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Prayer Rally for Trayvon Martin was Organized; U.S. would be giving $860,000 total for the family in the killing in Afghanistan; President Obama's Comment in Trayvon Martin's Case Outburst;
Aired March 25, 2012 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DON LEMON, CNN HOST (voice-over): March for justice.
REVEREND AL SHARPTON, MSNBC, POLITICS NATION: Put your hoodies on.
LEMON: A simple hoodie. Now a symbol of solidarity. A rallying cry?
What's a life worth? New information on what the U.S. calls an offer to help. Some say it's compensation for a massacre involving a U.S. soldier.
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LEMON: The deep blue sea. This famous movie-maker takes us 30,000 feet below the deepest point on the ocean floor.
All that and more right here, right now on CNN.
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LEMON: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. Thank you for joining us this evening.
A sea of flickering flames on a somber night in Sanford, Florida. A candlelight vigil for 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We thank you for being able.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Songs and prayers for the young man whose life was cut short by a bullet, this on the eve of a major march also planned in Sanford where Martin was killed. Protesters will gather at a city council meeting where Martin's family is supposed to speak. Hooded sweat shirts or hoodies have become a symbol for everyone demanding justice for Martin. He was wearing one when he was shot.
Church-goers across the nation traded their Sunday best for hoodies. Many congregations held special services in honor of the teen.
Martin was walking back from a store when neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman spotted him and got suspicious. Zimmerman says he shot Martin in self-defense, but it turns out that Martin was unarmed.
There's a lot of talk about Florida's stand your ground law in this case. It allows someone to use deadly force any time they have a reasonable fear of harm. Florida Governor Rick Scott say pointing a task force to review the law.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RICK SCOTT (R), FLORIDA: I'm going to have different elected officials appoint officials, and we'll look at it. The first thing we'll all do is do a thorough investigation to see what happened here. No one can imagine this happened to their family. We've got to find out exactly what's going to happen. The Florida department of law enforcement, state attorney, Angela Core, is going to do a great job knowing what happened and make sure justice prevails. We have to do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Initially Zimmerman's lawyer said "Stand Your Ground" didn't apply here because it's mostly for defending themselves inside their own home. It's for people defending themselves inside their own home, but now he's reversing himself saying it does fit in this particular case.
I want to get right to CNN's George Howell. He is standing by in Sanford, Florida.
Georg, we mentioned that major rally planned in Sanford on Monday. What's going to happen?
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, at this point we know that rally will start right around 4:00 leaving a local church here and moving over to Ft. Mellon park and then over to the civic center. And again, that is where city commissioners will held their regular meeting scheduled solely on the Trayvon Martin case. We're expecting many people, maybe some celebrities, Don, to attend this meeting.
And also, Don, as you mentioned, we are learning more from George Zimmerman's attorney that he will use the stand your ground law. What do we know about George Zimmerman? Not a lot at this point except for what we learned from police, that he did have grass stains on the back of his shirt, a bloody nose, bleeding from the back of the head. Was this self-defense?
Again, the attorney initially said that he would argue self- defense in case his client is arrested, but this time we now know, Don, that he will use the stand your ground law.
LEMON: It has been a month since this happened. Do we have any better idea where George Zimmerman is at this hour? HOWELL: Don, a good question. A lot of people want to know that. At this point we do know that his attorney knows where he is. The attorney did indicate that police may not know where he Is. Some confusion with regards to that but George Zimmerman clearly in hiding at this point. Hard to get in touch with him through phone or where he lives. We even went by his home address several times. We were unable to find him there, Don.
LEMON: Yes. And as we understand his own attorney has said, he has told him and given him the advice to lay low at this point and stay out of the media spotlight.
Thank you, George Howell. We appreciate it.
Even President Obama has weighed in on the Trayvon Martin case but Republican presidential hopefuls immediately accused him of being divisive with his comments. So, who is really politicizing this killing? More on that in tonight's no talking points coming up at the half hour. You don't miss that.
In another news. It's hard to imagine why a U.S. soldier might have carried out a brutal massacre of civilians in Afghanistan, but new details are shedding some light on what happened last month in Kandahar province. Investigators police staff sergeant Robert Bales returned to his base between rampages in two bases.
CNN's Sara Sidner is in Kabul with more in the investigation and an attempt to make amends with Afghans -- Sara.
SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This case is becoming more and more curious. For every detail that's released, more questions emerge. The latest detail comes from a U.S. official who told CNN that army staff sergeant Bales left his base, went to one village and then returned to base and went to another. In both villages people were massacred.
Now the questions that arise from that is exactly who may have seen him when he returned to base. Did he go inside? How was it discovered that he was left, and how did he end up in two different villages without anybody noticing.
And the second bit of information that we've been able to get is from an Afghan official that has now been confirmed by a U.S. official that compensation has been paid to the victims of the massacre, and we're talking about a figure, somewhere around $860,000, the equivalent of that has been paid in Afghani in cash.
We understand that for each person who died the family member got $50,000, and for each person who was injured, family members got $10,000 per person.
LEMON: All right. Sara, thank you very much.
I want to bring in Retired General James "Spider" Marks for some insight in to this incident. General, you've been around soldiers the entire time and understand the stress that their under -- your gut reaction when you hear the possibility that Bales could have gone on one killing spree, return to base and then went back out to kill more innocent civilians.
MAJ. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER' MARKS, (RET.), ADJUNCT PROFESSOR, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: Well, you know, Don. Again, as you indicated, this is speculation. Let's not get too far ahead of the investigation before we try to put a spotlight on it.
However, in this particular case obviously sergeant Bales turned himself in when he was done with this rampage. Now, I think, as you've indicated, it appears that there may have been two. This clearly was an NCO who previously had a very strong track record of discipline and was a good soldier.
Clearly, he went completely off the reservation. Something went terribly wrong with him, and for him to conduct two specific operations like this, to leave and go to one village and then return and go to another village, again, speculation that that took place, but it clearly goes to the level of exhaustion and the troubles that this young non-commissioned officer was in.
It's very, very important to also understand, and there were comments about his not being noticed when he was in the villages. Let's bear in mind this was done during hours of daylight. Limited amounts of daylight and his ability to get in and around villages probably should not be questioned. The real thing is, what was his state of mind and we'll get into that in great detail as we go down the road on this.
LEMON: All right, general. I want to come back with you after the break, and talk a bit more about compensation paid to victim's family and what it might suggests about the case against Robert Bales. Stick around, General Marks.
In Mexico, Pope Benedict XVI let 4,000 Catholics in an open-air mass today. This is the Pope's first trip to Spanish-speaking Latin America. In a message to the crowd he asked Mexican Catholics to boldly promote peace across the country and much to the onlookers' delight the Pope later donned a sombrero. Monday he travels to Cuba.
It is Monday in Seoul, South Korea, where President Barack Obama will attend the nuclear security summit, and just minutes ago he finished speaking about the threat posed by countries such as Iran and North Korea. He discussed his vision for a world free of nuclear weapons.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: For our future and the unprecedented opportunities to meet shared challenges together is what brings me to Seoul. Over the next two days under President Lee's leadership, we'll move ahead with the urgent work of preventing nuclear terrorism by securing the world's nuclear materials. This is an important part of the broader comprehensive agenda that I want to talk with you about today. Our vision of a world without nuclear weapons.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And Sunday the president saw firsthand the threat that South Korea lives with. He toured the Korean demilitarized zone, shaking hands with soldiers. It was the president's first visit to the tense border between north and South Korea.
It's not always kissing babies and pressing palms on the campaign trail and you don't need to tell that to presidential candidate Rick Santorum.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Why would we put someone up who is uniquely, pick any other Republican in the country? He is the worst Republican in the country to put up against Barack Obama.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: If you thought that was feisty, wait until you hear his response to reporters when questioned about that statement.
But next more on the American soldier charged with killing Afghan civilians. The U.S. is giving financial compensation to the families of those victims. We'll talk about it with General Spider Marks.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Back now to Retired General James "Spider" Marks.
General, the U.S. government is paying $50,000 to families of the victims of the massacre believed carried out by the U.S. soldier in Afghanistan. We want to understand what this means. We want the viewers to understand. Is this an admission of the U.S. military paying money to victims, is this saying one of our soldiers did this?
MARKS: What this really is, these are reparations, the term could be blood money. This has taken place in our experience around the globe. Unfortunately, we have more experience in this than we probably prefer. But it's not an admission of guilt. What it is it's an admission that something went terribly wrong. The United States in this case raised its hand and says, look, we want to try to make this right, and we want to try to make sure that you understand that the victims and their families understand that this was a grievous event. We are terribly saddened by all of this, but we need to move forward, and we hope in some way this helps you and your families get over it.
