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Zimmerman Could Face New Trial; NAACP Calls for Civil Rights Charges; Live Coverage of White House Statement Regarding the Verdict in the George Zimmerman Trial

Aired July 15, 2013 - 12:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: He's getting ready to deliver this hour. We expect it to begin in about 30 minutes. We'll have live coverage.

Also outside the Justice Department right now, an organization representing some 34,000 black churches is planning on having a rally. The National Black Church Initiative, as it's called, is pushing the government to prosecute George Zimmerman under federal civil rights laws.

And in Sanford, Florida, right now, people are prepared to gather for a prayer event. Pastors and other leaders, they are asking people to remain calm. Protests are happening, but they have been mostly peaceful.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWD (chanting): No justice, no peace. No justice, no peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Los Angeles Police started making arrests, though, before dawn this morning after a gathering on Sunset Boulevard that was declared an unlawful assembly. Another demonstration on Interstate 10 ended with police firing beanbag rounds to break up the crowd. L.A.'s mayor used his Twitter feed to urge demonstrators to, quote, "practice peace."

New Yorkers marched 30 blocks through the city yesterday ending up in Times Square. Police were keeping an eye out, but the protest was peaceful. One thing many of the protesters around the country are demanding, federal prosecution of George Zimmerman over the death of Trayvon Martin.

And those calls potentially, potentially could be answered, although it will be a high hurdle to overcome. The Justice Department is now considering whether or not to file federal civil rights charges against George Zimmerman. Our George Howell is in Sanford, Florida. He's been covering this trial for us.

George, if the federal prosecutors do, and still a big if, if they do decide to charge Zimmerman with hate crimes, if you will, they'll have to prove that he acted out of what's called racial hatred. That's a pretty tough thing to prove. GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, you're absolutely right on that. And we're getting this from the NAACP President Ben Jealous. Ben Jealous has information, presumably from African-Americans who have been in that neighborhood, who say, in his words, who have been targeted by Zimmerman. That race may have been a factor, may have been involved in this particular case. So Jealous said that he has reached out to Eric Holder, reached out to the Department of Justice and officials on that team to see if indeed they could move forward with more legal action.

But, again, you'll have to remember, Mark O'Mara made this point very clear. When it comes to self-defense in the state of Florida, and that statute, there's a line about stand your ground that basically gives a person immunity. If you act in self-defense, you can have immunity from criminal, from civil prosecution. And O'Mara made the quote, he said, "we will seek and we will get immunity." He said that in the press conference following this verdict.

BLITZER: And the attorney general himself, Eric Holder, who is getting ready to speak out on the Zimmerman trial on the not guilty verdict, he, himself, said a year or so ago that if you're going to go forward and use civil rights laws, hate crime, declare this a hate crime, if you will, because of race or whatever factor, that's a very, very tough hurdle to overcome. And experienced federal prosecutors have made that point. And we're anxious to hear what Eric Holder is about to say. Do we know, by the way, George, where George Zimmerman is right now?

HOWELL: You know, Wolf, no. You know, it's kind of like the where's Waldo. No idea where George Zimmerman is. And when you hear from his attorneys, you understand why. Zimmerman, for the last 16-plus months has received death threats. He has to take hiding -- go into hiding for his own safety. We do know, Wolf, that his life is certainly different this Monday. He's not wearing that ankle bracelet anymore, the GPS ankle bracelet. He no longer has that 10:00 p.m. curfew that he had from the state. So now he is truly a free man but in hiding certainly for his safety.

BLITZER: And do we know for sure that the actual gun that he used, that shot and killed Trayvon Martin, has now been returned to him?

HOWELL: We don't have that entirely confirmed from my reporting at this point. We do know that it was in the custody of the state. We are waiting to get word on that.

BLITZER: If you hear anything about that, let us know. George Howell reporting for us from Sanford, Florida.

HOWELL: Certainly.

