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Obama on Trayvon Martin Killing; Seventeen Counts of Murder; Political Fight Over Health Care Reform; Political Fight Over Health Care Reform; Trayvon Martin's Death "Chilling"; Sanford Press Conference; Trayvon Martin Case
Aired March 23, 2012 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Live from CNN headquarters in Atlanta, where it's 12:00 noon, 9:00 a.m. out West, I'm Don Lemon, in today for Suzanne Malveaux.
I want to get you up to speed for this Friday. It is March 23.
President Barack Obama providing really the quote of the day -- a very powerful quote when he's speaking out, when he spoke out earlier on the killing of an unarmed teen, Trayvon Martin.
Here is what he said about the parents.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, if I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon, and, you know, I think they are right to expect that all of us as Americans are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves and that we're going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And we need to tell you, there are more protests planned in cities across the nation today. We're going to follow that. And last night, thousands rallied in Sanford. That's a central Florida town where Martin was killed.
Protesters are calling for the arrest of the shooter, neighborhood watch captain, George Zimmerman. Zimmerman says he acted in self-defense.
We're going to go live to Sanford in just a few minutes on CNN. So make you stay tuned.
Seventeen counts of murder -- those are the main charges expected today for Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales. He's the American soldier accused in the cold-blooded killing of Afghan civilians, most of them women and children. Bales is locked up at Ft. Leavenworth.
We're live from there in just a moment as well.
The Rutgers University student convicted of spying on his gay roommate says he wasn't trying to intimidate him and doesn't hate gay people. The jury convicted Dharun Ravi of bias intimidation and invasion of privacy in the case of Tyler Clementi, he is a student who committed suicide after webcam video of him and another man was released.
In an ABC interview, Ravi says he doesn't think his opinion mattered that much to Clementi.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DHARUN RAVI, CONVICTED IN WEBCAM SPYING CASE: After all this time and reading of conversations and how -- what he was doing before, I really don't think he cared at all. I feel like I was an insignificant part of his life. So that's giving me comfort now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: In other news, salvage crews found five more bodies yesterday in the wreck of the Costa Concordia. That's the Italian cruise ship that ran aground and half sank way back in January. That brings the confirmed death toll to 30 people. Two passengers are still unaccounted for.
President Barack Obama speaking out for the first time on the killing of unarmed Florida teen Trayvon Martin. The 17-year-old was gunned down by neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman. Zimmerman says he acted in self-defense.
I'm going to go to CNN's White House correspondent Dan Lothian now at the White House.
Dan, when the president said if I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon, he was in the middle of the newsroom and everyone gasped because they said it was -- everyone thought it was such a powerful statement from the president.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESONDENT: That's right. And, you know, a White House aide told me that this is clearly something that the president had been thinking about now for quite some time in personal terms, but the White House had been very careful over the last week not to get involved in this.
In fact, twice this week at the daily briefing, White House spokesman Jay Carney was asked about reaction from the White House. They spoke about this in sort of broad terms about how this was a tragedy. But Jay Carney specifically saying the White House did not want to get involved in what he termed a local law enforcement matter.
However, the president today did weigh in, although he said he wanted to be very careful because his Justice Department is involved in this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: But obviously this is a tragedy. I can only imagine what these parents are going through. And when I think about this, boy, I think about my own kids.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: The president pointed out that it's imperative that this investigation play out both from the federal, state, and local levels so that everyone can figure out exactly what was behind this tragedy -- Don.
LEMON: Dan Lothian, stand by with me, because I want to talk with you about this. This has gone all the way to the White House, the Justice Department. Take a look at these pictures, and you can't see them but I'll talk you through them.
You're looking at students at South Miami Heights, South Miami Heights School. It's in South Ridge, Florida. They have staged this demonstration at their school making the letters T.M., human letters, on their football. They've walked out of class apparently here. But they are on their school's football field with human letters T.M. and this is courtesy of our affiliate WSVN.
Dan, this is something that has touched the heart of America, has gone all the way to the White House and even the Justice Department as we look at these pictures.
LOTHIAN: No, it certainly has, and I think initially this was very much a local story, then it started building. The parents of this young man showing up on national television, then sort of this groundswell among the black community certainly but a broader community as well.
In fact, I was listening to a radio station yesterday, and there was a mother who called in, and she was in tears, talking about how her son walks through the community, a gated community, wearing a hoodie, and she was very concerned because he said this is something that could have happened to her son. And so, you saw that reflected in the comments that the president made today.
And again as an aide pointed out to me, this is something, while the president has not been talking about it publicly, had been think being it in very personal terms.