It's not a legal admission of guilt. Now, there is, however, in Sharia law, there is in fact explanations for things called Kisas or Dia which get are the terms that we know as blood money.
LEMON: OK. So, you said, we've done it before. We had experience with this compensation before. MARKS: We have done. You know, for example in, Korea, we've had a long presence in Korea since the war, and sadly when you end up doing damage to individuals or property, there are reparations that routinely occur.
LEMON: But general, the compensation you reportedly is usually around $2,000 for civilians killed in the combat zone. But this is much higher. Is this because of how the killings occurred?
MARKS: No, not at all, Don. I think what this is, is this is clearly circumstantial. It has to do with the situation that we are in right now. Look at what led up to this. You had the challenge with the marines that urinated on some -- some dead Taliban.
You had the burning of the Quran which was incredibly -- represented such incredible rage. It was an assault on Islam and the holy book, the Quran, whether it was done intentionally or not is not the point. And then you had the murder of these 16 civilians.
And so, those circumstances aggregately, clearly the United States stepped forward and said, you know, we need to make this right and make this right, right now in a way that's significant and demonstrates our desire to try to be a part of a solution moving forward.
LEMON: But does this payment put people -- these people in jeopardy given that they are suddenly receiving a windfall in a lawless region haunted by the Taliban?
MARKS: Well, you know, that's very, very true. Clearly local security is always an issue. I wouldn't begin to speculate on what they do with this reparation, this cash payment in Afghanis' of $50,000 equivalent. I don't know where it goes, how they access it or who takes care of it. It might be a draw. It might be some place and they pull off of it as they need it. I just don't know, Don. But clearly, I mean, you can draw the conclusion that it increases their risk a tiny bit.
LEMON: But likely hood. Bales faces 17 murder charges, general. Afghan officials says, said there were 16 victims. Any idea why that might be?
MARKS: I don't, Don. I'd be purely speculating if I gave you some thoughts, and I don't want to wander down that path. We'll clearly know this when the investigation plays out.
LEMON: General James "Spider" Marks, thank you sir. Appreciate it.
MARKS: Don, thank you.
LEMON: Now listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: If I had a son, he would look like Trayvon. (END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Should the president have commented on the Trayvon Martin case? That conversation after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Nine Supreme Court justices with a big decision and the potential to impact millions of Americans. In a matter of hours, the Supreme Court will begin hearing arguments for and against President Obama's health care overhaul. The court will have to decide whether the sweeping changes are constitutional.
The big fight is over the law's central provision, the so-called individual mandate which requires Americans to buy health insurance. It's set to take effect in 2014, and as it's written now, those who don't buy insurance would face penalties. The justices could strike down all or just parts of the law. That may mean throwing out the individual mandate which some proponents of the law say is the linchpin that makes the whole plan work. They may not rule on everything this year, but whatever the outcome, we'll have to wait to hear until the decision comes in June.
Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum has often said the president's reform bears a striking resemblance to the plan Mitt Romney enacted as governor of Massachusetts. Well, today when talking about Romney's plan in Wisconsin, Santorum questioned his GOP rival's credentials.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANTORUM: Why would we put someone up who is uniquely, pick any other Republican in the country? He is the worst Republican, in the country, to put up against Barack Obama. Why would Wisconsin want to vote for someone like that?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, CNN's Shawna Shepherd is in Racine, Wisconsin for tonight.
So, you were for those comments, and you were also there when things got a bit testy between Rick Santorum and another reporter. Shawna, what happened?
SHAWNA SHEPHERD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hi, yes. After the speech Rick Santorum was -- was working the rope line, greeting supporters, signing autographs, when Jeff Zeleny of "New York times" went up the rope line and asked him just to comment on -- on the comment that you just heard, that he said that the -- that governor Romney is not qualified to go up against President Obama.
And it was interesting because Rick Santorum, you know, appeared to get pretty worked up, and he said, you know, you guys are distorting what I'm saying. That quote, "quit distorting my words, it's" and then he said, quote, "it's bs," but he used the full term there.
