breaking news as we speak. julian assange is having a press conference as we speak right now, he has confirmed that edward snowden has applied for asylum in ecuador and possibly other countries. he said. he said he has asked wikileaks to use its four assistants in getting the applications processed. he's embraced wikileaks which is also being criminally investigated by the justice department for the earlier leaks through bradley manning. >> and the reps including lawyers from wikileaks believed to be with him? >> yes. actually, just before mr. assange came on, michael ratner, who is the chief lawyer for a gro