LEMON: Dan Lothian joining us at the White House -- thank you, Dan. And also again, those pictures, live pictures now from South Ridge, Florida, South Miami Heights School. You see students there making human letters, T.M., Trayvon Martin's initials on their football field, courtesy of our affiliate WSVN. We're going to follow up on that.
And talk more right now about the Trayvon Martin story. The father of Trayvon Martin is remembering his son as a hero. Tracy Martin told CBS this morning that Trayvon saved him from a fire when he is just a little boy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRACY MARTIN, FATHER OF TRAYVON MARTIN: He was my hero. He will be sadly missed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why was he your hero?
MARTIN: Trayvon saved my life at the age of 9. He pulled me out of a fire, went back in the house, got the phone, came back out, called 911. He saved my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: As we've been reporting and as you can see, outrage and protests are spreading over the killing of the unarmed teen by a neighborhood watch captain who says he acted in self-defense.
George Howell now live in Sanford, Florida, where it all happened.
George, what's going on there now?
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, we know that there will be a one-hour prayer vigil that will happen later today at 7:00 here at a local church.
But I want to talk about that video that we are seeing in Miami of these school walkouts. In fact, we know of four school walkouts in Miami, I should say. This is in addition to the four that we know about just yesterday, Don, the same thing happened, students were on the ground with Skittles and iced tea in their hands -- the same thing that Trayvon Martin had on February 26th when he was killed.
But I want to talk about other things that are happening as well, Don. We also know there will be protests and rallies that have happened in Atlanta at the University Center there with student leaders and civil rights leaders.
And the list, Don, goes on. Over the weekend we know there's a rally scheduled to happen in Greenville, South Carolina, also in Norfolk, Virginia. And right back here, on Monday, this coming Monday, we know there will be a march to the Civic Center. That will happen to get to the county commissioner meeting. The county commissioners have moved their meeting from city hall to the Civic Center because they believe there will be big crowds, a lot of outrage.
People protesting what happened in this city, Don.
LEMON: All right. Thank you very much. We appreciate it, George Howell. We're not going to go far away from this story. Thank you, George.
We want to give you a rundown of some of the other stories, big stories, we're covering for you today.
First, from foreclosure to rental? The details on the Bank of America's new plan to help struggling America's homeowners.
And the nation's health care law turns two today. Why President Obama says Mitt Romney's words don't much his actions when it comes to the issues.
Then he says the killing of Trayvon Martin is a reminder to fight with injustice. I'm going to speak with congressman and civil rights icon, John Lewis, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: We are watching Ft. Leavenworth in Kansas right now. That's where we're expecting at any time to hear formal charges against Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales. He's accused of a killing spree in Afghanistan that left 16 civilians dead.
Ted Rowlands has been following this story for us. He's outside Ft. Leavenworth today for us.
So, Ted, what are these formal charges? And when will we hear them officially?
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we don't know, Don. We were getting this from a senior U.S. official that we're to expect 17 charges of murder and then six charges of attempted murder and six charges of assault.
But we don't have them officially, and we are expecting them to come out of Afghanistan through the Pentagon and possibly Ft. Leavenworth here. We just, quite frankly, don't know when that will happen. We have been told it will be sometime today.
LEMON: OK. So, Ted, explain the 17 counts of murder. Consistently, we have consistently heard that 16 people died.
ROWLANDS: Yes. And we don't know why there is the discrepancy there. One of two things obviously has happened. Either there was a misreporting of the initial death toll or somebody who was injured has died over the past few days and we'll expect clarification when we get those official charges later today.
LEMON: OK. So it's a U.S. military trial that he'll face? And if so, does the military impose the death penalty?
ROWLANDS: Absolutely. This will be a military trial, a court- martial proceeding eventually, and the military does have the death penalty on the table and the death penalty will likely be an option throughout this procedure.
Now, in the end, whether they will pursue it all the way to the end, we just don't know that. That will be something we'll be watching throughout. But the military does have a death penalty, and this is a case that would warrant it possibly with so many innocent people being murdered.
LEMON: OK. So the death penalty, that's a possibility. So, you said today he will be charged. After that what happens?
ROWLANDS: Well, next up is an Article 32 investigation and hearing. Basically that is the military version of a grand jury or a preliminary investigation or preliminary hearing where they look at the evidence, make sure there's enough evidence to hold the individual to be accountable for it, and then after that is done you go into a full court-martial proceeding which would be like the civilian trial.
LEMON: Ted, we'll be with you many times today. We'll see you on television as soon as we get these charges. We'll bring Ted back.