I walked up shortly after that moment and caught the rest of the exchange, and Rick Santorum just continued to -- continued to go after Jeff Zeleny, you know, making comments after, you know, he would make a statement.
So, he was somehow telling the "New York times" reporter that he didn't say that, and then hours later we have his spokesperson releasing a statement saying that Rick Santorum was going on the offensive there in that speech and that he spoke plainly and clearly, that all of the Republicans in the field, Mitt Romney is the worst candidate to take on Barack Obama, so clearly they are taking on that statement, they are running with it, but, you know, at the time, Santorum seemed to be a little on the defensive.
LEMON: Yes. Shawna, is he denying the B.S. part of the statement, B.S., that he said that?
SHEPHERD: They didn't comment on that part.
LEMON: OK, all right. Shawna, thank you. We appreciate it.
Republican hopefuls and even President Obama weighing in on the Trayvon Martin story. Here's the president on Friday in the rose garden.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: 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 that it deserves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: OK. This was a very interesting conversation that I'm going to play for you now. I spoke with CNN contributor Will Cain and CNN.com contributor, Lz Granderson, and also senior writer at ESPN. And I asked them if the president should have commented on the case. They did not hold back. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
L.Z. GRANDERSON, CNN.COM CONTRIBUTOR: A lot of people are tripping over themselves trying not to say race, trying not to talk about color. You know what? That's a vital part of this conversation, that's a vital part of this entire scenario so to assume that President Obama, a black man in the United States would not have a reaction to what happened to Trayvon Martin is incredibly ridiculous. And so, it's natural for him to respond to that.
LEMON: I wonder if the situation was reversed, if President Bush, let's just say, pick a president, who is a different color, had commented on this and said, you know, I have -- I remember having -- when my son was 17 years old, would people be saying the same thing about it because that's essentially what the president was saying, if I had a son meaning he'd look like Trayvon, you know, yes. GRANDERSON: You know, it's really, really disheartening to me to see, you know, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum try and politicize this.
LEMON: We're going to get to this. I'll play their sound bites, and then we'll talk about it.
But Will, do you think the president should have commented?
WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I have mixed feelings about it, Don. I mean, I think makes a pretty compelling argument for President Obama stepping into what's become a very divisive issue, but my whole problem with this case, Don and my whole problem with anyone for that matter commenting on this case from the president down to and myself, there's still not a full spectrum of information here. There's not a finished investigation, and I realize, much as the complaint has been, that's what it's about. There's not a good investigation, but there's still this hole in the time line, everything look --
GRANDERSON: What do you mean?
CAIN: Everything looks to be condemning towards George Zimmerman. We don't have all the facts.
GRANDERSON: What more do you need? Tell me what do you need beyond the 911 tape?
CAIN: There's still a moment in this time line, in this case, where George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin were face to face. What happened at that moment? Was George Zimmerman attacked? Does he have a legitimate claim to self-defense? Obviously, that's what he contends.
GRANDERSON: You cannot tell me that you thought that skinny 17- year-old boy was going to kill without a weapon that big grown man. That's an absolutely ridiculous stance to take. I hear what you're saying about all the facts but if you just look at the physicality of it all. It's a ridiculous argument.
LEMON: OK.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: I think you guys are mixing up with two things. What the president commented on was the feelings of a parent, and can you not help but feel for the parents in any situation. You cannot help but feel for anyone who loses a child. That's what many people in the country are -- are commenting on, and that's what's raised the emotion.
The whole thing about what happened, yes, Will, the investigation does have to play out, but what most people are commenting on and what most people feel here are any time someone loses a child, it is terribly horrific, and why wouldn't anyone want to comment on that? How could that not touch any person to say something about it? CAIN: Well, obviously everything you just said is true, but children die every day in this country. Children die under horrible circumstances every day and we don't talk about it on TV. My only point --
LEMON: We talk about it all the time. I just got through doing a story on the kids who died in Afghanistan, and we were talking about it. The president has commented on that.
CAIN: I don't think there's an intelligent rebuttal to my point of view here that all we're doing is saying, all I'm saying is we don't have a full set of facts. We don't know everything that happened. The only response I get is outrage and emotion, and all I'm telling you outrage and emotion aren't good enough. There's a legal system. We're innocent until proven guilty in this country. I'm also telling you everything looks bad for George Zimmerman here. It looks ugly.
