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Zimmerman Deliberations Start Soon; Latest from the Asiana Airlines Crash Investigation

Aired July 12, 2013 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM. This I'm Suzanne Malveaux.

It is judgment day for George Zimmerman. His murder case expected to go to the jury for deliberations very soon. The court has recessed just moments ago. They are in a lunch break. When the jurors return, the judge will finally give them their instructions. After that, the wait is on as this six-woman jury decides Zimmerman's fate for the shooting death of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin. We will, of course, take you live back to that Sanford, Florida, courtroom once the proceedings resume.

And attorneys from both sides today delivered their final arguments. You had lead defense attorney Mark O'Mara setting out to convince the jury of what he called Zimmerman's absolute innocence. Then, prosecutor John Guy delivered the rebuttal argument insisting that Trayvon Martin was the one who feared for his life on that fateful day.

Our George Howell is outside the courthouse in Sanford, Florida. George, it has been an amazing trial, a fascinating morning. And as we review (ph) very, very quickly here. The last person that the jurors heard from was the prosecutor, John Guy, on rebuttal. Let's start off with him. This is someone who said that child had every right to be there on that street and then a strange man following him first by car then by foot. How did people respond? What do you make of the argument that he made?

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Suzanne, absolutely. It seemed to be in every case. It was an appeal to emotion, an appeal to the heart. And that's really how John Guy opened. He asked, you know, what was in the heart of George Zimmerman? What was in the heart of Trayvon Martin? And he also said -- he mentioned, you know, that child, was there fear in that child's heart? Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN GUY, PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: Was that child not in fear when he was running from that defendant? Isn't that every child's worst nightmare to be followed on the way home in the dark by a stranger? Isn't that every child's worse fear? That was Trayvon Martin's last emotion.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HOWELL: In every angle and every case of his argument, from what we heard, it seemed to be an emotional appeal. So, that compared to what we heard from Mark O'Mara. It was more of an explanation. In fact, it started, Suzanne, as somewhat of a legal lesson, explaining to this jury what it takes to find a person guilty of a crime and not guilty of a crime. He showed several things. He showed charts. He showed that video reenactment that he wanted to have admitted as evidence but instead used as a demonstrative tool. And he basically tried to explain to this jury that it's not his burden to prove guilty on a reasonable doubt. In fact, it's just his burden to show reasonable doubt. But, in this case, he says he was able to show that his client was innocent. I want you to listen to what he had to say in court.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK O'MARA, DEFENDING ATTORNEY: Trayvon Martin, four minutes doing something. And we don't know. We really don't. We know he's on the phone. We know he's talking. We know what Rachel Jenteel said he was saying about whatever he called him. I mean, I don't care that he called him some stupid name. He's 17 years old. They get to talk stupidly if they want. I'm OK with that. I'm OK with Rachel Jenteel being 16 or 18 or whatever. Who cares?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: So, you know, I was in the courtroom listening during that time, listening as Mark O'Mara showed those charts, explained the witnesses, and he went witness by witness, described all the state witnesses, described all the defense witnesses. I can tell you that the jurors were paying very close attention and they were very much engaged through this process today. You saw some taking notes. Others would look up. They wanted to make sure they took all this in before they walk away to make their decision.

And, Suzanne, also, I want to talk about some things outside the courtroom. There are no problems, no situations outside the courtroom. But, you know, I did hear a couple of officers outside talking about in the MMA (ph) style. You get a sense they are dialed into this. And when you go in that courtroom, security is tight. You see more officers out there. They are checking people who go upstairs. You have to have a media badge to get inside that room, as you always have had to. But today, it's even more intense, more, you know, scrutiny of people going into that courtroom. They are watching every angle (INAUDIBLE.)

MALVEAUX: Yes. I mean, George, there's a lot of attention around which way this verdict goes and how people are going to respond. I want to get back to you just momentarily. I want bring, of course, to talk a little bit about this, are our legal analysts. We had defense attorney, Mark O'Mara, spending more than three hours delivering his closing argument and prosecutor John Guy, he had an hour for his rebuttal.