Thank you very much, sir.
Homeowners facing foreclosure might have another option where they don't have to move. That would be interesting. One lender is willing to let them stay in their homes as renters. I'll explain all of it, right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: How would you like to have a big bank for a landlord? Most people if you have a mortgage the bank owns your home. That's coming soon for some of Bank of America's customers who are at risk of losing their homes altogether.
For details now, we go to Alison Kosik. Alison -- she's at the New York Stock Exchange.
I mean, officially, they do own your home so they're your landlord. But this is something that's quite different. This is a new program. Tell us about it.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is more landlordy in the sense of renting and own -- renting actually an apartment, if you think about that.
But what Bank of America is actually doing, Don, is it's testing out this program that would let some homeowners who are short of barreling towards foreclosure -- it looks to really help them stay in their homes but as renters. So, essentially what happen is you would hand your deed over to the bank. They'll forgive all of your debt and the bank would then become your landlord for up to three years.
Now, this is a very small problem that includes about 1,000 homeowners who live in New York, Arizona and Nevada. And they have to meet certain requirements.
First of all, you have to be at least 60 days behind on your mortgage payment. You have to be at high risk of ultimately foreclosing and you have to prove you have enough income, that it's high enough and steady enough, to be able to afford the rent, which, Don, would wind up being significantly less than the monthly mortgage payment that you already make -- Don.
LEMON: All right. So, surely, Bank of America, Alison, isn't do this out of the goodness of their hearts. What's in it for Bank of America?
KOSIK: No, no, no, no, no. Of course, it's all about business, isn't it? You know, they don't necessarily want to be your landlord, but, you know, when you think about it, the huge number of foreclosures that are out there, they hurt the banks, too. And for Bank of America especially, it needs to do something.
So, B of A is going to be working with property management companies to oversee these rentals. Eventually, of course, it wants investors to buy these homes.
So, in the meantime, why not have homeowners stay in their homes to help stabilize prices. It could keep empty homes from bringing down the value of other homes in the neighborhood. It could keep neighborhoods from going under because occupied ones are kept up better than empty ones.
So, everybody sort of wins in this situation. As they like to say, it's a win-win situation. It's good for everybody, Don.
LEMON: Thank you. Good explanation. Thank you, Alison.
KOSIK: Sure.
LEMON: African-American men make up less than 2 percent of the nation's teachers, and with the lack of black male role models, these teachers can be as much mentors as educators.
In today's "What Matters," we profile a Washington, D.C. teacher who says it's time for black men to step up.
CNN's George Howell explains now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL (voice-over): In the heart of Anacostia, one of Washington D.C.'s toughest neighborhoods.
TERRIS KING, TEACHER, BISHOP JOHN T. WALKER SCHOOL: I'm not talking so you shouldn't be talking.
HOWELL: Teachers are sometimes the last line of defense for children.
KING: It's a G.
A lot of them don't have a man at their home. A lot of them don't have a man to go to, to talk to.
It's going to be hard guys, we have to focus, OK?
For a lot of them, I'm a big brother or a dad but it's important --
HOWELL (on camera): A dad?
KING: Well, for some of them. For some of them. Some they don't have a father figure at home, so when they get to school, for some of them I am that figure.
Can we find another chair, Kylie?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
KING: Can you find another chair.
They need someone in their lives who is strong, they need an African-American male in their lives.
You can start on the second line.
HOWELL (voice-over): Terris King not only teaches the basics but also finds himself teaching life lessons to the kindergarteners here at Bishop Walker School for Boys -- a school that serves just over 50 children from low income homes.
Statistically, King is what the Secretary of Education describes as a rarity in American classrooms.
ARNE DUNCAN, U.S. SECRETARY OF EDUCATION: About 17 percent of our children are public schools students across the nation African- American, about seven percent of our teachers are African-American so less, you know, very disproportionate.
But if you look just on the male side, less than 2 percent, less than 1 in 50 of our teachers is an African American male.
HOWELL (on camera): So, a few years back you launched this campaign to recruit more black male teachers. Has that been successful?
DUNCAN: Well, we have a long way to go but it is been encouraging. So I think again the goal is not to have a black male teacher. The goal is to have a great black male teacher or great Hispanic male teacher or great whatever teacher.
HOWELL (voice-over): To that end, Duncan says in his new budget the Department of Education will offer brand new incentives to encourage school districts to raise the pay scale for starting teachers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of our information is on there. And there's a link that that says teacher training course.
HOWELL: As teacher himself, working to recruit graduates at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Brandon Gillespie believes more pay is only part of the solution.