LEMON: Will, will, wet get this. Hang on. , let me do this.
That's not what we're saying. Of course the investigation has to play out. That's what every single person has been saying that I've seen on television, every commentator, and everyone has talked about the reports from Sonner, the attorney, saying that this guy was attacked. That his -- his client in fact was the victim here. We understand that.
But that's -- while we're at this moment I think people are saying that there's a realization about profiling in America that people don't understand. Let the investigation play out for sure.
CAIN: No, no, no.
LEMON: Hang on. There's a conversation that people are afraid to hear and don't want to talk about as it comes to profiling. Go ahead, Will.
CAIN: No, no, no. You shifted the debate to racial profiling and that's not the conversation we were having. You asked me a question about what people should be commenting on this case, including President Obama and us here sitting in these seats. And what I'm telling you unless you're getting on to me and you guys are chastising me simply for not joining in outrage and emotion. That's my job.
My job now is to simply come on TV and express outrage and emotion. What I'm telling you the public has made mistakes in these kind of cases before. In the duke lacrosse case. The whole country condemned some guys without a whole set of facts. What I'm telling you I think a responsible person in my seat, much less in a --
LEMON: But, you're expressing outrage in your response now. I'm telling you the difference between the two.
GRANDERSON: He's hot.
CAIN: Because I am outraged at the irrationality you're asking from me. You're asking me to come on TV and be irrational and --
GRANDERSON: There is absolutely nothing irrational about what we're talking about right now, Will. What I really find irrational is your difficulty in even talking about race. Your difficulty -- when you --
CAIN: Race hasn't even been part of this conversation so far.
GRANDERSON: Race is always part of this conversation. That's the problem. You're trying to put these items into vacuums as if they are individuals and separate it. They are not. We have a very long, century's long history of racial tension in this country.
So, to talk about this subject matter and pretend that you can compartmentalize things like that, this is racial profiling and this is the law and this is the stand your ground. No, they are all integrated. It's all a part of it. Let me finish.
LEMON: Let him finish and I will let you go.
GRANDERSON: So, as far as your emotional response to it. You're a dad. I'm a dad. You should have an emotional response to this. That boy sat on a cold space for three days, and the police did nothing to help find his parents. You should have an emotional reaction to that, if nothing else. That's what you're feeling. That's what you're getting from me.
CAIN: My job is not to come on TV and be emotional. I can tell you this as far as the race component. If George Zimmerman were black and Trayvon was white. I would grant George Zimmerman the black man just the same benefit of doubt that I'm granting any defendant in this case. Race for me, being a responsible commentator has nothing to do with this.
LEMON: Will, I think --
GRANDERSON: I have to remind you that race has a lot to do with it.
LEMON: I don't want to beat up on you Will. But, you're being outraged at the outrage, and again I think you're right.
CAIN: I don't know what that means.
LEMON: No, you said I'm outraged that everyone is so outraged about it.
CAIN: No, I didn't. I said I'm outraged that you guys are requiring that of me. That you are acting like --
LEMON: I didn't require that of you. That's not what I said to you. I'm not requiring that of you at all. That's not what I said.
I told you what the president commented on, the emotion that people are feeling, but as far as talking about the merits of the case, I agree with you. I think that we have to wait for the investigation to play out, but every time someone comments our talks about the emotion or the reality of racism in the country or the reality of profiling, it doesn't mean that they can't speak to that.
CAIN: You didn't ask me about profiling, Don. You didn't ask me about profiling. You asked me about the president commenting on this case.
LEMON: But you went there.
CAIN: OK. Look. Bottom line in the end, I want the viewers to trust me this on this. I will not comment on anything without knowing what I'm talking about, without knowing the facts of every single thing I talk about. Hold me to that standard for my political opinion, to my opinion on cases like this. This to me has nothing to do with race. What it has to do with is facts.
GRANDERSON: And the fact is race is a big part of this conversation.
LEMON: OK. Are we done? Are we done? We're good.
(LAUGHTER)
CAIN: This has been so hot the camera's going to blow up. You heard this thing buzzing the whole segment long. Seriously, have you heard it buzzing?
LEMON: Yes, I love it. You know what I like about this. I think it's good to have these sorts of conversations. And Will and I are friends. and I are friends and we are all friends. We talk like this all the time as we do on television.
