george zimmerman. george zimmerman who? all right, good. you're on the jury. nothing? that's funny. >> i mean, a joke in the middle of a murder, an awkward joke at that? it didn't seem to go over too well in the courtroom. and so much so that he tried to patch things up and explain the unorthodox comment when he came back. listen. after break, he came back and tried to say this. >> no more bad jokes, i promise that. i'm convinced it was the delive delivery, though. i really thought that was sorry. i'm sorry if i offended anyone about that. my focus is on the detail. and if i have to sacrifice passion, it's not because i don't feel passionate about this case. it's been my life's work for the last year. but it's because that's not -- i don't want that to get in the way, even if it means it's boring or somewhat technical. i want the information before you that you may consider in evaluating the evidence. >> does something like this hurt the defense? >> this was so beyond inappropriate, this is a murder trial where a 17-year-old teenager has been killed. i was stunned by i

george zimmerman, on trial, accused of second degree murder and we're going to be right back with moreour coverage of that case as well. so don't go away. [ male announcer ] this is george. the day building a play set begins with a surprise twinge of back pain... take up to 4 advil in a day or 2 aleve for all day relief. [ male announcer ] that's handy. ♪ [ male announcer ] that's handy. for a store near you go to benjaminmoore.com/bayarea. >> welcome book. on the witness stand again, now under cross-examination by the defense, is officer tim smith, who reported to the scene and escorted george zimmerman to the station house. >> i have attended state college. >> just down the street? >> yes, sir. >> what type of courses did you take? >> general education courses. >> okay. any focus on criminal justice? your chosen career? >> not at seminole state, sir. >> how long did you want to be a cop before you became one? >> since i was little. >> okay. sort of a life goal to you, then? >> yes, sir. >> why that? >> i enjoy helping and educating. >> the traditional one, guess in all police cars bu

george zimmerman for the second degree murder of 17-year-old trayvon martin. zimmerman has pled not guilty, claiming self defense. the prosecution called on one of its key witnesses, 19-year-old rachel jeantel, the last person to talk to trayvon, she says she was on the phone with trayvon, as martin walked to the store from his girlfriend's house. jeantel said martin told her a man was following him. >> i asked him where is he at? he told me he at the back of his fiancee's house, like in the area of where his fiancee's house -- like you going to keep running. he said no, he lost them. >> a second later -- >> a couple of seconds later -- trayvon said oh [ bleep ]. >> let me interrupt you a second, when you say the words, oh [ bleep ], pardon my language, who said it? >> trayvon. >> he said it to you? >> yes. >> okay, and after he said that, what happened then? >> and then he said -- >> he used the "n" word again, and said he is behind me? >> yes. >> and did you say anything to him at that time. >> i told him he better run, he said he is almost by his fiancee's h

self-defense or murder, the george zimmerman trial. every night this week, we'll be digging deeper with the best legal team around and frequently with the principals in the case themselves. tonight, powerful emotion at testimony about trayvon martin's final moments and a legal battle over the 911 tapes. from six months before the 911 tapes that were recorded before the shooting, recordings the state believes will speak to george zimmerman's state of mind to his unjustified suspicion, they say, of trayvon martin. first, the latest on everything that happened today from martin savidge who joins us now. what new evidence did we hear today in the courtroom? >> reporter: it was photographs, anderson. i've seen all the photographs in this case, but i had not seen these before. these were photographs of the body of trayvon martin laying on the ground. i don't care who you are, they have a strong impact to see a young person you know lying lifeless on the ground. so clearly it would impact the jurors and it impacted everyone else. we saw the g