BRANDON GILLESPIE, TEACHER: Some are pretty hesitant based on the salary but at the end of the day salary shouldn't be one of the hugest factors. We should give back to our communities and educate our community.
HOWELL: Back in Washington, Terris King says he's trying to do just that.
KING: They love to learn as you can see. My goal here every day is to make sure that they love to learn and that they're having fun.
But at the same time, making sure that they can compete with anyone across the country when it comes to it.
HOWELL: And King believes through his work here, he's preparing his boys to change their community.
George Howell, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: OK. Getting some news into CNN. This is just developing. Sanford city manager is going to speak soon. We're told it should happen close to the bottom of the hour and there's going to be a press conference we're told, at least a news conference.
And we know the last time there was a news conference, yesterday in Sanford, the police chief -- it was big news -- said he was going to step aside, Bill Lee, until this investigation is over with.
So now the city manager holding a press conference. It should be close to the bottom of the hour and we're almost at the bottom of the hour now. So, stay tuned for that.
In the meantime, you know it's getting close to election day because it's heating up. President Obama now with some strong words for Mitt Romney. Something he probably doesn't want to hear. The president essentially called him a faker on health care reform. I'm going to tell you why right after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Let me give you a rundown of some of the stories we're working on for you here on CNN.
Mitt Romney working hard to explain why his ideas for health care reform look a lot like Obamacare. Our political round table is next, just moments away.
Then Congressman John Lewis is here. He's getting ready now to join me live. We'll talk about Trayvon Martin's tragic death and the president's emotional reaction and that news conference which is scheduled in Sanford coming up live here on CNN.
And later, remember those mysterious booms and rumbles underground in Wisconsin? It was driving everybody crazy. Now there is an explanation, but do you buy it? Do the residents buy it? That's coming up.
It is one of President Obama's defining accomplishments and one of the hottest issues in the race for the White House. Today marks the second anniversary of the health care reform law or as opponents call it Obamacare. That's just one of the topics for our political panel that we're going to discuss right now.
Republican strategist Danny Vargas is on the phone. Apparently, Danny is stuck in traffic. Sorry about that.
And Democratic strategist Maria Cardona.
So, Republicans promise to repeal health care reform if they win the White House, but Mitt Romney is taking heat from his rivals over the law he signed in Massachusetts. They say it was the model for Obamacare. Romney wrote an op-ed today disputing that.
I want to ask you, Danny -- you're the Republican strategist here -- is this going to continue to cause trouble for him moving forward?
DANNY VARGAS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST (via telephone): Well, it is forming the narrative within the Republican primary. But I'll be honest with you, Don, there are some significant differences between what Governor Romney did in Massachusetts and what President Obama is doing at the federal level.
First of all, it was at the state level. I think Governor Romney is urging states to be able to have the flexibility to do what they think is right in their states and not having a federal mandate that forces everyone throughout the entire nation to take certain actions.
The second option was the fact that he was trying to move folks towards personal responsibility. If you didn't have insurance, you had to buy insurance or pay for the care and move more towards private sector insurance programs, not a federal mandate to move folks towards government-run health care options. There's a massive amount of difference --
LEMON: OK.
(CROSSTALK)
VARGAS: Between what Romney did and what President Obama did, which is 2,700 pages --
LEMON: Let me get Maria in here.
Maria, I want to ask you, because Danny is pointing out the differences but are most people that in tune with all the nuances of each? Are they -- will they buy into the narrative and say, hey, that -- it's all pretty similar and he's similar to Obama?
MARIA CARDONA, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It's not only similar, don, they're twins. Romney's health care law in Massachusetts was absolutely the model that President Obama used. And, in fact, back in the day, the individual mandate was something that many Republicans supported, not just Romney, but Gingrich as well. In fact, it came out of a Republican think tank.
So to say that Romney is now saying that this is not something that he supported is actually a lie, Don, because there are not just op-eds, but there is -- there are sound bites where Romney is basically saying that he would absolutely be thrilled if his health care act that he passed in Massachusetts would be used as a national model.
LEMON: OK.
CARDONA: I think it's great that his Republican rivals are taking him to task for it. They should have done it sooner.
LEMON: Maria, I got you. And you two disagreeing let's everybody know that it's going to be an issue and it's going to continue to be an issue until this whole thing is wrapped up.