GRANDERSON: Exclamation point.
CAIN: This is about race.
LEMON: The country should be talking like this as well. So thank you guys.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: We should all be as honest. We don't have to castigate each other just for being honest, and we don't have to hate each other just because we may disagree. For those of you who are concerned, we wanted you to see this.
Will twitted this photo right after the segment ended showing us that he and L.Z. know how to disagree without being disagreeable. As a matter of fact, they say it was a little beer summit across the street at the Time Warner center where they talk more. Just another reason why we look forward to talking with them each Sunday evening right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Have this conversations yourselves and get it out. It's good. It's important.
OK. Moving on now. After five heart attacks, former vice president Dick Cheney has a new outlook on life. We'll tell you why. That report is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Checking your headlines right now. Investigators for the U.S. military say the soldier accused of a massacre in Afghanistan returned to his base between rampages in two villages. Staff sergeant Robert Bales could face the death penalty in a military court. He faces 17 counts of murder. The military is paying $50,000 in compensation for each victim of the massacre.
The man who once stood a heartbeat away from the presidency now has someone else's heart beating in his chest. Former vice president Dick Cheney underwent a heart transplant on Saturday. He's won a pacemaker for more than a decade and has survived five heart attacks since 1978. Cheney had waited 20 months for a transplant and at 71 he was nearing the age limit.
Welcome news for gas-weary customers. A Lundberg survey say prices may be peaking below $4 a gallon. And after jumping 11 cents over the past two weeks, not a minute too soon either. The average price of regular unleaded is now $3.93 a gallon but everything depends on avoiding another spike in crude oil prices. Fingers crossed.
"The Hunger Games" lived up to hype and then some. The movie raked in an estimated, get this, $155 million this weekend, the third biggest debut in North American box office history. It is based on a best-selling young adult novel. A sequel is already in the works to be released in November of next year. As if I had to tell you that.
The outrage over the shooting of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin reaches the White House. President Obama weighed in and some of the Republican candidates went after for it. But who is really politicizing this tragedy? No talking points next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN LEWIS (D), GEORGIA: The arrest of Zimmerman will not be the end. It's just the beginning.
LEMON: Yes.
LEWIS: But in my estimation, there needs to be outside forces, the department of justice, the FBI, the community relations service of 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: That was Congressman John Lewis with me just a few days ago reacting to the killing of Trayvon Martin.
And it is time now for "No Talking Point." Trayvon Martin and President Obama's comment. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: You know, if I had a son he'd look like Trayvon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Boy, does that comment strike a nerve. It comforted many who wanted the first black president just say something sooner, but for Republican presidential candidates, current and former, it was red meat. Newt Gingrich wasted no time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Is the president suggesting that if it had been a white who had been shot, that would be OK because it wouldn't look like him. It's just nonsense. Dividing this country up, it is a tragedy that this young man was shot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: A white? Michele Bachmann, not even running anymore, defends what Newt said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE BACHMAN (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think what Newt Gingrich said is race shouldn't be a factor. All human life is valuable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Next, Rick Santorum?
SANTORUM: And then, his, again, politicizing it. This is again not what presidents of the United States do. What the president of the United States should do is try to bring people together, not use these types of horrible and tragic individual cases to try to drive a wedge in America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The president himself hasn't responded to the GOP criticism, but one of his top advisers has, specifically referencing Gingrich.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID PLOUFFE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE ADVISER: Those comments are reprehensible, and, you know, speaker Gingrich is clearly in the last throes of his political career. And you know, can you make a decision whether to go out with some shred of dignity or say it's irresponsible reckless things and he's clearly chosen the latter path and that's unfortunate for the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: What's the context is everything we have said it over and over and over again in our "no talking points" segment.
So, let's listen to the president's comment in context. He started by saying this case made him think about his own kids and that every parent in America understands the importance for a thorough investigation and then he went on to say this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
Obama: I think all of us needs to do soul searching to figure out how does something like this happened and that means that we examine the laws and the context for what happened as well as the specifics of the incident.
But my main message is to the parents of Trayvon Martin. You know, if I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon, and -- and, you know, I think they are right to expect that all of us as Americans are going to take this with the seriousness that it deserves and that we're going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: So, I'll end the segment by saying this. Dividing, politicizing, racializing, who exactly is doing this? That's tonight's "No Talking Point."