. >> and he was raining blows on the person on the bottom, george zimmerman, right? >> that's what it looked like. >> reporter: he was watching from his patio about 15 to 20 feet away. zimmerman that night was wearing a red and blackjack et, martin a dark hooded sweatshirt. >> the color of clothing on top, what could you see? >> it was dark. >> okay. how about the color of clothing on the bottom. >> i believe it was white or red color. >> reporter: that's not all good says she saw. he witnessed physical blows being thrown and mix the marshall arts. >> what you saw was the person on top in an mma style straddle position, correct? >> correct. >> that was further described, was it not, as being ground and pound? >> correct. >> reporter: good also testified about one more key question, that voice screaming for help in the darkness he believes belonged to zimmerman. >> the voice screaming for help however many times that you heard it, it was just one person's joyce? >> when i heard it outside? i believe it was just one person's voice, yes. >> and you now believe that that

george zimmerman says what are you talking about? does that sound like language of someone hunting someone down? >> i want to talk about the language they used. let's listen. >> people that you live around and with call white people creepy ass crackers? >> not creepy, but cracker, yeah. >> so the creepy is the pervert part you were talking about? >> yeah. >> forget that for a second. in the culture that you live in, in your community, people call people there call white people crackers? >> yes, sir. >> and do they use the "n" word regularly? >> yes, sir. >> you are saying so did trayvon martin? he referred to people as crackers? >> i don't recall, sir. >> to you, what is the defense trying to do and did they succeed? >> of course they succeeded. i really am at a loss as to how anybody is going to say this was a good day for the prosecution. understand what happens here. you have an audience. your audience is not the people watching tv. your audience is not us here on tv. it's the six people in the jury box. the six people in that jur

sometimes it was the words she attributed to george zimmerman. sometimes she left out the racial remarks that trayvon martin made of zimmerman. it went back and forth like that. and other times it seemed like it became less about the testimony and more about a test of wills. take a listen. >> so the last thing you heard was some kind of noise, like something hitting somebody? >> trayvon got hit. >> you don't know that, do you? >> no. >> you don't know that trayvon got hit. >> he -- >> you don't know that trayvon at that moment take his fist and drive it into george zimmerman's face, do you? >> no, sir. >> reporter: the no sir could be interpreted is that she's denying what don west is saying. it went back and forth. >> her testimony today, there were a lot of questions and clarifying about race. how did that play out? >> reporter: well, you know, race, of course, has been a key factor in this story ever since the beginning. in fact, many say that's what took it from a local tragedy and propelled it to a national debate. but today what don west wa

george zimmerman is accused of second degree murder. he was a neighborhood watch captain when he shot martin. he doesn't deny pulling the trigger. the case hinges on why he shot the african-american teenager. zimmerman says it was self defense. the jury of six women will decide the case. the trial began today in dramatic fashion, an f bomb, knock knock joke, and then apology for the knock knock joke. you'll hear it all momentarily. first, david mattingly brings us up to the minute. >> police fire and medical. >> i heard a shot behind my house. >> shock, confusion, fear, you hear it in the voice of every 911 caller in the final moments of trayvon martin's young life. >> a person is dead laying on the ground. oh, my god. >> february 26, 2012. 17-year-old trayvon martin buys some skittles and ice tea, walks through a community of town homes where he is staying with his father. that's where he catches the attention of neighborhood watch volunteer, george zimmerman. >> these [bleep], they always get away. >> he was watching trayvon martin wal

it was george zimmerman. it was george zimmerman on the bottom. that was unbelievable. the other thing is witness number 21 who was the officer zimmerman. he said something that also was unbelievable gift to the defense. he said that when he asked and when he was talking to george zimmerman after arresting him, that george had a very confused look on his face as he was describing the fact that he was calling for help and nobody came, which also corroborated george zimmerman's story but jon good's story that he came out, saw george zimmerman calling for help. they yelled, he didn't respond, went back in and all of a sudden we have this terrible tragedy and finally, i heard y'all say that the prosecution ended on a strong note, that may be true, but the defense was able to establish that there were wounds all around his head. why? well that supports the rolling around theory on the ground in the scuffle. he also held up that photo of george zimmerman with the nose that's like 20 times bigger than it should be a dozen times for the jury to see and finally, what's the last

george zimmerman trial out of sanford, florida. ou know, zimmerman on trial for second-degree murder. the last couple of folks we've seen take to the stand were member of the sanford police department, fire department. basically setting the scene of what happened, what they saw, the positioning, the body of trayvon martin. the demeanor, compliance or lack thereof of george zimmerman that night as they slapped cuffs on him. quickly before we take you back, want to introduce you to both darin kavanaki, trial attorney, and b.j. bernstein, criminal defense attorney, former prosecutor. before we go back. impressions? >> transitional afternoon. we had witnesses before who were on the scene and heard what happened. now we have the first responders there are going to set up the critical evidence of what the placement of the body was, what will the forensics mean when we hear that next week. >> presentationly, i think they risk putting the jurors to sleep. we had a big morning headline of john good and his information. he turned out to be a