But I have to say this -- in a radio interview, the president took a swipe at Romney, too. On the program that's called "Market Watch." he was asked whether he would have done anything different in getting health care reform passed. Listen.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
OBAMA: Well, I would have loved to have gotten it done quicker, which is part of the reason why we designed a program that actually previously had support of Republicans, including the person who may end up being the Republican standard bearer and is now pretending like he came up with something different.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
LEMON: OK, so does -- what does this do for your argument, Danny and Romney's argument that it's different? I mean, it's going to be hard going up against the president when he talks about it and equates it to I guess Romneycare?
VARGAS: Well, the biggest difference is the federal program that President Obama passes is basically forcing folks to move towards a federal bureaucrat-run set of programs.
And Governor Romney, if folks didn't have insurance, they either had to buy private sector insurance or pay for the medical services they were looking to get from institutions and hospitals. That's the major difference.
It wasn't about being able to force folks into a government-run program. It was about being able to motivate personal responsibility, and I think polls show over 50 percent of the people have some real issues with Obamacare. Two-thirds want to either ditch the entire program or parts of it.
LEMON: All right.
VARGAS: I think there's some significant problems with the president's --
LEMON: Danny --
VARGAS: -- health care program.
LEMON: We get it. I don't want to belabor the point here because I want to move on and talk about something else. Right about this time yesterday Rick Santorum was trying to get more mileage out of Romney's etch-a-sketch gaffe.
And he said we may as well stay with what we have instead of taking a chance on etch-a-sketch candidate. Romney shot back with this statement. He said I was disappointed to hear that Rick Santorum would rather have Barack Obama as president than a Republican.
Any of the Republicans running would be better than President Obama and his record of failure. Santorum's campaign said today, of course, he'll back the GOP nominee. So is this a significant blunder do you think?
Are people going to remember this, Maria, going into the polls come November, and the interesting thing if Mitt Romney is, which it looks like it is, if you look at the numbers, going to be the nominee, is Rick Santorum going to have to walk this back do you think?
CARDONA: Well, I think he's already started to walk it back, Don, but I do think it's something that people will remember because what Rick Santorum is doing is he is giving voice to the real and palpable dislike, distrust, and disdain that many social and religious conservatives have about Romney right now.
And I think it was a Hail Mary pass on his part to say, look, now is the time to rally with me, a real conservative candidate, to make sure that there is a real difference between Romney and Obama come November. We'll see if it works.
LEMON: Danny, listen, I'm going to give you the last word. When she said he's already begun to walk it back, I don't mean saying here's what I meant.
Is he going to have to say at some point, if Mitt Romney is indeed the nominee, I'm sorry I should not have made that statement and I mean really walk it back rather than give some sort of argument about what he meant to say?
VARGAS: Well, the reality, Don, is that every primary process that we go through after the campaigns have been drawn and after the nominee is selected, everyone comes together and coalesces and supports each other.
And in this case if Governor Romney wins the nomination, Santorum and Gingrich and all of the other Republicans will coalesce and unify behind Governor Romney and focus on the real opponent, President Obama and his stale policies that have brought our economy to near ruin.
So I think Santorum will not only walk back those comments, but have a full-throated support for Governor Romney if and when that time comes.
CARDONA: But this also underscores, Don, the nastiness --
LEMON: We have to go. Hurry up, Maria.
CARDONA: That has really been the issue here that will hurt the Republican Party and has hurt them with independent voters.
LEMON: Listen, whatever it is, and everyone is going to support whoever the nominee is. It's a sound bite that the other side can play and not even do any work. All they have to do is play it and that was behind my question. Thank you very much, Danny Vargas, Maria Cardona.
VARGAS: Thanks, Don.
CARDONA: Thanks, Don.
LEMON: Georgia congressman and civil rights icon, John Lewis is calling the death of Trayvon Martin chilling. He says it reminds him of what he witnessed during the Civil Rights Movement.
Reminds him of what he witnessed during the Civil Rights Movement. Representative John Lewis joins me live to explain that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Listen, the outrage is spreading with the number of protests growing around the country about Trayvon Martin, and we want to tell you now there's a press conference that's going to happen now at any moment.
I believe we have live pictures now. It's in Sanford, Florida where they are getting ready and that is going to be held by the man there, the city manager. And they may do some other business so we're going to listen before we bring that to you live to see if they handle other city business.
They're going to speak about this Trayvon Martin case. You saw the protests going on across the country that have been happening this week. We showed you one earlier at a high school. There they are, thousands of people are gathering. Thousands of people have been gathering all over the country.
Congressman John Lewis is here now and he joins me, the civil rights icon. You don't need an introduction. You heard what the president had to say today. He said if I had a son, he would look like Trayvon.