She disappeared over the pacific ocean almost 75 years ago. What happened to her has captured the world's imagination ever since, but now one group says they have a clue that might help them solve the mystery of Amelia Earhart.
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LEMON: You know, social media really brought this to the attention of the world, and we've been tracking what you've been saying about the Trayvon Martin shooting and watching it on facebook and twitter as well. Asked people to send their thoughts with the #Trayvon. Just a couple for you.
@Kid Benjamin twitted. "Trayvon Martin's attorney said I don't believe race played a part in the shooting, so he must have gotten killed over his candy.
@ amDavis7000 says even says, "even the people who drafted the stand your ground law and the law doesn't pertain -- said the law doesn't pertain to this incident. Why in arrest?"
Anita Renebell writes. "This is inequality and justice, inhumane and not racism. Fear started this ball rolling. Faith wins."
Thank you for your comments.
Now to the big stories in the week ahead from. Capitol hill to Hollywood our correspondents tell you what you need to know. We are going to start tonight with the president's plans for the week in South Korea.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dan Lothian at White House. This week President Obama is visiting Seoul, South Korea. While there, he'll stop by the demilitarized zone, the DMZ, that area between South Korea and North Korea.
He'll also visit with U.S. troops who are stationed there. President Obama is also holding bilateral meetings with China's Hu Jintao and Russia's Medvedev, among other leaders who are there as well. After returning from overseas the president switches into campaign mode later in the week with a fund-raising trip to Vermont and Maine.
KATE BALDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kate Balduan in Washington. The Senate will spend the bulk of the week with gas prices with Democrats pushing to repeal oil and gas tax subsidies, something they have tried multiple times before and Republicans oppose. The house is expected to focus on the Republican budget this week and will also learn more details on a democratic alternative. Neither proposal though is expected to pass the full congress, and both sides will be keeping a close eye on the Supreme Court as the justices will hear arguments on the land marc and controversial health care law with so much at stake politically for both sides.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. There is a lot of economic news coming your way this week. First off, we'll get the latest home sales and home price numbers as well as the final reading on U.S. GDP for the fourth quarter of 2007. Wall street and Washington will be watching for that number very closely.
Also coming up, two key reports on consumer confidence and earnings from blackberry-maker research in motion, Best buy and Walgreens.
We will see how the market response to all of this and we track it for you all week on CNN Money.
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HLN HOST, JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL: I'm Jane Velez-Mitchell. Here's what we are watching this week. We're getting caught up on march madness' A.J. Hammer heads to New Orleans where Jimmy Buffet kissed and the black keys are among the stars performing at the dance concert series at the final four "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" in the middle of the action.
Catch "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" exclusively weeknights at 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific or HLN.
LEMON: Always good to say Jane Velez-Mitchell. Thanks, everyone.
Movie director James Cameron has done it for only the second time in history. A person has gone down into the deepest part of the ocean, seven miles down, as a matter of fact. Look at that. What he did after he got there, down there, well, that was a first as well. I've got that for you next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Movie director, director James Cameron has gone where very few have gone before. He successfully reached the bottom of the Mariana trench today. That's in the pacific ocean off the coast of Guam seven miles down. You're seeing footage of some of his practice dives right now, and here is a first. He tweeted from the ocean bottom. We've had our first ocean bottom tweet. He wrote "just arrived at the ocean's deepest point. Hitting bottom never felt so good. Can't wait to share what I'm seeing with you." And for more on that.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Technology.
LEMON: I know. Jacqui Jeras with our Sunday night mystery.
So, first to go to the bottom of the trench. It's amazing. One of my favorite ever documentaries was "Blue Planet" with David Attenborough and just -- I've watched it over and over. They will have to update that.
JERAS: This will be a new thing. We are going to be able to see some of the video down there right now. In fact, he has got like four cameras that can see 100 feet out on all sides of them. So, we're going to have some nice visuals. He should be down there for six hours. So, that is a ton of footage, right?
LEMON: My goodness.
JERAS: It's really exciting and really ground breaking in a lot of ways. This has been done before, but not for any real significant length of time. One of the big dangers that we're talking about. This is back in 1960, a Navy lieutenant went down there. He's only down there for like 20 minutes. Didn't see that. There's a lot of filth and a lot of sand. And so --
LEMON: This one is not nearly is --
JERAS: No. It's tiny. It's like, you know, they are worst than the astronauts in terms of being cramped in there, but they want to make it small, and the real concern is the pressure. It's really pressurized and to use an analogy, like putting 8,000 elephants on top of a mini cooper. That's how much pressure, but technology is so great that his ears won't even pop. Won't even feel that at all.