BLITZER: In the aftermath of this not guilty verdict, the prosecutors are speaking out. Bernie De La Rionda, the lead prosecutor in this case, and his boss, Angela Corey, they sat down with HLN's Vinnie Politan. They talked about the case's strengths and the weaknesses. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERNIE DE LA RIONDA, ASSISTANT STATE ATTORNEY: You know, we're stuck with the evidence we have. We would --

VINNIE POLITAN, HLN: You're boing nice.

DE LA RIONDA: Well, no -

POLITAN: Are you being nice right now?

DE LA RIONDA: Well, no. Well, no, it's the truth. You know, we don't get to pick our witnesses. We've got to deal with what we've got and we've got to do the best we can.

ANGELA COREY, FLORIDA STATE ATTORNEY: There was a wealth of hard, cold physical evidence, DNA and everything else that showed that George Zimmerman lied in his statements to the police.

POLITAN: There was no sort of narrative that this jury could follow, that America could follow.

DE LA RIONDA: Well, the problem you've got in a trial is, you can't say, jury, don't speculate, and then ask them to speculate. And so we're left with the defendant's story and what we attempted to do as best we could is to prove that his story was false. Therefore, why would he be lying about something? Something minor like trying to get an address? I mean I thought that was blatantly obviously a lie. And when I was talking to the jury, when I was arguing to the jury, I saw them nodding their heads.

POLITAN: What was the deciding factor -

DE LA RIONDA: Well, the problem -

POLITAN: And was it a group decision?

DE LA RIONDA: Yes.

COREY: Yes.

DE LA RIONDA: And the problem you have is that there was enough evidence, even though I would argue it was insignificant or very little, that there was self-defense. You had John Good. You had other people. So they were going to be able to get an instruction as to self-defense. And once we knew that was coming on, we felt we needed to put his statement on and just disprove it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: You can see a whole lot more of that interview with the prosecutors. It airs later tonight on "HLN After Dark." That's 10:00 p.m. Eastern on HLN, our sister network.

We're also hearing from the defense. George Zimmerman's lead attorney, Mark O'Mara, he sat down with our Chris Cuomo and he said he understands people's frustrations and their anger over the case, but he also says Zimmerman acted, in his word, "responsibly."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Perhaps many people don't equate what happens to you when you get beat up with the proper justification for taking someone's life.

MARK O'MARA, GEORGE ZIMMERMAN'S ATTORNEY: And that's a frustration that people have. And I share it with them because this is my life and I deal with this every day. When you have to look inside somebody's head, and in this case they had to look inside George Zimmerman's head. As he was on the ground with somebody unknown on top of him, doing basically whatever they were doing him and him not returning any blows, you don't know that the next shot on concrete isn't going to be the one that sends you unconscious. You are allowed to react to your reasonable perception of potential injury, and I think anybody in that set of circumstances screaming for help for 45 seconds would say that they acted reasonably in stopping the attack.

CUOMO: Because at that point, legally, you are allowed to use lethal force to protect yourself?

O'MARA: George Zimmerman did not want to shoot anybody. I think it's a testament to the fact that he didn't want to shoot anybody that he went through 45 seconds of screaming for help before he did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: O'Mara also says he's surprised that there was outrage after the verdict because he had hoped that people would see the trial as having been a fair trial.

Let's bring in our CNN legal analyst Mark Nejame. Also joining us, Faith Jenkins. She's a defense attorney, a former prosecutor.

All right, the prosecution says it did the best it could given the evidence available. You just heard them say that. Now we're hearing calls for the Justice Department to file hate crime charges, if you will. And, once again, we're expecting the attorney general, Eric Holder, to speak out about the verdict in a few minutes. We'll have live coverage here.

Mark, let me go to you. What do you think? Do you think it's realistic to assume the Justice Department will file hate crime charges, civil rights charges, against George Zimmerman?

MARK NEJAME, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: No, Wolf, not at all. The FBI was here from the very beginning once this case became publicized and I -- one can only presume that when the FBI was here that it went to their middle district, which is this area's civil rights division, for a review. You know, people are trying to analogize this to the Rodney King incident where the Feds came in and a civil rights case was, in fact, brought. There you had police action. Here you have really a disagreement as to the facts that happened and a jury spoke. I cannot in any way, shape or form imagine the Feds coming in on this.