You can't help but feel for the family. He had to be careful about what he said. It's a balancing act that the president has to do on this particular issue because everyone -- because it will be perceived -- people will try to politicize it. What do you make of that and how this has caught fire and the nation's attention?
REPRESENTATIVE JOHN LEWIS (D), GEORGIA: I think it was a very powerful statement that the president made. He made it out of his gut, out of his heart, out of his soul. He was not thinking about politics. He was expressing the feelings of hundreds of thousands of Americans.
It doesn't matter whether the child was black, white, Latino, Asian-American or Native American. The president was saying in effect we're all one people, we're one family. We all live in the same house, the American house, and we must be concerned about the hurt and the pain of every family.
LEMON: And he's speaking as a father. As we're looking, the entire studio now is filled with pictures of Trayvon Martin and you know, him as a kid. I have pictures like that when I was a kid. You have pictures.
My sister has daughters and she has pictures of them on the soccer team and all of that stuff. I said to the people in the newsroom that Trayvon Martin was America's child now, and if he wasn't America's child, he certainly is now after the president made that remark because I think it drove the point home.
You have a black president, a young black man has grown up to be the president of the United States and that was a possibility for any child in the United States, as you said, black, white, or whatever. That has been extinguished and taken away from Trayvon Martin and his life has been taken away.
LEWIS: This was a beautiful young man with a dream. He was an "A" and "B" student. He only had a can of iced tea and some candy and for something like this to happen to him, it takes me back to August 28, 1955, when Emmett Till was murdered.
Three civil rights workers were murdered in Mississippi in 1964. Sometime we think we've come so far and made so much progress and then for something like this to happen, it should be a sense of righteous indignation.
And I think the American people are displaying this. It's not just the young people, not just the children, but all over America people cannot believe this is happening.
LEMON: I have had people reach out to me on social media, and this is judging from their photographs and what they say to me, they're all different ethnicities.
There's no one side here saying -- and there's no one group, there's no right or left saying most people are outraged just as human beings and saying if Trayvon Martin did the worse and did attack.
Still someone was killed and there's the feeling in the country that justice has not been served so far or is not being rendered properly.
LEWIS: There's this belief in America that when justice is delayed, justice is denied.
LEMON: Yes.
LEWIS: And people want to see Mr. Zimmerman come to the bars of justice and face the state. He had been so silent not saying anything.
LEMON: Can you talk to me about this, please, because there are people who don't understand, regardless of this case, how powerful -- what a powerful impact profiling has on people who look like me, on African-Americans, on minorities, who have been profiled before, the victims of profiling. That there is a reality there that some -- many people have the privilege of not having to experience or live.
LEWIS: Well, we grew up as young African-American men, been told to be careful. Don't get in trouble. Don't get in the way. I heard my mother say on so many occasions, be particular, be watchful, be mindful. Keep your hands out of your pocket. It's having a chilling effect on the lives of hundreds and thousands and millions of African- American families.
LEMON: John Lewis, don't go anywhere. I'm so glad you're here because we want to go to that press conference live and I believe they're announcing who is going to be the interim police chief. This is Norton Bonaparte. He's the city manager in Sanford, Florida.
(BEGIN LIVE FEED)
NORTON BONAPARTE, JR., SANFORD, FLORIDA CITY MANAGER: -- probably more knowledgeable about all the things that are going on than I am. We do certainly have the city commission meeting that's going to be held at 5:00 p.m. on Monday that has changed from this building to go over to the civic center.
I did want to take a moment to say that Sanford is still open for business. We have a lot of good businesses. We invite people to come and see Sanford. We have a lot of good people here and we want to make sure people get out to our merchant's and businesses.
Please continue to patronize our businesses and come and see us for yourself. City hall has adjusted its hours yesterday. We closed at 4:00 p.m. On Monday, we will be closing at 3:00 p.m. Again, we can make parking space available for those who are coming.
Yesterday, we had the event that went off wonderfully. We want to thank the organizers of that for such a peaceful rally and appreciate the people that did come and conducted themselves in a manner that we all felt very good about.
The fact they were able to come and we welcomed them and we certainly hope to welcome the people that are coming back on Monday. Those are the comments we wanted to have today. At this point, we would hope it up to some limited questions. Unfortunately, there are a lot of other things that are still going on today. There are a lot of details we're still working on for Monday's meeting, but I will open it for a few questions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you tell us more about Chief Lee stepping down? Is it temporary? Is he still being paid?
BONAPARTE: He is on administrative leave. Yes, he is being paid.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What does temporary mean?