LEMON: Good luck, good luck.
OK. Let's talk about. You know, I'm not going to judge. The whole Amelia Earhart thing. Everyone wants to figure out. I kind of like -- I kind of like the mystery of Amelia Earhart. Why does everyone want to figure out what happened to her?
JERAS: Because she was such a hero, right?
LEMON: I agree, agree.
JERAS: She is sort like of her lure. LEMON: It's a part of her lure.
JERAS: You want them to be back. You want them to back on American soil and whatever. But this is really interesting because they have taken new technology combined with a really old picture, and they think it could have been actually be what's being called the smoking gun that could help them locate her missing plane as well as her and her navigator (INAUDIBLE).
So, take a look at this picture. Tell me if you can see anything out of this, all right? We've got the picture.
LEMON: We can see you.
JERAS: He can see me. There's Amelia. There's a picture of her, and she's trying to circumnavigate the globe and trying to set a record here. They were lost back in 1937, so this is a 75-year-old mystery and there's this international group that have been searching for her. They have done ten searches now.
But the state department, along with historians, along with scientists have analyzed this picture, and they say what is in the picture that apparently for some reason we can't see.
LEMON: There it is.
JERAS: There it is. OK.
So in the bottom corner of that picture, they say those are the landing gear and the wheels of the bottom of her plane. This was taken three months after the disappearance, and so they are saying the reason why they didn't see it the first time they went around the island to look for it is because they think she maybe survived for a while and eventually the waves came up and brought that plane back into the ocean.
LEMON: How do we know?
JERAS: So, they are going in July. They are going to spend ten days and hope -- the state department, it's the government, come on.
LEMON: Come on, prove it. What I'm saying about Amelia Earhart is that, I love Amelia Earhart. I like the lure, I like the mystery. Why can't we leave well enough alone and let it be a mystery?
JERAS: I don't know. People want to see and feel a part of that history, I guess.
LEMON: I get it, I get it. NASA, making a discoveries in the solar system. Where?
JERAS: Yes. We're talking about mercury.
LEMON: OK.
JERAS: You know -- so, the smallest planet, the closest one to the sun, a lot of information has just come back from this mission last week. There's like three or four different amazing discoveries. They are seriously calling them weird and wacky because it was completely unexpected and the most unexpected one is the planet that gets up to 425 degrees Celsius.
LEMON: Wow.
JERAS: Might have ice water on it.
LEMON: Look how beautiful that is.
JERAS: Yes. So, they are saying up by the poles of the planet are craters that are deep enough that they are shaded the entire time so that allows us to stay cold enough, and their equipment is seeing this high reflectivity that you see right there. All that yellow, and they believe that that could be ice water. So, that's one of the big discoveries that they have found. And they decided to extend their mission another year because they are finding so many things out about mercury.
LEMON: You're so mysterious.
JERAS: Well. We're here trying to like solve some of them.
LEMON: All right. We're back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Well in tonight's "what matters" segment the Trayvon Martin tragedy captured the attention of the entire country and today some church leaders who wanted to talked about his death encouraged their congregation to wear one of the symbols of that tragedy, a hoodie.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REV. JACQUI LEWIS, MIDDLE COLLEGIATE CHURCH: Nobody should pretend that this isn't about race.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As he forgive those who trespass against us.
LEWIS: A real suspicious guy. He looks like he's up to no good or something.
REV. DARRYL WINSTON, ATLANTA: Many people wear hoodies. Athletes wear hoodies. There are people walking the streets walking dogs. Hoodies are not just germane to crime or illegal activity.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We pray for Trayvon and for all those who have been affected by acts of humankind.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're going to take a picture today with this mug shot that says I am not dangerous. Racism is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People align.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop the violence.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop the violence.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Save the children.
REV. JESSE JACKSON, CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER: If we fight back diligently, we can prevail.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See us through as you promised you would do, amen.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Thank you so much for watching this week. I'm Don Lemon at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. I'll see you back here next weekend. Have a great week. Good night.