Quick aside. Your last segment. The gun has been returned to George Zimmerman. O'Mara has made a statement in that regard.

BLITZER: The actual gun has -- is now in his possession once again. All right, thanks for updating us on that.

Faith, what about you? You think Eric Holder might - and this is obviously a decision he would have to make, the attorney general of the United States, might go ahead and file these charges?

FAITH JENKINS, CRIMINAL LAWYER: Well, despite there being evidence of racial profiling here, and one of the reasons why George Zimmerman identified Trayvon was because of the way he looked and how he was dressed, I think there is evidence of that. But that's -- racial profiling is very different from committing a race motivated murder, which is what you really have to show in order to have these hate crime charges. You have to show George Zimmerman, one of the reasons why he shot Trayvon Martin was based on his race. I just don't think that happened here. I think he made a lot of wrong assumptions. He made a lot of mistakes and assumed things about Trayvon that simply weren't true, but I don't think they'll be able to prove that he shot him in part because he was African-American.

BLITZER: What do you think, Faith, about the possibility of a civil lawsuit, a wrongful death civil lawsuit? A lot of us remember what happened to O.J. Simpson after he was found not guilty. A few years later, the family, they went ahead and filed a wrongful death civil suit and they won. They collected some money, not a whole lot, but they collected some money. You think that the George Zimmerman family could be expecting -- that George Zimmerman could anticipate a civil lawsuit, if you will?

JENKINS: Yes, I think they can. And the standard in civil court is very different from criminal court. You're looking at a preponderance of the evidence. It's a much lower standard. But Mark O'Mara alluded the other day the press conference after the verdict was rendered that he would seek immunity for George Zimmerman from a civil lawsuit. That tells me that they're probably going to ask for a stand your ground hearing. If they were to win a stand your ground hearing, George Zimmerman is immune not only from criminal liability, well that case is already over, but also from civil liability. So there's a chance that he could be immune from any civil lawsuit that could be filed against him.

BLITZER: What about that, Mark? What do you think the possibility of a civil, a wrongful death lawsuit being filed against George Zimmerman by Trayvon Martin's family?

NEJAME: Well, there's a lot of considerations. Anybody can, of course, file a suit against another and clearly Trayvon's estate, who would be his parents, have a claim for wrongful death. The issue is, do they want to keep this going? Of course that would -- there's no Fifth Amendment protection to George Zimmerman if, in fact, that happens. So if it proceeds, then he will have to take the stand, which I think many people might want. But as far as any money, we know he's broke right now.

With that said, he has a significant claim going on against another network for them editing some tapes and there could be a significant award that comes from that, which would then make him have a net worth and it may be worth them proceeding against him.

As it relates to the -- but one's got to remember, the time, the emotion, and everything else, and another circumstance where, you know, Trayvon and his death and all that will be continuing to be lived out, you know, that's a family decision that has a lot more to do with money than it does -- has a lot more to do with emotion and their personal opinion rather than money.

With that said -

BLITZER: On -

NEJAME: I'm sorry, I --

BLITZER: No, no, no, go -- finish your - finish your thought. Finish your thought.

NEJAME: Yes, on the stand your ground situation, it's going to be a unique application. I've never heard it being used purely for a civil - within a civil context. The way the law reads is you have to have a stand your ground hearing before the trial. And that's - and clearly the defense waived that three weeks before they were -- this trial was scheduled to start. That would have immunized them against civil liability, but they clearly waived that. Why? They did not want George Zimmerman to take the stand in anticipation of a trial three weeks later and then have that testimony being used because I think they felt at that time they would not prevail. So there's a lot of tactical decisions. I don't see a stand your ground at this point being able to block it, although O'Mara clearly alluded to it at his press conference. But the way I read it, we need to get into it more, but it's an anticipation of the criminal case which would have blocked civil liability and that was waived.