BONAPARTE: Temporary means that I'm looking to get a investigative agency to come in to take a look and a law enforcement agency I should say to review what took place with the police department.
I had shared with you I have asked the Department of Justice to have a review, not just of the shooting of Trayvon Martin, but the actions of the Sanford Police Department.
I also recognize that the Department of Justice may take some time in making a thorough investigation into both of those matters, so what I am exploring now is looking at some police agencies that do analysis and evaluations of police operations and asking them if they could come in.
So the answer to the question is that once I have a report that demonstrates to me and which shows me the actions of the police department and how they performed in this instance that is what temporary is. Once I have it, then I can make a determination regarding Chief Lee.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Clearly, there are --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Could he be reinstated?
BONAPARTE: That's a possibility certainly, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Clearly there are trust issues and we've been hearing about it now for the last several days, particularly from the African-American community in Sanford. Do you think Chief Lee stepping down and putting the leadership in some other men's hands for the time being, do you think that can help heal some wounds? Or what does the city have to do to improve the trust relationship with its residents?
BONAPARTE: I'm glad you raised that. Let's be very clear. Chief Lee has been the chief of the Sanford Police Department for 10 months. The issues that have been brought to my attention regarding the black community and the Sanford Police Department go back many, many, many years. So there's a lot of work that needs to be done there.
I have been told that Chief Lee has made efforts that have been improving. Certainly that has changed as of right now in terms of the relationship between the black community and the Sanford Police Department.
There's a lot of work that has to be done. We're fortunate to have representatives from the United States Department of Justice. There are community relations services here working with us to give us advice and strategize how we build that trust. The trust that may have existed is gone. So we have to start from ground zero. And that's not a Chief Lee issue. That's a Sanford Police Department issue. And we recognize that for the Sanford Police Department to be effective, they have to have the trust of the entire Sanford community.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you know if the city is providing any kind of security or has George Zimmerman -- if knows where he is or helping him out in any way at this point?
BONAPARTE: We know we can get in touch with him, but we are not providing him any security that I'm aware of.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is there anything about this investigation that you can share with the public now that we've heard the 911 calls about George Zimmerman, about what he said, anything?
BONAPARTE: At this point, I think it's up to the special prosecutor to review the information, to get additional information, as we've stated. Not only has the special prosecutor now been involved, but we also prior had the Department of Justice involved. So we want justice. I want to continue to stress that. We want justice. We want as many eyes looking at this as possible. We appreciate the government taking it so seriously to say this is -- and now a special prosecutor. So the public, whatever the outcome is, we'll know that this is not something that's been whitewashed, colored up or kind of blown over, but taken very seriously.
(CROSS TALK)
BONAPARTE: That's up to the prosecutor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Bonaparte, are you aware of the president's comments today regarding this case? He spoke rather personally about it. He said, if I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon. He also expressed his desire for a thorough examination of both the specific incident -- the specific facts of the incident and also the laws surrounding it. Have you heard his comments and do you have a reaction?
BONAPARTE: I've been in meetings since 8:30 a.m. this morning. I did not hear the comments. But it's consistent with everything we've been saying. We want to know all the evidence. We want the law enforcement community to look at it, particularly now that the governments have had the special prosecutor. Let's look at all of it. Investigate it so that we have an outcome that there's no question of the credibility.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When today will the special prosecutor meet with the police department and how long will that take?
BONAPARTE: The meet is set for 1:30 p.m. And in terms of how long? It will take as long as it needs to take. One more question.
(CROSS TALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Bonaparte, can you tell us, did you call -- did the Sanford Police Department recommend charges for George Zimmerman when it sent its case packet over to the prosecutor's office?
BONAPARTE: That I don't know.
Thank you all for coming. As I said, we will be giving you notice of our future press conferences. It is our desire to stay in touch with you. You now have the number for Lisa. So if there's issues, questions, comments, please feel free to contact Lisa. Thank you all.
(END LIVE FEED)
LEMON: All right, that is the city manager of Sanford, Florida, Norton Bonaparte, holding a press conference there saying he's going to name an interim police chief. I'm going to get you a name for that in just a second, because that happened as I was speaking to Representative John Lewis here.
We were talking just before that press conference started. And John Lewis is going to join me.
John, Representative Lewis, he said he's going to name an interim chief, but he also wants the incident and the entire department investigated. He said the trust that we had, the trust that existed, is no longer there and they have to rebuild trust. He didn't hear the president's comments, but he did say that it is the feeling that everyone has, the same feelings that they have there in that community and around the country.
We have to take a quick break. Hang around with us for a little bit.