And I want to get some reaction to this with our criminal defense attorney, Faith Jenkins and Mark NeJame. Mark, first of all, the defense started its case with this knock-knock joke. It fell pretty flat there. Now, he ends it talking about, this is a simple decision. This is all about self defense. Was he convincing?

MARK NEJAME, CNN LEGAL ANALYST, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think he was very good but I think that the defense should have -- has focused a little bit more on a couple of key points. One of them is manslaughter. I think, you know, they focused a lot on second-degree murder and that's important, of course, but they got to focus -- he needed to focus on manslaughter because that's going to be the probability that the jury comes back with anything. And I think that needed to be hammered a little bit more. I also think that a little bit of passion on some of the key points that he wanted to make. He was very folksy, very professorial in his presentation.

I thought it was excellent with all the pictures of the witnesses because it allowed people to be talked about who they might have -- who the jurors might have forgotten. I think that was very effective. But I think a couple of points needed to be hammered home. And so, I think he did a very good job. I think there's plenty of reasonable doubt in this case. But I am concerned that there wasn't enough focus on that manslaughter which was -- is where the concern needs to be for the defense coming back from the jury.

MALVEAUX: And, Faith, how do you think this is going to play with a jury of six women when you had John Guy talking about the greatest fear that a child has is of being followed, going home, being followed by a stranger in the dark. I imagine that he is probably looking to those jurors who are -- five of those six are mothers and thinking this is something that they can relate to.

FAITH JENKINS, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: That's exactly right because as a mother, you expect your child to be able to walk to the store and buy snacks and make it home without being shot and killed. That's going to resonate with these mothers. The emotion in this case is all on one side and John Guy brought that out today. Of course there are unanswered questions. He said it directly. We can't tell you exactly what happened in that altercation when Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman met but here is what we can tell you. George Zimmerman followed him. He called him all of these names. He didn't know him. All these other incidents had happened and he was frustrated and he said, they always get away. And then, guess what? This one did not get away because he shot and killed him.

MALVEAUX: All right.

JENKINS: John Guy made those points and he made them well today.

MALVEAUX: And I want -- I want us to play what John Guy said, something that resonated with a lot of people stood out. Just listen to this and then, Mark, I'll get your reaction on the other end.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN GUY, PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: Trayvon Martin may not have the defendant's blood on his hands, but George Zimmerman will forever have Trayvon Martin's blood on his, forever.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MALVEAUX: Weigh in Mark. That was a pretty powerful moment.

NEJAME: I think, look, he's got a great command of the words and of the English language and I think he was an excellent, excellent speaker. No question about it. You know, A plus as far as his opening and his final summation. With all that said, I think it's a bit patronizing to the women, generally, and to the women on this jury. Fathers are equally concerned about, you know, their children not being able to make it home. Of course, he's playing the maternal instincts but, you know, where does that play to the issue of reasonable doubt? Where are the facts? The fact of the matter is that I think that this case is riddled with reasonable doubt and it's a bit patronizing to think that these women on the jury are unthinking and that they're purely emotional.

Of course they're going to hear the facts and they're going to listen to the facts. And of course they're going to be empathetic and they're going to have some sympathy and some empathy. Without question. But to suggest that they are brainless and that they're not going to listen to the facts just because they are women and they are going to be simply only dealing on emotion I think is really an insult. These jurors, who happen to be six women, are going to listen to the facts. They're going factor in the emotional aspect but they're going to listen to the facts and they're going to make a determination. And if they follow the facts, there's reasonable doubt riddled throughout this case.

MALVEAUX: I haven't heard anybody suggest --

JENKINS: Well, Mark, --

MALVEAUX: -- that they are not using their brains, that they're brainless here and they're purely emotional. Have do you heard that, Faith?