i don't know what his deal is. >> that's part of the 911 call that george zimmerman made just minutesbefore he shot trayvon martin. jurors will hear that recording. the prosecution also wants them to hear six other 911 calls that zimmerman made before that deadly night to report suspicious people in his neighborhood or people he thought was suspicious. the prosecution say they show his growing frustration at folks breaking into things in the neighborhood. the defense is fighting to keep that out of the trial. today they were played for the judge. here are some of the highlights. >> hey, our neighborhood got burglarized or robbed today, and my wife saw one of the kids that did it. and we see someone that matches his description in the neighborhood right now again. >> okay, and is he white, black or hispanic? >> black. my wife talked to detective walker and gave him a description of the guy we see now. hi. there was a break-in in my neighborhood recently, and two youths that match the description of the people -- my wife i.d.'d them and saw them. they're back in the neighborhood. >> wha

to george zimmerman.s is the first time i've ever heard that. she said trayvon martin said he was being followed, that he was concerned about it. she heard the phone dropping. she heard the sound of wet grass. the last thing she heard from trayvon martin was, get off, get off. >> lisa, besides the racial epithet revelation, what else was new in her testimony about that altercation between trayvon martin and george zimmerman? >> well, there was certainly a lot more information from her than we have heard before. we knew from court papers that she was going to say that trayvon martin said he was being followed and that he was concerned. but they had a fairly lengthy conversation about it. she says trayvon martin told her repeatedly that this man was following him. she says trayvon used the phrase "creepy ass cracker" to describe george zimmerman. she said that he said why is he looking at me, i'm trying to lose him, the man is following me. he used the "n" word to describe george zimmerman and said he's sti

there is no way they will ever put george zimmerman on the stand. the only reason you would have put zimmerman on the stand was in order to get a self-defense or get the collective self-defense instruction. >> zimmerman took authorities back to the scene of the incident to re-create his version of the events. i want to play a key moment from that. let's listen. >> i kept yelling help, help. he put his hand on my nose and his other hand on my mouth and said shut the [ bleep ] up. i tried squirming again. all i could think about when he was hitting my head, my head felt like it was going to explode and i thought i was going to lose consciousness. he only had a small portion of my head on the concrete, so i tried to squirm off the concrete. when i did that, somebody here opened the door and i said help me, help me. they said, i'll call 911. i said no, help me. i need help. and i don't know what they did. >> well, it was always a mystery who that person was. i want to listen to what his neighbor said in court. >> what do you recall saying to the two indi

we're expecting jurors will hear george zimmerman's police tapes. the jury has the weekend off. aring from witnesses all week long though about what they heard or saw the night zimmerman killed trayvon martin. witnesses included first responders, police, and neighbors like john good who said he saw trayvon martin on top during a tussle with george zimmerman. >> my question is, did you ever see the person on top pick the person from the bottom and actually slam them into the concrete? >> no. >> did you see the person on top slamming the person on the bottom's head on the concrete over and over? >> no. >> did you see at any time the person on the top grab the person on the bottom's head and slam it into the concrete? >> no. >> martin savidge is outside the courthouse. that's important system because george zimmerman said he was in fear for his life when he shot trayvon martin and the defense -- or the prosecution is trying to prove that george zimmerman's head was not being slammed into the concrete. there was no -- he was in no danger of dying that night. >> reporter: right. that'