LEWIS: Yes.
LEMON: And talk more about this. I think it's fascinating to hear from you. Representative Lewis has said to me, this is a reminder -- it reminds him of the struggles he faced during the Civil Rights moment. We're back in a moment right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Welcome back everyone.
Congressman and civil rights pioneer John Lewis joins me now.
And we listened to the press conference. He said that, you know, this police chief could be reinstated. Of course, we have to wait for an investigation. But I think most people are concerned, number one -- well, I shouldn't say number one, about the investigation, but also why hasn't Zimmerman been arrested. And also, where is he? We haven't heard from him now. Is that the end all, be all of justice in this case, having George Zimmerman arrested?
LEWIS: No. The arrest of Zimmerman would not be the end. It's just the beginning. But in my estimation, there need to be outside forces. The Department of Justice, the FBI. The community relations service or the Department of Justice should be on the ground in Sanford. This is having a chilling effect on young African-American males, their mothers, their fathers.
LEMON: That was one of the things that I wanted to ask you about is that when we talked about this story several weeks ago here on CNN, when I put it on my show on the weekend, there weren't many people talking about it nationally. As a matter of fact, I found out about it through social media. They said, Don, you have to do this story.
We started doing this story. And one of my producers, a black woman, stood up and said, you guys don't understand. I have two teenage boys. And every time they leave the house, I am worried. I have to have this conversation with them about not only how not to be profiled or hurt or arrested or even killed by a police officer, I have to have this conversation with them. And when they leave, I'm scared to death for them. That's real.
LEWIS: It is real. I know young mothers, young fathers that come and say, how can I do a good job in telling a story to my son, to my daughters, but especially to my son, how to be careful, how not to get in the way, how not to get in trouble. And I'm sure all over America, not just in the American south, but all over our country people are wondering, what can I do to protect my child, to protect my son?
LEMON: Yes. And what do you say? Is there any -- is I guess what we can do as a country, as those of us who do have a platform as journalists to report the story and people who are activists and lawmakers, as you are, is to tell the truth about a very -- I guess a mixed reality in this country when it comes to --
LEWIS: You have to tell the truth. You cannot sweep it under the rug in some dark corner. You have to face it and deal with it.
LEMON: But not everyone believes that though. Not everyone believes that it's real or that it happens. And you hear people saying -- and, of course, I don't believe that any other journalist or myself should be on television advocating one way or another. That's not it. I'm speaking of the reality that I know it exists because it's happened to me.
And not to say this is nothing to do with George Zimmerman's guilt or innocence, but because we are at this moment, at this moment, and we have this, this is a time to talk about something that many people live. So my question is, so then what do you do for people who don't believe that this does exists and who say, let's let the investigation play out and you hear seasoned police officers saying, why so much analysis? You don't need that much analysis. This is --
LEWIS: Well, you know Dr. King said from time to time, we shouldn't get bogged down in the paralysis of analysis. Just deal with it. And have this moment as a moment to educate, sensitize, and inform people. Some people say, we don't want to go back to the dark past. We don't want to go back to the dark past, but what happened reminded many of us of the dark past when people would come up missing. This young man was shot, killed, and for three days his mother and father didn't know what happened to him. They had his cell phone. They could have called the last number that he called.
LEMON: Can we talk about law now? Everyone is talking about this stand your ground law and, you know, they're trying to politicize it saying, well, this is -- these laws are in place, you know, in large part because of the NRA. And I don't know if this particular case -- I don't know if the standard your ground law is a canard or a red herring because -- or this is just a bungled investigation that people are hanging this law on to try to politicize this particular case.
LEWIS: Well, man was not made for the law. We should respect law. But this is a very bad law and it should be repealed.
LEMON: Why?
LEWIS: The state of Florida -- because it gives people a license to be an executioner, to just get rid of someone.
LEMON: A license to kill, you think?
LEWIS: Yes. And it should be repealed.
LEMON: Thank you.
LEWIS: Thank you. Good to see you.
LEMON: I could talk to you all day. It's so good to see you.
LEWIS: Thank you. Good to see you.
LEMON: I really appreciate you coming on.
LEWIS: Thank you for having me on.
LEMON: You're so forthcoming about this. Thank you. John Lewis, everyone.
LEWIS: Thank you.
LEMON: Coming up next hour in the CNN NEWSROOM, President Barack Obama said Trayvon Martin's death particularly resonated with him as an African-American parent. I'm going to talk to a mom who had that talk that I just mentioned with Representative John Lewis with her son teaching him how to save his life if stopped by anyone.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