JENKINS: No. But there is an emotional aspect to this case. When you have a 17-year-old with snacks, with no gun walking home minding his own business and he ends up dead, of course there's e emotional aspect. He just turned 17 three weeks prior to him being shot and killed. And let me talk about the reasonable doubt aspect of this. Here is what -- here is what the prosecutor did today. There are two people involved in this encounter. One of them is dead. He's not here to tell his side of the story. Of course there are going to be unanswered questions. The prosecutor essentially told this jury, don't reward this defendant for killing the only other eyewitness to this encounter. Look at the evidence. Yes, you can draw inferences here from what we know --

MALVEAUX: All right.

JENKINS: -- and the prosecutor is asking the jurors to draw a conclusion.

NEJAME: Wait a second.

MALVEAUX: Faith and Mark, I'm told we've got to take a quick break here, but obviously we'll bring you back because we've got a lot to talk about in this. And then, in the meantime, we are watching. We are waiting. The jurors are taking a lunch break but when they come back, they are going to get instructions very soon and then they will start deliberating on the fate of George Zimmerman. That's up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GUY: He didn't want to know about stand your ground. Didn't want the police to know he knew about it. Stand your ground, what's that? And let me suggest to you, in the end, this case is not about standing your ground. It's about staying in your car like he was taught to do, like he was supposed to do, and can't now cloak himself with the noble cause of a neighborhood watch coordinator, violate its cornerstone principle and expect you to absolve him of his guilt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: That was prosecutor John Guy on the prosecution side just moments ago. Mark, weigh into that. That was one of the main issues, of course, from the very beginning is whether or not he had any right to follow, to pursue or to defend himself as some have suggested that he was doing in this case.

NEJAME: Well, that's where the prosecution has to go because the reality of it is their position is that but for him leaving the car, none of this would have happened and that started this whole process into motion. So that's, of course, where the blame needs to lie. So, what the defense has had to do is to segregate that. I mean, look, if somebody didn't get up in this morning then all of this wouldn't have been set into motion. And one can keep on pointing the finger and doing the blame game. The issue, though, is really did the state prove that George Zimmerman initiated the physical confrontation and did they prove that he was unreasonable in his belief that he was facing death or great bodily harm? Did they prove that through the evidence?

And when -- what I see is what concerns me the greatest and I think the defense should have focused on it more is the state changed up its game plan really on the day before their closing. From the beginning, on their opening statement, they said George Zimmerman was atop Trayvon Martin and by their representation, their demonstration with the dummies, they showed not even that scenario. They showed George Zimmerman being -- excuse me, Trayvon Martin on top of George Zimmerman. So, they all but conceded that point. So, they changed up their game plan. When you got to change up your game plan 90 percent through the trial, you got troubles.

MALVEAUX: Faith, do you think the prosecution has troubles? We heard -- oh, well, there are a couple of things I want to ask you but first I'll ask you that.

JENKINS: Well, they've had trouble from the beginning because it's a difficult case. It's an uphill battle here when the only living eyewitness in this case is now George Zimmerman. But that was a great point that the prosecutor made about neighborhood watch. What have we heard repeatedly from the witness who testified? You use your ears and your eyes. Your ears and your eyes. And it is clear that George Zimmerman went far beyond that. There's this notion that somehow he had the authority and the right to stop and question Trayvon Martin. Trayvon Martin had every right to be where he was, walking where he was. He does not have to answer to George Zimmerman. He is not a police officer. He is not a person who -- in a position of authority who can stop Trayvon Martin. He had every right to be here and not answer a single question he asked.

NEJAME: We agree with that, but that wasn't the issue. We agree with that. But that's not the issue. That's a red herring that you're throwing out. It really has nothing to do with that. Nobody is saying that Trayvon Martin --

JENKINS: Oh, it has a lot to do with it, Mark.