and george zimmerman attacked him? that the grown man pulled out a gun and shot an innocent teenager? what do you believe? the rest of the testimony will help and it is coming in the state of florida in the courthouse in seminole county in a moment. we will have all of the testimony. in addition, the new england patriot star aaron hernandez is now charged with murder and much more. we will have breaking news coverage right after this. >>> there is breaking news now on fox newschannel. a stunning collapse in the life and career of the football star, aaron hernandez. moments ago he made a first appearance in court on murder charges and weapons charges in the state of massachusetts. there he is in the white t-shirt. as he did his time as a new england patriot was already over. you can see police taking aaron hernandez out of his million dollar mansion in handcuffs this morning. remember last week a jogger found the body of 27-year-old odin lloyd not far from that home, southwest of boston. the victim's relatives say lloyd

george, zimmerman's neighbor, george good, he's a state witness but he corroborates zimmerman's story he was being pummelled in that fight. tell us about the testimony that occurred today. we don't have george. maybe jane can brief us. are you there? >> i am. jonathan good is good for george zimmerman because he corroborates his story. he says he heard a tussle, goes outside and the person he describes as being on the bottom fits the description in terms of the clothing he was wearing of george zimmerman. he also said he saw a ground and pound meaning the person on the top was grounding and pounding which he modified saying he didn't see anything with 100% certainty. i have to say his testimony was contradicted the night before just last night. another neighbor said she saw man who fit the description of george zimmerman on top. you have all these other witnesses, residents on a dark and murky night seeing fragments. >> mow unusual is it for the prosecution to call a witness, they know what he is going to say? >> they had to co-op him. if they didn't call him the other side would and

george zimmerman. george zimmerman who? all right, good. you're on the jury. nothing? that's funny. >> he did not leave it there, however. martin savidge was in the courtroom, joins us now. i don't know if i ever heard of a lawyer using a knock knock joke in opening statements in a murder trial. how did the jury react to that? we heard awkward laughter when he sort of said what, nothing? >> right. i didn't see one juror that laughed. there was one that seemed to smile, but i couldn't tell if that was humor or out of embarrassme embarrassment. it clearly just fell flat in the room. it was only after that, i was going to say, don west got wind this didn't work. it went out on the twitter sphere really fast. immediately after lunch he came back and said i'm sorry, here, listen. >> no more bad jokes, i promise that. i'm convinced it was the delivery, though. i really thought that was funny. i'm sorry if i offended anyone about that. >> i mean, for him to set up the joke so much, i mean, i really don't quite get what he was thinking and certainly his whole delivery of it. t

and today another witness testified she saw george zimmerman on top of trayvon martin after the altercation. she is the third witness to say so. but for most of the day, rachel jeantel faced questions from the zimmerman defense team. and they tried to undermine her story. the defense repeatedly raised questions about her version of events, but she did not waiver from her testimony that trayvon martin did not confront george zimmerman. >> he said why are you following me for, didn't he? >> no, sir, not that kind of way, sir. >> it was just a question, hey, mister, why are you following me for? >> he say hey, mister, why are you following me, for. he just asked the question, why are you following me for. >> and he could have just run home. >> he was already by his house. he told me. >> of course, you don't know if he was telling you the truth or not? >> why you need to lie about that, sir? >> so you think he was walking as opposed to hiding, because you could hear wind on this headset? >> yes, sir. >> as if he couldn't be standing still, and there could also be wind? and you knew in your mind

i want to go back to joseph hayes davis to let you finish your answer about george zimmerman waiting till the day after the event to see the doctor. >> that's significant for the prosecution. thank you again. because they're trying to establish that the injuries that mr. zimmerman may have received in the altercation actually were not significant enough for him to use lethal deadly force tore dispel the matter that was happening with the late trayvon martin. so that's what i believe is what the prosecution is trying to do. >> and kendall coffey, i want to go to you. you are also a former prosecutor. how significant is it that the injuries that were sustained by george zimmerman, do they have to be significant? could it be the injuries healed the next day? at least from the point of view of miss folgate, the injuries didn't appear severe at that point. >> first of all, a defense, a self-defense is attempting to assert that there was reasonable fear of either death or serious bodily injury. some cuts on the back of the head may not rise to that threshold, but there's also the matter of