BLITZER: Mark Nejame, don't go too far away. We're going to continue our analysis of what happened. Faith Jenkins, thanks to you as well. We're going to continue with you as well.

As we mentioned, we're awaiting the attorney general of the United States, Eric Holder. You're looking at a live picture there. He's getting ready to speak at the Washington Convention Center. It's the 100th anniversary of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, which was founded at Howard University here in Washington. We expect him to say something about the Zimmerman trial. We'll have live coverage. Stand by for that.

Also, does the NSA leaker, Edward Snowden, really have documents that could bring the United States to its knees? New reports say he has some sort of blueprint to the National Security Agency.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: These are live pictures from the Washington Convention Center. The attorney general of the United States, Eric holder, will be speaking fairly soon, and we anticipate he will say some words about the Zimmerman trial, the verdict, the not guilty verdict.

He's speaking before the 51st national convention. It's the 100th anniversary of the sorority, the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

They are going through some preliminary motions right now. Once he starts speaking, we'll go there and hear what the attorney general has to say about the verdict.

Other news, we're following, including this. There's a warning coming from the journalist who broke the story of the NSA surveillance program. Glenn Greenwald of "The Guardian" newspaper says Edward Snowden has information that would be dire for the United States if released. He says Snowden knows how the NSA is built and operates from top to bottom.

Our own Phil Black is in Moscow. He's been covering the story for us.

Snowden has been waiting to make it to a country offering some sort of political asylum. Do we know if he has any opportunities? Has the Russian government agreed to give him temporary asylum?

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, just in the last hour or so, we're hearing the first comments from Russian President Vladimir Putin since Edward Snowden announced on Friday afternoon that he would be seeking temporary asylum in this country.

Vladimir Putin considers the Snowden situation still unresolved, but hopes he will leave Russia once he gets the chance.

Putin has spoken, blaming the U.S., effectively, for the fact Snowden is trapped within Russian territory.

He says that's because Snowden was only in transit through Russia when the United States tracked him here by revoking his passport and intimidating other countries, preventing him from traveling onwards from Russia.

He has reiterated this condition he's set for Snowden to have any chance of receiving temporary asylum here and that is that he must stop any sort of work which potentially is aimed to harm the United States or could in any way further damage Russia's relationship with the United States. He said that specifically for the first time.

So from these first comments we're hearing from the Russian president, he's not ruling out the possibility of helping Edward Snowden, but it certainly sounds like he doesn't want him to stay here permanently, Wolf.

BLITZER: President Obama called president Putin last week and this was clearly high on the agenda. We'll see what kind of impact President Obama may have had on president Putin. On this other issue of other information that Edward Snowden may still have access to, that if something were to happen to him it would be released, it would cause dire consequences for the United States.

So what if anything, do we know about that?

BLACK: Well, we don't know the details. Glenn Greenwald, "The Guardian" journalist, hinted at his extensive knowledge of the NSA, what he calls an instruction manual for the way it was built, the way it operates, the things that it -- how it does the things it does, the sort of information that would give people the ability to evade that sort of surveillance and potentially replicate it.

He's talking about extensive knowledge, thousands of documents there. He also makes the point that Snowden doesn't want this information to be made public. He's made that as a deliberate choice and he's quite determined for that not to be the case.

But at the same time, he has also hinted at some sort of mechanism that could kick in, should something violent and unexpected happen to Snowden. The possibility that some of this information could be released in that sort of event.

But he hasn't gone into any sort of retail about just how that would come to be.

BLITZER: Phil Black in Moscow with the latest, thanks.

Now an update on another notorious leaking case. Later today the defense in the Bradley Manning court-martial will ask the judge to acquit him of the most serious charge, aiding the enemy and several lesser charges. His attorney says prosecutors have not proven the case.

Manning is the U.S. Army private who gave government secrets to Wikileaks to expose what he considered wrongdoing. The government says disclosing those military and State Department documents harmed U.S. national security.