NEJAME: Exactly, exactly what Trayvon Martin was doing. He had a right to go to the store. He had a right not to be killed. He had all that --

(CROSSTALK)

NEJAME: But what happens is --

JENKINS: Mark, Mark that's a clear issue in this case.

NEJAME: Hold on. Hold on. I'm not dealing emotionally. I'm dealing with the facts. Did the state prove beyond a reasonable doubt what happened concerning that initial confrontation?

What I'm talking about is legally, not passionately, not emotionally, not morally, legally, did the state prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Trayvon Martin was in fact attacked by George Zimmerman?

Did they prove that George Zimmerman was not in fear of death or great bodily harm?

And my answer is simply no, they didn't prove it.

(CROSSTALK)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: OK. Thanks, Mark.

Faith, jump in here if you would because yes, I want you to button this up and tell us as well what we expect from these jurors. It's six women, five of the six who are mothers.

JENKINS: We can expect them to listen to the law and listen to the jury instructions and decide the case based on the facts and the law. They're not going to look just at, I think what the defense, wants them to look at, that encounter, that altercation, that physical encounter.

They're going to take into account the entire narrative of what happened. And Mark, you and I disagree on this because the fact that George Zimmerman was neighborhood watch and never identified himself to Trayvon Martin, was carrying the loaded gun when he got out of the car, he knew he had the loaded gun, he had already called the police.

He had all the power behind him and the inference is he had the incentive and motive to stop and confront Trayvon Martin based on everything he said on those calls when he saw that young man.

MALVEAUX: And finally, one last point here if we can.

One of the things that Mark O'Mara made a point -- and this was something that he argued with the judge previously because she did not give the jury these instructions is that following someone is not illegal. That was an important point to make here because the emphasis has been different on these two sides, whether or not Trayvon Martin was essentially being hunted down, if you will.

What was the significance, do you think, Mark, that he was able to actually get that in and make that point?

Well, it's exactly what we've been talking about. It's not illegal to follow anybody. And that's the challenge here. Look, again, I'm not speaking morally. And I'm not talking with a civil lawsuit but criminally we ask people to be neighborhood watch. We ask people to keep an eye on their neighbors. We asked people look what happened in Cleveland with people call in. We want people to do that.

Now did he go too far? That's not the discussion I'm having right now. That's for a civil trial. But he is allowed legally to do what he did.

Now, with that said, that's why the defense brought up what did Trayvon Martin do for those four minutes? Look, it's beyond a tragedy that a 17-year-old kid is dead. It truly, truly is. I'm simply giving you a legal analysis, saying that did the state prove what all the emotions are screaming to?

(CROSSTALK)

NEJAME: I don't see where they brought out the facts or the evidence that they did.

MALVEAUX: Mark and Faith, we're going to bring you guys both back so we can talk a little bit more about this. Obviously we're waiting for the jurors to come back. We'll get their instructions then they'll start deliberating in earnest.

You see the seal there. That means they are still on their lunch break. But about 40 minutes or so we expect them to come back and the judge to give them their instructions here. We're following that every moment, step of the way.

We're also getting a better picture of the final moments before that San Francisco crash landing. Pilots made not one but two calls to abort that landing. We'll have more after the break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: We're watching live inside the courthouse, George Zimmerman murder trial. And of course, the jurors are at recess now. They're on a lunch break. But they will be back in about 40 minutes or so. At that time the judge will give them their instructions and they will start their deliberations. We'll bring that to you live as soon as it starts in about 40 minutes or so.

Also this: Edward Snowden calling off the worldwide search for now. We actually know where he is. He's still in Moscow at the airport. This picture emerged. This was just a couple of hours ago from a meeting that he had with human rights activists.

Now this is the first Snowden sighting since he flew to Moscow. This was from Hong Kong last month.

We also learned today that Snowden wants temporary asylum in Russia. He's asking those human rights groups to lobby the Russian government on his behalf. And where Snowden is wanted by the U.S. government on spying charges. He's a former contractor with the National Security Agency and has leaked details of the agency's classified programs to the press.