but they believe trayvon martin was followed, was pursued by george zimmerman. and whatever else after that happened came about because george zimmerman ignored the dispatcher and went looking for this guy. >> because of the focus on jeantel, i want to play just a little bit of sound from it. let's take a look at this exchange with the defense attorney. >> of course, you don't know if he was telling you the truth or not. >> why you need to lie about that, sir? >> maybe if he decided to assault george zimmerman, he didn't want you to know about it? >> that's absolutely retarded, sir. >> i'm sorry? >> that's really retarded to do that, sir. >> dana, there are some people who criticized don west for being really tough in rachel jeantel on how he questioned her. how tough to go given the age of the person on the witness stand and given the way that you as the attorney, as well as the person on the stand has to come across? >> i think as a defense attorney as it relates to each and every witness, you start off with a game plan. you start off with i'm going to go this

george zimmerman. george zimmerman who? all right. good. you're on the jury. nothing? that's funny.ter what you folks have been through the last two or three weeks. let's get on to however this serious business of why we're here. let's take a look at where all of this started. george zimmerman is not guilty of murder. he shot trayvon martin in self-defense after being viciously attacked. and here's the evidence that will show you how and why it happened the way it did. i've got some things to display for you that will help. some of them will be up there too. is this okay? all right. sorry. okay. . what you're looking at is an aerial view of the complex in sanford over near the seminole town center there called retreat at twin lakes. this is basically the whole thing. just as a bit of orientation, george zimmerman lived down here in this area. this street is called retreat view circle. sometimes people use that interchangeably with the complex name, the complex is retreat at twin lakes. this is retreat view circle. here is the clubhouse. you can see the pool right here. this is consi

george zimmerman was her patient. going on in the side bar with lawyers talking to the judge, i want to bring in martin savidge and diane dimond to talk about this is they were talking about what medical testimony can be admitted in terms of the medical record. what can you tell us about that? >> reporter: mark o'meara is trying to restrict the information coming in. they will try to say he's not as badly injured as he will try to describe. >> the testimony is resuming. we're going to listen in to the testimony of lindsay folgate, a physician assistant who had george zimmerman as a patient. we'll continue to monitor and bring you other news. but for now let's listen to the testimony. >> and do you recognize that exhibit as part of the records that are kept at your family practice? >> yes. >> i've highlighted certain pan ts parts that i want to ask you specifically about. so if you can just make reference to those. >> okay. >> that record would indicate he was a patient of yours, 27 years old, male, race white; is that

george zimmerman. george zimmerman who? all right. good. you are on the jury. >> reporter: george zimmerman a former community watch volunteer is accused of killing trevon martin. george zimmerman claims the shooting was in self-defense. the prosecutor pointed a different picture -- painted a different picture. >> he pressed that gun into trevon martin's chest. and you will see with your own eyes the burn marks on each of his sweat shirts. where the hot led went through. he shot him because he wanted to. >> reporter: at one point his father began crying as the prosecution detailed on how officers tried to save his son's life. pictures support george zimmerman's claims. >> suggesting that george zimmerman took a wallop in the face. and then the blood. still glistening. >> reporter: no word on whether george zimmerman will testify in his own defense. in florida, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> the white house warned there would be consequences after china allowed a fugitive slip away -- to slip away. >> we were working with other countries to make s

george zimmerman, of course, tells a very different version, a day after the shooting. erman walked police through the events of that night in the place that it happened. the video runs about 12 minutes. we're going to show you a shorter version, picking up where zimmerman says he spotted trayvon martin. >> i saw him walking back that way, and then cut through the back of the houses. he looked back and he noticed me and he cut back through the houses. i was still on the phone with non emergency. and then he came back and he started walking up towards the grass and came down and circled my car. and i told the operator that he was circling my car. i didn't hear if he said anything. but he had his hand in his waist band. and i think i told the operator that. they said, where are you? i could not remember the name of the street, because i don't live on this street. >> right. >> and then i thought to get out and look for a street sign. so i got out of my car and i started walking. >> go ahead. >> back there, they said, are you following him? i said yes, because i was in the a

today you have john good testifying he thinks that it was george zimmerman on the bottom. is it a wash? >> no, it's not. what i don't understand is don't people realize that during the wrestling, they could have switched positions? why isn't this being brought out? and i think it's a reasonable explanation for the differing statements. >> right. and kendall, that is a good point, because john good testified he saw only about ten seconds of the fight that was taking place. and so you do have these sort of cancelling one another out questions about who was on top. but why would the prosecution call a witness in the case of mr. good, who seems to be backing up the defense's contention that zimmerman was the one on the bottom of the struggle, at least at a certain point? >> well, the prosecution knew this witness was going to be testifying. they obviously knew it wasn't going to be helpful for them. they very wisely put him in their case, kind of in the middle of it, so that he doesn't become the critical showpiece part of the defense case later on. accomplishes a couple of th