An autopsy today will tell us what killed the actor Cory Monteith. That's him as Finn on "Glee." Vancouver police found him dead in his hotel room on Saturday. They say he was not the victim of a crime.

Monteith had a well known struggle with addiction since his teens. Still, his death stunned fans. "Glee's" director called him the glue that kept the show together. Monteith was only 31-years-old.

Up next, a high-ranking U.S. official arrives in Egypt as the new interim government there begins coming together. We're going live to Cairo.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The White House Press Secretary Jay Carney speaking about the not guilty verdict in the Zimmerman trial. Let's listen in.

(BEGIN LIVE FEED)

JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: ... to foster compassion and understanding in our communities and to stem the tide of gun violence as well as how we can prevent future tragedies like this from happening.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Even though the jury in this case has spoken, the Justice Department is still considering whether to file criminal civil rights charges.

Does the president feel like that decision needs to be made quickly in order to have some kind of finality to this case?

CARNEY: This is a decision made by the Justice Department, by career prosecutors, and all questions about how that process is undertaken should be directed there, and that is not something the president involves himself in.

As the Justice Department said yesterday, they first acknowledged last year they have an open investigation into Trayvon Martin's death, and they are continuing to evaluate that evidence.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But did -- since the president did speak about this case last year in pretty personal terms, did he have any personal reaction to the verdict?

Does he have any personal feelings on the need for the justice department to make a decision on this quickly?

CARNEY: Well, he has no opinion to express about the disposition of how the Justice Department would look at this.

He did speak about it in personal terms, and I think his statement yesterday reflects how the loss of a young person is a source of great anguish and pain for the parents of that person, for the community where that person lived, that young person lived, and for the whole country because the loss is greater when a young person dies because the potential of that life is so unfulfilled.

So I think that's how the president viewed it then and views it now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just quickly, is there any reason that President George W. Bush is not coming to the event today?

CARNEY: I think you would have to ask the Bush family. I know he -- I should say this, having covered president George W. Bush and I'm sure as you all know, he's enormously proud of his father, of course, and his father's presidency, but in particular, this remarkable program that President George H. W. Bush initiated.

And the current president, President Obama, has recognized the importance of this program and the role that president George H. W. Bush has played in fostering a spirit of community service in this nation.

It's so important, and, you know, this organization that he started has contributed significantly to fostering that sense of community service. It's now a much more common thing in our country, I think, to hear about and for young people to get involved in community service.

And I think the president believes that President Bush 41 deserves a large portion of credit for that.

Yes?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I know you're not going to comment on the civil rights case, but I'm curious if the White House is feeling any pressure because the number of civil rights leaders calling for a civil rights case is mounting.

There are 600 signatures on an NAACP petition. Some, let's see, more than 15,000 in just 24 hours on a White House petition online.

Does the president feel some pressure on this administration to bring a case against Zimmerman?

CARNEY: Cases are brought on the merits, and they're -- the merits are evaluated by the professionals at the Department of Justice. And the president expects, as in every case, that the process will be handled in the way it should be at the Department of Justice and certainly not here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is ...

CARNEY: Can you -- go ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is an attorney. Does the president believe that this -- that there are merits to the case?

CARNEY: Again, I would point you to the president's statement for his reaction to the verdict and his statement about the verdict and the broader issues that he thinks we might all reflect upon.

He will not comment on a Department of Justice investigation or on a decision that the Department of Justice will make about how to proceed, if to proceed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He said that we're a nation of laws. Does he feel the Florida "stand your ground" law should change?

CARNEY: I mean, this is a state law that you're referring to, and again, within the context of this case, I just don't have any comment from the president to provide to you.

That's something, again, that would be more appropriately answered by the Department of Justice.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Finally, is there any concern about what kind of message the verdict sends?

CARNEY: I think the president's statement reflects his views about the verdict, about the tragic loss of Trayvon Martin for his family, his community and for the country.

The fact that his loss reflects -- symbolizes the loss we see daily in this country of young people to gun violence, and, you know, that's why I think the president's statement contained within it the elements that I've described.