And we're now just getting word -- this is of a deadly train derailment. This is in France. It happened in a town that is south of Paris. Now French officials say at least seven people have been killed. The French national railway company says that rail traffic has been now interrupted.

A spokesman for the priority is to basically says that the priority is to rescue the passengers first. We're following developments there. We're going to keep you updated as the information becomes available.

And the head of the railway that owns the runaway train that slammed into a Canadian town says he wants to talk directly to the people impacted by this disaster. But Edward Burkhardt (ph) tells CNN in an exclusive interview, quote, "People want to throw stones at me."

The death toll in that fiery crash now at 24; 30 people still missing. Burkhardt (ph) said he had hoped to help people begin the healing process with a personal visit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EDWARD BURKHARDT, CHAIRMAN, MONTREAL, MAINE & ATLANTIC RAILWAY: They talked about that I had no empathy or no sympathy and in fact I have plenty. I can imagine myself being in that kind of situation and I also would be grieving and I'd be very unhappy. I'd be very mad about the whole thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: The train's engineer claims that he had set hand brakes on the rail cars before leaving that night, but Burkhardt, he's actually questioning that. There's a criminal investigation that is underway. In Egypt today supporters of the man who was president made a massive showing in Cairo. Just take a look at those pictures. This is a crowd. Thousands of people, they are chanting, they are singing, calling for the return of Mohammed Morsy.

They gathered today in front of a mosque in central Cairo, marched to the presidential palace. Now that's where Morsy is believed to be staying since the coup that knocked him from power last week. The pro-Morsy movement got a boost late yesterday. Turkey's prime minister said the military coup was illegitimate.

The runway, the San Francisco in the airport where the airliner crashed last weekend is still not open but it is going to open on Sunday. This was early morning at the airport today. There were salvage crews that were finally picking up the burned wreckage of the Asiana 777 flight that crash landed last Saturday.

There were more than 300 people on board. Two of them died. They were teenage girls from China. Also today we have a clearer picture of exactly what happened and when. In the cockpit of that plane before it hit the ground. Miguel Marquez has that part of the story.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This morning, new pictures. The remnants of a charred Flight 214 after it slammed into the seawall, the debris, giant rocks, pieces of the tail section and the landing gear littering the runway.

And now we have the fullest picture yet of the flight's final moments, around 50 seconds out, the first officer sitting in the jumpseat comments about the sink rate. That's the speed at which the plane is descending. At about 35 seconds out and 500 feet up, the pilot told investigators he saw a bright light and in response looked at the controls in the cockpit including the speed indicator.

DEBORAH HERSMAN, NTSB CHAIRMAN: At about 500 feet the air speed was approximately 134 knots.

MARQUEZ: The 350-ton plane was already below the 137 knot speed to which the pilot believed he had set the auto throttle. For the first time we are hearing that at nine seconds before impact, 100 feet above the ground, one of the pilots expressed concern about the aircraft's speed.

HERSMAN: And almost immediately after that is the first comment regarding speed since we started sharing information on -- starting at 500 feet.

MARQUEZ: And we're now learning there were two callouts for a go- around seconds before this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God. Oh, it's an accident.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, you're filming it, too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God. MARQUEZ: A plane crash so significant NTSB now says it will put everything it can into finding out what caused this crash -- Miguel Marquez, CNN, San Francisco.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: And operations are back to normal at London's Heathrow Airport. This was after an airplane fire shut down arrivals as well as the departures. A spokesman at the airport says no one was on board the Ethiopian Airlines jetliner when that fire broke out.

Now the plane, it's a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, a plane that has had a number of problems in the past year. Heathrow is one of the world's busiest airports.

And of course, we're awaiting live George Zimmerman murder trial to resume. The jurors expected to get back into the courtroom momentarily. That's when they will get their instructions from the judge and after that start their deliberations in the fate of George Zimmerman, up next.

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