. >>> todo está listo para el inicio del juicio de george zimmerman . >>> el caso de la doctora gonzález acusada de querer asesinar a su amante, pioniendo anticongelante en el café, así comenzamos la edición nocturna. >>> este es su noticiero univisión edición nocturna con ilia calderón y enrique acevedo ♪. >>> hola, ¿qué tal?, muy buenas noches, se espera que mañana se escriba una nueva página en la historia política de los estados unidos cuando el senado comience el debate de la reforma migratoria pero el camino tiene muchos obstáculos antes de llegar a una aprobación, congresistas republicanos dicen que irán contra el proyecto. >>> en solo horas el senado votará el debate en plano que será crucial para 11 millones de inmigrantes indocumentados, el proyecto que reforma migratoria fue redactado por el grupo bipartidista de 8 senadores y fue aprobado por el comité judicial, pero mañana comenzará el debate por la participación de todos los senadores. >>> pero se anticipan más de 300 enmiendas, muchas de ellas tendrán la intención de torpedear el proyecto. >>e> l senador ted cruz es de los

straight ahead, what she told george zimmerman about taking matters into his own hands. plus, mr. n's calls to police. the prosecution wants them heard in court, but will they be allowed? stay with us. [ male announcer ] erica had a rough day. there was this and this. she got a parking ticket... ♪ and she forgot to pay her credit card bill on time. good thing she's got the citi simplicity card. it doesn't charge late fees or a penalty rate. ever. as in never ever. now about that parking ticket. [ grunting ] [ male announcer ] the citi simplicity card is the only card that never has late fees, a penalty rate, or an annual fee, ever. go to citi.com/simplicity to apply. or happy birthday!ever. it's a painting easel! the tide's coming in! this is my favorite one. it's upside down. oh, sorry. (woman vo) it takes him places he's always wanted to go. that's why we bought a subaru. (announcer) love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. i tthan probablycare moreanyone else.and we've had this farm for 30 years. we raise black and red angus cattle. we also produce natural gas. that's how we ma

george zimmerman. george zimmerman who? all right, good. you're on

george zimmerman started this. and even if trayvon martin was getting the best of him, he's not justified in then shooting him based on a confrontation that he started. >> faith jenkins, lisa bloom and ken padowitz, stand by. we have a lot to talk about. and a programing note. don't forget to catch the george zimmerman trial and msnbc special hosted by craig melvin with lisa bloom. that's at 10:00 p.m. tonight eastern time. >>> ahead, the witness everybody is talking about. rachel jeantel. what does she think about her testimony, and how she was treated in the court? we'll have an exclusive live interview with her lawyer. >>> plus, who is winning with the jury? how is the jury responding to george zimmerman himself and trayvon martin's parents? >>> and the supreme court ruled that obama care is the law of the land, and republicans still haven't gotten over it. how to stop the gop from blocking millions of americans from getting health care they need. >>> and i love hearing from you. send me your e-mails. reply al i

testimony from the physician assistant who treated george zimmerman a day after the shooting. john goode said he was there, only a few feet away and believes he saw zimmerman on the bottom, martin on the top, what does that say to you? >> it's huge and let me just go into this. this was the physician's assistant. the defense was cross examining her on the issue of injury and talking about the issue of injury, what they are doing, the defense said was highlighting the injury, but more importantly, corroborating what george zimmerman said happen that night in the actual medical report f. you look at that and juxtapose that next to john goode's testimony and he's talking about mma style and the person's on the bottom and you also look at the screen, someone was yelling help, help, help. the jury won't infer that the person yelling help was the person in the bottom and that corroborates the defense of self-defense. >> it sounds like that was pretty important testimony that helps george zimmerman. >> well, there's no question that it was important testimony. it was the most importa

let's go out front. >>> and good evening, everyone, out front on this friday night, george zimmerman defense gets a boost. so eyewitnesses testified about the night that trayvon martin was killed. and their testimony at least as you were listening to it through the day seems to support zimmerman testimony that he was attacked. >> where did you notice the blood. >> on his nostrils, streaming down both sides of his lips i believe. >> in terms of describing the individuals, are you able to describe their faces or anything? or just clothing descriptions. >> well, going back to when they were vertical, i could tell the person on the bottom had a lighter skin color. >> zimmerman admitted to shooting trayvon martin, but he says it was in self-defense. we saw two witnesses there. both of them in different ways seeming to indicate that it was george zimmerman who was on the bott on being attacked perhaps, that he had brood coming out of his nose. how powerful was that testimony today in the courtroom? >> i think it was extremely powerful. interesting that both those witnesses were called by th

george zimmerman. george zimmerman who? all right. good. you're on the jury. nothing? that's funny. after what you folks have been through the last two or three weeks. >> after later apologizing to any juror who might have been offended, the defense offered several refutations to what the prosecution might show with its evidence including the question of who is armed and who is not. >> if i've heard it once, i've heard it a thousand times that trayvon martin was unarmed. what the evidence will show you is that's not true. trayvon martin armed himself with the concrete sidewalk and used it to smash george zimmerman's head. >> this is security camera footage of trayvon martin at a 7-eleven on the night of his death bringing his items to the cashier. this afternoon, the prosecution began establishing a foundation with its first witnesses, calling that cashier at the 7-eleven and the dispatcher who took george zimmerman's call. in a disclosure, before we proceed, george zimmerman sued nbc universal for defamation. the company strongly denied the allegation. joining me, craig melvin, cov

. >> more dramatic testimony today in the murder trial of george zimmerman. george zimmerman has pled not guilty in the second degree murder of trayvon martin claiming self defense. today, the jury heard from 19-year-old rachel jeantel, who was the last person to speak to trayvon martin before his confrontation with george zimmerman. she described her final cell phone call with trayvon martin when he told her a man was following him. >> he said -- i asked him where are you at? and he told me he at the back of his fiancee's house, right in the area where -- by his fiancee's house. he said no, he lost them. and then he said why are you following me? and i heard him, what are you doing around here? i heard trayvon martin say what is going on? i heard trayvon's head set. >> you heard a bump? >> yeah. >> and what did you assume it was? >> the head set. >> what happened then? >> and then i started hearing grass sounds, wet grass sounds. >> what do you mean you heard grass sounds? >> like wet grass, wet grass. >> okay. then what happened? >> and then i kept calling,

and he saw trayvon martin lying dead on the grass and standing was his neighbor, george zimmerman, bloodied of the head, down behind his ear and possibly with a broken news. prosecutors called joe minola to the stand to tell the jury about zimmerman's cold and straightforward demeanor immediately after he shot and killed trayvon martin. in fact, remember this photo? minolo took it. the first picture taken of zimmerman's injuries that night. he also took two photos of martin's lifeless body. >> i said, your husband was involved in a shooting. he's being handcuffed and being held for questioning at the sanford police department. and around that time he kind of cut me off and he says, just tell her i shot someone. >> okay. said he cut you off, the defendant cut you off? >> yes. >> and he told -- he said what, now? >> just tell her i shot someone. >> did you respond to that? >> yes. >> what did you say? >> okay, well, he just shot someone. >> and right now in the courtroom, again, the prosecutors are showing those bloody photographs of george zimmerman. the one with the nose and the blood comin

heard testimony of rachel jeantel who was on the phone with him right before he was shot by george zimmerman. on a few key points, her story has changed from what she originally told authorities. she described zimmerman this way, according to what martin told her. >> she said the man looked creepy. >> creepy white, cracker. >> they are having trouble hearing you. take your time. >> creepy ass cracker. >> you are saying in the culture that you live in, in your community, people call people there call white people crackers? >> yes, sir. >> and do they use the "n" word regularly? >> yes, sir. >> she went on to say that she didn't think this was racist. for many nonblacks this was shocking to hear. after all paula deen has been excoriated for the last week and lost most of hers business interest for admitting to using the "n" word in the past. yet liberal defenders of ms. jeantel took to the internet and cable to scold white america for failing to understand her point of view. she may not be sophisticated but she is authentic in the black culture the argument goes. folks, this is insane. so it's

george zimmerman. george zimmerman who? all right, good. you're on the jury. nothing?led joke, defense attorney don west spent nearly three hours meticulously detailing the time line. >> george zimmerman saw trayvon martin over in this area as he was coming around here to go out to the target. >> reporter: an effort to show that zimmerman did not, could not, continue to trail and then confront martin as prosecutors allege. >> mr. zimmerman is sitting here on the phone with the police. >> so now we have two completely different stories, one in which trayvon martin was hunted, presumably because he was black and profiled by zimmerman. and another, zimmerman doing his neighborhood watch duty, disoriented and then jumped by trayvon martin. >> reporter: maybe most important for the defense? zimmerman is's injuries, which they say could only be done by the marks in a terrible beating. >> this is a case of a guy chased down by trayvon martin, and the defense says that didn't happen. >> the defense says that zimmerman himself was the victim. >> reporter: as part of the investi

why is george zimmerman still pursuing him? his -- his direct quote to investigators the next day at the scene is that i walked straight back to my car. well, this confrontation was this way, so he didn't go straight back to the car -- >> vinnie, you know better. justifiable force under the law, it doesn't matter what he should have done. she shouldn't have had a gun -- >> he is lying, though. why is he lying to police? >> that's not -- >> he's on trial -- >> let me bring in -- >> let me bring in gloria. >> gloria? >> we talked a lot about stand your ground law in this case but i think she stood her ground and obviously, as she doesn't have perfect testimony, some lie haves been pointed out. she had explanations for why she lied about going to the hospital instead of the funeral. she had explanations about why she lied about her age and maybe -- >> gloria, she's 17. >> and having said that, you know, i think that there are people who are going to believe her. there are people who will disbelieve her. the problem is she's a pros

we're following the fifth day of testimony in the george zimmerman trial. charges of second degree murder in the shooting of trayvon martin and has pleaded not guilty claiming self-defense. this morning, john goode who lived in the gated community where the shooting took place testified that he saw part of the struggle between martin and zimmerman. the defense used this witness to establish two points. one, that he identifie

we will turn back to the george zimmerman trial when it resumes.o, your thoughts on the charges against aaron hernandez. they're pretty strong. >> first-degree murder, he's not getting out on bail. that's almost for certain. >> one critical part of this case that we don't know anything about is the two other men that he's accused of big with. will they film against hernandez? they obviously are key figures. >>> fascinating stuff. we're going to turn to the other murder trial, the george zimmerman murder trial, which is continuing right now. >> we're still waiting for the audio of the trial to come to us. >> just to get your thoughts again. what is the scenario if he is found guilty. >> life in prison. i mean, you know, the stakes are enormous for him. he's not eligible for the death penalty, but is eligible for life in prison which basically focuses the mind a great deal. i think a lot of people were surprised when the prosecutor brought those charges, because that suggests intentional killing, premeditated killing where, in a situation like this,

will george zimmerman take the stand in his own defense? so far i've not heard any physical evidence of his life under threat. so therefore it leaves whether he felt that? well, the only one that put that evidence in is him. will he take the stand? that's what i want to know. and that's what i'll be watching for. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. have a good weekend. "hardball" starts right now. >>> a good day for the defense or a wash? let's play "hardball." >>> good evening. i'm joy reid in for chris matthews. leading off tonight, the final seconds. what happened in the last moments before the shooting death of trayvon martin? in court today, one of george zimmerman's neighbors, john good said he heard what sounded like a fight that night and stepped outside his town house to see what was going on. what he saw, according to the neighbor, was what appeared to be zimmerman lying on his back with trayvon martin straddling and punching him. he used a mixed martial art term, ground and pound, to describe what martin was doing. good also te